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• The Morning After: LG adds a mic and speaker to its high-tech air-purifying mask
• Astronomers spot possible moon-forming region for the first time
• Corning's new Gorilla Glass protects smartphone cameras while letting in more light
• Kaseya deploys a master decryption key to unlock systems hit by REvil attack
• NASA's InSight probe reveals the first detailed look at the interior of Mars
• Tesla Powerwall owners can sign up to help balance California's energy grid
• GM's hands-free Super Cruise is coming to six more Cadillacs in 2022
• Apple Music's lossless and spatial audio streaming arrive on Android devices
• Instagram tests Limits feature to curb targeted harassment
• Here's everything EA announced at its Play Live 2021 event
• Snapchat just announced its largest user growth in years
• Senate bill would create exception to Section 230 to limit health misinformation
• Rivian is planning to build a second EV factory in the US
• Google expands Android Auto's beta testing program
• The Apple TV 4K (64GB) is on sale for $180 right now
• 'Dead Space' is being remade for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
• Tim Burton-inspired 'Lost in Random' comes to consoles and PC on September 10th
• Battlefield 2042's secret third mode is 'Portal'
• The next Grid game uses the same virtual set tech as 'The Mandalorian'
• Jack Dorsey hopes bitcoin can bring about world peace
• Mercedes plans to go fully electric by the end of the decade
• Panic's Playdate handheld will be available for pre-order on July 29th
• Panic's Playdate handheld isn't for everyone, and that's OK
• Large chunks of the internet went down due a DNS issue
• Epic Games Summer Sale offers deals on ‘Hitman 3,’ ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ and more

The Morning After: LG adds a mic and speaker to its high-tech air-purifying mask Posted: 23 Jul 2021 04:15 AM PDT Remember the high-tech face masks teased during the relatively early days of the COVID-19 pandemic? Not many have made it into stores (or on to our faces) just yet, but that's given companies even more time to build in upgrades. Like LG, which has used the Tokyo Olympics (and the Team Thailand) to showcase its improved wearable air-purifying mask. LG Still packing three fans and a pair of HEPA-style filters, it now also features a smaller, lighter motor and a built-in mic, speaker and voice amplifier. LG says its VoiceOn tech will detect when you're talking and boost the sound so others can hear you — a common issue when you're trying to communicate while wearing any kind of mask. This new version will arrive in Thailand in August. — Mat Smith DNS issue pulls PSN, Steam, LastPass and more offline Fortunately, a fix came a few hours later. Starting at approximately 11:20 AM ET yesterday, Downdetector began logging a spike in outage reports across a variety of online services and websites. Some of the more notable platforms people couldn't connect to included, PSN, LastPass, TikTok, Steam and UPS. Visiting the PlayStation Store and other affected websites would return a DNS error. Akamai said it implemented a fix for the issue it was having with its Edge DNS service, and most sites and services returned to normal. Continue Reading. Facebook spent $23.4 million on Mark Zuckerberg's personal security The CEO's protection costs far eclipsed those of other tech execs. Eduardo Munoz / reuters A new analysis of the security expenses racked up by Silicon Valley giants shows they collectively spent $46 million to safeguard their top brass last year. Of that, $23.4 million alone was spent on Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg's personal security, up from $20.4 million in 2019, according to a report by Protocol. In comparison, Jeff Bezos paid $1.6 million in personal security costs. Continue Reading. Activision Blizzard sued by California over alleged sexist culture Female employees deal with constant sexual harassment, the complaint said. SOPA Images via Getty Images Activision Blizzard is facing a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing for fostering what the agency describes as a "frat boy" workplace. The DFEH sued the company that owns the Call of Duty series and Overwatch after a two-year investigation. It said at the company, in addition to receiving smaller salaries than their male counterparts, female employees were allegedly subjected to constant sexual harassment. Activision Blizzard, denies DEFH's allegations, adding that the lawsuit "includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard's past." Continue Reading. Slack is now officially part of Salesforce The messaging app cost $27.7 billion. Messaging app Slack is now officially a part of Salesforce after completing a deal worth $27.7 billion. The IRC-style client, which cost 27.7 times as much as Instagram when bought by Facebook, will now operate as a standalone unit inside the computing giant. Salesforce intends to use the $27.7 billion Slack as the new interface of Customer 360, its tool for managing its many apps. It also puts Salesforce, which paid, I repeat, $27.7 billion for Slack, into an antitrust war with Microsoft, after the Windows maker bundled Microsoft Teams with its Office suite. Continue Reading. Framework's modular laptop is uncontroversial on purpose It's a laptop designed for the right to repair movement. Daniel Cooper The right to repair movement is all about giving users the right to make basic repairs to their devices without too much fuss. But many companies make it very difficult to get your smartphone or laptop screen replaced after a bump. Framework is a company that has designed its first laptop to be entirely user-serviceable, and easy enough that anyone can do so. Dan Cooper put the machine through its paces, and what it lacks in battery life and sound, it more than makes up for in repairability. Continue Reading. The OnePlus Nord 2 5G makes another good argument for ignoring expensive smartphones But if you're in the US, you won't see it. Mat Smith, Engadget OnePlus has an unusual problem. It's making very good flagship smartphones these days, but at the same time, it's still chasing status as a flagship phone killer. That's where its Nord series comes in, offering premium-looking (and feeling) smartphones at the fraction of a price of flagship devices. The Nord 2 5G is a similar proposition to the original Nord, with some camera improvements and a new processor rounding out the biggest changes. The £399 (roughly $458 before tax) Nord 2 has a slightly more premium style similar to its expensive relatives, like the $729 OnePlus 9. But while it might look the part, is it as good? Mat Smith tested the phone out for a few days. Continue Reading. Jack Dorsey hopes bitcoin can bring about world peace He said issues with the current monetary system distract 'from the bigger problems.' Handout . / reuters Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has long been a bitcoin enthusiast. In fact, he's so optimistic about the cryptocurrency, he reckons it could bring about a more peaceful planet. During a video discussion on cryptocurrency with Elon Musk, another vocal cryptocurrency figure, and Cathie Wood, chief executive of Square stakeholder ARK Invest, he said: "My hope is that it creates world peace or helps create world peace. We have all these monopolies off balance, and the individual doesn't have power, and the amount of cost and distraction that comes from our monetary system today is real and it takes away attention from the bigger problems." Continue Reading. But wait, there's more... PlayStation 5 owners now get six free months of Apple TV+ Introducing Engadget's 2021 Back to School gift guide! Battlefield 2042's secret third mode is 'Portal' Rivian is planning to build a second EV factory in the US Engadget Deals: The Apple TV 4K (64GB) is on sale for $180 right now

Astronomers spot possible moon-forming region for the first time Posted: 23 Jul 2021 03:22 AM PDT While scientists have found plenty of exoplanets over the years, they've yet to spot to moons orbiting those worlds outside our solar system. Now, a group of astronomers has discovered (PDF) what's believed to be a region with exomoons-in-the-making for the first time. Myriam Benisty and team from the University of Grenoble found the disk of dust — the moon-forming region — around a young exoplanet in a star system dubbed PDS 70 located 370 light years from Earth.  The team found the first protoplanet (PDS 70b) in the system back in 2018 using European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. A year later, they found another young gas giant (PDS 70c) using the same equipment. The astronomers believe based on the data they have that the star system is only 10 million years old and that both gas giants are several times bigger than Jupiter. To know more about the system, they focused all other possible instruments on it, including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. ALMA is made up of 66 short-wavelength radio dishes, and its observations made it possible to spot the dust around PDS 70c. The disk of dust spans a distance slightly wider than that between Earth and the Sun, and there's enough mass in there for three moons the same size as ours. Benisty says the moons may have already formed, but there's no conclusive proof yet because they can't be seen with ALMA. According to Science, the Extremely Large Telescope, which will be the world's largest optical telescope when it's built, may have the power to see if the moons have already formed around the protoplanet. The telescope is still under construction, though, and scientific operations won't start until 2027 at the earliest.

Corning's new Gorilla Glass protects smartphone cameras while letting in more light Posted: 23 Jul 2021 02:17 AM PDT Having conquered phone displays, Corning is bringing Gorilla Glass to handset cameras. The company's DX and DX+ range of damage-resistant glass will next be available for mobile camera lens covers, starting with Samsung devices. Alongside the added protection, Corning claims its tech can improve the optical performance of smartphone cameras.  According to the company, DX glass essentially results in less light being reflected by the camera cover lens. Currently, even with the use of an anti-reflective coating, around 92 percent of transmitted light enters a smartphone camera. Corning says that with DX/DX+ on the outside a camera lens can capture 98 percent of light, helping to reduce optical issues like ghosting. These reflections are usually caused by a bright light source during daylight or in low-light conditions. Lens hoods and coatings applied to lens surfaces can help to suppress ghosting, also known as ghost reflections.  Some smartphone makers are already working with specialist suppliers to address the problem. Both Sony and Vivo use a Zeiss coating to boost light transmission while reducing flares, ghosting and reflections on their high-end phones. But, Corning also offers the added benefit of durability and has strong ties with the biggest smartphone makers in the field. The company says its DX glass is scratch resistant and that DX+ approaches the resistance of Sapphire, which is used in high-end watches thanks to its Grade 9 on the Mohs scale — a system for rating the hardness of various minerals. It could even allow you to finally ditch that smartphone case. Gorilla Glass is now featured on 8 billion devices by more than 45 major brands, according to Corning. While Gorilla Glass DX is also available on more than 30 million wearables. Recognizing its integral role as a supplier, Apple poured $450 million into the company as part of two separate investments in 2017 and 2019.

Kaseya deploys a master decryption key to unlock systems hit by REvil attack Posted: 23 Jul 2021 01:12 AM PDT Back on July 2nd, Russia-linked ransomware group REvil staged what ended up as a massive attack on IT management software giant Kaseya, as well as its clients and their customers. The group took advantage of vulnerabilities in the Kaseya software companies use to send out updates to computer networks, allowing it to distribute ransomware to as many as 1,500 businesses and organizations worldwide. Most of them are just small businesses, and some of the victims in New Zealand are schools, which aren't your typical ransomware targets. Now, Kaseya has announced that it has obtained a universal decryptor and will help those "impacted by the incident." REvil originally demanded a payment of $70 million for a universal decryptor that will unlock the data owned by victims of the July 2nd attack. In mid-July, however, the group suddenly fell off the face of the internet. The critical sites it uses to communicate with victims vanished shortly after President Biden revealed that he talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin about ransomware attacks originating from his country. It's still unclear if the group disappeared from the internet as a result of that talk, of an offensive cyber operation conducted by US authorities or of something else entirely.  In its announcement, Kaseya said it "obtained the tool from a third party" and that it worked with software company Emsisoft to confirm that it can unlock victims' data. It also said that it formed teams to actively help "customers affected by the ransomware to restore their environments" and that its representatives will contact clients who haven't heard from the company yet. When BleepingComputer asked Kaseya if it paid the ransom to obtain the key, the company replied that it "can't confirm or deny that." The publication also asked the FBI if it was involved in obtaining the decryption key, but the agency refused to comment on an ongoing investigation. That means that key's origin is still a mystery, though we doubt its source matters for the victims that just want to access their locked data.

NASA's InSight probe reveals the first detailed look at the interior of Mars Posted: 23 Jul 2021 12:18 AM PDT NASA's InSight lander arrived on Mars in 2018 to learn about its interior by monitoring "marsquakes," and now the project is starting to really pay off. NASA has announced that researchers have mapped the red planet's interior and discovered some big surprises and major differences with Earth.  The map is the first ever of the interior of another planet. Compared to Earth, Mars has a thicker crust, thinner mantle layer and a bigger, less dense and more liquid core than expected. That in turn suggests that Mars may have formed millions of years before our planet, when the sun itself was still not fully formed.  "It gives us our first sample of the inside of another rocky planet like Earth, built out of the same materials but very, very different," University of Cambridge seismologist Sanne Cottaar (who wasn't involved in the project) told the Wall Street Journal. "It is impressive." Constructing a map from the limited data provided by InSight was no easy feat. The probe only recorded quakes from one location and has just a single seismometer, for one thing. And Mars — while seismically active — didn't have any quakes larger than around 4 on the Richter scale.  Science Still, taking that data, along with planet's magnetism and orbital wobbles, scientists were able to create a detailed map. The planet's innermost core was found to have a diameter of around 2,275 miles, larger than previously thought. Given the mass of the planet as a whole, that implies that the iron/nickel core likely contains lighter elements like sulfur, oxygen and carbon.  The crust, meanwhile, was found to be very old. It was also thicker in Mars' southern highlands and thinner in the northern lowlands, which may have hosted oceans long ago. On average, it's between 15 and 45 miles thick and split into several layers of volcanic rock. The mantle between the crust and core extends roughly 970 miles below the surface. It's thinner than Earth's and has a different composition which suggests the two planets arose from different materials when they formed. This "might be the simple explanation why we don't see plate tectonics on Mars," ETH Zurich geophysicist and study co-author Amir Khan told the New York Times.  The results has given scientists new insight into not just the inside of Mars, but how rocky planets form in general. That will help them develop new theories about planet formation that could become particularly valuable in the near future, when new instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope will allow astronomers to scan exoplanets around the galaxy. NASA will reveal more about its findings in a live event later today.

Tesla Powerwall owners can sign up to help balance California's energy grid Posted: 22 Jul 2021 10:29 PM PDT Tesla has launched a new program that will allow Powerwall owners to kick power back to the grid in times of high usage. The "Tesla Virtual Power Plant" is now entering a beta phase, letting customers sign up, albeit without any compensation for the time being.  When it first announced the program last week, Tesla noted that "the California grid operator forecasts a continued need for Californians to support the grid through 2021." That could be a big understatement, as the grid is expected to be heavily stressed over the rest of the summer because of record high temperatures boosting demand, along with a severe drought that could reduce output from hydroelectric plants.  Enrollment is now open for "PG&E, SDG&E and SCE customers who own Powerwall and solar," Tesla said in a news release. "Enrolling requires the Tesla app 3.10.14 and a new Powerwall firmware version which will be released soon." Tesla So how will it work? Tesla gave an example showing that the app will give you a push notification warning a few hours ahead of any grid stress events. It will also show the time period that the event will impact your Powerwall usage, as shown above. "Depending on the forecasted severity of the event, your Powerwall may prioritize charging from your solar system in advance of the event to help shift your home's grid use to earlier in the day," Tesla explained. "If Powerwall fully charges before an event, your solar system will resume powering your home and export any excess power to the grid." Tesla noted that customers will not be compensated for contributing to the Virtual Power Plant, though it encouraged users to join up for what it called a "public good." However, customers already on net metering programs will be compensated for any power sent back to the grid as usual, Electrek noted.

GM's hands-free Super Cruise is coming to six more Cadillacs in 2022 Posted: 22 Jul 2021 09:01 PM PDT Beginning the first quarter of next year, GM will make its advanced semi-autonomous driving assistant, Super Cruise, available on six more Cadillac models including the Escalade, CT4,CT5, Silverado, Hummer EV, and Sierra.  "We're excited to expand Super Cruise to even more new models with additional capabilities to provide our customers with even more opportunities to go hands-free," Mario Maiorana, Super Cruise chief engineer, said in a prepared statement. "The additional Super Cruise-enabled vehicles and new features are an important step toward our goal of enabling hands-free driving 95 percent of time and getting people more comfortable with letting go of the wheel." These vehicles will also enjoy a number of additional features that the current generation of Super Cruise users do. These include Trailering capability which enables drivers to engage the system even if they're towing a load behind them, Automatic lane change, and Enhanced navigation display, which will highlight Super Cruise-compatible routes and roads along the way to your driving destination. Now, if you already own a Super Cruise enabled vehicle and want to upgrade to the more advanced system, you are in luck assuming you bought your GM SUV in 2021 as that is the only model year getting an upgrade. If you bought between 1997, when Super Cruise was first introduced, and 2020, sorry but no dice, you'll have to change your own lanes like a schmuck.

Apple Music's lossless and spatial audio streaming arrive on Android devices Posted: 22 Jul 2021 08:45 PM PDT Apple has recently updated its Music app for Android, but it left out a couple of new features you may have been waiting for: support for lossless streaming and spatial audio. Engadget has confirmed that the tech giant has started rolling out the new high-quality streaming options, even though they aren't specifically mentioned in the Android app's release notes.  The company first announced that it's making the streaming options available to subscribers at no extra charge back in May, promising immersive experiences similar to what Tidal HiFi and Amazon Music HD offer. Both options arrived for Apple users back in June, but they're limited to certain albums. Apple promised to make Dolby Atmos content easy to find with curated playlists and special badges, though, and it said lossless streaming will eventually come to its entire catalog with 75 million tracks. You will need to use compatible speakers or headphones to be able to enjoy these new immersive listening experiences, though. Apple previously said that AirPods and Beats earbuds and headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, as well as the speakers on the latest iPhones, iPads and Macs will work with Dolby's spatial audio. You'd have to look up your device's features to make sure it can also access spatial audio streaming. Meanwhile, lossless audio requires a wired connection and won't work with wireless audio devices.

Instagram tests Limits feature to curb targeted harassment Posted: 22 Jul 2021 03:38 PM PDT Instagram is testing a new feature called "Limits" that allows users to lock their accounts and limit any potential interactions when they feel they're the target of harassment. In introducing the tool, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, referenced the recent Euro 2020 final, which saw three Black players on the English National team face a flood of harassment after England lost to Italy when the match went to a penalty shootout. "Racism and hate speech have no place on Instagram," Mosseri said in a video he shared on Thursday. "It is not only honestly fucked up to see people treated that way, but it breaks how Instagram works." In trying to curb harassment on the platform, Mosseri said Instagram plans to try to reduce hate speech to "as close to zero as we possibly can." However, knowing that it will likely be impossible to completely eradicate all forms of racism from the app, the company also plans to give people new tools that will allow them "to take some power back." That's where Limits fits in. "We know that people sometimes are in temporary moments of real risk and pain, and we need to give them tools to protect," Mosseri said of the feature. Ahead of wide rollout, Instagram is currently testing Limits in select countries across the world. In the meantime, Mosseri promised the company would have more to share on how it plans to tackle racism on Instagram in the coming months.

Here's everything EA announced at its Play Live 2021 event Posted: 22 Jul 2021 02:43 PM PDT Electronic Arts held its EA Play Live 2021 event today. During the approximately 40-minute presentation, we got a first look at Grid Legends, a new entry in Codemasters' ongoing racing franchise that will feature a single-player story with live-action performances. Lost in Random, the upcoming Tim Burton-inspired action-adventure game from Fe developer Zoink Games, also got a release date. It's coming out on September 10th on current and last-generation consoles, as well as PC. For Battlefield fans, EA offered a look at 2042's new Portal mode that will allow fans to create their own custom match types that they can share with the game's community.        But EA saved the best news for last. In a short teaser, the publisher confirmed Motive Studios is working on a remake of Dead Space for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S. In addition to more modern graphics courtesy of Dice's Frostbite engine, EA promised gameplay improvements, as well as new story and character elements.

Snapchat just announced its largest user growth in years Posted: 22 Jul 2021 02:09 PM PDT Snapchat is enjoying its highest user growth in years, according to its latest earnings report. Daily active users have increased to 293 million, which is a 23 percent growth from this time last year. That's the best Snap Inc has seen in a while; it tops the company's prior best of 22 percent, which happened four years ago. The number even tops Twitter's, which recently reported 206 million daily users in the second quarter. Overall revenue also increased by a very impressive 116 percent to $982 million, which is its strongest growth rate yet. That's faster than even that of Twitter and Facebook, at least right now. The company also said that Spotlight, its TikTok-like feature that pays users for clips, has grown in popularity. Daily active users of Spotlight grew by 49 percent, and average daily content submissions have more than tripled. Much of this growth can be attributed to pandemic lockdowns ending, as well as a much-improved Android app. In a prior earnings statement, CEO Evan Spiegel said that "as things began to open up in the United States in late February, we saw inflection points in key behaviors like Story posting and engagement with the Snap Map." However, the recent surge of COVID-19 cases point toward an uncertain third quarter.  The company said it so far has not seen too much of a negative effect from Apple's rollout of iOS 14, which forces developers to ask users permission to track their data (often used for ad-targeting). Snap's business officer, Jeremi Gorman, said that the company actually saw relatively high opt-in rates compared to the rest of the industry.  Additionally, Spiegel is hopeful that the development of the app's augmented reality platform will drive engagement even further. Users, for example, can now "try on" clothes and accessories using the app, and the company also unveiled a new pair of Spectacles that have AR built-in. "We are pleased by the progress our team is making with the development of our augmented reality platform, and we are energized by the many opportunities to grow our community and business around the world," he said. "More than 200 million Snapchatters engage with AR every day on average, and over 200,000 creators use Lens Studio to build AR Lenses for our community."

Senate bill would create exception to Section 230 to limit health misinformation Posted: 22 Jul 2021 01:40 PM PDT A week after Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared health misinformation an "urgent threat" to the US public, Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico have introduced new legislation that would modify Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act to strip liability protections from technology companies if their platforms help spread misinformation during a health crisis. If passed, the Health Misinformation Act of 2021 would create an exception to Section 230 that would see social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter "treated as the publisher or speaker of health misinformation" when their platforms algorithmically amplify misleading health content. What falls under the definition of health-related misinformation would be decided by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The exception would only apply during a public health crisis, which the HMS Secretary would have to declare beforehand. In establishing a rationale for the change, the bill cites a joint report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Anti-Vax Watch that found that as much 73 percent of vaccine misinformation on Facebook can be linked to a group of 12 individuals known as the "disinformation dozen." White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently referenced that same report, saying that many of those individuals are still active on the social network. "For far too long, online platforms have not done enough to protect the health of Americans. These are some of the biggest, richest companies in the world and they must do more to prevent the spread of deadly vaccine misinformation," Senator Klobuchar said in a statement. "The coronavirus pandemic has shown us how lethal misinformation can be and it is our responsibility to take action." The bill's introduction also follows a recent statement made by President Joe Biden. He said platforms like Facebook were "killing people" by not doing more to stop vaccine- and health-related misinformation. "We will not be distracted by accusations which aren't supported by facts," a spokesperson for Facebook told Engadget after Biden made his comments. "The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period." The president later walked back his statement, noting the people using the platform to spread their misinformation were the ones doing harm but reiterated his belief that Facebook could do more to combat what was happening. "We have long supported common industry standards and section 230 reform," Kevin Martin, vice-president of public policy at Facebook said after the news broke. "We believe clarification on the difficult and urgent questions about health-related misinformation would be helpful and look forward to working with Congress and the industry as we consider options for reform." Update 10:54PM ET: Added comment from Facebook.

Rivian is planning to build a second EV factory in the US Posted: 22 Jul 2021 12:38 PM PDT Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian is planning to build a second factory. The company may make battery cells as well as EVs at the plant, should it come to fruition. Rivian might make an announcement within the next couple of months and Reuters reports construction could start next year. Rivian spokesperson Amy Mast confirmed to the organization that the company is "exploring locations for a second US manufacturing facility." Mast noted it's early in the process and didn't share additional details. The company's first factory is in Normal, Illinois. Rivian employs around 7,000 people and a second plant would likely create hundreds of new jobs, which seems to be the reason why several states have reportedly made bids. An additional factory would enable Rivian to increase capacity and have a 50 gigawatt-hour battery cell production line, according to the report. The location may also feature a product and technology center, and construction is likely to take place in phases. Meanwhile, Rivian reportedly has a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions at the plant as swiftly as possible. Last week, Rivian delayed initial shipments of the R1T pickup by a couple of months to September and the R1S SUV to the fall. It blamed the effects of COVID-19 as a major factor. The pandemic also resulted in a shift in the timeline for the second factory, according to Reuters.

Google expands Android Auto's beta testing program Posted: 22 Jul 2021 12:07 PM PDT Google has long run an Android Auto beta program, but joining it was almost impossible before today. Those who tried to take part often got an error message that said the program was maxed out. Thankfully, that's no longer the case. Google is expanding the program, giving anyone with an Android device and a willingness to put up with bugs the opportunity to test the platform's latest features before they're available to the public. "As a beta tester, you can help us build a better version of Android Auto. You can test how well new features work with your specific phone and vehicle in your part of the world," Google says of the initiative on a support page. "When you share your feedback, we'll use it to help plan improvements for future releases." You can join the program by visiting the beta opt-in page Google has set up. Click the "Become a tester" button, and then download the beta version of Android Auto from the Play Store. If you eventually decide using unstable software isn't all it's made out to be, you can leave the program. With Google inching closer to the official release of Android 12, the company likely wants to avoid a repeat of last year's Android 11 release. While the operating system was buggy as a whole at release, Android Auto suffered from some particularly rough bugs. There were numerous audio issues and missing apps. In some instances, the software was also known to 'soft-brick' devices like the Pixel 3 XL. So it's no surprise Google wants more help testing the software.

The Apple TV 4K (64GB) is on sale for $180 right now Posted: 22 Jul 2021 11:12 AM PDT Apple gave its TV 4K set-top box some love this year by upgrading the internals and revamping its accompanying Siri remote. But it didn't change the price, which means you'll still pay at least $179 for it. However, Amazon has a new deal that knocks nearly $20 off the 64GB Apple TV 4K, bringing it down to $180. The base, 32GB model has been on sale for $169 for a few weeks at this point, but this new deal essentially lets you get the extra-storage model at the base's original price. Buy Apple TV 4K (64GB) at Amazon - $180 We consider the 2021 Apple TV 4K to be the best high-end streaming box you can get, and it's even more attractive if you live in the Apple ecosystem. It runs on an A12 Bionic processor and it supports Dolby Vision and HDR video at 60fps, plus features like AirPlay 3 and screen mirroring. While navigating the interface of tvOS is a zippy experience, most people probably won't notice a huge performance difference between the old and new models. What's really key to the new Apple TV 4K is the redesigned Siri remote. Now, we're not saying the new remote is reason enough to upgrade if you're happy with your current Apple TV, but it does fix a lot of previous complaints we had. The new Siri remote is larger and easier to use, thanks in part to a revamped directional pad that makes controlling the gadget much smoother. The pad is also touch sensitive, so you can swipe between TV show and movie options more easily. We also found Siri to be even more useful on a device like the Apple TV, since queries tend to be more direct ("Play The Mandalorian" or "Show me some new horror movies") than they are when calling upon the assistant from an iPhone or iPad. Speaking of Siri commands, you can also ask the assistant on the Apple TV 4K to show you video feeds from your security cameras. The set-top box has a HomeKit hub built in, so you can connect various smart lights, locks and cameras to it. Video feeds from cameras, for example, will show up on your TV in picture-in-picture mode, so it won't totally interrupt the show you're watching. The Apple TV 4K will be a tough sell for some since it's more expensive that competing streaming boxes (the Roku Ultra is only $100, and often on sale for less), but those who spend most of their time with Apple products will find its conveniences and integrations worthwhile. Plus, Apple's rolling out spatial audio to tvOS later this year, which means you'll be able to get full Dolby Atmos sound from the Apple TV 4K when listening with AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

'Dead Space' is being remade for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC Posted: 22 Jul 2021 11:05 AM PDT Dead Space is getting a new chance at life. EA revealed a teaser trailer for a remastered version of the original Dead Space, showing off a terrifying necromorph-infested environment and not much else. Motive Studios is developing the game, and it's heading to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.  Here's how EA describes the new endeavor on YouTube: "The sci-fi survival horror classic Dead Space returns, completely rebuilt from the ground up by Motive Studios to offer a deeper and more immersive experience. Harnessing the power of the Frostbite game engine and next generation consoles, this remake brings jaw-dropping visual fidelity and improvements to gameplay while staying true to the original." EA says the new version of Dead Space will include improved story, characters and gameplay mechanics. The original Dead Space came out in 2008 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, and it became an instant classic. The series taps into a space-based brand of horror, with terrifying alien creatures around every corner, creative weaponry, and the constant threat of crushing isolation. All of this should be even spookier on current hardware. There's no word on a release window for the remastered Dead Space just yet.

Tim Burton-inspired 'Lost in Random' comes to consoles and PC on September 10th Posted: 22 Jul 2021 11:04 AM PDT Electronic Arts will release Lost in Random, the latest entry in its ongoing Originals lineup, on September 10th, the publisher announced today during its EA Play Live event. First announced last year, the Tim Burton-inspired adventure game is the latest project from Fe developer Zoink. In Lost in Random, your character Even is on a mission to save her sister. A die named Dicey will join your quest, and their abilities are essential to your success. In its moment-to-moment gameplay, Lost in Random is a mix of a third-person adventure title and deck-building games like Slay the Spire and Griftlands.             EA will release Lost in Random on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. On PC, it will be available on both Steam and Origin.

Battlefield 2042's secret third mode is 'Portal' Posted: 22 Jul 2021 11:00 AM PDT When EA and DICE revealed Battlefield 2042 in June, they had to contend with a wave of leaks and spoiled surprises, but they were able to keep details about the game's third and final mode under wraps. Today, the secret's out. Battlefield Portal is the third mode in Battlefield 2042, and it's all about community interaction and user-created levels. Battlefield Portal includes all seven maps from 2042's All-Out Warfare mode, plus six classic environments from previous Battlefield titles. The classic maps are Battle of the Bulge and El Alamein from Battlefield 1942, Arica Harbor and Valparaiso from Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Caspian Border and Noshahr Canals from Battlefield 3.  EA The mode features pre-programmed, reimagined experiences from these past titles, including conquest, rush and team deathmatch. All of the maps, including the classic ones, will support matches of up to 128 players on PC, Xbox Series consoles and PlayStation 5. As with Battlefield 2042's main All-Out Warfare mode, matches on older-gen hardware will be capped at 64 players. Here's where it gets custom. Along with the updated, old-school playgrounds, Battlefield Portal includes more than 40 weapons, more than 40 vehicles, and more than 30 gadgets from three theaters of war, plus all of the related content from Battlefield 2042. This means the M1 Garand, Panzerschreck, B17 Bomber, Spitfire, defibrillator and other fan-favorite tools are back. EA Factions are also returning to Battlefield Portal. On top of the specialists from Battlefield 2042, the mode features seven armies from the classic games, including the UK, US and Germany out of 1942, and the US and Russia from Bad Company 2. Battlefield Portal also supports classic soldier archetypes like Battlefield 3's assault, recon, support and engineer roles. All of this culminates in the Builder tool in Battlefield Portal. In Builder, players can design their own matches and share them with the community, adjusting a range of settings including the game logic itself. Players will have control over the maps and modes in their custom games, including traits like available factions, weapons and gear; the ability to toggle down sights or go prone; the size of the battle and conditions for victory.  EA Players won't be able to edit any of the actual maps, but overall, Portal has an extremely rich customization mode. All progress in Battlefield Portal is shared across consoles, just like stats in the main game.  Battlefield 2042 — including Battlefield Portal — is due out on October 22nd, for $60 on PC, Xbox One and PS4, and $70 on Xbox Series X/S and PS5. There's still one more game mode yet to be revealed, Hazard Zone. We know it's a "high-stakes squad-based game type never seen before in the Battlefield franchise," and it's not a battle royale mode, but that's about it.

The next Grid game uses the same virtual set tech as 'The Mandalorian' Posted: 22 Jul 2021 10:50 AM PDT Codemasters offered the first look at the next Grid game during EA Play Live. Grid Legends features a story mode that mashes together live-action performances and in-game action. Senior gameplay designer Becky Crossdale said Codemasters harnessed the same extended reality tech that was used to create the world of The Mandalorian. In the story mode, you'll be "front and center in a fly-on-the-wall documentary that captures every moment on and off the track" during the Grid World Series, according to EA. The cast includes Ncuti Gatwa (Netflix's Sex Education). You'll be able to race in and upgrade more than 100 vehicles, including touring cars, big rigs, single seaters and stadium trucks. With the race creator, you can set up a showdown between a variety of mixed-class rides. There will also be more than 130 tracks to race on including real-life locations like Brands Hatch and Indianapolis and street routes in the likes of San Francisco, Paris, London and Moscow. Grid Legends is coming to PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2022. Codemasters plans to reveal more details in the coming months.

Jack Dorsey hopes bitcoin can bring about world peace Posted: 22 Jul 2021 10:10 AM PDT Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has long been a bitcoin enthusiast. In fact, he's so optimistic about the cryptocurrency, he reckons it could bring about a more peaceful planet. The billionaire suggested bitcoin could help address financial inequalities and allow humanity to concentrate on bigger issues. "My hope is that it creates world peace or helps create world peace," Dorsey said. "We have all these monopolies off balance and the individual doesn't have power and the amount of cost and distraction that comes from our monetary system today is real and it takes away attention from the bigger problems." "All these distractions that we have to deal with on a daily basis take away from those bigger goals that affect every single person on this planet and increasingly so," he said, as CNBC notes. "You fix that foundational level and everything above it improves in such a dramatic way. It's going to be long-term but my hope is definitely peace." He made the comments during a panel called "bitcoin as a tool for economic empowerment" at a virtual conference called The B Word. Tesla CEO and crypto market mover Elon Musk and Cathie Wood, chief executive of Square stakeholder ARK Invest, also took part in the discussion. Dorsey spoke in 2018 of his belief that bitcoin would become the planet's "single currency" within a decade. Earlier this month, Square confirmed plans to make a bitcoin hardware wallet. Dorsey also said last week the company is building a "decentralized financial services" business that aims to replicate monetary systems like banks and exchanges with cryptocurrency. There are many hurdles standing between the current state of crypto and the potential for it leading to world peace, such as unreliable internet access in many regions. The power consumption required for bitcoin mining and to process transactions are also at odds with Dorsey's vision, given the environmental impact of many cryptocurrencies.  Earlier this year, Musk said Tesla would stop taking bitcoin payments for vehicles because it was "concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions." However, he noted during this week's conference that Tesla may resume such payments. "I wanted a little bit more due diligence to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy usage is most likely at or above 50%, and that there is a trend towards increasing that number, and if so Tesla would resume accepting bitcoin," he said.

Mercedes plans to go fully electric by the end of the decade Posted: 22 Jul 2021 10:10 AM PDT Mercedes Benz announced its latest step towards electrification on Thursday, asserting that the company will offer BEV versions of its model lineup "in all segments the company serves" by 2022 and that "all newly launched architectures will be electric-only" starting in 2025. "The EV shift is picking up speed — especially in the luxury segment, where Mercedes-Benz belongs. The tipping point is getting closer and we will be ready as markets switch to electric-only by the end of this decade," Ola Källenius, CEO of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, said in a prepared statement. "This step marks a profound reallocation of capital. By managing this faster transformation while safeguarding our profitability targets, we will ensure the enduring success of Mercedes-Benz." To do so, MBZ plans to invest some €40 billion into BEV technology between 2022 and 2030. What's more, in the 2025 model year, MBZ will introduce a trio of EV-specific architectures: MB.EA for full-size passenger vehicles, AMG.EA for performance EVs geared towards existing AMG customers, and VAN.EA, Mercedes' new line of light commercial EVs and service vans. Mercedes plans to build and operate eight gigafactories in the coming years to help accommodate the 200 gigawatts of battery production capacity the company anticipates it will need for all these new BEVs it will be making.

Panic's Playdate handheld will be available for pre-order on July 29th Posted: 22 Jul 2021 10:00 AM PDT Last month, Panic said that the Playdate, its tiny gaming handheld with a crank, will finally be available for pre-order in July, but did not reveal the actual date. Now, however, it has. The company just announced that you'll be able to pre-order the Playdate for $179 on July 29th at 1pm ET. Additionally, the Playdate Cover, a purple protective cover for the handheld, will also be available for pre-order for $29. If you're going to get both, it makes more sense to just get the Playdate and Cover bundle, which is priced at $199. As for the recently announced Playdate Stereo Dock, however, that isn't ready for pre-orders just yet as it's still in development. According to a press release, Panic said that the first batch of Playdate units, which should be around 20,000, will start shipping by the end of this year. After selling this initial allotment, it will then ship subsequent orders in 2022. The company also wanted to assure customers that the Playdate will never "sell out;" you'll just have to wait in line, as the production is adjusted based on demand. Pre-orders will require payment upfront, but Panic says it can be cancelled at any time for a full refund. Orders are limited to two units per person. The Playdate will ship initially to the following countries — the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. It's also looking into selling the devices in Malaysia, where the factory is located (if you're in Malaysia, you can fill out this form so Panic can keep you posted). International shipping costs will include any duties or taxes. If you still can't get enough Playdate, Panic also announced that it's debuting a new Playdate-focused podcast next week that will give you a lot more background and information about the little handheld gaming console. While you're waiting that, you can check out our initial preview of the Playdate here.

Panic's Playdate handheld isn't for everyone, and that's OK Posted: 22 Jul 2021 10:00 AM PDT Nearly two years after the Playdate made its public debut, Panic's quirky gaming handheld with a crank is ready for the masses. The company recently announced that the Playdate will be available for pre-order on July 29th for $179, with a ship date of later this year. I've been playing with a "press preview" version of the Playdate for the past couple of weeks, and while it's not perfect, I still think it's an incredibly charming handheld with a lot of potential. The question is whether there'll be enough interest — from both developers and consumers — to keep it going for the long haul. For the uninitiated, the Playdate is not just Panic's first-ever gaming handheld; it's also the company's first piece of hardware, period. Panic made its name making Mac software like Transmit and Coda, and has recently ventured into publishing indie games such as Firewatch, Untitled Goose Game and the yet-to-be-released Nour: Play With Your Food. From its inception, Panic wanted Playdate to be a different kind of handheld; instead of something mainstream like Nintendo's Switch, it was supposed to be more like the Game & Watch devices of yore, but with a modern twist. "We didn't want it to be too cool, but we didn't want it to be too goofy," said Cabel Sasser, Panic's co-founder. Thanks to a design collaboration with Teenage Engineering, known mostly for making quirky audio gear, the Playdate certainly fulfills that brief. The hardware is tiny; about the size of a stack of Post-It notes (76 x 74 x 9 mm), and has a black-and-white screen. But its most unique design feature is its fold-out crank, which acts as an additional game controller. It's this combination of silly and adorable that adds to the Playdate's charm, and I'll fully admit that I fell for it the first time I tried a prototype back in 2019. Engadget The aforementioned preview unit I have on-hand is the final hardware, though the software isn't quite there yet. Everything is similar to how it was two years ago. The button placement is the same, with the D-pad and A and B buttons under the display, the menu button on the right, and the lock button sitting on the top (you activate the Playdate by pressing the lock button twice; pressing it again will enable standby mode). All the controls feel responsive enough, with a pleasant clickiness. On the side is the mono speaker, which is surprisingly loud and clear given its size. Underneath is a 3.5mm headphone jack plus a USB-C charging port. Most important to me, however, was that crank, which is housed on the Playdate's right side. To access it, simply flip it open to reveal a small rotating yellow handle, which you can then use to rotate the arm backwards or forwards. The whole contraption feels a lot more solid than I remember; the rotation feels silky smooth, but it isn't so loose that it continues to spin when I let go. This is a good thing, as it allows for more precise control, which turns out to be quite important in certain games. Internally, the Playdate has a 180 MHz Cortex M7 CPU, 16MB of RAM, 4GB of Flash storage, Bluetooth, and 802.11 bgn 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. The Playdate is molded from what Panic says is an extremely durable engineering thermoplastic, and the screen is laminated to a hardened glass face. That aforementioned crank is also pretty solid; it's made out of stainless steel, and the handle is plastic with a stainless steel core. The Playdate will likely survive the occasional jostle in your pocket or bag. But if you want to keep it completely free of blemishes, Panic does offer a cover for $29 (You could also purchase the Playdate bundled with the cover for $199). Engadget While I do like the hardware for the most part, I have to admit I have a somewhat love-hate relationship with the screen. One of the reasons Panic chose to go with a Sharp Memory LCD was because of its super-sharp pixels that use very little power (Pebble aficionados might recall that its eponymous smartwatch used Sharp Memory LCDs as well). I agree that the black and white images do look very crisp, especially in bright sunlight. However, the Playdate lacks any kind of backlight or front light, which means it's terrible in dim environments. Maybe it's because I live and work in a relatively dark room, but I found this rather annoying. At one point I had to position a book light underneath the Playdate just to play a game on the couch. I should note that the Playdate does last a long time in between charges. I've left it unplugged for nearly two weeks now, and even though I've played a few hours every day, it still has over half of its battery life left. I also noticed an "Upside Down" mode in the Settings menu, which turns the screen, well, upside down. When asked, Sasser said that this is an experimental mode for left-handed users who want to use the crank with their left hands. He did say, however, that this is feature is still subject to change. As wonderful as the hardware is, the real value of the Playdate is the content. Though the device costs $179, it will now come with 24 different titles instead of the initial 12 (it'll also ship with 4GB of storage instead of 2). My preview unit only came with four games however: Crankin's Time Travel Adventure, Lost Your Marbles, Saturday Edition and Whitewater Wipeout. Engadget I had already played Crankin' a couple of years ago when I tried the Playdate for the first time. Designed by Katamari Damacy's Keita Takahashi, the only controller in this game is the crank, which you'll use to hurry Crankin along his path to meet his girlfriend, Crankette. Spinning it forward will move him forward, while spinning it backward will get Crankin to do the same. The trick is that you have to navigate various obstacles like bees and birds, which exist outside the flow of time. So as you rush along, you have to position Crankin in such a way that he can avoid them. For example, you'll want Crankin to bend down to smell the flowers exactly when the bees fly overhead. That might seem like a relatively easy premise, but the obstacles get more complicated as the levels progress, forcing me to replay them several times before I can get them right. Currently, I'm stuck on level five despite multiple attempts. Guess I'm not going to see Crankette any time soon. I much prefer Lost Your Marbles, which was designed by Sweet Baby Inc & Friends. In this game, a girl named Prota is going to work for a cat scientist named Marbels (no that's not a typo), but unwittingly brings her dog Minty along on her first day. Let's just say that things don't go well, and Minty eventually goes missing. Somehow, Prota also, uh, loses her "marbles" in the process. As Prota goes around town trying to find her dog, you answer questions by using the crank to roll a marble around an obstacle-filled construction, making sure that the marble hits the answer you want (It's not explicitly said, but my guess is that the marble puzzle here represents Prota's brain). Engadget I found it a little tricky to control the marble, so I ended up picking a lot of what I thought were incorrect answers. But I soon found out that there's really no such thing as the wrong answer in this game. That's because the weirder the answer, the more hilarious the story becomes. For example, when you're picking the photo for Minty's missing dog poster, one of the options is for her butt. I didn't mean to select it, but I did so accidentally. I know this all sounds incredibly silly, and it is, but I also found the whole thing very amusing. Saturday Edition, on the other hand, is a lot more serious, at least on the surface. Developed by Chris Makris, this is a point-and-click style adventure game which doesn't use the crank at all. Instead, all navigation is done via the D-pad and A and B buttons. In this game, you play the character of John Kornfield who's had a long history with aliens, but is currently on Earth. The game opens with him in his apartment, and the cops are knocking on the door. Using the controls, you're able to interact with various elements in the apartment like listening to the answering machine or opening the microwave. The game suggested to me that it's a lot wiser to exit the apartment via the fire escape instead, so I did. I'll admit that I haven't gotten very far in this game — I've so far only been to his office and the nearby shopping mall. I do find the story quite intriguing so far, but I'm going to have to sink in a few more hours before I uncover all the game's secrets. Engadget Last but not least is Whitewater Wipeout, by Chuhai Labs. All you have to do here is surf for as long as possible, performing tricks along the way to earn points. Like Crankin, the only controller here is the crank, which you'll use to move the surfboard. The highest score I've achieved so far is 35, which is not great at all. There will eventually be a global leaderboard which you can use to compare your skills to others. If it isn't obvious by now, my favorite games are the ones with a heavy story element, such as Lost Your Marbles and Saturday Edition. I am not very good with hand-eye coordination, so Crankin' and Wipeout are not really my thing. I'll also add that after a week or so of playing the same four games over and over, I got bored pretty quickly. Thankfully, however, the Playdate will definitely be getting more games. As part of its $179 price, the console actually comes bundled with a season's worth of titles — 24 games in total. The first two games will start downloading the moment you activate your Playdate, and then you'll get two games every Monday thereafter for 11 weeks. That is, fundamentally, the sticking point with any console like this — as quirky and glorious as the hardware is, it'll live and die in the amount of new games you can add to this on a regular basis. The indie gaming community has already embraced the Playdate wholeheartedly — tens of thousands of developers have already expressed interest in making games for it — and the company announced that they'll be able to sell software and games that can be sideloaded to the device. There's no denying that the Playdate is a fairly niche device — it's an indie handheld made for indie games — and that's the very thing that is so appealing about it. But it's unclear if interest in the Playdate will last beyond its initial release.

Large chunks of the internet went down due a DNS issue Posted: 22 Jul 2021 09:19 AM PDT If you can't access online services like Sony's PlayStation Network and Steam, as well as websites like Airbnb, you're not the only one. Starting at approximately 11:20AM ET, Downdetector began logging a spike in outage reports across a variety of online services and websites. Outside of PSN and Steam, some of the more notable platforms people can't seem to connect to include LastPass, TikTok and UPS. Visiting the PlayStation Store and other affected websites, they come back with a DNS error.  Based on Twitter reports, the source of the problem is Akamai, one of the largest content delivery networks in the world. "We are aware of an emerging issue with the Edge DNS service," the company said in an update it posted on its website at 12:09PM ET. "We are actively investigating the issue." As of the writing of this article, Akamai has not said what's causing the issue.  DNS outages aren't uncommon, but it's not often they make large parts of the internet inaccessible. In recent memory, one of the most disruptive occurred in 2016 when a teen used the infamous Mirai malware to build out a botnet and carry out a series of distributed denial of service attacks against Dyn, one of the largest DNS providers in the US. The attacks made it so that people in the US and parts of Europe couldn't access websites like Amazon, GitHub, PayPal and Reddit for almost an entire day. The individual behind the Dyn cyberattack eventually pleaded guilty for what they did, but not before a variety of groups like Anonymous and New World Hackers claimed responsibility. Update 12:54PM ET: Moments ago, Akamai said it implemented a fix for the issue it was having with its Edge DNS service. Many of the websites that were affected by the outage are starting to come back online, including PSN. Downdetector is also tracking fewer outage reports.  We have implemented a fix for this issue, and based on current observations, the service is resuming normal operations. We will continue to monitor to ensure that the impact has been fully mitigated. — Akamai Technologies (@Akamai) July 22, 2021

Epic Games Summer Sale offers deals on ‘Hitman 3,’ ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ and more Posted: 22 Jul 2021 09:10 AM PDT The Epic Mega Sale and Steam Summer Sale may have come and gone, but if you want to save on some PC games, you have another chance to do so. The Epic Games Store is kicking off its Summer Sale today. Unfortunately, the Epic Coupon isn't back this time around, but there are decent deals to be found all the same. If you're looking to save on a relatively new game, you can get 20 percent off of Sony's Days Gone and half off on EGS exclusive Hitman 3. Other highlights we've spotted include 66 percent off of Frostpunk, 90 percent off of Deponia: The Complete Journey and a third off on Cyberpunk 2077. As with other EGS sales, bundles are the way to go. For instance, you can get the entire Mafia trilogy for $32.99 instead of $59.00. As always, there are many more games that are on sale. So take a look to see what Epic has on offer to see if there's a game you've been waiting to check out. The sale ends on August 5th.

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