Category: Technology

Disney+ has Star Wars and Paramount+ has Star Trek, so it’s about time Amazon gets its own sci-fi franchise with “star” in the title. Prime Video has just greenlit a TV revival of the iconic Stargate franchise, according to a report by Deadline. This will be the fourth major TV show in the series, following the first movie.

We don’t know anything about the plot and where it fits into the decades-long mythology but we do know that the showrunner is Martin Gero. He’s a veteran of the IP, having cut his teeth in the industry while working on Stargate: Atlantis back in the early 2000s. He also created the show Blindspot and was showrunner on the recent reboot of Quantum Leap, which was actually kind of nifty (RIP.)

Franchise creators Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich are on board as executive producers, as are Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi. That last duo were behind most of the Stargate TV projects, including the most recent live action show Stargate Universe.

This makes a lot of sense for Prime Video. Amazon did recently buy MGM, after all, and the Stargate IP came along with that purchase. It’s not the first time the platform will have dabbled with science fiction. Prime Video most famously saved The Expanse after it was originally cancelled by SyFy. There are three more books in that series that have yet to be adapted. Just saying.

For the uninitiated, the Stargate franchise involves the titular Stargates. These are transportation devices created by ancient aliens that act as galaxy-spanning wormholes. It all started with a movie from 1994.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/stargate-is-coming-back-to-tv-thanks-to-prime-video-200049713.html?src=rss 

Sling TV has won the first stage of a legal battle with Disney over the short-term passes that the streaming service introduced in August. The Dish Network-owned platform started offering daily ($5), weekend ($10) and weekly ($15) passes for its Sling Orange plan, which costs $46 on a monthly basis. 

Disney owns several channels that are offered through Sling TV platforms, including multiple ESPN channels and the Disney Channel. It did not take too kindly to the new offerings — Disney promptly filed a lawsuit over the short-term live TV passes, as well as an emergency request to halt them. As reported by Cord Cutters, US District Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed the latter motion after determining Disney failed to demonstrate “it would suffer irreparable harm” without the court’s immediate intervention.

“Disney hasn’t shown it has lost customers due to the passes,” Judge Subramanian wrote in an 11-page ruling, per The Verge. “The networks are being distributed in the same platform, in the same manner, that they always have, but to a broader array of Sling customers.”

A viewer might not want to sign up to a streaming service for an entire month if they only want to watch a single game (say, a winner-take-all soccer match in which a team scores three utterly sensational goals to take their country to the men’s World Cup for the first time in 28 years). However, Disney asserted that, under its agreement with Sling TV, the platform can only offer access to its channels to traditional subscribers. Under Disney’s interpretation, those are consumers who have recurring monthly subscriptions.

Judge Subramanian disagreed, pointing out that the contract defines a subscriber as “a person intentionally authorized by Dish to receive any level of video programming service or package of programming networks via the Sling Platform.” The judge added that, as far as a “subscriber” goes, “there’s no minimum subscription length or other terms specified” and the term refers to anyone who is entitled to receive “any level of video programming service or package of programming networks.” Judge Subramanian argued that this “broad definition clearly covers users of the passes at issue in this case.” 

Disney also claimed that the short-term passes would pull consumers away from its own standalone ESPN streaming service. The company offered up evidence to that end, but Judge Subramanian wrote that the documentation “doesn’t show that the passes siphon customers from ESPN Unlimited.” The judge added that, “if the passes do siphon customers from ESPN Unlimited, Disney hasn’t shown that those losses would not be quantifiable.”

While the short-term passes remain in place for now (with Sling TV offering $1 per day passes until November 30 to celebrate this initial victory), the breach-of-contract lawsuit Disney has filed will move forward. Judge Subramanian also pointed out that the current agreement between the two sides runs out within the next 12 months and they’re set to start renegotiating terms soon. So, if Disney wants to prohibit the short-term passes or have its networks excluded from them, it can try to hash that out in contract talks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/disney-fails-in-initial-bid-to-halt-sling-tvs-short-term-streaming-passes-175000436.html?src=rss 

As with most tech products, Black Friday sales are usually a good time to pick up any storage gear you’ve been eyeing. If you have a PC, PS5, gaming handheld or any other gadget that could use some extra space, we’re weeding out the junk and rounding up the best Black Friday SSD deals and other storage discounts we could already find. So far we’re seeing a handful of discounts on well-reviewed internal drives, portable SSDs and microSD cards, but we expect many more deals to pop up over the next few days, so we’ll update this post as we find more offers that are worth your time.

Best Black Friday microSD card deals

PNY microSD Express Card (256GB) for $50 at Amazon ($10 off): The only reason to buy a superfast microSD Express card right now is to expand the storage of a Nintendo Switch 2, which requires the newer format. In our guide to the best Switch 2 microSD cards, we found each model we tested to perform similarly in actual games, so your best bet is to buy whichever one you can find in stock at the lowest price. Nintendo has already announced that Samsung’s 256GB Express card will be available for “$20 off MSRP” on November 30, which should bring it down to $40. If you can wait to pounce on that offer, you should. But if you can’t for some reason, or if that deal quickly sells out, this is the lowest price we’ve tracked for PNY’s equivalent model.

SanDisk microSD Express Card (256GB) for $60 at Amazon ($8 off): Likewise, this discount matches the best price we’ve seen for SanDisk’s 256GB microSD Express card. Again, there isn’t much point in grabbing it as long as cheaper options are in stock, though this is technically the fastest all-around model we’ve tested when it comes to transferring games to and from the Switch 2’s built-in storage. (Within games, however, the difference is still minimal.) We’ll note it here just in case the other Express models completely sell out.

Best Black Friday internal SSD deals

SK Hynix Platinum P51 (1TB) PCIe 5.0 SSD for $110 at Newegg ($60 off): Most people don’t have to pay extra for the top-tier performance of a PCIe 5.0 SSD like the Platinum P51, but if you need something for more intense workloads or just want comfort of owning a more futureproof SSD, reviews around the web suggest this is one of the better options available. Just make sure you have a compatible motherboard first. This offer isn’t technically a Black Friday deal, as it expires on Thursday, but it ties the lowest price we’ve seen for the 1TB model. Use the code BNE4643 to get the full discount at checkout.

Crucial T710 (2TB) PCIe 5.0 SSD for $180 at Amazon ($120 off): The T710 is Crucial’s successor to the T705. Most reviews suggest it isn’t a massive leap over the older version in real-world performance, but it’s generally faster, and it’s a more noticeable improvement in terms of power efficiency. If you’re willing to spend a little bit extra, this discount is still within $10 of the best price we’ve seen for the 2TB variant. It’s usually retailed for $230 over the last couple of months. Also at Best Buy and B&H.

Crucial P310 (2TB) M.2 2230 SSD for $130 at Amazon ($110 off): The P310 is a small-size SSD you can slot in certain thin and light notebooks or gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck. It uses cheaper QLC memory, not the faster and more durable TLC, but most reviews say it performs well for what it is. This discount is a few bucks above the largest drop we’ve seen for the 2TB model, but it’s still about $20 off the drive’s usual street price. Also at B&H.

Best Black Friday portable SSD deals

Crucial X10 (1TB) portable SSD for $85 at Amazon ($13 off): The X10 is a newer iteration of the Crucial X10 Pro, which itself is a variant of the Crucial X9 Pro, the top pick in our guide to the best portable SSDs. It uses the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface, which few PCs and no Macs support, so most people won’t see a difference between it and more traditional USB 3.2 Gen 2 drives like the X9 Pro. (Pricier USB4 and Thunderbolt models, meanwhile, are much faster and generally easier to utilize.)

If the X10 is on sale for much less than the X9 Pro, however, there’s little reason to not buy it instead. That’s the case as of this writing. Plus, like our top pick, the X10 is rugged, impressively compact and fast enough for most people’s needs, though it doesn’t support hardware-based encryption. This deal is $3 more than the 1TB model’s all-time low but still $15 off its typical going rate. Other capacities are also on sale, including the extra spacious 8TB model for a new low of $385.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-best-black-friday-deals-on-ssds-and-other-storage-devices-we-can-find-175429637.html?src=rss 

European policymakers have proposed sweeping changes to the way the EU regulates the tech industry. In just the last few months, the likes of Meta and Google have questioned strict EU policies relating to privacy and AI expansion, but if the European Commission’s new package of proposals are passed, a number of big tech roadblocks will be removed. Or at least lifted up a bit. 

Changes to rules around AI, cybersecurity and data will, according to policymakers, generate growth for European businesses, while “promoting Europe’s highest standards of fundamental rights, data protection, safety and fairness.” Among the proposals are amendments to the AI Act that Google has recently expressed concerns about, which would allow AI companies to access shared personal data for training models.

It also wants to simplify paperwork for smaller companies, and to make AI literacy a requirement for member states. AI oversight would also be centralized into the AI Office where general-purpose AI models are being used, a move intended to “reduce governance fragmentation.” In addition, strict rules around the use of AI in areas deemed to be high-risk, which were expected to come in next summer, could be delayed until the Commission confirms that “the needed standards and support tools” are available to affected companies.

The infamous (and admittedly very annoying) cookie banners that are foundational to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will also be rethought under the Commission’s proposals. If approved, people would see these banners pop up with less regularity, give their consent with one click, and save their cookie preferences so they presumably could be automatically applied within a browser.

The European Commission’s “digital omnibus” now goes to the European Parliament for approval, where it could face serious opposition. While the proposals are likely to be welcomed by the rapidly-growing AI industry, sceptics could argue that watered down privacy and AI legislation is evidence of Europe bowing to pressure from big tech and Donald Trump, who has publicly criticized the EU’s digital regulation.

This would represent a marked turnaround from the EU’s long-standing reputation as the tech industry’s most stubborn adversary. Back in September, it rejected calls from Apple to repeal its Digital Markets Act (DMA), a legal framework that Apple has repeatedly been accused of violating by the EU. In the summer, Meta refused to sign the EU’s AI Code of Practice, with its global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, calling the code an “over-reach.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/european-policymakers-want-to-ease-ai-and-privacy-laws-171118149.html?src=rss