At long last, Harry is coming back to the stage. Here is everything you need to know about how and when to buy tickets for his ‘Together, Together’ world tour this year.
At long last, Harry is coming back to the stage. Here is everything you need to know about how and when to buy tickets for his ‘Together, Together’ world tour this year.
It was only 16 months ago that Substack expanded into live video. Since then, it’s become a widely adopted medium on the platform, including by its ever-growing list of cable news expats. Now, the company has decided it’s ready for a bigger screen. Starting today, you can install a new Substack TV app on Apple TV and Google TV devices.
Substack describes the app’s initial launch as focusing on “reliable, high-quality viewing” for the platform’s long-form videos. It centers around video posts and livestreams from the creators and publications you follow. There’s also a “For You” section that combines those videos with algorithmic recommendations. And you can browse dedicated pages for each channel.
Viewing access aligns with your subscription level. So, if a channel restricts videos to paying subscribers on Substack’s mobile app and website, the same paywall applies here. However, the company says it’s working on adding previews of paid content for free subscribers. It also plans to add audio posts, search, improved discovery and separate sections for different shows within a single publication.
At least one of those legacy media expats who moved to Substack is optimistic about the feature. “This is a game-changing moment for the rise of independent media,” former CNN anchor Jim Acosta wrote in the announcement post. “Substack has proven that legacy media consumers are not only searching for fresh alternatives; they are finding them.”
Based on the comments in Substack’s announcement, some of the platform’s die-hards are less enthusiastic than Acosta. “File this under – thing we didn’t ask for,” Ashli Pollard wrote. “This is not YouTube,” a commenter named Dustin added. “Elevate the written word.” I personally don’t see any harm in another way to watch the videos Substack already hosts. (Its newsletters aren’t going anywhere.) But given how Big Tech companies tend to pivot further toward the most en vogue (and profitable) medium of the day, I can see why purists feel the need to dig in their heels.
Regardless, you can find the Substack TV app by searching for its name in the tvOS App Store or the Apps section on Google and Android TV devices. You can sign in by scanning a QR code with your phone.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/substack-now-has-a-tv-app-195408592.html?src=rss
Double Fine has been on a tear with its smaller projects lately. The popular indie game developer is following up last year’s atmospheric adventure game Keeper with a new title in a totally different direction. As its Double Fine founder Tim Schaefer attempted to say five times fast during today’s Xbox Developer Direct, Kiln is an “online multiplayer pottery party brawler” that boasts exactly the sort of colorful, clever fun that fans have come to expect from the studio.
Kiln is a game with two facets: creation and destruction. On the creation side, players get to design a ceramic vessel of their choosing, anything from a dainty saucer to a massive vat. From the clips showed, this riff on character creation imitates many of the real processes of throwing on the wheel. There are options to decorate your vessel with glazes and stickers for additional personalization.
Once you’ve made your pottery creation, it’s time to destroy it. The game mode that Double Fine showed off during the Developer Direct is called Quench. In these capture-the-flag style matches, your teammates are trying to carry water in the vessels they’ve designed to the enemy’s kiln, where the goal is to douse its flames before opponents can do the same to yours. Different vessel types have different attacks for smashing enemy ceramics to shards, so there can be a strategic angle to building up a smart team composition with a mix of defensive and offensive capabilities.
Kiln looks like a really fun time, and it is due out in spring 2026. The game will be available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and Steam, as well as through Xbox programs such as Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Cloud Gaming.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/double-fine-announces-delightful-looking-multiplayer-pottery-game-kiln-195837155.html?src=rss
After half a decade of waiting, Microsoft finally offered an extended preview of its long-awaited reboot of the beloved Fable RPG franchise on Thursday. During the company’s recent Developer Direct showcase, Playground Games, best known for its works on the Forza Horizon series, shared nearly 11 minutes of gameplay footage and commentary related to the upcoming title. The new game will feature a fully open world for players to explore, with locations from previous Fable games like Bowerstone making a return.
Playground didn’t say exactly where the new game takes place in the Fable timeline. If you played 2010’s Fable 3, you may recall there was a time gap between each of the original games, with the final Lionhead entry giving players the chance to explore a version of Albion that’s been thrown into the tumult of an industrial revolution. This new game appears to offer a more traditional Medieval fantasy setting.
From what little Playground shared of the story, the player character is the first hero born in Albion in a generation. Like previous Fable games, their story will begin when they’re a child. They’ll leave their home of Briar Hill after a “mysterious stranger” turns all the inhabitants into stone. Before you set off on your adventure, you’ll be able to decide what your hero looks like, with customization including options for different skin tones, head shapes, tattoos and scars.
All pretty standard stuff, and combat doesn’t look groundbreaking. Your character can use a combination of melee and ranged weapons, alongside magic, to defeat their foes. In addition to a health bar, enemies appear to have a posture meter players can break through both light and heavy attacks, before carrying out “stylish” finishers. Judging from the footage Playground shared, combat doesn’t quite have the kinetic feel of say a FromSoftware title.
Thankfully, there’s more to the game than just fighting monsters. Like past Fable games, players can ask villagers out on dates, before eventually marrying them and having children, and you’re not limited to a monogamous relationship. It looks like Playground built a modern polycule simulator. Beyond that, you can also purchase every house and business in Albion. The game’s NPCs will develop an opinion of your hero and their actions. Say you evict an artist that lived in one of the houses you bought, you can later meet them on the street and they’ll tell you to your face that you’re awful. Wonderful stuff.
From a technical perspective, the footage Playground showed off looked on the rough side. The game’s frame rate and frame pacing wasn’t smooth, and I’m pretty sure I saw ghosting in some of the animations. Hopefully the studio has enough time between now and when the game is finally released sometime this autumn to polish the presentation. When the game does arrive, it will be available on Xbox Series X/S, PC via Xbox and Steam, PlayStation 5 and Game Pass Ultimate.
Microsoft first announced a new Fable game was in development back in 2020. It then went three years before sharing a preview of the title, which was originally slated to arrive in 2025 before it was delayed to this year last February.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fable-will-let-you-be-a-heartless-landlord-this-fall-200409310.html?src=rss
From Eternia to the big screen, ‘Masters of the Universe’ is coming in 2026 with Nicholas Galitzine leading the cast as He-Man. Here’s everything we know so far.
From Eternia to the big screen, ‘Masters of the Universe’ is coming in 2026 with Nicholas Galitzine leading the cast as He-Man. Here’s everything we know so far.
Mario Kart World received a free update today that brings a team option to its Knockout Tour mode. Initially, the Knockout races in this Nintendo Switch 2 launch title were only for solo drivers, challenging players to finish ahead of enough other competitors or get eliminated from the series. It was one of the highlights of the game in our review, and this new wrinkle should bring plenty more fun chaos to the racetrack.
In the team mode, players compete either in two teams of twelve, three teams of eight or four teams of six. If you don’t have enough people to fill out a team CPU drivers will complete the roster. You’ll still progress or be knocked out based on individual performance, but your score will be pooled with your teammates’ results. More points are awarded for placing highly in a race, with 50 going to the top finisher while drivers who don’t advance to the next course only get one. Eliminated drivers can continue to spectate the game and cheer on their teammates. Team play can be hosted via local wireless or online play.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/mario-kart-world-adds-a-team-option-in-knockout-tour-190348248.html?src=rss
Elon Musk just took the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and announced that Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot will be sold to the public by the end of next year. Musk is the master of unrealistic timetables, but this may be the nuttiest one yet. These are humanoid robots that are supposed to be able to do just about any task a human can do.
Musk, as usual, gave himself an out if the robots don’t start rolling off the assembly line in 2027, saying that they’ll only be released when Tesla is “confident that it’s very high reliability, very high safety and the range of functionality is also very high.”
He stated that the robots have already begun doing simple tasks in the Tesla factory, but there’s no proof of this other than his word. In the real world, Optimus robots have continuously failed to live up to the marketing hype.
If there was any question that Optimus uses teleop for their robots. Here one clearly has a guy take the headset off and it falls over.
Absolutely hilarious though. pic.twitter.com/4gYVohjY00
— CIX 🦾 (@cixliv) December 8, 2025
There have been plenty of reports suggesting that previous demos of the robots in action were actually smoke and mirrors, as they were being remotely piloted by human operators.
Tesla’s stock jumped over three percent upon this announcement because company investors live in a world of magical rainbows, unicorns and robots mixing drinks at home in the year 2027. Musk also recently stated that the robots would be ready for commercial deployment in 2026. That’s this year. It’s worth noting that the program head for the project, Milan Kovac, recently left the company.
Again, these are autonomous robots that are supposed to be able to perform complex tasks across a wide variety of categories. That’ll likely happen someday, but not by 2027. I’m just gonna go ahead and throw Musk’s timeline in with “two years to AGI” and “five years until the singularity.”
On a related note, the Tesla CEO also said that the long-awaited Cybercab will enter production in April, with a goal of two million vehicles manufactured each year. This isn’t quite as far-fetched as the Optimus promise, but that two million number seems highly suspect. Just how many consumers does he think want a car without a steering wheel that only holds two people?
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/elon-musk-just-told-davos-that-tesla-will-sell-humanoid-robots-next-year-really-he-swears-192515568.html?src=rss
Apparently, concerns of exploding trees this winter have circulated online as people in multiple states prepare for more bone-chilling temperatures.
Apparently, concerns of exploding trees this winter have circulated online as people in multiple states prepare for more bone-chilling temperatures.
We already knew xAI’s Grok was barraging X with nonconsensual sexual images of real people. But now there are some numbers to put things in perspective. Over an 11-day period, Grok generated an estimated 3 million sexualized images — including an estimated 23,000 of children.
Put another way, Grok generated an estimated 190 sexualized images per minute during that 11-day period. Among those, it made a sexualized image of children once every 41 seconds.
On Thursday, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published its findings. The British nonprofit based its findings on a random sample of 20,000 Grok images from December 29 to January 9. The CCDH then extrapolated a broader estimate based on the 4.6 million images Grok generated during that period.
The research defined sexualized images as those with “photorealistic depictions of a person in sexual positions, angles, or situations; a person in underwear, swimwear or similarly revealing clothing; or imagery depicting sexual fluids.” The CCDH didn’t take image prompts into account, so the estimate doesn’t differentiate between nonconsensual sexualized versions of real photos and those generated exclusively from a text prompt.
The CCDH used an AI tool to identify the proportion of the sampled images that were sexualized. That may warrant some degree of caution in the findings. However, I’m told that many third-party analytics services for X have reliable data because they use the platform’s API.
On January 9, xAI restricted Grok’s ability to edit existing images to paid users. (That didn’t solve the problem; it merely turned it into a premium feature.) Five days later, X restricted Grok’s ability to digitally undress real people.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 23: Google CEO Sundar Pichai (L) and Apple CEO Tim Cook (R) listen as U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a roundtable with American and Indian business leaders in the East Room of the White House on June 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the meeting to meet with a range of leaders from the tech and business worlds and to discuss topics including innovation and AI. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
But that restriction only applied to X; the standalone Grok app reportedly continues to generate these images. Since Apple and Google host the apps — which their policies explicitly prohibit — you might expect them to remove them from their stores. Well, in that case, you’d be wrong.
So far, Tim Cook’s Apple and Sundar Pichai’s Google haven’t removed Grok from their stores — unlike similar “nudifying” apps from other developers. The companies also didn’t take any action on X while it was producing the images. That’s despite 28 women’s groups (and other progressive advocacy nonprofits) publishing an open letter calling on the companies to act.
The companies haven’t replied to multiple requests for comment from Engadget. To my knowledge, they haven’t acknowledged the issue publicly in any format, nor have they responded to questions from other media outlets.
Grok – App Store and Play Store listings
The research’s findings on sexualized images included numerous outputs of people wearing transparent bikinis or micro-bikinis. The CCDH referred to one of a “uniformed healthcare worker with white fluids visible between her spread legs.” Others included women wearing only dental floss, Saran Wrap or transparent tape. One depicted Ebba Busch, Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister, “wearing a bikini with white fluid on her head.”
Other public figures were part of that group. They include Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Ice Spice, Nicki Minaj, Christina Hendricks, Millie Bobby Brown and Kamala Harris.
Examples of children include someone using Grok to edit a child’s “before-school selfie” into an image of her in a bikini. Another image depicted “six young girls wearing micro bikinis.” The CCDH said that, as of January 15, both of these posts were still live on X.
In total, 29 percent of the sexualized images of children identified in the sample were still accessible on X as of January 15. The research found that even after posts were removed, the images remained accessible via their direct URLs.
You can read the CCDH’s report for more details on the results and methodology. We’ll update this story if we receive a reply from Apple or Google.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/grok-generated-an-estimated-3-million-sexualized-images–including-23000-of-children–over-11-days-175053250.html?src=rss
Korg just officially unveiled the Phase8 synthesizer, after years of tinkering by a team led by legendary engineer Tatsuya Takahashi. This is a highly experimental synthesizer, but it’s not a concept unit. It’ll be available for purchase in April.
The Phase8 uses a new form of “acoustic synthesis” that combines acoustic sound generation with electronic control. Takahashi says the synthesizer is “beyond analog vs. digital” and “beyond electronics” altogether. It features chromatically tuned steel resonators, which creates an acoustic sound similar to that of a kalimba. These signals can be manipulated via onboard effects and sequenced like a traditional synthesizer. Here’s a video of the synth in action.
Players can mess with the resonators just like they would a guitar string or a piano key. Korg recommends that users physically touch, pluck, strum and tap the resonators to create new textures and tones. The company even suggests that people actually put objects on top of each resonator for additional experimentation. There’s a slider that boots or dampens the acoustic response.
As for the electronics, the Phase8 boasts dedicated envelopes and velocity control for each resonator and there’s a polymetric step sequencer. The sequences can be stored and recalled via eight memory slots. All controls can be automated across a sequence. There are a handful of modulation effects, including tremolo and pitch-shift.
It features modern connectivity options, including MIDI in/out via 3.5mm, USB MIDI, a standard ¼-inch audio out and a headphone jack, among other options. Preorders are open right now, but hold on to your jaw. This thing costs $1,150.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/korgs-new-experimental-synthesizer-combines-acoustic-sounds-with-electronic-control-180809332.html?src=rss
