via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3wfF2SJ
Sunday, 31 October 2021
Roblox comes back online after three-day outage
Roblox is finally returning to normal after a nearly three-day outage. The gaming platform's developer said it was "incrementally" bringing regions back to service after having pinpointed the cause roughly three hours earlier. The company had a possible candidate on October 30th, but didn't narrow it down until a day later.
The company didn't detail the cause, but had previously ruled out particular "experiences or partnerships." Some had blame the outage on a Chipotle promo that launched half an hour before the failure took place on the evening of October 28th.
Whatever the reason for the outage, it may have had a lasting effect. Roblox has over 40 million daily users, and has been home to major concerts in recent months. That could leave more than a few frustrated kids, not to mention parents and creators wondering about the long-term reliability of the platform.
Quick update as we work to get things back to normal. We are incrementally bringing regions back online.
— Roblox (@Roblox) October 31, 2021
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3buNNia https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Astronomers may have spotted a planet in another galaxy for the first time
The hunt for exoplanets is venturing beyond the Milky Way. Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected what might be the first signs of a planet in another galaxy. The team noticed dips in X-ray brightness that hint at a planet transiting in front of a star in the Messier 51 (aka M51) galaxy 28 million light-years away. For context, all the exoplanet candidates in the Milky Way are no more than 3,000 light-years from Earth — this planet would easily set a distance record if confirmed.
The very nature of stars made the feat possible. As the researchers had to focus on X-ray bright binary systems where the region of bright rays is relatively tiny, the transit was considerably easier to spot. Conventional detection of nearby stars requires much more sensitive light detection, as a planet might only block a small amount of light from a given star.
The planet itself is believed to be as large as Saturn, but would orbit its hosts (a star 20 times the mass of the Sun as well as a black hole or neutron star) at twice the distance.
Scientists didn't believe the dimming was due to gas clouds or dust, as those aren't consistent with the event they recorded in M51. A planet, however, would line up with the data.
The challenge, as you might guess, is verifying that data. The planet's large orbit could rule out another transit for roughly 70 years, and it wouldn't be clear exactly when astronomers would have to take a look. The three-hour transit of this planet candidate didn't provide a large window. That's also assuming the 'living' star doesn't explode and bathe the planet in radiation.
If there's ever a confirmation, though, the discovery would be very significant. While there aren't many doubts that planets exist in other galaxies, it would be useful to have evidence of their existence. This could also significantly widen the scope of future planetary searches to include the galactic neighborhood, not just close-by stars.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3btHSK0 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Guillermo del Toro fans will love his debut vampire feature Cronos
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3BxS9j4
Lenovo's rumored 17-inch ThinkBook Plus has a second screen for drawing
Lenovo's next ThinkBook Plus might be more practical, at least if you'e a budding artist. Well-known leak purveyor Evan Blass has shared what he said is an image of a 17-inch ThinkBook Plus model. Unlike the current 13.3-inch system, though, you wouldn't have to flip your machine around to use an e-paper display on the back. Instead, you'd have a pen-capable color display next to the keyboard you could use to draw or take handwritten notes.
Blass didn't share other details, but the 17-inch ThinkBook Plus would seemingly have an extra-wide main display and fit in a full keyboard along with a large trackpad. We'd expect reasonably speedy internals to help drive the second display, much like the vaguely comparable ASUS ZenBook Duo.
It's not certain when this extra-large ThinkBook Plus would ship. Lenovo has historically reserved some of its largest laptop introductions for CES in January, but that doesn't preclude the company from a last-minute launch for the holidays. Either way, the image suggests Lenovo hasn't given up on the Plus concept — if anything, it's exploring new concepts that might prove appealing for creatives and others who shied away in the past.
Have you guys seen this yet? 17-inch ThinkBook Plus from Lenovo... pic.twitter.com/OElc5ZM3pb
— Ev (@evleaks) October 31, 2021
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3bqLDQr https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Want more movies and shows like Squid Game? Add these to your queue
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3bz3K6F
New Trailers: The Wheel of Time, The Witcher, Lightyear, House of Gucci, and more
I’m close to giving up on The Morning Show; the latest episode spends a lot of time building up to a twist that makes very little sense given the season so far. They only have three episodes left and a lot of plot to push forward. Luckily, Succession is getting good and juicy with the Roy siblings choosing sides, and I’m also getting caught up in Maid, mainly because of Margaret Qualley’s strong performance as Alex.
So much to watch, so little time.
We’re heavy into the sci-fi and fantasy realms in this week’s roundup, but there’s a little fashion and murder-mystery as well.
The Wheel of Time
We’ve seen a few glimpses of The Wheel of Time series based on the books by Robert Jordan, but this latest trailer shows us the beginning of...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/2ZxvQwx https://ift.tt/3nHh3rD
G20 deal raises the minimum tax rate for big tech companies
Large tech companies may soon have to pay significant taxes no matter what tax loopholes they had before. BBC Newsreports G20 leaders have reached an agreement that would set a global minimum tax rate of 15 percent for large companies. The long-in-the-making deal should be official as of today (October 31st) and would be enforced starting in 2023.
The US originally pitched the concept to prevent companies from using creative accounting (such as the "Double Irish arrangement") to avoid paying most of their taxes in the country. Other countries embraced the idea, though, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) toldCBC News the move could rake in about $150 billion from corporations around the world.
The deal could discourage tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Netflix from relying on loopholes to maximize their profits. If the deal collects the promised money, governments could better fund public services and help tackle problems like climate change.
There are numerous criticisms, however, and not just from those who generally oppose higher taxes. Oxfam, for instance, blasted "generous carve outs" that protected sone income and take 10 years to phase out. The pro-equality group also claimed the deal was "extremely limited" and would affect fewer than 100 companies while generating little money for poorer countries. The arrangement might beat the status quo for G20 nations, but it won't necessarily address some outstanding concerns.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3bup7WM https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Is cable TV dying? Here’s what streaming’s takeover might actually look like
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3brKxUv
Google Home app gets new Photo Frame settings and possible Weather Frog display option
Google Home, the companion app for Google’s smart home products, is changing the way users interact with photos on the app and on Nest Hub devices. 9to5Google first noticed the changes, which include a revamped Photo Frame settings menu.
Now, when you use Google Home to change the displayed album while your Nest Hub is idle, you’ll see a carousel-style UI that gives you the option to choose from curated groups of photos, categorized as “Select family & friends,” “Recent highlights,” and “Favorites,” 9to5Google reports. Scroll past that, and you’ll be able to see all the albums that you’ve created.
A preview window appears at the bottom of the page, and you can swipe through the preview carousel to see how your pictures will look when...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3pSA5hj https://ift.tt/3w1czzG
Apple's mixed reality headset might play 'high-quality' VR games
Apple's rumored mixed reality headset may be a boon for VR gaming. In his most recent newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claimed Apple is aiming for a headset that can handle "high-quality" VR games with both fast chips and high-res displays. While it's not certain just what chips would be involved, a previous leak mentioned a possible 8K resolution per eye — Apple might not expect games to run at that resolution, but it would hint at serious processing power.
The headset is still poised to arrive "as early as" 2022, Gurman said. He also suggested Apple would eventually follow up the mixed headset with an augmented-reality-only model, but that was "years down the road."
However accurate the claim might be, it's doubtful the mixed reality headset would be meant primarily for gaming The price (rumored to be as high as $3,000) might relegate it to developers and other pros. It wouldn't be a rival to the $299 Quest 2, then. Instead, the report suggests Apple might use this initial headset to pave the way for more affordable wearables where gaming is more realistic.
It's safe to presume Apple is committed to a headset, no matter the end result. Apple has acquired companies and reportedly shuffled executives with mixed reality in mind. This wouldn't just be a side project for the company, even if the mixed reality tech could take years to reach the mainstream. Gaming might play a pivotal role if Apple intends to reach a wider audience.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3mtEWmW https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Go read this story about how online orders are burning out Chipotle workers
Chipotle is a pioneer of the fast assembly-line restaurant format, where you get in line and guide a human worker through the process to build your meal while you watch. It’s a foolproof system, or so I thought before I checked out this investigative story by MarketWatch revealing how Chipotle is handling the growth of online orders in a pandemic world. Once I read the accounts of various Chipotle employees interviewed in the MarketWatch article, I was stunned by what they really go through.
One employee detailed the struggle with the onslaught of online orders:
“People would just stare at us, angry,” he said. “Orders were coming in faster than they could be made. We would frequently see orders of 75, 80, 90 items within a 15-minute...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3EAnq6D https://ift.tt/3nKtLFV
Apple quietly discontinues the 21.5-inch Intel-powered iMac
Apple has apparently pulled its 21.5-inch Intel-based iMac from shelves (via MacRumors). Its discontinuation doesn’t come as much of a surprise, now that Apple is transitioning from using Intel processors to its in-house M1 chip.
The 21.5-inch iMac was still available after Apple’s October 18th Unleashed event — it didn’t appear to go missing until sometime this week, according to MacRumors. The $1,099 21.5-inch iMac, which came with a 2.3GHz dual-core 7th-Gen Intel Core i5 and an Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, is no longer found on the list of available iMacs on Apple’s online store. A “Buy” button also doesn’t appear for the 21.5-inch iMac on Apple’s product comparison page.
We reached out to Apple to confirm the changes, but didn’t...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3EwwUjl https://ift.tt/3EueO1y
Apple iPhone 13 Pro review second opinion: Striving for perfection
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/2Y6TmQM
Amazon offers steep discounts on recent Echo devices
This may be one of your best chances of scoring a smart speaker or e-reader before the holiday rush. Amazon is selling multiple recent Echo devices (plus a Kindle reader) at very low prices. To start, the fourth-generation Echo speaker is on sale for just $60 (usually $100), or the same as its Prime Day pricing. You can also buy the new Echo Show 5 for an all-time low of $55 (normally $85), while its larger Echo Show 8 counterpart has dropped to $100 (typically $130).
Buy Echo (4th-Gen) on Amazon - $60Buy Echo Show 5 on Amazon - $55Buy Echo Show 8 on Amazon - $100You might also appreciate the Kindle deal if you're a book lover. Amazon is selling the standard Kindle (with ads) for just $50 — that's $40 below its official sticker, and even better than the Prime Day price. You'll get a similar discount on the ad-free version, which sells for $70. Either price drop makes the Kindle an easy choice if you prefer to wind down with a digital book at the end of the day.
The Echo devices are safe choices. The fourth-gen Echo sounds great for the money and boasts a memorable design along with Alexa's healthy ecosystems for smart home devices and skills. The newer Echo Show 5 and 8, meanwhile, build on that Alexa know-how with visuals. The Show 5 fits best as a bedside clock, while the 8 works well for video calls or as a family hub in the kitchen or living room. The main hiccups are simply the interface and streaming app selections — Google has a slight edge in both departments, but that might not matter much if you're mainly using voice commands or checking the news and weather.
Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3nDwTTS https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Mac-shaped pillow makers are back so you can cover your couch in computers
A company called Throwboy is back with another Kickstarter for a collection of pillows shaped like classic Macs, following its 2018 line of Apple-inspired plushes. It’s fittingly called The Iconic Pillow Collection 2, and features pillows shaped like soft versions of Apple’s Lisa, iBook, and both the cheese grater and cube flavors of Power Mac. For Apple history buffs who want to spruce up their living or bedrooms, it may be a campaign worth investigating.
In its original collection (which featured pillows shaped like the Finder icon, original Macintosh, and iPods), Throwboy tactfully didn’t mention specific computer names, and it refrained from doing so this time around as well. The Lisa-shaped pillow is called the 1983, the iMac...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3BHZ5dD https://ift.tt/2XZZsSL
iRobot's poop-detecting Roomba j7+ vacuum is cheaper than ever right now
iRobot's latest Roomba that can detect obstacles — including pet poop — along its cleaning journey is cheaper than ever right now. Both Amazon and Wellbots have the Roomba j7 and j7+ for $150 less, so you can grab them for $499 and $699, respectively. Both robots are the same, but you'll get the clean base with the j7+ model, allowing you to set and forget the robot and only empty the clean base about once every 60 days.
Buy Roomba j7 at Amazon - $499Buy Roomba j7+ at Amazon - $699Buy Roomba j7 at Wellbots - $499Buy Roomba j7+ at Wellbots - $699The j7 series builds upon the Roomba i7 robots with more powerful cameras, better sensors and more power. The AI-driven computer vision technology allows the device to detect obstacles and move around them as it cleans, and you can label those obstacles as permanent (in the case of a chair or another piece of furniture) or temporary. Not only does this mean the j7 robots should better navigate around things like piles of clothes and charging cords, but they can also detect a robot vacuum's arch nemesis: pet poop. iRobot even has a Pet Owner Official Promise (yes, P.O.O.P.) which states that you'll get a new robot vacuum if your j7+ runs into poop in the first year of you owning it.
Aside from that, the j7 series takes advantage of iRobot's improved mobile app, which lets you schedule cleanings and set routine triggers. You can also label rooms in your home after the robot has created a map, so you can better direct it to a specific room when you only need a quick clean.
While the clean base included in the j7+ package isn't necessary, it takes the convenience level up a notch. Instead of emptying your robot's bin after every job, the j7+ will automatically empty its contents into the clean base when it's done. You then only have to worry about emptying the base once every two months.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3BAHdRv https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Change my mind: Detachable Chromebooks are better mobile computers than any iPad
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/2ZDzi9t
Lego adds 'Luigi's Mansion' sets to its Super Mario World collection
Now that Luigi is part of Lego Super Mario, the toymaker is ready to show the other heroic plumber a little more respect. Lego has introduced a trio of Luigi's Mansion expansion sets that give its namesake star more to do in a game designed with him in mind.
The $30 Lab and Poltergust set helps you get started with Luigi's ghost vacuum, while a $40 Entryway set introduces you to the mansion proper as well as Polterpup and the game series' Boo ghosts. Splurge on the $80 Haunt-and-Seek kit and you can create a full-fledged level, complete with hidden gems and rotating hallways. As you'd expect, you can combine the sets or mix them with other Lego Super Mario packs.
The timing is off. Lego may be announcing the Luigi's Mansion sets on Halloween, but they won't be available until January 1st, 2022. It's a missed opportunity, then, but you might not mind if you or or your kids enjoy the existing Super Mario collections and want more variety. If nothing else, this will provide fond memories for anyone who remembers collecting ghosts in Luigi's games.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3Bvbl0W https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
MIUI guide: Everything you need to know about Xiaomi’s Android skin
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3CB8Hba
Saturday, 30 October 2021
Belkin Power Bank 10K review: Sturdy construction, weak charging
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3nCkKic
5 Android apps you shouldn’t miss this week – Android Apps Weekly
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3CBR2jO
2021 MacBook Pro teardown reveals easy-to-remove batteries
Apple may have given us a glimpse of what the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros' insides look like, but it had a surprise waiting for the folks at iFixit nonetheless. The iFixit team said removing batteries from recent MacBook Pros required "infinite patience, a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, and an optional bottle of human-friendly alcohol." They expected the same from this generation of laptops but were pleasantly surprised by the presence of pull tabs instead when they tore down the new MacBook Pros.
The outer battery cells have noticeable pull tabs that you can, well, pull to detach them from their adhesive underneath. Even the central battery cells have pull tabs — they're just harder to find inside the laptop chassis beneath the trackpad. iFixit was able able to confirm that the laptops will recognize and work with battery replacements just fine.
In addition, most of the laptops' ports, except for the SD card reader and the HDMI port, are modular. That means they can be easily and cheaply replaced if they suddenly break or malfunction. Conversely, the laptops' keyboard will still be hard to replace, but hey, at least the days of Apple's butterfly keyboard are now over. You can watch iFixit's teardown process in the video below, and it also has more photos of the laptops insides on its website if you want to have a better look at their components. iFixit also took apart Apple's $19 polishing cloth, in case you're wondering what makes it more expensive that its typical counterparts.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3bofCsf https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Patreon may let you reward creators with crypto
Patreon doesn't let creators offer crypto coins for the sake of profit, but that might change before long. TechCrunchreports Patreon executives Jack Conte and Julian Gutman said at The Information's latest summit that the company was "evaluating" the use of crypto, including a previously hinted-at possibility of allowing "creator coins" that fans can buy to show support. You could invest in creators and reap rewards if they hit the big time, or access special content reserved for coin owners.
Conte wouldn't say if Patreon had staff devoted to crypto projects, but did say the company was "thinking about it." The company had discussed the possibility of allowing creator coins during an online September discussion, but it was sidelined as the company grappled with the implications of Mastercard's tougher adult content standards.
Gutman added that Patreon was "interested" in studying the potential benefits of NFTs and related technologies for creators looking to sustain a business. NFTs have boosted the value of digital art, sometimes leading to sales worth millions, but there are also widespread concerns about the highly speculative nature of the market and the blockchain-based technology's environmental impact.
It wouldn't be surprising if Patreon embraced coins, NFTs or both. Patreon has fared well despite early pandemic jitters and raised $90 million just a year ago, but there's little doubt the service is trying to court as many creators as possible. A new stance on crypto might entice content producers who currently have to go elsewhere if they want to dabble in the technology.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3pX22EV https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
ICYMI: Apple’s new MacBook Pros have (nearly) everything you’d want
This week, we tested out new flagship smartphones, high-powered laptops and much-improved earbuds. Devindra Hardawar reviewed the latest 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros and reports back that they provide almost everything one could want out of a powerful laptop. Billy Steele spent time listening to the third-generation AirPods and concluded they sound much better than the previous version. And Cherlynn Low used Google’s Pixel 6 and 6 Pro and found that the camera-heavy handsets have a lot more to offer, including a great starting price.
The new MacBook Pros have a ton of power (and ports)
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Devindra Hardawar says the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are precisely what media professionals have been waiting for: speedy M1 Pro and Max processors, a comfortable keyboard, serious battery life and great speakers. They also feature most of the crucial ports MacBooks have been missing for years, including (finally!) an SD card reader, though the laptops are thicker and heavier as a result. And of course, all that comes with a high starting price of $1,999.
Devindra was particularly impressed by the Liquid Retina XDR displays, which come close to 4K resolutions, and have mini-LED backlighting to produce up to 1,600 nits of brightness. He was also pleased to find support for 120Hz refresh rates, and by the benchmark testing in which both MacBook Pros blew away competing Windows PCs. However, while the laptops were able to speedily convert a 4K video clip to 1080p, Devindra doesn't think they'd make the best gaming machines — trying to load Borderlands 3 produced an unplayable mess. Overall though, he says these computers have practically everything one, especially a creative professional, would want in a powerful notebook — as long as you can stomach the price tag.
The third-gen Airpods have a better fit and more features
Billy Steele/Engadget
Apple’s latest AirPods have been almost completely redesigned from the previous version; the buds themselves have a new look, courtesy of the contoured shape which reduces weight and features a tapered silhouette and an angle to increase comfort. Billy Steele says the company’s efforts to build better AirPods have paid off: the new buds are more comfortable and and have much better audio quality, with bigger and more immersive sound that remained open and airy. That’s thanks to a custom driver paired with a high-dynamic-range amplifier, as well as the new H1 chip and the inward facing mic. Billy says these changes made the AirPods something he actively wanted to listen to music with.
The new AirPods also have an IPX4 rating so they’ll survive sweaty workouts or small splashes. They can also detect skin which, combined with the built-in accelerometer, makes for more accurate pausing and extends battery life. The new chip means you can listen to tracks in Dolby Atmos on Apple Music, and the spatial audio is available with dynamic head tracking to change the position of the audio when you turn your head. However, the latest AirPods still lack active noise cancellation and Transparency mode as these features are still reserved for the pricier AirPods Pro. While Billy acknowledges that these earbuds aren’t for everyone, he says they continue to offer Apple users features that are well integrated with iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Google’s Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are excellent phones with great prices
David Imel for Engadget
Cherlynn Low says the newest Google phones — the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro — are the most intriguing phones that the company has made in years. Featuring the first Google mobile processor, Tensor, the two handsets also have improved camera hardware, lovely OLED screens, speedy refresh rates (120Hz for the 6 Pro, 90Hz for the 6), and decent speakers. Cherlynn says the best feature is the surprisingly low starting price — only $599 — which makes some of the drawbacks more forgivable.
One of the issues she had with the phones was the laggy under-screen fingerprint sensor, which requires the display to be on before it unlocked — a process that she says doesn’t need to have two steps. She was more impressed by the new voice keyboard, which did an excellent job of transcribing speech, and the additional camera features. The sensors are sharper and bigger with larger pixels, producing bright, clean photos — and special camera features, like Magic Eraser and Face Unblur, give users a lot of control over their photos. The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro excelled in our battery tests, too, lasting 20.5 hours and 17 hours, respectively. Overall, Cherlynn calls the handsets a superb return to form, showing off Google’s strengths in the software and photography departments.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/31hR0Qc https://ift.tt/3w1Pq0g
The Nikon Z9’s new sensor could be the start of a big shift in photography
Nikon recently announced its new flagship camera, the Z9. This camera represents Nikon’s first mirrorless camera fully geared towards professional photographers and hybrid shooters, with a huge spec list designed for use in the demanding fields of photojournalism, sports, nature, birding, and any other use-cases that call for a camera that shoots incredibly fast at high resolution. The $5,500 Z9 is also Nikon’s first camera to omit a traditional mechanical shutter, allowing it to achieve new levels of speed and autofocus performance.
Faster speed is great, especially for sports photographers. But it’s interesting to think about where this technology could be used to take traditional-style cameras in the future. This might be the first...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3jOFm5y https://ift.tt/2ZyiPCT
Google Pixel 5 one year later: Is it still worth buying?
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3CylnQe
Roblox has been down for more than a day and it’s not because of Chipotle
Roblox has been down for more than a day, with the game and its related website offline for millions of players. The hugely popular game-creating platform first started having issues more than 30 hours ago, at 7PM ET on October 28th. Roblox said it was “working hard to get things back to normal,” and that it has identified “the root cause as internal system issue.”
It’s not clear exactly why Roblox is still down, but some players have been speculating the outage could be related to a Chipotle promotion in the game. Chipotle is giving away $1 million worth of free burritos on Roblox as part of Halloween event in the game. The experience went live at 6:30PM ET on October 28th, just before the widespread Roblox outage.
Still making...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3Bs6FJ1 https://ift.tt/3jRw2Ou
Facebook puts tighter restrictions on vaccine misinformation targeted at children
Just as the FDA officially approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids between the ages of five and 11, Meta, Facebook’s brand new identity, announced that it’s rolling out stricter policies for vaccine misinformation targeted at children (via Engadget). The platform previously put restrictions on COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in late 2020, but didn’t have policies specific to kids.
Meta says in a new blog post that it’s partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to take down harmful content related to children and the COVID-19 vaccine. This includes any posts that imply the COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe, untested, or ineffective for children. Additionally, Meta will...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3w7hOy0 https://ift.tt/3bqMLDC
Global climate talks in Glasgow aren’t very global
One of the most anticipated rounds of international climate negotiations this decade will go down at a United Nations summit in Glasgow over the next couple weeks. But many representatives from the frontlines of the climate crisis won’t be there: people from islands that may be lost under rising seas, representatives of indigenous tribes, and activists who typically turn high-level negotiations into boisterous events with their demonstrations.
The 26th annual United Nations Conference of Parties, or COP26, is the five-year anniversary of the Paris climate accords. Signatories, which included nearly every country on Earth, agreed to limit global warming to a level that might be manageable for humanity. Those nations are not close to...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3mqA567 https://ift.tt/3vZC2cS
Minnesota man charged with illegally streaming MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA games for profit
Federal authorities have accused a Minnesota man with trying to extort $150,000 from Major League Baseball after hacking into its computer system. The US Attorney’s office for the southern district of New York and the FBI have charged Joshua Streit, 30, with illegally streaming content from MLB, as well as from the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Football League (NFL).
The law enforcement agencies said in a news release that between 2017 through August of 2021, Streit operated a website where he illegally streamed the sports leagues’ live games for profit. He gained unauthorized access to the leagues’ websites, and misappropriated login credentials from legitimate subscribers,...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3pREFMP https://ift.tt/3nOtGRQ
Apple's worst shipping delay is for a $19 polishing cloth
You'd think global supply shortages would hit Apple's tech products the hardest, but that's apparently not the case. As The New York Timesreports, Apple's most backordered new release is its $19 Polishing Cloth. Order the microfiber cloth from the company store as of this writing and you'll wait 10 to 12 weeks — in other words, you won't get your Apple-branded polishing experience until January 2022 at the earliest. You could buy a new MacBook Pro and wait another two months to (officially) wipe smudges off the screen.
It's not clear what prompted the backlog, but it might be sheer popularity. An anonymous Apple official talking to The Times said the company wasn't surprised by high demand, and that the cloth was both specially designed (it was originally meant for the nano-texture glass on the Pro Display XDR) and particularly effective.
It's no secret that you can find far, far less expensive alternatives if you're cleaning a regular screen. Amazon is selling a six-pack of MagicFiber cloths for $9, and even the pricer options tend to offer better value. However, the shortfall illustrates both the cachet of the official product and the sheer range of supply constraints affecting tech, sometimes in unexpected ways. If you can't even count on getting a polishing cloth in a timely fashion, you know the industry is struggling with broad supply issues.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3jQWgjY https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Poco smartwatches and earbuds? Global head teases future beyond smartphones
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3BtCb9A
Save on spooky games to play during Halloween and more
It’s the spooky holiday this weekend, but you probably already knew that since Halloween decorations have likely been up in your town for the last month and a half. But what hasn’t been around as long (and will disappear faster than those decorations) are the deals below. To match the mood, we’re going to share special discounts on scary video games that you need to play if you’re trying to get in the holiday spirit this weekend. Just so you know, Steam’s Halloween sale ends Monday, November 1st, likely at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. Following that gaming-centric section, you’ll find deals on tech gadgets that we think you’ll enjoy.
Gaming deals
Okay, so Deathloop is far from being a scary game at its core (though it can become quite tense when...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3brJKTM https://ift.tt/3nChNy6
Meta is acquiring the maker of VR workout app 'Supernatural'
Facebook made it pretty clear that it's focusing on the metaverse when it rebranded itself as Meta, and its latest acquisition is part of that effort. Jason Rubin, the company's VP of Metaverse Content has revealed that Meta is acquiring Within, the creator of immersive virtual reality workout app Supernatural for Oculus Quest headsets. A rep for Within previously described Supernatural to Engadget as "part Beat Saber, part Dance Dance Revolution, part Guitar Hero with your whole body.
In a separate announcement (via TechCrunch), Within CEO Chris Milk and Head of fitness Leanne Pedante said that its coaches, choreographers and managers will continue being part of the team. They'll work on VR fitness experiences for Supernatural independently under Meta's Reality Labs. While Within will have to answer to its new parent company going forward, Milk's and Pedante's statement says the the acquisition will give them access to more resources, including more music, more features and more social experiences.
In Supernatural, you'll have to hit colored orbs flying at you from its various VR environments using your controllers. The balls will shatter if you hit them with enough force, but they'll only float away if you don't — you'll get scored at the end based on how you do. Supernatural has a 30-day free trial period, after which it'll cost you $19 a month for continued access.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3nCg3VA https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Apple’s fight with Europe over USB-C is a losing battle — as it should be
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3Gxc99j
Zen UI guide: Everything you need to know about Asus’ Android skin
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/31hsMFJ
Facebook expands fight against COVID-19 vaccine misinformation to include kids
Vaccine misinformation has been pervasive issue on Facebook for years, and it wasn't until earlier this year that the website finally introduced policies that would address the problem. Now, the social network has expanded those policies and its COVID-19 vaccination efforts to include kids shortly after the FDA authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to eleven.
In the coming weeks, it will send in-feed English and Spanish reminders to users in the US that the COVID-19 vaccine is now available for kids. Those reminders will also include a link that'll help users find the nearest vaccination site. Perhaps, more importantly, it will expand its anti-vaccine misinformation policies to remove claims that COVID-19 vaccines for kids do not exist and that the vaccine for children is untested. It will also remove any claim that COVID-19 vaccines can kill or seriously harm kids, that they're not effective for children at all and that anything other than a COVID-19 vaccine can inoculate children against the virus.
Facebook says its fight against vaccine misinformation is part of an ongoing effort in partnership with the CDC, WHO and other health authorities. It promises to keep on updating its policies and ban any new claim about the COVID-19 vaccine for children that will emerge in the future. The website, which now operates under its parent company Meta, says it has removed more than 20 million pieces of content from Facebook and Instagram since the beginning of the pandemic. As of August 2021, it has also banned 3,000 accounts, groups and pages for repeatedly breaking its health misinformation policies.
Facebook
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3muBCbu https://ift.tt/2XYQFAF
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra revisited: Is it still worth buying?
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3vZ8qw3
Honor 50 review: lose a Huawei, gain a Google
Google’s software makes the Honor 50 a contender rather than competitive
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/2ZFAokI https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Friday, 29 October 2021
These might be the first leaked photos of Intel’s Arc Alchemist graphics card
Intel is building dedicated gaming graphics cards, due out in Q1 2022, and we may have just gotten our first look at the big one, the Arc Alchemist. Here are some leaked images from YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead (via Videocardz):
Arc is Intel’s new GPU brand, designed to compete with Nvidia GeForce and AMD Radeon, and the Arc Alchemist is the first GPU in the company’s roadmap that’s actually scheduled to release. The company had previously built the Intel DG1 to test the GPU waters, but that was a comparatively weak card, based on the Xe LP (low-power) graphics architecture, and consumers couldn’t actually buy it. This new card is part of Intel’s Xe HPG roadmap (high-power / gaming) and is said to deliver...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3jRl4bH https://ift.tt/3vXpaE0
Nintendo is officially closing its Redwood City and Toronto offices
Nintendo is closing its Redwood City, California and Toronto, Canada offices, the company confirmed in a statement to The Verge. Kotaku reported on the closure of the Redwood City offices earlier on Friday.
Here is the company’s full statement on the decision:
Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, WA, and Vancouver, BC. We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, ON, and Redwood City, CA, over time.
Devon Pritchard, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and Publisher Relations for Nintendo of America (NOA), will assume interim leadership of Sales, Marketing and Communications following the departure of Nick Chavez. Ms. Pritchard will...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3vVOJWd https://ift.tt/2ZC199C
Fitness app Supernatural is becoming part of Meta after Facebook touts VR fitness
Meta has announced that the studio behind VR workout game Supernatural will be joining the company, adding to the roster of studios owned by what used to be known as Facebook’s Oculus division. The company says that Within, the company behind Supernatural, will continue to work on the popular fitness app and will also help Meta’s Reality Labs “enhance future hardware to support VR fitness apps.”
Meta scooping up Within isn’t necessarily a surprise move: it’s spent the last few years acquiring tons of popular VR studios, like Lone Echo devs Ready at Dawn, the team behind Beat Saber, and others working on projects that some have called the VR versions of Fortnite and Roblox.
Given Meta’s focus on its headsets as workout tools...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/2ZCuEIO https://ift.tt/3CvnjZt
'Assassin's Creed Infinity' game won't be free-to-play
Assassin's Creed Infinity won't be a free-to-play online game, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has confirmed during the developer's latest earnings call. Bloomberg first reported about the project's existence back in July, and the company has shared details about it bit by bit since then. The publication said that AC Infinity, which is the project's name that could change upon release, will be a live online service similar to Grand Theft Auto Online that requires you to own the base game. According to Gamespot, Guillemot also said:
"This game is going to have a lot of narrative elements in it. It's going to be very innovative game, but it will have what players already have in all the other Assassin's Creed games, all the elements that they love... right from the start. So it's going to be a huge game. But with lots of elements that already exist in the games that we published in the past."
Unlike other Assassin's Creed games with a single narrative story, Infinity will reportedly have multiple settings that will feel and look different from each other but will still be connected in some way. That means Infinity could have several games in one package, though how that will resonate with long-time fans remains to be seen. The original Bloomberg report also called it a massive online platform with room to expand in the months and years after its launch, so we may see new content hit the service as campaigns or seasons.
Ubisoft pooled its resources and unified the Montreal and Quebec teams, which previously worked on separate Assassin's Creed titles, to develop Infinity. Guillemot said it's still in its very early stages, however, and previous reports said its soonest possible release won't be until 2024.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3EpdPzC https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
You told us: You care about camera sensor size on phones (with caveats)
via Android Authority https://ift.tt/3jOADAR
Engadget Podcast: MacBook Pro and Pixel 6 reviews, The Facebook Papers
It’s been a busy week! For our special 100th episode, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into their MacBook Pro and Pixel 6 reviews, answer audience questions, and they chat with Engadget’s Karissa Bell about what we’ve learned from the Facebook Papers. (Unfortunately, this episode was recorded before Facebook renamed itself to Meta, but we’ll be chatting about all of that next week!)
Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Subscribe!
Topics
-
100 Episodes! Livestream Q&A – 1:30
-
MacBook Pro 14” and 16” review – 16:20
-
AirPods Gen 3 review – 25:20
-
Pixel 6 review – 26:31
-
iOS 15.1 with SharePlay is out – 58:22
-
Android releases version 12L for tablets – 1:02:29
-
Intel’s 12th-gen Alder Lake hybrid chips are a big strike against AMD – 1:07:46
-
Sony's Xperia Pro-I – 1:14:36
-
Dune Part II was confirmed – 1:19:40
-
Working on – 1:22:04
-
Pop culture picks – 1:24:15
Video livestream
Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Karissa Bell
Producer: Ben Ellman
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos,Luke Brooks
Graphics artists: Luke Brooks, Kyle Maack
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3CyxZH6 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Canon's Powershot PX is smart home camera for family moments
Canon has unveiled the PowerShot PX, a stationary camera that uses facial recognition and auto-subject search to automatically capture 11.7-megapixel images or 1080p60 video. It's based on the PowerShot Pick, an experimental, crowdfunded camera that was released only in Japan.
The PowerShot PX has pan-and-tilt functionality (340 degrees horizontally and 110 degrees vertically) and a 19-57mm (35mm equivalent) focal length range. The idea is that you you can place it a strategic spot, like on a table during a family picnic, for example. The camera can then scan the scene, find people's faces and automatically determine the best moment to capture a photo. "The best photos aren't always the posed smiles.... the PowerShot PX captures a huge range of looks and precious reactions that you might not capture," Canon wrote.
It can frame subjects "intelligently to capture natural expressions and reactions," Canon says. You can also prioritize specific faces, like if it's someone's birthday. In theory, that would allow you to enjoy a gathering without the need to break away and take photos, knowing that it will be done automatically. You can also grab photos manually via an app or voice control.
Following an event, you can use the PowerShot PX's iOS or Android apps to get recommendations on the best photos to keep. Those are then stored on a memory card, where they can be uploaded to a computer. It supports WiFi and Bluetooth for smartphone connections, so you can control images with no need to check the device, Canon said. It can also double as a webcam via Canon's webcam utility app. (It runs on batteries with charging via USB-C.)
The PowerShot PX is coming to Europe and the UK in November 2021 for £500/€500 (around $585). There's no word yet on a release to North America or elsewhere.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3bknmvx https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
What even is the metaverse?
For most of this year, Facebook has been talking about its plans for the metaverse, pledging to lose a lot of money in order to bolster its ambitions in the space. Yesterday, the company announced that it would rebrand its corporate identity to “Meta” in order to double down on this commitment. (And, you know, the other reason.) The metaverse, as Meta describes it, “is a new phase of interconnected virtual experiences using technologies like virtual and augmented reality.” Given the number of companies who are now starting to talk about the metaverse in very real terms, we have to answer one, very obvious question: What the Hell is a metaverse?
Everything that follows is, to a certain extent, meant to be read with the right number of ahs, ahems, polite coughs and other caveats. After all, a number of companies have started using the term in order to bask in the reflected glory thrown out by the metaverse hype train. Much like “Web 2.0,” “The metaverse” has a loosey-goosey definition that is being used to define whatever is coming next for the internet. A virtual world that mirrors our own? Metaverse. A way to buy and sell NFTs of Elon Musk dressed as a dog? Metaverse. A new way of creating commerce and communications? Metaverse. It’s likely that when we look back at the metaverse a decade or two from now, should it actually happen, it’ll look vastly different to what its boosters predict.
In his Founders Letter, CEO Mark Zuckerberg describes the metaverse as “an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.” He goes on to talk about how “in this future, you will be able to teleport instantly as a hologram to be at the office without a commute, at a concert with friends, or in your parents’ living room to catch up.” And then cites the benefits of that, including a reduced carbon footprint and less time stuck in traffic.
The easiest and most obvious point of comparison is the metaverse as represented in pop culture. Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash (where the term originates), Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One and the Wachowskis’ The Matrix are all examples of this virtual, digital-world-that-actually-mirrors-our-own. Those with (long) internet memories will recall projects like Second Life, which promised to do this sort of thing 18 years ago. And some folks have suggested that Roblox and Fortnite, which are both games and virtual spaces where stuff other than games takes place, are forms of metaverse.
Meta’s interest is clear as a way of building out its work in the virtual space through its acquisition of Oculus. Sir Nick Clegg, who after his political defenestration and inexplicable Knighting became Facebook’s vice president of Global Affairs and Communications in 2018, wrote that the metaverse is designed to create a “greater sense of ‘virtual presence.’” The Guardian reported that Clegg claims to use Meta’s virtual presence service, Horizon Workrooms, to take his “Monday morning meetings in the metaverse with a virtual table and whiteboard.” You may be thinking, then, that the metaverse will be little more than Zoom but with a requirement to spend more to own some pricey VR gear.
Alexandru Voica, Meta’s Technology Communications Manager in Europe, says that a better way to understand the metaverse is as “the next evolution of the internet.” He used the video call we were on as an example of something that the metaverse could hopefully improve. “We’re meeting in this 2D video call, and it’s great compared to a phone call but it’s not as good as if we were sitting together [in the real world],” he said, “The idea is, how can you take this interaction and get it as close to you and I being together [in a public space].” He added that the metaverse wasn’t envisioned as supplanting real-world connections, but to make virtual experiences more lifelike.
Voica added that these virtual engagements will feel a lot more real with the use of technologies like VR, AR and spatial audio. When you have a series of boxes on a Zoom screen, for instance, it’s harder for your brain to process all of that information at once. In the virtual world, with people’s audio directed toward you from wherever their avatar is sitting, it’s easier for you to engage.
Some of this feeds back to Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Next Decade’ manifesto from the start of 2020, where improvements in AR and VR technology will better empower remote work. Obviously that was before COVID-19 made remote work a necessity for millions of people, and before it became one of the defining culture-war non-issues this year.
Another common frame of reference is Matthew Ball’s essay on what a metaverse is from January 2020. At the time, he said that any metaverse would be a persistent and synchronous virtual environment with its own economy. Ball added that the metaverse would enable “would-be laborers” to “participate in the ‘high value’ economy via virtual labor.” He cited the practice of Gold Farming — where players of a large MMO in a low-wage country works for hours to earn large amounts of virtual currency (or goods) which they then sell on to other players for real-world cash — as a current example of this “virtual labor.”
Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
Ball went on to say that the metaverse would also offer “unprecedented interoperability of data.” A user would be able to move objects freely between worlds, like being able to take a skin for a gun in Counter-Strike and carry it over to Fortnite. To be honest, the idea that games publishers would agree to the free-sharing of their intellectual property, with all the lost profits that would entail, is the most unbelievable idea in the document.
But even Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney is open to the idea of some cross-communication in some form or another. This July, Sweeney told The New York Times that said a “tunnel” could exist between, in this example, the virtual worlds of Roblox and Fortnite. What’s not clear, however, is what a user could take from one end of that tunnel to the other beyond their own, custom-designed avatar.
Voica says that this cross-sharing of IP will be vital to ensuring the success of the metaverse. He used the example of a user buying a designer jacket, as a digital item which could be worn by their avatar as they went about their day. That item doesn’t have any value if you’re only able to wear it in the specific designer’s own virtual world. “It would be like buying a Manchester United shirt and only being able to wear it inside Manchester United’s stadium,” he said. And he believes that consumers wouldn’t buy into a system with such a limitation, saying that “people don’t want to be locked in.”
There’s also a line of thinking that a metaverse will actually describe the unification of the digital and real worlds. AR glasses that overlay a rich data set onto the street as you go about your day, outsourcing tasks from your own brain. That will, naturally, require smart glasses with transparent displays capable of actually reproducing this data in a useful manner. Not to mention a quantum leap in computer vision, data processing and battery life to make it viable for whole-day use. This, of course, will also require a dramatic shift in how we view privacy in public and private spaces a decade on from the privacy objections raised when Google Glass was briefly en vogue.
This September, The Washington Post interviewed Sima Sistani, the co-founder of Houseparty who now works for Epic Games. They said that the metaverse would be the thing that replaces Social Media to suck away all of our free time. Sistani believes that, unlike now, where people simply create images and post status updates, the next generation will enjoy collaborative experiences with one another. And that the next generation of content creators will create fresh experiences for the rest of us to enjoy, once we’ve paid for them.
One of the things that is kinda/sorta clear, at least from the metaverse’s boosters, is that the platform won’t be owned by a single person or company. Instead, it will — hopefully — operate much like the internet does now, with multiple providers offering infrastructure to build a cohesive whole. Or at least, that’s the theory, and there’s the additional hope that decentralized technologies will help reduce the potential for a single arbiter to rule over this new frontier.
Projects like Decentraland, its own virtual environment, are already working on this principle, with its economy running on Ethereum’s blockchain. As The New York Times reported earlier this year, Decentraland’s market has already seen real-world brokers buying up parcels of virtual real estate. And there are already art shows and casinos in operation inside Decentraland, all of which can be tied to some form of digital commerce. This is sadly at-odds with the potential for a post-scarcity digital utopia that a metaverse could theoretically foster.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel speaks with WSJ’s @JoannaStern at #WSJTechLivehttps://t.co/n88FkIT5Bx
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 19, 2021
NARRATOR
— jack⚡️ (@jack) October 20, 2021
He was. https://t.co/U4XnXCmeeG
Pop-culture descriptions of metaverses commonly present them less as a social good and more as a symptom of impending collapse. Even the reference onanism that is Ready Player One shows a world that has slid into economic, social and environmental decline. When asked about the metaverse, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel cited Snow Crash’s “virtual world created by an evil monopolist.” Not long after, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey agreed that Neal Stephenson’s novel was intended as a warning, rather than a guide. [An aside, in Snow Crash, poor users accessing the metaverse through a public terminal are rendered in monochrome, and are derided by the wider society as a consequence — something that was replicated in the real-world by Fortnite players who bullied “Default” players who didn’t buy custom skins for their avatars.]
Now, Meta believes enough in the metaverse that it’s hoisted its flag, and fortune, to the idea for the next few years. And it’s hard to think that, however convenient, its metaversal ambitions are a smokescreen for the very real issues the platform is currently facing. Titles like Roblox and Fortnite provide a vague sense of how a persistent, universal online world could hold the attention of users for thousands of hours, but those are for now curated experiences. And projects like Decentraland offer a hint as to how a virtual economy would function, but nothing yet gives us a cohesive grand narrative of the metaverse which can show us where it’s going. In many ways, companies like Meta are trying to put together this jigsaw without much of an idea of what it’s going to look like when it’s finished.
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3CDA8AY https://ift.tt/3bkLJZR
Microsoft PowerToys get Windows 11 UI updates, universal mic mute, and find my mouse feature
Microsoft is updating its PowerToys for Windows with new UI changes for Windows 11, a universal video conference mute, and a find my mouse feature. The software maker has been gradually improving PowerToys ahead of the Windows 11 launch, with a settings interface to match the OS and now changes to its PowerRename feature that better match the Windows 11 design improvements.
PowerRename, a feature to make it easier to rename files, no longer looks like it has a dialog box from the Windows 7 era. Microsoft has updated PowerRename with a far more modern interface, and easier to find options for renaming files in bulk.
Old vs. new UI for PowerToys Rename! Go get it now in #PowerToys 0.49.. https://t.co/x7xLB6YZyg pic.twitter.com/YjIL2vavfZ
—...
from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3borJFC https://ift.tt/3vUKZnL
The Morning After: Facebook is now called Meta
While Facebook the social network is still Facebook, the overarching company that it created is now called Meta. Facebook Inc. is changing its name in order to distinguish its myriad parts from the social network, which has an increasingly poor reputation pretty much everywhere. Particularly in the last few weeks.
While the company hopes it’ll offer some degree of distraction from current sentiment (and political focus), it’s not going to stop people talking about Facebook Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg announced the new name during his keynote for the company’s Connect event. He said: "From now on, we're going to be metaverse-first, not Facebook first."
The change appears very similar to how Google, the search and tech part, was bundled inside Alphabet — a bigger company to contain all the other parts.
The timing is, perhaps, even odder. The Facebook Papers — internal documents detailing the social network’s major failings and issues — encompassing misinformation, hate speech and censorship, are now public knowledge. Is this a distraction or Facebook wilfully forcing its own transformation at a time when most of us are more interested in how it’s going to fix its current state.
If I don’t want to use Facebook — why would I want to use its take on VR and the metaverse?
-Mat Smith
Meta is retiring the Oculus brand
Facebook Portal will also be known as Meta Portal moving forward.
Following the above announcement, a Facebook post from incoming CTO Andrew "Boz" Bosworth revealed that Meta is retiring the Oculus brand. Beginning in early 2022, the Oculus Quest will instead be known as the Meta Quest. Similarly, the Oculus App will be called Meta Quest App. According to Bosworth, the intention is "to make clear" to consumers Quest is a Meta product. "We all have a strong attachment to the Oculus brand, and this was a very difficult decision to make," Bosworth said. The name is trickling down to other physical products. Facebook Portal will also become Meta Portal.
Teenage Engineering made a mini ITX PC case called Computer–1
The $195 chassis is already sold out.
Teenage Engineering
Teenage Engineering is best known for its synths, but it likes to explore other avenues, from designing wireless buds to games consoles and even an IKEA collaboration. It has announced an ITX PC case it’s calling the Computer-1. The company says it has been working on the design since 2014. “It’s not a ground-breaking PC case, but we like it, and use it every day,” TE says on its website. Alas, iIt’s currently sold out, but you can sign up to get a notification once it is available — which is what I just did.
Mac revenue hit an all-time high last quarter, even without new MacBook Pros
The iPhone remains the money-maker though.
The company just reported its results for the quarter ending on September 30th, and Apple made 29 percent more revenue than a year ago — that's $83.4 billion, for those keeping track. While iPhone sales made up almost 47 percent of Apple's total revenue. While Mac revenue was only up two percent, that was just enough for Apple to say it was a new all-time high for the Mac.
Sony has now sold 13.4 million PS5s
A boost in third-party games helped offset a drop in first-party sales.
Sony's PlayStation 5 sales remain relatively steady and strong, despite widespread supply shortages, with 3.3 million units sold in fiscal Q2 compared to 2.2 million last quarter. That brought total sales up to 13.4 million units, Sony announced. Game sales were also up significantly at 76.4 million units compared to 63.6 million in the previous quarter. The company has already stated that it has enough components for 22.6 million units to be sold by March 2022. That would be enough to meet its sales projections, but if sales really explode during the holidays, that could mean shortages could continue.
Meta’s first leaked product is a watch with a notch
The company is reportedly working on three generations of smartwatches.
Meta
Bloomberg has published an image showing a Facebook/Meta smartwatch with rounded corners. It also has a notch with a front-facing camera. App developer Steve Moser found the image inside the company's app used to control its Ray-Ban Stories AR sunglasses, hinting that it could also be used to control the watch in the future.
The biggest news stories you might have missed
Raspberry Pi packs more power into its $15 Zero 2 W board
'Project Cambria' is a high-end VR headset designed for Facebook's metaverse
Facebook says it doesn't want to own the metaverse, just jumpstart it
Engadget Deals: Shark's self-emptying robot vacuum is nearly half off today
Tesla's Sentry Mode now offers drivers a live view of their car
Nikon officially unveils the 45.7-megapixel Z9 with 8K video and 20 fps burst speeds
Amazon's Prime Gaming titles for November include 'Control Ultimate Edition'
VR hit 'Blade & Sorcery' comes to Oculus Quest 2 on November 4th
Panasonic GH5 II review: A vlogging classic gains speed and streaming powers
from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/2XTOZZ0 https://ift.tt/3pLQaFB
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)