Best Rewards Credit Cards for August 2023 - CNET

Reward credit cards can put some money back into your account every time you make a purchase.

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The Best Energy Vitamins to Boost Productivity in 2023 - CNET

Need an extra boost of energy? Ditch the extra cup of coffee and try these B vitamins instead.

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Latest Tech News

The all-in-one creative suite Adobe Express is getting a wave of new features; chief among them is the introduction of the Adobe Firefly generative AI.

With Firefly being added, you will be able to create “custom image and text effects” using nothing more than a simple text prompt. The official trailer displays these tools in action as it showing the steps of how to create a poster for a neighborhood event. Firefly is used to change the basic lettering of a short phrase into a “purple gloss balloon” font. It can also be used to generate decorative backgrounds for posters. 

So it's nothing groundbreaking or anything that will blow your mind, but it is a nice addition to the Express toolbox. The best part is it’s available on the free version of Adobe Express, meaning anybody can take the AI feature out for a spin. 

We do want to warn you to not expect too much from this rendition of Firefly. Like a lot of other free image generators, the results can look rather nightmarish, especially when they involve people. It’s nowhere on the same level as Generative Fill on Photoshop. We recommend keeping things simple, like throwing in graphical flourishes, if you ever decide to try out the Express AI.

The company states the prompts support over 100 languages including French, German, Japanese, Spanish, as well as Brazilian Portuguese. Something we found a little funny is how Adobe clarifies that the content Firefly generates is “designed to be safe for commercial use.” Given how several companies with AIs are currently being sued over copyright issues, it looks like the Photoshop-developer felt the need to offer some reassurance to its customers. 

Notable non-AI features

The update introduces a lot of other non-AI tools. For the sake of brevity, we’re just going to focus on the more notable ones. 

For instance, you have Quick Actions for faster editing. These actions can remove the background in images, immediately convert a video into a GIF, edit PDFs, and “animate a character using just audio”. That last one is fittingly called Animate from Audio which will have “characters come to life” as their bodies automatically sync up to recorded dialogue. It takes some of the busy work out of animating the finer details.

Adobe is also introducing an all-in-one editor consisting of various design elements and pre-made templates for social media platforms. So if you want to make videos for TikTok or Instagram but don’t know how to start, the editor can help you out tremendously. 

Availability

Everything you see here is currently available on Adobe Express for desktop. A full list detailing each feature can be found on the official website. The company says it has plans to bring the update to the mobile app soon, but declined to give an exact date for the future patch in its announcement. 

It is great to see Adobe offer some of its latest tech for free. Photoshop can be very expensive. If you’re looking for other options, check out TechRadar’s list of the best Photoshop alternatives for 2023. 

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Google's AI-Powered Tool Summarizes Web Pages for Instant Insights - CNET

Search Generative Experience will include coding tips and instantly viewable definitions.

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Best Credit Cards for Shopping on Amazon in August 2023 - CNET

These credit cards can provide rewards and useful shopping protections for your Amazon shopping sprees.

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Latest Tech News

WhatsApp is taking its first steps into the world of artificial intelligence as a recent Android beta introduced an AI-powered, sticker generation tool

Revealed in a new report from WABetaInfo, a Create button will show up in chats whenever some app testers open the sticker tab in the text box. Tapping Create launches a mini-generative AI engine with a description bar at the top asking you to enter a prompt. Upon inputting said prompt, the tool will create a set of stickers according to your specifications that users can then share in a conversation. As an example, WABetaInfo told WhatsApp to make a sticker featuring a laughing cat sitting on top of a skateboard, and sure enough, it did exactly as instructed. 

(Image credit: WABetaInfo)

It’s unknown which LLM (large language model) is fueling WhatsApp’s sticker generator. WABetaInfo claims it uses a “secure technology offered by Meta.”  Android Police, on the other hand, states “given its simplicity” it could be “using Dall-E or something similar.” 

Availability

You can try out the AI tool yourself by joining the Google Play Beta Program and then installing WhatApp beta version 2.23.17.14, although it’s also possible to get it through the 2.23.17.13 update. Be aware the sticker generator is only available to a very small group of people. There’s a chance you won’t get it. However, WABetaInfo claims the update will be “rolling out to more users over the coming weeks,” so keep an eye out for the patch when it arrives. No word on an iOS version. 

Obviously, this is still a work in progress. WABetaInfo says if the AI outputs something that is “inappropriate or harmful, you can report it to Meta.” The report goes on to state that “AI stickers are easily recognizable” explaining recipients “may understand when [a drawing] has been generated”. The wording here is rather confusing. We believe WABetaInfo is saying AI content may have noticeable glitches or anomalies. Unfortunately, since we didn’t get access to the new feature, we can’t say for sure if generated content has any flaws.

Start of an AI future

We do believe this is just the start of Meta implementing AI to its platforms. The company is already working on sticker generators for Instagram and Messenger, but they’re seemingly still under development. So what will the future bring? It’s hard to say. It would, however, be cool to see Meta finally add its Make-A-Scene tool to WhatsApp.

It’s essentially the company’s own take on an image generator, “but with a bigger emphasis on creating artistic pieces.” We could see this being added to WhatsApp as a fun game for friends or family to play. There’s also MusicGen for crafting musical compositions, although that may be better suited for Instagram.

Either way, this WhatsApp beta feels like Meta has pushed the first domino of what could be a string of new AI-powered features coming to its apps.

• TechRadar's list of the best AI art generators in 2023 compared

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Best Laptops for College in 2023 - CNET

No matter what you're studying, you'll want the right laptop to get you through college. We've tested the best laptop brands to find the perfect laptop for college.

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Good Wine Doesn't Need to Be Expensive. Here's How to Shop for Bargain Beverages - CNET

These wines offer top-shelf flavor without the top-shelf price tags.

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Latest Tech News

Have you ever been shopping on Amazon, but found yourself too lazy to read the user reviews at the bottom of a product listing? Well, you’re in luck because Amazon has recently implemented a generative AI to its platform that will summarize reviews.

The company states the AI tool will offer short paragraphs “on the product detail page” highlighting key features as well as overall “customer sentiment”. Customers can quickly scan the short block of text to get an idea of whether a product is good or not instead of having to read dozens of reviews. Amazon states in its announcement you can direct the AI a bit by having it focus on specific “attributes.” Say you want a smart TV that’s easy to use. Users can select the “Ease of use” tab to have the summarizer specifically talk about that attribute or something else like its performance is while streaming content.  

Work in progress

Unfortunately, the AI feature was unavailable to us as we were excluded from the rollout, but The Verge had access. In their report, The Verge claims it saw the tool show up on listings for “TVs, headphones, tablets, [plus] fitness trackers.” It isn’t very consistent either. They state the summarizer is available on the Galaxy Tab A7, but not the Galaxy Tab A8. Also, it appears Amazon’s AI heavily favors writing positive content, as it spends “less time on the negatives.”

We reached out to Amazon with several questions about the new tool, including if there will there be a desktop version and if the company plans on providing links directing users to the AI's source reviews. Google’s SGE tool does this for the generated content it produces. It’d be nice to see sources in the paragraph. However, Amazon has nothing more to share at the moment.

Analysis: Remaining skeptical

Amazon has been dabbling in AI for a while now. Back in May, Amazon listed a job listing for a “machine learning focus engineer,” revealing the company is looking for someone to help develop an “interactive conversational experience” for its search engine. We could see the Amazon search bar one day offer a ChatGPT-like experience where you talk with the AI when looking for a product.

It would be wrong of us not to add a little asterisk to all this AI talk. As you may know, generative AIs are known to “hallucinate”, which is to say, they sometimes provide inaccurate information. It’s gotten to the point some experts believe this problem will never be fixed. So read the summarizer’s text with several grains of salt. As it turns out, you just can’t beat good old-fashioned human opinion – like the kind TechRadar provides every single day.

Labor Day is coming up and that means savings. Be sure to check out TechRadar’s guide for Amazon’s Labor Sale for 2023. Price cuts for certain electronics are already live.

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Latest Tech News

In just three days, Overwatch 2 has become Steam's worst-rated game of all time.

Overwatch 2: Invasion finally released on August 10, and its launch was accompanied with another big debut: Overwatch 2's arrival on Steam. By August 12, however, it had reached the top of a chart no developer ever wants to crown: Overwatch 2 now has the lowest user score on Steam. Ever.

According to Steam's Hall of Shame, over 100,000 players have left a review about the free-to-play shooter, a staggering 91 per cent of which was negative. Yikes.

"Big mistake coming to Steam. Now you have the whole community critiquing your game accurately for all Steam users to see," said one unhappy player.

"Overwatch 2 has no respect for you, it's an attempt to pry open your wallet while masquerading as the game it used to be," wrote another vexed reviewer.

It seems as though most players take issue with the free-to-play shooter's monetization model, but others are also unhappy with the game's content schedule and perceived lack of community moderation.

"This game has been review bombed, and I've seen backlash from others saying how it's unfair. Let me tell you firsthand, no it is not!" added another. "In my opinion, this is more than deserved for what Blizzard has done. As someone who has played hundreds of hours of both Overwatch 1 and 2, I have a good idea of what is going on.

"This is the result of an extremely passionate group of people who have time and time again been let down by Blizzard. People who have committed countless hours to playing, watching, and consuming Overwatch content over the years."

The aggregate user score has steadily declined since the game was released, and now sits at a miserly 0.96 out of 10, which is lower than games like Redfall, eFootball, and Battlefield 2042, all of which were met with similarly unfavorable player feedback.

Did you see that John Cena had been moonlighting as a "mysterious hacker" and interrupting high-profile Overwatch 2 content creators? If you'd been keeping an eye on all things Overwatch 2 lately, you may have noticed that a mysterious hooded figure has been infiltrating some of the community's biggest streamers, including Kyedae, Scump and Shroud. 

Known only as "The Enigma", this figure had been "hacking" streams and warning of the looming threat of Null Sector, described as "an antagonistic group of Omnics that will soon invade the world of Overwatch". 

Well, now The Enigma has pulled back his hood and revealed himself to be none other than John Cena, who's now urging all players to "prepare for the invasion". 

"Overwatch 2: Invasions is officially out and playable now, and while the three missions are clearly well-built and a lot of fun, I can't help but think that something's missing," Elie wrote in their feature, Overwatch 2: Invasions is great fun, but where's the rest of it?

"Overwatch 2 Season 6 doesn't only bring a new omnic-themed Battle Pass, but it's also brought three new story missions. Each three follows a group of the roster who fight for Overwatch, assembling the team to face the new omnic crisis facing the world."

If Overwatch 2 isn't what you're looking for, then check out these best shooters on PC and the best FPS games.

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5 Healthy Snacks Worth Picking Up at Costco - CNET

Stock up on these snacks for a quick and satisfying bite.

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Latest Tech News

Baldur's Gate 3 has knocked The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom off the top to become 2023's best-reviewed game.

Whilst some may have thought Nintendo had well and truly stolen the crown with the spectacular The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3 has crept into pole position on Metacritic, securing an aggregate critic score of 97/100, beating Tears of the Kingdom by a single point.

Naturally, it's not set in stone – Metacritic scores do change from time to time, especially when a game is newly released, and critical scores are still coming in. Consequently, Zelda may still win out as most if not all of its critical scores are likely already in, giving it it's 96/100 rating. Baldur's Gate 3, on the other hand, has just 21 currently on the Metacritic site.

That said, it's a stunning achievement for Larian Studios, not least because Baldur's Gate 3 also reigns supreme when it comes to boasting the highest user-reviewed scores.

For the second weekend in a row, Baldur's Gate 3 is also the second-most played game on Steam of the last 24 hours, boasting more concurrent players this weekend than Dota 2 and PUBG: Battlegrounds. Of all the games on Steam, only CS:GO has had more concurrent players in the last 24 hours.

"I played one character for 50 hours on PC. This wasn’t enough to get through the game, and I'm still in the early to mid stages of Act 2, but it’s more than enough to get a sense of the sprawling scale and depth of the game here," our editor-in-chief, Jake, said of the highly-anticipated RPG, for which he awarded it a lofty five out of five stars.

We'd say that Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the best RPGs ever, but if you're on the hunt for the next adventure with some companions, we've got a list of the best MMOs too. However, if you prefer to explore huge worlds on your own, make sure you check out our list of the best single-player games. 

Baldur's Gate 3 may be one of the best RPGs of recent decades, but it can be intimidating for newcomers. If you're looking for a helping hand, check out our Baldur's Gate 3 best class guide. 

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The 5 Best Clothing Subscription Boxes of 2023 - CNET

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