For the third year running, Xbox is kicking off its annual slate of games showcases with a Developer Direct. The latest edition will take place on January 23 at 1PM ET.As always, the Developer Direct will take a deep dive into several upcoming Xbox games. The developers of South of Midnight, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Doom: The Dark Ages will reveal more details about those projects. Perhaps we'll even get a release date or two. On top of that, Xbox is promising a visit to another mystery studio that will show off a brand-new game.The first Developer Direct included the reveal and news of the immediate release of the wonderful Hi-Fi Rush. So here's hoping for a surprise that's just as delectable. Even so, South of Midnight and Doom: The Dark Ages are among the games I'm most looking forward to this year, so I'm happy to get another look at those. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the Developer Direct won't include any word about delays.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/the-next-xbox-developer-direct-showcase-is-set-for-january-23-150528471.html?src=rss

Here's a tasty little offer for the audiobook buffs (or would-be audiobook buffs) out there. Newcomers to Audible can get three months of access to the Premium Plus plan for $1 per month, or a total of $3. Given that the subscription typically costs $14.95 per month, you can save nearly $42 compared with the regular price. This is a reprise of Audible's Black Friday deal. It's available until January 21. This is a solid deal for either yourself or someone special in your life who loves books. The Audible Premium Plus plan gives you one credit a month to unlock any audiobook of your choosing. You'll retain access to those audiobooks even after your subscription lapses. Along with that, Premium Plus subscribers get access to a library of other audiobooks they can listen to while their plan remains active. The service also includes a string of Audible Originals as well as podcasts. That's not bad at all for a buck a month. If, after a couple of months, you decide Premium Plus isn't for you, you can always cancel the plan before the price jumps up. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/audibles-black-friday-deal-is-back-with-three-months-of-access-for-3-144427773.html?src=rss

Do you still think AGI is a fairytale? I will convince you: it is the upcoming reality.

Xbox's next Developer Direct is happening this month, and it includes a visit to a 'surprise location' for a look at a 'brand new game'.

Plenty of sensitive Medusind data was stolen in the 2023 breach, including payment information.

The internet advocacy group's proposed purchase would bring TikTok under American ownership and prevent it from being banned in the U.S.

Google becomes the latest tech company to donate to Trump's inauguration fund

Amazon Retail Ad Service will allow sites to show "contextually relevant ads in the right place and at the right time" in search results, the company said.

Early on Wednesday morning, as the Eaton fire quickly grew northeast of Los Angeles, Jess Reynolds was glued to Watch Duty, a fire-tracking app on her phone. Reynolds, [a photo editor at Fast Company] who lives in the neighboring city of La Caada Flintridge, hadnt gotten an evacuation warning yet. But as the app gave detailed updates on the spread of the fire, she decided it was time to leave, pulling out of her driveway at 5:30 a.m. Hours later, her whole city was under a mandatory evacuation order.[Screenshot: Watch Duty]Shes one of hundreds of thousands of L.A. area residents who are relying on the nonprofit app for real-time information as multiple fires blaze. Most of the critical information in the app comes from radio dispatches from first responders. Theres nowhere else that information exists in near-real-time besides radio traffic, says Nick Russell, vice president of operations at Watch Duty. Weve assembled a team of retired and active firefighters, dispatchers, first responders, as well as radio enthusiasts who have been doing this for many years. Weve built a platform to get that information in one place, so communities dont have to piecemeal the story together to understand the danger that they are in or not in.[Screenshot: Watch Duty]The app also shares maps of fires, with the option to turn on a wind layer that shows where the fire is likely to move. The map reveals evacuation zones and roads, along with shelter locations. The app shares photo and video updates of fires, air quality data, and other information, with the option to turn notifications on or off for a particular fire.Watch Duty first launched in Northern California in 2021. John Mills, a tech founder, had moved to rural Sonoma County during the pandemic and soon experienced a major local fire. CalFire, the state fire agency, only had time to give updates once a day, and it was difficult for residents to know what was going on. But Mills saw that some volunteers were following radio scanners and sharing updates on social media. He wanted to make that information easier to find.The app began with all-volunteer citizen information officers, but now has a small number of paid staff as well. (It also has a pro version, because the team realized that first responders were also using the app to get the best information.) During a critical event like the current fires in Los Angeles, the team works around the clock to provide important information as soon as its available.Sharing data this way can help make people more likely to evacuate when its necessary, Russell says. When a police officer or firefighter is coming to your door [to tell you to evacuate], they dont have time to sit there and brief you on all the events and why theyre telling you to leave, he says. So what happens is a lot of people stay in their home and they dont leave because they dont understand the danger that theyre in. Watch Duty, by telling that storyline of reports from the start of ignition until the threat passes, is giving people that full story. Watch Duty users often decide to leave before an official evacuation order is issued, avoiding the chaos of traffic in a mass exodus. Others are willing to leave when the order comes, because theyve been following along.[Screenshot: Watch Duty]The information saves lives. In a fire in Malibu in December, one resident told the nonprofit that the app gave her a 15-minute advance warning as the fire was starting to spread. She was able to grab her dog and leavebefore losing everything else. Another family in Reno, Nevada got a notification about a wildfire near their home while they were out a lunch. They left the diner immediately and went home and gathered pets and some important documents, says Russell. As they left, their home burned down.The app also offers an extra layer of protection when government systems dont work. On Tuesday night, as multiple evacuation orders were issued around the Los Angeles area, some residents had issues accessing official websites. What users were experiencing when they went to go look at the countys evacuation map is an error saying that there were too many requests, and to try again later, Russell says.The Watch Duty app is now available in 22 states. As climate change makes wildfires more likelyextreme fire weather that was once seen every hundred years now happens every seven years, and the frequency of extreme fire risk has grown 20 timesthe app is one example in the quickly-growing space of wildfire tech. (The nonprofit also plans to later expand to other disasters, including floods.) The current fires have boosted demand; when I spoke to Russell on Wednesday afternoon, the app had added more than 750,000 users in the last 12 hours.

A record 24 million people have signed up for insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obamas landmark health legislation, as the program awaits an uncertain future under a Republican-controlled White House and Congress.Never have so many people enrolled in health care coverage through the government marketplace, a point of pride for many Democrats but a red flag to some Republicans.President Joe Biden has pushed an expansion of the program, signing into law billions of dollars in tax credits that expanded who qualified for the health insurance and lowered its cost. Millions of additional Americans can now pay monthly premiums of just a few dollars to get coverage.The increased enrollment is no coincidence, Biden said in a statement. When I took office, I made a promise to the American people that I would bring down the cost of health care and prescription drugs, make signing up for coverage easier, and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid.But incoming President-elect Donald Trump has maligned Obamacare for years. He unsuccessfully tried to dismantle it during his first term, and has promised changes without offering a concrete plan during his second term. Enrollment dropped during Trumps first term, with his administration investing less money in the program, including for navigators who help people enroll in the coverage.And the tax credits that made the health care coverage more affordable for millions will expire at the end of this year, unless Congress passes a new law.Lawmakers will face a pressure campaign from hospitals and insurance companies, which supply coverage plans for the marketplace, to continue the tax credits. A newly formed coalition of the biggest and most powerful health care entities including the nations top health insurers, largest health care systems and notable medical associations has launched a campaign called Keep Americans Covered to lobby Congress on the issue.Still, its an uphill fight with Republicans, some of whom voted against the Affordable Care Act initially and others who voted to repeal it years later. Still, some might pause at the idea of effectively stripping their constituents of health care coverage.Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the Alaska Beacon last week that Congress would need to continue these premium tax credits, in an interview about rising health care costs.But other Republicans have raised questions about the tax credits, especially with continued growth in enrollment. Last year, a group of GOP representatives called for an investigation into Affordable Care Act signups, citing concerns that people are defrauding taxpayers by reporting inaccurate income levels in order to qualify for cheaper health care coverage.In a call with reporters Tuesday, Biden administration officials pushed back on that, saying that automated systems verify a persons income against the previous years tax filings.Trump, meanwhile, has described the Affordable Care Act as costly, and says the health care coverage it offers is lousy.But he has still not offered a full plan for how he would make it better.We have concepts of a plan that would be better, he said during an interview on NBCs Meet the Press last month.Open enrollment on HealthCare.gov ends on Jan. 15.Amanda Seitz, Associated Press