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Amazon's Echo Show 5 is back on sale for $50
If you weren't able to grab Amazon's latest Echo Show 5 for Prime Day, the diminutive smart display is now $40 off — and you don't have to be a Prime member to take advantage.
Meta blocks EU users from accessing Threads through a VPN
Meta now stops people in the EU from accessing Threads through a VPN.
Engadget Podcast: Microsoft gets closer to buying Activision Blizzard
It looks like Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is trucking along, following a court rejection of the FTC’s injunction attempt.
The Morning After: Virgin Galactic's first private passenger spaceflight will launch next month
The biggest news stories this morning: Farewell ‘FIFA’: ‘EA Sports FC 24’ will hit consoles and PC September 29th, Twitter finally begins paying some of its creators, Virgin Galactic's first private passenger spaceflight will launch August 10th.
UK competition regulator extends Microsoft-Activision investigation by six weeks
The Competition and Markets Authority has until August 29th to consider Microsoft's submissions.
Twitter sues four unknown entities for 'unlawful data scraping'
Elon Musk blamed scraping by these unknown entities for Twitter's decision to put a cap on how many tweets a user can see per day
Twitter finally begins paying some of its creators
Twitter’s ad-revenue sharing program for creators has officially launched — and it’s reportedly already begun paying eligible Blue subscribers. Elon Musk announced the initiative in February, but with scant details about how it would work, nobody knew quite what to expect. However, some high-profile users report today they’ve received notifications about incoming deposits — including one user claiming he’s set to receive over $24,000. The rewards are based on ads in replies to eligible users’ content.
Microsoft's next big update to its Office apps: a new font
Microsoft has unveiled a big upgrade to productivity apps like Outlook and Word: a new font. Really.
Layoffs hit Google Help contractors who unionized last month
Around 80 Google Help subcontractors who recently voted to unionize with the Alphabet Workers Union-Communications Workers of America (AWU-CWA) found out last week that they will be laid off. The group began a hearing this week with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding the complex issue of joint employment for contractors. “It really stinks of retaliation,” Casey Padron, a general writer on the team scheduled to lose her job in August, told Engadget today.
AP and OpenAI enter into two-year partnership to help train algorithmic models
‘The Associated Press’ (AP) and ChatGPT parent company OpenAI have reached a news-sharing agreement, but not for the reasons you may think. It doesn’t involve AI chatbots quickly churning out content, but rather a way for OpenAI to train its algorithmic models, as reported by Axios. The two-year deal gives OpenAI access to select news content and technology from the AP archives, dating back to 1985. All of this sweet, sweet data will be used to improve the efficacy of future iterations of ChatGPT and related tools.
Twitter is trying to fix the verified DM spam problem it created
witter says it’s making a change to cut down on the amount of spammy messages in users’ inboxes.
University professors in Texas are suing the state over ‘unconstitutional’ TikTok ban
A group of college professors sued Texas today for banning TikTok on state devices and networks, as reported by The Washington Post. The plaintiffs say the prohibition compromises their research and teaching while “preventing or seriously impeding faculty from pursuing research that relates to TikTok,” including studying the very disinformation and data-collection practices the restriction claims to address. The plaintiffs say the ban makes it “almost impossible for faculty to use TikTok in their classrooms — whether to teach about TikTok or to use content from TikTok to teach about other subjects.”
Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky arrested and charged with fraud
The problems keep mounting for Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky, as he’s been arrested and charged by federal authorities for fraud. Mashinsky faces seven criminal counts, including securities, commodities and wire fraud, as originally reported by CBS News. The U.S. attorney’s office alleges that Mashinsky misled customers regarding the nature of his company, making it seem like a bank when it was actually a high-risk investment fund.
FTC opens investigation into ChatGPT creator OpenAI
The FTC is investigating OpenAI over possible violations of consumer protection laws.
One week in, Threads has become Twitter’s biggest threat
While it’s too soon to know if Threads’ early success will translate in the long term, it has succeeded in utterly dominating Twitter in its first week.
UK launches in-depth investigation into Adobe's $20 billion Figma purchase
UK officials have begun an in-depth probe of Adobe's $20 billion acquisition of Figma.
What the hell are passkeys and why are they suddenly everywhere?
Passkeys are a unique key pair for every online service you use bound to the domain. So, if you create one for your online banking account, and a spoofed website prompts you to sign in, the passkey won’t work.
The best budget TVs and streaming gadgets for students
Here's the latest list of the best affordable smart TV's and streaming devices, chosen by experts from Engadget.
Calm is bringing sleep, meditation and relaxation shows to Spotify
The partnership comes through Spotify Open Access.
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ASUS ROG Ally review: The Steam Deck’s most powerful rival
For people who want a more powerful handheld gaming PC, the ASUS ROG Ally packs big performance in a sleek package and even better game compatibility thanks to Windows 11.