In recent years, the push to ban smartphones in schools has picked up, with advocates citing everything from improving focus to creating a safe environment. Now, a new study out of the UK investigates the effectiveness of these policies on social media use and overall well-being with interesting results. The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe journal, included 1,227 individuals aged 12 to 15 from 20 schools with restrictive phone policies and 10 that permitted phone use.
Researchers didn't find a link between restrictive school policies and lower phone or social media use and improved well-being. Notably, individuals unable to use their phones at school still used their devices the same amount of time on weekdays as their counterparts. So, they still had the same amount of potentially negative time on their phones per day, just at a different time of the day (assuming no sneaky use at school). These results are significant for advocates of school bans to consider, though primarily demonstrate the benefits of a more holistic plan to reduce adolescents' smartphone and social media use throughout the day.
The study's authors note their research didn't look at how restrictive phone policies at school can impact instances of bullying or time engaging in face-to-face interactions. It also doesn't examine the difference between varied types of restriction or how long these policies have been in place.
The UK government has been a strong proponent of banning smartphones in schools, announcing guidance in February 2024. The guidance called for schools to create policies that worked best for them, but outlined a few options including banning any smartphones on school premises. Other suggestions involved students handing in their phones upon arrival or storing them in lockers.
The US, France and more countries have also taken steps to ban smartphones in schools. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and California Governor Gavin Newsom are among the proponents of smartphone restrictions in schools. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/uk-study-says-school-phone-bans-dont-affect-students-total-screen-time-130048601.html?src=rss
Sonos will start selling a streaming box in the "coming months," according to The Verge. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that the company was working on a streaming device codenamed "Pinewood" back in 2023. He said it was going to cost between $150 and $200, but sources told the publication that it would set buyers back between $200 and $400 instead. To note, the Roku Streambar costs $130, while the Apple TV 4K with Wi-Fi costs $129.
During an earnings call last year, Sonos said that it was planning to launch two new products in the fourth quarter of 2024, but it had to push back their release until its app was fixed. Sonos' app broke after the company rolled out a major redesign last April that was supposed to make it easier to find and play different kinds of content. But the app was extremely buggy and was missing basic features, such as sleep timers and alarms. It's not quite clear if one of the delayed products was the streaming box, but the box, The Verge says, is "deep into development."
The streaming device will reportedly have an interface that can combine content from multiple services, including Netflix, Max and Disney Plus, in a single unified software experience. It will feature integrated Sonos Voice Control, but it will also come with a physical remote control with shortcuts for popular apps. For those with an expansive home theater setup, the box will apparently have multiple HDMI ports with passthrough capability, allowing users to plug in other devices they want to pair with their TVs, such as gaming consoles.
Sonos has also reportedly designed Pinewood to be able to wirelessly transmit TV audio to its own soundbars and other audio devices without lag. Plus, it will allow users to create their own surround system for TV viewing. Users will be able to designate two separate speakers as front left and right channels, for instance. For internet connectivity, The Verge says it will have both a gigabit ethernet port and Wi-Fi 7.
After a disastrous few months following its botched app overhaul, Sonos laid out a plan to win back customers' trust. One of the things it promised was to implement "ambitious quality benchmarks" at the beginning of a product development cycle. It also said that it's not going to release products before those standards are met, which presumably means that Pinewood is going through rigorous testing before it becomes available. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/sonos-may-release-its-long-rumored-streaming-box-this-year-130017996.html?src=rss
Google has made one of the most substantive changes to its AI principles since first publishing them in 2018. In a change spotted by The Washington Post, the search giant edited the document to remove pledges it had made promising it would not "design or deploy" AI tools for use in weapons or surveillance technology. Previously, those guidelines included a section titled "applications we will not pursue," which is not present in the current version of the document.
Instead, there's now a section titled "responsible development and deployment." There, Google says it will implement "appropriate human oversight, due diligence, and feedback mechanisms to align with user goals, social responsibility, and widely accepted principles of international law and human rights."
That's a far broader commitment than the specific ones the company made as recently as the end of last month when the prior version of its AI principles was still live on its website. For instance, as it relates to weapons, the company previously said it would not design AI for use in "weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people. As for AI surveillance tools, the company said it would not develop tech that violates "internationally accepted norms."
Google
When asked for comment, a Google spokesperson pointed Engadget to a blog post the company published on Thursday. In it, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and James Manyika, senior vice president of research, labs, technology and society at Google, say AI's emergence as a "general-purpose technology" necessitated a policy change.
"We believe democracies should lead in AI development, guided by core values like freedom, equality, and respect for human rights. And we believe that companies, governments, and organizations sharing these values should work together to create AI that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security," the two wrote. " Guided by our AI Principles, we will continue to focus on AI research and applications that align with our mission, our scientific focus, and our areas of expertise, and stay consistent with widely accepted principles of international law and human rights always evaluating specific work by carefully assessing whether the benefits substantially outweigh potential risks."
When Google first published its AI principles in 2018, it did so in the aftermath of Project Maven. It was a controversial government contract that, had Google decided to renew it, would have seen the company provide AI software to the Department of Defense for analyzing drone footage. Dozens of Google employees quit the company in protest of the contract, with thousands more signing a petition in opposition. When Google eventually published its new guidelines, CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly told staff his hope was they would stand "the test of time."
By 2021, however, Google began pursuing military contracts again, with what was reportedly an "aggressive" bid for the Pentagon's Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability cloud contract. At the start of this year, The Washington Post reported that Google employees had repeatedly worked with Israel's Defense Ministry to expand the government's use of AI tools.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-now-thinks-its-ok-to-use-ai-for-weapons-and-surveillance-224824373.html?src=rss
Reddit has temporarily banned the subreddit r/WhitePeopleTwitter after Elon Musk complained about the community. The subreddit is currently inaccessible with a message from Reddit stating that the community has been banned for 72 hours due to a prevalence of violent content.
The popular subreddit is known for posting funny tweets and memes from X. On Monday, an X account called Reddit Lies posted screenshots from a thread on r/WhitePeopleTwitter in which users were discussing the identities of the individuals with ties to Musk who have reportedly played a key role in the takeover of technical systems within the federal government.
A Reddit spokesperson pointed to the message in r/WhitePeopleTwitter notifying users about the ban, but declined to comment further. This subreddit has been temporarily banned due to a prevalence of violent content. Inciting and glorifying violence or doxing are against Reddits platform-wide Rules. It will reopen in 72 hours, during which Reddit will support moderators and provide resources to keep Reddit a healthy place for discussion and debate. The company also permanently banned a subreddit called r/IsElonDeadYet for breaking its rules around violent content, according to a notice posted to the community.
Reddit
Musk has used his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to enter federal agencies and take control of their systems and install a potentially illegal server at the US Office of Personnel Management. Musk has reportedly been helped by a group of very young engineers with little work experience. Those individuals have been the subject of much speculation online amid reports that they have helped him take control of secure systems within the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Treasury Department.
Musk has repeatedly accused people who post the names of his DOGE associates on X of breaking the law (to be clear: doing so absolutely is not a crime). He made a similar claim in response to the screenshots from r/WhitePeopleTwitter posted by Reddit Lies, saying they have broken the law. Engadget was unable to verify the Reddit comments posted by the account, but it included statements like time to hunt and this nazi stooge needs to be shot.
In a letter addressed to Musk, interim US Attorney Ed Martin offered his assistance in protecting the DOGE work from threats. We will not tolerate threats against DOGE workers or law-breaking by the disgruntled, he wrote on X Monday. Any threats, confrontations, or any actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws, he wrote.
Many Reddit users have grown increasingly frustrated with Musk, who was once a popular figure on the site. Last month, dozens of subreddits announced that they were banning links to X following Musks speech at President Donald Trumps inauguration in which he made an apparent Nazi salute.
Have a tip about Reddit or other information to share? Get in touch by email at karissa.bell [at] engadget.com or message securely on Signal at karissabe.51. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reddit-temporarily-bans-rwhitepeopletwitter-after-elon-musk-claimed-it-had-broken-the-law-212131945.html?src=rss
Federal employees are suing to disconnect a server, reportedly operated by associates of Elon Musk, from the US Office of Personnel Management. A motion filed today as part of a class action suit and obtained by Wired claims that the new server connected to OPM systems is a violation of federal laws as well as a privacy risk for government staffers.
The OPM is essentially the federal government's human resources department, and it houses sensitive personal information about current and prospective employees. The email server is reportedly harvesting information from OPM's data systems, according to the initial lawsuit that is seeking to block Musk's access to that private information. Government agencies are required to conduct privacy assessments before making substantial changes to IT systems under the 2002 E-Government Act, but today's motion alleges the OPM did not perform that assessment before the server was installed.
On Friday, Reuters reported that senior officials at the OPM were locked out of the department's data systems, ostensibly by Musk's allies. "We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," one of the unnamed officials said. "That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications."
Reuters' sources spoke anonymously with the publication out of fear of retaliation. Interim US Attorney Ed Martin has already posted his support for Musk's activities on X. "We will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people," he wrote, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk spearheads.
The OPM isn't the only government agency where Musk may be installing his connections. Wired separately reported that a former employee of the South African billionaire allegedly has direct access to systems in the US Treasury Department. A group of labor unions and retiree advocates has sued the Treasury for granting DOGE permission to access those systems.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/government-workers-sue-over-potentially-illegal-doge-server-201042201.html?src=rss
Autonomous vehicle company Cruise is laying off around half of its workforce, according to reporting by TechCrunch. The cuts even extend to the CEO and other top executives. This is part of a major restructuring effort by parent company GM that will eventually see a total shutdown of operations.
These layoffs are expected to impact well over 1,000 people and include CEO Marc Whitten, chief safety officer Steve Kenner and global head of public policy Rob Grant. Chief technologist Mo Elshenawy is also being laid off, but will stay on until the end of April to help with the transition. To that end, some of Cruises workforce and resources will carry on. They are being shuffled to the Super Cruise team, which is GMs driver assistance system.
These layoffs dont come as too much of a surprise, given that GM already announced it was giving up on the development of robotaxis. The company, however, hasn't stopped chasing the dream of autonomous vehicles. GM is still planning on rolling out driverless cars for personal use at some point in the future.
Cruise has had a rough last couple of years. The company faced scrutiny after one of its robotaxis struck a pedestrian and dragged them 20 feet. Prior to the crash, the companys algorithm was fairly notorious for being buggy, as it repeatedly failed to recognize children.
The ensuing investigation forced Cruise to stop all operations for its manned robotaxi service. GM was fined $1.5 million for omitting key details about the aforementioned crash. There were also serious layoffs. In recent months, Cruise had resumed some limited activity, though only with human drivers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/cruise-lays-off-half-its-staff-after-gm-sunsets-robitaxi-program-191417313.html?src=rss
Netflix has been revamping its games division in recent months, including making adjustments to the library of titles that it offers subscribers at no extra cost. The company has canceled release plans for six games that were previously bound for iOS and Android through its platform.
As first reported by What's On Netflix, the company will no longer bring Thirsty Suitors, Compass Point: West and Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game to its library. Nor will it offer three titles from Klei Entertainment: Don't Starve Together, Lab Rat and Rotwood. A Netflix spokesperson confirmed the decision to Engadget, noting that nixing the planned additions was "just a natural part of adjusting our portfolio as we learn more about what our members like."
Tales of the Shire, a cozy life sim game featuring hobbits, is still coming to Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S next month. Action RPG Thirsty Suitors received positive reviews when it debuted on PC and consoles in 2023. As for Don't Starve Together, that was a co-op expansion to Don't Starve, a hit survival game from 2013.
Netflix has been retooling its games division after bringing in a new leader for the department last summer. It has removed several games from its library and it emerged in October that it had shut its AAA studio, which was dubbed Team Blue. Meanwhile, Leanne Loombe an executive who helped bring the likes of Hades and Grand Theft Auto to Netflix's library while leading second- and third-party development and publishing efforts recently became the head of games at Annapurna Interactive following an exodus there.
Meanwhile, Netflix aims to add more high-profile mainstream games to its catalog the WWE 2K series is on the way later this year. Other areas of focus include its well-known franchises, narrative-driven games, party and couch co-op titles and games for kids, per a recent earnings call.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/netflix-scuttles-plans-to-add-six-previously-announced-games-to-its-service-192946233.html?src=rss
Proving that truly no IP is safe from modern reboot culture, Ataris Breakout is back. The upcoming version of the simple 1976 brick-smashing hit rotates the playing field by 90 degrees and adds auto-scrolling, neon effects, power-ups and local co-op. In other words, Breakout Beyond is the Tetris Effect formula applied to the Led Zeppelin-era arcade classic.
The original Breakout was a product of dramatically more limited 1970s hardware, but its simplicity was part of its magic. Rows of bricks sat up top, a player-controlled paddle lived down below and a ball (actually a square, thanks to 70s graphics) bounced in between. Move paddle, hit ball, smash bricks, wow bellbottom-wearing arcadegoers.
The core formula moving a paddle to bounce projectiles against bricks remains intact in Breakout Beyond. But the games landscape perspective, while better suited for todays televisions and monitors, may be hard for old-school gamers to get used to. Ditto for auto-scrolling, as this version pans left-to-right toward a goal rather than simply requiring you to break all the bricks on a fixed screen.
Atari
Visually, the new versions ball is more like a comet, with a long neon tail trailing off behind its round head. Seizure-inducing effects abound. And there are multiple balls to contend with, not just one. (However, Super Breakout, the original games direct sequel, had two modes with extra balls.)
Like Tetris Effect, Breakout Beyond introduces combos, rewarding you with intensified visual and sound effects for stringing together streams of broken bricks. You can also break special blocks that unlock power-ups: bombs that clear out everything from a set radius, a force field to shield the ball and a freakin laser cannon that lets you blast bricks out of your way, a la Space Invaders.
The game supports two-player local co-op so you can smash bricks with a couch buddy. It has 72 levels and an optional focus mode that slows down time (at the expense of higher scores).
Breakout Beyond will arrive later this year for PC, Switch, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, PlayStation 5/4 and Ataris rebooted VCS console. Theres no pricing info yet. You can check it out in the trailer below and learn more on Ataris product page.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ataris-breakout-is-getting-a-side-scrolling-reboot-175410378.html?src=rss
Xbox just announced the new titles that will be available for Game Pass this month, and its a good list. Theres a big day one release, an indie gem and, of course, a newish Madden title. Lets get to it.
The big news? Avowed is a day one release for subscribers. We knew Obsidians upcoming fantasy epic would come out on February 18, but now we know itll be instantly available for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass users. This is a first-person action RPG from the company that brought us Fallout: New Vegas, so its a pretty big deal. Its a spinoff of Pillars of Eternity, though set in a new land.
Another Crabs Treasure is a unique soulslike that trades in the genres typical grimdark aesthetic for a bright, cartoon-like color palette. However, its still tough as nails. You play as a crab trying to get its shell back. The game was already available for Ultimate subscribers, but on February 5 it drops for Standard users.
Madden NFL 25, not to be confused with the Madden 25 that actually came out in 2013, is EAs latest football sim. You know the drill here: Its a Madden game. The title will be available on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on February 6.
Far Cry New Dawn is available right now for all Game Pass tiers. This 2019 FPS fell under the radar a bit, but its a solid entry in the franchise. Its also set after a nuclear apocalypse, which is always a fun time.
There are also some more games coming to Game Pass Standard that used to be locked behind an Ultimate subscription. These include Starfield and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes on February 5.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/februarys-game-pass-additions-include-avowed-and-madden-nfl-25-164313670.html?src=rss
Typically when we think of Apple and "invites," it's because the company is about to show off some new gear at a splashy product launch. But this time around, the product in question is a new invites app.
The idea behind Apple Invites is that you can create and share custom invitations for any event or occasion. You can use your own photos or backgrounds in the app as an image for the invite. Image Playground is built into Invites and you can use that to generate an images for the invitation instead. Other Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools are baked in as well, in case you need a hand to craft the right message for your invitation.
It's worth noting that only folks with a paid iCloud (aka iCloud+) plan can create an invite in the app. There are no limits on how many events you can host, but each one is limited to 100 participants. As might expect, events will appear in the Calendar app (to which Apple has made some changes in recent months, including the integration of Reminders, amid the rollout of iOS 18).
Anyone can RSVP to invites in the app or on the web. You won't need an Apple Account or device to do so. However, if you do have an iPhone and the app, you can add photos and photos and videos from the event to a Shared Album (in case you need to feel like it's 2008 and we're all living on Facebook again). Even better, you can help decide what to listen to during the get-together by collaborating on Apple Music playlists. There's Weather and Maps integration to provide guests with directions and a forecast on the day of the event.
Privacy is a factor here. Hosts can choose whether to share their home address in the invite, while guests have control over how their details appear to others.
The app seems useful and pretty fun. The Shared Albums and Apple Music collaboration features make it seem more interesting than a boring-ass Outlook invite ever could be.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-invites-is-a-new-iphone-app-to-manage-your-social-life-162125095.html?src=rss