Friday, August 13, 2021

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Apple's Tom Hanks sci-fi movie 'Finch' arrives November 5th

Posted: 13 Aug 2021 01:59 AM PDT

Apple has given a release date for the second of two Tom Hanks films it acquired during the pandemic. Finch, a futuristic tale about a reclusive inventor and his canine and robot road buddies, hits Apple TV+ on November 5th. Like Hanks' war movie Greyhound before it, the film became a casualty of the pandemic, mired by release date delays until Apple swooped in to acquire it from Universal. The robot (pictured above) is played by Caleb Landry Jones, fresh off a best actor win at Cannes. 

Hanks plays the titular character, an ailing robotics engineer who emerges from his self-imposed underground exile to journey across a desolate American wasteland. Along for the ride are his dog, Goodyear, and an android who names himself Jeff. Together, they make a dysfunctional family, but can they learn to get along? I guess we'll have to wait till November to find out. 

Finch is also loaded with offscreen talent. The good-natured sci-fi flick is directed by Emmy-winning Game of Thrones lead Miguel Sapochnik, with Alien scribe Ivor Powell and newcomer Craig Luck on screenwriting duties. While director Robert Zemeckis serves as an exec-producer and the film hails from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, which may explain why the plot gives off major Cast Away and AI vibes.

The November release date also signals Apple's possible confidence in the film's awards chances. Either that or it's just looking to add a major movie to its fall line-up, which is already stocked with big hitters like sci-fi series Foundation, the second season of The Morning Show and current affairs show The Problem with Jon Stewart.

Disney says it found ways to compensate talent in the wake of 'Black Widow' lawsuit

Posted: 13 Aug 2021 12:05 AM PDT

Disney has apparently found "ways to fairly compensate" talent, even if it continues its hybrid release strategy. Company CEO Bob Chapek said during an earnings call that Disney has "entered hundreds of talent arrangements with [its] talent and by and large, they've gone very very smoothly." Chapek's statement comes in the wake of the lawsuit Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson filed against the company over its streaming strategy. 

Johansson's salary was tied to the movie's box office success, and her original contract didn't cover earnings from a hybrid release. According to her complaint, she could lose over $50 million due to the company's decision to simultaneously launch Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+, where it made $60 million during its opening weekend. Back then, Disney released a statement calling the lawsuit "especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic." 

Now, Chapek said Disney is "trying to do the best thing for all [its] constituents and make sure that everybody who's in the value chain... feels like they're having their contractual commitments honored both from a distribution and a compensation standpoint." He didn't talk about specifics, however, or Johansson's lawsuit in particular. In Johansson's complaint, she said her camp tried to renegotiate her deal with the company upon learning about the simultaneous release. However, Disney and Marvel were allegedly unresponsive.

Chapek also talked about implementing an experimental release strategy for Shang-Chi. Unlike Black Widow, it will be a theater-exclusive for 45 days before making its way to Disney+. Further, subscribers may be able to watch it for free instead of having to pay extra for it like they've had to do with Mulan. 

Google makes Meet moderation easier by allowing up to 25 people to co-host

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 10:53 PM PDT

It can be hard for a single host to manage large unruly video meetings, particularly given the complexity and features available in video conferencing apps these days. Now, Google has a solution for its Meet app with a new feature that allows you to have up to 25 co-hosts in a meeting, as 9to5Google has reported. That way, they can split chore like muting participants, launching polls, managing Q&As and more, while you focus on the business at hand. 

Until now, the feature was only available to Google Workspace for Education customers. Now, it's on all of Google's Meet apps across desktop and mobile, including users with personal Google accounts.

On top of that, Google introduced new controls for meeting hosts, which can be extended to co-hosts. All hosts will be able to limit who can share their screen, limit who can send chat messages, mute all with one click, end the meeting for all and control who can join the meeting and how they can join with the "quick access" setting. The latter allows participants in the same domain to enter automatically. 

"Quick access" allows automatic video call entry for users in the same domain. If disabled, hosts must join first, and those that are not invited will have to request permission to enter. Otherwise, the host must join first and give permission to anyone who isn't invited. 

The last feature, the "People" panel, adds search to let hosts quickly find participants if moderation actions are needed. The new features will begin rolling out next week on the web and Meet for Android, and the iOS version will arrive at the end of the month. 

Google's Nest Hub will display air quality levels as wildfire season continues

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 09:01 PM PDT

Google is updating its Nest Hub displays with a new feature that displays the air quality index (AQI), Android Central has reported. The feature will appear on the weather widget, showing a numeric ranking from 0 to 500 and color coding from green (good) to maroon (hazardous). Google is taking the data from the US government's AQI site used by the EPA to monitor air quality across the US. 

Along with the AQI index and colors in the weather widget, Nest display owners can also ask Google Assistant for air quality information by saying "what's the air quality near me" or something similar. You can also ask Assistant to give alerts when the air quality your location drops to unsafe levels, a feature that could be handy for folks with respiratory problems. 

The feature is rolling out as wildfires rage across the western United States, particularly in Oregon and California. "Between wildfire season and recent increased efforts to reduce air pollution, it's more important than ever to know about the air quality in your area," Google said in a Nest community update. 

The update will be rolling out in select markets "over the coming weeks," hopefully in those regions affected by wildfires and smoke. In our review, we called the $100 Nest Hub (2nd generation) "a great smart display and mediocre sleep tracker." 

Want a 1972 Ford Bronco turned into an EV? It'll cost you $380,000

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 04:01 PM PDT

While it seems we won't have to wait much longer for Ford to announce an all-electric Bronco, it probably won't have the same classic styling as the 1972 version of the SUV. But if you have at least $260,000 in the bank, a company called Gateway Bronco will happily build you a vintage Bronco that's specced like a modern EV. This week, it announced two new models, the Fuelie Electric and Luxe-GT Electric, that feature 220 kW electric motors that the company claims can accelerate the former gas-guzzler from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than five seconds.

Gateway Bronco EV
Gateway Bronco

Range on the less expensive Fuelie model comes in at a claimed 200 miles, while the Luxe-GT (pictured throughout), which starts at an eye-watering $380,000, can travel up to 300 miles on a single charge. Other noteworthy features include 18-inch wheels that Gateway Bronco has fitted with Wilwood disc brakes and 33-inch Toyo tires. You also get a seven-year warranty on the electric drivetrain. Oh, and the interior looks sublime.

Bronco
Gateway Bronco

Even when you account for inflation and the cost of all the modern technology Gateway Bronco has included in the Fuelie and Luxe-GT, a minimum of $260,000 is a lot of money for a restomod of a car that cost $2,194 in 1966. But it's about the going rate for electric conversions of this type. You could do the work yourself once automakers like Chevy release electric crate motors later in the year, but you're still likely looking at an expensive project.

Wendy's plans 700 kitchens expressly for food delivery apps

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 03:02 PM PDT

Given how convenient it is to tap a few buttons and have someone bring dinner to your door, food delivery isn't likely to drop in popularity anytime soon. Wendy's is looking to meet surging demand by opening hundreds of delivery-only kitchens in the next few years. The likes of Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub will handle orders.

Wendy's is planning to open 700 such kitchens in the US, UK and Canada by 2025, as the Associated Press reports. The locations will primarily be in major cities and the first 50 should be up and running this year.

Reef Technology, which already manages around 5,000 so-called "ghost kitchens," will open the Wendy's locations and hire workers. Wendy's will take around a six percent cut of sales, which are expected to hit at least $500,000 annually at each kitchen.

The concept of ghost kitchens has been around for several years. They're kitchens without storefronts that make food orders only for delivery or pickup — some are run out of existing brick-and-mortar restaurants. Other fast food chains have experimented with the idea, including Chick-fil-A and Chipotle. Meanwhile, YouTuber MrBeast uses ghost kitchens for his burger chain, which has more than 900 locations. 

Facebook delays office re-opening to January 2022

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 02:17 PM PDT

Facebook employees will be working from home at least until the end of the year. The company has pushed back its plans to bring US employees back to the office due to concerns about rising COVID cases due to the delta variant. The company had said earlier this summer that it planned to reopen US offices at 50 percent capacity by September. But that timeline has now been pushed back to January as cases have risen.

"Data, not dates, is what drives our approach for returning to the office," the company said in a statement to CNBC. "Given the recent health data showing rising Covid cases based on the delta variant, our teams in the U.S. will not be required to go back to the office until January 2022. We expect this to be the case for some countries outside of the US, as well. We continue to monitor the situation and work with experts to ensure our return to office plans prioritize everyone's safety."

Facebook made headlines in early 2020 for being among the first to close its offices, well before many areas instituted their own lockdowns policies. The company has also said that it will require its US employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Whenever it does re-open, it's likely that work will look and feel much different to many employees. The company has said it will embrace remote work going forward, with Mark Zuckerberg saying that as much as 50 percent of the company's workforce could remote in the next 5-10 years.

HomePods get spatial audio and Apple Music lossless support in latest beta

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 02:03 PM PDT

It looks like HomePod and HomePod mini will soon have support for spatial audio and lossless audio via Apple Music. The HomePod 15 beta 5 includes options that enable lossless and Dolby Atmos playback.

Not all beta users will see the toggles, according to 9to5Mac. If you're running the latest iOS 15 and HomePod betas, you can check whether they're active by accessing the home options menu in the Home app, tapping your profile, then Media and Apple Music.

Earlier this year, Apple said it would bring Apple Music lossless streaming to HomePod and HomePod mini through a software update, but it didn't provide a timeline. Now, it seems the speakers will be able to stream lossless music soon (unless the option's already life for you in the beta).

Apple is expected to roll out its latest operating systems broadly within the next couple of months. When it does, you'll be able to pair a second HomePod mini to Apple TV for stereo audio.

Amazon ditches policy claiming ownership of employees’ personal games

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 01:07 PM PDT

Amazon has reportedly scrapped a policy that claimed ownership rights to any games that employees created outside of work. Under the previous rules, the company required employees to using Amazon products while working on personal projects and to distribute those games on its storefronts.

Those policies are longer in place, according to Bloomberg. In an email to staff seen by the publication, Amazon Game Studios head Mike Frazzini said the company was dropping the rules immediately. "These policies were originally put in place over a decade ago when we had a lot less information and experience than we do today, and as a result, the policies were written quite broadly," Frazzini wrote. Engadget has contacted Amazon for comment.

Amazon received a backlash over the rules after an engineer who interviewed at the company disclosed the Amazon Personal Games policy. The rules granted Amazon "a royalty free, worldwide, fully paid-up, perpetual, transferable license" to the intellectual property of games its employees made off the clock. The policy was decried as "draconian" by some developers when a now-deleted tweet from the engineer gained traction.

However, Amazon isn't the only company to have enacted such a policy. Google has also been accused of claiming ownership of employees' own external projects.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 3 will be the first foldable phone available on Google Fi

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 12:54 PM PDT

When the Galaxy Z Flip 3 goes on sale later this month, you'll be able to buy it from Google Fi, marking the first time the MVNO has sold a foldable device. Moreover, if you decide to pre-order the clamshell phone from the search giant, you can get a $400 bill credit.

If you're new to the carrier, you'll need to port your number to Fi from your current wireless provider. As part of the promotion, you can also get a $150 credit from Samsung, which you can use on its website, provided you order the foldable before its August 27th release date and then register your purchase through the Samsung Shop app before the end of September 26th. The credit is valid until November 9th. You can find the full details of the deal on Google's website.

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Flip 3 at its Unpacked event on Wednesday, it said it was ready to make foldables mainstream. With a more affordable $1,000 price tag, the company certainly has a chance to make that happen. It also doesn't hurt to have aggressive promotions like the one Google is offering through Fi.

Microsoft rolls out updated Mail, Calendar and Calculator apps to Windows 11 testers

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 12:04 PM PDT

Microsoft is updating some of the apps that come preloaded with Windows 11. To start, you'll find a new version of the Snipping Tool that borrows a handful of features from Microsoft's Snip & Sketch app. Press the "Win," "Shift" and "S" keys on your keyboard simultaneously to activate the software and then select the part of your screen you want to capture. Once you've snapped a screenshot, you'll find various tools that allow you to edit and annotate the image. With Windows 11, the Snipping Tool also finally includes a dark mode, and you can set it independent of your system theme.

Windows 11 Snipping Tool
Microsoft

Microsoft is also updating the Mail and Calendar apps in Windows 11. You'll notice they now feature rounded corners "and other adjustments" that should help make them feel more like a natural extension of the operating system.

Last but certainly not least, the humble calculator app has received some love from Microsoft. It too now includes a dark mode you can set independent of Windows. The company has also rewritten the software in C# in hopes of more people contributing to its development over on GitHub.

According to Dave Grochocki, a senior program manager lead for Windows inbox apps, Microsoft plans to release "even more updates to the apps that come in Windows 11." Look for previews of those to arrive before the company releases Windows 11 later this year. In the meantime, you can test the newly updated apps if you're in the Windows Insider Dev Channel.

Why Apple's child safety updates are so controversial

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 11:30 AM PDT

Last week, Apple previewed a number of updates meant to beef up child safety features on its devices. Among them: a new technology that can scan the photos on users' devices in order to detect child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Though the change was widely praised by some lawmakers and child safety advocates, it prompted immediate pushback from many security and privacy experts, who say the update amounts to Apple walking back its commitment to putting user privacy above all else.

Apple has disputed that characterization, saying that its approach balances both privacy and the need to do more to protect children by preventing some of the most abhorrent content from spreading more widely.

What did Apple announce?

Apple announced three separate updates, all of which fall under the umbrella of "child safety." The most significant — and the one that's gotten the bulk of the attention — is a feature that will scan iCloud Photos for known CSAM. The feature, which is built into iCloud Photos, compares a user's photos against a database of previously identified material. If a certain number of those images is detected, it triggers a review process. If the images are verified by human reviewers, Apple will suspend that iCloud account and report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Apple also previewed new "communication safety" features for the Messages app. That update enables the Messages app to detect when sexually explicit photos are sent or received by children. Importantly, this feature is only available for children who are part of a family account, and it's up to parents to opt in.

Apple's new Messages feature for children will send warnings when sexually explicit images are sent or received.
Apple

If parents do opt into the feature, they will be alerted if a child under the age of 13 views one of these photos. For children older than 13, the Messages app will show a warning upon receiving an explicit image, but won't alert their parents. Though the feature is part of the Messages app, and separate from the CSAM detection, Apple has noted that the feature could still play a role in stopping child exploitation, as it could disrupt predatory messages.

Finally, Apple is updating Siri and its search capabilities so that it can "intervene" in queries about CSAM. If someone asks how to report abuse material, for example, Siri will provide links to resources to do so. If it detects that someone might be searching for CSAM, it will display a warning and surface resources to provide help.

When is this happening and can you opt out?

The changes will be part of iOS 15, which will roll out later this year. Users can effectively opt out by disabling iCloud Photos (instructions for doing so can be found here). However, anyone disabling iCloud Photos should keep in mind that it could affect your ability to access photos across multiple devices.

So how does this image scanning work?

Apple is far from the only company that scans photos to look for CSAM. Apple's approach to doing so, however, is unique. The CSAM detection relies on a database of known material, maintained by NCMEC and other safety organizations. These images are "hashed" (Apple's official name for this is NeuralHash) — a process that converts images to a numerical code that allows them to be identified, even if they are modified in some way, such as cropping or making other visual edits. As previously mentioned, CSAM detection only functions if iCloud Photos is enabled. What's notable about Apple's approach is that rather than matching the images once they've been sent to the cloud — as most cloud platforms do — Apple has moved that process to users' devices.

Apple's CSAM hashing system, NeuralHash.
Apple

Here's how it works: Hashes of the known CSAM are stored on the device, and on-device photos are compared to those hashes. The iOS device then generates an encrypted "safety voucher" that's sent to iCloud along with the image. If a device reaches a certain threshold of CSAM, Apple can decrypt the safety vouchers and conduct a manual review of those images. Apple isn't saying what the threshold is, but has made clear a single image wouldn't result in any action.

Apple also published a detailed technical explanation of the process here.

Why is this so controversial?

Privacy advocates and security researchers have raised a number of concerns. One of these is that this feels like a major reversal for Apple, which five years ago refused the FBI's request to unlock a phone and has put up billboards stating "what happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone." To many, the fact that Apple created a system that can proactively check your images for illegal material and refer them to law enforcement, feels like a betrayal of that promise.

In a statement, the Electronic Frontier Foundation called it "a shocking about-face for users who have relied on the company's leadership in privacy and security." Likewise, Facebook — which has spent years taking heat from Apple over its privacy missteps — has taken issue with the iPhone maker's approach to CSAM. WhatsApp chief, Will Cathcart, described it as "an Apple built and operated surveillance system."

More specifically, there are real concerns that once such a system is created, Apple could be pressured — either by law enforcement or governments — to look for other types of material. While CSAM detection is only going to be in the US to start, Apple has suggested it could eventually expand to other countries and work with other organizations. It's not difficult to imagine scenarios where Apple could be pressured to start looking for other types of content that's illegal in some countries. The company's concessions in China — where Apple reportedly "ceded control" of its data centers to the Chinese government — are cited as proof that the company isn't immune to the demands of less-democratic governments.

There are other questions too. Like whether it's possible for someone to abuse this process by maliciously getting CSAM onto someone's device in order to trigger them losing access to their iCloud account. Or whether there could be a false positive, or some other scenario that results in someone being incorrectly flagged by the company's algorithms.

What does Apple say about this?

Apple has strongly denied that it's degrading privacy or walking back its previous commitments. The company published a second document in which it tries to address many of these claims.

On the issue of false positives, Apple has repeatedly emphasized that it is only comparing users' photos against a collection of known child exploitation material, so images of, say, your own children won't trigger a report. Additionally, Apple has said that the odds of a false positive is around one in a trillion when you factor in the fact that a certain number of images must be detected in order to even trigger a review. Crucially, though, Apple is basically saying we just have to take their word on that. As Facebook's former security chief Alex Stamos and security researcher Matthew Green wrote in a joint New York Times op-ed, Apple hasn't provided outside researchers with much visibility into how all this actually works.

Apple further says that its manual review, which relies on human reviewers, would be able to detect if CSAM was on a device as the result of some kind of malicious attack.

When it comes to pressure from governments or law enforcement agencies, the company has basically said that it would refuse to cooperate with such requests. "We have faced demands to build and deploy government-mandated changes that degrade the privacy of users before, and have steadfastly refused those demands," it writes. "We will continue to refuse them in the future. Let us be clear, this technology is limited to detecting CSAM stored in iCloud and we will not accede to any government's request to expand it." Although, once again, we kind of just have to take Apple at its word here.

If it's so controversial, why is Apple doing it?

The short answer is because the company thinks this is finding the right balance between increasing child safety and protecting privacy. CSAM is illegal and, in the US, companies are obligated to report it when they find it. As a result, CSAM detection features have been baked into popular services for years. But unlike other companies, Apple hasn't checked for CSAM in users' photos, largely due to its stance on privacy. Unsurprisingly, this has been a major source of frustration for child safety organizations and law enforcement.

To put this in perspective, in 2019 Facebook reported 65 million instances of CSAM on its platform, according to The New York Times. Google reported 3.5 million photos and videos, while Twitter and Snap reported "more than 100,000," Apple, on the other hand, reported 3,000 photos.

That's not because child predators don't use Apple services, but because Apple hasn't been nearly as aggressive as some other platforms in looking for this material, and its privacy features have made it difficult to do so. What's changed now is that Apple says it's come up with a technical means of detecting collections of known CSAM in iCloud Photos libraries that still respects users' privacy. Obviously, there's a lot of disagreement over the details and whether any kind of detection system can truly be "private." But Apple has calculated that the tradeoff is worth it. "If you're storing a collection of CSAM material, yes, this is bad for you," Apple's head of privacy toldThe New York Times. "But for the rest of you, this is no different."

‘Spelunky’ and ‘Spelunky 2’ hit Nintendo Switch on August 26th

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 11:18 AM PDT

We learned all the way back in December that the terrific Spelunky and Spelunky 2 were coming to Nintendo Switch sometime this summer, and the wait's almost over — at least in a few regions. The two games will hit the eShop in North America, Europe and Australia on August 26th, adding another pair of indie gems to the Switch library.

Spelunky supports local multiplayer, and Spelunky 2 adds online play to the mix. Although there are distinct areas in both platformers — each with their own enemies, lethal traps and rules — the levels are procedurally generated, so things are always going to be a bit different on each run.

It's hardly the first time Spelunky, a stone-cold classic, has landed on a handheld console. It was released on PS Vita (and PlayStation 3) all the way back in 2013, a year after the remake of the 2008 original debuted on PC and Xbox 360. The sequel, however, has only been available on PC, PlayStation 4 and PS5 until now.

If you'd like to plunder the caverns on Switch, you'll be able to pick up Spelunky for $10. Spelunky 2 will cost $20.

Amazon may monitor employee keystrokes to protect customer data

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT

According to an internal company document obtained by Motherboard, Amazon plans to monitor how its employees use their keyboards and mice to prevent customer data leaks. The retailer is reportedly leaning toward licensing tools from a company called BehavioSec.

"The software does not rely on personally identifiable information or other static data," a FAQ page from BehavioSec states. Instead, the company claims it uses "behavioral biometrics" to generate a profile of how someone types and uses their computer. Its software then utilizes that profile to verify that a hacker or imposter hasn't compromised an employee's device. BehavioSec's website lists Cisco and Deutsche Telekom as "partners," suggesting Amazon wouldn't be the first company to use its software. Amazon reportedly looked at other employee monitoring solutions. However, due to "challenges around collecting keystrokes data," concluded it was best to turn to more "privacy-aware" models like BehavioSec.

In the document, Amazon claims it needs such software to combat various security threats. The company points to at least four cases where its security team identified incidents where someone posed as a service agent to obtain customer data. "We have a security gap as we don't have a reliable mechanism for verifying that users are who they claim they are," the company states in the document. 

With more of its employees working remotely due to the pandemic, it's also worried about a higher risk of "data exfiltration." Amazon points to several hypothetical scenarios it wants to protect itself against, including one where a customer service employee forgets to lock their computer, and a nosy roommate steals the company's data. By 2022, it estimates the software could help it reduce imposter takeover by 100 percent.  

"Maintaining the security and privacy of customer and employee data is among our highest priorities," Kelly Nantel, director of national media relations at Amazon, told Engadget. "While we do not share details on the technologies we use, we continually explore and test new ways to safeguard customer-related data while also respecting the privacy of our employees. And we do this while also remaining compliant with applicable privacy laws and regulations."

While Amazon's reasons for considering BehavioSec appear to be well-intentioned, the company doesn't have the best history with employee monitoring software. A recent report from CNBC found Amazon's Mentor app was far too overbearing to do its intended job effectively, and it would needlessly penalize drivers for things like going over the occasional bump on the road.

Google banned a location-tracking company that sold users' data

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 10:34 AM PDT

Google has banned SafeGraph, a company that captured and sold Android users' location data. Android developers who used the company's software development kit (SDK) were given seven days to remove SafeGraph's location gathering tools from their apps or face possible ejection from the Play Store, as Motherboard reported.

Some of the data SafeGraph obtained was from apps that harnessed the SDK. The apps were able to track user locations, though many people many not be aware how companies use their data. 

Google brought the hammer down on SafeGraph in early June. It's not clear if any apps are still using the SDK or if Google has taken action against developers who haven't removed SafeGuard's plug-ins. Engadget has contacted Google for comment.

With context, it's possible to find out details about individuals using location data, even when it's supposedly anonymized. Data Motherboard bought from SafeGraph showed the movement of users between points of interest. The company also sells secondary information from other companies to augment the location data, according to the report. Other datasets are said to include the names of people who own property in the US, which could reveal details about individual users.

SafeGraph reportedly sells its location data to almost anyone willing to pay for it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is said to be among SafeGraph's customers, while The New York Times used SafeGraph data for a project that showed where people were gathering after COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were loosened. The publication told Motherboard that it aggregated the location data.

In February, Google took a similar action against Predicio, which is linked to a company named Venntel. Public contracts that emerged last year showed that US Customs and Border Protection bought data from Venntel, reportedly for warrantless phone tracking. Google and Apple both banned X-Mode, another location data broker, last December. Location data brokers sometimes pay app developers to use their tracking code so they can sell the information, which is against Google's rules.

Home Alone reboot debuts on Disney+ on November 12th

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 08:48 AM PDT

Disney's upcoming Home Alone reboot will arrive just in time for the holidays. 20th Century Studios announced today Home Sweet Home Alone will debut on November 12th. There's no trailer yet, but the cast looks promising.  

Archie Yates, best known for his role in Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit, plays main character Max Mercer. The Disney+ exclusive also stars several Saturday Night Live alumni, including Kenan Thompson and Chris Parnell, as well as Devin Ratray, who played Buzz in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Other notable cast members include Veep actor Tim Simons and Ellie Kemper from The Office.  

Home Alone is just one of several Fox franchises Disney plans to reboot in the coming years. It is also working on bringing back Cheaper by the Dozen, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Night at the Museum.

The entry-level Polestar 2 with a single motor will start at $45,900

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 08:15 AM PDT

Polestar is finally ready to confirm pricing and details for its more affordable single-motor Polestar 2. As Autoblogreports, the 2022 "entry-level" EV will start at $45,900 before incentives, or a cool $14,000 below the original dual-motor version's price. If you're in California, that cost after incentives could dip to a relatively low $34,900. That's no mean feat when it offers the longest range of the bunch at an EPA-estimated 265 miles.

The long-range dual-motor version starts at a lower $49,900 for 2022 ($38,900 after California incentives), with a longer 249-mile range on top of that. The catch, as you might guess, is that you'll need to add "packs" to get certain creature comforts, regardless of which car you're buying.

The promised mechanical heat pump, which extends range in chilly conditions, is part of a $4,000 Plus Pack that also includes a full-length glass roof, a "premium" interior (with Harman Kardon audio), vegan seating and cabin illumination. A $3,200 Pilot Pack adds driver aids like adaptive cruise control, blind spot warnings and a 360-degree camera. The dual-motor-only $5,000 Performance Pack adds 20-inch alloy wheels with Brembo brakes, sport tires and gold cosmetic touches.

Deliveries of single-motor Polestar 2 units are expected by the end of 2021, while the updated dual-motor configurations should arrive in October. The pricing still makes the electric fastback more expensive than its most obvious rival, the $39,900 Tesla Model 3 in Standard Range Plus trim. However, it's now close enough that you might not mind the extra outlay if Polestar's design is more appealing — and the claimed range is finally competitive.

'Not Tonight 2' tackles capitalism and political greed in an 'alternative' US

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 08:01 AM PDT

Three years after taking on Brexit in Not Tonight, publisher No More Robots and developer PanicBarn are working on a sequel to the satirical political RPG. Not Tonight 2 takes place in a supposedly alternate version of the US, where "capitalism and political greed have taken center stage and democracy is a thing of the past." 

Not Tonight 2 centers around three intertwined stories written by a group of POC artists and authors. Three characters — Malik, Kevin and Mari — embark on a road to trip to try and save their friend Eduardo from deportation or another terrible fate.

The original game drew comparisons to Papers, Please for its core gameplay of checking IDs as a bouncer at pubs and nightclubs. Those mechanics are back in the sequel, along with a variety of minigames, including everything from word association and rhythm games to working at the border wall, joining a cult and serving poutine to Canadians. 

More than 400,000 people have played Not Tonight, which landed on Nintendo Switch last year. Not Tonight 2 should hit Steam later this year.

Not Tonight 2
No More Heroes/PanicBarn

Verizon offers subscribers up to a year of 'free' AMC+ streaming

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 07:25 AM PDT

Verizon (currently Engadget's parent company) is still betting on streaming bonuses to win over new subscribers. The carrier has launched a promo that gives Fios and wireless subscribers up to a year of 'free' AMC+ streaming. Not surprisingly, you'll only get the full 12 months if you spend the most — you'll have to either sign up for a Mix & Match Fios plan or activate a new line on one of the network's better unlimited wireless plans (Play More, Do More or Get More) while buying one of the company's "best" 5G-capable phones.

Cellular subscribers who either activate a Start Unlimited plan or upgrade to a top-tier 5G phone on an existing line will get a more modest six months of AMC+ service. The promo expires for Fios customers on February 10th, 2022, but there's no mention of an expiry date for wireless.

Verizon isn't shy about the timing — The Walking Dead season 11 premieres August 22nd for most viewers, and the company is clearly hoping to reel in customers who want to watch more of AMC's humans-are-the-real-monsters drama. We'd add that this comes just a day after Samsung revealed the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3 — the bonus AMC+ access could serve as an incentive to update your phone.

The question, as with other carrier perks, is whether or not this is really adding value. Verizon already gives all its users at least six months of Disney+, Discovery+, Apple Arcade, Google Play Pass and Apple Music — if you aren't a hardcore Walking Dead fan, what's another service you'll try a few times and cancel? There's also the question of pricing — what if you were comfortable dropping the freebies in return for a lower rate? While networks like Verizon don't say how much it costs to offer bonuses like this, there's a mounting concern that the costs could add up.

'Hades' is coming to Xbox and PlayStation on August 13th

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 07:18 AM PDT

Zagreus might struggle to escape the Underworld, but he's no longer bound by the confines of PC and Nintendo Switch. Hades, widely regarded as one of the best games of 2020, is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and PS5 on August 13th. It'll be on Xbox Game Pass on Xbox and PC on the same date.

Supergiant Games says the dungeon-crawling roguelike is targeting 60 frames per second at 1080p on Xbox One and PS4. It'll run at up to 60 fps in 4K on Series X/S and PS5. 

Physical editions will come with a bonus download code for the soundtrack and a 32-page booklet. The Xbox One and Series X versions will be available on the same disk. Both the physical and digital PS4 versions offer a free upgrade to the digital PS5 version. 

Unfortunately, unlike the Switch version, you won't be able to transfer Hades saves between PC and Xbox or PlayStation consoles. Still, Xbox and PlayStation owners will at last get their chance to tackle Hades again and again and again in a couple of months.

Update, 8/12/2021: The listing is now live.

Foxconn plans to build EV factories in the US and Thailand in 2022

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 07:11 AM PDT

Foxconn is getting more serious about its electric vehicle ambitions. The company told investors during an earnings call that it plans to build EV factories in the US and Thailand in 2022 and start mass producing vehicles the following year. Chairman Liu Young-way said the company is also in talks regarding possible locations for plants in Europe.

At its US facility, Foxconn will build vehicles for EV clients including Fisker. The companies signed a deal in May, and Foxconn plans to start making Fisker EVs by the end of 2023. The two are jointly investing in the Project Pear vehicle and will share revenue from it.

Foxconn is in discussions with three states, including Wisconsin, for the EV plant, according to Nikkei. Earlier this year, Foxconn drastically scaled back plans for its existing facility in Wisconsin. Liu has also suggested Foxconn may build EVs at the controversial plant.

The planned Thai factory will form part of Foxconn's joint venture with oil and gas conglomerate PTT. The two are working on a platform for EV and component production. Liu said Foxconn plans to build up to 200,000 EVs at that plant each year.

The best VR headsets you can buy

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 07:00 AM PDT

If you've been holding out for VR hardware to mature, you chose wisely. Headsets have come a long way since the launch of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive five years ago. Standalone devices like the Oculus Quest 2 let you hop into virtual reality anywhere, while also giving you the flexibility of streaming virtual reality from powerful PCs. And if you don't care about dealing with a wired headset, there are a plethora of high-end options out there. Most importantly, there are plenty of memorable VR experiences like Vader Immortal and Half-LIfe: Alyx that you can't experience outside of a headset.

So what makes a good VR headset?

I tend to judge them on a few basic criteria: Ergonomics, immersion and controls. It's not that hard to shove a mobile display into a plastic headset and strap some cheap elastic headbands onto them. But it takes skill to craft something that's well balanced and doesn't feel uncomfortable after 30 minutes.

Immersion, meanwhile, comes from having high resolution screens with fast refresh rates, so everything looks sharp and smooth. Field of view is also a major element, as it describes how well VR screens can cover what you see. Having a low field of view makes it look like you're looking through a pair of binoculars, which limits the sense of "presence" you can feel in VR. But a wide field of view can make it seem like you're actually flying over the globe in Google Earth.

And when it comes to controllers, the best options fit naturally in your hands and offer accurate tracking. The industry has practically adopted the design of Oculus's excellent touch controllers, but we're also seeing intriguing leaps forward like Valve's finger tracking gamepads.

Best VR headset for most people: Oculus Quest 2

Oculus Quest 2 VR headset
Engadget

Almost a year since its release, the Oculus Quest 2 remains the best VR option for the vast majority of consumers. It's completely cordless, relatively inexpensive (starting at $299) and it's comfortable to wear for long sessions. There's also a huge library of titles that you can experience anywhere, and it's bundled with Oculus's great motion controllers. You can also connect the Quest 2 to a gaming PC to stream more complex VR experiences.

The Quest 2 features fast-switching LCDs with a resolution 1832x1920 per eye, the highest we've seen from Oculus. It also has a smooth 90Hz refresh rate, which is impressive for something running entirely on mobile hardware. The Quest 2's field of view isn't the best — it's been measured at just around 90 degrees — but it's still enough to enjoy most VR experiences. You can also use different face pads to increase its field of view a bit. And if you want an even more comfortable fit, you can snag Oculus's Elite headstrap for $49 (or $129 with a built-in battery and case).

Facebook has recalled the foam inserts from the original model and is offering silicone covers to make the headset more comfortable. We didn't experience any issues during our review, or during the past year of usage, but there have been enough complaints for Facebook to take action. The base $299 Quest 2 will also come with 128GB of storage when it returns to store shelves on August 24th. That's double the storage of the original model, giving you even more room to cram in games and VR apps.

The Quest 2 may not offer the best overall VR experience, but it's certainly the most accessible headset on the market.

Buy Oculus Quest 2 at Amazon - $299

Best PC VR headset under $600: HP Reverb G2

HP Reverb G2 VR headset
Engadget

If you don't care about wireless VR, and you want to invest a bit more in a high-quality PC headset, HP's $599 Reverb G2 is meant for you. It was developed in cooperation with Valve and has some of the best features from the pricier Index headset, like near-field speakers. The Reverb G2 also has sharp screens, offering 2,160 by 2,160 pixels per eye, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a relatively wide 114-degree field of view.

It's also the first Windows Mixed Reality headset to include four tracking sensors, which helps to ensure more accurate VR tracking, especially during fast-paced games. I also give HP credit for making a headset that's extremely comfortable thanks to its luxurious amount of cushioning around the eye-piece and rear strap.

The Reverb G2's motion controllers weren't my favorite, but they're still a big step up from HP's previous model. You could also upgrade it to use Valve's finger-tracking controllers, but that involves snagging SteamVR sensors and a lot more setup. Still, it's nice to have the upgrade path available.

Buy Reverb G2 at HP - $599

Best PC VR headset for gamers: Valve Index

Valve Index VR headset
Engadget

Valve's Index kit remains one of the best high-end VR solutions on the market. For $999 you get the Index headset, Valve's finger tracking controllers and two SteamVR base stations. While we've seen higher-resolution headsets arrive in the last two years, it's still a very solid option, with a 1,440 by 1,600 pixel resolution, an eye-watering 144Hz refresh rate and a massive 130-degree field of view. I'd gladly lose a few pixels to get a smoother and more expansive screen, which are still far beyond any other consumer headset.

As a SteamVR product, the Index requires installing two sensors at opposite corners of your room. And of course, it's wired to your PC. But that clunkiness is worth it for the higher refresh rate and more accurate tracking. Sure, it's not as easy to use as the Quest 2, but at this price range, we assume you'll suffer a bit of inconvenience to get a truly high-quality VR experience.

Valve's finger tracking controllers are fantastic as well, with a convenient strap that locks them onto your hands. They make playing Half-Life: Alyx feel like a dream. It's unfortunate that other VR games haven't fully taken advantage of the finger tracking though.

Buy Index at Valve - $999

Best VR quality, no matter the cost: HTC Vive Pro 2

HTC Vive Pro 2
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

HTC's Vive Pro 2 is the best-looking PC VR I've seen. It has an astoundingly sharp 5K screen and a solid 120Hz refresh rate. Just be prepared: the full kit, which includes the headset, two SteamVR sensors and wand controllers, costs $1,399. You can also buy the headset separately for $799 as an upgrade to the original Vive Pro, or the Valve Index.

For the price you get a well-balanced and supremely comfortable VR headset. The Pro 2 is a clear sign that Valve has practically perfected the art of making high-end hardware. I'm less impressed with the large wand controllers, which are exactly the same as the ones that came with the original HTC Vive in 2016. They're functional, but they're nowhere near as ergonomic as Oculus's Touch Controllers.

I'm mainly recommending the Pro 2 here based on the astounding quality of the headset.

True VR fans may want to just grab that separately along with SteamVR base stations and Valve's finger-tracking controllers. That way you can ensure you have the best experience while playing Half Life: Alyx.

Buy HTC Vive Pro 2 at Lenovo - $799

What about the PS VR?

We adored Sony's PlayStation VR when it launched… but that was nearly five years ago. While it's still a very comfortable headset, and it does magic with the PS4's limited power, it's not the smartest buy today. That's particularly true when Sony has been eager to chat up its sequel VR headset for the PS5. We know that device will come with more modern controllers and have hardware similar to PC VR headsets. The only problem is that you'll have to wait for it — Sony says it won't be ready in 2021.

TikTok limits the visibility of teens' videos amid safety push

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 06:09 AM PDT

TikTok's determination to clean up its feeds now includes significant limits on its app for the teenage crowd. The social video service is limiting the visibility of teens' videos, with the most restrictions applying to the youngest users. Teens aged 13 to 15 are set to private by default, and will have to decide who can see a video the first time they post. They'll have that option for every video they post beyond that, and they won't have access to Duet or Stitch features.

Older teens will see restrictions, too. TikTok will turn off Direct Messages by default for 16- and 17-year-olds joining the service for the first time, and ask existing users to review their settings if they haven't tried DMs before. The company will also double-check before those older teens enable downloads for their videos.

The social media giant will try to promote healthy usage habits, too. Notifications will turn off for teens under 16 starting at 9PM local time, while 16- and 17-year-olds will receive their alerts until 10PM. This will theoretically help teens wind down, not to mention discourage late-night bullying.

TikTok stressed that there was "no finish line" for privacy and safety efforts, and that there would be more to come in the months ahead. The focus is clear, however — TikTok doesn't want stories of teens facing bullies, creeps and other abusers that found them through public videos and unsolicited messages. In theory, the restrictions provide a gentler introduction to TikTok that helps younger audiences understand the consequences of their actions.

Honor’s new Magic3 heralds the company’s glorious return

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 05:50 AM PDT

Honor, the smartphone manufacturer that was, until late last year, Huawei's budget division, is back. Not that it ever really went away, you understand, since it's already released the View 40 and Honor 50 in its homeland while under its new owners. But today marks the first time that it is launching a flagship phone to the global market as an independent company. Free from the US sanctions that rocked its former parent, Honor is once again able to use American software (hello, Android 11) and silicon (hello, Qualcomm). This then, is the start of Honor's second life, which is beginning with the launch of the Magic3, its first — well, "first" — flagship.

Historically, Honor was Huawei's budget play, offering a surprising level of quality and tech for relatively low prices. The Honor 20, for instance, was the sort of phone that made you forget about the need to buy a flagship handset despite its modest sticker. Now, of course, with the freedom (read: obligation) to create high-end handsets, Honor is shuffling its brands. The high end will now be dominated by Magic-branded handsets, while the numbered line (like the Honor 50) will sit in the middle, and the low end now the domain of the X-Series.

Design-wise, Honor's apple did not fall far from Huawei's tree. From several angles, the Magic3 looks like a Huawei Mate, and this is not the only time I'll bring this up. Given the sharing of IP and technology between the two companies before the split, this is not a huge surprise. I'm sure that many of the handsets Honor releases over the next couple of years will have that whiff of shared DNA, and like the Mate this phone has a waterfall display, with an 89-degree curve down both sides of the screen.

Honor Magic 3
Honor

There are three Magic3 handsets in the range, the vanilla Magic3, Magic3 Pro, and the Magic3 Pro+. Every member of this trio is packing a 6.67-inch, 2,272 x 1,344, always-on flexible OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR 10+. There's a 94.82 screen-to-body ratio, the ideal fact to wheel out when you need to impress folks in bars, too. The cut-out for imaging plays host to a 13-megapixel, f/2.4 wide camera with a 100-degree wide-angle lens no matter what model you opt for. Although the higher end Pro and Pro+ models are the only ones that pair it with a 3D Time of Flight sensor for face unlocking. 

The real interest, however, is in the lenses on the back of the phone, and Honor is throwing all but the dishwasher at this phone. Arranged in a setup the company is calling "The Eye of Muse," the regular handsets get a 50-megapixel, f/1.9 lens with Sony's IMX766 image sensor, a 64-megapixel, f/2.2 monochrome camera and a 13-megapixel, 120-degree f/2.2 ultra-wide camera. 

The Pro, meanwhile, adds a 64-megapixel, f/3.5 OIS telephoto camera with a 3.5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and 100x digital zoom. The Pro+, meanwhile, swaps out that IMX766 for the larger, f/1.9 1/1.28-inch IMX700 with OIS. You'll get that 64-megapixel monochrome camera with an f/1.8 aperture, a 64-megapixel 126-degree, f/2.4 ultra-wide camera and that same telephoto lens. (You'll also get a TOF sensor and color temperature sensor for more accurate imaging.)

Honor also said that this IMAX-enhanced camera can be used to shoot your own cinema-quality films, a boast previously used to sell Huawei's Mate 30 and Mate 40 (told you I'd mention this again). Honor says that, unlike those handsets, it has developed a custom, mobile-friendly version of the filming standard Log, dubbed MagicLog, which is designed to shoot high-quality video.

Broadly speaking, Log is a way of recording footage that preserves as much of the dynamic range and tone as possible. When viewed straight from the camera, the footage looks weird and it requires a lot of post-processing and grading. In order to save ordinary users from that agony, Honor teamed up with professional colorist Bryan McMahan to create eight pre-set grades which work like Instagram filters.

Honor said that one minute of MagicLog footage will take up around 500MB of memory, so if you want to shoot a film with one of these, invest in one with lots of storage. And this is a feature that we'd love to test in depth in future, because if this in some crazy way does turn out to work, it could be a very big deal.

Beyond imaging, Honor wanted to talk up the various software engines that it has designed to help squeeze better performance out of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ 5G SoC found in the Pro and Pro+. (The regular Magic3 is using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888.) Long story short, Honor (and Huawei before it) uses an AI layer which has been trained to monitor for challenging processes and adjust power to compensate. It says that, for the Magic3, you can expect to see faster and more stable 5G and gaming performance when using the phone. Then there is OS Turbo X (Apple's lawyers, I'm sure, will be taking notes) which, it's claimed, will be able to keep the system running at peak performance for longer. Honor's representatives said that this system alone will ensure that, after using it for 36 months, you'll only experience a 3.8 percent drop in performance compared to the day you bought the phone.

And then there's "Smart RAM," which sounds like the sort of RAM-doubling scamware that we saw back in the days of Windows 3.1. Honor's representatives said that, in times of need, the Magic3 can bounce some of the data from its RAM to the phone's flash memory. Now it's not clear if the company is trying to pass virtual memory off as some sort of new-fangled innovation or if there's some clever new implementation here. Honor says that, no matter if you have the 8GB or 12GB variant, you can expect this system to offer you an additional 2GB of headroom when required. I have no idea if file transfer speeds between the SoC and flash memory are fast enough to make this a viable, boastworthy feature for a new flagship handset.

The company has also offered some smart privacy features, like obscuring message notifications when you cast video to a TV, as well as the ability to strip metadata from images before you share them to social media. 

Honor hasn't said how long this device will last on a single charge, but that 4,600mAh battery should have plenty of staying power. All three variants support 66W wired SuperCharge, and you can get up to 50 percent of your battery re-juiced with just 15 minutes of connection. In addition, the Pro and Pro+ models both support 50W wireless charging, should you feel the need.

Magic3 is available in four colors: Black, White, "Golden Hour" and "Blue Hour," the latter pair are a pinkish-orangey hue, and a deep royal blue. The standard colors are available in Honor's usual coating, while the two hours are available in vegan leather. The 3 Pro+, meanwhile, comes in either a ceramic black or white ceramic body with pinstripe texturing which, at first blush, looks extraordinary. All of the handsets are IP68-rated for water and dust resistance, which is about the minimum you can expect from a phone these days. 

The Honor Magic3 series will make its debut in Mainland China, with news about arrivals in western markets coming in short order. CEO George Zhao did, however, reveal pricing for the handset when it reaches Europe, at the very least. The Magic3, with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, will retail for €899 ($1,054), while the Magic 3 Pro (8GB + 256GB) will set you back €1,099 ($1,289). Flagship-lovers, looking to grab the Magic3 Pro+ with 12GB RAM and 512GB Storage, meanwhile, will have to fork over at least €1,499 ($1,758). 

Activision Blizzard loses three senior designers amid sexual harassment lawsuit

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 05:19 AM PDT

Three senior designers pivotal to Diablo 4 and World of Warcraft are no longer at Activision Blizzard. Kotaku confirmed the trio of abrupt departures after initially learning about them from internal sources. They include Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga, lead designer Jesse McCree, and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft. Insiders told the publication that the three developers names had been removed from Blizzard's internal directory and Slack. 

News of the shakeup arrives as Activision Blizzard is grappling with allegations of systemic gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The incendiary accusations, which were revealed in a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), have already led to damaging repercussions for the publisher. Blizzard is facing an internal outcry, with workers staging walkouts and demanding corrective action. Earlier this month, the company lost its president and was hit with a lawsuit by investors irked by its handling of the crisis. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has admitted that the publisher's original response to the DFEH filing was "tone-deaf."

While the company did not give a specific reason for the latest departures, two of the designers (namely McCree and LeCraft) were reportedly pictured in photos of the infamous "Cosby Suite." This was the hotel room explicitly mentioned in the DFEH lawsuit where male employees allegedly harassed women at company events. As Overwatch fans may know, the game features a cowboy called Jesse McCree named after the now ex-Blizzard employee. It remains to be seen if the publisher changes the character's name.

"We have a deep, talented roster of developers already in place and new leaders have been assigned where appropriate," a spokesperson for Blizzard told Kotaku. "We are confident in our ability to continue progress, deliver amazing experiences to our players, and move forward to ensure a safe, productive work environment for all."
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