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Artisanal sex toy businesses might not survive Etsy's new seller policies
Simply Elegant Glass has been selling hand-crafted sex toys on Etsy for nearly a decade. In that time, the shop has made over 7,000 sales and racked up more than 1,500 mostly five-star reviews. The Etsy shop — which offers glass dildos, anal plugs and other insertable items — drives the majority of the small business’ overall sales. But as of Monday July 29, the bulk of the shop’s catalog won't be allowed on the marketplace anymore under Etsy’s new restrictions around sex toys.
The Adult Nudity and Sexual Content policy, which was quietly published at the end of June to the platform’s “House Rules,” states that “Etsy prohibits the sale of adult toys that are: inserted into the body; applied to the genitalia; designed for genitals to be inserted into them.” Among other things, it specifically forbids vendors from selling “dildos, vibrators, anal plugs, sex dolls and fleshlights.” The policy update, spotted first by Mashable, came in tandem with a community forum post by Etsy’s head of Trust & Safety, Alice Wu Paulus, who wrote that it was designed to reflect “evolving industry standards and best practices so that we can continue to keep our users safe.”
The note about the impending change said Etsy would, in the coming weeks, “communicate directly with sellers who may need to update their listing images to be compliant.” Enforcement would begin on July 29, it said, and non-compliant listings would be removed. But up to three weeks after the new policy was published online, sellers that spoke to Engadget said they were never contacted directly by Etsy. All of them found out about the ban through social media or other means.
Etsy did not answer specific questions about the reasons behind its decision when contacted by Engadget, but a spokesperson said the change will only affect a very small percentage of the platform’s overall seller community. The only explanation stated in the policy change itself notes that the site wants to ensure “content is appropriate for a wide audience.”
It’s been received as the final nail in the coffin for many adult-oriented businesses on Etsy. Multiple sellers described the preceding years to Engadget as a fight to exist and succeed on the platform. And with no alternative marketplace for handmade products currently operating at Etsy’s scale, it feels as though the only venue for finding such items has been “essentially deleted off the internet,” said Andy, a glassblower for Simply Elegant Glass who chose to share only their first name.
“If I want to find products that are handmade — unless I knew of their existence beforehand through Etsy — finding them is incredibly difficult,” Andy said. They said they found advertising on Google to be “prohibitively expensive,” and products from small businesses are often buried in search results. If a person were just searching by product type, “I don’t think you would be able to find [Simply Elegant Glass] on Google,” Andy said.
Simply Elegant Glass launched its own website a few years ago and recently migrated to Shopify in an effort to shift away from its reliance on Etsy, but said in a recent post on X that even still, “most of our traffic originates from Etsy searches.”
As they see it, Andy said the platform has trended toward “allowing more dubious sellers, people who do not actually make the toys, dropshippers” and shops that would otherwise seem to “fly in the face of [Etsy’s] policies.” Dropshipping is an increasingly common practice in which businesses sell products they don’t actually make or even keep in stock themselves — instead, they source these items from a third-party supplier once they’ve received the orders, and the suppliers will ship them to the customers. Etsy has said that dropshipping is not allowed on the platform under most circumstances, but dropshippers have still found a way.
In addition to sex toys, Etsy’s new policy prohibits the sale of all pornography, including vintage Playboy magazines and any photographs or photo-realistic depictions of sex acts and genitalia. Non-realistic artworks featuring sex acts or genitalia may be permitted, but only under certain conditions: if sex acts are shown, there can be no visible genitalia; if genitalia are shown, there can’t be any “sexual context.” Any materials that feature a combination of familial and sexual terms, e.g., “slogans such as ‘Daddy’s slut’ or ‘Choke me Mommy,’” are out, too. Etsy will, however, continue to allow certain sexual accessories, like some BDSM gear and sex furniture.
Sellers that spoke to Engadget questioned why Etsy couldn’t solve issues of safety with methods other than a ban, like creating a designated adult-only section to keep these materials from popping up in inappropriate places.
The marketplace is one that sellers and shoppers alike have come to rely on for bespoke sex products. Etsy “is really the only place you can go that I know of to support small business/makers in the alternative product world,” Alissa Milano, an Etsy patron who has purchased sex and kink products on the platform, told Engadget in a DM.
On top of discoverability, the intuitive user interface makes it easy for shops to create listings and offer customization options, and it gives potential buyers a way to get in touch with a seller if they have any questions before placing an order. “I talk to most of the customers,” said Daniel Tyler, who runs the UK-based adult site Secret Kink, and sells on Etsy under the name of SecretLatex. Often, he says, “they want little changes here and there. If you're buying on Amazon, you won't get that.” And because it costs so little to list products on Etsy — $.20 per listing — it’s “probably the most accessible place to sell something,” said Chelsea Downs, founder of New York Toy Collective. Emerging indie marketplaces like Spicerack that are trying to provide a better option for sellers in the adult space are a promising development, but they don’t yet have the reach or name recognition of Etsy.
Even before the ban, though, adult product sellers say they’ve grappled with account suspensions and seemingly arbitrary listings removals, despite their best efforts to comply with Etsy’s existing rules around mature items. Or, their shops would plummet in the search ranks and be unable to climb back up. “It just gets worse and worse and worse,” said Downs, who notes that her shop’s sales on the platform are not nearly what they once were.
Tyler says his Etsy shop was banned about six or seven years back for unknown reasons. “I couldn’t get the shop open, no one would respond,” he said. He rebranded and returned to the platform a few years later, and has so far been “safe,” but says, “I get various warnings about policy violations every other week.” The current Etsy shop sells latex and rubber kinkwear as well as dildos, silicone penis sleeves and gender expression products such as packers — prosthetics meant to mimic the bulge of a penis and testicles that can be worn under clothing. Some of his listings won’t be allowed under the new rules.
Etsy sales accounted for 50 percent of Secret Kink’s turnover last year, and 30 percent the year before that, Tyler said. “I always said to my partner that I'm worried that any day… they’re just going to close my store down,” he said. Amid the economic struggles small businesses are already dealing with, Tyler says the platform’s latest move is “just another kick in the teeth.”
Both Tyler and Downs also expressed concerns about how the changes could affect shoppers’ access to gender affirming products. Downs’ shop, which has made over 12,000 sales in its seven years on Etsy, also sells a mix of pleasure and gender expression products. According to an Etsy spokesperson, items like packers that would be classified as prosthetics and not toys (i.e. not intended for sexual acts) are still permitted, along with some sexual wellness products.
The overhaul at Etsy comes on the heels of age verification laws that have begun to gain traction in the US, with the stated intent of shielding minors from adult content on the internet. In recent weeks, Pornhub has pulled out of several states that have enacted or are trying to push forward with such legislation, rather than comply with verification methods that could pose a privacy risk to the site’s users. And sex was already a tough sell for online businesses prior to this movement. Payment processors, like PayPal and Stripe, have historically taken a harsh stance on the sale of sex-related products and sexual content (remember when OnlyFans tried to ban porn to appease the banks?).
Whatever Etsy’s reasoning, affected sellers say they’re bracing for industry-wide impacts. Matt Rowe, one of the owners of the fantasy sex toy shop Odyssey Toys said in an email that it’s going to be a “devastating blow for so many” artisan makers. “There's some extremely talented people driving innovation and creating some incredible work through their designs, and for many of them their business may have the rug pulled out from underneath them almost overnight.”
Rowe said he considers Odyssey “one of the lucky ones” because Etsy currently accounts for only about 20-25 percent of the business’ sales — but the potential impact on the team of owners and workers, plus their families, is still “really worrying.” Odyssey moved into a bigger office earlier this year, and brought on new staff members, Rowe said.
With no word from Etsy in the aftermath of its decision, many sellers said their future right now feels uncertain. “We're left wondering if our account will be deactivated? Restricted? Or will they just remove our products? Who knows!” Rowe said.
Selling sex toys may have put a target on their backs, but the affected sellers warned that there are broader issues plaguing Etsy that will continue to affect even the small businesses that don't carry mature products. Their gripes include being “dinged” in search rankings for not offering free shipping, and having to navigate a playing field that’s changed immensely with an influx of dropshippers, mass-produced products and AI art. “This idea of a handmade marketplace no longer exists,” said Downs.
In July, Etsy updated its seller handbook with new categories to reflect what it says belongs on the platform, loosening its grip on the “handmade,” “vintage” or “craft supply” categories that listings were once required to fit into. Now, shops can choose to label their products as “made by a seller,” “designed by a seller,” “sourced by a seller” or “handpicked by a seller.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/artisanal-sex-toy-businesses-might-not-survive-etsys-new-seller-policies-230014133.html?src=rss
Apple Intelligence reportedly may not arrive until October with iOS 18.1
Apple Intelligence isn’t likely to be ready in time for the public releases of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 in September, but you might not have to wait too long for it after that. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning to introduce Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, which the company expects to be out by October. The betas for these — with some of the AI features — will reportedly be ready for developers to start playing with as soon as this week.
Apple Intelligence won’t offer its full suite of features at the start. Some, like the AI-powered Siri, are expected to come later in the year. Gurman has reported that these updates could even slip into next year. And when Apple Intelligence does arrive, it won’t be compatible with every phone that can support iOS 18. Apple said during its announcement that it requires a device with an A17 Pro processor or M-series chip. That rules out all recent iPhone models except the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-intelligence-reportedly-may-not-arrive-until-october-with-ios-181-213406695.html?src=rss
Elon Musk shared a doctored Harris campaign video on X without labeling it as fake
As spotted by The New York Times, Elon Musk shared an altered version of Kamala Harris’ campaign video on Friday night that uses a deepfake voiceover to say things like, “I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire,” in the VP’s voice. Nowhere does the post alert users to the fact that the video has been manipulated and features comments Harris did not actually say. Under X’s own policies, users “may not share synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm (‘misleading media’).”
The post has been up all weekend, amassing over 119 million views by early Sunday afternoon. It was originally posted by another user, @MrReaganUSA, whose post states that it is a parody. Among other things, the voice in the video says, “I had four years under the tutelage of the ultimate deep state puppet, a wonderful mentor, Joe Biden.” Musk’s post — which only says “This is amazing,” with a laughing emoji — has not been labeled as misleading, which the site will sometimes do if it determines certain media is as such, and no Community Notes have been added, though NYT notes that several have been suggested.
Altered media is in some cases allowed to stay up on the site and won’t be labeled as misleading, according to X’s policies. That includes memes and satire, “provided these do not cause significant confusion about the authenticity of the media.” The potential for deepfakes to be used to influence voters’ opinions ahead of elections has been a growing concern in recent years. Earlier this year, 20 tech companies signed an agreement pledging to help fight the “deceptive use of AI” in the 2024 elections — including X.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-shared-a-doctored-harris-campaign-video-on-x-without-labeling-it-as-fake-172617272.html?src=rss
Apple has reached a union contract with US retail employees for the first time
Apple and the unionized employees at its Towson, Maryland retail store have reached a tentative agreement that could secure them better pay, job protections, scheduling improvements to support a work-life balance and a more transparent disciplinary process. The Towson location in 2022 became the first Apple Store in the country to unionize, and back in May, it voted to authorize a strike against the company after “unsatisfactory” negotiation outcomes.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE) said it’s been negotiating with Apple since January 2023. Under the tentative three-year agreement they’ve now reached, workers would be given average raises of 10 percent over the life of the contract, and starting pay rates for most positions would go up. The agreement would also establish a severance clause. The union represents about 85 employees, who will get to vote on the agreement on August 6.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-has-reached-a-union-contract-with-us-retail-employees-for-the-first-time-212422613.html?src=rss
DOJ says TikTok collected users’ views on issues like abortion, gun control and religion
The Department of Justice on Friday night asked a federal court to reject TikTok’s bid to have the law that could ban it overturned, citing national security concerns that include its alleged use of internal search tools to collect information on users’ views around sensitive topics. It comes in response to a petition filed in May by TikTok in an attempt to challenge the law that now requires its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or it will be banned in the US. President Biden signed the bill into law in April.
In one of the documents filed with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, the DOJ says a search tool within Lark, the web-suite system the company’s employees use to communicate, “allowed ByteDance and TikTok employees in the United States and China to collect bulk user information based on the user’s content or expressions, including views on gun control, abortion, and religion.” The DOJ also argues in the filings that TikTok could be used to subject US users to content manipulation, and that their sensitive information could end up stored on servers in China.
TikTok has repeatedly denied the accusations about it being a threat to national security and has called the efforts to ban it “unconstitutional.” In its latest statement responding to the DOJ filing, posted on X, TikTok said, “Nothing in this brief changes the fact that the Constitution is on our side.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doj-says-tiktok-collected-users-views-on-issues-like-abortion-gun-control-and-religion-201617503.html?src=rss
What to read this weekend: Keanu Reeves wrote a book with ‘weird fiction’ author China Miéville
New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention.
The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville
A few years ago, Keanu Reeves took a dive into the world of comics with a series called BRZRKR, which he wrote with longtime comic creator Matt Kindt. The limited series, which played out over 12 issues, follows a half-mortal, half-God warrior known as B who lives a violent existence but cannot die. And after 80,000 years of being alive, he really wants to. Eventually, he ends up working as a killing machine for the US government.
Netflix has plans for a film and anime spinoff of the series, and the BRZRKR universe is still growing even beyond that. This week, Reeves and author China Miéville — known for his works of “weird fiction” that blend sci-fi, fantasy and other genres — released The Book of Elsewhere, a novel that returns to the story of B in a pulpy, blood-soaked epic. It’s written with a unique style, starting off choppy in the prologue before shifting into something else entirely. If there’s one thing reviewers seem to agree on, it’s that this book is not afraid to get weird.
Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI by Anil Ananthaswamy
AI is all around us, and these days, conversations about the Big Tech race to build better and better systems sometimes feel almost escapable. But how often do we on the outside stop and take a look at how we got here in the technical sense, down to the math that made it all possible?
In Anil Ananthaswamy’s new book, Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI, the award-winning science journalist and author explains the history and mathematics underlying machine learning as we know it today. It’s not exactly light reading, but sometimes it’s nice to put your brain to work a little. You don’t need to be a math whiz to keep up with it — Ananthaswamy has said a basic understanding of calculus should be enough.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2024) #1 by Jason Aaron, Joëlle Jones
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back in another new comic series from IDW, written by Jason Aaron (Batman: Off-World, Thor, Scalped), with art by Joëlle Jones (Lady Killer, Catwoman). The first issue was released this week — and it finds Raphael behind bars.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2024) celebrates the 40th anniversary of the franchise that we as a society just cannot seem to get enough of (no complaints here). In it, the turtles have all split off on their own and left New York, and it looks like the first few issues will each focus on one of the brothers. But, they’ll eventually be brought back together to do what they do best — fight bad guys and eat pizza. It’s meant to be something that even people who haven’t kept up with the many series over the years will be able to get into without feeling lost.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-to-read-this-weekend-keanu-reeves-book-of-elsewhere-ai-math-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-173909519.html?src=rss
Websites accuse AI startup Anthropic of bypassing their anti-scraping rules and protocol
Freelancer has accused Anthropic, the AI startup behind the Claude large language models, of ignoring its "do not crawl" robots.txt protocol to scrape its websites' data. Meanwhile, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens said Anthropic has ignored the website's policy prohibiting the use of its content for AI model training. Matt Barrie, the chief executive of Freelancer, told The Information that Anthropic's ClaudeBot is "the most aggressive scraper by far." His website allegedly got 3.5 million visits from the company's crawler within a span of four hours, which is "probably about five times the volume of the number two" AI crawler. Similarly, Wiens posted on X/Twitter that Anthropic's bot hit iFixit's servers a million times in 24 hours. "You're not only taking our content without paying, you're tying up our devops resources," he wrote.
Back in June, Wired accused another AI company, Perplexity, of crawling its website despite the presence of the Robots Exclusion Protocol, or robots.txt. A robots.txt file typically contains instructions for web crawlers on which pages they can and can't access. While compliance is voluntary, it's mostly just been ignored by bad bots. After Wired's piece came out, a startup called TollBit that connects AI firms with content publishers reported that it's not just Perplexity that's bypassing robots.txt signals. While it didn't name names, Business Insider said it learned that OpenAI and Anthropic were ignoring the protocol, as well.
Barrie said Freelancer tried to refuse the bot's access requests at first, but it ultimately had to block Anthropic's crawler entirely. "This is egregious scraping [which] makes the site slower for everyone operating on it and ultimately affects our revenue," he added. As for iFixit, Wiens said the website has set alarms for high traffic, and his people got woken up at 3AM due to Anthropic's activities. The company's crawler stopped scraping iFixit after it added a line in its robots.txt file that disallows Anthropic's bot, in particular.
The AI startup told The Information that it respects robots.txt and that its crawler "respected that signal when iFixit implemented it." It also said that it aims "for minimal disruption by being thoughtful about how quickly [it crawls] the same domains," which is why it's now investigating the case.
AI firms use crawlers to collect content from websites that they can use to train their generative AI technologies. They've been the target of multiple lawsuits as a result, with publishers accusing them of copyright infringement. To prevent more lawsuits from being filed, companies like OpenAI have been striking deals with publishers and websites. OpenAI's content partners, so far, include News Corp, Vox Media, the Financial Times and Reddit. iFixit's Wiens seems open to the idea of signing a deal for the how-to-repair's website's articles, as well, telling Anthropic in a tweet he's willing to have a conversation about licensing content for commercial use.
If any of those requests accessed our terms of service, they would have told you that use of our content expressly forbidden. But don't ask me, ask Claude!
If you want to have a conversation about licensing our content for commercial use, we're right here. pic.twitter.com/CAkOQDnLjD
— Kyle Wiens (@kwiens) July 24, 2024
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/websites-accuse-ai-startup-anthropic-of-bypassing-their-anti-scraping-rules-and-protocol-133022756.html?src=rss
Amazon drops the first teaser for its upcoming Yakuza adaptation
Amazon has released its first teaser video for Like A Dragon: Yakuza, its live action adaptation of SEGA's Yakuza games, at San Diego Comic-Con. There's a lot of focus on the inking process of Kazuma Kiryu's iconic dragon tattoo, but you'll also get glimpses of Kamurocho's night scene, various characters in the series and the underground fight club that shows up as a mini-game across the franchise. In the last few seconds of the video, you'll see a shirtless Kiryu heading to a circle of cheering viewers betting on his match.
When the company announced the show in June, it described the adaptation as a "crime-suspense-action series" that "follows the life, childhood friends, and repercussions of the decisions of Kazuma Kiryu, a fearsome and peerless Yakuza warrior with a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity." Seeing as the show is set between 1995 and 2005, it will most like be based on the first Yakuza game with glimpses of the years that took place after the events in Yakuza 0.
The first three of episodes of Like A Dragon: Yakuza will arrive on Prime Video on October 24, with the next three coming on October 31. It stars Ryoma Takeuchi (Kamen Rider Drive, Roppongi Class) as Kiryu. And as this teaser has revealed, his best friend Nishiki, who plays a pivotal role in the story, will be portrayed by Kento Kaku (Netflix's House of Ninjas).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-drops-the-first-teaser-for-its-upcoming-yakuza-adaptation-110442602.html?src=rss
ISPs are fighting to raise the price of low-income broadband
A new government program is trying to encourage Internet service providers (ISPs) to offer lower rates for lower income customers by distributing federal funds through states. The only problem is the ISPs don’t want to offer the proposed rates.
Ars Technica obtained a letter sent to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo signed by more than 30 broadband industry trade groups like ACA Connects and the Fiber Broadband Association as well as several state based organizations. The letter raises “both a sense of alarm and urgency” about their ability to participate in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The newly formed BEAD program provides over $42 billion in federal funds to “expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure, deployment and adoption programs” in states across the country, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
The money first goes to the NTIA and then it’s distributed to states after they obtain approval from the NTIA by presenting a low-cost broadband Internet option. The ISP industries’ letter claims a fixed rate of $30 per month for high speed Internet access is “completely unmoored from the economic realities of deploying and operating networks in the highest-cost, hardest-to-reach areas.”
The letter urges the NTIA to revise the low-cost service option rate proposed or approved so far. Twenty-six states have completed all of the BEAD program’s phases.
Americans pay an average of $89 a month for Internet access. New Jersey has the highest average bill at $126 per month, according to a survey conducted by U.S. News and World Report. A 2021 study from the Pew Research Center found that 57 percent of households with an annual salary of $30,000 or less have a broadband connection.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/isps-are-fighting-to-raise-the-price-of-low-income-broadband-220620369.html?src=rss
Amazon is giving The Boys the prequel treatment
The Boys may be one season away from ending but it’s not done caking your screens with blood and torn muscle tissue. Cast member Jensen Ackles who plays Soldier Boy on The Boys revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con that Amazon will produce a prequel of the superhero show called Vought Rising.
The new prequel will take place in the 1950s during the early days of the evil Vought empire, the mega conglomerate that runs the entire superhero industry in The Boys’ universe. The new series will show the early exploits of characters like Soldier Boy and the almost-immortal Nazi supe Stormfront played by Aya Cash. The story will revolve around some kind of “twisted murder mystery about the origins of Vought,” according to executive producer Eric Kripke and showrunner and executive producer Paul Grellong.
Vought Rising sounds like a reimagining of Watchmen without the brooding and self-importance. That’s not to say Watchmen is bad. Those things and its brutal honesty about the nature of its characters are what makes it great but would it kill Rorschach to make just one curse-laden pop culture reference?
The Boys has become Amazon’s Game of Thrones. Even when the main series ends, it won’t be the last we hear from it. The same Comic-Con panel also revealed its college themed spinoff Gen V is getting another season, according to GamesRadar+. There’s also another spinoff in development called The Boys: Mexico with Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Blue Beetle writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, according to Deadline.
There’s also The Boys Presents: Diabolical, the animated anthology series in which some of the original series’ writers and producers like Garth Ennis and Seth Rogen and special guest stars like Awkwafina and Andy Samberg penned original stories about supes and presented them in different animation styles. Not to sound ungrateful but when are we gonna get another season of that?
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-giving-the-boys-the-prequel-treatment-201058614.html?src=rss
https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-giving-the-boys-the-prequel-treatment-201058614.html?src=rss
You can date everything in Date Everything!
Have you ever looked at something in your home like a dining room table or an adjustable height desk and wondered what it would be like to go on a date with it? Also, were you sober at the time? A new dating sim game called Date Everything! will let you see just what it’s like to search for true, meaningful love with the things you see almost every day (in the cleanest way possible, of course).
The surreal sounding dating sim game comes from an LA-based studio called Sassy Chap Games founded by a group of voice actors who’ve worked on games and shows like Critical Role, HiFi-Rush, One Punch Man, Final Fantasy XV, X-Men ‘97 and Genshin Impact. The indie game publisher Team17 will distribute the game for PC on Steam, the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, according to a press release.
The game puts players in the role of a lonely heart who receives a special pair of glasses called a “Dateviator” that transforms items in their home into human date candidates. For instance, the vacuum cleaner turns into a hunky heartthrob named Hoove and the laundry hamper transforms into a fiery redhead named Harper. Date Everything! has 100 possible mates in your home with their own voices, styles and personalities.
You get to know items like the refrigerator or the drawing room piano in their human forms. Depending on how things go, the relationship can end in one of three ways: Love, Friend or Hate. These relationships create a chain of different possible paths in which your choices influence the outcome along a “critical path tying it all together,” according to the press release.
Team17/Sassy Chap Games
Since Date Everything! comes from a studio founded by voice actors, all of the characters are fully voiced. Some of the more familiar names include Felicia Day from Supernatural and Mystery Science Theater 3000, Johnny Yong Bosch from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Grey DeLisle from Scooby-Doo and The Last Airbender.
Date Everything! doesn’t just sound like a new and interesting twist on the dating sim game concept. It also sounds like a great way to boost your ego. If you’re down because you don’t have someone in your life, at least you can play the game and realize, “Well, at least I’m not trying to date my garbage disposal.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-date-everything-in-date-everything-190032967.html?src=rss
https://www.engadget.com/you-can-date-everything-in-date-everything-190032967.html?src=rss
The Bioshock movie is still happening but with a reduced budget
We haven't had an update on Netflix’s Bioshock movie in a couple of years, leading some to wonder if it was quietly canned. The good news? The movie’s still coming. The (potential) bad news? The budget has been slashed, according to reporting by Variety.
This comes from producer Roy Lee, who was one of the people behind The Lego Movie. He announced the reduced budget during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. He didn’t put out any numbers, but did say that the movie is currently being “reconfigured” to be a “more personal” film. Director Francis Lawrence is still helming the picture. He has directed four of the five Hunger Games movies, along with I Am Legend and the original Constantine.
The Bioshock film was first announced back in 2022, but since that time Netflix has experienced something of a regime change on the executive level. Dan Lin replaced Scott Stuber as the streamer’s film chief and Lin has tightened the purse strings away from stuff like Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon.
“The new regime has lowered the budgets,” Lee said at Comic-Con. “So we’re doing a much smaller version.”
In addition to budget cuts, Lee noted that Netflix has changed its compensation strategy with regard to movies. It’s shifting to a more traditional model that relies on bonuses tied to actual viewership numbers.
This could actually be good news. In my opinion, personal stories tend to work better than constant CGI battles with hordes of faceless baddies. Bioshock is also, at its heart, a personal story about family, with the fantastical Rapture setting being window dressing.
I guess it ultimately depends on how much of that budget was cut. There’s a big difference between a slightly reduced budget and a massive cut that turns all of the footage into darkened corridor scenes filmed in a series of Toronto or Atlanta warehouses. The release date hasn’t been announced and, honestly, it could still be a ways off. Director Lawrence has a lot on his plate right now, including an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk and yet another Hunger Games movie.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-bioshock-movie-is-still-happening-but-with-a-reduced-budget-184524214.html?src=rss
Warner Bros. Discovery sues the NBA in a last-ditch effort to block Amazon’s new streaming package
Warner Bros. Discovery followed through on its threat to “take appropriate action” against the NBA for rejecting its broadcasting rights offer. Variety reported on Friday that the media company sued the league in the New York State Supreme Court after the NBA turned down its bid to match Amazon’s streaming package that kicks in starting in the 2025-26 season.
The conflict stems from Warner’s belief that its current contract gives it the right to match any offer that would replace Warner’s TNT as a home for NBA games (and the iconic Inside the NBA) in the upcoming deal. As for the league’s stance, The Athletic reported that since the current agreements were signed when streaming was “on the horizon, but not part of the deals,” the NBA disagrees with Warner’s matching claim.
The lawsuit was expected as soon as the league announced its new broadcasting and streaming package, which also includes Disney (ABC and ESPN) and Comcast (NBC). The NBA reportedly told Warner it rejected its matching offer because it wanted to put all its games on its streaming service, Max, in addition to TNT. Amazon also allegedly offered to pay its first three years in full, whereas Warner offered a three-year line of credit. Finally, the NBA reportedly believed Amazon’s reach was simply greater.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon,” the NBA’s statement on Wednesday read.
Charles Barkley
TNT / Warner Bros. Discovery
Unless Warner can force the NBA’s hand, the new agreement will almost certainly mean the end of Inside the NBA. The decades-old sports show, starring Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, has harnessed a rare blend of comedy, chemistry and (sometimes taking a backseat to the first two) sports analysis. The beloved program, which has won 19 Sports Emmy Awards, began in 1989 as a Johnson solo effort before fleshing out its tight-knit cast through the following years and (in the case of Shaq) decades.
Turner has partnered with the NBA since the 1984-85 season, which coincided with Barkley’s (and Michael Jordan’s) entrance into the league out of college.
Barkley lashed out at the NBA after hearing about the new rights package, accusing it of wanting to “break up with us from the beginning” in a statement on X. Adding, “I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance,” the Hall of Famer described it as “a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans.”
“It just sucks,” Barkley wrote before thanking Turner’s fans for the last 24 years he’s been on the show. Inside the NBA will return next season, perhaps its last, along with the network’s standard lineup of NBA games, before the new deal begins in the 2025-26 season.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/warner-bros-discovery-sues-the-nba-in-a-last-ditch-effort-to-block-amazons-new-streaming-package-183352404.html?src=rss
Apple’s M3 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM is $200 off right now
Apple’s M3 MacBook Air combines Apple’s lightest and thinnest laptop design with the impressive horsepower of third-generation Apple silicon. B&H Photo Video has the 2024 laptop on sale for $200 off. Usually $1,299, the variant with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is only $1,099.
The 2024 MacBook Air adds the M3 chip, Apple’s silicon with a 3nm process that crams more electronic components into a smaller space compared to its predecessor. Apple’s Neural Engine, which will become more crucial with the introduction of Apple Intelligence AI features this fall, is also 15 percent faster in the M3 family than the M2. While the M3 MacBook Air may not provide a dramatic speed boost over the M2 in day-to-day tasks, it has a higher ceiling for intensive work and is more future-proofed.
The M3 model adds support for dual screens with the lid closed. It also supports Wi-Fi 6E’s faster speeds and lower latency if you have a compatible router.
Engadget Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar praised the device in his review from earlier this year, describing the two sizes of the laptop as “great computers with excellent performance, gorgeous screens and incredible battery life.” The M3 MacBook Air lasted over 10 hours in our video-playback battery stress test.
Although the $200 off deal at B&H is for the 13-inch model, the retailer (which operates online but also has a robust Manhattan retail outlet) has the 15-inch model for $150 off. If you like more real estate for your apps and desktop (or, like me, need larger text for aging eyes), the larger model may be the better choice.
One thing to keep in mind before ordering is that B&H’s return policy states that it won’t take computers back for a refund once the packaging has been unsealed. Although you can contact customer service for an exchange if something is wrong out of the box, buyer’s remorse alone won’t cut it for getting your money back. This contrasts with competitors like the Apple Store, Amazon and Best Buy, so consider that before proceeding. However, apart from that footnote, B&H has been an Apple partner for nearly a decade and has built a solid reputation with customers since its 1973 founding.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-m3-macbook-air-with-16gb-of-ram-is-200-off-right-now-165605741.html?src=rss
Here's how to stop Grok's AI models using your tweets for training
There's word going around that X just enabled a setting that lets it train Grok on public tweets, as well as any interactions they have with the chatbot. That's not entirely true: a help page instructing users how to opt-out of X using their data to train Grok has been live since at least May. X just never exactly made it crystal clear that it was opting everyone into this, which is a sketchy move. If you don't want a bad chatbot to use your bad tweets for training, it's thankfully easy to switch that off.
You just need to uncheck a box from the Grok data sharing tab in the X settings. If that link doesn't work, you can go to Settings > Privacy and Safety > Grok. According to some users, the setting isn't accessible through X's mobile apps, so you'll have to uncheck the box on the web instead. It's also worth noting that Grok isn't trained on any tweets from private X accounts.
Twitter just activated a setting by default for everyone that gives them the right to use your data to train grok. They never announced it. You can disable this using the web but it's hidden. You can't disable using the mobile app
Direct link: https://t.co/lvinBlQoHC pic.twitter.com/LqiO0tyvZG
— Kimmy Bestie of Bunzy, Co-CEO Execubetch™️ (@EasyBakedOven) July 26, 2024
One of X's selling points for Grok when it rolled out the chatbot was that it had the advantage of using real-time information that's published on the platform — in other words, users' tweets. That only works if users opt-in or are automatically enrolled into sharing their data with the chatbot. But X isn't exactly the pinnacle of truth and accuracy. It's full of pranksters, and lifting their jokes might be one of the reasons why Grok keeps on getting stuff wrong. In any case, it's not exactly uncommon for AI models to be trained on material without explicit permission from the original creators.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/heres-how-to-stop-groks-ai-models-using-your-tweets-for-training-161041266.html?src=rss
The 65-inch LG C3 OLED TV is nearly half off for today only
The 65-inch LG C3 OLED TV is 48 percent off via Woot, which brings the price down to $1,298. That’s a savings of around $1,200 on the well-regarded OLED panel. There’s one major caveat. This deal is for today only, or until the stock runs out. To that end, there’s a limit of one per customer, but that’s probably not a huge deal unless you’re in the process of furnishing a mansion or something.
The LG C3 OLED is considered one of the best TVs for gaming, and with good reason. We loved this television’s high contrast and the deep blacks on offer. We also praised the low input lag, increased motion response and wide array of appropriate viewing angles. It follows HDR guidelines, works with all the major VRR formats and has four HDMI 2.1 ports that are capable of outputting 4K 120Hz with a gaming console or PC.
It supports all the major HDR standards, including Dolby Vision. This TV is available in sizes up to 83-inches, but the larger models aren’t on sale. I use a 65-inch OLED, though not this one, and it’s plenty big enough for TV and gaming.
Despite being a dang good value, this isn’t a perfect television. The WOLED panel doesn’t get quite as bright as a QD-OLED like the Samsung S90C. Also, it doesn’t support a 144Hz refresh rate, which could be a dealbreaker to picky PC gamers. Still, the price is definitely right. Just make sure you pick this up sooner rather than later.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-65-inch-lg-c3-oled-tv-is-nearly-half-off-for-today-only-152153420.html?src=rss
NASA's Perseverance rover found a rock on Mars that could indicate ancient life
NASA's Perseverance rover has been collecting samples from Mars since 2021, but one of its most recently collected rocks could help it achieve its goal of finding evidence of ancient life on the planet. Nicknamed Cheyava Falls after the tallest waterfall in the Grand Canyon, the 3.2 feet by 2 feet sample contains "chemical signatures and structures" that could've been formed by ancient microbial life from billions of years ago.
Perseverance collected the rock on July 21 from what was once a Martian river valley carved by flowing water long ago. The sample, which you can see in close up below and from afar at the center of the image above, exhibits large white calcium sulfate veins running along its length. They indicate that water did run through the rock at one point.
More importantly, it contains millimeter-size marks that look like "leopard spots" all over its central reddish band. On our planet, those spots could form on sedimentary terrestrial rocks when there are chemical reactions that turn hematite, one of the minerals responsible for Mars' reddish color, to white. Those reactions can release iron and phosphate, which could've served as an energy source for microbes.
The rover's Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) tool already determined that the black rings around the spots contain iron and phosphate. However, that doesn't automatically mean that the rock truly did serve as a host for ancient microbes.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The spots could've been formed by non-biological processes, and that's something scientists will have to figure out. "We cannot say right now that we have discovered life on Mars,” Katie Stack Morgan, the deputy project scientist, said. "But what we are saying is that we have a potential biosignature, which is a set of features that could have a biological origin but do need further study and more data."
NASA still has to bring back the samples Perseverance had collected to our planet, including Cheyava Falls. As The New York Times notes, the Mars Sample Return mission is years behind schedule and would not be able to bring back rocks from the red planet until 2040 instead of in the early 2030's like originally planned. NASA recently asked aerospace companies for alternative solutions on how to get the samples to Earth much sooner and will finance their studies due later this year. Scientists will also have to conduct extensive testing to rule out contamination and non-biological processes, as well as other possible explanations for how the leopard spots had formed, before they can proclaim that they're indeed evidence of ancient Martian life.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasas-perseverance-rover-found-a-rock-on-mars-that-could-indicate-ancient-life-150006064.html?src=rss
Apple agrees to stick by Biden administration's voluntary AI safeguards
Apple has joined several other tech companies in agreeing to abide by voluntary AI safeguards laid out by the Biden administration. Those who make the pledge have committed to abide by eight guidelines related to safety, security and social responsibility, including flagging societal risks such as biases; testing for vulnerabilities, watermarking AI-generated images and audio; and sharing trust and safety details with the government and other companies.
Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI were among the initial adoptees of the pact, which the White House announced last July. The voluntary agreement, which is not enforceable, will expire after Congress passes laws to regulate AI.
Since the guidelines were announced, Apple unveiled a suite of AI-powered features under the umbrella name of Apple Intelligence. The tools will work across the company's key devices and are set to start rolling out in the coming months. As part of that push, Apple has teamed up with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence. In joining the voluntary code of practice, Apple may be hoping to ward off regulatory scrutiny of its AI tools.
Although President Joe Biden has talked up the potential benefits of AI, he has warned of the dangers posed by the technology as well. His administration has been clear that it wants AI companies to develop their tech in a responsible manner.
Meanwhile, the White House said in a statement that federal agencies have met all of the 270-day targets laid out in a sweeping Executive Order related to AI that Biden issued last October. The EO covers issues such as safety and security measures, as well as reporting and data transparency schemes. The White House says that agencies have met all the stipulated deadlines to date.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-agrees-to-stick-by-biden-administrations-voluntary-ai-safeguards-144653327.html?src=rss
North Korean who used ransomware to attack US healthcare providers has been indicted
A grand jury in Kansas City has indicted Rim Jong Hyok, a North Korean intelligence operative who allegedly used ransomware to attack health providers' systems in the US, according to AP News. The State Department said Rim is part of a group called Andariel that's controlled by the North Korean intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau. Rim is not in the US government's custody. The agency is now offering a $10 million reward for information that would lead to his location or the location of a foreign operative who "engages in certain malicious cyber activities against US critical infrastructure."
A Kansas medical center alerted the FBI about an attack that blocked personnel's access to patient files and lab test results, as well as prevented them from operating hospital equipment with their computers, was back in 2021. It's a common MO of Rim's Andariel group, which would infiltrate a computer system and infect it with Maui ransomware. The group would then ask their target for payment and would threaten to release sensitive information if they don't pay up. In the Kansas hospital's case, the group demanded a ransom in Bitcoin worth $100,000 within 48 hours. The group allegedly used the money it gets to buy more computers and servers to fund more cyberattacks.
The FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Department of the Treasury issued a joint cybersecurity warning in the midst of Andariel's attacks on healthcare providers in 2022. "The North Korean state-sponsored cyber actors likely assume healthcare organizations are willing to pay ransoms because these organizations provide services that are critical to human life and health," they wrote. Federal investigators said they followed the ransom the Kansas medical center paid across blockchains and found that someone had transferred the Bitcoin to an address belonging to two Hong Kong nationals. Based on the court documents seen by AP, the money was then transferred to a Chinese bank and withdrawn from an ATM in China close to the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge connecting the country to North Korea.
Andariel and Rim are being accused of infiltrating 17 entities across 11 states, including four defense contractors, two US Air Force bases and NASA. The group was reportedly able to stay in NASA's computer system for three months and steal 17 gigabytes of classified information. During one of its operations that targeted a US defense contractor in November 2022, the State Department said the group was also able to extract over 30 gigabytes of data that include information on the material used in US military aircraft and satellites.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/north-korean-who-used-ransomware-to-attack-us-healthcare-providers-has-been-indicted-140008610.html?src=rss
Samsung Galaxy Ring review: A bit basic, a bit pricey
I don’t expect much from a device as small as a ring. There’s no room for a lot of hardware, so it only really needs to do a few things well. A sleep tracker that doesn’t get in the way of, well, sleeping, is my holy grail, and smart rings are a tantalizing option. Samsung’s Galaxy Ring promises to monitor my slumber and log my daily activity, and do so comfortably and unobtrusively, all for $400. That’s $100 more than its closest competitor, the Oura Ring, though the latter charges an additional $6 a month to use its software. Oura has been around for over five years, and in that time, it has developed more sophisticated ways to deliver insights to its customers, while Samsung is just starting. But for a debut effort, the Galaxy Ring has been a surprisingly informative health-tracking device for those with compatible Samsung phones.
The Galaxy Ring’s weight and design
Of all the wearables available, rings are among the smallest and lightest. My Galaxy Ring is a size seven, which is the third tiniest Samsung makes. That puts it at about 2.3 grams, or just under 0.1 ounces light, which is about half the 4 to 6 grams that Oura’s rings weigh, depending on their size.
Thanks to that lack of weight and the device’s slim profile, I barely feel it on my finger when trying to fall asleep, which, for a sensitive sleeper like me, is a huge deal. The only thing that sometimes bothers me are the red and green LEDs flashing in my dark bedroom, but they’re not so bright to keep me up after I close my eyes.
I’m extremely finicky, and don’t like wearing a ring when my hands are even the slightest bit wet, so I frequently took the wearable off. But if you’re less sensitive than me, you’ll be happy to know the Galaxy Ring will survive soap and running water. I wore it while washing my hands a few times, taking the ring off afterwards for my fingers to fully dry. When I eventually put the device back on after having applied lotion and sunscreen, I was happy to see that the creams did not get in the way of its sensors getting readings.
Because I frequently took the ring on and off, I did have mini panic attacks a few times when I thought it fell out of my pocket. Thankfully, in those situations, I was able to use Samsung’s location-tracking app to see that it wasn’t too far away and was likely in my pants. The problem with the ring’s lack of components, though, is that I can’t play an audible alarm to help find it.
That absence of features is a compromise I’m happy to make in exchange for the Galaxy Ring’s barely-there footprint. What Samsung does offer here also feels good enough for a basic health tracker, though it does pale in comparison to the competition.
The Galaxy Ring as a sleep tracker
I’ve mostly used the Galaxy Ring to track my sleep and general activity, since it doesn’t log any workout beyond walking and running. For the most part, all I really have to do with the ring is make sure I place it on my index finger, where it fits more snugly than the middle. This helps ensure my blood oxygen readings are accurate, or I end up with numbers that are wildly low.
Beyond that, I spent most of my testing time on Samsung’s Wear and Health apps, poring over my sleep data. We’ve come a long way since the early days where Fitbits only looked at the duration of your rest, guessing based on how still you are whether you’ve fallen asleep. These days, using your heart rate to determine whether you’re in REM or deep sleep is table stakes, and on that front Samsung delivers as expected.
I obviously can’t tell you what stages I’m in as I sleep, but I did like that Samsung not only presents the data clearly, but also adds helpful context. It tells me why it’s important to have time in the REM zone, and whether 11 minutes in deep sleep was enough for recovery. The app also helps me understand how I compare to other people, without me having to navigate to a separate app or browser. I did find that the Ring noted accurately what times I fell asleep and awoke, and even logged a midday nap in the app (though it didn’t show sleep cycle data for that period).
It took a few days, but once a baseline was established, the Galaxy Ring started telling me what my skin temperature was throughout the night, highlighting my peak and lowest numbers. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that my coldest temperature to date has been on one night in Singapore, which goes against my assumption that the local heat and humidity would affect these readings.
It’s been mollifying to see that my stats seem normal, although my blood oxygen levels have varied wildly depending on which finger I wear the ring on. It’s even gone as low as 76 percent, which would be concerning, but I’ve stopped caring much about that section of my sleep insights, since it seems my review unit might be a little loose.
You don’t have to spend as much time as I do digging into the numbers — Samsung, like most other modern sleep-tracking services, will assign a sleep score to tell you how well you slept. There are also graphs to help you understand your trends at a glance.
It’s important to note that Samsung said the energy score, sleep tracking and Wellness Tips features are based on Galaxy AI, meaning they’ll require a Galaxy phone, Samsung Health app and Samsung account to work.
The Galaxy Ring as an activity tracker
Samsung’s ring might not track a wide variety of exercises, but the data it does gather is surprisingly comprehensive. I was fully expecting the walks it automatically detected to only show me basic stats like duration and, perhaps, step count. But it actually presented my average speed, cadence, heart rate, heart rate zones, calories burned and distance traveled too.
I’m pretty impressed, but I must point out that Oura offers a Workout heart rate feature that lets you manually start and end heart-rate tracking sessions from your phone. It also automatically detects at least 40 different activities, including yardwork, cycling, snowboarding, horseback riding and HIIT. Oura also frequently adds new metrics like cardiovascular age and capacity, as well as experimental features like Symptom Radar to guess when you might not be feeling well. It’s ahead of Samsung in the game here and seems to be fighting to keep that gap open. I guess if you’re going to pay an extra $6 a month, you better get a significantly superior service.
In my experience, both Samsung and Oura are fairly accurate at tracking activity. In the last few days, I’ve been surprised to see the Galaxy Ring had tracked pretty much every time I went with my parents to a nearby hawker center, even though the walks only took fewer than 10 minutes. Compared to the Apple Watch Series 9 I usually wear, Samsung is more likely to include a short trip in its app’s activity log, which was not only more rewarding but also felt like a more complete picture of my day.
My problems with Samsung Health
One area where the Galaxy Ring (and rings in general) falls short of smartwatches is in delivering any sort of notification. As an activity tracker, this is mainly a problem when it comes to pushing stand reminders. Both Samsung and Oura will serve alerts on your phone when you’ve been stationary for too long, prompting you to get up and move. Wristworn wearables typically buzz and tell you on the screen, and it’s a lot harder to miss or ignore them. I’ve definitely had a few days where I was in an editing or writing hole and only noticed numerous alerts to move hours later when I looked at my Galaxy phone.
This isn’t a major problem, and is another small tradeoff I’m happy to accept since the Ring is so small. But I do have two specific complaints for Samsung, and they both pertain to the app. My first issue is the confusing interface for automatic activity detection. When you go into the Ring’s settings to enable this (which is unfortunately not turned on by default), you’ll see the words “Activities to detect” under a tinier label called “Auto detect workouts.” Next to the larger font is a grayed out toggle that turns blue when you slide it to the right.
Pushing this switch on didn’t actually enable the feature. Tapping on the words “Activities to detect” brought me into a different page with rows for “Walking” and “Running,” each accompanied by their own toggles. You’ll also have to press each of these activities to go into another page and turn on location tracking. Because of this, I spent my first few days with the Galaxy Ring confused why my walks weren’t being logged, despite having turned on the main toggle. A better layout with improved organization that requires fewer taps and pages would really help here.
My other gripe is a more specific situation. As I’m concurrently testing the Galaxy Watch Ultra, the information collected by that smartwatch is also considered by Samsung Health when calculating my energy score. This is actually a good thing, as I’d prefer to use a Galaxy Watch to log my gym sessions and rely on the ring everywhere else. But because the Galaxy Watch Ultra is so inaccurate when it’s not being worn, it actually recorded random workout sessions, like two bike rides that I never took. This caused the Health app to think I had overexerted myself and it ended up recommending I take it super easy the next day, when in reality I had done very little.
Yes, I can manually delete these entries, but when I’m busy and just want to glance at my energy score, this causes confusion. Why was my score so low? Did I somehow sleep poorly? I can already imagine hypochondriacs spiraling if they didn’t know what happened.
Luckily, Samsung clearly labels at the bottom of each workout record which device detected the activity. This is unlikely to be a huge problem unless you have both the Galaxy Ring and Watch like I do, and is something that seems easy enough to fix.
The Galaxy Ring’s battery life
Samsung says the Galaxy Ring can deliver “continuous usage” for up to seven days, and in my experience that’s fairly accurate. But you’ll have to be able to tolerate seeing the battery levels drop all the way to zero to get the full week. In the two weeks or so that I’ve worn the ring, it consistently dropped to under 20 percent by day six, and would basically die on day seven.
Charging the device’s 18mAh battery shouldn’t take too long. Samsung says 30 minutes will get you 40 percent of the way, and when I placed the Ring in its case for about 5 minutes, it went up by two percent. If I hadn’t been trying to gauge its battery life for this review, I would probably have recharged it any time I wasn’t wearing it, and likely wouldn’t have ever run out of juice.
Other issues
For its debut smart ring, Samsung’s delivered a satisfactory product that mostly delivers. Compared to the Oura ring, the Galaxy Ring is perfunctory. The main bonus Samsung had over the competition is its double pinch gesture, that can dismiss alarms or remotely launch the camera on your Samsung phone. I wasn’t able to test this feature because I tested the Ring with a Galaxy S24, and it’s only compatible with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. Samsung says double-pinch functionality is coming to the S24 lineup soon.
Unlike the Oura ring, Samsung’s wearable doesn’t work with iPhones, though rumors are rife that iOS support is coming. For now, if you’re in Apple’s ecosystem you won’t be able to use the Galaxy Ring. Those who use a Samsung phone are more likely to appreciate the Galaxy Ring most. Other integrations like Find My and Samsung Health are available to anyone that installs the SmartThings app and has a Samsung account.
Wrap-up
Though the Galaxy Ring is fairly basic at the moment, it seems to have a lot of potential. Samsung needs to continue to invest in research to expand the insights it could deliver with the limited set of data the ring collects. Given the company’s history with bringing new features to its watches, Health app and the Z series of foldable phones so far, it might just do that. If you’re happy to spend $400 on a low-profile wearable sleep tracker that also logs your walks or runs, the Galaxy Ring will do the job.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-ring-review-a-bit-basic-a-bit-pricey-130034811.html?src=rss
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