Engadget Podcast: WTF is up with RAM? (With Will Smith from The Tech Pod)

RAM prices have gone wild, mostly thanks to AI. In this episode, Devindra chats with Will Smith (Brad and Will Made a Tech Pod) about the state of the RAM industry, as well as other hardware we expect to get more expensive. (SSD prices are definitely creeping up too!). Also, we discuss Meta poaching Alan Dye, one of Apple’s design executives, and what this could mean for Meta’s upcoming devices. And yes, whatever they have next will likely revolve around AI.

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Topics

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, plans deep cuts to his company’s metaverse development – 1:09

Longtime Apple UI designer Alan Dye to join Meta’s AI division – 7:08

US DOT cuts fuel efficiency standards, doubles down on gas cars – 25:40

Waymo autonomous cars recently started driving more aggressively – 31:30

Amazon halts its anime dub beta because it sounded terrible – 38:00

WTF, RAM?? Will Smith joins to talk about why RAM prices are spiraling upward – 44:05

Around Engadget: Metroid Prime 4 is a return to form after 18 years on ice – 1:04:42

Working on – 1:07:36

Pop culture picks – 1:08:32

Credits

Host: Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Will Smith
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/engadget-podcast-wtf-is-up-with-ram-with-will-smith-from-the-tech-pod-141442002.html?src=rss 

Microsoft’s Copilot+ AI PC plan fizzled, but it still served a purpose

Microsoft’s Copilot+ initiative launched last year with a clear goal: To produce capable laptops for people eagerly anticipating AI-powered features. Read that sentence again, and it’s glaringly obvious that Microsoft’s plan was flawed from the start. Most consumers aren’t nearly as hyped for AI features as the companies eager to foist artificial intelligence upon us. And those features aren’t exactly compelling, either. Microsoft’s Recall — which snaps screenshots of your PC to create a database of everything you’ve done– was dogged by privacy concerns from the start. And to be honest, I haven’t found its ability to remember the files and websites I’ve opened to be that useful.

Without any sort of killer AI app, most consumers weren’t going to pay a premium for Copilot+ systems either. Not in this precarious economy, anyway. So it wasn’t a huge surprise to see sales of Copilot+ systems going practically nowhere over the last year. In the third quarter of 2024, they accounted for less than 10 percent of systems shipped, according to data from Mercury Research (via Tom’s Hardware). The research firm IDC (via PCWorld) also found that Copilot+ systems made up just 2.3 percent of Windows machines sold in the first quarter of 2025 (and a mere 1.9 percent of the entire PC market).

Instead of continuing to promote Copilot+, Microsoft now wants to “make every Windows 11 computer an AI PC“. The new “Hey Copilot” voice commands and Copilot Vision, a feature that lets the AI assistant see what’s on your screen, are both cloud-powered. That means you won’t need the beefy 40 TOPS neural processing units (NPU) found on Copilot+ systems to use them. Microsoft spent the past few years touting NPUs as the gateway to useful AI features, like Recall and Windows Studio webcam effects, but only one of its new AI capabilities actually requires an NPU. (And even that is just a slight update to Click to Do, allowing you to send Zoom invitations by right-clicking on e-mail addresses.)

It’s easy to view the whole Copilot+ initiative as a cynical way to ramp up AI hype and push people towards expensive new laptops, especially as the October 14 Windows 10 end of support date loomed. But it also led to some genuinely useful changes: Microsoft made 16GB of RAM a standard for Copilot+ systems, along with 256GB of storage and the aforementioned 40 TOPS NPUs. The launch of Copilot was also the kick in the pants Microsoft needed to revamp Windows for mobile Arm processors. I never thought I’d love a Surface with a Snapdragon chip, but the improved Arm support on the Surface Pro and this year’s smaller model finally won me over.

The Dell 16 Premium sitting on a ledge.

I wouldn’t call the Copilot+ program a huge swing, but it’s still the sort of industry-wide cat herding that’s rare to see in the PC space. Microsoft couldn’t just snap its fingers and shift all PCs to efficient mobile chips with powerful NPUs, like Apple did with its own jump to M-series chips years ago. Microsoft had to wait for new NPU-equipped hardware from Qualcomm (and eventually Intel and AMD). It had to finally fix the Windows on Arm problem. And it also had to double-down on AI features that felt truly transformative. It’s just a shame that consumers didn’t seem to care.

Microsoft said that Copilot+ systems accounted for 15 percent of premium PCs sold during last year’s holiday season, but the company hasn’t released any new sales figures since then. “This is the fastest adoption I’ve seen of a new category of hardware, and we’ve done it faster than the normal generational shift of silicon,” James Howell, Microsoft’s VP of Windows marketing, said in a conversation with Engadget. “Copilot+ PCs continue to be a transition that we are pushing for and prioritizing. But I can’t give you the exact numbers beyond that… Just for the last two or three months, we’ve been doing pretty well with year-on-year growth in the Windows business.”

Surface Pro Copilot+

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

While Microsoft ultimately doesn’t have much to show for the Copilot+ initiative, the steady progression of hardware will lead to AI PCs dominating over the next five years. The research firm Omdia predicts that AI PCs will account for 55 percent of computers shipped in all of 2026, up from 42.5 percent of systems in Q3 2025. By 2029, Omdia predicts AI PCs will make up 75 percent of all systems shipped, giving Windows 80 percent of the AI PC market.  

Omdia AI PC shipment predictions

Omdia

“It’s important to note that this steep adoption curve [for AI PCs] is driven more by the product roadmaps of the PC market, rather than consumers and businesses seeking PCs specifically for AI,” according to Omdia research analyst Kieren Jessop. “For businesses, and consumers especially, AI-capable PC adoption is more a function of a customer going to purchase a device and that device just so happens to have an NPU.”

Microsoft was basically right: AI PCs are the future. But it turns out the AI features people actually want to use — like ChatGPT, Sora and Microsoft’s own Copilot — are mostly powered by the cloud, making onboard NPUs superfluous. That won’t be true forever. There are tangible security, speed and convenience benefits for onboard AI processing, like transcribing sensitive audio instead of sending it to the cloud. But for now, those AI workloads are relatively niche, and they’re not enough to make the Copilot+ a true success by any measure.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/microsofts-copilot-ai-pc-plan-fizzled-but-it-still-served-a-purpose-130000239.html?src=rss 

Splitgate: Arena Reloaded tries to fix what Splitgate 2 broke

Portal shooter Splitgate 2 is coming back with a new name and rebuilt experience after being pulled back to beta earlier this year, developer 1047 Games announced. The free-to-play Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will relaunch on December 17th across platforms including Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC. 

“After months of community feedback, testing and rebuilding the entire experience, this is Splitgate refocused on what made it special in the first place: classic arena combat without factions, abilities, or extra noise,” the developer shared in a blog post, along with a gameplay video. 

Splitgate 2 originally launched in June, but 1047 Games pulled it back to beta after deciding that the release had been rushed. For the new version, the company said, “we took the best of Splitgate 1 and Splitgate 2” and cut the parts that didn’t fit, while refining the ones that did. “in the process, we not only rebuilt the game, we reconnected with the magic of the genre that built this studio in the first place: a return to the Arena.” 

Here are some key changes made:

Removed Splitgate 2’s factions, abilities, and select equipment so the focus is back on classic arena combat without the extra noise.

Rebuilt progression from the ground up so your time in game feels rewarding, with weapon and character cosmetics you can earn simply by playing.

We’ve added a true Classic Arena mode with even starts and new map pickups, recapturing the feel of the original.

Fine tuned combat to better match expectations for a modern arena shooter, with more meaningful gunfights and fewer “what just happened” moments.

Completely overhauled the ranked system so your rank reflects your actual skill for players who love to climb and compete.

Added key systems you have been asking for: Mode Select, Player Stats, Ranked Leaderboards, and Account Levels.

Introduced five brand new maps and six fully reworked arenas, bringing the total map pool to 20.

Added three new LMG primary weapons and the iconic Power Weapon, the Railgun.

1047 Games was savaged earlier this year by Splitgate players after co-founder Ian Proulx wore a hat at Summer Games Fest stating “Make FPS Great Again.” Later, he posted to the studio’s X account on Splitgate 2’s release date that he was “not here to apologize” and that the hat was “not a political statement,” finally admitting that it was all basically a publicity stunt.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/splitgate-arena-reloaded-tries-to-fix-what-splitgate-2-broke-130027714.html?src=rss 

Chinese hackers reportedly targeting government entities using ‘Brickstorm’ malware

Hackers with links to China reportedly successfully infiltrated a number of unnamed government and tech entities using advanced malware. As reported by Reuters, cybersecurity agencies from the US and Canada confirmed the attack, which used a backdoor known as “Brickstorm” to target organizations using the VMware vSphere cloud computing platform.

As detailed in a report published by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security on December 4, PRC state-sponsored hackers maintained “long-term persistent access” to an unnamed victim’s internal network. After compromising the affected platform, the cybercriminals were able to steal credentials, manipulate sensitive files and create “rogue, hidden VMs” (virtual machines), effectively seizing control unnoticed. The attack could have begun as far back as April 2024 and lasted until at least September of this year.

The malware analysis report published by the Canadian Cyber Centre, with assistance from The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), cites eight different Brickstorm malware samples. It is not clear exactly how many organizations in total were either targeted or successfully penetrated.

In an email to Reuters, a spokesperson for VMware vSphere owner Broadcom said it was aware of the alleged hack, and encouraged its customers to download up-to-date security patches whenever possible. In September, the Google Threat Intelligence Group published its own report on Brickstorm, in which it urged organizations to “reevaluate their threat model for appliances and conduct hunt exercises” against specified threat actors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/chinese-hackers-reportedly-targeting-government-entities-using-brickstorm-malware-133501894.html?src=rss 

Ryan Serhant Net Worth: How Much Money the ‘Owning Manhattan’ Star & Broker Has

With ‘Owning Manhattan’ back and his brokerage expanding, Ryan Serhant’s growing real-estate empire has pushed his net worth even higher. Learn more here.

With ‘Owning Manhattan’ back and his brokerage expanding, Ryan Serhant’s growing real-estate empire has pushed his net worth even higher. Learn more here. 

What to expect at CES 2026

CES doesn’t start until January, but whispers of the products and announcements that could be in store for tech’s biggest annual conference have already started to take shape. The CES 2026 show floor is officially open from January 6 through 9, although the show kicks off with events on Sunday January 4 and a host of press conferences on Monday. As always, product demos, announcements and networking happening at the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding hotels all over the city. As usual, Engadget will be covering the event in-person and remotely, bringing you news and hands-ons straight from the show floor.

More specific details and pre-announcements should trickle out as CES approaches, but in the meantime, we do know what companies will be hosting press conferences and what tech trends could rear their heads at the show.

What we already know about

Press conferences and show floor booths are the bread and butter of CES. The Consumer Technology Association has already published a searchable directory of who will have a presence at the show, along with a schedule of every official panel and presentation.

On Sunday, January 4, Samsung will kick-off CES with “The First Look,” a presentation hosted by TM Roh, the CEO of Samsung’s DX Division, on the company’s “vision for the DX (Device eXperience) Division in 2026, along with new AI-driven customer experiences.” 

That’ll be followed by multiple press conferences throughout Monday, January 5. LG is hosting its “Innovation in Tune with You” presentation to share “its vision for elevating daily life through Affectionate Intelligence” at the start of the day, Intel is launching its new Core Ultra Series 3 processors in the afternoon, Sony Honda Mobility is holding a press conference on its first car and AMD CEO Lisa Su will cover AMD’s upcoming chip announcements at a keynote address that closes out the day.

Finally, on Tuesday, January 6, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang will host Lenovo’s Tech World Conference at Sphere, using the large and decidedly curved screen to share the company’s “commitment to delivering smarter AI for all by constantly redefining how technology can engage, inspire, and empower.”

Outside of the formal introduction of new products and initiatives, reading the tea leaves of what was announced last year and what companies are reportedly working on, we can make some educated guesses at what we could see at CES 2026.

New chips from AMD, Intel and Qualcomm

CES is frequently the start of a cascade of new chip announcements for a given year, and one of the first places new silicon appears in real consumer products. AMD will likely use its keynote to introduce new versions of its Ryzen chips, including the recently spotted Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which is expected to offer better single-threaded performance, and the Ryzen 9000G series, which could be built with AMD’s Zen 5 architecture. The company might also use its CES stage to go over its new FSR Redstone AI upscaling tech.

Intel has already publicly announced that it’ll launch its Panther Lake chips at CES 2026. The officially titled Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chips fit into Intel’s overall “AI PC” push, but are specifically meant for premium laptops. Based on a preview from October 2025, Intel says the first chip made with its 2-nanometer 18A process will offer 50 percent more processing performance than previous generations and for the chip’s Arc GPU, a 50 percent performance bump from last generation.

Qualcomm is also rumored to be targeting laptops at the show, building on the work it’s done moving its Snapdragon chips out of phones and tablets and into other types of computers. The company’s Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Premium chips should start appearing in laptops at CES 2026, offering a look at the improved speed and AI performance the company promised in 2025.

Brighter, “truer” screens

Sony announced a collection of new Bravia TVs in April 2025, replacing the company’s flagship, filling in its midrange options and adding a new budget model to the mix. The star of this updated Bravia lineup is the Bravia 9, which features a QD-OLED panel, but Sony appears to be prepping entirely new display tech for 2026. In March 2025, Sony introduced a new RGB LED panel that uses individual Mini LED backlights colored in red, green and blue to produce even brighter, more accurate colors. In contrast to a QD-OLED, which filters a layer of blue organic light emitting diodes through quantum dots that change color, Sony’s “General RGB LED Backlight Technology” can get as bright as a Mini LED panel without needing an extra filter layer or worrying about OLED’s problems with burn-in. 

The company has already trademarked the name “True RGB,” which could end up being what Sony calls this new flavor of display if it decides to show them off at CES. It seems entirely likely, because CES is nothing if not a TV show — it’s a sure bet that we’ll see new TVs from the likes of LG and Samsung in addition to Sony. If the company doesn’t introduce new display tech for its TVs, it does have a new 240Hz PlayStation monitor coming in 2026 that it could show off at CES instead.

Sony isn’t the only company hyped on bright screens. Samsung is reportedly pushing an updated version of the HDR10 and HDR10+ standards that could be ready to demo at CES 2026. The new HDR10+ Advanced standard would be Samsung’s answer to Dolby Vision 2, which includes support for things bi-directional tone mapping and intelligent features that automatically adapt sports and gaming content. Samsung’s take will reportedly offer improved brightness, genre-based tone mapping and intelligent motion smoothing options, among other improvements.

Ballie Watch 2026

The ball-shaped yellow robot lovingly known as “Ballie” has been announced twice, first in 2020 and then again in 2024 with a projector in tow. Samsung said Ballie would go on sale in 2025 at CES last year and then shared in April 2025 that Ballie would ship this summer with Google’s Gemini onboard. But it’s nearly 2026, and Ballie is nowhere to be seen. It’s possible Samsung could make a third attempt at announcing its robot at CES 2026, but whether or not it does, robotics will still be a big part of the show.

Robot vacuums and mops were a major highlight of CES 2025, and it’s safe to expect notable improvements from the new models that are announced at CES 2026. Not every company will adopt the retractable arm of the Roborock Saros Z70, but robot vacuums with legs for rising over small ledges like the Dreame X50 seem like they could become the norm. Roborock could also show off its new Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow, the first of its robot vacuums to feature a retractable roller mop.

Beyond just traversing spaces more efficiently, improving robots’ navigation could also be a major concern at the show. Prominent members of the AI industry are turning their attention from large language models to world models, which aim to give AI a deep understanding of physical space. Those world models could be the key to making robots, bipedal or otherwise, competent at navigating homes and workplaces, and will likely be a significant talking point at CES 2026.

We’ll be updating this article throughout the month as more rumors surface and new products are confirmed — stay tuned for future updates!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/what-to-expect-at-ces-2026-120000278.html?src=rss 

How to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw live today

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is this Friday. (Hector Vivas – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Hector Vivas – FIFA via Getty Images

The draw for the 2026 World Cup is this Friday at 12 PM ET, where we’ll learn which group the 39 qualified countries and three host nations will land in for the international soccer tournament. The 2026 World Cup draw will air live on Fox. Pre-show coverage of the draw begins at 11:30 a.m. The venues and kickoff times for the World Cup group stage games be announced the following day. Tickets for the World Cup are already available.

Here’s how to watch the 2026 World Cup draw live, plus what you need to know about buying World Cup tickets, before or after the groupings are announced. 

How to watch the 2026 World Cup draw:

Date: Friday, Dec. 5

Time: 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT

Location: Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.

TV channel: Fox

Streaming: Fox One, DirecTV, YouTube via VPN and more

When is the 2026 World Cup draw?

The World Cup draw will take place on Friday, Dec. 5. All the group stage venues and kickoff times will then be announced the following day, on Saturday, Dec. 6

2026 World Cup draw start time:

The World Cup draw will officially kick off at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT, though there will be pre-show coverage of the event as early as 11:30 a.m. ET.

What channel is the World Cup draw on?

The World Cup draw will air across Fox networks, including Fox and via the Fox Sports app. Coverage will also likely air on FS1.

How to watch the World Cup draw:

For those with live TV access, you may be able to watch Fox totally free over the air. But if not, here’s how we recommend tuning in. 

How to watch the World Cup draw for free:

In the U.S., the draw will air on Fox, but globally in many regions, a livestream of the draw will be available to watch via YouTube livestream, totally free. If you don’t have access to Fox, you might want to consider trying a VPN, so you can tune into the World Cup draw free livestream.

Don’t want to navigate a VPN? Many live TV streaming services offer free trials, so you can also tune into the 2026 World Cup draw for free via a free trial.

When is the 2026 World Cup?

The 2026 World Cup begins on June 11, 2026 and runs through July 19, 2026. 

Where will 2026 World Cup games be held?

There will be 15 host cities for the 2026 World Cup throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada. They are:

United States

Atlanta – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA

Boston – Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA

Dallas – At&T Stadium, Arlington TX

Houston – NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

Kansas City – GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Los Angeles – Sofi Stadium, Inglewood, CA

Miami – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

New York/New Jersey – MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

Philadelphia – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

San Francisco Bay Area – Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

Seattle – Lumen Field, Seattle, WA

Mexico

Mexico City – Estadio Azteca, Coyoacan, Mexico City

Monterrey – Estadio BBVA, Gudalupe, Nuevo Leon

Guadalajara – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara

Canada

Toronto – BMO Field, Toronto, ON

Vancouver – BC Place, Vancouver BC

How to get 2026 World Cup tickets:

Individual match tickets are now available to purchase through the FIFA website. To purchase tickets that are part of a multi-game or hospitality package, you can sign up here to receive more information. In addition, there will also be a final ticket lottery held after this week’s draw; fans will be able to submit applications for specific matches once the group-stage matchups have been revealed to try and grab a limited number of lower-priced tickets at select matches. (An exact date for this lottery has not yet been revealed but you can sign-up to receive up-to-date information on the FIFA site.) 

When do 2026 World Cup tickets go on sale?

Tickets for the 2026 World Cup are now on sale, though the match schedule doesn’t specify team groupings (yet). 

Find tickets on FIFA’s website

Find tickets on StubHub

How much are 2026 World Cup tickets?

Currently, individual tickets for the 2026 World Cup run anywhere from $1,400 to $3,500 (if you’re searching for tickets for matches in Mexico or Canada, don’t be scared off by their higher price tags — they’re all in the same price range after adjusting for conversion rates). Tickets for the group stage, knockout rounds, and the bronze final are currently available. It’s important to note that FIFA is employing a dynamic pricing strategy, so prices may fluctuate as we get closer to the tournament, depending on demand. For those lucky enough to enter and be selected in the ticketing lottery, prices are significantly less – they’re broken out into four categories based on seating, and range from $60 to $620, but these prices are not available to the general public. 

Hospitality packages, which guarantee entry to multiple matches are also on sale now and start at $5,300. (Note that depending on the venue and package you select, some of these packages can cost up to $68,000 per person, and while that price includes food, drinks and premium seating, it doesn’t include travel expenses or accommodations.) 

Tickets are also available through FIFA’s own resale marketplace and on third-party resale sites like StubHub already have single-game matches available, with some starting around $275 per seat and going up from there, depending on the game and venue. 

Find tickets on StubHub

Find tickets on FIFA’s Ticket Resale Marketplace

2026 World Cup Schedule

 (All times Eastern)

The 2026 World Cup will begin on Thursday, June 11, 2026, and the final is scheduled for Sunday, July 19, 2026. You can take a look at the existing schedule here.

Group Stage

June 11 – June 27, 2026

Knockout stage matches

Round of 32: June 28 – July 3, 2026

Round of 16: July 4 – July 7, 2026

Quarterfinals: July 9 – July 11, 2026

Semifinals: July 14 – 15, 2026

Bronze Final (3rd Place Match): July 18, 2026

Final: July 19, 2026

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-watch-the-2026-fifa-world-cup-draw-live-today-120501930.html?src=rss 

Netflix to buy Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion

Shortly after rumors of a deal between the two media giants broke, Netflix has announced it is buying Warner Bros., HBO and HBO Max for approximately $82.7 billion. If approved, the deal will take place after Warner Bros. has disentangled itself from both its legacy cable and Discovery assets as part of the already-announced de-merger. That’s likely to take place in the third quarter of 2026, with this new tie-up taking place at some point after that.

In a statement, Netflix said it expects to “maintain” Warner Bros. current operations, as well as its policy of theatrical releases for its films. But the deal may spell the end for HBO Max as its own product, as the statement also says “by adding the deep film and TV libraries and HBO and HBO Max programming, Netflix members will have even more high-quality titles from which to choose.”

It’s likely the deal will not go ahead without a lot of objections from other buyers, as well as the government itself. Yesterday, Paramount Skydance said (via the Hollywood Reporter) any deal between WB and Netflix would be the result of an “unfair” process. Given the close ties between Paramount’s new owners and the administration, it’s likely any deal will be subject to scrutiny as well as the usual questions around the size of the combined operation.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/netflix-to-buy-warner-bros-for-827-billion-120836295.html?src=rss 

The Morning After: Flying Antigravity’s A1 drone is unlike anything else

Spinning off from the action-camera company Insta360, Antigravity now has its debut drone on sale. With 360-degree cameras that capture 8K and offer you a truly unconstrained view of the skies, the A1 is a different drone from everything else out there. Sorry, DJI.

Instead of typical drone joysticks, you get a motion controller that lets you point and shoot like video game gesture controls, while crisp FPV goggles put you right inside the cockpit.

Engadget

It’s easy to fly after takeoff, but the A1’s myriad parts are often tricky to sync together — and pulling video down to the companion app is even trickier. Going on specs alone, like speed and camera sensor size, it doesn’t stand up to cinematic drones from the likes of DJI.

Still, it’s not meant to be a cinematic drone. It’s a hybrid mix of flight experience, FPV drone and a not-miss-a-thing camera drone. It’s truly unique — and fun.

— Mat Smith

The other big stories (and deals) this morning

The best Christmas gifts to give everyone on your 2025 holiday shopping list

A shaky year for American EVs could set the tone for 2026

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review

Amazon Luna’s December lineup includes Hollow Knight, Lego 2K Drive and a few Fallout games

Amazon halts its incredibly poor AI anime dubbing ‘beta’

Ridiculed by all.

Amazon has quietly removed its terrible AI-generated English dubs for several anime shows on Prime Video, following widespread ridicule from viewers and the industry. AI dubs were recently added to Banana Fish, No Game, No Life and Vinland Saga, where they were labeled “AI beta” in the Languages section of the app.

For shows lacking an English-language dub, it was a seemingly cheap way to consume anime for Amazon. However, it quickly became clear that the dubs were really quite bad. Baaaad.

Voice actor Daman Mills called the AI-generated dub for Banana Fish a “massive insult to us as performers” in a post on X.

Continue reading.

Amazon thinks about ending ties with the US Postal Service

The company continues to invest heavily in its own shipping network.

An Amazon double today. According to The Washington Post, Amazon is considering discontinuing use of the US Postal Service and building its own shipping network to rival it. The e-commerce behemoth spends more than $6 billion a year on the public mail carrier — almost 8 percent of the service’s total revenue. That’s up from just under $4 billion in 2019. That split might be due to a breakdown in negotiations between Amazon and the USPS rather than Amazon proactively pulling its business.

Amazon has invested heavily in all kinds of delivery methods, including shipping logistics, buying its own Boeing planes, launching its own electric delivery vans and slowly building a drone delivery network.

Continue reading.

Amazon’s Kindle Scribe Colorsoft finally has a release date

December 10, just in time for the holidays.

Engadget

A triple? Sorry. Amazon didn’t have a specific release date to share beyond “later this year” for its latest Scribe slates. And talk about brinkmanship! Here we are in December. The company says the devices will be available on December 10. This is the third generation of the Kindle Scribe line of E Ink writing tablets — the first time Amazon has three versions of the Scribe. At the entry level, the Scribe without a front light starts at $430, while the model with a light starts at $480. The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft will start at $630. You always have to pay more for color.

Continue reading.

Nikon ZR camera review

A highly capable cinema camera at a reasonable price.

The Nikon ZR could be a breakthrough for content creators, largely because it incorporates technology from RED — a company now owned by Nikon. The combination of professional-grade video quality (specifically RED RAW) and autofocus comes at a fraction of the cost of dedicated cinema rigs. There are some compromises on battery life and the lack of a viewfinder, but the ZR arguably offers the best video quality for the money.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121538076.html?src=rss 

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