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Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro is almost here. The PS5 Pro pushes gaming console boundaries with a more powerful GPU, better ray tracing and a narrower gap between graphical fidelity and performance. Unfortunately, it also pushes your wallet’s boundaries with a $700 price tag. (Cue spit take.) If that isn’t far beyond your console budget, today’s the first day to reserve the pricey powerhouse before its November 7 launch. And, as to be expected, you’ll probably want to do so immediately since the console already sold out in the UK.

The PS5 Pro offers those upgrades in a familiar form factor: It has the same height as the original PS5 and the same width as the disc-less PS5 Slim. Like the latter, you’ll need to pay extra for a disc drive or a vertical stand.

Select games from the PS5 library will be enhanced for the new console. The company’s launch event highlighted Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Horizon Forbidden West as some of the first-party beneficiaries of the console’s upgraded capabilities. Third-party games getting extra attention for the PS5 Pro include Alan Wake 2, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, Demon’s Souls, Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Games patched for the $700 system will be designated with a PS5 Pro Enhanced label.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/how-to-pre-order-the-sony-playstation-5-pro-115549960.html?src=rss

LG has started showing screensaver ads on all its smart TVs, even expensive OLED models, according to an LG press release and a FlatpanelsHD report. The placements appear before the regular screensaver activates.

On top of an ad for LG’s own streaming channel, one FlatpanelsHD reviewer spotted third-party ads. The screensaver ads will appear “across the home screen, LG Channels and Content Store on LG smart TVs,” according to LG. These are now turned on by default but can be disabled in the settings. 

LG Ad Solutions

LG didn’t promote the new “feature” to the public, but it did herald it on its LG Ad Solutions site. The company said it “found that screensaver ads drove on average 2.5 times higher lift in brand awareness… challenging the assumption that that a viewer’s attention is limited once the television screen is idle.” 

It may be great for advertisers, but buyers paying up to $4,500 for a high-end TV may not be so keen. Many TV owners never bother to turn off the motion smoothing “soap opera effect” on their TVs, so LG may believe they won’t dive into the menus to turn off the ads, either.

LG is already poking into the viewing habits of its buyers by vacuuming up content-recognition tracking data gathered from its TVs and handing it to the ratings company Nielsen. That type of revenue potential in a business with tight margins prompted it to launch the LG Ad Solutions division earlier this month, with aim of finding new ways to show ads and track smart TV users. Other companies are guilty of presenting ads in their smart TV ecosystems as well, including Samsung, Roku, TCL and others. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/lg-smart-tvs-bring-ads-to-the-screensaver-131445950.html?src=rss

Google’s latest 4th-gen Nest Learning Thermostat is on sale, just one month after the product was released. The device is $20 off via Wellbots, which brings the price down to $260. Just enter the code “20ENGNLT4” at checkout. This is a record low price, mostly because the thing just came out.

This is not an iterative improvement over the previous Nest Learning Thermostat. It’s a full redesign, with a new look and plenty of updated features. The LCD display is 60 percent larger than what’s found with the antiquated third-gen device, and there’s a curved front that eliminates the appearance of bezels. The whole thing is basically a screen now.

This larger display allows for plenty of personalization, with customizable faces like a smartwatch. It can even look like a regular analog clock. The UI automatically adjusts what’s displayed on the screen depending on how far you’re standing from the thermostat, thanks to integrated Soli radar sensors.

The new Nest is packed with AI, which is intended to provide more accurate readings and to offer potential actions to save money on that monthly utility bill. This is a smart thermostat, so it can be programmed to take actions on its own, depending on the ambient temperature and other factors.

To that end, it ships with a wireless temperature sensor that can be placed anywhere within range. Each Nest can integrate with up to six of these sensors, and more are available at $40 a pop or three for $100. The item also ships with a trim plate to cover paint and drywall imperfections and a steel plate for electrical box installations. It’s also likely to be relatively future-proof, as the third-gen Nest came out in 2015.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-20-off-googles-new-4th-gen-nest-learning-thermostat-130023124.html?src=rss

I have slowly turned into that frustrating person who won’t go somewhere before checking its reviews on Google Maps. However, I also get suspicious when the reviews are too good — there’s no pleasing me, apparently — so I’m relieved to hear that Google is making it easier to spot fake ones. Google is now issuing a warning for applicable businesses, stating, “Suspected fake reviews were recently removed from this place.” 

Google has previously come under fire with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which opened an investigation into their handling of fake reviews in 2021. A user on X (formerly Twitter) first spotted the change in review handling on a Maps page for a company in the UK (possibly a coincidence).

Google has yet to confirm the feature or where it will be available, but Search Engine Roundtable reports Google recently updated its relevant support page to apply globally.

Google outlines possible restrictions that can be placed on businesses violating its Fake Engagement policy. One point is that the “business profile will display a warning to let consumers know that fake reviews were removed.” Other temporary restrictions include not receiving new ratings or reviews, or having existing ones unpublished. If any of these actions occur, business owners will receive an email from Google and can appeal the decision.

While fake reviews can come from businesses in an attempt to boost their ratings, they can also derive from people hoping to tank them. If a business reports these fake reviews, it’s unclear whether the same warning will come up (as the wording certainly makes the business seem at fault).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-maps-will-flag-businesses-with-potentially-fake-reviews-123133579.html?src=rss