The popular Nintendo emulator, Delta, that arrived on the App Store for iPhone to much fanfare a few weeks ago is now getting a version thats optimized for the iPad. Developer Riley Testut shared an update on Threads this weekend revealing that an iPad app has been in the works, and is now being prioritized since Apple changed its tune on game emulators. The iPad app is near completion, and subscribers to Testuts Patreon can get it now through the AltStore, an alternative marketplace the developer created a few years back for sideloading iOS and iPadOS apps. Otherwise, you can wait a little while for it to come with Deltas next big update, version 1.6.
In the post, Testut also shared a little preview of how it'll run on iPad. Delta was released as the successor to Testuts Game Boy Advance emulator, GBA4iOS, and supports a slew of other Nintendo systems, including NES, SNES, N64, and DS. It shouldnt be long before the iPad version is finished Testut wrote that the team just needs to finish up controller skins [and] fix some last bugs. Theyre also working on device-to-device multiplayer, Testut wrote (but thats still a couple of items down on the checklist). And, as an added treat, he said a SEGA Genesis emulator is on the way too. Thats still in beta, but will become available soon-ish.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-ipad-version-of-the-delta-game-emulator-is-officially-on-the-way-184945398.html?src=rss
Apples Let Loose iPad event is just over a week away, and the rumors in the leadup are starting to get interesting. According to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, the much-anticipated OLED iPad Pro may arrive not with the new M3 chip as weve all been expecting, but the next-gen M4 instead. In the Power On newsletter on Sunday, Gurman wrote that hes hearing there is a strong possibility that this will be the case. And, he says itll herald Apples official entry into AI.
I believe Apple will position the tablet as its first truly AI-powered device and that it will tout each new product from then on as an AI device, Gurman wrote. Doing it this way for the May 7 event would set the stage for Apple to go all-in on AI at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. This all builds on Gurmans previous reports that Apple has been in talks with OpenAI and Google to potentially tap their AI tech for new features with iOS 18.
The Let Loose product showcase is also expected to bring updates to the iPad Air and iPad accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil. According to Gurman, the upcoming Apple Pencil may introduce haptic feedback.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-oled-ipad-pro-may-come-packing-an-m4-chip-and-an-emphasis-on-ai-154509441.html?src=rss
Eken Group has reportedly issued a firmware update to resolve major security issues with its cheap doorbell cameras that were uncovered by a Consumer Reports investigation earlier this year. The cameras in question pair with the Aiwit app and are sold under a slew of brand names, including Eken, Tuck, Fishbot, Rakeblue, Andoe, Gemee and Luckwolf. During its tests, the watchdog found that the unencrypted cameras could expose sensitive information like home IP addresses and Wi-Fi networks, and allow outside parties to access images from a cameras feed using its serial number. Now, Consumer Reports says the issues have been fixed just make sure you update your devices.
Devices from those brands should now reflect a firmware version of 2.4.1 or higher, which would indicate theyve received the update. Consumer Reports says its own samples got the update automatically, but it cant hurt to double check in your settings considering the risks (that is, if you havent tossed the cameras out already). The publication says its confirmed that the update fixes the security problems. Eken also told Consumer Reports that the two doorbell cams it had rated with the Dont Buy label the Eken Smart Video Doorbell and Tuck Sharkpop Doorbell Camera have been discontinued.
These doorbell cameras, which were sold on popular ecommerce platforms including Amazon, Walmart and Temu but since appear to have been pulled, also lacked the proper labeling required by the FCC. The company told Consumer Reports it will add these IDs to new products moving forward. Following its tests of the update, Consumer Reports has removed the warning labels from its scorecards.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/budget-doorbell-camera-manufacturer-fixes-security-issue-that-left-users-vulnerable-to-spying-210705131.html?src=rss
Google filed a motion on Friday in a Virginia federal court asking for the Department of Justices antitrust lawsuit against it to be thrown away. The DOJ sued Google in January 2023, accusing the company of monopolizing digital advertising technologies through anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct. Per Bloomberg, Google is now seeking summary judgment to avoid the case going to trial in September as planned.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said at the time the lawsuit was first announced that Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful conduct to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies. The lawsuit alleges that Google controls digital advertising tools to such an extent that it pockets on average more than 30 percent of the advertising dollars that flow through its digital advertising technology products, according to a press release from the agency last year.
Google now argues that that the DOJ hasnt shown that the company controls at least 70 percent of the market, which some previous cases have used as the threshold for qualifying as a monopoly, and that the agency made up markets specifically for this case, according to Bloomberg, excluding its major competitors like social media platforms. The company also claims the DOJs case goes beyond the boundaries of antitrust law, Reuters reports.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-asks-court-to-reject-the-dojs-lawsuit-that-accuses-it-of-monopolizing-ad-tech-183830791.html?src=rss
Something is up with Apple ID this weekend. As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple users started complaining online last night that theyd been logged out of their Apple IDs on all of their devices without explanation. Upon trying to log back in, some say they were locked out of their accounts despite entering the correct details, and had to reset their passwords. Engadget has reached out to Apple for more information.
I was mid FaceTime with @milesabovetech and my Apple account got locked and signed out of all of my Apple productstf is happening Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) April 26, 2024
Apple hasnt said anything publicly about whats going on, and its System Status page makes no mention of problems with Apple ID or any other systems in the last 24 hours. In a Mastodon post spotted by The Verge, one person said Apple support told them only that sometimes random security improvements are added to your account. Its unclear how many users have been affected, though people have piled onto social media threads about the issue to say theyve experienced it too. According to 9to5Mac, some of the publications own team have run into the problem.
While the issue seemed to have heightened on Friday night, there have been sporadic reports of similar problems in the recent past. Software developer Michael Tsai published a blog post about the latest incident and referenced a time just last fall when the same thing happened.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/some-apple-users-say-theyve-been-mysteriously-locked-out-of-their-accounts-162739339.html?src=rss
I allowed myself to play Fire Emblem Engage on the easiest possible mode, and it finally got me back into gaming. The first time I picked up a Fire Emblem game back in 2010, a friend told me that the only correct way to play is in Classic mode with permanent death. For some reason, I took that to heart, and I played each subsequent game ready to restart my console during every skirmish and story battle so that I didnt lose any of my friends. Due to unexpected upheavals in my personal life over the past few years, I mostly stopped gaming, even though I kept buying new titles I'd typically play. That included Persona 5: Royal, which I have yet to even touch, and Fire Emblem Engage, which sat sealed in my cabinet for over a year.
I wanted to play Engage since I got my pre-ordered copy, but the mere thought of having to find the best class for all my units and having to grind by fighting one skirmish after another so that they can maximize their stats and not get killed in the battlefield was overwhelming. It felt like a chore and not at all appealing for someone who's trying to get back into gaming. One day, though, I decided to pop the cartridge into my Nintendo Switch and see if I could get anywhere. Upon being asked to choose a difficulty, I squashed the persistent voice in my head that kept saying: "If you're not playing with permadeath, are you even playing Fire Emblem?" As quickly as I could, I chose Normal difficulty, the easiest option available, and Casual mode that merely pulls units from a fight instead of killing them completely after they get defeated in battle.
I had no idea whether I'd end up finishing the game when I started, but I did and I had tons of fun. The biggest reason why I was able to keep playing was because I didn't feel stressed like I did when I played Fates and Three Houses. I didn't have to plan out every single move on the battlefield, and I didn't have to look up other people's class choices for their units because a character that started as a swordsman might do better as a Wyvern Knight. I didn't have to keep notes like I usually do for strategy games. The only information I searched for online was the same-sex romance options for this installment's protagonist. It truly felt like I was playing to relax, which is something I've never said before in relation to a Fire Emblem game.
In the grand scheme of things, having an internal conflict over a game's difficulty is really quite silly. But it's a reflection of how we tend to be harsher on ourselves than on other people, because I would never judge anybody else on how they want to play their games. Sure, winning battles and matches in more difficult modes will feel more rewarding, but not every gaming experience has to be a challenge. It's okay to play to decompress, to have some joy in your life and in my case, to get started after years of being in gaming limbo. Someday, I might pick up Engage again and play in Maddening difficulty, most likely in Casual mode now that I've broken free from the shackles of permadeath. That is, however, a long way off for now, I want to get through the titles I missed over the past five years one by one. I've started with the newest one in my collection, Eiyuden Chronicle, which I'm absolutely excited to play as a long-time Suikoden fan. And, yes, I'm still taking it easy on myself by playing it in the least difficult mode possible. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/i-played-fire-emblem-engage-on-easy-mode-and-it-got-me-back-into-gaming-120010358.html?src=rss
Apple has resumed conversations with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, to power some AI features coming to iOS 18, according to a new report in Bloomberg. Apple is also building its own large language models to power some iOS 18 features, but its talks with OpenAI are centered around a chatbot/search component, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.
Apple is also reportedly in talks with Google to license Gemini, Googles own AI-powered chatbot, for iOS 18. Bloomberg reports that those talks are still on, and things could still go either way because Apple hasnt made a final decision on which companys technology to use. Its conceivable, Gurman says, that Apple could ultimately end up licensing AI tech from both companies or none of them.
So far, Apple has been notably quiet about its AI efforts even as the rest of Silicon Valley has descended into an AI arms race. But it has dropped enough hints to indicate that its cooking up something. When the company announced its earnings in February, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple is continuing to work and invest in artificial intelligence and is excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year. It claimed that the brand new M3 MacBook Air that it launched last month was the worlds best consumer laptop for AI, and will reportedly start releasing AI-centric laptops and desktops later this year. And earlier this week, Apple also released a handful of open-source large language models that are designed to run locally on devices rather than in the cloud.
Its still unclear what Apples AI features in iPhones and other devices will look like. Generative AI is still notoriously unreliable and prone to making up answers. Recent AI-powered gadgets like the Humane Ai Pin released to disastrous reviews, while others like the Rabbit R1 have yet to prove themselves valuable.
Well find out more at WWDC on June 10.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-has-reportedly-resumed-talks-with-openai-to-build-a-chatbot-for-the-iphone-002302644.html?src=rss
According to a court document viewed by Engadget, the Federal Trade Commission accused Amazon of using Signals disappearing messages feature to conceal communications as part of its antitrust suit against the company. The FTC says the retailer continued to auto-delete its communications even after the agency notified it that it was under investigation and asked it to preserve them. Founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos and current CEO Andy Jassy are among the accused.
For years, Amazons top executives, including founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos, discuss[ed] sensitive business matters, including antitrust, over the Signal encrypted-messaging app instead of email, the FTC wrote in the full document, acquired by (Bezos-owned) The Washington Post. These executives turned on Signals disappearing message feature, which irrevocably destroys messages, even after Amazon was on notice that Plaintiffs were investigating its conduct.
The FTC wants a federal judge to compel Amazon to provide documents related to its data handling. The government agency says the retailer didnt disclose its Signal use until March 2022, ahead of a Wall Street Journal article highlighting the covert practice.
Although the contents of deleted messages are impossible to recover, the app shows when a user turns the disappearing message feature on, off, or changes the timer for deletions, leaving breadcrumbs showing that Amazon executives deletions were widespread, the document reads. From the messages that were not deleted, it is apparent that Amazon executives used Signal to talk about competition-related business issues.
The issue appears to be an increasingly common business practice in Silicon Valley. Last year, the DOJ accused Google of routinely destroying its internal chat histories, which it was required to preserve under federal law. In addition, before Elon Musk bought Twitter and changed its name to X, the company asked a judge to sanction the Tesla founder for using Signals auto-deletion to withhold messages sent through the app.
In addition to Bezos and Jassy, The Washington Post reports that the full document names General Counsel David Zapolsky, former CEO of Worldwide Consumer Jeff Wilke and former CEO of Worldwide Operations Dave Clark as participating in the practice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-ftc-accuses-amazon-of-using-signals-auto-deleting-messages-to-erase-evidence-205431161.html?src=rss
Drake apparently learned it isnt wise to mess with Tupac Shakur even decades after his untimely death. Billboard first spotted that the Canadian hip-hop artist deleted the X (Twitter) post with his track Taylor Made Freestyle, which used an AI-generated recreation of Shakurs voice to try to get under Kendrick Lamars skin.
The takedown came after an attorney representing the late hip-hop legend threatened to sue the Canadian rapper for his unauthorized use of Tupacs voice if he didnt remove it from social channels within 24 hours. However, the track was online for a week and unsurprisingly has been copiously reposted.
The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupacs voice and personality, Howard King, the attorney representing Shakurs estate, wrote earlier this week in a cease-and-desist letter acquired by Billboard. Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupacs publicity and the estates legal rights, it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use.
2PAC.com
King implied that using Shakurs voice to diss Lamar was an especially egregious show of disrespect. Lamar, a 17-time Grammy winner and Pulitzer recipient, has spoken frequently about his deep admiration for Tupac, and the Oakland rappers estate says the feelings are mutual. The unauthorized, equally dismaying use of Tupacs voice against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend to the Estate who has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately, compounds the insult, King wrote in a cease-and-desist letter.
Drakes track also included an AI-generated clone of Snoop Doggs voice. The Doggystyle rapper and cannabis aficionado appeared surprised in a social post last week: They did what? When? How? Are you sure? He continued, Why everybody calling my phone, blowing me up? What the fuck? What happened? Whats going on? Im going back to bed. Good night.
However, the one-time Doggy Fizzle Televizzle host has a history of poker-faced coyness. Last year, he took to Instagram to solemnly announce he was giving up smoke, leading to rampant speculation about why the stoner icon would quit his favorite pastime. Soon after, his announcement was revealed as a PR stunt for Solo Stove which, marketing gimmicks aside, makes some terrific bonfire pits.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/drake-deletes-ai-generated-tupac-track-after-shakurs-estate-threatened-to-sue-191810881.html?src=rss
Aaron Sorkin has announced that hes currently writing a followup script to The Social Network, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He broke the news during an episode of The Town podcast that centered on how Facebook and social media have influenced democracy in the years since his Oscar-winning hit. The first film chronicled the early days of Mark Zuckerbergs social network and starred Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, among others.
Sorkin is cagey on the actual details of the new script, but it looks to follow Facebook throughout the Trump era. He went on to tell the podcast hosts that he actually blames the social media site for the January 6 riots that claimed the lives of five people and led to the injuries of more than 140 police officers. Look, yeah, Ill be writing about this, Sorkin told podcast hosts Matthew Belloni and Peter Hamby. I blame Facebook for January 6.
He didnt give any reason as to why he blames Facebook for the attack on the capitol, telling the podcast hosts that they will have to buy a movie ticket. Facebook, Google, Twitter and Reddit were all subpoenaed as part of the investigation into January 6. Lawmakers have suggested that Facebook didnt take the proper steps to handle the Stop the Steal movement, which was organized on the platform, and that it didnt recognize the danger posed by these groups until after the violence in DC.
Whistleblower Frances Haugen told Congress that Facebook disbanded its civic integrity team after the 2020 election. She also has said that Facebook knew its algorithms and platforms promoted harmful content and that it failed to deploy internally recommended or lasting countermeasures. According to Haugen, the company chose profits over safety.
Sorkin has obviously been paying attention to all of this, saying in the same interview that Facebook has been, among other things, tuning its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible. Because that is what will increase engagement. He further dinged the company by suggesting that theres supposed to be a constant tension at Facebook between growth and integrity. There isnt. Theres just growth.
Now, dont go heading to your local multiplex to buy a ticket for The Social Network 2: Electric Boogaloo just yet. The script is still in the early stages and Sorkin hasnt announced a partnership with any studio to get the film made. This also isnt his first attempt to get something like this off the ground. He was previously working on a script entirely about January 6, but it didnt move forward. It remains to be seen if some aspects of that script will end up in followup to The Social Network, should it actually get made. He told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he would only push to make a sequel to The Social Network if David Fincher returned to direct it.
If a studio does sign on to make this project, which is fairly likely given the success of the 2010 film, it leaves me with two glaring questions. Can Jesse Eisenberg grow a sweet beard and what are his thoughts on ultra-premium livestock?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/aaron-sorkin-is-working-on-a-jan-6-focused-follow-up-to-the-social-network-190010714.html?src=rss
