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How to pre-order the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2

While Microsoft’s event on Thursday focused on AI, the company spent some time debuting a few new Surface devices as well. The new Surface Laptop Studio 2 is supposedly the most powerful Surface device Microsoft has made, with support for the latest Intel processor, NVIDIA RTX 40 series GPUs and the first Intel NPU on Windows to power AI effects. The Surface Laptop Go 3, on the other hand, is the company’s newest small laptop and it’s billed to have significant performance improvements and up to 15-hours of battery life. Here’s how you can pre-order the new Surface Laptop Studio 2 and the Surface Laptop Go 3.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2

The updated Surface Laptop Studio 2 is even more powerful than the previous version, sporting 13th-gen Intel i7 H-class processors, NVIDIA RTX 4050 and 4060 GPUs and it can be configured to have enterprise-level RTX 2000 Ada Generation graphics as well. The 14.4-inch touchscreen tilts forward so you can use it in studio and stage modes (in addition to the standard laptop mode), and the machine has Dolby audio-powered speakers, a touchpad that supports adaptive touch and an included Surface Slim Pen 2. The latest model can be configured to have up to 64GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3

The new Surface Laptop Go 3 is the latest iteration on Microsoft’s tiny notebook. Coming in at under 2.5 pounds, it has a 12.4-inch touchscreen, a fingerprint-toting power button for biometric logins and improved performance that should make it 88 percent more powerful than the original Laptop Go. Microsoft claims the Laptop Go 3 will have up to 15 hours of battery life and it will come in four colors: platinum, sage, sandstone and ice blue. It will run on Intel Core i5 processors and can be configured to have up to 16GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage.

Follow all of the news live from Microsoft’s 2023 Surface event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-pre-order-the-microsoft-surface-laptop-studio-2-152956033.html?src=rss

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds review: Spatial audio makes all the difference

Most earbud and headphone makers are starting to skip the annual update cycle. Sure, many of them release a new model regularly, but in terms of overhauling a previous product, the timelines are typically more extended. Bose has made an exception, choosing to reveal the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds ($299) alongside its new QuietComfort Ultra Headphones a year after their predecessor. The new earbuds bring a familiar design and the same outstanding active noise cancellation (ANC), but the company is also promising a big boost in sound quality with its new Immersive Audio tech. For the same price as the set they replace, the QC Ultra Earbuds deliver spatial audio without the requirement, or the headache, of having to stream specialized content.

Design

Bose made minimal changes to the design, retaining basically the same formula from the QuietComfort Earbuds II . One key difference is the touch panel on the outside, which is now silver instead of matching the earbuds (which were black, gray or white). It’s still plastic, but it’s just a different hue. Second, the company changed the “stability bands” or fit wings so they’re easier to properly install. That’s a welcome update since getting those securely in place was an issue on the QC Earbuds II.

With an almost entirely identical design from model to model, Bose didn’t reduce the size of the earbuds. This means they’re still quite large at a time when a lot of the competition continues to get smaller. However, the trade-off is the outer touch panel is larger than on tinier models from other companies. This translates to more reliable controls on the QC Ultra Earbuds and allows Bose to throw in a dedicated swipe gesture for volume adjustment, which is rare in this category.

Software and features

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

All of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds’ features are accessible from the Bose Music app. Here, the company gives you battery percentages for each bud and a volume control at the top of the main screen. Below, you can access controls to toggle listening modes (ANC, transparency and Immersive Audio), the EQ, detailed settings, earbud seal test and options to reconfigure the shortcut gesture.

Under Immersive Audio, the app lets you switch between off, Still and Motion modes. They’re pretty self-explanatory, but I will point out that the Motion setting keeps the sound in front of you when you’re moving so music, movies and other content doesn’t stay in a fixed place or seem like it’s coming from behind or your pocket when you leave your desk. And since Bose lets you reconfigure the long press action on the earbuds, you can choose to have one side cycle through Immersive Audio modes while the other is set to shuffle through ANC (Quiet), transparency (Aware) and Immersive.

Sound quality

Bose’s new Immersive Audio is a big leap for sound quality on the company’s earbuds. The QuietComfort Earbuds II and the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds both sound good right out of the box. But with this Ultra model and its spatial audio tech, Bose finally has the sonic chops to compete with comparable products from Sony and Sennheiser. And the best part is that you don’t need specially created content or a specific streaming service to unlock it. Immersive Audio works with everything, no matter where you’re playing it from.

Like most implementations of spatial audio, Bose’s version takes the stock tuning and makes it louder. There’s more presence to the sound, and noticeably more volume, but there’s also more clarity and detail. The company says it achieves this with virtualization tech that seeks to eliminate the sensation that sound from earbuds is inside your head. Instead, it makes it seem like you’re sitting in the “acoustic sweet spot” with speakers placed in front of you. The result is not only the feeling that you’re not wearing the earbuds at all, but also extremely natural-sounding audio that’s immersive without having to be dimensional to have an impact.

I noticed the biggest difference between the stock tuning and Immersive Audio on acoustic-driven albums like Zach Bryan’s self-titled release, Gregory Alan Isakov’s Appaloosa Bones and Noah Kahan’s Stick Season. All three are able to harness the effect of Bose’s spatial sound to the point that sometimes it seems like Zach Bryan is sitting right in front of you picking his guitar. When it’s just strings and a voice, you can really hear what Bose has achieved, but it doesn’t just work for folksy country or singer/songwriter ballads. You can clearly hear the influence of Immersive Audio throughout a range of genres, including metal, hip-hop and electronic tunes. At first you notice it’s louder, but after the initial jolt, the amplified details like texture in distorted guitars and synths, as well as reverb on the drums and layered instruments, become more apparent.

Noise cancellation performance

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

The QuietComfort Earbuds II have been our top pick for pure ANC performance in our best wireless earbuds guide since their debut. Bose has a long history of stellar noise cancellation and it’s still at the top of the heap. With the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, the company remains the best at blocking distractions, and these buds are especially good at reducing airplane noise to near silence during a flight. This new model struggles with voices, but that’s a pitfall of many earbuds and headphones. Still, when you encounter any kind of constant clamor, the QC Ultra Earbuds are likely your best choice if ANC effectiveness is top of mind.

Call quality

Bose says it made improvements with dynamic microphone mixing and adaptive filters. According to the company, the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds can also prioritize which earbud is getting the least wind interference while picking from a number of noise filters to keep you sounding clear – all in real time. During my tests, voice quality wasn’t exactly pristine, but the earbuds did a great job of blocking background sounds to reduce distractions. Is it the best? No. Will it get the job done with minimal fuss? Absolutely.

Battery life

The new Immersive Audio tech will impact battery life, and Bose is upfront about that. The company says that with that spatial sound enabled, you can expect two hours less of playing time per charge. So instead of six hours with ANC, you’ll get around four, but that’s with noise cancellation and Immersive Audio turned on. During my tests, the QC Ultra Earbuds outperformed those estimates as the Bose Music app was still showing 30 percent left after four hours. What’s more, there are three additional charges in the case for a total of 16 to 24 hours of use.

The QuietComfort Earbuds II didn’t have wireless charging and the new model doesn’t either – at least not out of the box. If you want to top them up without a cable, you’ll have to buy a silicone cover for the charging case, which will cost an additional $50. Sure, it’s better than not offering wireless charging at all, but it would’ve been nice if the company had just built it into the product without requiring another component and an extra purchase.

The competition

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Bose’s main competition for full-featured, noise-canceling earbuds is Sony, which debuted its WF-1000XM5 model in July, improving upon what was already a stellar formula. Simply put, no other company packs in as many features as Sony, and it manages to keep top-notch sound quality and ANC performance while doing so. The M5 is more expensive than previous models at $300, but that’s on par with the QC Ultra Earbuds. Sony also didn’t improve battery life from the M4, which is eight hours, and some of those handy features still need fine tuning.

For the Apple faithful, the second-gen AirPods Pro are also worth considering. Apple’s earbuds are loaded with features that make them the perfect companion for the iPhone and its other devices. The company has consistently put out the most natural-sounding transparency mode and new tricks enabled by the H2 chip, like Adaptive Audio, have made the year-old model even better. Great sound quality and solid ANC performance are also part of the appeal.

Wrap-up

The QuietComfort Earbuds II were already the best true wireless model Bose had ever built, mostly due to their superior active noise cancellation. Add spatial audio that doesn’t require you to jump through any extra hoops to use and the QC Ultra Earbuds are immediately a worthwhile upgrade. Sure, there’s still work to be done on things like transparency mode, call quality and built-in wireless charging. But perhaps for the first time, Bose has a set of earbuds that can compete with the best sonically and not just purely on its noise-blocking merits.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-review-spatial-audio-makes-all-the-difference-140057701.html?src=rss

Windows’ Copilot AI starts rolling out September 26

Despite it nominally being a Surface-centric event, Microsoft sure spent a lot of time talking about AI on Thursday. “We believe it has the potential to help you be more knowledgeable, more productive, more creative, more connected to the people and things around you,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the assembled crowd of reporters. “We think there’s also an opportunity beyond work and life to have one experience that works across your entire life.” To that end, Microsoft announced that its CoPilot AI, which currently exists in various iterations in the Edge browser, Microsoft 365 platform and Windows, will be bundled into a single, unified and ubiquitous generative AI assistant across all of Microsoft’s products — from Powerpoint to Teams.

“It’s kind of like your PC now it’s kind of becoming your CP. We believe Copilot will fundamentally transform the relationship with technology and user in a new era of personal computing, the age of Copilots,” Nadella said. He also noted that the new AI will also have the “power to harness all your work data and intelligence,” inferring that the system will be tunable to a customer’s personal data silo.

Microsoft has been at the forefront of the generative AI revolution since the debut of ChatGPT last November. The company has spent years and millions of dollars in R&D working on the technology, including purchasing GitHub in 2019 and dramatically expanding its ongoing partnership with OpenAI that past January.

“It’s starting roll out on September 26th, informed by what you’re doing on your PC,” Yusuf Mehdi, CVP Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, said on stage. The AI will arrive as part of the new Windows 11 release, which Medhi confirmed will “have over 150 new features and be the biggest update since it was first released.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Follow all of the news live from Microsoft’s 2023 Surface event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/windows-copilot-ai-starts-rolling-out-september-26-143148644.html?src=rss

‘Everywhere’ gameplay trailer shows off an ambitious sandbox with a Fortnite aesthetic

Build a Rocket Boy has unveiled a new trailer for Everywhere, an ambitious sandbox title that will enable players to build their own experiences and explore others. If that sounds a bit like Fortnite on the surface, just wait until you see the art style. It looks very much like Epic’s game, right down to the stylized character models.

The clip provides the first look at gameplay. It’s clear Everywhere has much more to offer than shooting and driving around pretty landscapes — the trailer shows a skeeball game and one character dodging obstacles in a gauntlet. It puts a heavy onus on the building aspect too, via the narration and some of the creative tools it shows off.

Build a Rocket Boy, which is led by former GTA producer Leslie Benzies, says the trailer shows off some of the “scale and variety” of what Everywhere has to offer. It says the project “seamlessly blends gameplay, adventure, creativity and discovery in an all-new multi-world gaming experience that redefines how players connect with one another and the digital world around them,” according to VGC.

The studio announced Everywhere at Gamescom 2022 and it said at the time that the game would arrive sometime this year. There’s no release date as yet, but Build a Rocket Boy plans to host a closed alpha test soon. You can create an account and claim your username now to have a shot at taking part in the first PC test.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/everywhere-gameplay-trailer-shows-off-an-ambitious-sandbox-with-a-fortnite-aesthetic-140222957.html?src=rss

Microsoft Surface 2023 liveblog: Live updates on the Surface Pro, Laptop, Studio and AI

It’s been an AI-heavy year for Microsoft, following the explosive launch of Bing’s ChatGPT-powered AI chat. Today, Microsoft has even more AI news to drop alongside its annual refresh of Surface PCs. While the hype may be low, we’re expecting to see the a lot of new hardware today. Judging from the most recent batch of rumors, we’ll be hearing about the Surface Laptop Studio 2, Surface Laptop Go 3 and Surface Go 4 today. It’s also a great time for Microsoft to update the Surface Pro with Intel’s latest chips (and perhaps deliver a better 5G option than the Arm-powered Surface Pro 9).

Microsoft’s Surface event kicks off at 10AM Eastern today, and we’re here in attendance, ready to bring you every announcement as it happens, so follow along with our live coverage below! Unfortunately, there’s no livestream, but the company says there will be a recording of the event available later today.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-surface-2023-liveblog-live-updates-130031998.html?src=rss

Octopath Traveler 2 arrives on Xbox in early 2024

When Octopath Traveler 2 launched earlier this year, Microsoft’s consoles were noticeably missing from the list of supported platforms. Now, at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix has revealed that the game is making its way to Xbox One, Series X and Series S sometime in early 2024. Xbox’s Sarah Bond introduced Square Enix VP Yu Miyake during the event and also revealed that the platform has more than doubled its number of Japanese games over the past five years.

The high definition 2D pixel-based game that’s reminiscent of a different era in gaming came out in February for the Switch, the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5 and Steam. It built on the strengths of its predecessor, with its new battle dynamics and game mechanism, but we still found its eight storylines too disconnected to make us feel a meaningful connection between the characters. Still, we thought it was a pretty game with better cinematic cutscenes than the first entry of the series and a polished soundtrack.

Square Enix and Xbox don’t have an exact date for the game’s release just yet. But it doesn’t come as a surprise that Xbox is getting it much later than other consoles, seeing as the first Octopath Traveler didn’t become available for the Xbox One until three years after it launched.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/octopath-traveler-2-arrives-on-xbox-in-early-2024-121817577.html?src=rss

Dead Space co-creator leaves Callisto Protocol studio after it flopped

Glen Schofield, the co-creator of survival horror game Dead Space, has is leaving Striking Distance Studios. He will be replaced by current Chief Development Officer Steve Papoutsis as CEO. Schofield conceptualized Dead Space when he was with EA, before leaving the company and founding a couple of game studios. One of them is Striking Distance, where he created The Callisto Protocol, which people have been calling the spiritual successor to Dead Space since it was still in development. Like the older game, Callisto is also in the survival horror genre, except it was generally panned by critics.

Engadget’s Jessica Conditt was optimistic after playing an hour-long preview of the title, which turned out to be best portion of the game that suffered from glitches and unwieldy mechanics as a whole. Meanwhile, the Dead Space remake EA released shortly after Callisto’s launch won over critics and old fans alike.

Striking Distance Studios’ parent company Krafton, which had poured over $160 million into the game’s development, was originally hoping to sell 5 million copies of Callisto this year. However, it lowered its expectations to 2 million units after seeing how it performed in its first few weeks. The company likely won’t be able to recoup its losses and has laid off employees over the past months.

Krafton told Bloomberg, though, that Schofield’s departure is voluntary and that he intends to “pursue new opportunities.” Striking Distance’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer are also leaving the company voluntarily, the company said. It’s unclear where Schofield is headed next: His LinkedIn still lists the studio as his current place of employment. “Creating Striking Distance Studios has been an incredible journey and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved with The Callisto Protocol, a game close to my heart,” he said in a statement. “While pursuing a new adventure is exciting, leaving SDS is bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dead-space-co-creator-leaves-callisto-protocol-studio-after-it-flopped-115021265.html?src=rss

US brings back free at-home COVID-19 tests as cases continue to spike

The United States government is once again providing free COVID-19 tests following a summer that saw cases spike and the cost of at-home tests fall on individuals. Starting Monday, September 25, every household can request four free COVID-19 tests through the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) site COVID.gov. The tests are intended for use through the end of 2023, with the HHS noting that previously distributed tests have extended expiration dates displayed here.

A previous program to supply free COVID-19 tests stopped in May following the end of the public health emergency. In that time, the government claims to have been restoring its stockpile. However, $600 million is now going towards the manufacturing of COVID-19 tests and subsequent purchase of 200 million for at-home use. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the free tests and further investment while getting his COVID-19 booster at an event in Washington, DC. “These critical investments will strengthen our nation’s production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus,” Becerra said in a statement.

COVID-19 cases across the US started to increase in early July after months of decline. In the week of September 3 to 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported hospital admissions increased by 7.7 percent to 20,538, and deaths due to COVID-19 increased by 4.5 percent to 2.3 percent.

Two-plus months after the spike began, the HHS has acted and addressed the common sentiment of being “done” with the virus — despite its continued existence. “We know, if past is prologue, it’ll circulate to a higher degree and spread, and cases will go up in the fall and winter seasons,” Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, said in a statement. “Anticipating that that would be true again, or something similar, we want to make sure the American people have these tools.” The new COVID-19 boosters are also rolling out across the country, with the CDC recommending everyone six months or older get the latest shot.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-brings-back-free-at-home-covid-19-tests-as-cases-continue-to-spike-122441678.html?src=rss

Apple’s new AirPods Pro with USB-C charging case are already $50 off

With the big switch to USB-C on the iPhone 15, Apple also made the same change to its latest AirPods Pro wireless ANC headphones, with a USB-C charging case. They only just came out over a week ago, but you can already grab them on sale for $200 at Amazon — a very solid 20 percent discount.

The switch to a USB-C charging case for the AirPods Pro was telegraphed well in advance thanks to various leaks, and we even saw a homemade version from the same guy who adapted an older iPhone to USB-C. The update should (eventually) eliminate a lot of cable clutter, and you can even charge the earbuds directly from an iPhone 15.

Along with the new port, Apple also upgraded both the case and earbuds weatherproofing, boosting the rating from IPX4 to IP54 with dust protection. The new model carries the same H2 chip as the Vision Pro headset, so it will support low-latency lossless audio in that device when it launches next year. That did create some controversy, though, as the previous AirPods Pro with a Lightning charging case won’t work with Vision Pro.

Otherwise, they’re much the same as the previous 2nd-generation version. Compared to the first-gen AirPods Pro, they offer better audio quality and active noise cancellation (ANC) performance. They have the most natural-sounding transparency mode of any we’ve tested, meaning you can hear yourself so well you don’t need to shout, and at times, it sounds like you aren’t even wearing them. Conveniences like hands-free access to Siri, seamless switching between iCloud-connected devices and the added volume control also come in handy.

If you already have the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro it’s probably not worth getting these. But if you’re in the market for a new pair, $50 off is a stellar deal for such a new product — but the sale probably won’t last long.

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/apples-new-airpods-pro-with-usb-c-charging-case-are-already-50-off-104504086.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Amazon turns Alexa into a more conversational chatbot for your home

Amid a barrage of Amazon-branded tablets and Alexa-powered tech, Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices and Services, announced the company’s digital assistant will soon tap into a purpose-built large language model (LLM) for almost every new Echo device.

Amazon set out to design the LLM based on five foundational capabilities. One of these is ensuring interactions are “conversational,” and the company claimed it “studied what it takes to make a great conversation. It’s not just words; it’s body language, it’s understanding who you’re addressing, it’s eye contact and gestures.” Still waiting on Amazon to add eyes and hand gestures to its Echo devices. Has anyone seen Astro recently?

Based on the demos at Amazon’s showcase, however, it’s got some work to do. When Limp asked Alexa to compose a quick message to invite friends over for BBQ, the assistant requested his friends’ attendance for “BBQ chicken and sides” — which is how we invite humans over for dinner, right? Alexa also outright ignored the Amazon SVP’s requests at points during the presentation, but I’ll put those issues down to the fraught nature of voice assistant demos in a live setting. We’ve pulled all of Amazon’s announcements together right here.

— Mat Smith

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Apple Watch Series 9 review

Freedom from touching your screen.

Engadget

With the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple is introducing a new method of interaction: Double Tap. It’s also rolling out on-device Siri processing, which will let you ask the assistant for your health data and to log your daily stats. When both hands, or at least your watch hand, are occupied, Double Tap will obviously not be helpful. You’ll need to have at least your thumb and index finger available to pinch. But when Engadget’s Cherlynn Low is cleaning her apartment, holding a side plank, raising a single dumbbell or reading a book, it makes her life easier. Also, it’s worth noting that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are the company’s first carbon-neutral products. Read on for our full verdict.

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MGM says its hotels and casinos are back up and running

But the full damage of the attack remains unclear.

All MGM Resorts hotels and casinos are back up and running as normal, nine days after a cyberattack shut down systems across the company. The ALPHV ransomware group took credit for the attack shortly after systems went offline. The group claimed it used social engineering tactics, using a bit of LinkedIn knowledge and a short phone call to access crucial systems across casinos. Worryingly, the attacks both started through identity management vendor Okta – and at least three other Okta clients have been hit by cyberattacks, according to a Reuters report.

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Amazon debuts Eye Gaze accessibility features on the Fire Max 11 tablet

It’s also bringing on-screen translations to Alexa calls on its smart displays.

Amazon

Amazon announced two new accessibility features coming to its devices later this year. First is Eye Gaze on Alexa, which will let those with mobility or speech disabilities use their gaze to perform preset actions on the Fire Max 11 tablet. This is the first time Amazon has worked on gaze-based navigation of its devices, and it will use the camera on the Max 11 to keep track of where a user is looking. The preset actions include smart home controls, media playback and making calls. Eye Gaze will be available on the Max 11 later this year at no additional cost, although the company did not otherwise elaborate on how Eye Gaze actually works.

Amazon is also adding a new Call Translation feature that will transcribe Alexa calls on Echo Show devices. It can convert them into over 10 languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The feature will also launch later this year.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-amazon-turns-alexa-into-a-more-conversational-chatbot-for-your-home-111539413.html?src=rss