Category: Technology

Looking for a good VPN service? ExpressVPN is offering one heck of a deal right now. You can snag a 28-month subscription, which is well over two years, for 61 percent off the typical price. This boils down to $5 per month, but there’s one catch. You have to pay up front, which comes out to $140.

That’s a hefty initial payout, but having access to a good VPN service into late 2027 sounds pretty dang nice. To that end, ExpressVPN is one of the more reputable companies out there and it easily made our list of the best VPN providers. We appreciated the speedy connections offered by the service. This isn’t always the case with VPNs. We also didn’t encounter too much lag during our testing.

It works on a variety of devices, so this isn’t just for the living room desktop. ExpressVPN integrates with mobile gadgets, smart TVs and game consoles, among other items. It’s really the best solution for gamers who travel a lot. It also comes with an in-house password manager, which would eliminate the need for a standalone subscription.

Truly the only real downside of this service is the price. The regular cost is $13 per month, which is mighty steep. This sale alleviates this concern, at least for 28 months. Spending $5 per month for a VPN of this caliber is something of a no-brainer.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/expressvpn-two-year-subscriptions-are-61-percent-off-right-now-150758431.html?src=rss 

A federal judge has ruled that Google is a monopolist in online advertising. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Judge Leonie Brinkema of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia said the company broke the law to maintain its ad tech dominance.

“In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete, this exclusionary conduct substantially harmed Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web,” the judge said.

The case stemmed from a January 2023 lawsuit from the US Justice Department and eight states. They accused Google of illegally monopolizing the ad market and using that power to charge more and take a higher portion of sales.

The decision follows another in August, when a federal judge ruled that Google monopolizes online search. Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said in 2024 that the company “is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” Judge Mehta is considering a DOJ request to break up the company based on that ruling.

Now, Judge Brinkema will face a similar decision about the nearly $1.9 trillion company’s dominance in advertising. The DOJ’s lawsuit already asked the court to make Google sell portions of its ad tech business. Much of the company’s future will rest on what those two judges decide in the coming months.

 Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-is-a-monopoly-in-online-ad-tech-federal-judge-rules-151531919.html?src=rss 

Google is now offering Gemini live video and screen sharing to just about every Android user who wants them — totally free. The announcement comes just a couple weeks after Google first rolled out the features. They have been available to all Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S25 owners and through a Google One AI Premium plan for other Android users with the Gemini app. Now, Google says that “great feedback” has motivated the company “to bring it to more people.” 

Gemini live video and screen share allows you to ask Gemini about anything on your screen or directly in front of you. For example, you can take a picture of an item of clothing and get info about its materials. You can also ask it about something you’ve found on the internet, like a word in a story that you’ve never heard before. 

Google will be rolling the tools out over the coming weeks to all Androids that are compatible with the Gemini app. According to a Google spokesperson, this is all “Android devices with 2GB of RAM or more, running Android 10 and up.” 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/gemini-live-video-and-screen-sharing-is-now-free-for-android-users-140051993.html?src=rss 

Chinese authorities have banned automakers from using terms such as “smart driving” and “autonomous driving” for ads in the country, according to Reuters. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has tightened its rules for advertising driving assistance features following a fatal crash involving a Xiaomi SUV7 (pictured above), which raised concerns about the technology’s safety. Based on Xiaomi’s report, the vehicle’s driving assistance mode was switched on when the vehicle was approaching a construction zone, but the driver took control right before the SUV collided with a concrete barrier. The electric vehicle went up in flames, with the accident claiming three lives. 

Back in 2022, the California DMV accused Tesla of falsely portraying its vehicles as fully autonomous based on the language it used on its website, though that didn’t lead to a ban on advertising terms. Chinese authorities announced the new rule at a meeting attended by 60 representatives from the automobile industry. In addition to the new advertising rules, they also announced that they’re prohibiting automakers from testing and improving their driver assistance systems via remote software upgrades if they’re already in the hands of customers. If the companies want to roll out updates over the air, they’ll have to secure an approval for them after conducting a battery of tests. 

As Reuters noted, there’s a growing competition in the Chinese automotive industry with companies launching vehicles promising “smart driving” capabilities. BYD, the top Chinese EV manufacturer based in Shenzhen, rolled out a whopping 21 models of electric vehicles in February, with the company’s free “smart driving” features being one of their main selling points. These automakers may now have to alter their advertising materials in order to comply with the new regulations.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/china-cracks-down-on-autonomous-car-claims-after-fatal-accident-143026741.html?src=rss 

Wikipedia has been struggling with the impact that AI crawlers — bots that are scraping text and multimedia from the encyclopedia to train generative artificial intelligence models — have been having on its servers, leading to increased costs and slower load times for human users in some cases. Perhaps in an effort to stop the bots from pummeling the public Wikipedia website and soaking up too much bandwidth, the Wikimedia Foundation (which manages Wikipedia’s data) is offering AI developers a dataset they can freely use.

The organization has teamed up with Kaggle, a data science platform, to offer up a beta release of a structured dataset in both English and French. According to Google — which owns Kaggle — the dataset is formatted for machine learning to make it more useful for training, development and data science.

Wikimedia Enterprise notes that the dataset includes “abstracts, short descriptions, infobox-style key-value data, image links and clearly segmented article sections.” There are no references or other “non-prose elements,” such as video clips. The lack of references could make the issue of attribution for information in the dataset somewhat foggy. However, Wikimedia Enterprise (a part of the Wikimedia Foundation that seeks to make Wikipedia data available through APIs) says that the content in the dataset is freely licensed under Creative Commons, the public domain and so on since it’s all from Wikipedia.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/wikipedia-offers-ai-developers-a-training-dataset-to-maybe-get-scraper-bots-off-its-back-143255593.html?src=rss 

Nike has teamed up with Hyperice, a company that specializes in products meant for muscle recovery and relaxation in athletes, to launch the Hyperboot. Originally introduced in the summer of 2024, the Hyperboot looks pretty much like a pair of chunky high-top shoes. The companies said it’s more than that, however, calling it a “heat and dynamic air-compression massage tool” that you can walk in.

It’s equipped with dual-air bladders with heating elements throughout its entire upper. The Hyperboot was designed to massage its wearer’s feet with sequential compression patterns designed to “drive heat deep into the muscle and tissue in the foot and ankle.” Apparently, that helps athletes feel like they’ve already warmed up before they even start their warm-up routine. It also helps them recover much faster. Nike and Hyperice have been testing the Hyperboot with help from athletes, one of whom was Sha’Carri Richardson, Olympic gold medalist for track and field, who said that the device allowed her to “start warming up and recovering while still being mobile.” 

Wearers will be able to synchronize their boots with the press of a button to make sure they’re delivering compressions at the same time. They’ll also be able to choose from three levels of compression and three levels of heat. And for those wondering why the boots’ soles are so thick, it’s because that’s where the battery packs are located. They can power the footwear for one to one-and-a-half hours on maximum setting and up to eight hours in massage mode with no heat. It takes five to six hours to charge them. 

The Hyperboot might look like a concept, but it’ll soon be something you can actually buy. It will be available from Nike’s and Hyperice’s websites, as well as from some of their retail partners, starting on May 17 in North America. They’re also planning to release it worldwide later this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/nike-and-hyperice-to-release-the-hyperboot-warm-up-footwear-for-athletes-on-may-17-130019623.html?src=rss 

Strava has exercised its right to expand. A bad pun, yes, but apt considering the exercise tracking app has purchased Runna, a UK-based company that provides its users personalized running plans and coaching. The deal proceeded for an undisclosed sum of money. 

Strava reports that interest in running has grown significantly, with 43 percent of its members wanting to do a big race or event this year. “Running is booming worldwide — nearly 1 billion runs were recorded on Strava in 2024. Runna’s mission to give every runner a personalised plan to achieve their goal is a perfect fit,” Strava CEO Michael Martin stated. “Coming off Strava’s accelerated innovation and unprecedented growth last year, it was the right time to look for complementary businesses that could create even greater value for our users.” Last year, Strava launched features such as a family plan and night heat maps. 

Runna launched in 2022, but has since grown to a team of 180 employees working on an app available in 180 countries. According to Martin, Strava and Runna will be kept as separate apps for the time being, with plans to expand the latter’s team and resources. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/strava-buys-uk-based-personalized-running-plan-app-runna-133044850.html?src=rss 

Sure, it’s getting warmer outside but, if you ask me, there’s no reason that should get in the way of watching TV. With that in mind, we’re very excited to see that our favorite all-in-one streaming device is now on sale. 

Right now, you can get the Google TV Streamer 4K for $79, down from $100 — a 21 percent discount. This deal is the lowest price we’ve seen since the device went on sale in October of last year. The low price is (unsurprisingly) available on Amazon, but is also the same if you purchase it directly from Google. 

We gave the Google TV streamer 4K an 87 in our review thanks to features like its great interface that keeps everything organized and clear, even across different streaming sources. It also has a simple, easy-to-use remote and switches between content very quickly. However, it does require an HDMI cord (which is not included) and doesn’t work with Wi-Fi 6 or 6E. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-google-tv-streamer-4k-drops-to-a-record-low-of-79-133539395.html?src=rss