Category: Technology

Beleaguered video game giant Electronic Arts has agreed to a $55 billion acquisition that will take the company private. Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners have reached a deal to buy EA, the company said in a statement. 

Some details about the proposed arrangement surfaced over the weekend. The deal, the largest-ever leveraged buyout, according to Bloomberg, marks the end of EA’s 35-year run as a publicly traded company. “Our creative and passionate teams at EA have delivered extraordinary experiences for hundreds of millions of fans, built some of the world’s most iconic IP, and created significant value for our business,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement. “This moment is a powerful recognition of their remarkable work.”

EA hasn’t been immune from the forces that have upended the games industry. Last year, the company laid off more than 650 employees, which it labeled an attempt at “streamlining” its business. This year, the company has canceled an upcoming Black Panther game and closed the studio behind it, and has reportedly “shelved” its Need For Speed Franchise.

The company said it expects the deal to close sometime in the first quarter of 2027, noting that it will need regulatory approvals. EA said that Wilson will continue as CEO and that its Redwood City, California headquarters will not change. In a statement Silver Lake Co-CEO Egon Durban said that the group plans to “invest heavily” in the video game company and help it “expand its reach worldwide.” Silver Lake is also part of the forthcoming deal to spin off the US version of TikTok into a new, American-owned company. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ea-confirms-it-will-go-private-in-55-billion-acquisition-133841614.html?src=rss 

Snap is imposing a new storage limit on Snapchat‘s Memories feature, which has racked up impressive numbers since its introduction in 2016. According to Snap, users have saved more than one trillion Memories across its platform, and it’s now introducing “Memories Storage Plans” for users who exceed 5GB of Memories.

In a press release, Snap detailed that the introductory storage plan allows up to 100GB of storage for Memories for $1.99 a month. Snapchat+ subscribers, who pay $3.99 a month, will get up to 250GB of storage, while Snapchat’s highest-tier Platinum subscribers will get 5TB included with their $15.99 monthly cost.

Snap said that a “vast majority” of its Snapchat users won’t notice any changes since they’re far from hitting the 5GB limit. For users who hold onto thousands of Snaps, the company is now rolling out these storage plans. To ease the transition from unlimited storage to paid options, Snap will give anyone exceeding 5GB of Memories a year of temporary storage. These new storage subscriptions follow Snap’s latest paid option for its Lens+ subscription, which costs $9 a month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/snapchat-introduces-a-paid-storage-option-for-all-the-memories-hoarders-out-there-203013294.html?src=rss 

Business Insider has obtained the guidelines that Meta contractors are reportedly now using to train its AI chatbots, showing how it’s attempting to more effectively address potential child sexual exploitation and prevent kids from engaging in age-inappropriate conversations. The company said in August that it was updating the guardrails for its AIs after Reuters reported that its policies allowed the chatbots to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” which Meta said at the time was “erroneous and inconsistent” with its policies and removed that language. 

The document, which Business Insider has shared an excerpt from, outlines what kinds of content are “acceptable” and “unacceptable” for its AI chatbots. It explicitly bars content that “enables, encourages, or endorses” child sexual abuse, romantic roleplay if the user is a minor or if the AI is asked to roleplay as a minor, advice about potentially romantic or intimate physical contact if the user is a minor, and more. The chatbots can discuss topics such as abuse, but cannot engage in conversations that could enable or encourage it. 

The company’s AI chatbots have been the subject of numerous reports in recent months that have raised concerns about their potential harms to children. The FTC in August launched a formal inquiry into companion AI chatbots not just from Meta, but other companies as well, including Alphabet, Snap, OpenAI and X.AI.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-has-introduced-revised-guardrails-for-its-ai-chatbots-to-prevent-inappropriate-conversations-with-children-200444230.html?src=rss 

Martin Shkreli, better known as Pharma Bro for his price-gouging antics with AIDS medication Daraprim, is going to have to defend against claims of misappropriating trade secrets with the unique Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Earlier this week, US District Court Judge Pamela Chen wrote in a decision that Shkreli has to face a lawsuit that accuses him of improperly saving copies and playing the one-of-a-kind album for followers, which reduced its value and exclusivity.

The lawsuit was filed by PleasrDAO — which, according to its own website, is a collective of people involved with cryptocurrency, NFTs and digital art. Once Upon a Time in Shaolin has a strange ownership history, starting with Shkreli purchasing the one-of-one studio album in 2015 for $2 million. After a fraud conviction, Shkreli had to forfeit his assets, including the album, leading to PleasrDAO acquiring it in a government auction for $4 million.

On top of the album’s highly exclusive nature, it has a condition where it can’t be “commercially exploited for 88 years” by any subsequent owners. The collective’s argument stems from claims that Shkreli admitted in livestreams that he made copies of the album and played it for his followers, even allegedly posting “LOL i have the mp3s you moron” in response to a member of PleasrDAO posting a photo of the album. If PleasrDAO wins the case, Shkreli will have to give up any copies of the album, as well as provide info on all copies, who they were distributed to and what profits he made from it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/martin-shkreli-has-to-face-claims-of-copying-one-of-a-kind-wu-tang-clan-album-174730388.html?src=rss 

The latest Apple silicon is about to hit the assembly lines, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman. In the latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple “is nearing mass production of its next MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs and two new Mac monitors.” Gurman added that these upgraded products are scheduled for release sometime between the end of this year and the first quarter of next year.

Earlier this year, Gurman noted that Apple was expected to start production on the M5 MacBook Pro during the second half of 2025. All signs seem to point toward Apple following its typical release schedule, where the latest MacBook Pro makes its fall debut, followed by the reveal of the upgraded MacBook Air in the spring. However, Gurman previously mentioned in a July edition of his newsletter that “Apple is now internally targeting a launch early next year” for the MacBook Pro instead.

Beyond the upcoming MacBooks, we’re expecting one of the two Mac monitors to be the upgraded Studio Display. First released in March 2022, Apple’s Studio Display could use a refresh, which some rumors say will include a mini-LED display, along with overall improvements to brightness and color quality.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/apple-is-reportedly-nearing-production-for-its-latest-m5-powered-macbooks-154148070.html?src=rss 

With iOS 26, Apple has expanded its native call recording feature with transcripts, Live Translation, summaries and tighter integration with Notes. It’s a more polished and useful tool than before, especially if you rely on your iPhone for interviews, meetings or important conversations.

Call recording itself first arrived with iOS 18.1 in October 2024. The feature has always been region- and language-dependent, and that hasn’t changed. If it’s available where you live, you can capture calls directly from the Phone app without third-party apps or hardware. If it’s not, there are still alternative methods worth knowing about. Here’s how it works, plus what to do if the option isn’t available in your country.

How to check if call recording is available

First, confirm that the feature is supported in your region. Apple maintains a feature availability page that lists countries where call recording isn’t offered, including the European Union, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. If your country is on that list, you won’t see the option in the Phone app.

Before recording your phone call, you’ll need the consent of the person on the other end of the line. When you start recording, both parties hear an audio notice stating that the call is being recorded.

How to record a call on iPhone

Recording a call is straightforward:

Open the Phone app.

Start or answer a call.

During the call, tap the More button.

Select Call Recording.

The call continues as normal, but the iPhone automatically saves the audio once you hang up or tap Stop. You’ll find all recordings in iOS’ native Notes app, inside a folder called Call Recordings.

How to play back, manage and delete recordings

To listen back, open Notes, go to the Call Recordings folder, and tap the file you want. Tap Play to hear it.

From here, you can:

Search: Tap the More button and select Find in Transcript.

Copy: Tap the More button and select Add Transcript to Note or Copy Transcript.

Save: Tap the More button and select Save Audio Files, then select where you want to save recording (another folder or app).

Share: Tap the More button and select Share Audio, then select how you want to share the recording

Delete: Tap the More button and select Delete. This deletes the recording and any related transcript.

How to transcribe your calls

If your region and language are supported, iOS 26 also transcribes calls. Open a recording in Notes, then tap Show Transcript and Summary. Processing might take a few moments, but once it’s ready, you’ll see the conversation broken down by speaker. From there, you can search the text, copy it into another note or tap a line to jump to that part of the audio. Apple warns transcripts may not be flawless, so double check to make sure important details are correct.

Apple Intelligence summaries

With Apple Intelligence switched on, you’ll also get a generated summary of the call. This is handy if you only need the highlights — for example, the action items from a meeting or the main points of an interview. Summaries appear alongside the transcript in Notes.

How to turn off call recording

By default, call recording is enabled on supported devices. If you don’t want the option at all, navigate to Settings, select Apps, then Phone, tap Call Recording and toggle it off.

Alternatives if call recording isn’t available

If you’re in a region where the built-in feature doesn’t appear, or you’re running a previous version of iOS, there are still other ways to record calls.

In the US, federal law dictates one-party consent. This means you can record a phone call as long as you are actively participating in the conversation. However, it is important that you check state laws (in the US) or relevant laws in your country before recording a phone call. Note that these options don’t integrate with Apple Notes or Apple Intelligence, but they give you a backup if the official method isn’t supported where you live.

Rev Call Recorder (US only) is free to use on your iPhone. There are no in-app ads or time constraints, allowing you to record high-quality audio via the app.

Google Voice (US only) lets you record incoming calls via the app by pressing “4” on the keypad. The audio file appears in your Google Voice inbox afterward. The function is restricted to incoming calls, and features will depend on the account you have.

External recorders: You can connect a small recorder to your iPhone through USB-C or Lightning, or place a digital recorder next to your phone on speaker mode. This keeps everything offline, but audio quality can vary.

Speakerphone: If you have access to multiple devices, you can place your call on speakerphone and simultaneously use a separate device with the Voice Memos app open to record your call. While the sound quality is unlikely to be on par with other alternatives, it is a feasible option.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/how-to-record-a-phone-call-on-an-iphone-120058707.html?src=rss 

These are some recently released titles we think are worth adding to your reading list. Get lost in Bitter Karella’s splatterpunk, cosmic fever dream, Moonflow, and the new zombie apocalypse comic, Everything Dead & Dying.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-this-weekend-moonflow-and-everything-dead–dying-191722871.html?src=rss 

Escape from Tarkov players may finally get the chance to escape from the fictional war-torn city in northwest Russia, but it won’t be easy. During a live Q&A at Tokyo Game Show, Nikita Buyanov, the game’s director, told the audience that there will be four endings that players can achieve, which will be determined by the playthrough’s completion and progression. Buyanov added that the “best ending” will be “really hard” and “not everyone will escape from Tarkov.”

“I think it will be something around two percent of all of the player base,” Buyanov said of how many players the team expects to reach the toughest ending. “It will be really challenging, and you can treat it as an achievement of your life to finally escape from Tarkov.”

After being in beta for more than eight years, Escape from Tarkov is scheduled for a 1.0 release, along with its debut on Steam. Even after the November release, Buyanov said that the team still has a ton of content planned for the game’s future over the next five years. Much of the new content is still being kept under wraps, as is whether or not the developer plans to do another wipe before the official release that would reset player progression.

Buyanov said during the Q&A that there will be seasonal characters subject to typical wipes, along with a permanent main character that can retain progress indefinitely. As for whether the current state of the game will see another wipe before the November release, Buyanov posted on X that a decision hasn’t been made yet but that the team is leaning towards “probably no wipe.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/only-two-percent-of-escape-from-tarkov-players-may-get-to-see-its-best-ending-174416980.html?src=rss 

Google first teased some enticing upgrades for its Pixel Buds Pro 2 during the Made by Google event in August. More than a month later, Google is finally rolling out the update that makes its wireless earbuds earn the Pro label.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 now get an Adaptive Audio feature in the Active Noise Control section of the Pixel Buds app. This ANC mode automatically adjusts the volume depending on your surrounding environment, balancing between hearing your music or podcasts and the world around you. If you want to drown out the outside world a little more, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 now also have the Loud Noise Protection feature, which can detect and reduce any sudden loud noises, like a passing ambulance siren or construction work. While these two features are already found in Apple’s AirPods Pro 3, they’re a welcome addition to the more affordable Pixel Buds Pro 2.

For anyone who frequently uses Gemini Live, you’ll notice that the AI assistant will be able to hear you better in noisy environments thanks to advanced audio processing that prioritizes your voice and eliminates background noise. For a truly hands-free experience, the update even adds gesture controls that let Pixel Buds Pro 2 users nod their head to answer a call or start dictation for a text reply and shake their head to decline a call or dismiss a text. Google is rolling out its 4.467 update to its users gradually, which takes about 10 minutes to download and another 10 minutes to install.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/pixel-buds-pro-2-get-adaptive-audio-gesture-controls-and-more-in-latest-update-155116813.html?src=rss