Google is shuttering its digital gaming service Stadia, the latest ambitious project to get cut as the company looks to shed costs.
The gaming service, which launched in 2019 and runs on phones and the Chrome browser, "hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected," wrote Phil Harrison, a Google vice president, in a blog post Thursday. "We’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service,” he wrote.
For Google, Stadia represented an opportunity to put its cloud streaming technology to work and enable immersive gameplay “at massive scale,” according to Harrison. Stadia servers will be turned off on Jan. 18, the Stadia FAQ page says. The company hoped Stadia would compete with other gaming services like Sony's PlayStation Plus cloud streaming, Amazon's Luna and Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming
The shuttering of Stadia is the latest move by CEO Sundar Pichai to cut costs after saying he wants to make the company 20% more efficient. Alphabet's stock price is down 34% this year and in July the company reported disappointing revenue and profit numbers. Pichai's efficiency efforts, he said, could include product and head count cuts as the company reckons with a slew of economic challenges and slowing growth.
Google recently canceled the next generation of its Pixelbook laptop and cut funding to its Area 120 in-house incubator.
Stadia's future has been uncertain for a while. Last year, the company said it was disbanding the Stadia Games and Entertainment team, which developed its own original games for the service. Speculation swirled about the potential for a broader cut to the service.
Google said it will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store and all game and add-on content purchases at the Stadia store. The company said it expects to complete the majority of refunds by mid-January. Players will continue to have access to their games library and can play through Jan. 18.
Google said it will continue supporting gaming in other areas and will help developers build and distribute gaming apps on Google Play and Google Play Games. Harrison also indicated the technology used for Stadia won't go to waste.
"We see clear opportunities to apply this technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts — as well as make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed,” he wrote.
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Today, Meta announced Make-A-Video, an AI-powered video generator that can create novel video content from text or image prompts, similar to existing image synthesis tools like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. It can also make variations of existing videos, though it's not yet available for public use.
On Make-A-Video's announcement page, Meta shows example videos generated from text, including "a young couple walking in heavy rain" and "a teddy bear painting a portrait." It also showcases Make-A-Video's ability to take a static source image and animate it. For example, a still photo of a sea turtle, once processed through the AI model, can appear to be swimming.
The key technology behind Make-A-Video—and why it has arrived sooner than some experts anticipated—is that it builds off existing work with text-to-image synthesis used with image generators like OpenAI's DALL-E. In July, Meta announced its own text-to-image AI model called Make-A-Scene.
Instead of training the Make-A-Video model on labeled video data (for example, captioned descriptions of the actions depicted), Meta instead took image synthesis data (still images trained with captions) and applied unlabeled video training data so the model learns a sense of where a text or image prompt might exist in time and space. Then it can predict what comes after the image and display the scene in motion for a short period.
A video of a teddy bear painting a portrait, created with Meta's Make-A-Video AI model (converted to GIF for display here).
"Using function-preserving transformations, we extend the spatial layers at the model initialization stage to include temporal information," Meta wrote in a white paper. "The extended spatial-temporal network includes new attention modules that learn temporal world dynamics from a collection of videos."
Meta has not made an announcement about how or when Make-A-Video might become available to the public or who would have access to it. Meta provides a sign-up form people can fill out if they are interested in trying it in the future.
Meta acknowledges that the ability to create photorealistic videos on demand presents certain social hazards. At the bottom of the announcement page, Meta says that all AI-generated video content from Make-A-Video contains a watermark to "help ensure viewers know the video was generated with AI and is not a captured video."
If history is any guide, competitive open source text-to-video models may follow (some, like CogVideo, already exist), which could make Meta's watermark safeguard irrelevant.
The long-awaited $429 Sub Mini doesn’t disappoint, but there are still reasons to opt for the standard Sub
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Sonos customers have been anticipating a product like the Sub Mini for years. Until now, the only way to fully realize a “complete” Sonos home theater system meant coughing up $749 for the Sub subwoofer — on top of whatever you paid for a Sonos soundbar and rear surrounds. That total can quickly balloon to just shy of $2,000 depending on the soundbar you want. For many consumers with Sonos’ step-down products like the Beam and Ray, the Sub was impractically expensive and out of reach.
That’s why there’s now the Sub Mini. First revealed by The Verge back in May, Sonos originally intended to ship the $429 subwoofer well before the October 6th release date it ultimately settled on. But a rough financial quarter and underwhelming demand for the entry-level Ray soundbar led the company to push back the Sub Mini’s release by several weeks.
Now, the smaller, more affordable subwoofer is nearly here. I’ve been testing it for over a week, sampling the Sub Mini’s low-end performance across TV, movies, video games, and music. If you’ve been counting down the days until you can get your hands on one, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. There are still circumstances and use cases where the larger, pricier Sub is the better choice. But so long as you plan to use the Sub Mini in a small- to mid-size room, it has all the kick necessary for movie night. And in my opinion, its design looks much nicer than the glossy, boxy Sub — even if, on the inside, they’re both based on similar acoustic principles.
Standing 12 inches high and weighing 14 pounds, the Sub Mini isn’t as “mini” as its name might suggest. But a subwoofer can only get so small if you still want it to pack some wallop. The Sub Mini is significantly larger than the Sonos Move, itself a fairly big “portable” speaker, and finding a hiding place for it near your TV might take some creativity. I’ve been testing the white Sub Mini, and I’m very happy Sonos moved away from a glossy finish in favor of a matte look. The “center tunnel” section of the product — the cutout in the middle — is black, which creates a classy two-tone look reminiscent of the second-generation Play:5.
The Sub Mini’s dual six-inch woofers face each other for a force-canceling effect.
Image: Sonos
Like the Sub, the Sub Mini’s dual woofers face inward (one on each side of the tunnel) for a force-canceling effect to mitigate floor rumble and keep your downstairs neighbors happy. Those relatively small six-inch woofers are encased in an acoustically sealed cabinet structure that Sonos says “neutralizes distortion” and should improve bass response and extension. Both the Sub and Sub Mini are designed to reach as low as 25Hz, but the Sub’s larger woofers let it hit output levels two to three times louder than the Sub Mini. It’s really that resonance that separates them.
The Sub Mini isn’t all that “mini,” but then again, no subwoofer really is.
Setting up the Sub Mini was a breeze. You just plug in the power cord, open the Sonos app, and the software will prompt you to set up the new device. You’re then asked to hold your smartphone near the top of the Sub Mini to transfer your Wi-Fi and other Sonos system details over NFC. For the last step, Sonos asks which existing soundbar or speaker you want to pair the Sub Mini with. Obviously most people will link it to a Beam or Ray (I tested with both), but you can also combine it with Sonos’ music speakers like the Play:5 / Sonos Five to bring more low-frequency energy and clarity to your tunes.
Once setup is done, Sonos offloads low frequencies to the Sub Mini while letting the original device handle the mids and treble. This divvying up of sound frequencies happens automatically. If you disable the Sub or unplug it, your soundbar simply returns to its normal full-range output. Like always, it’s best to tune your Sonos home theater setup with the help of the Sonos app’s Trueplay feature, which remains exclusive to iOS devices.
Sonos says the Sub Mini is best suited for small- to mid-sized rooms.
Outside of Trueplay, there aren’t many settings to adjust for the Sub Mini in Sonos’ app. You can toggle it off or adjust the “sub level” slider anywhere from -15 to +15 if you really want to explore what the subwoofer can do. I left it at the default of zero for most of my testing. If you activate Night mode while watching TV or a movie, that will also apply to the Sub Mini to keep its intensity and rumble in check.
It’s worth noting that the Sub Mini does not suffer from a bug that, at the time of publication, affects the Sub (Gen 3). Owners of that product have complained about reduced performance after a recent software update. Here’s a statement on the situation, courtesy of Sonos spokesperson Olivia Singer:
“Last month, we made a change to Arc’s audio profile to improve dialogue clarity and the overall sound experience. The change was based on feedback from our listeners in the field and brings Arc in line with our other Home Theater products. We have identified an issue for some users whose configuration includes a Sub (with or without surrounds), who find their Sub output is lower than desired after performing a new Trueplay tuning. Users with Beam or Ray bonded with Sub can increase the Sub level for a more powerful low-end response, however this won’t have the same impact for Arc users. Customers using Arc bonded with a Sub (and/or surrounds) who find their Sub output is lower than desired following performing a new Trueplay tuning, should temporarily disable Trueplay on Arc until this is addressed by an upcoming software update.”
So, does the Sub Mini deliver on the company’s “bold bass” promises? For movies and TV, I’d give a solid thumbs-up. I watched plenty of flicks while testing the Sub Mini in combination with both a second-gen Beam and Ray, and performance is largely what I hoped it would be. In this lounge fight scene from The Batman, the Sub Mini brought an impressive thump to the music playing in the club throughout the scuffle. I’m a big Edge of Tomorrow fan, and the first scenes of that film are a good workout for any subwoofer. The Sub Mini proved itself ready for the challenge and never distorted. This remained true throughout the entirety of Blade Runner 2049 as well. Movies and shows alike sounded fuller and more dynamic.
For music, I bounced around tracks like Genesis’ “Follow You Follow Me” and Ray LaMontagne’s album Trouble. The Sub Mini noticeably lent more bottom end to whatever I played and made the whole experience more dynamic than listening to music through the soundbar alone. Synths and standup bass sound richer with the Sub Mini there to give lower frequencies more power and presence. I can imagine that the full-fledged Sub offers more nuance and variation in the bass tones, but I didn’t have one at hand for a direct comparison. Depending on volume level or content, it’s not always obvious that the Sub Mini is putting in work. There’s minimal floor vibration due to those force-canceling woofers. But just reach your hand into the center tunnel and you’ll feel constant movement.
There aren’t many settings to worry about.
I didn’t encounter any playback issues or dropouts over the course of my testing. Only one Sub Mini can be connected to a soundbar, whereas you can include up to three units of the normal Sub (Gen 3) in a system. Sonos is positioning the Sub Mini as the ideal companion for all of its midrange gear, like the Ray, Beam, One, and Ikea Symfonisk hardware. The company’s top-level speakers (like the Arc and Five) and bigger viewing spaces are better served by the full-size Sub. It felt just right for my apartment, but I could see how the Sub Mini might strain itself in large living rooms or basements due to its reduced footprint. Also, it’s not compatible with either of Sonos’ portable speakers, so you can’t use it with the aforementioned Move.
AGREE TO CONTINUE: SONOS SUB MINI
Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.
Sonos also collects what it refers to as “additional usage data,” and this covers a lot, including:
The temperature of your product
Wi-Fi information like signal strength
How often you use music services connected to your Sonos system
Information about how often you use the Sonos app versus other control mechanisms
Flow of interactions within the Sonos app
How often you use the physical controls on the unit
Duration of Sonos product use
Duration of music service use
Product or room grouping information
Command information (such as play, pause, change volume, or skip tracks)
Sonos playlist or Sonos favorites information
You can opt out of additional usage collection from the Sonos mobile app, but Sonos warns that doing so will disable functionality like personalization services (e.g., Recently Played), Sonos Radio, voice control, and more.
The final tally is two mandatory agreements and one optional agreement.
I think the Sub Mini will be a welcome addition to many Sonos living room setups, and even if $429 is nowhere near “cheap” — that’s more than some home-theater-in-a-box 5.1 systems and the Ray soundbar itself — it’s still considerably less than investing $749 into the Sub. You’re paying extra for Sonos’ meticulous design and engineering along with the stylish aesthetic, but it’s not for nothing.
The Sub Mini isn’t technically or acoustically as powerful as the standard Sub, but it succeeds in providing an immersive, full-bodied audio experience that’s only possible with a “complete” Sonos home theater system. And it deals less damage to your bank account.
Apple just launched the Apple Watch Series 8, which means you might be wondering whether it's time to upgrade. The Series 8 introduces temperature sensing and car crash detection, along with a refreshed processor.
As is typically the case when deciding to upgrade, the answer will depend on which Apple Watch you currently own. Owners of recent Apple Watches like the Series 7 and Series 6 have little reason to splurge on the $400 Series 8. That's especially true since Apple typically introduces many new features in software updates like WatchOS 9, which is compatible with watches that are up to 4 years old. But if you have an aging Apple Watch Series 3 or earlier, you're definitely due for an upgrade.
Apple Watches released over the past five years have many of Apple's core health and safety features in common, such as irregular heart rhythm notifications, high and low heart rate notifications, water resistance, workout tracking, emergency SOS and fall detection (Series 4 and later). The biggest differences come down to health tracking, considering Apple has added new sensors for temperature sensing and blood oxygen measurements in recent years.
However, it's important to remember that Apple Watches aren't medical devices, which can make it hard to assess how valuable these deeper health metrics truly are. My general take is that these extra features could be useful for those who want access to more cardiac and respiratory health data to share with their physician.
This guide compares the Apple Watch Series 8 to Apple Watch models released over the past five years. The Apple Watch Ultra isn't included because it's a wholly new product with more pronounced differences than Apple's other watches. You can learn more about the Apple Watch Ultra in our in-depth review.
If you have an Apple Watch Series 7, there's no reason to upgrade right now. The Series 7 and 8 have a lot in common, like their larger screen, QWERTY keyboard, fast charging and nearly identical suite of health and wellness features. The major upgrades in this year's Apple Watch include a temperature sensor, an updated processor (although performance is the same as the Series 7) and new gyroscopes and accelerometers capable of detecting car crashes. Such changes are bound to make the Apple Watch more useful in the long term, but they don't merit an upgrade if you're already using a Series 7.
It's also too soon to tell what the temperature sensor brings to the overall experience, so I can't recommend upgrading for that reason alone. Apple is positioning it as being most helpful for providing retrospective ovulation estimates and more accurate period predictions. Since it takes two menstrual cycles for ovulation estimates to become available and the watch has only been available for about two weeks, it's still a bit early.
The company also says shifts in baseline temperature can indicate whether you're jet-lagged or under the weather. Apple charts deviations in your baseline wrist temperature in a graph within the Health app, but right now it's largely up to the user to interpret what this means. I'm hoping Apple finds a way to tie this data into other metrics in the future, like some type of wellness or readiness score.
The bottom line: All told, the Apple Watch Series 7 can do almost everything the Apple Watch Series 8 can. Don't upgrade just yet.
Apple Watch Series 8 vs. Series 6
The Apple Watch Series 6
Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET
The Apple Watch Series 6 is 2 years old, but it's still more than enough to meet the needs of most people. Compared to the Series 6, the Series 8 has temperature sensing, car crash detection and a new processor. (However, that processor probably offers roughly the same performance as the Series 6's chip anyway.) The Series 8 also has the upgrades Apple introduced with the Series 7, such as a more durable design that's dust resistant, a slightly larger screen with a QWERTY keyboard for typing text replies and faster charging.
Aside from temperature sensing and car crash detection, the Series 8's extra features are more about refining the Apple Watch than bringing something entirely fresh to Apple's smartwatch. The Series 6 is still new enough to have Apple's more noteworthy upgrades from recent years, like an always-on display and blood oxygen saturation measurements. It's also compatible with Apple's new Compass app, which includes new features for retracing your steps and setting custom waypoints. That's something you can't say for the Series 5 and earlier.
The bottom line: The Apple Watch Series 6 is still new enough for most people. The upgrades in the Series 8 are refinements for the most part, rather than holistically new features, with the one exception being temperature tracking.
The question of whether it's worth upgrading from the Apple Watch SE is a little less straightforward and depends on what you want in a smartwatch. If you have the SE and find yourself wanting more in terms of health tracking, there's a case to be made for splurging on the Series 8. Both the first- and second-generation SE lack the ability to take an ECG from your wrist, blood oxygen saturation measurements, temperature sensing and an always-on display.
If you're curious about these features and want more data on your cardiac and respiratory health to share with your doctor, the Apple Watch Series 8 has enough extra functionality to justify an upgrade. The health sensors are the biggest reason to upgrade to the Series 8, but you'll also get other perks like a larger screen with a QWERTY keyboard, faster charging and most importantly, a display that can still show the time and other information even when it's idle.
If you're not interested in these extra health metrics, you might be considering upgrading from the original SE to the new one. However, I wouldn't recommend doing so unless your current watch is feeling noticeably slow. Aside from car crash detection and a faster processor, there isn't much that's new between the first and second-generation SE.
The bottom line: It's worth hanging onto your Apple Watch SE if it's still in good condition. But if you want deeper health tracking and your SE is starting to feel slow, there's enough that's new in the Series 8 to make it worth considering.
Apple Watch Series 8 vs. Series 5
The Apple Watch Series 5
Sarah Tew/CNET
The Apple Watch Series 5 may sound ancient compared to the Series 8, but I'd still recommend thinking twice before spending $400 on Apple's newest flagship watch. Since it's 3 years old, it doesn't have all of Apple's more recent health features, like blood oxygen measurements and temperature sensing. But it can still take an ECG and has an always-on display, two features that even the brand new second-generation Apple Watch SE lack. The processor is a bit old, but that shouldn't matter as long as your watch still feels like it's running smoothly.
Once again, the biggest reason to upgrade to the Series 8 is for its blood oxygen saturation and temperature readings. Those features might not matter for everyone, but they could be important to those specifically interested in cycle tracking and respiratory health. As mentioned previously, you'll also get other design refinements like a more durable build, speedier charging and a larger display -- elements that make the Apple Watch feel more efficient when factored together, but likely don't warrant an upgrade on their own.
The bottom line: If you have a Series 5, you can probably afford to hold onto it for a bit longer unless you really want the ability to see blood oxygen levels and the Series 8's new temperature sensor. With an always-on display and ECG measurements, the Series 5 still packs a surprising amount of value for a smartwatch that's three years old.
You don't need to upgrade if you're still happy with your Series 4, but there are plenty of reasons to do so. While the Series 4 has many of the Apple Watch's core features, like workout tracking, irregular heart rate notifications and Apple Pay support, there's a lot to gain from upgrading.
In addition to the Series 8's new temperature sensor and car crash detection, you're also getting an always-on display, faster charging, a larger screen with a QWERTY keyboard, the ability to take an ECG from your wrist, blood oxygen saturation measurements, and a compass. Not to mention, the Series 4's 4-year-old processor is likely starting to feel a bit old. All of these changes come together to make the Series 8 feel significantly new and different compared to the Series 4. The Series 4 also only has 16GB of storage while Apple's newer watches have 32GB, which means it could be difficult to install software updates in the future.
If you just care about having a basic Apple Watch that will feel fast and last for years to come, the $250 Apple Watch SE is also worth considering. You'll get Apple's newest smartwatch processor, car crash detection and a compass app, but you'll be missing out on all the other features mentioned above by choosing the new SE over the Series 8.
The bottom line: In the four years since Apple launched the Series 4, it's made plenty of improvements that make the Series 8 feel like a notable leap forward. If your Series 4 is starting to feel sluggish and you're in a position to buy a new watch, it's worth the upgrade.
Apple Watch Series 8 vs. Series 3
The Apple Watch Series 3
Sarah Tew/CNET
If you have an Apple Watch Series 3, it's time to upgrade. The Series 3 is now 5 years old and no longer supports software updates, which should be the biggest motivation for upgrading. Not only will you be missing out on new features, but software updates generally include important security fixes, too.
The Series 3 feels dated in almost every way compared to the Series 8 and second-generation SE. Its processor is also 5 years old, which means you're probably dealing with some lag. The screen is smaller than Apple's newer watches since Apple implemented a redesign starting with the Series 4. And it lacks modern features like a compass, fall detection, and the many health features Apple has added over the last five years. Not to mention the battery life is probably starting to feel short.
If you don't want to spend $400 on the Series 8, the $250 Apple Watch SE is a great option for those upgrading from a Series 3 or older. It has all of the basics, including car crash detection, a larger screen than the Series 3, fall detection, high and low heart rate notifications, irregular heart rhythm notifications, the new compass app and Apple Pay support.
The bottom line: If you have the Series 3, it's time to upgrade. Period.
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Intel finally announces its Arc Alchemist Desktop graphics card
Pat Gelsinger confirms Arc A770 GPU will launch in fourth quarter.
Only one GPU was announced today, the A770 Limited Edition, the flagship of the Arc Alchemist desktop series, will launch on October 12th.
At Intel Innovation, Intel CEO confirms that the A770 will cost 329 USD, which is indeed a very low price for this model. Here’s a reminder that A770 features a full ACM-G10 GPU with 32 Xe-Cores and either 8GB to 16GB memory. However, Intel’s Limited Edition only comes with 16GB VRAM. The $329 price may refer to the 8GB model.
Intel claims that their GPU offers up to 65% better peak performance versus competing products (presumably NVIDIA RTX 3060 series) in ray tracing.
Unfortunately, there is no information on A750 or A580 GPU availability yet, not to mention their prices. Ryan Shrout, who was the face behind Arc Alchemist marketing campaign, confirmed that we will hear more about A750 GPU later this week. Furthermore, Pat Gelsinger confirmed that A770 LE are now shipping to reviewers.
The Limited Edition will be sold by Intel and their etail and retail partners. The company released these new pictures presenting the packaging that we have seen in the teasers for the past few months.
With the first GPU launching on October 12th, one should also note that on the same day, NVIDIA is launching its RTX 4090 GPU.
Android Auto has been waiting on a redesign for the past several months, but it seems that Google’s timeline on the update has slipped.
Recapping what we’ve seen to date, Android Auto has long been developing a new look under the code name “Coolwalk.” The design first showed up about a year ago and has evolved in the time since. Early this year, the new UI showed its first signs of expanded split-screen support, as well as some other upcoming features such as Cast support.
Google touted the new design during I/O 2022 as a way to bring split-screen functionality to more users, as well as take advantage of new screen shapes and sizes.
In its older versions, Android Auto was optimized primarily for one size of display, something around a 16:9 landscape-oriented display. But as new cars have hit the market with wider displays or ones that expand down larger parts of the dashboard, it’s been easy to see where Android Auto has been behind.
As pictured below, the new Android Auto redesign adapts well to displays of varying sizes and orientations.
So, where is it?
Google explicitly stated that this redesign to Android Auto would arrive “this summer” in a blog post from May 2022. You can read the quote in full below, emphasis our own.
And over the years, we’ve found there are three main functionalities that drivers prioritize in their cars: navigation, media and communication. This summer, Android Auto will roll out a brand new interface that will help you get directions faster, control your media more easily and have more functionality at your fingertips.
But as of September 26, 2022, the Android Auto redesign is still unavailable, at least officially, to users in stable or beta update channels.
The last time Google announced an Android Auto update at I/O with a “summer” timeline, the company lived up to that promise with a few weeks to spare. This time, though, that timeline has come and gone, and there’s no sign of anything ready to head to users.
Clearly, Google is still working on the update. Late last week, one user with a rooted Android smartphone noticed that an update to either the platform or the Spotify app had unlocked new functionality for the music widget. It’s obvious that Google hasn’t thrown away the project.
We asked Google if there is an updated timeline for releasing Android Auto’s “Coolwalk” redesign to the public, but the company had no updates to share at this time. Presumably, the update will arrive sometime later in the year.
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