Google adds Photomoji, profiles, and custom colors to RCS in Messages - The Verge

A handful of playful new RCS messaging features are debuting in open beta today.

Image: Google

November has been a big month for RCS — the mobile messaging protocol championed by Google — and now, the company is capping it off with the announcement of a milestone and some festive new features. First, the number: according to Google, over 1 billion monthly active users are using RCS in Google Messages. That’s huge, considering support was scarce just a handful of years ago, though not entirely surprising since it’s been the default messaging service on Android phones for a few years now.

As for the new messaging features, a couple of them might sound familiar to iOS users. There’s a new feature that ties into your Google account to create a Contact Poster-like profile with your name and photo. Google is adding something called Photomoji, which lets you cut people out of your photos and use the photos to react to messages as you would with an emoji.

Turn cat photos into reactions, as the good lord intended.

Image: Google

Apple offers something similar in iOS 17, though you have to turn your photo cutouts into stickers to add them to iMessage conversations. Based on an extremely scientific study of, like, five of my friends, this isn’t catching on very quickly.

Google Messages will also let you attach an emoji when you send a voice message, which Google calls a “mood.” That’s a nice way to help someone get the tenor of your message at a glance. Emoji shared in group chats or used as reactions will sometimes include an animation, too. And in a little nod to the whole green bubble / blue bubble situation, Google Messages will now let you change the color of the chat bubbles on each of your conversations.

Voice Moods add visual effects to audio messages.

Image: Google

I spoke to Android messaging VP and GM Sanaz Ahari about the new features and where RCS is generally, which of course, means asking about Apple. There’s good reason to be excited about RCS on the iPhone because — as Ahari aptly puts it — “group chats are just really, really broken today between Android and iOS.” Apple’s commitment to supporting the RCS universal profile 2.0 means that image and video sharing across platforms will get much better, but Ahari acknowledges that the 2.0 spec doesn’t include end-to-end encryption.

“We are actively working with the GSMA — and Apple is a member of the GSMA — to evolve the spec to include not only end-to-end encryption, but also a lot of features that aren’t in the RCS spec that we’re working on adding back to the spec.” Threaded replies, read receipts, and reactions are a few of those features that are unlikely to be supported for iPhone users as the standard exists today. “Overall, what we hope is that the modern messaging features and end-to-end encryption will be a reality cross-platform.”

That’s all a ways off, but in the meantime, Google’s new messaging features will be trickling out to RCS users on Android phones. Today’s feature drop also includes some handy smart home integrations with Wear OS so you can set your Google Home status, trigger a group of lights, or start a routine from your watch. It all rolls out starting today, with the new messaging features debuting first in open beta.

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Update your Chrome browser ASAP to avoid this security exploit - The Verge

The update is available now for some users, with a full rollout expected over the “coming days/weeks.”

Image: The Verge

A critical security update is now available for some Chrome users on Mac, Linux, and Windows that patches a zero-day vulnerability that could make systems susceptible to data theft and other cyberattacks. On Tuesday, Google confirmed in a Chrome stable channel update that it “is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-6345 exists in the wild.” The vulnerability was discovered on November 24th by two security researchers working within Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG). 

Google hasn’t released many details about the CVE-2023-6345 exploit yet, but that’s to be expected. As Android Central notes, Google, like many tech companies, often opts to keep information about vulnerabilities under wraps until they’ve been largely addressed, as detailed information could make it easier for attackers to exploit unprotected Chrome users. It isn’t clear how long the vulnerability had been actively exploited prior to its discovery last week.

What we do know is that CVE-2023-6345 is an integer overflow weakness that impacts Skia, the open-source 2D graphics library within the Chrome graphics engine. According to notes on the Chrome update, the exploit allowed at least one attacker to “potentially perform a sandbox escape via a malicious file.” Sandbox escapes can be utilized to infect vulnerable systems with malicious code and steal sensitive user data.

If you already have your Chrome browser set to update automatically, then you may not need to take any action. For anyone else, it’s worth manually updating to the latest version (119.0.6045.199 for Mac and Linux and 119.0.6045.199/.200 for Windows) within the Google Chrome settings to avoid your system being left exposed. Google says the fix is rolling out “over the coming days/weeks,” so it may not be immediately available to everyone at the time of this writing.

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My long quest to revive a ’90s Windows gaming cult classic - Ars Technica

The elusive, addictive gameplay that has been haunting my dreams for years.

As 2023 draws to a close—and as we start to finalize our Game of the Year contenders—I really should be catching up on the embarrassingly long list of great recent releases that I haven't put enough time into this year. Instead, over the last few days, I've found myself once again hooked on a simple, addictive, and utterly unique Japanese Windows freeware game from the late '90s that, until recently, I thought I had lost forever.

Pendulumania is a cult classic in the truest sense of the word: Few people have heard of it, even in hardcore gaming circles, but those who have experienced it tend to have very fond memories of it. And while I shared those memories, it wasn't until this week that I've been able to share my effusive praise for a game whose name and playable executable had eluded me for well over a decade.

Timeless design

The mechanics of Pendulumania are incredibly simple. You use the computer mouse to control a metal ring, which is attached via an elastic string to a white ball. The object is to carefully move the ring so the stretchy string and gravity can nudge the ball around a 2D plane, crashing into floating scoring orbs to collect points (colored orbs that randomly appear can make the ball larger or the string stronger as well). Be careful, though; if the elastic string stretches too far, it will break and your game will be over.

I wish I could claim this screenshot of a massive 128x combo as my own, but my skills are not back to that level yet.

MobyGames

The presentation of Pendulumania definitely betrays its late-'90s homebrew origins, complete with chunky pixels, day-glo explosions, scrolling backgrounds, and music that sounds like a dying cat walking across a synthesizer. Still, there's something appealing about the game's minimalist interface and sound effects, which provide key at-a-glance information about timing, scoring, future scoring orb positions, and how close you are to the limits of your string's elastic.

Pendulumania's unique, indirect control scheme definitely takes some getting used to. It takes a bit of practice to learn how to gently but quickly nudge the ball without whipping the string so quickly that it breaks. After a bit of play, though, the elegant stretching and contracting of the string becomes part of your muscle memory, and you end up guiding your white ball in gentle, balletic arcs across the screen without much in the way of conscious thought.

Before long, you'll find yourself planning the ball's curves a few scoring orbs ahead, integrating complex wall bounces and tricky downward-pulling loops into your repertoire as you seek to stretch that score-enhancing combo multiplier as high as it will go. After each snap of the elastic line, it's very easy to feel like a small adjustment could have led to a truly great run and that just "one more game" will result in an incredible high score.

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Galaxy Z Flip 6, Fold 6 to come with bigger cover and foldable screens - SamMobile - Samsung news

Samsung finally improved the hinge on its recent foldable phones, removing the gap when they're fully closed. However, both phones are still criticized for having a noticeable crease on their foldable screens. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is also criticized for having a very narrow cover screen, but that might change next year.

Galaxy Z Flip 6 to feature bigger cover screen, while Galaxy Z Fold 6 could have wider cover screen

According to a new report, Samsung's next-generation foldable phones will have bigger screens. Reliable industry insider Ross Young claims that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will have even bigger cover screen, at 3.9 inches. That's almost as big as the screen on the iPhone 5s. It is 0.5 inches bigger diagonally than the Galaxy Z Flip 5. The new flip phone is also said to feature a 50MP primary camera. A previous report also claimed that Samsung is changing the aspect ratio of the screens on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

So, it looks like Samsung is finally listening to user feedback and bringing a cover screen for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that isn't too narrow for typing or other day-to-day tasks. In comparison, all other foldable phones from rival firms have screens that have an aspect ratio closer to conventional slab-style smartphones.

Even the inner foldable screen on the Galaxy Z Flip 5 could sometimes feel too tall, and a change to its aspect ratio would also be appreciated. It was also reported in the past that Samsung is reverse-engineering a Huawei Mate X5 to check how the company managed to slim down the phone while increasing the battery capacity and equipping the phone with much better camera hardware and even satellite connectivity.

Watch our Galaxy Z Fold 5 review in the video below.

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Google Chat rolling out a wild navigation redesign on Android, iOS - 9to5Google

Following the web, Google Chat is getting a big redesign on Android and iOS to accompany its new icon.

Google Chat is getting a “new bottom navigation bar” with four tabs/sections that correspond to the upcoming web version. Previously, there were just two tabs — Chat and Spaces — on mobile. 

• Home: “helps you stay on top of all conversions in one unified view, with a filter that allows you to drill down to unread messages.”
• Direct messages: “see a compact list of all your 1:1 and group messages, including pinned conversations at the top of the list.”
• Spaces: “see a compact list of all your spaces, including pinned conversations at the top of the list.”
• Mentions: “helps you easily find messages from conversations and spaces where you’ve been mentioned.” 

How the app is being reorganized and expanded is pretty straightforward. However, the actual design implementation is quite odd.

• 

• 

Google today shared what this update looks like in the integrated Gmail mobile app. There is now just one “Chat” tab — between email and Meet — in the bottom bar instead of there being two (Chat and Spaces).

The four new parts of the service appear in a floating pill-shaped container just above the bottom bar with a new chat FAB at the right. You will get an unread badge for each section, as well as a unified count in the bottom bar.

It’s unclear if that oblong strip will also be used for the standalone Google Chat app, or whether we’ll just get a conventional bottom bar and FAB. The approach in Gmail looks rather cluttered.

This redesign is rolling out to Chat on Android and iOS in the coming weeks for “all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts.”

This navigation update follows the chat bubble revamp that makes Chat feel a lot like Google Messages.

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Google Play reveals its 'Best of 2023' apps and games - Android Police

Summary

• Google Play is giving out its annual awards for the best apps, games, and books on the Play Store.
• Imprint: Learn Visually wins Best App with its visual storytelling approach to finance, business, science, and technology topics while Honkai: Star Rail, a sci-fi space fantasy RPG, grabs the Best Game award.
• The Users' Choice App award goes to ChatGPT, reflecting the popularity of AI in tech this year.

2023 is coming to an end, meaning it is time for all our favorite services to release their yearly awards and wrap-ups. This also means it is time for the Google Play's Best of 2023 Awards, highlighting the best apps and games to hit the Play Store this year. To keep up with the times, Google has added several new award categories: Best with AI, Best Game for Good, Best on Google Play Games on PC, and Best Multi-device App and Game.

Imprint picked up the best app award. It uses visual storytelling to help you understand important topics in finance, business, science, technology, etc. This app is only available to download in the US, so don't be surprised if you have not heard of it before. As for the best game, Honkai: Star Rail, a sci-fi space fantasy RPG, got that award.

The list of winners can vary by region. You can find the award-winning apps in the US below.

Google had opened voting for the User's Choice Awards at the beginning of the month for a couple of weeks. Apart from apps and books, the company also accepted votes for your favorite book on the Play Store this year. This category was not there for the last two years.

It is not surprising to see ChatGPT win the Users' Choice app award, given that AI and ChatGPT were two of the hottest buzzwords in the tech industry this year. WhatsApp was crowned as the best app for watches, with AllTrails and Audible getting honorable mentions. For tablets, Concepts — a vector-based sketching and drawing app — won the best app award, with Canva and Everand getting honorary mentions.

Google awarded FlipaClip — a 2D animation app — the best app for Chromebooks, while Evernote got an honorary mention. Coincidentally, this happens as the note-taking service is testing severely limiting its free plan.

Best apps of 2023

• Best for Fun: Bumble For Friends: Meet IRL
  • Honorable mention: Reelsy Reel Maker Video Editor
• Best for Personal Growth: Voidpet Garden: Mental Health
  • Honorable mention: Imprint: Learn Visually
• Best Everyday Essential: Artifact: Feed Your Curiosity
  • Honorable mention: ReciMe: Easy & Tasty Recipes
• Best Hidden Gem: Aware: Mindfulness & Wellbeing
  • Honorable mention: Stippl: Explore, Plan & Share
• Best with AI: Character AI: AI-Powered Chat
  • Honorable mention: ChatGPT
• Best for Families: Paw Patrol Academy
  • Honorable mention: LEGO DUPLO DISNEY
• Best App for Good: AWorld in support of ActNow
• Best for Watches: WhatsApp Messenger
  • Honorable mentions: AllTrails: Hike, Bike & Run, Audible: Audio Entertainment
• Best for Tablets: Concepts: Sketch, Note, Draw
  • Honorable mentions: Canva: Design, Photo & Video, Everand: Ebooks and audiobooks
• Best for Chromebooks: FlipaClip: Create 2D Animation
  • Honorable mentions: Evernote – Note Organizer, Wideo
• Best for Google TV: Max: Stream HBO, TV, & Movies
  • Honorable mentions: Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Tubi: Movies & Live TV
• Best for Cars: Amazon Prime Video
  • Honorable mentions: Beach Buggy Racing, Spotify

Best games of 2023

• Best Multiplayer: Farlight 84
  • Honorable mentions: Arena Breakout, Call of Dragons, MARVEL SNAP, Undawn
• Best Pick Up & Play: MONOPOLY GO!
  • Honorable mentions: Chrome Valley Customs, Mighty DOOM, Monster Hunter Now, Ninja Must Die
• Best Indies: Vampire Survivors
  • Honorable mentions: Roto Force, Song of Bloom, Super Meat Boy Forever, Underground Blossom
• Best Story: Honkai: Star Rail
  • Honorable mentions: Down in Bermuda, FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS, Lost Words: Beyond the Page, MementoMori: AFKRPG
• Best Ongoing: Stumble Guys
  • Honorable mentions: Clash of Clans, EA SPORTS FCTM Mobile Soccer, Merge Gardens, Royal Match
• Best Games for Good: Pokémon Sleep
  • Honorable mentions: Beecarbonize, Garden Joy - Design Game, Lingo Legend Language Learning, Longleaf Valley: Merge & Plant
• Best on Play Pass: Magic Rampage
  • Honorable mentions: ARIDA: Backland's Awakening, Linea: An Innerlight Game, Machinarium, Silly Royale – Devil Amongst Us
• Best for Tablets: Honkai: Star Rail
  • Honorable mentions: MARVEL SNAP, MONOPOLY GO!, Roto Force, SOULS
• Best for Chromebooks: Minecra
• Best on Google Play Games on PC: Arknights

You can head to the Play Store's Best of 2023 page to see the full list of winners in your country. If you did not find any of the apps and games in Google's 'Best of' awards list worth trying, make sure to go through our list of the best Android apps and games.

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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 GPUs now come with 3 months of free PC Game Pass and GeForce NOW Priority - VideoCardz.com

GeForce RTX 40 Series Play Beyond Fast bundle now live

NVIDIA will give users access to its game streaming service combined with a library of games, 

GeForce RTX 40 GPU buyers will now receive a three-month subscription to PC Game Pass in a newly launched promotion by NVIDIA. The offer is effective immediately and will be available until January 8th. Purchasers of RTX 4090, RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4070, RTX 4060 Ti, and RTX 4060 desktop graphics cards will gain unrestricted access to Game Pass games for the specified duration. It’s essential to note that this promotion applies to the PC Game Pass library, not the Ultimate variant that provides access through XBOX consoles.

Additionally, the PC Game Pass promotion includes a three-month subscription to the GeForce NOW Priority service. This game streaming service enables users to stream games to their chosen devices, provided they have the necessary controllers or keyboards.

The promotions terms and conditions will differ in different countries, likely influenced by the licensing arrangements for Game Pass and GeForce NOW in different locales.

Participating Regions: Offer valid only in the following regions: Albania, Algeria*, Australia*, Austria, Bahrain**, Belgium, Bolivia*, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil*, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile*, Colombia*, Costa Rica*, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador*, Egypt**, El Salvador*, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia**, Greece, Guatemala*, Honduras*, Hong Kong SAR*, Hungary, Iceland, India*, Indonesia*, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan*, Korea*, Kuwait**, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia*, Malta, Mexico*, Moldova**, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand*, Nicaragua*, Norway, Oman**, Panama*, Paraguay*, Peru*, Philippines*, Poland, Portugal, Qatar**, Romania, Saudi Arabia**, Serbia, Singapore*, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa*, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan*, Tunisia*, Thailand*, Ukraine*, United Arab Emirates**, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay*, Vietnam** (void where prohibited by law).

*GeForce NOW Priority offer is not included
**GeForce NOW Priority offer is not included and 4090 GPU is not an eligible SKU

While the three-month duration may seem limited, it offers gamers an opportunity to immerse themselves in popular titles such as Starfield or Lies of P without the need to make additional game purchases. One can definitely see this trend of 3 months of Game Pass bundles expanding in the future. AMD has offered similar promotion in the past.

Source: NVIDIA

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IKEA's new smart home sensors focus on safety and avoiding water damage - Engadget

IKEA isn't going to be making a play for top tech company anytime soon, but it has kept up an offering of solid smart home devices. Its latest releases are a trio of affordable smart home sensors for everything from open doors to water leakage.

First in the lineup is the Parasoll door and window sensor. You can mount it on your door or window (basically any access point) and receive a notification if they open or close unexpectedly. It also pairs directly with an IKEA smart bulb. Speaking of light, there's the Vallhorn wireless motion sensor, which activates lights when movement is detected. You can choose what color and amount of light you want, with the sensor controlling up to 10 IKEA smart bulbs. Rounding out the new offerings is the Barding water leakage sensor, which works to alert you about any rogue water before your floor finds out. The device can send you a mobile notification, or trigger an alarm.

The sensors are small and white, lending themselves to blending in better throughout the house (unless you really love color). All the sensors are compatible with IKEA's Dirigera Hub, but only Vallhorn works with the older Tradfri gateway.

IKEA points to people's desire to feel comfortable and secure in their homes as motivation for these new products. "Everyone wants to feel safe at home and we feel excited about entering a new smart product area that creates not only a better, but safer life at home," Stjepan Begic, Product Design Developer at IKEA of Sweden, said in a statement. "We believe these products can provide our customers with peace of mind and a greater sense of control and comfort." The three new devices follow the release of previous sensors by IKEA, like Vindstyrka, which measures air quality.

The US pricing isn't available yet, but the Parasoll will be €9.99 in Europe, with the Vallhorn and Barding sensors priced at €7.99 and €9.99, respectively. These numbers could transfer over directly into USD or be slightly higher. The sensors should be available in the US in January (Vallhorn), April (Parasoll) and July (Barding) in 2024.

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M2 MacBook Air Gets Speed Boost With This Novel Cooling System - MacRumors

Apple's 15-inch MacBook Air doesn't have a fan, and instead uses a passive heat spreader to conduct heat away from Apple's energy efficient M2 chip. Curious to know if performance could be further improved with an active cooling solution, Frore Systems installed its own novel solid-state active cooling system into the laptop and subjected it to several benchmarks, with some impressive results.

Frore Systems is a startup with $116 million in funding, and its flagship product is the AirJet Mini, a virtually silent thermal solution with a piezoelectric cooling chip that its makers claim performs better than fans. Inside the AirJet are tiny membranes that vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies, pulling air into inlet vents at the top of the AirJet that exits through the bottom as high-velocity pulsating jets.

As shared by The Verge, head-to-head benchmarking tests initially showed the 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ with the AirJet Mini installed performed only slightly better than a standard ‌MacBook Air‌, but the modified laptop pulled ahead significantly as the tests wore on and the fanless ‌MacBook Air‌'s throttling kicked in to keep the temperature down.

Despite its slight dimensions, the 2.8mm thick AirJet took some work to install into the ‌MacBook Air‌'s slim chassis. Frore had to mill 0.3mm off from the laptop's lid to create adequate space for the airflow system, and also removed the speakers, Wi-Fi antenna, and internal keyboard connector in the process. For the rest of us, buying a MacBook Pro with a fan is definitely an easier option.

Another issue that wasn't addressed in the tests was the real-world impact of such a system on battery life. The Verge says the AirJet Mini drew five watts from the ‌MacBook Air‌'s USB-C port in the makeshift setup. Frore says its AirJet Mini chips require one watt of power when properly integrated into a laptop, and the system draws as little as 0.1W or 0.2W when idle, with the AirJet Minis themselves staying turned off until or unless they need to blow.

The AirJet system will debut in a $499 barebones Zotac mini-PC that requires constant connection to a power source, a use case in which battery life won't be an issue. But the startup has also prototyped 4K webcams, doorbell cameras, LED light bulbs, and more. It's too early to tell whether Frore's cooling system will be the next big thing in PC cooling tech, but the startup says the AirJet Mini is already in mass production, with larger and smaller versions in development.

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iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week - MacRumors

Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days.

As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi connectivity issues that Apple already included in the iOS 17.2 beta. Some users have also experienced minor bugs related to push notifications, HomeKit, and more.

iOS 16.1.2 was released during the week after U.S. Thanksgiving last year, so there is precedent for a bug-fix update being released this week.

iOS 17.1.2 would be the second bug-fix update for the iPhone this month after iOS 17.1.1, which fixed a BMW wireless charging issue affecting the iPhone 15 lineup, and an issue preventing the Weather app widget from showing a snow icon.

Following iOS 17.1.2, Apple is expected to release iOS 17.2, which has been in beta testing for around a month now. The update includes many new features and changes, including Apple's Journal app, support for spatial video recording on iPhone 15 Pro models, a Translate option for the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro models, the ability for Apple Music subscribers to collaborate on playlists, an iMessage Contact Key Verification security option for high-profile individuals, additional Weather and Clock widgets, and more.

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Over 800 days have passed since Apple last updated the iPad mini, as outlined in the MacRumors Buyer's Guide. Fortunately, a new iPad mini is rumored to be released next year, and we have outlined what to expect from the device below. Apple released the current iPad mini in September 2021, with new features at the time including a larger 8.3-inch display, a USB-C port, a Touch ID power...

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Call the police! This Galaxy Z Fold 5 Cyber Monday deal has to be stolen goods - Android Central

Deals that feel too good to be true usually are, but this Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Cyber Monday deal is as legit as they come. Head on over to Best Buy's website and you can get a Galaxy Z Fold 5 for $800 off right now, and you don't even have to trade anything in for the deal!

The only trick is that you'll have to activate it today, so be sure to scroll down to the pricing options section and select activate today.

That also means you could walk out of a Best Buy in the next few minutes with a brand new Galaxy Z Fold 5 for nearly half off and not even feel bad about it. Just make sure you hurry in case Best Buy realizes this is a mistake and ramps the price back up!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 needs little introduction, but here's a quick overview in case you're not super familiar with Samsung's latest big folding phone.

The Z Fold 5 is packed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which is both 30% faster and runs cooler than the processor in the Z Fold 4. That powers both gorgeous displays — one cover display that's like a tall, narrow phone, and the inner display that's like a tablet — and gives the phone a unique look and feel.

But the star of the show this year is the new hinge, which folds completely flat and makes the phone feel substantially thinner and sleeker than previous generations. Those all folded into a wedge shape, leaving room for oodles of pocket lint to get in and dirty up that lovely inner display.

Plus, Samsung used the phone to launch a brand new S Pen design that's slimmer than the previous Fold-compatible S Pens while being much bigger and easier to use than the tiny thing that comes fitted inside the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

So long as you don't mind buying from two retailers, Amazon has the best price on the Slim S Pen case, which will both protect your phone and add a clever new Slim S Pen right on the back. That makes it ultra convenient for taking notes on a whim and, since you use the large inner screen to take write on, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 can become your canvas for anything you can think of.

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How 'Baldur's Gate 3' Became the Horniest Game of the Year - WIRED

In a subreddit dedicated to Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios’ critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons–based role-playing game, a player posed an important question: “I know you probably heard this here more times than I can count but seriously, why is everyone so horny?”

There was a practical element to this query. In a different game, what is or isn’t horny is largely subjective (what you perceive as horny and what I perceive are probably different), but Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t operate on subtext alone. A major social aspect of the game is romancing party members, from the sharp-jawed blood-sucking Astarion to the mysterious Shadowheart. Shortly after the game’s release in August, players noticed that some party members—particularly the wizard Gale—were harder to discourage than others in the dating department. For some players, the especially amorous adventurers in their group were making it difficult to pursue the ones they wanted. Others found the aggressive flirting off-putting. As one player put it: “Gale telling me I'm handsome and sexy in the middle of a cursed shadow forest without any inputs from the player is kinda strange.”

Sex and romance were built into Baldur’s DNA, and Larian leaned into the game’s sexual nature early in the process. According to the BBC, the team even used an intimacy coordinator—professionals who help choreograph intimate scenes and ensure a sense of safety and comfort between actors and production—during recording sessions. There’s even a scene where you can have sex with a druid character … while he’s in his bear form.

Speedrunners were happy to play along, creating an entire run category specifically for how fast you could bed a companion. The top runner, who goes by Mae, told WIRED back in August that it was initially a “joke run.” “I didn’t really feel any pressure to do well or anything,” Mae says. “It was to be funny and put it out there that, ‘Hey, by the way, you can bang in like, eight minutes.’”

The category quickly picked up a following, though Mae still holds the current top record with one minute and 58 seconds. “In romance runs especially, I think it goes against the cliché of some dude assembling a harem of brainless women,” Mae says. “Especially in a game like this where, frankly, the companions have so much more emotional depth than anything we’ve seen previously in video games.”

Still, Baldur’s Gate 3 leaned in a little too hard, even for the developers. Game director Swen Vincke told TheGamer that characters being desperate to jump your bones was actually a bug, not a feature. “The approval thresholds were too low when we shipped,” Vincke said. “That's why they were so horny in the beginning. It wasn't supposed to be that way. We've fixed it since, at least for some of them. We're still fixing a few.” The goal had been to create relationships that were more like those in real life.

Gale was the first character patched to keep his pants on. (He “wasn't supposed to be like, instantly there,” Vincke said in that interview.) Earlier this month, another party member, Lae'zel, was singled out in the game’s notes for Patch #4. “For Lae'zel to decide to romance you, you no longer only need to gain high enough approval from her. You must also have proven yourself worthy through your actions,” Larian wrote. (Speedrunners within the community, including Mae, claim Lae'zel can still be romanced in the same ways.)

The speedrunning community currently has two different categories for its sex speedruns: Pre-Patch 4 and Patch 4+, though the latter has yet to clock any official runs.

Larian created a vast playground for players to explore. There is far more to Baldur’s Gate 3 than lusting after party members, whether it’s the game’s writing, actor performances, or complex combat. Even as Larian has patched out the bugs that made its cast especially lascivious, it’s the community that has carried on the horny torch, finding new ways to speedrun around changes. Players are the one thing you can’t patch.

With the game’s upcoming launch on Xbox, still expected sometime this year, a new wave of console gamers will soon join that community. The traditional sex speedrun may have reached its zeitgeist, but players are far from done. Earlier this month, a speedrunner named “weedmoder” achieved a new record for sleeping with the game’s beddable bear, finishing with a time of 50 minutes and 30 seconds. Their gift to the community was a tutorial of how they did it, posted online—a reminder that, for once, how long you last is all about how fast you finish.

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Early Cyber Monday unlocked phone deals: Apple, Google, Samsung, more - Mashable

Table of Contents

UPDATE: Nov. 26, 2023, 11:00 a.m. EST This post has been updated with the latest pricing and availability on unlocked phone deals.

There's always that one person at every holiday gathering who's desperately in need of a new phone. You know the type: Their screen is a spiderweb of cracks, they're always glued to an outlet because their clunker won't hold charge, or they're asking someone else to text them the group shots because theirs always come out blurry. Don't be that person.

SEE ALSO: I blind-tested 20 iPhone users on which takes better pics: iPhone 15 Pro Max or Pixel 8 Pro

Anyone due for an upgrade right now will have no trouble finding a deep Cyber Monday discount on an unlocked phone at major retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. (Going the unlocked route eliminates the hassle of needing to coordinate a trade-in or a new data plan.) Read on for a list of the best deals we've spotted so far, including markdowns on iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, OnePlus, and Motorola models we've reviewed and loved:

SEE ALSO: Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday: Which day is better for shopping?

Note: All newly added deals are marked with a ✨, while deals with a 🔥 have dropped to an all-time low price. Deals with a strikeout were either sold out or expired at the time of writing.

iPhone deals

Note: The Apple Store will give you a free gift card worth up to $75 when you buy an iPhone 14, 13, or SE there through Nov. 27.

Samsung Galaxy deals

Google Pixel deals

OnePlus deals

Motorola deals

Nothing deals

Nokia deals

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How 'Baldur's Gate 3' Became the Horniest Game of the Year - WIRED

In a subreddit dedicated to Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios’ critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons–based role-playing game, a player posed an important question: “I know you probably heard this here more times than I can count but seriously, why is everyone so horny?”

There was a practical element to this query. In a different game, what is or isn’t horny is largely subjective (what you perceive as horny and what I perceive are probably different), but Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t operate on subtext alone. A major social aspect of the game is romancing party members, from the sharp-jawed blood-sucking Astarion to the mysterious Shadowheart. Shortly after the game’s release in August, players noticed that some party members—particularly the wizard Gale—were harder to discourage than others in the dating department. For some players, the especially amorous adventurers in their group were making it difficult to pursue the ones they wanted. Others found the aggressive flirting off-putting. As one player put it: “Gale telling me I'm handsome and sexy in the middle of a cursed shadow forest without any inputs from the player is kinda strange.”

Sex and romance were built into Baldur’s DNA, and Larian leaned into the game’s sexual nature early in the process. According to the BBC, the team even used an intimacy coordinator—professionals who help choreograph intimate scenes and ensure a sense of safety and comfort between actors and production—during recording sessions. There’s even a scene where you can have sex with a druid character … while he’s in his bear form.

Speedrunners were happy to play along, creating an entire run category specifically for how fast you could bed a companion. The top runner, who goes by Mae, told WIRED back in August that it was initially a “joke run.” “I didn’t really feel any pressure to do well or anything,” Mae says. “It was to be funny and put it out there that, ‘Hey, by the way, you can bang in like, eight minutes.’”

The category quickly picked up a following, though Mae still holds the current top record with one minute and 58 seconds. “In romance runs especially, I think it goes against the cliché of some dude assembling a harem of brainless women,” Mae says. “Especially in a game like this where, frankly, the companions have so much more emotional depth than anything we’ve seen previously in video games.”

Still, Baldur’s Gate 3 leaned in a little too hard, even for the developers. Game director Swen Vincke told TheGamer that characters being desperate to jump your bones was actually a bug, not a feature. “The approval thresholds were too low when we shipped,” Vincke said. “That's why they were so horny in the beginning. It wasn't supposed to be that way. We've fixed it since, at least for some of them. We're still fixing a few.” The goal had been to create relationships that were more like those in real life.

Gale was the first character patched to keep his pants on. (He “wasn't supposed to be like, instantly there,” Vincke said in that interview.) Earlier this month, another party member, Lae'zel, was singled out in the game’s notes for Patch #4. “For Lae'zel to decide to romance you, you no longer only need to gain high enough approval from her. You must also have proven yourself worthy through your actions,” Larian wrote. (Speedrunners within the community, including Mae, claim Lae'zel can still be romanced in the same ways.)

The speedrunning community currently has two different categories for its sex speedruns: Pre-Patch 4 and Patch 4+, though the latter has yet to clock any official runs.

Larian created a vast playground for players to explore. There is far more to Baldur’s Gate 3 than lusting after party members, whether it’s the game’s writing, actor performances, or complex combat. Even as Larian has patched out the bugs that made its cast especially lascivious, it’s the community that has carried on the horny torch, finding new ways to speedrun around changes. Players are the one thing you can’t patch.

With the game’s upcoming launch on Xbox, still expected sometime this year, a new wave of console gamers will soon join that community. The traditional sex speedrun may have reached its zeitgeist, but players are far from done. Earlier this month, a speedrunner named “weedmoder” achieved a new record for sleeping with the game’s beddable bear, finishing with a time of 50 minutes and 30 seconds. Their gift to the community was a tutorial of how they did it, posted online—a reminder that, for once, how long you last is all about how fast you finish.

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