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Scotland's rail service has replaced the human train announcement voice with an AI one on some routesThe voice technology is powered by Swedish company ReadSpeakerA voice actor claims the company is using her voice without permission, but ReadSpeaker says it has "comprehensively addressed" these complaintsIf you live in Scotland, or have ever visited our beautiful country and travelled on a train, you'll have probably heard the homely lilt of the female voice announcing station stops and other information.However, train company Scotrail has now replaced the iconic voice with AI, sparking uproar among commuters – and claims from a voice actor that Scotrail has stolen her voice.The new AI announcer is called Iona, and the robotic voice has replaced the human one that the majority of Scots have grown up with. Iona is currently rolling out on routes across Scotland, but so far has been met with hostility.HATE the new ScotRail AI announcer voice. It sounds like a Scottish version of HAL from Space Odyssey!May 17, 2025The AI voices uses text-to-speech technology that allows train conductors to input announcements that are then spoken across the public address system by Iona.That's my voice!Following the initial backlash against the AI voice rollout, Scotrail responded on X, saying, "Give it time and it may grow on you."One person the voice isn't growing on is voice actor Gayanne Potter, who's accused the Scottish Government-owned train company of stealing her voice. Potter is a voice actor who did some work for the Swedish company ReadSpeaker in 2021.ReadSpeaker is the company behind Iona, and at the time, Ms Potter was told her voice work would only be used for accessibility and e-learning software.After a friend sent her a link to ReadSpeaker's website, Potter recognized the voice, noticing similarities between her own tone and that of Iona, a persona that Scotrail is marketing as a red-haired Scottish woman, with an image that's also – of course – AI-generated.Ms Potter told the BBC, "It is my voice – I'm absolutely certain it's my voice.” Potter has been in a dispute with ReadSpeaker over the use her voice for two years.In response to the complaints, ReadSpeaker told the BBC, "ReadSpeaker is aware of Ms Potter's concerns, and has comprehensively addressed these with Ms Potter's legal representative several times in the past."In the BBC report you can listen to a comparison between Ms Potter and Iona. There's no denying the voices are very similar, although the real issue here is the protection of workers in the creative industry, and awareness of how they sign over their rights when producing work.Potter said, "It's hard enough for people in the creative industry to sustain careers, but to be competing with a robotic version of yourself just adds insult to injury."This is just the latest controversy in the debate over who owns what in the rapidly evolving world of AI. Potter says she didn't know at the time that her voice would be used to train a robotic one heard across Scotland. Now, she can't escape her 'own' AI voice.You might also like5 better prompts to use with ChatGPTI replaced my to-do list with ChatGPT’s Tasks feature and it completely changed the way I plan my lifeI've tested all the best AI agents including ChatGPT Deep Research and Gemini - these are the 5 top automated artificial intelligence tools you can try right now

Anker Soundcore P41i has USB-C cable and 3,000mAh battery10-12 hours of playtime, rising to 192 hours with the case£79.99 (about $100 / AU$160), available nowIf you're fed up lugging one of the best power banks around to stop your phone running out of juice, Anker's Soundcore brand may have just the thing. The charging case for its new P41i earbuds doesn't just charge the earbuds, it can charge your other devices too.The earbuds themselves are mid-range models, but the case is something more unusual. Don't expect to recharge a MacBook Pro with it, but it's got a 3,000mAh battery that's good for delivering a 50% top-up to an iPhone 16 Pro and 45% to a Samsung Galaxy S24 via its integral USB-C cable. And the case even doubles as a smartphone stand.(Image credit: Soundcore)Soundcore P41i: key features and pricingAt 10W, you're not going to get the fastest charge, but Anker says you can expect to charge up to 30% in about 40 minutes for the iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8, and 30 minutes for an iPhone 14 Pro.I think the power bank capability is useful: I'm just back from a very long day of travel where once again my iPhone 16 Pro's all-day battery didn't live up to that promise.50% extra would have been more than enough to make it past midnight without looking for a charge point or having to carry my heavy power bank around.The earbuds' own batteries are pretty big too: Soundcore says you'll get 12 hours with ANC off and 10 with ANC on, which is above average for the best earbuds of today. And with that charging case, the figure increases to a whopping 192 hours of total listening time.The buds have 11mm drivers, six mics, and five levels of ANC with three different noise-cancelling modes. There's Bluetooth 5.3 with multi-point and fast pairing, and they're IPX5 certified. UK pricing is £79.99, which converts to around $100 / AU$160.The Anker Soundcore P41i earbuds are available now in the UK at Amazon, and will launch elsewhere soon.You might also likeThe best earbuds 2025 for every budget, all tested by usThe best headphones of all kindsThe best power banks 2025: we've reviewed all the best batteries

Dads can be just as hard to shop for as moms — really, finding the perfect gift for any parent can be a struggle. But if you’re shopping for a father who’s into consumer tech, though, we can help. Below, we’ve consulted our many hours of gadget testing and put together a list of standout gift ideas, from VR headsets to pizza ovens to smartwatches to meat thermometers. And don't worry, there are budget-friendly options in here too that can help the dad who's always traveling, those who like to tinker with their own tech and others.

Best gifts for dads in 2025

Check out the rest of our gift ideas here. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-gifts-for-dads-170014057.html?src=rss

The Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicle blasted off from SpaceX's Starbase in Texas for its ninth test flight on Tuesday, 7:37 PM Eastern time. It was the first Starship flight that reused a Super Heavy booster, which was also used for the vehicle's seventh test flight. During the vehicle's seventh and eighth flights, its second stage, or the Starship spacecraft itself, exploded during ascent. This time, the stage (also known as the "Ship") completed its ascent burn and even reached space, but it was one victory in a test flight with mixed results.

SpaceX's Starbase launch tower caught the Super Heavy booster after it flew back with its "chopstick" arms during the two previous flights. For this one, the company conducted tests with the booster it didn't do before, such as making it fly at a higher angle during its descent. Doing so increases the atmospheric drag on the booster, slowing it down as it descends so that it requires less propellant. As such, the company had decided to let the booster splash down into the ocean, as the testing would make it more difficult for the Starbase chopstick arms to catch it. SpaceX lost contact with the Super Heavy shortly after it started its landing burn, however, and it experienced a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" six minutes after launch.

Meanwhile, the Ship stage was able to take on a suborbital trajectory and was supposed to deploy eight Starlink simulator satellites while it was in space. It was ultimately unable to deploy the simulator satellites, because its payload bay door got stuck and wouldn't open. The Ship also encountered an attitude control error that prevented it from getting into the position it needed to take for reentry. It started to tumble due to a leak that caused loss of main tank pressure, before SpaceX lost contact with it 46 minutes into the flight. While a controlled splashdown was impossible to achieve, the company still expects Ship's debris to fall within the planned hazard area in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX will not be getting all the data it was hoping to get from this flight, but Elon Musk said there's still a "lot of good data to review." He also said that the company will be flying the Starship over the next three flights once every three to four weeks.

Starship’s ninth flight test marked a major milestone for reuse with the first flight-proven Super Heavy booster launching from Starbase, and once more returned Starship to space → https://t.co/Gufroc2kUz pic.twitter.com/RNJkj5OobP— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 28, 2025

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spacexs-ninth-starship-test-flight-reaches-space-but-fails-to-deploy-fake-satellites-120057474.html?src=rss

This year’s Amazon Prime Day is coming soon, so it’s a good time to start thinking about the things you’ll want to look for once the deal wave hits. Everything from gadgets to clothes to household necessities will be on sale during the event as part of the Prime Day deals, and if you’re a Prime member, you’ll have access to all of the discounts. Engadget will be surfacing all of the best tech deals we can find, but there are some important things to know ahead of time so you can get exactly what you want out of this year’s Prime Day.

When is Prime Day 2025?

Amazon Prime Day 2025 will be back this year sometime in July, but the official dates have not been released yet.

What is Prime Day?

Prime Day is Amazon's members-only shopping event, which means you’ll have to be a Prime subscriber on Prime Day to take advantage of most of the savings. Amazon still offers a 30-day free trial to new Prime subscribers, so you can start your free trial closer to July and participate in the event.

How often is Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day typically comes around annually in July. In the last few years, Amazon has also had its "Big Deal Days" in October, which is effectively a second Prime Day and the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

How does Prime Day work?

Prime subscribers can go to Amazon's site on Prime Day to see all of the exclusive deals they have access to. Prime subscribers do not have to do anything additional to get Prime Day sales: the discounts you see on product pages will show up in your cart automatically. If you're not a Prime subscriber and you go to Amazon to shop on Prime Day, you'll likely see tons of items on sale but only "with Prime;" those discounts will not be available to those who are not active Prime subscribers.

If you don’t pay for Prime and have no intention of doing so, you should still check out Amazon on Prime Day for sales that are available to all shoppers — there are always a few of them. Plus, it’s very likely that other retailers like Target and Best Buy will have their own competing Prime Day sales during that time frame, too.

How to prep for Prime Day

First, make a list. It’s best to go into Amazon Prime Day as prepared as possible; that means knowing exactly what you want so you stay focused and avoid distractions. Make note of the most important items you want to pick up on Prime Day ahead of time. You can either do this the old-fashioned way on a sticky note, or you can use Amazon’s wish list feature. For the latter, add the items you want to buy on Prime Day to your wish list (or, even better, make a dedicated wishlist with only your Prime Day desirables) and return to that list during the shopping event. Not only will you have everything you want all in one place, but you’ll also be able to see which of those items are cheaper on Prime Day than they were when you originally added them to your list.

Second, use a price tracker. Sites like CamelCamelCamel and Keepa let you monitor the price of specific items on Amazon. You can check out price history charts and you can make your own price-drop alerts, receiving emails when something you want gets a discount. Both CamelCamelCamel and Keepa also have some browser extensions you can download so you don’t have to navigate away from an Amazon product page to check its price history.

Amazon Prime Day deals

Amazon Prime Day typically lasts a couple of days, but for the past few years, the company has started pushing out deals well before the event actually kicks off. We anticipate the same happening this year, with early Prime Day deals kicking off possibly as soon as Amazon officially announces the dates of Prime Day 2025.

While we wouldn't call the following sales "early Prime Day deals" just yet, they do represent some of the best deals you can get on Amazon right now as we wait for the full details of Prime Day to be revealed. We'll update this list as prices change and as we find even more of the best Amazon deals you can get.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-prime-day-2025-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-annual-july-sales-event-120028400.html?src=rss