Skate Story grinds its way to PlayStation Plus on December 8

It’s been a long road to get here, but the surreal skateboarding sim Skate Story will actually be available to play on December 8. The title will also be a day-one Game Catalog release for PlayStation Plus subscribers, which is a great perk for Sony fans. It’ll be available on other platforms, like Steam and Nintendo Switch, but those versions cost $20. The PS5 version is free for PS Plus subscribers and it’s not currently coming to Xbox.

For the uninitiated, Skate Story can only be described as a Lynchian take on skateboarding. Players control a glass avatar and they perform tricks to, well, swallow the moon and defeat the devil. It was announced all the way back in 2020. We got to play it last year and came away impressed. The game was made by Sam Eng, who was behind the indie shooter Zarvot.

It’s also being published by Devolver Digital, a company that knows its way around unique gameplay concepts. It published the utterly sublime Cult of the Lamb and one of our recent favorites, Ball x Pit. The former lets you feed poop to cult followers, which makes performing kickflips as a glass-bodied demon seem downright normal.

Looking to see what all of the fuss is about? There’s a demo right now on Steam. The game’s also available for purchase on the PS5, for those who don’t wanna pony up for a PS Plus subscription.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/skate-story-grinds-its-way-to-playstation-plus-on-december-8-193034939.html?src=rss 

ChatGPT now offers a dedicated shopping assistant

With Black Friday around the corner, OpenAI is upgrading ChatGPT’s shopping capabilities just in time to make spending your money even easier. Starting today, the company has begun rolling out shopping research, a new feature inside of ChatGPT designed to simplify the process of comparing different products. 

The tool is available to all ChatGPT users, including those with free accounts, with the company offering nearly unlimited usage through the holidays. As long as you’re logged into your OpenAI account, you can try out the new experience by selecting “Shopping research” from the + menu. ChatGPT will also automatically route prompts it determines would be best served by the new model OpenAI has trained to answer commerce-related questions. For instance, if you type, “find the quietest cordless stick vacuum for a small apartment,” ChatGPT will know what to do. 

As it works to find products that fit your criteria, ChatGPT will ask clarifying questions.

OpenAI

In addition to comparative shopping, the new experience can help users track down deals, shop for gifts and even find lookalike products. For example, you can snap a photo of a dress and ask ChatGPT to find you something similar that costs less than $250. As you use the tool, ChatGPT will ask clarifying questions to help it narrow down its recommendations. For ChatGPT Pulse users, the tool will even be proactive, generating cards that offer personalized buying guides based on past conversations.  

The feature is powered by a variant of GPT-5 mini designed to excel specifically at shopping-related tasks. “We trained it to read trusted sites, cite reliable sources and synthesize information across many sources to produce high-quality product research,” said OpenAI. In practice, the shopping assistant should be better at accurately citing product details relative to the company’s other systems, including more powerful general-purpose models like GPT-5 Thinking. Still, OpenAI warns the tool isn’t perfect. 

“Shopping research might make mistakes about product details like price and availability, and we encourage you to visit the merchant site for the most accurate details,” the company said. Additionally, OpenAI notes the tool tends to do best in categories like electronics, beauty and home appliances where there are many details and specs the model can compare to generate comprehensive answers.  

It’s no surprise to see OpenAI expand ChatGPT’s shopping capabilities. The company already offers the option to buy items from Etsy from its chatbot, and competitors like Google have been aggressively adding AI shopping features in recent months.    

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-now-offers-a-dedicated-shopping-assistant-180000034.html?src=rss 

Who Played Dorothy in ‘Wicked: For Good’? Meet Actress Bethany Weaver

Eighty-five years ago, we were introduced to Judy Garland’s Dorothy Gale. Now, meet the new actress who played the character in ‘Wicked: For Good.’

Eighty-five years ago, we were introduced to Judy Garland’s Dorothy Gale. Now, meet the new actress who played the character in ‘Wicked: For Good.’ 

Walmart Black Friday deals include the AirPods Pro 2 for their lowest price yet

Apple updated its flagship earbuds this year with the new AirPods Pro 3, but the AirPods Pro 2 were our top picks for the best wireless earbuds for Apple users for many years before that. They’re a bit hard to find at this point, but Walmart Black Friday deals have come for them (in addition to a bunch of other Apple products). Walmart has the AirPods Pro 2 for $139, which is the lowest price we’ve ever seen them and more than $100 off their standard $249 price tag. During Black Friday last year, they dropped to around $155.

At this price, the AirPods Pro 2 are a good option for anyone who wants most of the conveniences and features of the Pro 3s without spending nearly $100 more. They have excellent active noise cancellation and great sound quality, and thanks to a firmware update, they do support Apple’s new Live Translation feature. Using the buds in tandem with the Translate app on iPhones running iOS 26 or later, you can translate foreign languages in conversation in real time, hearing other languages being spoken to you in your preferred language.

Sound quality remains great on the Pro 2 and battery life hits at around six hours of use on a single charge with ANC enabled. The wireless charging case that comes with the Pro 2 actually offers more total hours of listening time than the Pro 3 — 30 hours in total, in comparison to the Pro 3’s 24 hours. You also get most of Apple’s health tracking capabilities along with all the conveniences of the H2 chipset, which includes quick pairing and switching, plus hands-free Siri. What you won’t get here is built-in heart rate tracking and improved sound quality and ANC, all of which are stand-out features of the new Pro 3.

In addition to the AirPods Pro 2, other AirPods are on sale for Black Friday. AirPods 4, both with and without ANC, are down to record-low or near-record low prices. Plus, the new AirPods Pro 3 are on sale for their best price since their launch in September. We’ll update this post as more Walmart Black Friday tech deals come in.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/walmart-black-friday-deals-include-the-airpods-pro-2-for-their-lowest-price-yet-170032969.html?src=rss 

Pocket Casts rolls out playlists, so users can sequence episodes of their favorite shows

There are millions upon millions of podcast episodes out there and it can be tough to figure out what to listen to and when. The popular podcast service Pocket Casts is rolling out a playlists feature to help users make sense of it all.

This is being advertised as a “new way for listeners to organize, sequence and customize episodes across all their favorite shows.” The idea of a playlist isn’t new by any stretch, but it’s not typically an option on podcast apps. As a matter of fact, Pocket Casts says this was one of its most-requested features.

The platform says this tool is great for “building a morning news lineup, curating interviews to study a topic or creating a queue for a long flight.” There’s a manual option but also an automatic Smart Playlists feature that gathers episodes together based on pre-determined rules.

Pocket Casts

For instance, episodes can be collected and sorted by release date, duration and other factors. This replaces the pre-existing filters tool. I can absolutely see this being useful on a road trip when you don’t really wanna fiddle with a phone and would rather just let the podcast episodes flow into one another to create a Conan O’Brien-induced driving zen state.

The playlists tool is available right now. This is just the latest move by Pocket Casts. The service recently added a free tier for accessing its web player and desktop app. We love it when things get cheaper, don’t we folks?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/pocket-casts-rolls-out-playlists-so-users-can-sequence-episodes-of-their-favorite-shows-170046666.html?src=rss 

Miss Jamaica Gabrielle Henry Update: How the Miss Universe Contestant Is Doing After Falling From Stage

Dr. Gabrielle Henry’s off-stage fall raised serious concerns among viewers and audience members. Get an update on her recovery.

Dr. Gabrielle Henry’s off-stage fall raised serious concerns among viewers and audience members. Get an update on her recovery. 

The OnePlus 15R smartphone is budget-friendly, durable and coming next month

OnePlus just revealed a trio of products, including the long-anticipated 15R smartphone. This is a redesign of the OnePlus 15, which is a device we rather enjoyed. The 15R will presumably be a budget-friendly version of the flagship 15, based on past releases, but we don’t have a price just yet. It is, however, being referred to as “the ultimate value high quality flagship device.”

The company hasn’t dropped any real specs just yet, but we do know that this handset prioritizes durability. As a matter of fact, OnePlus says the 15R has “the industry’s most complete durability ratings of IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K.” This phone should take a licking and keep on ticking.

OnePlus

It’ll be available in two colors. There’s a black one and a mint green design. The phone launches on December 17, which doesn’t leave OnePlus a lot of time to provide specs and pricing information. Only customers in Europe, India and North America will be able to buy the handset at first.

OnePlus

OnePlus also just revealed the Pad Go 2, which looks like a decent enough mid-range tablet. It boasts an anti-glare finish and is available in both black and purple. This will be the first tablet from the company to offer 5G connectivity. It comes with an integrated stylus, which has been “designed to enhance productivity and precision for note-taking and creative work.” It also drops on December 17 in Europe, India and North America.

OnePlus

The OnePlus Watch Lite is a budget-friendly version of its flagship smartwatch, offering top-tier “health and fitness features to an even more accessible price point.” We don’t have that price point just yet. This will only be available in a silver finish and also drops on December 17, but just in Europe. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-oneplus-15r-smartphone-is-budget-friendly-durable-and-coming-next-month-163000244.html?src=rss 

Black Friday streaming deals include one year of HBO Max for $36

HBO Max has launched its latest offer, giving new subscribers one year of streaming for $36 through December 1. This Black Friday streaming deal is on the ad-supported option, which normally goes for $11 per month. With this discount, you’re getting it for $3 per month for one year. It’s a rare opportunity to explore HBO Max’s mix of originals, Warner Bros. films and live sports while paying less than usual. You can sign up via HBO Max’s website or, if you’re a Prime Video subscriber already, via that service as an add-on.

HBO Max has one of the best libraries of content in the streaming market, combining HBO’s acclaimed originals with Warner Bros. theatrical releases, Discovery content and live sports. The service now runs across three main plans. The Basic With Ads plan, the one included in this deal, allows streaming on two devices in full HD and costs $11 a month at full price. The Standard plan adds offline downloads, more live sports coverage and better device flexibility for $18.49 per month. The Premium plan increases quality to 4K with Dolby Atmos sound (where available), four simultaneous streams and up to 100 downloadable titles for $23 monthly.

While the feature differences matter, the real appeal of HBO Max is its library. Subscribers get access to the full catalog of HBO originals, including House of the Dragon, The White Lotus, The Last of Us and Euphoria, alongside recent Warner Bros. theatrical hits like Dune: Part Two and Barbie. The addition of Discovery content brings in reality favorites such as Fixer Upper: The Hotel and 90 Day Fiancé, while sports coverage through TNT and TBS channels includes NHL, NASCAR, college football and more.

It’s worth noting that live sports are still limited to certain tiers and regions and 4K availability varies by title. But compared with other premium services that have recently raised prices or limited simultaneous streams, HBO Max’s current setup offers strong flexibility across its plans.

If you’re considering which streaming platform gives the best range of new shows, live events and cinema releases, our guide to the best streaming services compares HBO Max with other major options. For now, this one-year subscription offer provides a straightforward way to explore HBO’s latest hits and a wide catalog of content at a lower upfront cost.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-streaming-deals-include-one-year-of-hbo-max-for-36-163017424.html?src=rss 

Who Was Udo Kier? 5 Things to Know About the German Actor Who Died at 81

Kier was a prominent actor who appeared in films, television shows, music videos, games and other projects around the world through the end of his life.

Kier was a prominent actor who appeared in films, television shows, music videos, games and other projects around the world through the end of his life. 

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