Technology - Kalakshar US

Prime Video reportedly shows almost twice as many ads as it used to

If it feels like you spend a lot more time watching ads in Prime Video than you used to, that may not be a mistake. Amazon has increased the number of ads or “ad load” in Prime Video to four-to-six minutes of ads per hour, Adweek reports. Amazon’s plan to increase the amount of advertising in its streaming service was previously reported in October 2024.

Shifting to a max of six minutes of ads per hour is nearly double the up to three-and-a-half minutes of ads that could play when Amazon first converted its basic Prime Video subscription to an ad-supported tier. The company used to offer all of Prime Video’s features and an ad-free experience for the cost of Amazon Prime ($159 per year / $15 per month) or $9 per month, but announced at the end of 2023 that avoiding ads would cost an extra $3 every month. Besides inserting ads, Amazon’s basic plan also doesn’t support for features like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

Engadget has reached out to Amazon to confirm the ad load changes and will update this article if we hear back.

Regardless of your tolerance for ads, cheaper ad-supported subscriptions have quickly become expected from most streaming services. Netflix, Max, Peacock and Paramount+ all offer subscriptions with ads. Even Apple, who could theoretically afford to lose money on subscriptions, reportedly started building a team to sell ads for a possible ad-supported tier of Apple TV+ in 2023.

While adding more interruptions to the Prime Video experience isn’t what anyone wants, Adweek does note that streaming services still insert far fewer ad breaks than broadcast TV. The ad load on traditional television “typically ranges from 13 to 16 minutes per hour.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/prime-video-reportedly-shows-almost-twice-as-many-ads-as-it-used-to-210650918.html?src=rss

FBC: Firebreak headlines June’s PS Plus additions

Remedy’s multiplayer spin on Control is coming to the PlayStation Game Catalog. Sony’s June PS Plus additions start with the day-one arrival of FBC: Firebreak. Other entries this month include the latest Battlefield entry and sticky-ball Katamari fun.

FBC: Firebreak lets you and up to two others team up to kick some Hiss ass. Play as a government employee who volunteered to take out extra-dimensional monsters. But the wicked delights really kick in when you enhance your plain ol’ guns with supernatural gear.

In our preview, Engadget’s Jessica Conditt saw a promising and “incredibly fun” shooter that only needed a bit of fine-tuning before launch. “Firebreak is poised to be a thoughtful and focused entry in the co-op shooter genre, and it’s already an inviting extension of Remedy’s darkest and silliest sensibilities,” she wrote.

FBC: Firebreak will be available in the Game Catalog on its launch day, June 17. You’ll need a PS Plus Extra or Premium membership to claim it.

Also coming on that date is Battlefield 2042. This could be a good time to catch up on the franchise before its next installment. (It’s expected by April 2026.) Also arriving this month is We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie. Who doesn’t love rolling a satisfyingly growing blob of random shit?

Both of those titles require a PS Plus Extra or Premium membership. Ditto for other June entries like Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 and theHunter: Call of the Wild. Meanwhile, the 2000 classic Deus Ex: The Conspiracy will only be available for Premium subscribers. You can check out the PlayStation blog for the complete list.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fbc-firebreak-headlines-junes-ps-plus-additions-211440207.html?src=rss

Wikipedia pauses AI summaries after editors skewer the idea

Wikipedia is backing off AI article summaries… for now. Earlier this month, the platform trialed the feature in its mobile app. To say they weren’t well-received by editors would be an understatement. The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) paused the test a day later.

The AI summaries appeared at the top of articles for 10 percent of mobile users. Readers had to opt in to see them. The AI-generated summaries only appeared “on a set of articles” for the two-week trial period.

Editor comments in the WMF’s announcement (via 404 Media) ranged from “Yuck” to “Grinning with horror.” One editor wrote, “Just because Google has rolled out its AI summaries doesn’t mean we need to one-up them. I sincerely beg you not to test this, on mobile or anywhere else. This would do immediate and irreversible harm to our readers and to our reputation as a decently trustworthy and serious source.”

“Wikipedia has in some ways become a byword for sober boringness, which is excellent,” the editor continued. “Let’s not insult our readers’ intelligence and join the stampede to roll out flashy AI summaries.”

Wikimedia Foundation

Editors’ gripes weren’t limited to the idea. They also criticized the nonprofit for excluding them from the planning phase. “You also say this has been ‘discussed,’ which is thoroughly laughable as the ‘discussion’ you link to has exactly one participant, the original poster, who is another WMF employee,” an editor wrote.

In a statement to 404 Media, a WMF spokesperson said the backlash influenced its decision. “It is common to receive a variety of feedback from volunteers, and we incorporate it in our decisions, and sometimes change course,” the spokesperson stated. “We welcome such thoughtful feedback — this is what continues to make Wikipedia a truly collaborative platform of human knowledge.”

In the “discussion” page, the organization explained that it wanted to cater to its audience’s needs. “Many readers need some simplified text in addition to the main content,” a WMF employee wrote. “In previous research, we heard that readers wanted to have an option to get a quick overview of a topic prior to jumping into reading the full article.”

The WMF employee stated that the average reading level for adult native English speakers is that of a 14- or 15-year-old. “It may be lower for non-native English speakers who regularly read English Wikipedia,” they added.

The organization didn’t rule out future uses of AI. But they said editors won’t be left in the dark next time. “Bringing generative AI into the Wikipedia reading experience is a serious set of decisions, with important implications, and we intend to treat it as such,” the spokesperson told 404 Media. “We do not have any plans for bringing a summary feature to the wikis without editor involvement.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/wikipedia-pauses-ai-summaries-after-editors-skewer-the-idea-200029490.html?src=rss

Snapchat adds a new subscription tier for Lenses

Snapchat has added a new layer to its paid offerings. The Lens+ subscription combines the existing Snapchat+ monthly plan with more access to “hundreds of Lenses and AR experiences that let you play, create, and share Snaps with friends in whole new ways.” The plan will cost $9 a month.

At the start, the subscription will feature Lenses made by the company or by select creators. New augmented reality experiences will be added each week. Creators will be granted the option to build and monetize Lenses for the program in the coming months, although Snapchat hasn’t publicly explained how it will select the “select” participants. A representative from the business confirmed to TechCrunch that the launch of Lens+ will not see any Lenses that were previously free placed behind a paywall.

The social media platform introduced the Snapchat+ paid option in 2022. According to the blog post announcing this extra option, the program has 15 million subscribers. The Lens program has been taking advantage of developments in AI. Already this year, the company debuted generative AI video Lenses for Premium subscribers and released a standalone app for any user to create their own effects. Snapchat’s other AR project is Specs, a set of glasses that it expects to release next year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/snapchat-adds-a-new-subscription-tier-for-lenses-201018127.html?src=rss

There’s more to Mouse: PI for Hire than cartoon violence

Mouse: PI for Hire is a lot deeper than I initially assumed. When the game first caught buzz in May 2023 with an early teaser populated by placeholder assets, I didn’t understand the hype. The art style was definitely cool — Mouse is a black-and-white first-person shooter inspired by 1930s rubber hose cartoons, featuring bipedal rodents dressed like mobsters — but without any information about the gameplay loop, mechanics or narrative direction, I remained unmoved.

After seeing Mouse in action at Summer Game Fest 2025, consider me movin’. Mouse is mechanically nuanced and fully voice-acted, starring Troy Baker as the protagonist, and it has more to offer than shock-value cartoon violence. This is a clue-gathering, photo-snapping, girlfriend-avenging, noir detective simulator that happens to star a bunch of slick-talking mice and rats, and I’m fully into it.

In a private session at SGF, Fumi Games CEO Mateusz Michalak and lead producer Maciek Krzemien played through the game’s third level, Gumshoe in the Opera, and discussed their intentions with the game. Krzemien said the team didn’t want to simply lean on the art style at the expense of gameplay, and they focused on building a rich world with layered mechanics. Since that initial teaser came out, they’ve been fleshing out characters, drawing assets by hand, implementing puzzles and secrets, and tweaking individual weapons so that they feel just right.

In Gumshoe in the Opera, the protagonist Jack Pepper is investigating his girlfriend’s murder and he’s backstage at the theater, looking for a friend who might be involved. Baker makes for a fine 1930s private eye, with a deep voice and a Boardwalk Empire twang. The supporting characters are voiced, too, and they tend to have a higher-pitched, henchman style of gangster speak. Mousey, you could say.

Pepper fills up a 16-slot weapon wheel as he finds new guns and tools, including a flashlight, dynamite, Tommy gun, hookshot, pistol, shotgun and a turpentine blaster. The turpentine gun is ridiculous in the best way — since the characters in this world are cartoons, it melts their skin away like it’s paint and then dissolves their skeletons. Killing enemies with a traditional gun leaves them lying in pools of black blood, sometimes with missing heads, and the game’s environments have destructible elements. The mix of mature violence and classic cartoon art is strangely joyful, and it seems Fumi got the balance just right.

PlaySide

Most enemies in Mouse take a few hits before going down, but headshots are a thing and a well-aimed blast can definitely flatten a mobster (mouse-ster?) in one blow. I didn’t get a chance to play the game myself, but now that I’m fully seated on the Mouse hype train, I’m curious to feel the gunplay firsthand. I have a sense it’s going to be more difficult than Krzemien made it seem.

The preview was roughly half shooting action, half investigation and exploring. When he’s not in a firefight, Pepper climbs through vents and sneaks around backstage, collecting corked health pots, a coffee cup and weapons along the way. The coffee cup turns Pepper’s hand into a finger gun, which he uses to rapidly pew pew pew his way through enemies. He learns how to double-jump and is able to backtrack through the level with this new ability, picking up additional supplies and a hidden trading card — for the card-based minigame, of course. A lockpick mechanic has players snake their way past spikes to complete a small maze inside the lock. In one moment, Pepper takes a photo of someone through a small window and it’s stored for later, hinting at a larger clue-organizing mechanic. Krzemien said that after this section, Pepper will return to his office to piece together the evidence.

There are a lot of layers to Mouse: PI for Hire. Maybe it’s my fault for being surprised by the depth in this game or the care being shown by developers at Fumi, but at least now, I finally get it. Mouse is due to hit Steam, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch this year, published by PlaySide.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/theres-more-to-mouse-pi-for-hire-than-cartoon-violence-203044404.html?src=rss

Pixelsnap, Google’s belated answer to MagSafe, could arrive alongside the Pixel 10

Android phones that support Qi2 wireless chargers that are magnetically secured in place might finally be hitting the market. Android Authority reports that Google plans to add Qi2 charging with the upcoming Google Pixel 10. The Qi2 standard was announced at CES in 2023, and was developed with substantial contributions from Apple. The new design iterated on the Qi standard by adding magnets that would help ensure a perfect alignment, among other improvements. That magnetic alignment tech was built on Apple’s MagSafe technology.

There was a lot of excitement around the standard coming to the Android ecosystem, but manufacturers dropped the ball. Displaying a total lack of urgency in implementing the standard, not a single Android device made by Samsung, Google or Motorola supported Qi2 in 2024.

The team at Android Authority reports that they have “viewed credible marketing materials intended for retailers that show that Google is working on a few magnetic Qi2 accessories meant for the upcoming Pixel 10.” They suggest Google will name the magnetic ecosystem “Pixelsnap” and at least three accessories to start. A Pixelsnap Charger, Charger with Stand and Ring Stand are set to be in the works for the new Pixel 10. Assuming that magnetic profiles are included as rumored, the Pixelsnap Charger with Stand sounds like the successor to Google’s Pixel Stand. This would ostensibly allow users to magnetically snap their phones to the stand while the phone charges wirelessly.

Android Authority reports that the Pixel 10 would support Qi 2.2, with a maximum hardware-supported charge rate of 60W, though Google will ultimately decide what rate of charging will be allowed on each compatible phone model.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/pixelsnap-googles-belated-answer-to-magsafe-could-arrive-alongside-the-pixel-10-184527063.html?src=rss

NASA is shutting down some official social media accounts, including the Curiosity rover’s handle

NASA is shutting down several social media accounts run by the Science Mission Directorate, including the official Mars Curiosity Rover account on X. The organization says it made the decision in order to “make its work more accessible to the public, avoiding the potential for oversaturation or confusion.”

The “social media consolidation project” is concentrated in part on X, where there are dozens NASA accounts affiliated with specific missions and areas of research. So far 29 accounts are being archived or consolidated with other accounts, including @MarsCuriosity and @NASAPersevere, the two accounts for the organization’s Mars rovers. Posts about both missions will now come from the more general @NASAMars. Some social media accounts will also “rebranded to better align with the new strategic framework,” NASA says, “reflecting a broader scope or a more direct connection to core NASA initiatives.”

With “over 400 individual accounts across 15 platforms” it’s not exactly unreasonable that NASA is trying to streamline things, but there is some much appreciated specificity lost when news and information is coming from a more general account. NASA’s Curiosity is beloved and the agency’s research into Mars was likely more well-known because the social media account made identifying with the rover easier.

Beyond social media accounts, NASA could be heading into next year with far fewer resources in general. The Trump administration’s proposed 2026 budget includes around a $6 billion cut to NASA’s funding. The limited resources could lead to multiple planned missions being cancelled The Washington Post reports, including sending a probe to Venus, taking mineral samples from asteroids and studying gravitational waves with the European Space Agency.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-is-shutting-down-some-official-social-media-accounts-including-the-curiosity-rovers-handle-192016918.html?src=rss

Meta launches a surreal AI video editor

Meta’s impressive Movie Gen AI editing tool is starting to bear fruit. On Tuesday, the company launched a new editor for short videos, “inspired by” the technology. The editor lets you transform your clothing, location, style and more. The examples the company showcased are head-turning. We’re getting closer to Hollywood-level CG effects that anyone can produce in a few seconds.

The editor lets you choose from over 50 preset prompts. You can transform your video’s subject into things like comic art, a marble statue or a video game character. Or, transport them to a beach or a snowy scene. You can also add dreamy lighting effects and color overlays.

You can’t yet type custom prompts. However, those are scheduled for later this year.

Apple made a haptic trailer for the F1 movie that only works on iPhones

The long-anticipated F1 film comes to theaters on June 27. To celebrate the pending release, Apple has developed a haptic trailer exclusively for iPhones. This leverages the smartphone’s Taptic Engine to let people “feel the action” right in the palm of their hands.

Apple promises that viewers will “experience the power of the engines, the rumble of the curbs, and the intensity of every gear shift like never before with responsive vibrations.” It’s available to stream right now via the Apple TV app, but requires iOS 18.4 or later. Here’s a regular trailer that won’t make your hands rumble, but is still fun.

F1 stars Brad Pitt and was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who made the box office monster Top Gun: Maverick. He also directed the underrated Tron: Legacy, though has no involvement with the upcoming Tron: Ares. Hans Zimmer made the score. Apple spared no expense here.

To that end, the company is extremely bullish regarding the film. It’s getting the full theatrical treatment, along with a nationwide IMAX release. Apple also featured the movie prominently at its recent WWDC event and screened it for attendees at the Steve Jobs Theater.

Pulling up to the Steve Jobs Theater for the F1 Movie screening 🤯 pic.twitter.com/U3nygAJym7

— Ayush Singh (@heyayush_io) June 11, 2025

Formula 1 has been surging in popularity these past years, as the sport has significantly widened its cultural footprint. Netflix released a documentary series about the organization called Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which was a huge hit. People like cars that go fast. Who knew?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/apple-made-a-haptic-trailer-for-the-f1-movie-that-only-works-on-iphones-180815475.html?src=rss

iOS 26 screenshots could be an intriguing preview of Apple’s delayed Siri rework

When it launched, Apple ‘s Visual Intelligence feature allowed you to point your compatible phone’s camera at things around you and either perform a Google Image Search or ask questions via ChatGPT. At WWDC 2025, the company showed off updates to broaden the usefulness of Visual Intelligence, largely by embedding it into the screenshots system. To quote the company’s press release, “Visual intelligence already helps users learn about objects and places around them using their iPhone camera, and it now enables users to do more, faster, with the content on their iPhone screen.”

This reminded me of the “onscreen awareness” that Apple described as one of Siri’s capabilities when it announced Apple Intelligence last year. In that press release, the company said, “With onscreen awareness, Siri will be able to understand and take action with users’ content in more apps over time.” Though it’s not quite the same, the updated screenshot-based Visual Intelligence more or less allows for your iPhone to serve up contextual actions from your onscreen content, just not via Siri.

In a way, it makes sense. Most people are already accustomed to taking a screenshot when they want to share or save important information they saw on a website or Instagram post. Integrating Apple Intelligence actions here would theoretically put the tools where you expect them, rather than make users talk to Siri (or wait for the update to roll out).

Basically, in iOS 26 (on devices that support Apple Intelligence), pressing the power and volume down buttons to take a screenshot will result in a new page being pulled up. Instead of the thumbnail of your saved image appearing in the bottom left, you’ll see the picture take up almost all of the display, with options around it for editing, sharing or saving the file, as well as getting Apple Intelligence-based answers and actions at the bottom. In the bottom left and right corners sit options for asking ChatGPT and doing a Google Image Search respectively.

Depending on what’s in your screenshot, Apple Intelligence can suggest various actions below your image. This can be asking where to buy a similar-looking item, adding an event to your calendar or identifying types of plants, animals or food, for instance. If there’s a lot going on in your screenshot, you can draw on an item to highlight it (similar to how you select an object to erase in Photos) and get information specific to that part of the image.

Third-party apps or services that have enabled App Intents, like Google, Etsy and Pinterest, can also appear here so you can carry out actions within this space too. For example, if you’ve found a bookend you like, taken a screenshot and identified it, you can shop for it on Etsy or pin it on Pinterest.

One aspect of this update to Visual Intelligence that gives me pause is that, for people like me who screenshot mindlessly and don’t want to do anything other than get receipts, this might add a frustrating step between capturing a screenshot and saving it to Photos. It sounds like you may be able to turn off this interface and stick to the existing screenshot system, though.

The examples that Apple gave for Siri’s ability to understand what’s on your screen felt somewhat similar. In its press release from last year, Apple said “For example, if a friend texts a user their new address in Messages, the receiver can say, ‘Add this address to his contact card.'”

Like Visual Intelligence in screenshots, this involves scanning the onscreen content for pertinent information and helping you put it in a place (like Contacts or Calendar) where it’s most useful. However, the promise of Siri’s new era was more about interacting with all parts of your phone, across first- and third-party apps alike. So you could ask the assistant to open an article you added to your Reading List in Safari or send photos from a specified event to a contact.

It’s clear Apple has yet to deliver these advancements to Siri, and like Craig Federighi said at the WWDC 2025 keynote, those might only be discussed later this year. Still, as we await that status update, the changes coming to screenshots might be a preview of things to come.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/ios-26-screenshots-could-be-an-intriguing-preview-of-apples-delayed-siri-rework-183005404.html?src=rss