Category: Technology

Lamborghini, known for enabling many a mid-life crisis, revealed a new EV concept vehicle at Monterey Car Week, after teasing the announcement a few day ago. The all-electric Lamborghini Lanzador boasts all kinds of high-tech bells and whistles, with a design actually inspired by spaceships. This grand tourer (GT) vehicle features plenty of infotainment features, with a large Y-shaped center console bridge and a slim dashboard for making adjustments.

The driver also has instant access to climate controls and various digital functions via an integrated “pilot’s unit.” This unit also allows access to an array of driving modes via the company’s ANIMA control system. There’s even retractable displays that stream pertinent information to passengers regarding speed, distance, climate, entertainment and more.

As for the design, the driver and passenger sit low to the ground, as if in a jet, and are separated by that center console. The company says the interior is “unexpectedly roomy”, despite a roof height of around 1.5 meters, further increasing the car’s low-to-the-ground proportions. The rear space can be used to store luggage and other necessities, and there’s a concealed trunk under the front bonnet for more storage options.

Design is cool and all, but what about all of those internal speed-enhancing goodies? The Lanzador includes high-powered electric motors on each axle, with a peak power of over one megawatt. There’s all-wheel drive with e-torque on the rear axle for improved cornering. Lamborghini says it’s all powered by a “new generation high-performance battery” and ensures a long driving range, but didn’t announce the actual mileage per charge. The company also says that the car’s aerodynamic design should further increase real-world mileage.

Though strictly a concept car, Lamborghini says the Lanzador is not merely a “whim of designers and engineers” and provides a “concrete preview” of production vehicles that will begin rolling out in 2028. To that end, there’s an emphasis here on eco-friendly design materials, like Merino wool, sustainably tanned leather and recycled carbon. This also adds further proof that the company is serious about going all-electric by 2030.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lamborghinis-new-all-electric-concept-car-was-inspired-by-spaceships-174550629.html?src=rss 

Microsoft reportedly published — and retracted — an AI-generated article that recommended people visit a Canadian food bank as a tourist attraction. The article “Headed to Ottawa? Here’s what you shouldn’t miss!” included recommendations for catching a baseball game, honoring fallen soldiers at a war museum and… swinging by the Ottawa Food Bank. Paris Marx first called out the story on X (formerly Twitter). “People who come to us have jobs and families to support, as well as expenses to pay,” the AI-written section about the food bank section read. “Life is already difficult enough. Consider going into it on an empty stomach.”

Before its retraction, the article appeared on Microsoft Start, the company’s AI-aggregated news service that replaced Microsoft News in 2021. After The Vergereported on the article and its highly inappropriate recommendation about “going into it on an empty stomach,” Microsoft senior director Jeff Jones told the publication, “This article has been removed and we are investigating how it made it through our review process.”

The original URL now displays the message, “This page no longer exists. A new search page will load automatically.” The Verge uploaded screenshots of the initial story to Imgur.

The article’s author was listed merely as “Microsoft Travel,” suggesting real people may not have had any involvement in its creation. Microsoft Start’s “About Us” webpage claims it uses “human oversight” for the algorithms that “comb through hundreds of thousands of pieces of content sent by our partners” to help the company “understand dimensions like freshness, category, topic type, opinion content and potential popularity and publish according to user preferences.” The Windows maker reportedly laid off around 50 reporters from the division in 2020 while shifting to AI-generated news.

Microsoft is hardly the first company to get overzealous in its use of AI-created content. Early this year, CNET published numerous error-ridden financial explainer articles composed by artificial intelligence. More recently, Gizmodo’s parent company G/O Media posted an AI-composed (also mistake-filled) Star Wars article on the site, which deputy editor James Whitbrook called “embarrassing, unpublishable, disrespectful.” As the Associated Pressproceeds with measured caution on AI-assisted news coverage, other media outlets — including Microsoft’s news publishing wing — appear considerably more comfortable cashing in on fully AI-written articles, clearing the inevitable wreckage after the fact.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-retracts-ai-written-article-advising-tourists-to-visit-a-food-bank-on-an-empty-stomach-182701884.html?src=rss 

Google Keep, the company’s note-taking app, is getting a long-overdue feature that unfortunately doesn’t seem fully baked. Google is adding a version history function, which could save you from having to manually retype a lot of text that you mistakenly deleted.

The tool allows you to download a text file with previous versions of your notes and lists, according to a support page. The help document states that Google is gradually rolling out the feature to everyone, so it may not be live for you yet. When it is, you can access it on the Keep web app, by clicking on the three-dot menu at the bottom of a note.

As Android Police points out, Keep’s version history is only available on the web for now — you won’t be able to see previous versions of your notes on the Android or iOS apps just yet. What’s more, it doesn’t cover images, so if you deleted a photo from a note, you won’t be able to recover it using this option.

This is a fairly basic feature and it’s somewhat baffling that Google hasn’t offered it in Keep until now. After all, the company has long offered similar functions in Google Drive apps. The implementation is odd too. Rather than seeing the version history in the app and being able to revert to a previous incarnation of a note with a tap (like you can do in apps like Docs), having to download a file and copy text back in manually seems like a strange choice. That said, this is a step in the right direction for Keep.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-keep-is-finally-adding-version-history-154441384.html?src=rss 

You may have watched the original run of Twin Peaks so many times that you exclaim “damn fine coffee” each and every time you grab a cup, but have you ever played the story through the eyes of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper? You’ll soon be able to do just that via the magic of video games. A small French developer called Blue Rose Team has been prepping Twin Peaks: Into the Night for a while now, and it just dropped a demo of the fan-made game.

The graphics are retro and decidedly PS1-flavored, which makes sense given how the show premiered in 1990. The gameplay looks to be full of exploration, complete with conversations with the town’s many oddball residents, though there’s a survival horror element reminiscent of the original Resident Evil titles. This is also an appropriate design choice, as the show pits Agent Cooper against foes both physical and supernatural. You should expect appearances from the infamous one-armed man, the chaos agent Bob, nefarious former FBI agent Windom Earle and, of course, plenty of owls.

Beyond gameplay, there looks to be an array of video cutscenes culled from the show itself. The demo, released Tuesday, chronicles events from season one, in which Cooper arrives in Twin Peaks and begins unraveling the murder case of local teen Laura Palmer. The demo is filled with the kind of idiosyncratic quirks and metaphysical horror elements that made the OG show such a hit back in the day.

The creators have announced that the game will be free when it launches, so that should clear up any potential legal hurdles moving forward. David Lynch is busy doing his daily weather reports on YouTube or whatever, so he won’t complain, but ABC and Warner Bros. aren’t quite as chill as the filmmaker/painter/meditation enthusiast.

There’s no official release date, but the demo should keep you busy for a while. Oddly, this will be the very first Twin Peaks video game adaptation, though there’s a short VR experience. Despite never being officially adapted, the show has inspired plenty of games, from the Alan Wake series to a little-known title called The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. It also goes without saying that Twin Peaks: Into the Night doesn’t delve into the events of Showtime’s Twin Peaks: The Return, so don’t expect to control Jim Belushi.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fans-are-adapting-twin-peaks-into-a-ps1-style-adventure-game-and-theres-a-demo-163643462.html?src=rss 

This week’s best tech deals include the 9th-gen iPad on sale for $250, which ties the lowest price we’ve seen. While the 10.2-inch slate is showing its age design-wise, it’s still a good bargain for those who just need a tablet for the basics and want the most affordable Apple tablet possible. Elsewhere, Sony is still running a rare $50 discount on PlayStation 5, while Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max is within $2 of its best price to date. We’re also seeing all-time lows on the top picks in our gaming headset and microSD card buying guides, plus Apple’s third-gen AirPods. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today. 

Apple iPad (9th gen)

The 9th-gen Apple iPad is back down to $250 at Amazon, matching its all-time low. You should see the full discount at checkout. Apple sells the 10.2-inch tablet for $329, though we’ve regularly seen it retail closer to $275. 

The entry-level slate is certainly getting long in the tooth, as its non-laminated display, thick bezels and Lightning port give it an altogether more dated design than newer iPads. Its 64GB of storage is low, too. At this price, though, the 9th-gen iPad remains one of the better values in the tablet market, with a sturdy aluminum frame, 10 or so hours of battery life and fast-enough performance for casual media consumption. There’s always a chance Apple will introduce new iPads later this year, but if you just want the cheapest route into iPadOS, this model should be enough.

Astro A40 TR

The Astro A40 TR is on sale for $100, which is $30 off its usual street price and ties the lowest price we’ve seen. The A40 TR is the top pick in our guide to the best gaming headsets, as its open-back design gives it a more spacious and enveloping sound that most competitors. It emphasizes the bass, but not to an overwhelming degree, and it’s comfortable to wear to extended periods. That said, the built-in mic is just OK, and like any open-back headphone, the whole thing both leaks and lets in lots of outside noise, so it’s not ideal if you usually play in a noisy room. In general, you can get better value from a pair of “normal” wired headphones than a dedicated gaming headset unless you need a mic. If you really want an all-in-one solution, though, the A40 TR is a worthwhile compromise. 

Samsung Pro Plus

The Samsung Pro Plus is the top pick in our microSD card buying guide, and right now its 128GB, 256GB and 512GB models are down to $12, $20 and $35, respectively. Each of those deals match an all-time low. The Pro Plus technically isn’t the fastest microSD card you can buy, but at this price it’s a fantastic value for a Nintendo Switch, GoPro or Android tablet, as it topped all the cards we tested in sequential write speeds and random read/write performance. It also comes with a 10-year limited warranty.

Sony PlayStation 5

The PlayStation 5 is still on sale for $449 at various retailers, which is a $50 discount. We highlighted this deal when Sony kicked off its latest summer sale a couple of weeks ago, but the company says that is scheduled to end on August 19. Discounts for the PS5 have been exceedingly rare since the console arrived in late 2020, so consider this a last-minute PSA. We gave the device a review score of 87 at launch, though it’s become a much better value proposition over the last three years as it’s built out its games library.

Sony PlayStation 5 DualSense Controller

In other PS5 deals, the DualSense wireless controller is still on sale for $49 in various colors. Depending on which model you pick, that’s $20 or $25 off. This matches the lowest outright discount we’ve seen for the gamepad, which is also compatible with Steam. Elsewhere, console covers for the PS5 are down to $45 at the PlayStation Direct store. That’s a $10 discount. 

PS5 and PS4 exclusive game sale

A number of PlayStation-exclusive games we recommend are discounted as well, including God of War Ragnarök for $49 and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales for $20. The thrilling roguelike Returnal and the charming action game Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart are both down to $29, while the open-world samurai game Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is available for a buck more. Elsewhere, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is on sale for $19, while a PS4 copy of Horizon Forbidden West (which includes a free upgrade to the digital PS5 version) is down to $29. We’ve seen all of these deals before, but if you need something new to play, each matches or at least comes within a few dollars of the lowest price we’ve seen. 

Anker 622 Magnetic Battery

The Anker 622 Magnetic Battery is back on sale for $40, which isn’t quite an all-time low but still comes in $10 below the device’s typical street price. This portable wireless charger has a slim frame that snaps easily onto the back of a MagSafe-compatible iPhone. It also includes a built-in kickstand for propping your phone up. This deal applies to the “Upgraded Version” of the battery, with a USB-C port on the side; an older variant places that port on the bottom, which is a bit less convenient for pass-through charging. Just note that, like many wireless power packs, the 622 can’t deliver a particularly fast charge (only 7.5W), nor does it have a high capacity (5,000mAh). It can get hot, too. Still, if you want a truly cable-free way to extend an iPhone’s battery on the go, it’s a decent value at this price.

Apple AirPods (3rd gen)

The third-gen Apple AirPods are back down to $140, tying its all-time low. Apple sells the wireless earbuds for $169, though we often see them go for $10 or $20 less elsewhere. This open-back pair has a more balanced sound than most unsealed earbuds, with more bass depth than usual (albeit not a ton). There’s no ANC, as expected, but you still get wireless charging, relatively intuitive touch controls and the usual Apple-friendly features like fast pairing and Find My tracking. Just note that the earpieces are a little large, so they may not fit well with certain ear shapes. This set is also pricey, and like any other open-back pair, it doesn’t isolate much outside noise. Still, if you own an iPhone and hate the feeling of traditional in-ear headphones, it might work. We gave the AirPods a score of 88 in late 2021.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is down to $27, which is $2 more than the lowest price we’ve seen but still roughly $20 below the 4K streamer’s usual street price. This is Amazon’s fastest streaming stick, with support for all the necessary apps and HDR standards, plus Alexa voice controls built into its remote. We generally prefer Roku’s and Google’s respective streaming platforms over Amazon’s Fire OS, as the latter is more aggressive about displaying ads and promoting Amazon’s own content across the UI. But if you just want an affordable device for casual 4K streaming, or if you regularly use Amazon services like Prime Video, this is a fine option. 

Amazon Echo Studio

The Amazon Echo Studio is on sale for $160, which is a $40 discount and within $5 of the smart speaker’s all-time low. This is the largest and best-sounding option in Amazon’s Echo lineup. Though we recommend the newer Sonos Era 100 to most people looking for an audio-focused smart speaker, the Echo Studio is still a strong alternative for those who want to save some cash or add a centerpiece to an existing set of Echo devices.

Logitech Litra Glow

The Logitech Litra Glow is back down to $50, which is a deal we’ve seen a few times before but still takes $10 off the device’s usual going rate. The Litra Glow is a USB-powered video light we recommend in our guide to the best game-streaming gear, as we found it to deliver relatively soft and pleasant lighting without harsh edges or shadows. The hardware clips onto the top of a monitor and is easy to rotate or tilt, and you can customize the lighting’s brightness and color temperature through built-in control buttons or Logitech’s companion software. While Logitech markets the device toward content creators, it can also be useful for those who frequently have to take Zoom calls in a room with poor natural lighting. 

Instant Pot Duo (3-quart)

If you’ve been thinking about jumping on the Instant Pot bandwagon, the 3-quart Instant Pot Duo is now on sale for $60, or $20 below its typical street price. While that’s not an all-time low, it does match the best price we’ve seen in 2023. We recommend this smaller variant to those who want an electric pressure cooker for individual use or smaller kitchens in our Instant Pot buying guide. It’s one of the more basic options available, but it’s still easy to operate, and it comes with modes for sautéing, slow cooking, steaming and making rice or yogurt, among others. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

The 256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is down to $900 at Amazon with an on-page coupon, which is a $100 discount for a phone that only went on sale earlier this month. If you shop at Amazon regularly, you can also get the foldable phone with a $150 Amazon gift card, but you’ll have to pay the standard $1,000 MSRP. We gave the Galaxy Z Flip 5 a review score of 88 earlier this month, and we currently list it as the “best foldable for selfies” in our guide to the best smartphones. The big upgrades are a larger 3.4-inch cover display that’s more useful for quickly checking notifications or using apps and a redesigned hinge that lets the device fold flat. You still give up some battery life and camera performance compared to more traditional flagship phones around this price, and like any foldable device, you have to take extra care when handling it. But if the idea of a phone you can fold in half appeals to you, this is the new leader in that market. 

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-102-inch-ipad-drops-to-250-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-151827317.html?src=rss 

Only a few months after they first came out, the Beats Studio Buds + are down to an all-time low price. The company’s latest noise-canceling headphones are 24 percent off at Woot, dropping from $170 to $130. While you shop, it’s important to keep in mind that, though Amazon owns Woot, it has a different return policy.

We gave the Beats Studio Buds + an 84 in our review when they launched. A few of the new features impressed us, but the price increase from $150 to $170 seemed a bit steep for the product — something this deal more than makes up for. Updates rolled out with the Beats Studio Buds + included 16 percent more battery life, three times bigger microphones and acoustic vents added to the front and side. As a whole, the sound quality and noise canceling are both better than its predecessor. Plus, the placement of the headphones’ control button has moved to avoid accidentally pressing it while adjusting their fit (a big problem plaguing the originals).

At the same time, a few things are lacking from the Beats Studio Buds +, such as automatic pausing, wireless charging and a sound that — while improved — doesn’t measure up to competitors like AirPods. But, if you want solid headphones for a decent price, these are certainly a good option. The markdown will be available on Woot for the next four days or until they sell out of their stock.

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/beats-studio-buds–are-40-off-right-now-095517251.html?src=rss 

Checkers and Rally’s restaurants have launched the first Spanish ordering system that uses AI, Checkers restaurants announced. The system from a company called Hi Auto is already in use at 350 of those restaurants, following two months of beta testing at five locations. The service allows for a more “inclusive environment” by accommodating Spanish speakers, the company said, but it remains to be seen whether customers or employees will embrace it.

The system takes orders via a virtual assistant and detects the customer’s language spoken, automatically switching between English and Spanish. Hi Auto says it has “unique customization capabilities” that let franchises easily scale the system up. The company promises to streamline ordering with a greater than 95 percent order accuracy rate.

“Our expanded partnership with Checkers and Rally’s represents a huge breakthrough for the country’s Spanish-speaking and bilingual communities, and allows every restaurant to cater to the Spanish speaking population at any time,” said Hi Auto CEO Roy Baharav.

AI drive-through order-taking is a unique challenge, however, thanks to an environment that tends to be noisy and chaotic. “You may think driving by and speaking into a drive-thru is an easy problem for AI, but it’s actually one of the hardest,” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian recently told The Wall Street Journal in reference to the company’s recent collaboration with Wendy’s. And the tech isn’t necessarily reliable, either. The WSJ reported that three people out of 10 using AI systems asked to speak with a human employee due to errors or the desire to speak to a person.

Hi Auto is up against some giants, as well. One of the first companies to look at the tech was McDonald’s, which teamed up with IBM to accelerate its own AI ordering systems, and starting testing them in 10 Chicago-area restaurants last year. It’s also competing with Google Cloud, which is testing its systems at White Castle on top of Wendy’s.

The system does offer features restaurant chains want, though. It can “upsell relentlessly” on items like deserts and french fries, resulting in higher orders, according to CNN. It may also allow restaurants to cut employees, boosting their bottom lines but reducing the number of jobs available to young people. That said, the restaurant with the highest customer service marks last year was Chick-fil-A, thanks in part to its face-to-face human ordering system, according to a recent survey from Intouch Insight.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rallys-and-checkers-are-using-ai-chatbots-for-spanish-language-food-orders-090931426.html?src=rss 

White noise podcast creators on Spotify are making serious money, and the audio streaming service was reportedly not happy about it and tried to cut them off. According to Bloomberg, it has viewed an internal document revealing that podcasts with white noise content, such as the sounds of waves, vacuums and whirring fans, accounted for a total of 3 million consumption hours on the platform every single day. That was made possible by Spotify’s algorithm inadvertently pushing these types of content to its listeners as part of its efforts to become the go-to app for podcasts. 

Previously, Bloombergreported that white noise podcasters were making as $18,000 a month. A lot of creators on the platform, not just those broadcasting white noise, use Spotify’s free hosting software Anchor to publish their shows. Spotify purchased Anchor back in 2019, and in addition to helping creators make and distribute their podcasts, it can also monetize their content. 

While white noise podcasts turned out to be a hit with listeners, they apparently don’t make Spotify as much money as other types of programming. The company reportedly considered removing them altogether and preventing future uploads in the category. Plus, it thought of altering its algorithm to recommend “comparable programming” that’s more economical for Spotify. Doing all those would raise the company’s annual gross profit by $38 million. The news organization didn’t say if Spotify elaborated on what it meant by “comparable programming” in the internal document, but they could be other types of content meant to induce and improve sleep, as well as to help calm anxiety, which is what white noise is typically used for. 

A thread on the Spotify subreddit posted a couple of months ago show multiple users complaining that the white noise podcasts they listen to had disappeared. Bloomberg also talked to a creator who said their content had vanished for a few weeks before being reinstated. Spotify didn’t confirm whether it temporarily pulled white noise podcasts from its service, but it told the news organization that ultimately, “[t]he proposal in question did not come to fruition” and that it continues “to have white noise podcasts on [its] platform.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-almost-removed-white-noise-podcasts-to-save-money-065639545.html?src=rss 

Amazon has started testing a new star rating system in specific regions that makes it harder to gauge how buyers are liking a specific product. Android Police has spotted the the experimental system on the company’s mobile app in India, its German website and its global website when accessed from Germany. We couldn’t replicate what the publication has seen on the US website, but it looks like the test replaces the website’s weighted average rating that’s typically shown through an image with five stars. Instead of that illustration, buyers see a single yellow star next to the product image with the percentage of 5-star ratings it had received. 

People wouldn’t be able to tell at a glance whether a product’s average rating is 5 or 3.5, because it’s represented by a single yellow star in both cases. It’s also not immediately visible how many reviews a product has received so far, seeing as the new system only shows the percentage of 5-star ratings. As the publication notes, this makes it easier for sellers to dupe potential buyers by unscrupulously looking for ways to get 5-star reviews to counteract the negative ones. 

That said, Amazon hasn’t completely removed ratings breakdown and details. Potential buyers who look at the number of reviews a product has gotten and not just its average score can click through to see its ratings breakdown on the product page. It’s not ideal and could make picking a product to buy longer than it should take, but at least the option exists. When asked, an Amazon spokesperson didn’t confirm the experimental feature and simply told The Verge: “We are always innovating on behalf of customers to provide the best possible shopping experience.” Testing a feature doesn’t always lead to a wide release, though, and Amazon might make changes to this rating system if it does decide to implement it. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-reportedly-testing-a-confusing-star-rating-system-045945281.html?src=rss