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Apple's cheapest iPhone got a refresh and an unexpected name today. Instead of the widely anticipated iPhone SE 4, the company unveiled the new iPhone 16e, and it shifts to a full-screen design with Face ID while putting Apple Intelligence on an entry-level model for the first time. It also comes with an Action button, which debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro. You can pre-order the new model starting this Friday (February 21) ahead of its February 28 release date. The iPhone 16e looks much like the iPhone 14, one of Apple's 2022 models. The new phone has a much larger screen than previous iPhone SE a spacious 6.1 inches along with Face ID and swipe-based multitasking gestures. (The model it replaces had a Touch ID home button.) It has a notch at the top of the screen, not the floating Dynamic Island from higher-end iPhones. Apple Intelligence is increasingly central to the company's strategy, so don't be surprised to see Apple's iPhone SE marketing center around it. In addition to zippy performance, the phone's A18 chip enables features like generative AI writing tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, ChatGPT integration and notification summaries. The phone is the cheapest entry point into Apple Intelligence by hundreds of dollars. The phone has a 48-megapixel Fusion "2-in-1" camera with a 2x telephoto system. Compared to the more expensive iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, the SE's lack of extra rear cameras is one of the most noticeable things you'll miss out on. The new iPhone 16e comes in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB storage tiers, and is available in white and black colors options. At $599, the iPhone 16e is also $150 more than previous iPhone SE models, which typically cost around $429. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 starts at $799, and the additional $200 gets you a better camera system and a more modern design.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-iphone-16e-was-just-announced-heres-when-to-pre-order-the-new-smartphone-162258599.html?src=rss
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Its never a bad idea to have a portable power bank on hand, just in case your devices run a little low on juice while youre out and about. Anker makes some of our favorite power banks, and one has dropped to its lowest price to date. The Anker 633 Magnetic Battery is currently 27 percent off at $40. As the name suggests, you can attach a compatible phone (it's designed primarily for iPhones with MagSafe support) to the power bank magnetically for wireless charging. The 633 folds out at the back, so it doubles as a stand. You can use the device to hold your phone during the work day, or to position it horizontally to watch videos in landscape mode while you're perhaps on a train or plane. It's possible to plug in the Anker 633 Magnetic Battery while you're charging your device wirelessly as well. Anker notes that the USB-C port (which allows you to charge all kinds of other devices) has a maximum input and output of 20W. As such, you can charge your device up to three times faster than with a regular 5W charger, the company says. It'll be faster than charging your device wirelessly too, as that function has an output of 7.5W. The power bank has a capacity of 10,000mAh. That's enough to fully charge an iPhone 16 between two and three times. Meanwhile, Anker has some safety measures in place to help protect the charger and your devices. The MultiProtect system's features include temperature control, foreign object detection and radiation shielding. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/an-anker-10k-magnetic-power-bank-is-cheaper-than-ever-161515297.html?src=rss
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After three years, Apple has finally unveiled its next entry-level iPhone. The iPhone 16e takes over for the iPhone SE in the company's lineup. It borrows the blueprint of the iPhone 14 and spices it up with (among other changes) an updated processor that's ready for Apple Intelligence. At $599, it's the cheapest AI-equipped iPhone by $300. As leaks suggested, the fourth-generation iPhone 16e resembles the iPhone 14, the company's 2023 standard (non-Pro) model. This is the first entry-level model to adopt the iPhones modern full-screen design. That means it's also the first with Face ID. At 6.1 inches, this is the biggest screen yet on an entry-level model. (The 2022 iPhone SE is only 4.7 inches.) But like Apple's 2017 to 2022 flagships, it has the notch at the top of the display, so youll still have to pay for a more expensive model to get Dynamic Island. Some external details differ from those of the iPhone 14. It has a USB-C port instead of Lightning, and like older iPhone SE models, it has only a single camera lens on the back. However, it's a 48MP "2-in-1" with integrated 2x zoom capabilities, which is quite an upgrade over the last SE. Apple It also gets the Action button, the customizable physical shortcut button that debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro. On the other hand, it lacks the MagSafe charging found on Apple's more expensive handsets: It only supports Qi wireless charging up to 7.5W. That aligns with the iPhone SE it replaces, but it could still be a big drawback for some buyers. One of the biggest differences is inside, where you'll find the A18 chip the same one powering the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. In addition to fast and smooth performance, the A18 enables Apple Intelligence, which the company recently began activating by default during onboarding. (You can still turn it off in Settings.) You get Apple's generative AI writing tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, ChatGPT integration and the recently tweaked notification summaries all in a sub-$600 iPhone. Not bad if you're into those things. The new iPhone SE comes in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB storage tiers. You can order it in black and white finishes. At $599, the 2025 iPhone SE is priced comparably to Google's $499 Pixel 8a and Samsung's $400 Galaxy A35 for those wanting flagship-esque features in a more affordable handset. You can pre-order the new iPhone SE starting on February 21 at 8AM ET, ahead of its February 28 ship date. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-iphone-16e-gives-you-apple-intelligence-for-599-161435332.html?src=rss
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World models AI algorithms capable of generating simulated environments represent one forefront of machine learning. Today, Microsoft published new research in the journal Nature detailing Muse, a model capable of generating game visuals and controller inputs. Unexpectedly, it was born out of a training set Microsoft built from Bleeding Edge. If, like me, you had completely erased that game from your memory (or never knew it existed in the first place), Bleeding Edge is a 4 vs. 4 brawler developed by Ninja Theory, the studio better known for its work on the Hellblade series. Ninja Theory stopped updating Bleeding Edge less than a year after release, but Microsoft included a clause in the games EULA that gave it permission to record games people played online. So if you were one of the few people who played Bleeding Edge, congratulations, I guess: you helped the company make something out of a commercial flop. So what's Muse good for anyway? Say a game designer at Blizzard wants to test an idea for a new hero in Overwatch 2. Rather than recruiting a team of programmers and artists to create code and assets that the studio may eventually scrap, they could instead use Muse to do the prototyping. Iteration is often the most time-consuming (and expensive) part of making a video game, so its easy to see why Microsoft would be interested in using AI to augment the process; it offers a way for the company to control runaway development costs. Thats because, according to Microsoft, Muse excels at a capability of world models the company calls persistency. "Persistency refers to a models ability to incorporate (or 'persist') user modifications into generated gameplay sequences, such as a character that is copy-pasted into a game visual," says Katya Hofmann, senior principal research manager at Microsoft Research. Put another way, Muse can quickly adapt to new gameplay elements as theyre introduced in real-time. In one of the examples Microsoft shared, you can see the "player" character immediately react as two power-ups are introduced next to them. The model seemingly knows that the pickups are valuable and something players would go out of their way to obtain. So the simulation reflects that, in the process creating a convincing facsimile of a real Bleeding Edge match. According to Fatima Kardar, corporate vice president of gaming AI at Microsoft, the company is already using Muse to create a "real-time playable AI model trained on other first-party games," and exploring how the technology might help it bring old games stuck on aging hardware to new audiences. Microsoft says Muse is a "first-of-its-kind" generative AI model, but thats not quite right. World models arent new; in fact, Muse isnt even the first one trained on a Microsoft game. In October, the company Decart debuted Oasis, which is capable of generating Minecraft levels. What Muse does show is how quickly these models are evolving. That said, there's a long way for this technology to go, and Muse has some clear limitations. For one, the model generates visuals at a resolution of 300 x 180 pixels and about 10 frames per second. For now, the company is releasing Muse's weights and sample data, and a way for researchers to see what the system is capable of.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-trained-an-ai-model-on-a-game-no-one-played-160038242.html?src=rss
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Niantic, the company that developed the wildly popular augmented reality (AR) game Pokémon Go, is reportedly considering selling its video games and according to a source speaking to Bloomberg, the deal could be worth just $3.5 billion. The company raised additional funding at a $9 billion valuation back in 2021. Many people still play Pokémon Go, but the game no longer enjoys the same popularity it had during its launch and the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are around 80 million monthly users as numbers reported midway through last year, but that's a steep decline from the game's peak of 232 million active players. During those same heady days, Pokémon Go was generating close to a billion dollars annually; now it's bringing in about half of that. Pokémon Go was also a breakthrough success Niantic was unable to replicate, despite its follow-ups being essentially reskins of the same AR experience. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite lasted around three years, while NBA All World survived only five months. Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now are still around, but have never been the cash cows of their older sibling. The company also raised funding in 2021 on the promise of creating a real-world metaverse, which has yet to materialize. Niantic also has not been immune to the broad layoffs affecting the games industry. It dumped eight percent of its workforce and canceled four projects back in 2022. The following year, it laid off another 230 employees and killed a Marvel-related project. The reported party Niantic is considering selling its games division to is Scopely, which is owned by Savvy Games Group. Savvy Games Group is part of Saudi Arabias government-linked Public Investment Fund, which has stakes in EA, Activision, Nintendo and more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/pokemon-go-developer-niantic-may-sell-its-games-division-for-a-mere-35-billion-160027485.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
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