A Grand Theft Auto Online player recently shared an encounter where they were mugged by a certain Christmas-themed character, only for the perpetrator to be served quick justice by an NPC. The world of GTA Online is celebrating the festive season, but one unsavory character is out to spoil the holiday spirit by randomly targeting players' pockets.

Big-name brands like Apple, Sony, and Bose tend to dominate the headlines when it comes to wireless earbuds, but that doesnt mean you need to spend a ton to get something good. Its more than possible to find a pair with clean sound, strong noise cancellation and a rich set of features for less than $100. That said, theres still plenty of junk in the bargain bin, so you need to be careful.If youre looking to make an audio upgrade on the cheap, weve read countless reviews, compared specs and tested a few dozen models ourselves to find the best budget wireless earbuds you can buy. This is an extremely busy market with new releases arriving all the time, but we intend to keep this guide as up-to-date as possible as new contenders arrive. Best budget wireless earbuds for 2025 Other budget wireless earbuds we tested The Beats Solo Buds. Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget Note: This is a selection of noteworthy earbuds weve put through their paces, not a comprehensive list of everything weve ever tried. Beats Solo Buds The $80 Beats Solo Buds are comfortable and long-lasting, with an impressive 18 hours of battery life. But they sound a bit flat and are severely lacking in features. Theres no ANC, wear detection or official water-resistance rating, and the included case cant wirelessly charge the earbuds on its own. You can read our full Beats Solo Buds review for more details. JLab Go Air Pop The $25 JLab Go Air Pop are decent if you just want a competent pair of wireless earbuds for as little money as possible. It has a light design with decent isolation, plus eight to nine hours of battery life, IPX4 water resistance and a full set of touch controls that actually work. As with the Go Air Sport, theres no companion app but JLab lets you swap between three built-in EQ presets from the buds themselves. Its still getting the EarFun Free 2S if you can afford it, as the Go Air Pop sounds boomier by comparison and isnt as clear in the treble and upper-mids. But at this price, those shouldn't be dealbreaking trade-offs. JLab has a new variant that adds ANC for $30, though we haven't tested that one. EarFun Air Pro 3 The EarFun Air Pro 3 offers a similar shape, feature set and bass-heavy sound profile as the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC. Its call quality and IPX5-rated water resistance are a touch superior as well. But its battery life is shorter at six to seven hours per charge, and its ANC, while serviceable, is neither as comprehensive nor customizable. Ankers pair also sounds better, with richer bass and greater clarity in the treble range. EarFun has an updated model called the Air Pro 4, which we're still in the process of testing. EarFun Free Pro 3 The EarFun Free Pro 3 are totally solid, but the Space A40 gets you superior ANC, longer battery life and a more comfortable design for a lower price these days. EarFun Air 2 Along those lines, the EarFun Air 2 are a good alternative to EarFuns Free 2S if youre partial an AirPods-style stem design, but they cost $10 more and arent significantly better. Baseus Bowie MA10 The Baseus Bowie MA10 are saddled with a ginormous charging case, a sloppy app and bulky earpieces that we found uncomfortable to wear over time. Baseus Eli Sport 1 The Baseus Eli Sport 1 have a fully open design that wraps around the ear and rests outside of your ear canal entirely. Thats nice for staying alert to the outside world, but its less so for getting the most detail out of your music. This is another pair with an oversized case, too. OnePlus Buds 3 The OnePlus Buds 3 have an excited sound and a stylish design in the same vein as the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, and their mic is a bit clearer for phone calls. They fall short of Ankers pair when it comes to noise cancellation and battery life, however. Skullcandy Dime 3 The Skullcandy Dime 3 deliver a surprisingly neutral sound profile for their dirt-cheap price, so theyre worth considering over the JLab Go Air Pop if you see them in the $25 range. Unlike that pair, they can also connect to two devices simultaneously. But their overall battery life is shorter, their call quality is poor and their physical controls are both unintuitive and uncomfortable, since they lead you to push the buds deeper into your ear canals. Skullcandy Smokin' Buds The Skullcandy Smokin Buds are another ultra-budget option with a sick name, brah, but they sound harsher in the treble than the JLab Go Air Pop and offer worse battery life through their charging case. This pair does use tap-based controls, but they can be finicky, and they still arent the most straightforward things to operate. Recent updates December 2024: Weve lightly edited this guide for clarity and moved the aging JLab Go Air Pop and EarFun Air Pro 3 from honorable mentions to our others we tested section. September 2024: Weve added notes on a handful of other budget wireless earbuds that weve tested but fall short of our top picks, which remain unchanged. June 2024: Weve checked this guide to ensure that all of our picks are still in stock. Accordingly, weve removed the Nothing Ear Stick as an honorable mention, as it no longer appears to be available though it remains a decent option if you do see it and want an unsealed alternative to the Amazon Echo Buds. Were also still in the process of testing several other sub-$100 wireless earbuds for a future update.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/best-budget-wireless-earbuds-130028735.html?src=rss

Several industry watchers who spoke to CNBC forecast bitcoin will hit $200,000 in 2025.

Apple's unusual move is an ingenious marketing strategy.

Westchester County looks like the world's most boring dating app.

From childhood malaria vaccines to record-breaking solar panels to the discovery of a lost ancient city, this tumultuous year still had plenty of high points.

MacworldTrade your endless social media scrolling for something a little more brain-friendly. Curiosity Stream is packed with thousands of documentaries on various topics that turn your screen time into did-you-know moments. From unraveling ancient mysteries to exploring futuristic tech, this streaming service is a paradise for curious minds.Heres the kicker: you pay once and stream forever for $159.97 (reg. $399). Yup, no monthly charges sneaking onto your credit card statement. Just a lifetime of content you can brag about at parties (and probably annoy your friends with random facts).The production quality? Chefs kiss. Gorgeous visuals in HD, expert narrations, and storytelling that keeps you hooked. Youll go from wait, whats a black hole? to confidently explaining quantum physics (or something close to it).Fire it up on any of your devices and let the binge-worthy learning begin. Who says documentaries cant be your next guilty pleasure? Spoiler alert: they totally can.Score a lifetime subscription to a Curiosity Stream Standard Plan on sale for $159.97.Curiosity Stream Standard Plan: Lifetime Subscription $199.99See DealStackSocial prices subject to change.

Monday, December 30th, 2024Posted by Jim ThackerThe Pixel Farm releases PFTrack 24.12.19html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The Pixel Farm has released PFTrack 24.12.19, the latest version of its match-moving software, completely overhauling its scene-reconstruction toolset.A powerful tool for camera and object tracking for VFX and visualization workOriginally released over two decades ago, PFTrack is a well-regarded match-moving tool for visual effects and visualization work.It has a node-based architecture, providing access to range of automated and manual tools for tracking cameras and objects, plus a built-in a lens distortion toolset.Its scene-reconstruction tools include a native photogrammetry toolset for reconstructing scene geometry from still images or video, and support for Lidar data.PFTrack 24.12.29: AI-powered updates to the photogrammetry toolsIn the latest update, PFTrack 24.12.19, that photogrammetry toolset has been completely overhauled.The Photo Survey node gets a new machine-learning-based feature matching engine, described as faster and more accurate than its precedecessor.The Point Cloud node now generates Lidar-quality results, and there are new tools for cleaning up point clouds by manually removing unwanted points, as shown in the video above.There are also workflow and performance updates to Match Camera, and to USD workflows, including support for point-based geometry.Other new features from recent updatesPFTrack 24.12.19 is the latest of a steady stream of updates to the software this year.Full changelogs are now only available inside the app itself, although you can find a summary of the new features from the previous release, PFTrack 24.08.22, in this blog post.The release featured updates to the Survey Solver and Geometry Track, better glTF and FBX export, and the option to export OpenEXR stereo disparity maps.Price and system requirementsPFTrack is compatible with Windows 10+, macOS 10.13+ and Rocky Linux 8+. The software is rental-only.Personal subscriptions cost 25/month (around $32/month). Enterprise subscriptions are priced on enquiry on The Pixel Farms website, but cost $1,125/year via resellers.Read more about recent updates to PFTrack on The Pixel Farms blogHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Latest NewsThe Pixel Farm releases PFTrack 24.12.19Update to the match-moving software 'completely overhauls' the scene-reconstruction toolset. Check out its new AI-powered features.Monday, December 30th, 2024Get unusual iOS digital painting app Flame Painter for freeFull version of Escape Motions' iPad and iPhone app for painting images using particle brushes is now free, as is mandala-creation app Inspirit.Saturday, December 28th, 2024Faceform releases Wrap 2024.11 and Wrap4D 2024.11Check out the new features in the topology transfer tools for creating digital doubles and blendshapes from 3D scans of actors.Friday, December 27th, 2024DreamWorks Animation releases MoonRay 1.7Check out the latest features in the open-source release of DreamWorks' renderer, used on movies like The Wild Robot.Thursday, December 26th, 2024Sparseal releases Uniform 1.3Check out the new features in the modeling and texturing iPad app, including support for procedural objects and projection painting.Thursday, December 26th, 2024Happy holidays to all CG Channel readers!Updates to the site may be less frequent than usual over the next two weeks, but normal service resumes on 6 January.Wednesday, December 25th, 2024More NewsTutorial: Introduction to Marvelous DesignerBlack Friday, Cyber Monday and Holiday 2024 deals for CG artistsRandomControl releases Maverick Indie and Maverick Studio 2024Pilgway releases 3DCoat 2024.30Terragen Sky now lets you paint clouds into the sky directlyPlanetside Software releases Terragen 4.8Photoshop users can now create filters in Substance 3D DesignerPixar releases RenderMan 26.3Create game characters with CC Auto Setup for 3ds Max and V-RayLeopoly releases Shapelab 2025 and Shapelab LiteAdobe releases Photoshop 26.2Check out Blender's experimental anime rendering buildsOlder Posts

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MoreIf 2023 was the year of generative AI-powered chatbots and search, 2024 was all about AI agents. What started from Devin earlier this year grew into a full-blown phenomenon, offering enterprises and individuals a way to transform how they work at different levels, from programming and development to personal tasks such as planning and booking tickets for a holiday.Among these wide-ranging applications, we also saw the rise of data agents this year AI-powered agents that handle different types of tasks across the data infrastructure stack. Some did basic data integration work while others handled downstream tasks, such as analysis and management in the pipeline, making things simpler and easier for enterprise users.The benefits were improved efficiency and cost savings, leading many to wonder: How will things change for data teams in the years to come?Gen AI Agents took over data tasksWhile agentic capabilities have been around for some time, allowing enterprises to automate certain basic tasks, the rise of generative AI has taken things entirely to the next level.With gen AIs natural language processing and tool use capabilities, agents can go beyond simple reasoning and answering to actually planning multi-step actions, independently interacting with digital systems to complete actions while collaborating with other agents and people at the same time. They also learn to improve their performance over time.Cognition AIs Devin was the first major agentic offering, enabling engineering operations at scale. Then, bigger players began providing more targeted enterprise and personal agents powered by their models.In a conversation with VentureBeat earlier this year, Google Clouds Gerrit Kazmaier said he heard from customers that their data practitioners constantly faced challenges including automating manual work for data teams, reducing the cycle time of data pipelines and analysis and simplifying data management. Essentially, the teams were not short on ideas on how they could create value from their data, but they lacked the time to execute those ideas.To fix this, Kazmaier explained, Google revamped BigQuery, its core data infrastructure offering, with Gemini AI. The resulting agentic capabilities not only provide enterprises the ability to discover, cleanse and prepare data for downstream applications breaking down data silos and ensuring quality and consistency but also support pipeline management and analysis, freeing up teams to focus on higher-value tasks.Multiple enterprises today use Geminis agentic capabilities in BigQuery, including fintech company Julo, which tapped Geminis ability to understand complex data structures to automate its query generation process. Japanese IT firm Unerry also uses Gemini SQL generation capabilities in BigQuery to help its data teams deliver insight more quickly.But, discovering, preparing and assisting with analysis was just the beginning. As the underlying models evolved, even granular data operations pioneered by startups specializing in their respective domains were targeted with deeper agent-driven automation.For instance, AirByte and Fastn made headlines in the data integration category. The former launched an assistant that created data connectors from an API documentation link in seconds. Meanwhile, the latter enhanced its broader application development offering with agents that generated enterprise-grade APIs whether its for reading or writing information on any topic using just a natural language description.San Francisco-based Altimate AI, for its part, targeted different data operations including documentation, testing and transformations, with a new DataMates tech, which used agentic AI to pull context from the entire data stack. Multiple other startups, including Redbird and RapidCanvas, also worked in the same direction, claiming to offer AI agents that can handle up to 90% of data tasks required in AI and analytics pipelines.Agents powering RAG and moreBeyond wide-ranging data operations, agentic capabilities have also been explored in areas such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and downstream workflow automation. For instance, the team behind vector database Weaviate recently discussed the idea of agentic RAG, a process allowing AI agents to access a wide range of tools like web search, calculator or a software API (like Slack/Gmail/CRM) to retrieve and validate data from multiple sources to enhance the accuracy of answers.Further, towards the end of the year, Snowflake Intelligence appeared, giving enterprises the option to set up data agents that could tap not only business intelligence data stored in their Snowflake instance, but also structured and unstructured data across siloed third-party tools such as sales transactions in a database, documents in knowledge bases like SharePoint and information in productivity tools like Slack, Salesforce and Google Workspace.With this additional context, the agents surface relevant insights in response to natural language questions and take specific actions around the generated insights. For instance, a user could ask their data agent to enter the surfaced insights into an editable form and upload the file to their Google Drive. They could even be prompted to write to Snowflake tables and make data modifications as needed.Much more to comeWhile we may not have covered every application of data agents seen or announced this year, one thing is pretty clear: The technology is here to stay. As gen AI models continue to evolve, the adoption of AI agents will move at full steam, with most organizations, regardless of their sector or size, choosing to delegate repetitive tasks to specialized agents. This will directly translate into efficiencies.As evidence of this, in a recent survey of 1,100 tech executives conducted by Capgemini, 82% of the respondents said they intend to integrate AI-based agents across their stacks within the next 3 years up from a current 10%. More importantly, as many as 70 to 75% of the respondents said they would trust an AI agent to analyze and synthesize data on their behalf, as well as handle tasks such as generating and iteratively improving code.This agent-driven shift would also mean significant changes to how data teams function. Currently, agents outcomes are not production-grade, which means a human has to take over at some point to fine-tune the work for their needs. However, with a few more advancements over the coming years, this gap will most likely go away giving teams AI agents that would be faster, more accurate and less prone to the errors usually made by humans.So, to sum up, the roles of data scientists and analysts that we see today are likely to change, with users possibly moving to the AI oversight domain (where they could keep an eye on AIs actions) or higher-value tasks that the system could struggle to perform.Daily insights on business use cases with VB DailyIf you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.Read our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.