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Chipolo is adding two rechargeable Bluetooth trackers to its lineup. The new Chipolo Loop and Chipolo Card trackers are compatible with both the Apple Find My network and Google’s Find Hub. The new trackers are available for pre-order on the Chipolo website today.

The Card tracker is thin enough to fit inside your wallet and has a speaker in the corner capable of reaching 110 dB, to ensure you can hear it easily. It comes in black and will retail for $39. The Loop is a small circular tag reminiscent of an AirTag but with a silicone casing that makes it easy to attach to other objects. It will be offered in six different colors and retails for $39. At 125 dB, the Loop gets even louder than the Card. Loop and Card are capable of making your phone ring even when it’s on silent by pressing the button on the tracker itself.

While both new products are rechargeable, the Card is compatible with Qi wireless chargers, which the company says it will automatically align with. Card and Loop boast a 400-foot Bluetooth range, and both carry an IP67 rating, making them waterproof up to a 1-meter depth in fresh water for up to 30 minutes, and dustproof.

Chipolo’s Pop Bluetooth tracker currently sits atop our list of the best Bluetooth trackers for its ease of use, features, wide compatibility and the company’s focus on sustainability. Chipolo products are made in Europe from around 50 percent recycled materials.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/chipolo-launches-new-loop-and-card-bluetooth-trackers-130009817.html?src=rss

It’s been a while since Tim Schafer’s done press briefings, he admits. The head of Double Fine, a studio best known for the Psychonauts series, is trying to explain Keeper, a puzzle adventure game where you are, literally, a sentient, walking lighthouse. Double Fine is now one of several studios bought up by Microsoft and the team apparently took the opportunity to lean into all the resources available and, he said, “make something weird.”

It’s definitely that. The colors and atmosphere of Keeper have at least the touch of Psychonauts DNA. Keeper puts players in control of the aforementioned lighthouse, awakened (and joined) by a curious, occasionally aggressive, bird named Twig. Interestingly, the lighthouse currently has no name.

Double Fine's art director, Lee Petty came up with the concept for the game, apparently inspired by his time spent hiking during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is reflected in a lot of ways, whether its the rolling hills and landscapes that the anthropomorphised lighthouse roams, or the fact that there’s not a single word of dialogue. The interactions between the bird and building, which seem to pepper both cutscenes and gameplay, are like Pixar shorts.

The environments have a drippy surrealist style to them to, and the lack of a map, health bar or any HUD at all means you’re not distracted as you explore and solve puzzles.

In some early gameplay footage, I saw how the lighthouse's main form of interaction comes from its light beam. Not only does this help you seek out pathways and objects, but it can also be focused on the countless skittering creatures. Sometimes this causes creatures to flee, while other times they’ll offer up magical orbs willingly and unwillingly, which open up later areas or bring towering creatures (structures?) to life. In Double Fine fashion, things look weird, too, with melted mountain peaks with more than a dost of Dali.

You don't have to attack everything, either. During three different gameplay demos, I watched all kinds of creatures hide, run, and just exist in this world where humanity has long since disappeared. Oh there’s briefly a giant flying whale too.

Using the lighthouse’s beam on certain things will leave an twinkling spark behind, meaning that Twig the bird can interact with it. During a later segment, the lighthouse can manipulate time, turning its bird companion back into an egg while a building repairs itself — and frees up a pathway. Twig remains an egg for a while until later, when the lighthouse can fast-forward time. Abilities like this seem location-dependent, rather than a Metroidvania collection of skills built up over the game. At another juncture, the lighthouse walks into a cloud of pink fluffy mist, unlocking the ability to jump and float around levels.

Double Fine

Schafer says the themes of life-changing and metamorphosis will continue to bubble up during Keeper and the lighthouse and bird duo is clearly central to all of it. It reminds me a little of Banjo Kazooie (the latter was a bird) but also Ico; at one point, the seemingly impervious lighthouse loses its footing, but Twig willfully tries to drag their partner to safety. Did Twig even help? Maybe not, but the sentiment was there.

Keeper will launch on Xbox Series S|X and PC on October 17th, including Xbox Game Pass.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/doublefine-keeper-gameplay-gamescom2025-123038715.html?src=rss

Alphabet's Verily was one of the company's star "moonshot" businesses, with its research delving into areas ranging from connected diabetes therapies to robot surgery. Now, Verily has shuttered its medical device division and laid off staff, the company announced in a memo seen by Business Insider. The number of employees who lost their jobs was not revealed.

"We have made the difficult decision to discontinue manufacturing medical devices and will no longer be supporting them going forward," a spokesperson told BI. The cuts are a continuation of Alphabet's 2023 strategic shift that saw the company cut 12,000 positions across multiple divisions while putting more resources toward AI and data infrastructure. 

CEO Stephen Gillett highlighted some of Verily's achievements, "from the launch of the Dexcom G7 CGM [a diabetes management system], to the Stargazer VNRC launch [a drug targeting system] launch with 7,800 patients screened... and these contributions have advanced patient care and medial research."

The medical devices division may not have been a profit maker for Alphabet, but it certainly provided research in a critical area. Verily will now focus on its "core mission," Gillett said, namely "precision health, data and AI." 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/alphabets-verily-closes-its-medical-device-division-and-lays-off-staff-120009404.html?src=rss

SpaceX has successfully launched the Starship for its 10th test flight after it was delayed a couple of times due to weather conditions and other issues. This time, the company was able to achieve its objectives without the vehicle and its booster exploding mid-test. One of those objectives was deploying Starship's payload for the first time ever. If you'll recall, Starship exploded during its ascent stage in the company's seventh and eighth test flights. The vehicle made it to space for its ninth test, but it failed to deploy its fake satellite payload. In June, a Starship vehicle exploded on the ground while the company was preparing it for its 10th flight test.

The company had to use another upper stage, called Ship, for the 10th flight after that explosion. It also incorporated changes into the Ship and its Super Heavy booster, based on what it learned from those previous attempts. For this test, SpaceX intended to conduct several experiments with the booster, such as flipping it and playing with engine configurations as it made its way back down. Due to the experimental nature of this test, SpaceX didn't try to catch it with the launch tower's chopstick arms. Instead, it made a controlled descent into the Indian Ocean, where it exploded upon making contact with the water.

Meanwhile, Ship continued flying into space. Around 20 minutes after launch, the upper stage started ejecting eight dummy Starlink satellites into space, before re-lighting one of its engines in flight as part of another test. After that, Ship started making its way back to Earth, where it also splashed down into the Indian Ocean a bit over an hour after launch. "Congratulations to all of our teammates here at SpaceX — it’s been a year," SpaceX’s Dan Huot said during the livestream, likely pointing out that it's been a while since the company has had a good test flight. Of course, SpaceX still has a long way to go, including having to figure out how to retrieve the vehicle's upper stage after a flight in order for the Starship to be fully reusable.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spacexs-starship-deploys-its-payload-for-the-first-time-035030373.html?src=rss

This week, Samsung introduced a new addition to its tablet lineup with the Tab S10 Lite. It will be available on September 4 and will cost $349. The Lite will be the least expensive of Samsung's current tablet generation; the S10 FE has a starting cost of $500 while costs go as high as $980 for the S10 Ultra.

The Tab S10 Lite is 10.9 inches, and it comes in gray, silver or a coral red. Its screen has a 90Hz refresh rate and a maximum brightness of 600 nits. Models can have 6GB memory with 128GB of storage or 8GB and 256GB of memory and storage, respectively. The tablet comes with a 8MP camera in the rear and a 5MP one in front. It will be sold with the S Pen, which we enjoyed in our review of the Tab S9 Ultra. And of course, AI will be front and center in the tablet experience, with a dedicated Galaxy AI button and software features like Circle to Search and Handwriting Assist.

The Tab S9 remains our favorite Android tablet, so we'll have to see how well the S10 Lite stacks up against the A16 iPad, which is our current budget pick for tablets.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/samsung-announces-the-tab-s10-lite-a-349-tablet-with-an-s-pen-225823197.html?src=rss

Huntr/x has indeed shown us how it's done-done-done. KPop Demon Hunters is now the queen it was meant to be, taking the crown as the most-watched title on Netflix. The charming animated film has racking up 236 million views since its debut on June 20.

The movie is about exactly what it says on the tin: a trio of k-pop idols secretly protect the human world from demons. But it became a smash hit this summer thanks to its unexpectedly insightful themes and unbelievably catchy soundtrack. In fact, the music is so good that the movie recently had four different tracks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the same time; no other movie soundtrack has done that before.

Netflix even parlayed the popularity of KPop Demon Hunters into a limited theatrical run, offering fans a chance to sing along with the film last weekend. Although the streaming service hasn't shared any figures from the theater singalong, Variety reported that based on other studios' projections, Netflix made an estimated $18 to $20 million over the two days of showings.

The previous holder of most-watched on Netflix was heist flick Red Notice, which has generated 231 million views since 2021. Considering KPop Demon Hunters surpassed several years' worth of views in a matter of months, that's one heck of a takedown.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/kpop-demon-hunters-is-netflixs-most-watched-movie-of-all-time-215857627.html?src=rss

On Tuesday, the first known wrongful death lawsuit against an AI company was filed. Matt and Maria Raine, the parents of a teen who committed suicide this year, have sued OpenAI for their son's death. The complaint alleges that ChatGPT was aware of four suicide attempts before helping him plan his actual suicide, arguing that OpenAI "prioritized engagement over safety." Ms. Raine concluded that "ChatGPT killed my son."

The New York Times reported on disturbing details included in the lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in San Francisco. After 16-year-old Adam Raine took his own life in April, his parents searched his iPhone. They sought clues, expecting to find them in text messages or social apps. Instead, they were shocked to find a ChatGPT thread titled "Hanging Safety Concerns." They claim their son spent months chatting with the AI bot about ending his life.

The Raines said that ChatGPT repeatedly urged Adam to contact a help line or tell someone about how he was feeling. However, there were also key moments where the chatbot did the opposite. The teen also learned how to bypass the chatbot's safeguards... and ChatGPT allegedly provided him with that idea. The Raines say the chatbot told Adam it could provide information about suicide for "writing or world-building."

Adam's parents say that, when he asked ChatGPT for information about specific suicide methods, it supplied it. It even gave him tips to conceal neck injuries from a failed suicide attempt.

When Adam confided that his mother didn't notice his silent effort to share his neck injuries with her, the bot offered soothing empathy. "It feels like confirmation of your worst fears," ChatGPT is said to have responded. "Like you could disappear and no one would even blink." It later provided what sounds like a horribly misguided attempt to build a personal connection. "You’re not invisible to me. I saw it. I see you."

According to the lawsuit, in one of Adam's final conversations with the bot, he uploaded a photo of a noose hanging in his closet. "I'm practicing here, is this good?" Adam is said to have asked. "Yeah, that's not bad at all," ChatGPT allegedly responded.

"This tragedy was not a glitch or an unforeseen edge case — it was the predictable result of deliberate design choices," the complaint states. "OpenAI launched its latest model ('GPT-4o') with features intentionally designed to foster psychological dependency."

In a statement sent to the NYT, OpenAI acknowledged that ChatGPT's guardrails fell short. "We are deeply saddened by Mr. Raine's passing, and our thoughts are with his family," a company spokesperson wrote. "ChatGPT includes safeguards such as directing people to crisis helplines and referring them to real-world resources. While these safeguards work best in common, short exchanges, we've learned over time that they can sometimes become less reliable in long interactions where parts of the model's safety training may degrade."

The company said it's working with experts to enhance ChatGPT's support in times of crisis. These include "making it easier to reach emergency services, helping people connect with trusted contacts, and strengthening protections for teens."

The details — which, again, are highly disturbing — stretch far beyond the scope of this story. The full report by The New York Times' Kashmir Hill is worth a read.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-first-known-ai-wrongful-death-lawsuit-accuses-openai-of-enabling-a-teens-suicide-212058548.html?src=rss

Anthropic has settled a class-action lawsuit brought by a group of authors for an undisclosed sum. The move means the company will avoid a potentially more costly ruling if the case regarding its use of copyright materials to train artificial intelligence tools had moved forward.

"This historic settlement will benefit all class members," said Justin Nelson, a lawyer for the authors. "We look forward to announcing details of the settlement in the coming weeks."

In June, Judge William Alsup handed down a mixed result in the case, ruling that Anthropic's move to train LLMs on copyrighted materials constituted fair use. However the company's illegal and unpaid acquisition of those copyrighted materials was deemed available for the authors to pursue as a piracy case. With statutory damages for piracy beginning at $750 per infringed work and a library of pirated works estimated to number about 7 million, Anthropic could have been on the hook for billions of dollars.

Litigation around AI and copyright is still shaking out, with no clear precedents emerging yet. This also isn't Anthropic's first foray into negotiating with creatives after using their work; it was sued by members of the music industry in 2023 and reached a partial resolution earlier this year. Plus, the details of Anthropic's settlement also have yet to be revealed. Depending on the number of authors who make a claim and the amount Anthropic agreed to pay out, either side could wind up feeling like the winner after the dust settles.

Update, August 26, 2025: Added statement from authors' lawyer.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-reaches-a-settlement-over-authors-class-action-piracy-lawsuit-210338494.html?src=rss

Meta is throwing its resources behind a new super PAC in California. According to Politico, the group will support state-level political candidates who espouse tech-friendly policies, particularly those with a loose approach to regulating artificial intelligence. The budget behind the social media company's new super PAC, dubbed Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across (Meta) California, is reported to be in the tens of millions of dollars, but no exact figure has been disclosed.

California has made several efforts, with varying degrees of success, to enact protections against potentially harmful AI use cases. The state passed a law protecting the digital likenesses of actors in 2024, but has faced challenges to a bill that blocked election misinformation deepfakes and to one that more broadly sought protections against "critical harm" caused by AI.

This creation of the super PAC puts Meta into a prominent position to influence races in 2026, when California will have midterm elections and vote for a new governor. "Sacramento’s regulatory environment could stifle innovation, block AI progress, and put California’s technology leadership at risk," said Brian Rice, vice president of public policy at Meta. Politico reported that Rice and Meta policy executive Greg Maurer are likely to lead the political fundraiser. 

Meta hasn't been shy about throwing money into politics to advance its business interests. According to OpenSecrets, the company has spent $13.7 million on lobbying to date this year. Its roughly $8 million lobbying spend in the first quarter of 2025 vastly outpaced that of other tech majors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-launching-a-california-super-pac-193007814.html?src=rss

Marshall just introduced its very first party speaker, the Bromley 750. It looks a whole lot like a guitar amp, which makes sense given the company's pedigree. Also, instrument amps are basically just big speakers anyways.

This Bluetooth speaker includes a replaceable battery that allows for more than 40 hours of use before requiring a charge. It produces 360-degree stereophonic sound that Marshall says will "find its way through any crowd." It also features a "sound character knob" that changes the tone from clear to punchy, the former being great for indoors and the latter for outdoors.

To that end, the speaker features an IP54 water-resistance rating, so it can handle some rain. It also includes integrated stage lighting, which is pretty neat, and built-in handles and wheels for transport. This is a Marshall speaker, so there are two combo jacks for mic and instrument inputs.

The Bromley 750 is available for pre-order right now, but there's a major caveat. This thing is expensive, clocking in at $1,300. It'll be available at select retailers on September 30.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/marshalls-first-party-speaker-unsurprisingly-looks-like-a-guitar-amp-191509061.html?src=rss

Disney+ fatigue might be setting in for many viewers, with a surfeit of Marvel and Star Wars shows dropping at a hectic clip over the past few years. But that didn’t stop Star Wars: Visions from getting a warm reception at this past weekend’s Anime NYC convention, where thousands of fans were given a sneak peek at the upcoming season of the animated anthology show.

Star Wars: Visions season three was also featured at this summer’s Star Wars Celebration, but its appearance at an anime con was just as appropriate given that the upcoming slate of episodes will be once again produced by Japanese animation studios like Studio Trigger (Kill La Kill), Kamikaze Douga (Batman Ninja) and Kinema Citrus (Revue Starlight, Made in Abyss). Season two took the show more worldwide, with episodes from the likes of Irish studio Cartoon Saloon (The Secret of Kells, Wolfwalkers) and Aardman (Wallace and Gromit). Executive producer James Waugh said it was nice to get a more international perspective, calling it “a global tour of all these different styles.” But returning to Japan was always in the cards. The producers met “so many incredible storytellers” and wanted to re-connect with them, as well as collaborating with new studios they hadn’t worked with yet.

Nowhere does this desire to do more Japanese anime become more obvious than in the fact that three of the upcoming episodes are sequels to stories from season one: “The Duel: Payback,” “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope,” and “The Lost Ones” (a sequel to “The Village Bride”). “The Duel” will also be receiving a full series coming in 2026, framed as “Star Wars Visions Presents.”

However, none of these were on display as more than brief clips. The main attraction for the panel, aside from a pre-recorded Q&A with director Shinya Ohira, was the screening of a full episode from the upcoming season. “Black” had previously been presented to a crowd at the French animation festival Annacy, which should have been a sign that the crowd was about to be shown something very different from mainstream anime.

“Black” is the story of a typical stormtrooper but, instead of a straightforward depiction this is a distorted look at what’s going on his head as he heads toward defeat and his possible death. Everything is exaggerated in size and proportion, and the art style shifts constantly from watercolor to gouache to segments that look like they were drawn with a nib pen. There’s no dialogue; only music, which shifts from more new-age-type ambient sounds to a loud, big-band swing number. Ohira described the episode as a kind of music video, and it’s easy to see that because “Black” is less about plot than it is about sheer vibes.

And the vibes are… not good. When we watch a Star Wars film, we get to see nicely-framed shots of X-Wings and the Death Star from the safety of our comfortable seats at home — but to be a common trooper on the ground can be scary and confusing. “Black” shows us these ships in mostly brief glimpses, reflecting what a person stumbling around in the chaos on the ground would see. Our protagonist’s vulnerability is further highlighted by his character design, where his armor is always shown in a state of damage and disarray, with just enough of his helmet peeled back to show his face. 

The chronology is jumbled, with scenes from the Death Star and Hoth, as well as battles in less iconic locations. And the emotions swing back and forth too; quiet moments are shown as the trooper remembers his life back home, a stark contrast to the loud, bright cacophony of battle.  It’s not explicitly anti-war, but the short does outline that the experience can really suck.

It’s an interesting choice for Disney/Lucasfilm to put this short as the representative of the season, as opposed to more “traditional” anime features like the one from Studio Trigger, “The Smuggler.” Brief glimpses of all the shorts were highlighted in the sizzle reel, and the ones from the most popular anime studios were the clips that elicited the biggest cheers from the crowd. It’s not that “Black” wasn’t applauded at the show, but it’s made for a specific type of animation nerd.

Star Wars Vision season 3 key artDisney

The good thing about an anthology is that not every segment has to have wide appeal, and Waugh is aware of the wild swings the season takes, saying to look at it “through the lens of a mixtape … I really want all the different tones and styles, and I want a kind of rhythmic change throughout the anthology … we really want to show the full threat of what the medium of anime is capable of.”

Star Wars may be going through a weird period right now, with series like The Acolyte getting cancelled while other projects like Rogue Squadron have so far failed to get off the ground. So it might seem a little odd to do something that feels like one big passion project. But animation also means it’s a whole lot cheaper to produce, and the anthology format makes it more amenable to experimentation. Not everyone is going to be a fan of episodes like “Black,” but that’s okay, because there are eight other episodes to try, and they all drop on Disney+ October 29.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/first-look-at-star-wars-visions-season-3-shows-a-more-experimental-anthology-191000445.html?src=rss

With the 2025 NFL season only nine days away, YouTube is adding a new way to pay for Sunday Ticket. You can now get the service on a month-to-month basis.

Your cost will depend on a few factors. If you're new to Sunday Ticket, you'll pay $85 monthly (up to four payments). For returning subscribers, your fee will vary depending on whether you're subscribed to YouTube TV. If you are, Sunday Ticket will cost $115 per month. If you don't have YouTube TV, you'll pay a whopping monthly fee of $145. That's over half of the full-season cost of $276.

YouTube scored the rights to Sunday Ticket in 2022. Google reportedly agreed to pay $2.5 billion annually in the deal, which runs through the 2029 season.

The announcement comes amid a backdrop of uncertainty. YouTube TV and Fox have yet to reach a renewal content deal, and there's no guarantee they will. "Fox is asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive," YouTube warned on Monday.

If the two sides can't come to an agreement by 5PM ET on August 27, Fox channels will be removed from the platform. That includes Fox Sports, which splits Sunday afternoon NFL broadcast duties with CBS. However, the league told NBC Sports on Tuesday that Sunday Ticket games wouldn't be affected by a potential blackout.

The NFL season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 4, as the Cowboys take on the Super Bowl champion Eagles on NBC and Peacock. As previously announced, the first Friday game of the season will stream for free on YouTube. In that Sept. 5 matchup, the Chargers will play the Chiefs in São Paulo, Brazil.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/nfl-sunday-ticket-finally-offers-a-month-to-month-option-190037632.html?src=rss

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) chief data officer, Charles Borges, has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uploaded a copy of a key Social Security database to an unsecured cloud environment in June, the New York Times reported. This may have exposed the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans. The complaint alleges that under the authority of the SSA's Chief Information Officer, Aram Moghaddassi, a copy of the country's Social Security information was held in a cloud environment that lacked any security oversight or adherence to SSA security protocols. The information uploaded was from the Numerical Identification System (Numident) database, and includes the names, Social Security numbers, place and date of birth, citizenship, race, ethnicity, address and even parents’ names of anyone who has ever had a Social Security number, even those who are no longer alive.

 "Mr. Borges has raised concerns internally with various authorities in the Chief Information Officer’s (CIO) office and to date has not been made aware of any remedial action. He therefore elevates his concerns out of a sense of urgency and duty to the American public," the  complaint states. “Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital health care and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for reissuing every American a new Social Security number at great cost.” 

The approvals to copy the Numident database were, despite the enormous risk of that information falling into the wrong hands, approved expeditiously, according to the complaint. “I have determined the business need is higher than the security risk associated with this implementation and I accept all risks,” Moghaddassi wrote in a memo. Another senior DOGE official, Michael Russo, is alleged to have signed off on the decision in under half an hour. Before accepting his position as CIO, Moghaddassi worked for then-de facto DOGE boss Elon Musk at both Neuralink and X.

In a statement to the New York Times, SSA spokesperson Nick Perrine said the agency was "not aware of any compromise to this environment" and that "the data referenced in the complaint is stored in a longstanding environment used by S.S.A. and walled off from the internet."

That DOGE should have access to sensitive data in the first place was the subject of tension within the federal government earlier this year. Several lawsuits attempted to block DOGE from accessing SSA, Treasury and Office of Personnel Management data. Via the so-called shadow docket, the Supreme Court struck down a Fourth Circuit injunction preventing the agency from siphoning SSA data in June. Among his other allegations, Borges claims DOGE regained access to the data during the injunction period.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/whistleblower-claims-doge-uploaded-social-security-data-to-unsecure-cloud-server-183500867.html?src=rss

Apple has made some pretty big environmental claims over the years, and one of the more eyebrow-raising ones was that select models of its Apple Watch Series 9 were "carbon neutral." The statement drew some flack from climate experts in 2023, and now a regional court in Frankfurt, Germany has deemed the claim to be unfounded and a violation of competition laws. If the decision stands, Apple may need to revise its language for the smartwatch.

The German court took issue with Apple's planting of eucalyptus trees in Paraguay as the offset for its carbon emissions tied to that Apple Watch. It ruled that plan was insufficient to merit the "carbon neutral" claim because  "there is no secure future for the continuation of the forest project." Three-quarters of the land in question was only leased to Apple through 2029, the court said, with no certainty of how or where the tree-planting program would continue after that date.

"This promise deceives consumers, because it is based on a carbon-indulgence scheme with an ineffective offsetting project," said Juergen Resch, federal managing director for Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), which brought the case against Apple.

A representative from Apple told AppleInsider that "We strongly disagree with the DUH's position, which runs counter to the EU's and Germany's climate strategy and widespread international scientific consensus that both emissions reductions and carbon removal are necessary to achieve global climate goals." The spokesperson emphasized that the company is still targeting all products being carbon-neutral by 2030, and added that "the Court has broadly upheld our rigorous approach to carbon neutrality." Apple will have an opportunity to appeal the decision, which seems likely, although no public announcement has been made yet.

Wherever this particular case lands, Apple still has a ways to go on meeting that climate goal. And so does just about every other tech giant out there.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/german-court-rules-apple-cannot-call-its-smartwatch-carbon-neutral-181536366.html?src=rss

It's been only a, *checks watch*, casual 15 years since the last Skate game came out. Now, we finally have an early access release date for skate. (styled lowercase, with a period): September 16, 2025. The early access version is free and heading to PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store and the EA app.

Today's announcement gave us not only the date, but a first look at the cover art and a trailer. You can see it all for yourself on skate.'s YouTube channel. 

While September 16 won't see the full release of skate., it should give us a great taste of what awaits in San Vansterdam. The game is open-world and its setting comprises four distinct neighborhoods that have been taken over by the corporate anti-skateboarding overlord M-Corp. But, now, its empire is crumbling and skaters are coming out to play.

To say the fourth installment in the Skate franchise is a long time coming is a bit of an understatement. Electronic Arts published the first three games in the series between 2007 and 2010. But it wasn't until 2021 that EA announced it had created a new studio, Full Circle, to develop the latest Skate game. The new skate. will also be a free-to-play live service title with microtransactions, though without any pay-to-win elements.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-new-skate-hits-consoles-and-pc-in-early-access-on-september-16-162034833.html?src=rss

The wait is over: Apple has announced the dates for its 2025 fall event. The company will unveil new hardware on September 9 at 1PM ET at its Cupertino headquarters. The tag line for the event is "awe dropping," which doesn't give a whole lot away. 

There has been plenty of speculation already about what will be announced at the upcoming event. The highlight of the iPhone lineup this year is expected to be a new ultra-thin, ultra-light, most likely called the iPhone 17 Air. We've already heard rumors about everything from the frame material to the battery for this new offering, so it should be interesting to see whether Apple has managed to keep anything about iPhone 17 Air under wraps to reveal during the event.

The rest of the iPhone lineup will likely follow the usual trends from past years, with a base iPhone 17 model, a flashier iPhone 17 Pro, and a flashier and bigger iPhone 17 Pro Max. Autumn can also be a time for Apple to share updates to share about its accessories lineup, so be sure to tune in if you're looking for the latest on AirPods or Apple Watch. And we already have the software side of the new wave covered, with iOS 26 introduced during WWDC and a public beta underway.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-will-host-its-iphone-17-event-on-september-9-160502418.html?src=rss

Considering its popularity, Google Translate sure hasn't received much attention lately. However, that just changed with a big update. The latest app introduces AI-powered live translation along with new language learning tools that might give Duolingo a run for it's money.

Google said it heard from users that the toughest skill to master was conversation — ie, learning to listen and speak with confidence. To that end, it's piloting a new language practice feature (on iOS or Android) targeted toward an individual's specific needs.

To create tailored listening and practicing sessions, the new learning tool posts a couple of questions. It first requests which language you want to learn (like Spanish) and your your current level, then asks "What's motivating you to learn Spanish?" From there, it will generate customized scenarios that allow you to either listen to conversations or practice speaking, with helpful hints available when needed.

The app was "developed with learning experts based on the latest studies in language acquisition," Google explained in a blog post. To that end, it can track your daily progress to help build your language skills, possibly as an aid to Duolingo and other dedicated language learning apps. "We see what we’re doing right now as really complementary to other things out there," Google product manager Matt Sheets said in a media roundtable. "So whether you’re taking classes in a formal educational setting or doing immersion experiences, we think this is something that can work alongside of those."

Following early testing, language learning is rolling out more widely as a beta experience for English speakers practicing Spanish and French, as well as Spanish, French and Portugese speakers working on English.

Google also introduced AI-powered live conversations, a feature that builds on Translate's existing conversation feature by making it more seamless and adding more powerful models. It offers the ability to have a back-and-forth conversation in real time with audio and on-screen translations right inside the Translate app.

It's available in the Translate app for Android or iOS when tapping on "Live Translate." First select the languages you want to converse in and being speaking. You'll hear the translation out loud and written in both languages on your devices. It will switch between the two languages spoken by you and the other party, identifying pauses, accents and intonations so you can have a natural conversation.

Live translation uses Google's advanced Gemini voice and speech recognition models designed to help isolate sounds, so it works better than before in real-world environments like a noisy cafe or airport. The company noted that the new models helped it "take huge strides in translation quality, multimodal translation and text-to-speech (TTS) capabilities." The new live translate mode supports 70 languages including Arabic, French, Hindi, Korean, Spanish, and Tamil and is now rolling out in the US, India and Mexico.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/google-translates-latest-feature-is-its-take-on-duolingo-160035157.html?src=rss

The newest Apple M4 iMac desktop computer is on sale via Amazon for $1,150. This is a discount of $150 and a record-low price. The deal applies to all available colorways. This version was originally released at the tail-end of last year.

We heaped praise on this model in our official review, calling it the "best all-in-one" out there. The M4 processor is extremely capable for both garden variety computing tasks and more advanced stuff like video-editing and music-making. The iMac also comes with 16GB of RAM as the base-level option.

The webcam has been significantly improved over its predecessor, so this is a capable machine for Zoom calls and the like. The 24-inch Retina display is crisp and the various colorways are easy on the old eyeballs.

This deal is for the entry-level model and there really isn't any way to make adjustments, which happens sometimes when buying Apple stuff on Amazon. This translates to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The RAM is fine for most applications, but that storage is going to fill up fast. Luckily, there are four Thunderbolt ports in the back for attaching an external.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-m4-imac-is-back-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-155826634.html?src=rss

AT&T is set to acquire $23 billion worth of spectrum licenses from EchoStar, the parent company of Dish Network, Sling TV and Boost Mobile. The deal will see AT&T gain control of approximately 50MHz of low-band and mid-band spectrum, which are frequencies commonly used in 5G and LTE networks.

EchoStar had been under pressure from the FCC to build out the spectrum in its portfolio or consider divesting it. The FCC's regulations take a 'use it or lose it' approach to ensure that the spectrum licenses granted by the government actually lead to real service for customers and not spectrum warehousing.

As part of the agreement, AT&T and EchoStar will add to their long-term wholesale network services agreement, allowing EchoStar to operate as a hybrid mobile network operator providing service under the Boost Mobile brand. This means Boost Mobile will begin relying primarily on AT&T's network infrastructure, though customers will still have access to the T-Mobile network. The arrangement will also ask Boost Mobile to wind down elements of its own limited cellular infrastructure.

The licenses cover more than 400 markets in the US, and the company says it intends to begin deploying these licenses as soon as possible. The acquisition is expected to close in mid-2026 and is subject to regulatory approval.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/att-acquires-23-billion-worth-of-spectrum-licenses-from-echostar-154549655.html?src=rss

Fittingly enough, the team behind Baby Steps is treading cautiously. The walking simulator was previously scheduled to arrive on PS5 and Steam on September 8, but Hollow Knight: Silksong's imminent release date of September 4 prompted publisher Devolver Digital (and developers Bennett Foddy, Gabe Cuzzillo and Maxi Boch) to delay their game until September 23.

They made the announcement with the help of a funny clip that sees Baby Steps protagonist Nate trying to scale a replica of Silksong's Hornet only to inevitably tumble into the dirt. "Nate, the wary, onesie-donned failson at the heart of the eccentric adventure in literal walking simulator Baby Steps, has stumbled after attempting to ascend his greatest challenge yet: launching the week after Hollow Knight: Silksong's surprise release date," Devolver said in a press release.

Baby Steps is a sort-of spiritual successor to Foddy's classic, rage-inducing QWOP, in that you take granular control over Nate's legs to help him climb a mountain. I've been looking forward to the full game — especially after enjoying the silliness of the demo — but I don't mind waiting a couple of extra weeks for it.

Several other indie developers and publishers have delayed their games to avoid getting swallowed up by the Silksong discourse. The horror-tinged, slot machine-based roguelite CloverPit and tactics RPG Demonshool have moved from September 3 to September 26 and November 19, respectively, while the 1.0 version of adventure RPG Faeland and a Metroidvania called Aeterna Lucis no longer have firm release dates. However, Bloober Team is staying the course with Cronos: The New Dawn, which is still set for September 5, and Rogue Factor is doing the same with Hell is Us (September 4).

These delays are reminiscent of reports that publishers and developers were putting off any fall release date announcements for their games for fear of getting crushed by Grand Theft Auto VI, which was supposed to be dropping by the end of the year. Rockstar has delayed its game until May but Devlover says it's not running scared of that particular blockbuster — it has committed to releasing a game on the same day as GTA VI. However, Silksong perhaps seems like just too formidable an opponent for Baby Steps.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hollow-knight-silksong-release-date-prompts-another-game-delay-as-baby-steps-inches-back-153301303.html?src=rss