Category: Technology

Uber Eats has added a slate of AI features designed to, theoretically, help merchants earn new customers and ease the shopping experience for users.

AI-enhanced food images are intended to make dishes more appealing by improving photos uploads. In the press release, Uber Eats shows an example in which pictures captured very close to the food are transformed into wider field-of-view shots of plated dishes. Because the tool creates portions of the image that were not there before, its accuracy remains to be seen.

Menu descriptions will also get the AI treatment with the idea being to ensure their accuracy so that customers feel more confident in what they’re ordering. It will also summarize restaurant reviews, with the goal of highlighting areas for improvement as well as strengths. Much like the generated images, the jury is still out on if these tools will be useful, or another vector for hallucinations.

Uber is inviting users to send photos of delivered food for items that lack menu images. Customers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom can earn $3 in Uber Cash for their pictures.

“Live order chat” will finally allow merchants to initiate conversations directly with customers once an order has been placed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uber-eats-is-stuffing-ai-slop-into-your-meal-174413765.html?src=rss 

NVIDIA is calling time on its Maxwell, Pascal and Volta GPUs, with one last significant driver release scheduled for October. This means that all graphics cards belonging to the GeForce GTX 7-, 9- and 10-series categories will only receive quarterly security updates beyond the October cutoff, with support ending entirely three years later in 2028. While they’ll still work after that, they won’t be optimized for new games and are more vulnerable to technical exploits.

NVIDIA described its 11-year support for the aging hardware “well beyond industry norms.” If you’ve been rocking a GTX card for the best part of a decade and don’t want to get left behind, now might be a good time to look into upgrading your GPU.

The other notable bit of news from NVIDIA is that its Game Ready Driver (GRD) support for Windows 10 on all RTX GPUs will run until October 2026. This is a year after Microsoft itself officially sunsets the operating system in a bid to move the last of the reluctant upgraders onto Windows 11. Games will at least remain optimised for another year, provided you’re willing to risk continuing with an OS that is no longer receiving crucial security updates.

NVIDIA’s latest GRD update was released today, and includes optimizations for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the upcoming Mafia: The Old Country, as well as adding support for 62 new G-Sync compatible displays.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/nvidia-is-ending-support-for-its-gtx-10–9–and-7-series-gpus-173112051.html?src=rss 

The iconic tower defense game Plants vs. Zombies is getting an HD remaster. Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted heads to the Switch and Switch 2 on October 23, as revealed during this morning’s Nintendo Direct livestream.

As the name suggests, it’s a remake of the very first PvZ game, going all the way back to 2009. This is the first time we’re seeing a version of the original title on a Nintendo platform since the DS.

This is more than just a simple HD refresh. The graphics have been upscaled, which is nice, but EA has also added new levels and plenty of secrets to uncover. The refresh will even include local co-op and PvP, which should be fun. The PSN and Xbox Live Arcade versions of the game, released in the early 2010s, had a co-op mode, but not’s not true of many other iterations.

Preorders are open right now, and early birds will receive a retro Peashooter skin when the game launches. It remains to be seen if the game will come to other platforms beyond Nintendo’s hybrid consoles. However, it’s very likely to pop up on just about everything before too long.

As for the rest of today’s Nintendo Direct, it was a muted affair focusing on third-party titles. Square Enix announced a new Octopath Traveler game and Atlus revealed that Persona 3 Reload is coming to Switch 2. There was also a bizarre-looking game about building a campfire.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/plants-vs-zombies-is-getting-an-hd-remaster-with-co-op-155622843.html?src=rss 

Thursday’s Nintendo Direct showcased some interesting games, but none seemed more relaxing than one called Chillin’ by the Fire. This is a campfire sim from Oink Games in which you’ll build and grow a fire. You’ll split and stack firewood, dry out wet logs before adding them to your blaze and fan the flames by blowing on ’em. It’s important not to have too little or too much wood in a fire at any given time, and you might have to deal with elemental factors like low temperatures on a snowy mountain. 

The main aim of Chillin’ by the Fire is to build a level 10 blaze, but there are other ways to play. In survival mode, you’ll have a limited stock of firewood and have to figure out how to pass the flame between logs to keep it burning. There’s also a multiplayer feature called Playground, in which you can compete with friends to construct the biggest fire (messing with them is an option here) or work together.

Chillin’ by the Fire supports GameShare, so you only need one copy to play with up to three other people online (they’ll each need a Switch 2) or locally (on separate Switch or Switch 2 systems). It supports GameChat as well, so you can have you and your buddies’ heads hanging out by the fire, where you can roast marshmallows, set off fireworks or carry out the time-honored tradition of telling spooky campfire stories (Are You Afraid of the Dark?-style) as your heads hover in the air.

It all seems quite lovely, in truth. These days, I like the idea of camping more than actually camping. No, thank you. Too many bugs. So, Chillin’ by the Fire seems right up my alley. It’s out today on Nintendo Switch 2 and it costs $15.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/chillin-by-the-fire-is-a-relaxing-co-op-campfire-sim-thats-out-today-on-nintendo-switch-2-150009762.html?src=rss 

The well-regraded 8BitDo Ultimate 2C controller is on sale for just $18 via Amazon. This is nearly 40 percent off and a record-low price. Typically, this controller doesn’t go any lower than $25, so this is one heck of a deal.

There’s one major caveat. The deal only applies to the pink colorway, which may not be everyone’s bag. It looks pretty good, though, as you can see below.

The Ultimate 2C is a good match for the Nintendo Switch, Windows PCs and Android devices. It connects via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or with a physical cable. It’s compatible with devices running Windows 10 and above and Android 9.0 and above. The battery life is solid, with around 32 hours per charge on Bluetooth and 19 hours when using the wireless 2.4G adapter.

As for the actual controller, it boasts Hall Effect joysticks that are precise and durable. There’s an extra set of bumpers that can be remapped without additional software. It offers 6-axis control and haptic feedback, aka rumble. It’s a decent little controller, particularly for the price.

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/8bitdos-ultimate-2c-controller-is-on-sale-for-only-18-150801451.html?src=rss 

Lyft has received the required regulatory clearance to finalize its acquisition of the European app-based taxi company Freenow. First announced back in April, Lyft’s approximately $197 million agreement with BMW and Mercedes-Benz allows the company to expand outside of North America for the first time.

Freenow’s service will continue to operate as normal, but Bloomberg reports that users will be prompted to download the Lyft app when travelling in the US or Canada, and vice versa for Lyft riders in one of the nine countries or 180 European cities Freenow currently operates in. Eventually you’ll be able to book a taxi on either app without having to switch.

According to Bloomberg, none of the roughly 600 Freenow employees’ jobs are at risk, and while 50 percent of taxi bookings in Europe apparently still happen offline, the new partners believe there is a desire for that to shift more towards an online majority. In 2024, taxis accounted for 90 percent of Freenow’s income and they will remain the “backbone” of its business going forward.

As well as seamless app integration in the future, Freenow said in April that riders can expect more consistent pricing, faster matching and new features as a result of the Lyft acquisition. Lyft is the second-largest ride-hailing company in the US, trailing Uber, and has been looking to introduce more autonomous vehicles into its network from 2025 onwards after partnering with Mobileye and several other companies last year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/lyft-completes-its-197-million-acquisition-of-europes-freenow-152420370.html?src=rss 

The Nintendo Switch was a great place to play Persona games, and it looks like the outgoing console has passed on the torch to its successor, with last year’s Persona 3 Reload kicking things off when it comes to Switch 2 on October 23. 

Reload is a full remake of 2006’s Persona 3 (later ported to the PSP as Persona 3 Portable), which Engadget’s Mat Smith called “a gorgeous version of itself” in his review. It’s both one of the most confusing and influential entries in the long-running series, and the remake’s updated visuals means it sits proudly alongside Persona 5 Royal as one of the most stylish RPGs you’ll ever play. It’s also one of the more repetitive entries, but that didn’t put off the many Persona sickos out there from experiencing the remixed game all over again. 

The Switch 2 version of Persona 3 Reload means the game will be playable on practically every modern platform, but the big question will be how it performs on the more powerful hardware. The Switch port of Persona 5 Royal wasn’t quite as easy on the eyes as the PlayStation, Xbox and PC versions, but the portability made it the ideal platform for the game all the same. 

Persona 3 Reload comes to Switch 2 on October 23. At the time of writing there’s no news on whether a physical version will be available at launch. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/persona-3-reload-arrives-on-switch-2-in-october-134501067.html?src=rss 

Brilliant Labs is the startup behind Frame, the open-source smart glasses designed for hackers and other creative types. Today, the company is launching Halo, a new pair of glasses that, predictably for the age we live in, are being sold on the back of their AI features. Halo is a wayfarer-style pair (compared to the Panto-styled Frame) and, if you’re a spectacles wearer, you’ll be able to get prescription lenses in more than 100 countries thank to a partnership with SmartBuyGlasses.

Brilliant is happy to brag that Halo includes a camera, microphone and bone-conduction speakers in its slender chassis. A natural pitfall of many smart glasses has been the compromises necessary to keep weight down while still offering enough functionality to be useful. Being able to keep the weight to a trim 40 grams is one hell of an achievement, especially given the glasses have a color OLED display and a battery that promises to run for 14 hours on a single charge.

Unfortunately, instead of a display that overlays onto the lens, Halo “works” by projecting into your peripheral vision. I’ll be honest, these displays are becoming more of an irritation the more I use them, especially compared to models that have prisms inside the lenses.

Last year, Brilliant introduced Noa, its AI agent which it said was designed from the ground up to be used within the context of a pair of glasses. The company says that, when paired with Halo, Noa will be able to talk to you in a way that is natural and intuitive, as if “speaking with a real person.” It claims the secret sauce is in the fact Noa will be able to “understand what it hears and sees within its environment and responds with contextually relevant information in real time.”

That’s a lot of braggadocio, especially given the promises that come next about Narrative, its agentic memory system. Narrative will, so it is said, remember the name of a person you met or the details of a conversation you’ve had “years or even decades later.” This will harness the glasses’ optical sensors and microphones to keep tabs on what’s going on from your point of view. And since audio and video are both being constantly recorded, the system will build a “private and personalized knowledge base” about you.

Naturally, a pair of AI-enabled smart glasses will raise privacy hackles, and Brilliant says Noa will act as a VPN between you and the AI model behind it. Your interactions will be private by default, and users will get a lot of fine-grain privacy controls to ensure they’re happy with how much data they share. Plus, you’ll have voice commands to turn off the microphone, camera and the glasses themselves should you need to. Although if you’re doing something you’d rather not be recorded, the smartest advice is to not wear a pair of AI glasses in the first place. Not to mention that your general concerns about having a database built of every single thing you do in a day (and your social graph) is likely to be easily de-anonymized if necessary.

Brilliant also promises Halo will enable users to build custom applications for their glasses just from natural language commands. The company says that you just need to tell Noa what you need, and it’ll build an app to serve your purpose “within seconds.”

Pre-orders for Halo are opening today, but shipping isn’t due to begin until late November 2025, with the price set at $299. Compatible prescription lenses will be available to purchase through SmartBuyGlasses, too. The company is also taking great pains to tell users that it will, again, be releasing a limited number of pairs and so anyone interested in owning one will need to get in the line.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/brilliant-labs-launches-its-second-generation-smart-glasses-130000032.html?src=rss 

Google has introduced a new AI model called AlphaEarth Foundations that it says can function like a “virtual satellite.” The model uses a system called “embedding,” which works by taking big volumes of pubic information from various sources every day, such as optical satellites, radars and climate simulations, and then combining them all together. It then divides lands and coastal waters into 10×10 meter squares, which it then analyzes and tracks over time. As Wired explains, these squares are color-coded to indicate different characteristics, such as vegetation types and material properties. 

The company said AlphaEarth Foundations makes its data easy to use by creating what it calls “highly compact summary” for each square of land or coastal water it monitors. These compact summaries apparently need 16 times less storage compared to those produced by comparable AI systems, thereby reducing costs needed for Earth observation. 

So what exactly can the model’s data be used for? Google explained that scientists can use the model to create detailed maps on demand for multiple purposes, such as to monitor crop health or to track deforestation. In its announcement, the company claimed that the model excelled at a wide range of tasks over different time periods when it was tested. “AlphaEarth Foundations represents a significant step forward in understanding the state and dynamics of our changing planet,” Google wrote. The company gave over 50 organizations access to the model’s Satellite Embedding dataset, a collection of its annual embeddings, to test its use in real world applications over the past year. Now, it has released the dataset in Google Earth Engine so that other scientists can use it for their own research. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/googles-virtual-satellite-ai-model-can-provide-a-near-real-time-view-of-earth-133055880.html?src=rss