Mattel's latest Polly Pocket collab is a Stranger Things playset that houses the fictional town of Hawkins and the Upside Down in a compact shaped like a walkie-talkie. The set, introduced this week, contains figurines of the characters Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will — plus a very non-threatening interpretation of the Demogorgon. Pre-orders for the $50 collectible are now open through Mattel Creations and major retailers, including Walmart and Target. It’s expected to start shipping later this month.
Mattel
The set also includes a few tiny walkie-talkies, bikes, a wig for Eleven and a little stack of waffles. There’s even a mini sensory deprivation tank on both sides of the compact with a cutout that the Eleven figurine fits into, and a chalkboard with a crack for the Demogorgon to burst through. The packaging it comes in is designed to look like a retro tape recorder. It’s all painfully cute. Now can we get that fifth season sometime soon, please?
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/theres-a-stranger-things-polly-pocket-set-and-its-design-is-really-clever-204550807.html?src=rss
Although it was never really gone, the Barbie franchise recently got a resurgence of popularity thanks to a fun yet odd live-action film. The toy has changed dramatically over the decades, but what has always stayed the same is its spirit of fun, whimsy, and connecting with loved ones. Oh, and the overabundance of the hot pink color. Just in time for the Barbielicious renaissance, Kodak and Mattel have joined hands to create a special limited edition instant camera and photo printer that embody those qualities, encouraging people of all ages and genders to shoot and share those special moments with big smiles and very pink accessories.
Instant cameras in the vein of the iconic Polaroid have very limited uses and printouts, but it’s that scarcity and rarity that have actually endeared these products to people, including the younger generation who may be hearing about the idea for the first time. There’s just something exciting about the thought of pressing a shutter button and instantly printing out a photo that you can share or treasure, knowing that that exact moment and that exact photo will never happen again. There’s a huge market for this retro camera design, and what can be more retro and more fun at the same time than Barbie?
The KODAK Printomatic Barbie Edition pours a splash of pink on the instant camera and scribbles the iconic toy line’s name all over the surface. The instant camera uses ZINK technology to print out those lively colors without the dangers of spilling ink in your bag or even your pocket. The 5MP sensor, while sounding like a bummer, lets you also have a retro-quality photo that you can save on a microSD card for future viewing or, better yet, reprinting.
Yes, it might feel like a bit of a cop-out, but you don’t have to sacrifice versatility just to get that nostalgic photography experience, at least not if you also grab the Barbie-themed KODAK STEP Slim Instant Photo Printer. Connected to a smartphone, you can easily print images on that same 2×3 inch instant photo paper format, from the photos you took using your smartphone, to photos you save from the Kodak Printomatic Barbie Edition camera as well. It’s the best of all worlds, allowing you to experience the instant joy of printing photos while still leaving the option to share that over and over again.
The Kodak x Mattel collab is a fun nod to the iconic Barbie brand and could give fans and collectors alike something to vie for when the products do launch. Unfortunately, availability details have yet to be disclosed, but the windows of opportunity to launch Barbie-themed products, like the HMD Barbie phone, are getting smaller.
Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, has issued a recall for Ram 1500 pickup trucks from 2019 and 2021-2024 due to a software problem in the anti-lock brake system. The bug could cause the anti-lock brake system to “disable the electronic stability control system,” which in turn can increase the risk of a crash, according to a notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The recall affects roughly 1.46 million vehicles worldwide, Reutersreports, with the vast majority of them being in the US. So far, there are no known injuries or crashes relating to the issue, according to Reuters. If the problem arises, owners should see the ABS, ESC, Adaptive Cruise Control and Forward Collision Warning lights go on upon starting the truck. Per Reuters, the software issue does not affect foundational braking.
The NHTSA says notices will be mailed to owners in early October, and they’ll have to bring their trucks into a dealership so the ABS control module software can be updated. As of now, the vehicles do not comply with the federal motor vehicle safety standard for electronic stability control systems, the NHTSA says. If you’re unsure whether the recall applies to your truck, you can plug your information into the NHTSA recall search tool to find out.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/over-14-million-ram-1500-trucks-recalled-to-fix-a-bug-in-the-anti-lock-brake-system-172807815.html?src=rss
Back in 2020 reMarkable 2 was a good alternative to the iPad for people who write a lot. A couple of years later Amazon Kindle Scribe took the e-reader market by surprise with its premium reading and writing experience. Now the Norway-based company has released the reMarkable Paper Pro to capture the market share back from Amazon.
Touted as the world’s thinnest color paper tablet, the low-glare 11.8-inch display of the gadget is tailored for a pen-on-paper-like writing experience to help knowledge workers capture, refine, and elevate their thoughts in a world full of distractions. According to Phil Hess, CEO of reMarkable, “We’ve built upon the success of reMarkable 2 to create a device that offers the best writing and reading experience ever on a paper tablet.”
Inspired by the form of a stack of blank paper sheets, the tablet is 5.1 mm thin and doesn’t compromise on the battery as it lasts a couple of weeks on a single charge. This is the first ever reMarkable tablet to read and write in color, made possible by the new custom-developed Canvas Color display stack. The users will now have the option to write notes, sign documents, annotate PDFs, or mark up notes in a wide range of colors. The writing experience is honed by the reduced latency of 12ms when the stylus hits the screen and the corresponding input is registered. The e-reader is free from any distracting apps and is strictly meant for people who love reading and writing without any frills.
The e-paper slate comes with a stylus, or can also be connected to a wireless keyboard. The size of the bezels on this version has been reduced, the edge band is sharper and the chin sleekly hugs the display making it a treat to hold – just like a sheaf of paper. Made from anodized aluminum and glass it is lightweight and has a lot of grip to hold while lying down or while walking in a rush. The included backlight on the display makes the E-reader ideal for nighttime reading and is gentle enough on the eyes. Even on maximum brightness levels, it doesn’t induce eyestrain.
On the inside, the tablet is powered by a new 1.8Ghz quad-core Cortex A53 processor mated to 2GB RAM and 64GB storage. That’s almost twice as powerful as the previous model. Overall the gadget gives or more reasons than not to go for the investment priced at $579 with the standard Marker. For the Marker Plus version, you’ll have to shell out $629. reMarkable Paper Pro can be ordered right now and orders will be fulfilled within 10-21 business days.
Meta is making changes to WhatsApp and Messenger in order to add interoperability with third-party chat apps — in Europe, that is — and the company is sharing how it would work in a new post. Based on previous reports, Meta started working on enabling third-party chats last year after the rules of the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into effect. Under the DMA, "gatekeepers" or the largest companies and platforms in the industry have to ensure interoperability with third parties since they're prohibited from favoring their own services.
The company said it gathered feedback from potential partners and other stakeholders to help it shape the new experience. To start with, it designed new notifications for WhatsApp and Messenger that would alert users when a third-party service becomes available for integration. Users will be able to choose which third-party apps they want to receive messages from, and they can choose to either get those messages in a separate inbox. Those who don't mind getting messages alongside their Messenger or WhatsApp chats can choose a combined inbox instead.
The apps will also provide rich messaging features to third-party chats, so they're not purely a text affair. Users will be able to react to and directly reply to specific messages, see an indicator while the other person is typing and get read receipts. Next year, they'll be able to create group chats, and in 2027, they can voice and video call their friends on other apps.
"Users will start to see the third-party chat option when a third-party messaging service has built, tested and launched the necessary technology to make the feature a positive and secure user experience," Meta explained, so not all people's preferred messaging app will be integrated with WhatsApp and Messenger. The company said, however, that it will keep collaborating with other services to expand its availability.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/meta-shares-how-whatsapp-and-messenger-will-interact-with-other-messaging-apps-in-the-eu-143021269.html?src=rss
Have you ever wished you could edit your videos as easily as you edit a Word document? What if I told you that dream is now a reality? With the Descript app, you can edit your videos and audio files simply by modifying the text transcript. This AI-based tool not only saves you time but […]
Air quality at home has become a key concern among homeowners in the past few years, finally raising awareness that the air we breathe indoors might be just as bad as the pollution-filed air outdoors. Pet owners have it especially bad, with fur and pet hair adding to their list of worries. While air purifiers are becoming more popular because of that situation, very few of them can be considered to have the same aesthetic maturity as more common appliances that have been around for decades. Many are not only uninspiring but also take up space that could have been otherwise given to more functional and appealing furniture. Venturing into the home appliances market, SwitchBot is launching an air purifier that looks a tad more interesting and definitely more useful thanks to its multi-functional design, doubling as a table you can also use as a phone charger.
Many air purifier take on a cylindrical shape that maximizes air intake and output, but that means putting their less than attractive bodies in the middle of spaces where they stick out like a sore thumb. The new SwitchBot Air Purifier Table admittedly does have that cannister design, but it takes steps to set itself apart from the crowd and elevate your living space as well.
In addition to its minimalist style, this air purifier puts a flat oval on top that can be used as a table to hold your things while you sit back and relax for a bit. The wood-like finish gives it a bit of visual flair and helps make it match the other furniture in your living area or bedroom. It also encourages you to put the air purifier in places that get a lot of human presence, usually beside couches or beds or maybe even in the middle of the room, allowing it to have a better impact on the quality of the air people breathe.
Its “extra” functionality doesn’t stop there, however. That tabletop is also a wireless charger, supporting 15W charging for Android devices and 7.5W for iPhones. Simply place your phone there and let it charge while you read, watch, or just chill with friends. The Air Purifier Table has configurable lighting between the air purifier itself and the tabletop, allowing you to set the mood you want or be informed when the air quality in its immediate vicinity worsens.
Of course, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is an air purifier, first and foremost, and it boasts plenty of street cred for that. It’s also pretty proud of its ability to remove pet hair and prevent it from contaminating the air that humans breathe, all without stressing out the pet in the process. The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table, available now for pre-order, will set you back $269.99, but there’s also a simpler $219.99 version that trades the wireless charging table top for a smaller bowl-like structure that cats might love to sit on.
The Roku smart TV platform is an accessible way to watch your favorite streaming content in a centralized location – either built-in to TVs, or by adding affordable dongles or mini boxes, like the new-for-2024 Roku Ultra, to older televisions. One big advantage of the Roku platform is that it's always getting free software updates to keep it current — like the cool new feature that turns your TV into a sort of virtual art museum by displaying famous paintings as a screensaver. However, Roku is less adept when it comes to solving one common frustration of the streaming age: The inability to access popular shows, movies and sporting events because of geographic restrictions.
Using a VPN is a common way to tackle this issue, but unlike Fire TV, Apple TV and other rivals, Roku systems don’t have native VPN support. But that’s not the end of the story: You can still use a VPN to access a wider range of programming via a Roku — you just need to use a workaround. We’ll show you how.
The benefits of using a VPN
When it comes to streaming, a VPN has one main benefit: changing your IP address — the unique number that identifies the general location of the device and network you're using to access the web. A VPN tunnels your connection through its servers to obfuscate your IP, making it seem like you’re watching from elsewhere. As a result, a service like Netflix will see your location as, say, the United Kingdom versus the US. You’ll then have access to a different set of programming. For example, the TV show Friends is available on Max in the US, but it’s only available on Netflix in the UK.
VPNs have several other benefits related to privacy and security. VPN servers have military-grade AES 256-bit encryption, meaning they’re more secure than connecting to the Internet normally. So, since you’re browsing the Internet by tunneling through the VPN, your Internet service provider can’t see all of your browsing destinations (and sell your viewing habits to data brokers).
The easiest way to use a VPN on Roku
Although Roku doesn’t natively support VPNs, there are a few workarounds. You can, for instance, set up a VPN on your home’s router. That allows you to protect the whole network and every device that connects to it, keeping everyone in your household anonymous online. But it can also cause confusion when you want to access local services — and it requires a very high-level of technical knowledge, and only works with certain routers.
Instead, we recommend a far easier method: connecting a VPN to your Roku via AirPlay or screencast. To do this, subscribe to a VPN and install it on your smartphone or laptop. Then, stream content on that device and AirPlay or screencast it to your Roku TV. The icon to do this should look like a TV with Wi-Fi rays.
Engadget
We prefer this method because it’s simpler overall. You can access any geo-blocked content on your smartphone or laptop first and then cast it on your smart TV.
You can make sure your Roku model is AirPlay-compatible by checking this resource on Roku’s site. If it isn’t, you can always just directly patch your phone or laptop to the TV using an HDMI cable or an appropriate dongle.
Choosing the best VPN
While you'll be using a phone or laptop as the ultimate source for your VPN-routed streams, that actually gives you a wider list of services from which to choose. Although each VPN has the same basic functionalities, their price and extra features vary. Before deciding which one is right for your needs and the devices you have, take some time to look at what each one offers and see what other users have to say. Start by checking out our list of best VPNs — and happy streaming.
VPN options for other streaming platforms
Don't have a Roku? Good news: Robust VPN options (or alternatives) exist for the other major streaming platforms, too.
If you are looking for some awesome iPhone apps, Mac apps, or iPad apps, we have a great video showing us some of the latest apps on Apple’s devices. Staying productive and organized is more important than ever. With countless apps available, it can be challenging to find the ones that truly make a difference […]
If you would like to learn how to use the Meta Business Suite. This guide will walk you through its key features, empowering you to optimize your social media presence, engage with your audience effectively, and run successful ad campaigns. Meta Business Suite is a comprehensive tool designed to streamline the management of your Facebook […]
