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Marvel and Electronic Arts have revealed the second game they’re making together as part of a deal between the two sides. A new Seattle-based Electronic Arts studio called Cliffhanger Games is developing a single-player Black Panther title.

It will be an action-adventure game with a third-person perspective, suggesting it’ll share some similarities with the likes of Insomniac’s Spider-Man titles. According to Marvel, Cliffhanger aims to “build an expansive and reactive world that empowers players to experience what it is like to take on the mantle of Wakanda’s protector, the Black Panther.”

Cliffhanger says it and Marvel Games will collaborate “to ensure that we craft every aspect of Wakanda, its technology, its heroes and our own original story with the attention to detail and authenticity that the world of Black Panther deserves.” However, Marvel and EA are staying tight-lipped on further details for now.

Kevin Stephens, who previously held a similar role at Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith Productions, is heading up Cliffhanger. The team includes former Halo Infinite, God of War and Call of Duty developers.

“We’re dedicated to delivering fans a definitive and authentic Black Panther experience, giving them more agency and control over their narrative than they have ever experienced in a story-driven video game,” Stephens said. “Wakanda is a rich superhero sandbox, and our mission is to develop an epic world for players who love Black Panther and want to explore the world of Wakanda as much as we do.”

It has been rumored for some time that EA had a Black Panther game in the pipeline. Last September, it emerged that EA Motive (the studio behind the recent Dead Space remake) is developing an Iron Man game. That too will be a single-player, third-person, action-adventure title, but we haven’t learned more details since. There’s no confirmed release window for either project.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ea-is-making-a-single-player-black-panther-game-cliffhanger-games-141548205.html?src=rss 

It didn’t take long for the downsides of a generative AI-empowered newsroom to make themselves obvious, between CNet’s secret chatbot reviews editor last November and Buzzfeed’s subsequent mass layoffs of human staff in favor of AI-generated “content” creators. The specter of being replaced by a “good enough AI” looms large in many a journalist’s mind these days with as many as a third of the nation’s newsrooms expected to shutter by the middle of the decade.

But AI doesn’t have to necessarily be an existential threat to the field. As six research teams showed at NYU Media Lab’s AI & Local News Initiative demo day in late June, the technology may also be the key to foundationally transforming the way local news is gathered and produced.

Now in its second year, the initiative is tasked with helping local news organizations to “harness the power of artificial intelligence to drive success.” It’s backed as part of a larger $3 million grant from the Knight Foundation which is funding four such programs in total in partnership with the Associated Press, Brown Institute’s Local News Lab, NYC Media Lab and the Partnership on AI.

This year’s cohort included a mix of teams from academia and private industry, coming together over the course of the 12-week development course to build “AI applications for local news to empower journalists, support the sustainability of news organizations and provide quality information for local news audiences,” NYU Tandon’s news service reported.

“There’s value in being able to bring together people who are working on these problems from a lot of different angles,” Matt Macvey, Community and Project Lead for the initiative, told Engadget, “and that that’s what we’ve tried to facilitate.”

“It also creates an opportunity because … if these news organizations that are out there doing good work are able to keep communicating their value and maintain trust with their readers,” he continued. “I think we could get an information ecosystem where a trusted news source becomes even more valued when it becomes easier [for anyone] to make low-quality [AI generated] content.”

The six teams include Bangla AI, which is developing a web platform that surfaces and translates relevant news stories into the Bengali language for journalists and New York City’s sizable Bangladeshi immigrant community.

“More than 200,000 legal Bangladeshi immigrants live in the United States, half of them in New York City,” Bangla team member, MD Ashraful Goni, told reporters during the demo day. “Only half of the population are fluent in English,” depriving the other half of easy access to the day’s news through mainstream media outlets like the New York Times or the Associated Press.

“Bangla AI will search for information relevant to the people of the Bengali community that has been published in mainstream media … then it will translate for them. So when journalists use Bangla AI, they will see the information in Bengali rather than in English.” The system will also generate summaries of mainstream media posts both in English and Bengali, freeing up local journalists to cover more important news than rewriting wire copy.

Similarly, the team from Chequeado, a non-profit organization fighting disinformation in the public discourse showed off the latest developments of its Chequeabot platform, Monitorio. It leverages AI and natural language processing capabilities to streamline fact-checking efforts in Spanish-language media. Its dashboard continually monitors social media in search of trending misinformation and alerts fact checkers so they can blunt the piece’s virality.

“One of the greatest promises of things like this and Bangla AI,” Chequeado team member Marcos Barroso said during the demo, “is the ability for this kind of technology to go to an under-resourced newsroom and improve their capacity, and allow them to be more efficient.”

The Newsroom AI team from Cornell University hope that their writing assistant platform will help do for journalists what Copilot did for coders – eliminate drudge work. Newsroom can automate a number of common tasks including transcription and information organization, image and headline generation, and SEO implementation. The system will reportedly even write articles in a journalist’s personal style if fed enough training examples.

On the audio side, New York public radio WNYC’s team spent its time developing and prototyping a speech-to-text model that will generate real-time captioning and transcription for its live broadcasts. WNYC is the largest public media station in New York, reaching 2 million visitors monthly through its news website.

“Our live broadcast doesn’t have a meaningful entry point right now for deaf or hard of hearing audiences,” WNYC team member, Sam Guzik, said during the demo. “So, we really want to think about as we’re looking to the future is, ‘how can we make our audio more accessible to those folks who can’t hear?’”

Utilizing AI to perform the speech-to-text transformation alleviates one of the biggest sticking points of modern closed-captioning: that it’s expensive and resource-intensive to turn around quickly when you have humans do it. “Speech-to-text models are relatively low cost,” Guzik continued. “They can operate at scale and they support an API driven architecture that would tie into our experiences.”

The result is a proof-of-concept audio player for the WNYC website that generates accurate closed captioning of whatever clip is currently being played. The system can go a step further by summarizing the contents of that clip in a few bullet points, simply by clicking a button on the audio player.

“This is a meaningful improvement, both for folks who can’t hear,” Guznik said. “But also for folks who are just not in the space where they can listen, and this is a really great tool if you’re in a place where you don’t have headphones and you want to follow along with what’s being said.“

On the back end, NOBL Media has developed an ad tech product that, “allows programmatic advertisers to reach publishers’ content in service of smaller audiences that can be targeted by geography or demography,” while the Graham Media Group created an automated natural language text prompter to nudge the comments sections of local news articles closer towards civility.

“The comment-bot posts the first comment on stories to guide conversations and hopefully grow participation and drive users deeper into our engagement funnels,” GMG team member Dustin Block said during the demo. This solves two significant challenges that human comment moderation faces: preventing the loudest voices from dominating the discussion and providing form and structure to the conversation, he explained.

”The bot scans and understands news articles using the GPT 3.5 Turbo API. It generates thought-provoking starters and then it encourages discussions,” he continued. “It’s crafted to be friendly.”

Whether the AI revolution remains friendly to the journalists it’s presumably augmenting remains to be seen, though Macvey isn’t worried. “Most news organizations, especially local news organizations, are so tight on resources and staff that there’s more happening out there than they can cover,” he said. “So I think tools like AI and [the automations seen during the demo day] enable the journalists and editorial staff more bandwidth.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-ai-could-help-local-newsrooms-remain-afloat-in-a-sea-of-misinformation-130023064.html?src=rss 

If you’ve been eying Google’s midrange phone but felt it was a tad too expensive, now’s the time to act. Amazon is selling the Google Pixel 7a at a new low price of $449, or $50 off. The savings apply regardless of color. The discount makes it a considerably better value, and puts it on par with rivals like Samsung’s Galaxy A54.

The Pixel 7a remains our favorite midrange Android smartphone for a good reason. It’s as fast as its higher-end counterparts thanks to the Tensor G2 chip. Moreover, it delivers features that aren’t always easy to find in this price class, including a 90Hz display, wireless charging and IP67 water resistance. Combine that with Google’s usual top-tier photography and this might be all the phone you need.

There is one reason for pause. Google’s standard Pixel 7 is down to $499 as of this writing, and it still offers a few advantages over the 7a. It packs a slightly larger and higher-quality screen, more advanced camera sensors and faster wireless charging. You also have the option of 256GB of storage if the 7a’s 128GB isn’t enough. You may prefer the 7a’s smaller screen, though, and the $50 you save could be rolled into accessories like a case and earbuds.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-pixel-7a-drops-to-a-new-low-of-449-130509079.html?src=rss 

Why choose between a gaming laptop and one meant for school when you can get a PC that does both? Gaming laptops are now cheaper and more powerful than ever, and many wouldn’t look out of place in a classroom. If you’re aiming to do some serious multimedia work alongside online play, it’s worth taking a look at a dedicated gaming system. You can find general advice on choosing a gaming notebook in our guide. But if you want a few models that will be perfect for school and play, you’ve come to the right place.

Are gaming laptops good for school?

As we’ve mentioned, gaming laptops are especially helpful if you’re doing any demanding work. Their big promise is powerful graphics performance, which isn’t just limited to games. Video editing and 3D rendering programs can also tap into their GPUs to handle laborious tasks. While you can find decent GPUs on some productivity machines, like Dell’s XPS 15, you can sometimes find better deals on gaming laptops. My general advice for any new workhorse: Get at least 16GB of RAM and the largest solid state drive you can find (ideally 1TB or more). Those components are both typically hard to upgrade down the line, so it’s worth investing what you can up front.

The one big downside to choosing a gaming notebook is portability. For the most part, we’d recommend 15-inch models to get the best balance of size and price. Those typically weigh in around 4.5 pounds, which is significantly more than a three-pound ultraportable. Today’s gaming notebooks are still far lighter than older models, though, so at least you won’t be lugging around a 10-pound brick. If you’re looking for something lighter, there are plenty of 14-inch options these days. And if you’re not into LED lights and other gamer-centric bling, keep an eye out for more understated models (or make sure you know how to turn those lights off).

Best midrange for most people: ASUS Zephyrus G14

The Zephyrus G14 is a bit more expensive than when it launched a few years ago, but it remains a fantastic 14-inch gaming laptop. This year, it’s toting AMD’s Ryzen 7000 CPUs and NVIDIA’s RTX 4060 GPU. That’s enough power to play just about any modern game in 1,440p, and they should perform smoothly on the 120Hz or 144Hz QHD screens. Unlike the first G14 model, there’s also a built-in webcam with Windows Hello login support. What’s most impressive is that the G14 is still pretty portable for a gaming laptop, weighing in between 3.6 and 3.8 pounds.

Best high-end option: Razer Blade 15

For years, Razer has built a reputation for making gaming laptops that look as good as MacBooks. And that’s still true. Razer’s Blade 15 features a sleek and sturdy metal case, an understated design (unless you really kick up those RGB keyboard lights), and just about all the power you’d want in a portable gaming powerhouse. If money is no object, you can equip the Blade 15 with Intel’s latest 13th-gen processors, NVIDIA’s powerful RTX 4070 and 1,440p OLED display running at 240 Hz.

While you’ll pay a bit more for the Blade 15 compared to some other models, you’ve still got a few different price points to work with. The entry-level model starts at $1,999 with an RTX 3070 GPU and 360Hz 1080p display. That’s certainly enough power for most games and creative apps. If you’re looking for something a bit smaller, Razer’s new AMD-powered Blade 14 looks compelling as well. Razer also recently debuted new Blade 16 and 18 models, which cost (and weigh!) much more than the Blade 15, but may be useful if you need a bigger screen.

Best budget option: Dell G5 15

While Alienware has established itself as a solid premium brand, Dell’s cheaper G-series notebooks are worth a look for anyone on a budget. In particular, the G15 continues the trend of delivering very capable hardware – including Intel’s latest 13th-gen CPUs and NVIDIA’s RTX 30 and 40-series GPUs – for under $1,000. Sure, the case is mostly plastic, and the screen doesn’t offer all of the latest niceties, but for the price it’s hard to find anything more powerful.

Best no-limit gaming laptop: ASUS Zephyrus Duo 16

Taking the idea of a gaming laptop to the absolute extreme, ASUS’s latest Zephyrus Duo 16 combines AMD’s latest Ryzen mobile processors with NVIDIA’s great RTX 40-series hardware. And, true to its name, it has two screens: a gorgeous 16-inch main display (with optional Mini-LED backlighting), and a very wide 14-inch secondary panel right below. That opens up a near desktop-level of multitasking, since you can have windows spread across both screens. It could help you, say, follow an online lecture while fitting in a Halo Infinite match on your main screen. Don’t worry, we won’t tell.

Best big screen gaming laptop: Alienware m18

The biggest and most powerful Alienware laptop yet, the m18 is the ideal gaming notebook for someone who prioritizes screen size above all else. It can be equipped with Intel’s fastest 13th-gen CPUs, NVIDIA’s RTX 4090, and either a 165Hz QuadHD+ screen or a wickedly fast 480Hz 1080p+ display. It’s a gaming beast, but it’ll also be a great option for students editing audio or video. A bigger screen means a larger timeline view–exactly what you’d want for massive projects.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-gaming-laptops-for-students-170026726.html?src=rss 

Prime Day is almost upon us and we’re seeing some early gadget deals, including Apple’s sixth-generation iPad Mini back on sale for $400. This discount takes 20 percent off its sticker price of $500 and marks the latest instance of the iPad Mini hitting this all-time low since Apple released it in late 2021. Right now the deal only applies to the iPad Mini’s 64GB Space Gray and Pink models.

The iPad Mini is small but mighty, with an A15 Bionic chip, a 12MP Ultra Wide front camera and up to 10 hours of active use per charge. Its 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display also features P3 wide color, an anti-reflective coating and True Tone. Plus, the iPad Mini is compatible with the second-generation Apple Pencil. 

Apple’s 64GB 10th-generation iPad is also on sale for $400, and it’s a good option if you’re looking for something with a bit of a larger screen. The 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display model is 11 percent off, down from $450, in Pink, Silver and Yellow. It has many of the same features as the iPad Mini, such as a 12MP Wide camera, 4K video, a USB-C connector and 5G connectivity. It falls behind in terms of only working with the first generation Apple Pencil, using an A14 Bionic chip, and having an sRGB color display — meaning colors aren’t as accurately shown. However, a lot of these features, like 4K video and an A14 Bionic chip, are improvements from the ninth-generation iPad.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-ipad-mini-falls-back-to-400-at-amazon-105528952.html?src=rss