Kalakshar US

Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones are $115 off as part of the Prime Day festivities, which brings the price down to $285. This discount applies to multiple colorways.

These headphones once topped our list of the best wireless headphones before being usurped by the XM6. They are still fantastic, despite being slightly outshined by the newer kid on the block. We praised the “supreme comfort” and “great sound” in our official review, along with the powerful ANC technology.

The battery life is also incredible here. Users can expect around 30 hours per charge, which will more than handle a long train ride or flight. It’s also lighter than the XM4, which adds to the overall comfort. There are touch controls on the outside panel of the right ear cup, with the ability to play, pause, skip tracks and adjust the volume.

These cans also work with various voice assistants and there’s an affiliated app that allows for even more customization. The headphones offer multipoint connectivity and there are a handful of integrated microphones for phone calls. The only downside here remains the price, which has been somewhat alleviated by this sale.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/sonys-wh-1000xm5-headphones-are-115-off-for-prime-day-123544069.html?src=rss 

Xbox was well on its way to delivering a sci-fi stylized game with plenty of exciting movement mechanics before an abrupt change of heart. The upcoming third-person shooter RPG codenamed Blackbird from ZeniMax Online Studios, which developed The Elder Scrolls Online, has been “shelved indefinitely,” according to an exclusive report from Bloomberg. The report added that Xbox execs were “blown away” by the game and had “nothing but complimentary words,” according to Bloomberg‘s sources.

The exciting new IP was expected to rival the Destiny franchise with its looter-shooter gameplay in an alien noir-themed world. The Bloomberg report revealed that a sci-fi setting would be paired with movement-based abilities like “double-jumping, air-dashing, a grappling hook and wall climbing.” The project was reportedly gaining momentum recently and was set to be released in 2028, after the studio expanded its team to 300 people.

Microsoft didn’t provide comments to Bloomberg or any explicit reasoning why the Blackbird project was dropped. Not much was known about the game, but TrueAchievements uncovered a plot that revolves around players uncovering a notorious murder in a capital city called Exodus. Along with Blackbird, Microsoft canceled Everwild, a fantasy game from Rare that’s been in development since 2014, and a reboot of the Perfect Dark first-person shooter.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xboxs-sci-fi-looter-shooter-blackbird-was-scrapped-even-after-leaving-execs-blown-away-191305493.html?src=rss 

One of Tesla’s fully autonomous robotaxis grazed a parked car after completing a ride recently in Austin, Texas. In a video recorded by YouTuber DirtyTesla, a self-driving Model Y is seen turning and accelerating into a Toyota, making light contact with its tire. As seen in the video, the Model Y already dropped off its passenger, but had trouble navigating out of the dark alleyway afterwards. Tesla’s robotaxi service launched in Austin just two weeks ago with a small fleet.

According to DirtyTesla, there were no serious injuries or damages and the robotaxi’s safety monitor eventually swapped to the driver’s seat and drove off. Although the sideswipe was minor, it’s unclear what caused the Tesla to drive into the parked car instead of driving off normally after completing the ride.

Outside this incident involving another car, other invited guests have shared their unexpected experiences with Tesla’s robotaxi service. So far, we’ve seen the robotaxi service abruptly stop for emergency lights that aren’t on the road and briefly drive on the wrong side of a double yellow line. It’s important to note that Tesla’s self-driving software relies mostly on cameras and artificial intelligence. That’s unlike some of its competition, like Waymo, which uses a combination of cameras, lidar and radar for its robotaxi service. However, Waymo isn’t without its own incidents, one of which led to a voluntary recall of its fleet in Phoenix, Arizona, following a collision with a telephone pole last year. More recently, Waymo issued another recall for its robotaxis, which were reportedly prone to hit roadway barriers that are harder to see.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/a-tesla-robotaxi-inexplicably-drove-into-a-parked-car-171004400.html?src=rss 

You can now send your reMarkable notes and doodles straight to Slack. The companies have announced Slack integration for reMarkable tablets, letting you send whatever you want from the e-paper device straight to your workplace chat in one tap. “…we realized that when there’s friction between thinking and producing, you risk losing time, ideas, and momentum,” reMarkable Chief Technology Officer Nico Cormie said in a statement. By linking the tablet with Slack, there’s less friction between coming up with ideas and sharing them with your team, so you can more easily collaborate with others. 

reMarkable is an e-paper tablet designed to work with a stylus. Simply put, it’s a digital notebook, where you can sketch, write notes, draw, annotate documents and even read ebooks if you want to treat it more as an eReader like the Kindle. If you want to share your notes with Slack, you simply have to go to the menu on the left-hand corner of your device and choose “Send to Slack.” When you do, it opens into a canvas in Slack containing an image of your file with AI-generated notes. If there’s handwritten text in the image, the canvas will also include your notes that AI has converted to editable text. 

To be able to use the Slack integration, you’ll need to be subscribed to reMarkable Connect, which gives you access to unlimited cloud storage and sync for $3 a month. You’ll also need to have a Slack account with a Pro, Business+ or an Enterprise Grid plan. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/slack-now-integrates-with-remarkables-e-paper-tablets-140015983.html?src=rss 

Welcome to our latest roundup of indie game news and releases. It’s a shorter edition than usual this week, but there are still a few interesting games here that are worth having on your radar. 

Also, there’s still plenty of time to pick up some bargains in the Steam Summer Sale. So if you’re planning on bringing your Steam Deck (or ROG Ally or whathaveyou) to a cookout this July 4 weekend and have some change to spare, why not pick up a game or two and try it out? There are a bunch of quality options available for less than the cost of a cup of coffee. We’ve highlighted some of the juicier deals too.

Technically, 8BitDo is an indie gaming company in that it’s an independent enterprise that makes third-party gaming controllers. That’s relevant, because I read a cool story this week in Endless Mode (a new gaming- and anime-focused publication from Paste Media). It’s about how medical students are using tiny 8BitDo controllers to help them study with a flashcard program called Anki. And here’s me thinking those controllers would be most useful for on-the-go Mario Kart World sessions with friends.

New releases

Atuel is one of the more interesting new(ish) games that popped up on my radar this week. After debuting on Itch.io back in 2022, this experimental project just landed on Steam and Google Play.

It’s a short, free experience that should take around half an hour to finish. Atuel is billed as a surrealist documentary about climate change “in which you explore beautiful, dreamlike landscapes inspired by the topography and wildlife of the Atuel River Valley in Argentina.” Add an eye-catching trailer into the mix and I’m quite happy to spend 30 minutes checking this one out. 

We probably shouldn’t expect to see much more from the team behind this one — the crew at indie game co-op Matajuegos called it a day last year. However, the developers have been working on other projects, including their own games.

Upcoming

It’s been a decade since the debut of Turbo Kid, one of my favorite films of all time. It’s a low-budget love letter to Saturday morning cartoons with bucketloads of blood and heart. I love it so very deeply.

A video game that serves as a quasi-sequel arrived on PC in 2024. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it’s coming to Nintendo Switch soon. This is a Metroidvania (in other words, an action platformer) from Outerminds. It has wonderfully gruesome pixel art and a cracking soundtrack from Le Matos, the composers of the film’s score.

I’d highly advise watching the Turbo Kid movie before playing this one. You have a few weeks to do so before the Switch release date of August 5.

FMV games never really went away, and an upcoming one from Tales of Kendra: Zau developer Surgent Studios and Palworld creator Pocketpair’s publishing arm caught my eye this week. Surgent founder Abubakar Salim is an actor himself, so it’s perhaps not too much of a surprise that he’d want top-notch talent for his latest project.

Dead Take stars two of the most highly regarded game actors around In the lead roles: Neil Newbon (Baldur’s Gate 3, Resident Evil Village) and Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33). In this game, you’ll play an actor who is seaching for a missing frined after a Hollywood party. You’ll solve escape room-style puzzles and piece together videos you find along the way to find out what really happened. Sounds promising!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-surrealist-documentary-about-climate-change-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110021975.html?src=rss