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Despite an eight year anticipatory wait, Nintendo is still "surprised" at just how many people want the Switch 2. The company has announced that about 2.2 million people have entered a pre-order lottery in Japan alone, far more than the number of consoles it can deliver on June 5, aka launch day. Nintendo will announce the winners tomorrow, April 24, and anyone not chosen will be entered into a second drawing. However, that still won't provide enough spots for every entrant. "In response to this demand, we are currently working on further strengthening our production system," the company wrote on X in a post translated from Japanese. "We plan to continue producing and shipping a considerable number of Nintendo Switch 2 units in the future. We apologize for the delay in our ability to meet your expectations." The company further notes that other retailers should begin pre-orders on the 24th. Nintendo has faced a few hurdles around pre-orders for the Switch 2. It delayed them in the US following President Trump's extreme tariffs and uncertainty about price. Now, the company has confirmed pre-orders in the US and Canada will also begin on April 24 and the Switch 2 will maintain its $450 price tag. Though, this might result in a loss for Nintendo. A lack of supply and heavy demand could also bring exploitative resellers. Such was the case with other big ticket consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X. They were both listed on sites like eBay and Amazon for up to $1,700. Nintendo's SNES Mini and NES Mini were for sale on eBay for more than double their sticker price. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-somehow-underestimates-demand-for-the-switch-2-141030518.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
On Wednesday, Roku revealed two new streaming devices at an event in New York. The company says its Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus are the most compact on the market, measuring 35 percent smaller than other brands' models. However, Roku says there's no compromise on performance despite the small size. The entry-level Streaming Stick is $30 and it knocks the Roku Express out of the company's lineup. It has many of the features you'd expect from Roku, such as personalized recommendations, access to thousands of streaming channels, a voice remote and Backdrops a way to display art and photos on your TV when you're not streaming anything. The $40 Streaming Stick Plus, meanwhile, replaces the Roku Express 4K+. Naturally, this has all of the features of the Streaming Stick as well as support for 4K and HDR streaming. Roku notes the small size of both sticks makes it easy to bring either with you when you travel, so you can plug one into a TV at your hotel or vacation rental and keep watching your shows. The Roku Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus is coming to the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama. US pre-orders are open today and the sticks will become available from Roku directly and major retailers on May 6. Jeff Dunn for Engadget Elsewhere, the company previewed new TVs with "unique hardware innovations" and "under-the-hood enhancements." Roku is promising richer and more vivid visuals, along with improved audio quality and faster app launches in its 2025 lineup. The company pledged to deliver custom factory calibration for the new Roku Pro Series models. Plus Series TVs are getting a feature called Roku Smart Picture Max, which automatically adjusts picture settings on a scene-by-scene basis to help you avoid fiddling in menus more than you need to. The Plus Series will now have mini-LED backlighting with the aim of improving picture quality without increasing prices. Those models will also have the built-in remote finder button and integrated cable management that were introduced on Pro Series units. Going forward, all Roku TVs will have a Bluetooth headphone option too. Roku also announced software updates, which it claims will make streaming on Roku OS "smoother and more personalized." Meanwhile, revamped content discovery features include personalized sports highlights and a "Coming soon to theaters" row for movies. (Hey, cinemas need all the help they can get.) On top of that, the Backdrops feature is coming to all Roku TVs and streaming devices in Canada starting today. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/roku-says-its-streaming-stick-and-streaming-stick-plus-are-35-percent-smaller-than-the-competition-140021984.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Google will not make any to changes to how third-party cookies work on the Chrome browser at all. Anthony Chavez, Google VP for Privacy Sandbox, has announced that the company has "made the decision to maintain [its] current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome." It will also "not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies" that would have allowed users to opt out of being tracked by advertisers. Google has made the announced a few days after a federal judge ruled that it has an illegal monopoly on online advertising. The company originally announced that it was going to phase out third-party tracking cookies in 2022 as part of its Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aims to make the web more secure and private to use. But due to a series of delays and regulatory hurdles the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the US Department of Justice both looked into Google's initiative out of concerns that it could harm smaller advertisers the planned deprecation got delayed to 2024 and then again to 2025. Last year, Google ultimately decided that it wasn't going to kill third-party cookies and will instead introduce "a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing." That new experience isn't coming. In his new announcement, Chavez said that a lot has changed since the Privacy Sandbox initiative debuted, and Google has taken new developments in privacy-enhancing technologies that secure people's browsing into consideration when it made its decision. Despite killing all its plans to remove third-party cookies from Chrome, Google will keep the Privacy Sandbox initiative alive. Chavez said it will continue enhancing tracking protections in Chrome's incognito mode, such as launching IP Protection later this year, and will continue working on features like Safe Browsing, Safety Check and built-in password protections.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-will-keep-third-party-tracking-cookies-on-chrome-as-they-are-130026362.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Amazon has sold Kindle ereaders for almost two decades but it wasn't until last year that it went beyond black and white. The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition came out in October and despite a previous screen issue that seems fixed it's a great product overall. Our biggest quip is the price, $280 for the 32GB edition, compared to $200 for the 32GB Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, for example. Now, a new sale is easing the strain on our wallets, dropping the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition to $225 a 20 percent discount and record-low price. The deal is the same whether or not you opt for three months free of Kindle Unlimited. The seven-inch display touts "paper-like color," up to eight weeks of use in one charge and has an an IPX8 waterproof rating. Plus, it's especially nice for graphic novel readers who want to get the full effect. Amazon is also running two types of book sales. If you have one of their ereaders, then you can get three times the amount of points every time you buy a Kindle book between today and Friday, April 25. If ereaders aren't your thing then you can check out Amazon's Book Sale, on through Monday, April 28. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazons-kindle-colorsoft-is-back-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-125807447.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Meta's Oversight Board has deemed Meta was right to leave up two videos reported for hate speech and harassment, though it recommends changes for the company. The decision follows revisions Meta made in January to its Hateful Conduct Policy. The Board started looking into the two posts last August. One of the videos showed a trans woman being confronted in a bathroom by another woman who misgenders the trans woman and asks why they should be allowed to use the women's room. The included caption states that the trans woman is a "male student who thinks he's a girl." The second is of a trans woman winning a track race with onlookers disapproving. That caption similarly calls the individual, a "boy who thinks he's a girl" and names the person (who is a minor). In its decision, the Board claims that "public debate on policies around transgender peoples' rights and inclusion is permitted, with offensive viewpoints protected under international human rights law on freedom of expression." Yes, you did read "offensive viewpoints" and "permitted" in the same sentence. It goes on to state that a majority of the Board couldn't find a strong enough "link" between removing these posts and limiting harm to trans individuals and that they didn't "represent" harassment or bullying. "Transgender women and girls' access to women's bathrooms and participation in sports are the subjects of ongoing public debate that involves various human rights concerns. It is appropriate that a high threshold be required to suppress such speech," the decision continues. The Board states that Meta's recent "hastily announced" policy changes didn't influence its decision but that it is concerned about content and implementation. "Meta should identify how the policy and enforcement updates may adversely impact the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, including minors, especially where these populations are at heightened risk," the Board states. "It should adopt measures to prevent and/or mitigate these risks and monitor their effectiveness. Finally, Meta should update the Board every six months on its progress, reporting on this publicly at the earliest opportunity." The Board also calls out a specific line in Meta's updated policy which states, "We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words such as 'weird.'" It recommends Meta remove the word "transgenderism," a phrase organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign called out as signaling "a disturbing alignment with anti-LGBTQ+ political rhetoric."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/metas-oversight-board-criticizes-companys-hastily-announced-hate-speech-policy-changes-120042137.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
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