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While rumors have been swirling about Nintendo showing off its next console to developers, the Switch will stick around for a while yet. There are a bunch of first-party games lined up for the current console stretching into next year, and we’ll soon find out more about those and third-party titles that are on the way to the Switch. That’s because the company has announced a Nintendo Direct for September 14.

The showcase will start at 10AM ET and it will run for around 40 minutes. Nintendo says the stream will focus on games that are arriving this winter, though we might hear tidbits about titles that are further out, such as the new version of Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon and a fresh game starring Princess Peach, both of which are scheduled for 2024.

On the more immediate horizon are the likes of Super Mario Bros. Wonder (which just got its own dedicated Direct), WarioWare Move It!, Detective Pikachu Returns and Super Mario RPG. The last batch of Mario Kart 8 DLC courses is scheduled to arrive by the end of the year, so that could make an appearance, while there are two Pokémon Scarlet and Violet expansions for Nintendo to promote.

The company typically has a few surprises up its sleeve as well, so expect the unexpected. It’s been years since we heard more than a peep about Metroid Prime 4, so perhaps Nintendo will finally be ready to talk about it again sometime before the Switch’s successor arrives. Then, of course, there’s always the possibility of (whisper so you don’t jinx it) a Hollow Knight: Silksong release date.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-next-nintendo-direct-is-set-for-september-14-at-10am-et-142649665.html?src=rss 

Just seven months, and reportedly 2 billion generated images, after first incorporating the beta AI into its suite of image and video editing tools, Adobe announced on Wednesday that its Firefly for Enterprise generative AI is now commercially available in Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe Express workflows. And with the release comesa new Firefly web application as well, available as part of the company’s Creative Cloud paid plans.

The new subscription plan revolves around “generative credits” (GCs), which Adobe defines as, “tokens that enable customers to turn a text-based prompt into image and vector creations in Photoshop, Illustrator, Express and the Firefly web application.” It’s a made up currency that facilitates the transmutation of your money into faster access to the Firefly AI. Once users hit their monthly allowance of GCs, they’ll be able to continue using Firefly, just at a slower rate.

The web application will be available through Creative Cloud, at the Express and Express Premium price points. Those users will also gain access to the full paid version of Express Premium. Per a company release. Adobe Express is a new “AI first, all-in-one creativity app” designed specifically to generate commercially safe images and effects (and presumably the correct number of fingers). With it users can generate design elements, images and video, pdfs and animations in over a 100 languages, then export that content to social media and publishing platforms.For enterprise users, Firefly and Express Premium will be bundled together as an all-in-one editor.

Generative AI has not exactly been greeted with the warmest of welcomes, mostly on account of it ripping off an entire internet’s worth of art for its training. Then there was the whole subsequent “replacing actual artists with cheap AI knockoffs after stealing their work for training purposes” issue as well. 

To help allay those well-founded fears, Firefly embeds Content Credentials by default in all generated works. These credentials act as a as a digital “nutrition label,” displaying the asset’s name, creation date, creation tool and a log of any edits made to it. They’re the latest measure to come out of Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative, an industry group seeking to establish baseline ethical and transparency norms for AI development before the Feds step in and impose real regulations.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/adobes-firefly-ai-is-now-commercially-available-on-photoshop-illustrator-and-express-130049419.html?src=rss 

WhatsApp’s Channels came on the scene in early June and has since only made its way into ten countries. Now, Meta has announced its expanding channels to over 150 countries — quite the leap — along with adding new features and public figures. 

Meta claims thousands of new organizations and celebs are coming to Channels, ranging from the MLB to Olivia Rodrigo. As part of its expansion, you should now get recommendations of accounts to follow based on your location and their popularity. Other updates include the ability to provide feedback with emojis and letting channel admins to edit their Updates for the entire 30 days before WhatsApp automatically deletes them. Arguably, the most helpful new feature for community building is that any Update you forward to friends will now link back to the original channel. WhatsApp is launching its own channel, as well, to share future updates as they come. 

With Channels, Meta hopes to “build the most private broadcast service available.” To this end, other users can’t see who you follow, and your phone number isn’t shared with someone simply because you follow them. 

Channels first made its way onto fellow Meta-owned company Instagram in February as a not-so-subtle copy of Telegram’s channels feature. Its expansion to WhatsApp came as one of Meta’s many attempts to make the messaging app, well, more than just a basic messaging app. Much of this has involved launching features similar to other companies, such as entering and leaving ongoing group chats (Discord) and instant video messages (Snapchat, Telegram). None of this is to knock WhatsApp specifically— it’s rare that you get a totally original idea on social media these days. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/whatsapp-channels-are-expanding-to-150-countries-130143201.html?src=rss 

Amazon’s Ring is mostly known for doorbell cams and consumer-grade surveillance tech, but the company’s moving past humans and onto our beloved furry friends. It just announced the Ring Pet Tag to help find lost pets, as the tag attaches to a collar and allows access to a bevy of digital information about the animal, should it wander away from the yard.

Here’s how it works. If you happen upon a lost pet wearing the Ring Pet Tag, flip the tag backwards and scan the QR code to find out who owns the animal, where they live, their phone number and relevant health information, such as required medications and the like. You can even contact the owner through the app and engage in a two-way conversation. Of course, all of this involves coaxing a scared dog or cat into allowing you access to that QR code, which could be problematic.

Though the tech on display is interesting, it’s worth noting what the device doesn’t feature. There’s no GPS, so no way to geolocate a lost pet. The tag also lacks a camera, which is a common feature for some pet accessories. It’s basically a QR code on a tag that provides the same kind of information that could simply be written onto a collar, though most collars don’t boast enough room to detail medication requirements and other unique data points. So it’s useful from a “all of your information in one place” standpoint.

The price, however, is right. The Ring Pet Tag costs just $10, which isn’t that much more than a standard analog tag with no scannable QR code to speak of. Preorders start today via Amazon and Ring, with shipments starting on October 4th.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ring-announces-a-wearable-for-your-lost-pets-thats-just-a-qr-code-133036863.html?src=rss 

The latest software update for the PlayStation 5 adds a number of useful features to the console, starting with the ability to enjoy its 3D Audio powered by Tempest 3D AudioTech on compatible Dolby Atmos-enabled HDMI devices. Sony first made the feature available, along with the other ones we’re mentioning here, as part of a beta update released back in August. Now, it’s available to all PS5 users.

Another notable upgrade brought by the new software is support for larger capacity M.2 SSDs. You can now use SSDs up to 8TB, double the previous limit of 4TB, so long as they meet the requirements for compatibility. And if you’re playing with someone who may need help beating a particularly difficult level or boss, the console will now allow you to assign a second controller as an assist controller. By doing so, your PS5 will recognize two controllers as one device, and either can control whatever’s on screen. 

PS5’s latest update also comes with enhancements for the console’s social features. When you’re invited into a closed party, you won’t automatically get added to the group anymore, so you don’t have to interact with anyone you don’t want to. And if someone is sharing a screen in the party you’re joining, you’ll see a preview of it even before you jump in. If you’re the one inviting people, take note that you can now send both closed and open party invitations to several players at the same time. In addition, you can now see which of your friends are doing an activity you can join under the Friends tab, since the interface will now show a “joinable” icon next to them. 

Aside from those features, the update will give you the ability to stream PS5 or PS4 games from devices running Android TV OS 12. So far, Sony has verified that the PS Remote Play app is compatible with the 4K Chromecast with Google TV device and the BRAVIA XR A95L model smart TV. In the US and in UK, the update adds new voice commands you can use: Simply say “Hey PlayStation, help” to quickly bring up help pages or “Hey PlayStation, what’s new?” to check for the latest features and the current PS Plus lineup. And if you want to game in the middle of the night and don’t want anybody else hearing what you’re up to, you can now mute the beep sound the console makes when you turn it on or off. Simply go to Beep Sound under System in Settings and then mute or or adjust its volume. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-big-ps5-update-adds-dolby-atmos-support-and-lets-you-turn-off-the-startup-beep-120620769.html?src=rss