EA says 60 percent of corrupted ‘Madden NFL 23’ franchise save files are gone for good

EA gave Madden NFL 23 players an unwanted gift last week: corrupted save files. The publisher said on Saturday that anyone who tried to access the game’s Connected Franchise Mode (CFM) during a server outage has a 60 percent chance of losing their saved data forever.

The initial server issues occurred on Wednesday, December 28th and stretched into the following day. As a result, EA says files were corrupted for anyone who logged into franchise leagues during that period. (Save files should be unaffected for anyone who didn’t.) Unfortunately, EA’s development team estimates it will only recover 40 percent of the corrupted franchises.

Making matters worse, EA tweeted on December 28th that “users should now be able to play CFM without issue” — three days before delivering the bad news about lost saves. After apologizing, it encouraged affected gamers to “start a new franchise as the mode is up and running.” The publisher also directs customers to follow the Madden franchise account on Twitter for further updates.

The Madden series’ franchise mode first appeared in Madden NFL 99, with the rebranded CFM arriving in 2013. (The latest version lets you control a player, coach or owner throughout a simulated career.) Considering how many hours it can take to build your league, it’s hard to imagine gamers with borked saves being content with EA’s advice to start a new file.

JBL Bar 1300X hands-on: Impressive immersive sound via detachable speakers

JBL revealed five new soundbar models at CES 2023, but the Bar 1300X sits at the top of the lineup. The 11.1.4-channel speaker is capable of 1,170 watts of output with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X onboard for immersive 3D sound. Inside, there are 21 total drivers, six of which are upfiring. That half dozen is three times more than some companies offer, a decision JBL says is meant to make the most out of its MultiBeam spatial audio tech. 

In 2020, JBL first debuted a soundbar with detachable rear satellite speakers. On the Bar 1300X those units pack in one upfiring speaker each and can last up to 10 hours on a charge (they charge when you reattach them to the main bar). Being completely wireless, you’re free to position them wherever you like. They also double as Bluetooth speakers, both individually or a stereo pair. Once you remove the speakers, there are snap-on covers included as you’ll expose side-pointing tweeters you’ll want to protect. In terms of connection, there’s one HDMI/ARC to connect to your TV and three additional HDMI inputs. 

During my demo, I was able to watch a chaotic chase scene from Ready Player One. With the rear speakers detached and situated behind me, I was impressed by how immersive the audio was from the 1300X. The footage was loud with lots going on, but the audio remained crisp and clear, and most importantly, the directional audio enhanced the viewing experience. There was also plenty booming bass from the 12-inch wireless subwoofer. 

JBL’s PureVoice is available across its entire 2023 lineup to enhance dialogue when other loud sounds are also part of a scene. This feature is impressive as well, boosting spoken words without taking away from everything else that’s going on. The tech performs equally well on the $400 entry-level Bar 300 too, an all-in-one option that musters great immersive audio from a single speaker. The 300 is the one model in JBL’s 2023 lineup that doesn’t come with a sub, though it does have integrated woofers. The company says you can’t add a wireless sub either as the Bar 300 isn’t compatible with them even if you purchase it separately. 

The $1,700 Bar 1300X, like the rest of JBL’s new soundbars, will be available February 19th.

Hisense’s UX Mini LED TV can produce 2,500 nits of peak brightness

Once you get past the gimmicks, there’s a common thread among the TVs announced at CES 2023. Every manufacturer is trying to produce the brightest possible sets. For Samsung and LG, that has meant doubling down on their respective OLED display technolo…

Signify wants you to pay $130 for an app that syncs Samsung TVs to Philips Hue lights

Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting) has a new app. It sounds kind of fun. You can use it to sync whatever’s playing on certain Samsung TVs to Philips Hue smart lights, whether you’re streaming a movie, listening to music or playing games. The idea is to make whatever you’re watching feel more immersive by extending the colors to the rest of the room. Neat! Not so neat is how much Signify is charging for the Philips Hue Sync TV app. It costs $130 (or £115 in the UK).

In fairness, that’s still around $100 less expensive than the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, a device that connects to your TV and syncs your lights to whatever’s playing. The app supports all image formats and you can customize the settings. You’ll be able to tweak the lights’ brightness and how intense the syncing is. You can choose to auto-start the experience and whether the lights should be in video or game mode. There’s the option to pinpoint where lights are in relative to your TV too.

If you’re somehow interested in paying $130 for the app instead of snapping up disco lights for, like, $12, you’ll need a 2022 or newer QLED TV in the Q60 range or above. You’ll find Philips Hue Sync TV on the Samsung TV app store starting on January 5th.

Philips Hue Resonate downward wall light
Signify

Elsewhere, Signify announced more Philips Hue devices. It will release PAR38 white and color ambiance bulbs for outdoor use on March 14th. They’ll cost $80 for one or $150 for a two-pack. PAR38 white light bulbs were previously available. In the UK, the company will offer a Resonate downward wall light that can brighten up outdoor spaces. It too offers white and color light. Resonate costs £110 and will be available on January 24th. 

You’ll need to wait until March 14th for the latest Philips Hue Tap dial switch, which has a round mini mount that can be placed on magnetic surfaces, such as a fridge. That will run you $50 or £45. Signify has also revealed when the Go portable table lamp it debuted last year will go on sale in the UK. You can snap it up for £140 ($169) on February 21st.

Philips Hue Tap dial switch with mini mount
Signify

Update 4/1 5:23PM ET: Updated US pricing.

Apple fined $8.5 million in France over targeted App Store ads

Apple is the second tech giant today to receive a fine over personalized ads. France’s National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL) has issued an €8 million (roughly $8.5 million) penalty over allegations Apple automatically collected identifying data from App Store visitors using iOS 14.6 without their permission, helping the company target ads. The firm was profiting from violations of data protection law, according to officials.

You could turn off the ad targeting, but it was enabled by default and couldn’t be disabled without wading through multiple menu levels, CNIL added. That reportedly made it impossible for users to give proper consent. Apple has since changed its practices, and CNIL said it conducted “several” checks between 2021 and 2022 to make sure the company was honoring data rules. France launched its investigation in March 2021.

We’ve asked Apple for comment. As 9to5Mac noted, Apple told Financial Times‘ Patrick McGee in a statement that it was “disappointed” with the decision and planned an appeal. The iPhone maker argued that its Search Ads system went “further” than any rival in offering choice over targeted ads, and didn’t track user cross third-party apps or websites.

Apple has had a contentious relationship with French regulators. In 2020, the country’s competition authority issued a fine equivalent to $1.2 billion (now down to $364.6 million) for alleged antitrust abuses in its distribution chain. The company also received a $27.3 million fine over iPhone performance throttling that same year. While the French government defended Apple’s iOS 14 anti-tracking measures against industry pressure, it’s evident that the brand remains under close scrutiny.

JBL Tour Pro 2 hands-on: Putting earbud controls on a touchscreen case

JBL is showing off several models of true wireless earbuds at CES, but perhaps the most interesting is the Tour Pro 2. This premium set comes with a “smart” case that features a touchscreen display on the outside. That 1.45-inch LED panel gives you access to the core features of the JBL One app, including noise cancellation modes, EQ presets, volume and track controls. The display will also show you battery info for each earbud and the case individually, along with the current time. Those four items line the top while the other tools are available by swiping across screens. 

The display turns on when you open the case or when you tap it, and then you unlock it with a swipe. As you might expect, the touchscreen automatically turns off after a few seconds and JBL has thrown in brightness and wallpaper customization for good measure. Another item the Tour Pro 2 case offers is message and social notifications, but the display doesn’t actually show any text for those. It will just let you know you have something waiting. 

The touchscreen case is on the larger side for a set of true wireless earbuds, but not drastically so. It’s noticeably bigger than most of JBL’s lineup, but definitely not the largest I’ve seen. Of course, the larger stature is understandable since the company needed more room to accommodate a bigger battery for the display. Despite the extra power consumption, JBL is still promising battery life you’d expect in active noise canceling (ANC) buds: up to 8 hours with it on, up to 10 with it off. Plus, the case offers wireless charging and the quick-charge feature gives you four hours of listening in 15 minutes. 

JBL is touting the convenience of not having to look at your phone for the “smart” case with the Tour Pro 2. Of course, you’ll still have to carry the case with you and you’ll have to stay within Bluetooth range of your connected device. I think the concept could have potential, but I’ll need to spend some time doing “regular” everyday things to properly gauge the utility. There are things available on the display that you can’t access directly on the earbuds and that you will otherwise have to tap into JBL’s app to change, so it could conceivably save you a few seconds.  

I’ll have to wait until the $250 Tour Pro 2 arrives this spring to judge the audio quality as I wasn’t able to do so during a brief CES demo. However, the company has a solid track record in that department so I expect its latest premium set will handle listening habits just fine. 

The Department of Homeland Security says it developed a portable gunshot detection system

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says its Science and Technology Directorate division has created a portable gunshot detection system with the help of a company called Shooter Detection Systems (SDS). The agency notes that whereas other systems only detect audio, SDS Outdoor can pinpoint flashes of gunshots as well. DHS claims this approach can reduce false positive rates.

DHS has not disclosed details about the accuracy of the system. SDS, which is owned by Alarm.com, says its indoor gunshot detection system has a near-100 percent detection rate with fewer than one false alert per 5 million hours of use.

The latest system took DHS and SDS almost two years to develop, and it builds on SDS’ indoor gunshot detection tech. Prototype testing started a year ago. DHS says that law enforcement agencies who were involved in testing helped to make SDS Outdoor more effective in alerting forest responders to gunfire.

The agency claims that SDS Outdoor could be employed at temporary events in locations where infrastructure support is not typically available. It gave open-field concerts (such as festivals) and pop-up rallies as examples of situations in which SDS Outdoor could bolster security.

“Many US gunshot detection technologies are not easily deployed in the field or at temporary locations,” Dr. Dimitri Kusnezov, DHS under secretary for science and technology, said in a statement. “This new system can be moved by one or two officers without the need for technicians to transport and set up. This mobile capability will help responders approach gun violence incidents with greater awareness, reducing response times and increasing responder safety.”

However, critics claim that gunshot detection systems aren’t effective enough and may cause more problems than they attempt to solve. “Past efforts to detect gunshots in real-time have not only wasted taxpayer dollars, they’ve put civilians in harm’s way when officers are falsely told that fireworks and car backfires are active shooters,” Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive director Albert Fox Cahn told Gizmodo. Fox Cahn added that there are privacy concerns around such systems, which “can often be misused as illegal wiretaps.”

Last July, the MacArthur Justice Center sued Chicago after police used evidence from gunshot detection system ShotSpotter in a murder case. The organization claimed that police had an overreliance on the tech and failed to follow other leads. After the suspect spent nearly a year in jail, prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the case due to a lack of evidence.

In a study published in 2021, the MacArthur Justice Center found that 89 percent of alerts that ShotSpotter sends to law enforcement has no evidence of gun-related crimes. ShotSpotter has claimed that its system had a 97 percent accuracy rate.

Panasonic’s portable Nanoe X air purifier filters odors and pollutants while you drive

Put away the Little Trees air freshener, Panasonic has a more advanced solution the next time you want to make your car smell its best. At this year’s CES, the company showed off a portable air purifier that can fit in the cupholder of nearly any car, …

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