Tuesday, September 14, 2021

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The Morning After: Nintendo's Switch gets a discount, but only in Europe

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 04:16 AM PDT

Apologies in advance to Android phone owners, as it's new iPhone day. Yes, Apple's biggest showcase of the year kicks off at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT / 6 PM BST. Once again, the company is streaming the event, and the Engadget team will be breaking down all the new device announcements.

There have been plenty of rumors on what Apple has up its sleeve, and naturally, we've corralled the most reliable whispers here. Expect a new family of (possibly) four iPhones, an updated Apple Watch, more news on iOS 15 and possibly new AirPods and iPads.

After the big event, join Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low and myself as we break down all announcements, complain about the lack of USB-C and laugh at whatever cringe moment occurs during Apple's highly produced event. Join us after Apple right here!

— Mat Smith

Nintendo significantly cuts Switch price in Europe

You can now pick one up for £260 (€270) instead of the previous £280 (€330).

The Morning After
Engadget

Nintendo has officially lowered the suggested retail price of the base Switch model in Europe, but there's been no change elsewhere. It's now available for £260 in the UK or €300 (down to €270 in France) elsewhere in Europe, rather than the previous £280 (€330).

In a comment to Eurogamer, Nintendo said: "After carefully weighing up a variety of factors, including currency exchange rates in Europe and the upcoming launch of Nintendo Switch - OLED Model, we decided that now was the appropriate time to change the European trade price of Nintendo Switch."

Continue reading.

'Deathloop' is an exhilarating, innovative, time-bending mess

The briefly PlayStation exclusive from the now-Microsoft owned studio.

The Morning After
Engadget

Unsurprisingly, there's a fair amount of dying in Deathloop. Dying is a core mechanic of the game, and it's the first thing players actually do in the campaign, called Break the Loop. According to Senior Editor Jessica Conditt, Deathloop feels a lot like Dishonored (of course — same studio), with a chaser of We Happy Few.

Environments are easy to scale, but the true challenge is breaking the "loop" by killing eight bosses in a single day, in a single sweep. Fail: you die and have to begin all over again.

Continue reading.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's latest moonshot is a space company

We'll hear more about Privateer Space later this week.

The Morning After
Reuters

Steve Wozniak has started a company called Privateer Space. The Apple co-founder announced the private space firm on late Sunday. Unfortunately, other than to promise his company would be "unlike the others," Woz didn't provide many details on the venture. The startup was co-founded by former Apple engineer Alex Fielding. Wozniak and Fielding have collaborated frequently over the years.

Continue reading.

Facebook's program for VIPs allows politicians and celebs to break its rules, report says

The 'cross check' system was created to avoid 'PR fires,' according to the report.

Facebook has used a little-known VIP program that's enabled millions of high-profile users to skirt its rules for years, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal.

The program, called XCheck or cross-check, was created to avoid "PR fires," the public backlash that occurs when Facebook made mistakes affecting a high-profile user's account. If one of these accounts broke its rules, the violation went to a separate team for review by Facebook employees, rather than its non-employee moderators.

Continue reading.

The biggest stories you might have missed

Engadget Deals: AirPods Pro drop back down to $180 at Amazon

Defense Department seeks nuclear propulsion for small spacecraft

The soccer team co-owned by Ryan Reynolds is coming to FIFA 22

Xiaomi launches its own smart glasses, of course

Apple releases iOS 14.8 and macOS 11.6 to address Pegasus spyware hack

Apple Watch now syncs with Tempo's AI-powered home gym

DC AG expands Amazon lawsuit to include wholesaler pricing tactics

Disney+ 'Hawkeye' trailer shows Clint Barton's past catching up with him

Sony permanently shuts down LittleBigPlanet's PS3 and Vita servers

The biggest news stories you might have missed

Pixel 3 owners say their phones are bricking without warning

The next iPhone's rumored satellite calls might only work in certain areas

'Horizon Forbidden West' PS4 buyers will get a free PS5 upgrade after all

Hitting the Books: What exactly did Jodi Foster hear in 'Contact'?

ICYMI: How does the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 perform in the real world?

Canon's flagship 24-megapixel EOS R3 arrives in November for $6,000

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 03:00 AM PDT

Canon has officially unveiled the EOS R3, its flagship mirrorless camera designed for sports, action and wildlife photography. With the release, it has now filled in the blanks for key specifications not yet revealed in earlier teases, like resolution, ISO range and video capabilities. 

The EOS R3 was never likely to be a high-resolution camera as some folks hoped, but the 24.1-megapixel, back-side illuminated (BSI), stacked sensor (a first for Canon) is a significant upgrade over the 1DX Mark III's 20-megapixel sensor. Canon says it "achieves resolution performance exceeding that of the 30.1-megapixel EOS 5D Mark IV," despite having a lower pixel count.

With the BSI/stacked sensor and latest DIGIC X image processor, the R3 can shoot at 30 fps in electronic shutter mode (down to 1/64,000th of a second) or 12 fps with the mechanical shutter, with full AF tracking and auto-exposure. Better still, it offers blackout-free shooting in electronic mode and the high readout speeds deliver minimal rolling shutter distortion — making it feasible to shoot sports or action with the electronic shutter. 

Canon's flagship 24-megapixel EOS R3 arrives in November for $6,000
Canon

The EOS R3 is Canon's first EOS model to support flash photography in electronic shutter mode. That allows for blackout-free flash shooting at up to 15 fps (at 1/180th of a second), which would probably look pretty wild in person. It also offers a silent shutter mode that turns off the artificial shutter and AF acquisition sounds. 

The EOS R3 has a number of new autofocus features, too. The flashiest is Eye Control AF that locks onto focus wherever your eye is looking when you half-press the shutter button. It can be used in combination with flexible zone and subject AF tracking, so it's "possible to quickly shift the target between multiple subjects," Canon says. It notes that the feature can be calibrated differently if you have glasses or contacts, and that "some glasses/contacts may prevent calibration."

Faster calculation speeds give the EOS R3 some new autofocus powers, too. The Dual Pixel AF system can now track in spot, single-point and flexible zone AF, and in lower light (-7.5 EV) than any other model. It can also acquire a subject just by getting close to it, so it will track an animal or human's head, face or eye if you place the AF point near their body, for example. 

Canon's flagship 24-megapixel EOS R3 arrives in November for $6,000
Canon

On top of body, face, head and eye detection for humans, the R3 offers a new "Vehicle Priority" tracking system for open cockpit, GT and rally cars, along with on-road and off-road motorcycles. If the AI detects a helmet (on a motorcycle or open cockpit car), it will automatically lock onto that.

The new sensor delivers improved low-light performance too, with the EOS R3 having a normal range of ISO 100-102,400 for stills (expandable to ISO 50-204,800). Canon also promises improved automatic and manual white balance via new AI skills.

The 5-axis in-body stabilizer is the the same as the excellent system on the EOS R5 and R6. As with those models, it delivers up to 8 stops of stabilization with compatible lenses, down to a minimum of 6 stops (still beating most other brands) with other lenses. It also comes with dual card slots, supporting SD and CFexpress type B cards.

The R3 comes with a new 5.76 million dot, 120 FPS OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) developed by Canon. This is a key feature for the sports photographers who might buy it, as many haven't switched to mirrorless because they prefer an optical viewfinder. Canon said it provides a level of clarity and field of view similar to an optical viewfinder "thanks to the HDR technology and high brightness performance." Like the R6 and R5, it also offers a fully-articulating, 4.15 million dot flip-out touchscreen — ideal for video shooters. 

Canon's flagship 24-megapixel EOS R3 arrives in November for $6,000
Canon

In fact, the R3 is also a highly competent video camera, too. While it can't shoot 8K video like the R5, it can capture RAW 12-bit 6K widescreen (6,000 x 3,164) video at up to 60 fps to a CFexpress B card, besting Panasonic's video-centric S1H. Canon has yet to say if 6K RAW over HDMI will be supported, however.

It also offers 4K recording at up to 120 fps, albeit in a cropped 1:1 pixel mode to a CFexpress card. Still, you can capture 4K 60p or 30p video using the full width of the sensor, which should make for some crisp video. Again, for the best quality, you'll need a fast SD UHS II or CFexpress card. 10-bit 4:2:2 video will be available for all 4K modes in either HDR PQ or Canon Log 3 modes, with both All-I and long-GOP file options. 

As usual with Canon cameras, the Dual Pixel autofocus should be a strong point for video, as it can lock in to a subject quickly without any hunting. As it stands now, however, the Eye Tracking feature only works for photography, not video. Still, the extra tracking features should make it extra powerful in terms of video autofocus, but we'll need to test the R3 to verify that. As you'd well expect, it has microphone, headphone and HDMI ports — though the latter is a micro and not a full-sized HDMI connector, unfortunately.

Canon's flagship 24-megapixel EOS R3 arrives in November for $6,000
Canon

What about heating, the bugbear of the R5? Again, Canon has significantly improved the R3 here. It now offers two temperature options for auto power off: standard and high. The latter will let you shoot 6K RAW or 4K All-I at 60 fps for 60 minutes or more, though the camera might get a bit hot to the touch. 4K 120p All-I is limited to 12 minutes in either mode. Canon promises that you'll be ready to shoot again after just five minutes, though shooting times afterward will be limited in 6K 60p and 4K 120p modes. Normal 4K 30fps shooting (down-sampled or otherwise) has no heat limitations. 

Other features include network streaming functions and wired or wireless transfer to a 5G or LTE smartphone. It uses the 1DX Mark III's LP-E19 battery that delivers 440 shots with the electronic viewfinder and comes with a new electronic hot shoe that supports more accessories, including a smartphone link adapter. Finally, the EOS R1 offers dust and drip resistance equal to the EOS-1DX series DSLRs, and weighs in at 1015 grams (2.24 pounds) including a memory card and battery.

Canon's flagship 24-megapixel EOS R3 arrives in November for $6,000
Canon

Along with the EOS R3, Canon unveiled two new lenses, the compact RF16mm F/2.8 STM ultra wide angle model priced at $300 (left) and the RF100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM model priced at $650. Both of those should be decent budget full-frame RF-mount options if you're looking for an ultra wide-angle or tele zoom lens. 

With the EOS R3, Canon has built a supercharged flagship that should appeal to both the serious photographers and videographers who have the bucks to afford one. It arrives at the end of November for $6,000 (body only). 

Amazon's palm-reading tech is heading to sports stadiums and music venues

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 01:32 AM PDT

Amazon has been using its palm-scanning technology to allow customers to pay for purchases at Whole Foods and its own cashierless stores. Now, it's expanding the technology's availability for use outside its own properties, starting by allowing people entering sports, music and other live entertainment venues without the need for a ticket. Amazon One will be offered as part of standalone ticketing pedestals to be deployed by ticketing company AXS, which will will debut at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver today.

To enter venues via Amazon One, attendees can enroll one or both palms for the option at a dedicated station just before they enter. Doing so will enable them to enter the event, and future AXS events, without the need to show a ticket. Amazon says the enrollment process only takes a minute, during with the system creates a unique palm signature using the company's custom-built algorithms. Once that's done, they can then simply scan their palms, which takes a couple of seconds, to enter an AXS venue.

In its announcement, Amazon said it's the "first time the Amazon One service is available outside Amazon and Whole Foods Market stores and for entry into an entertainment venue." The company is also looking forward to make the palm-scanning tech available for other purposes in more locations. "[We're] excited about the potential for expansion to other locations where entry lines can be long and time consuming," it added. Since there's an increasing demand for contactless solutions due to the pandemic —the technology only needs users to hover their palms over a sensor — that may happen sooner than later.

Google slapped with a $177 million fine by South Korea's antitrust authorities

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 11:44 PM PDT

The Korea Fair Trade Commission has imposed a $177 million fine on Google, accusing the tech giant of using its dominant position in the market to hamper the development of Android rivals. According to Yonhap News, Korea's antitrust regulator has decided that the anti-fragmentation agreement (AFA) Google makes manufacturers sign in exchange for using its Android operating system hampers competition. 

The agreement prevents phone manufacturers, including Korean companies Samsung and LG, from creating and installing their own versions of the Android OS (or Android forks) on their devices. Yonhap News says the commission has been looking into whether the agreement stifles competition since 2016. In addition to slapping Google with a fine, the commission has also banned the company from forcing manufacturers to sign AFAs going forward and to modify existing ones. 

In a statement sent to Bloomberg and CNBC, the tech giant argued that Android and its compatibility program sped up innovation and improved user experience, benefiting companies that include Korean manufacturers. "The KFTC's decision released today ignores these benefits, and will undermine the advantages enjoyed by consumers. Google intends to appeal the KFTC's decision," the spokesperson said.

The KFTC has revealed its decision on the same day Korea's amendment to the country's Telecommunications Business Act went live. That amendment adds a law that will require Google and Apple to allow third-party payments for the applications on their App Stores.

Xiaomi launches its own smart glasses, of course

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 08:13 PM PDT

Xiaomi is challenging Facebook in the wearables arena by launching its own smart glasses. The device won't only be capable of taking photos, but also of displaying messages and notifications, making calls, providing navigation and translating text right in real time in front of your eyes. Like Facebook, Xiaomi is also putting emphasis on the device's lightness despite its features. At 51 grams, though, it's a bit heavier than the social network's Ray-Ban Stories. In addition, the glasses also has an indicator light that shows when the 5-megapixel camera is in use.

Xiaomi's Smart Glasses are powered by a quad-core ARM processor and run on Android. They also use MicroLED imaging technology, which is known for having a higher brightness and longer lifespan than OLED. The company says the technology has a simpler structure that enabled it to create a compact display with individual pixels sized at 4μm. You won't be able to view the images you take in color, though — Xiaomi says it opted to use a monochrome display solution "to allow sufficient light to pass through complicated optical structures."

The company explains:

"The grating structure etched onto the inner surface of the lens allows light to be refracted in a unique way, directing it safely into the human eye. The refraction process involves bouncing light beams countless times, allowing the human eye to see a complete image, and greatly increasing usability while wearing. All this is done inside a single lens, instead of using complicated multiples lens systems, mirrors, or half mirrors as some other products do."

Its smart glasses won't be just a second screen for your phone, according to Xiaomi. It's independently capable of many things, such as selecting the most important notifications to show you, including smart home alarms and messages from important contacts. The device's navigation capability can display maps and directions in front of your eyes. It can also show you the number of whoever's currently calling your phone, and you can take the call using the smart glasses' built in mic and speakers.

That mic will be able to pick up speech, as well, which Xiaomi's proprietary translating algorithm can translate in real time. The glasses' translation feature also works' on written text and text on photos captures through its camera. Unfortunately, the company has yet to announce a price or a launch date for the glasses, but we'll keep you updated when it does.

Samsung’s One UI 4 beta opens to Galaxy S21 owners on September 14th

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 06:00 PM PDT

After an eleventh hour delay late last week, Samsung One UI 4 is ready for public beta testing. If you live in the US, you can sign up to take part in the beta by registering through the Samsung Members app on your Galaxy S21 starting on the morning of September 14th.

Once it becomes available later this year, One UI 4 will be the first version of Samsung's skin based on Android 12, the latest iteration of Google's mobile operating system. Google released the final Android 12 beta last week, and most signs point to an official release on October 4th. 

Ahead of today's announcement, Samsung told Engadget One UI 4 features many of Android 12's most notable tweaks. For instance, you can customize your phone's home screen, notifications and wallpapers. It also includes redesigned widgets, as well as new emoji to discover and use.

Researchers: Platforms like Facebook have played ‘major role’ in fueling polarization

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 03:39 PM PDT

Social media platforms like Facebook "have played a major role in exacerbating political polarization that can lead to such extremist violence," according to a new report from researchers at New York University's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

That may not seem like a surprising conclusion, but Facebook has long tried to downplay its role in fueling divisiveness. The company says that existing research shows that "social media is not a primary driver of harmful polarization." But in their report, NYU's researchers write that "research focused more narrowly on the years since 2016 suggests that widespread use of the major platforms has exacerbated partisan hatred."

To make their case, the authors highlight numerous studies examining the links between polarization and social media. They also interviewed dozens of researchers, and at least one Facebook executive, Yann Le Cun, Facebook's top AI scientist.

While the report is careful to point out that social media is not the "original cause" of polarization, the authors say that Facebook and others have "intensified" it. They also note that Facebook's own attempts to reduce divisiveness, such as de-emphasizing political content in News Feed, show the company is well aware of its role. "The introspection on polarization probably would be more productive if the company's top executives were not publicly casting doubt on whether there is any connection between social media and political divisiveness," the report says.

"Research shows that social media is not a primary driver of harmful polarization, but we want to help find solutions to address it," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "That is why we continually and proactively detect and remove content (like hate speech) that violates our Community Standards and we work to stop the spread of misinformation. We reduce the reach of content from Pages and Groups that repeatedly violate our policies, and connect people with trusted, credible sources for information about issues such as elections, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change."

The report also raises the issue that these problems are difficult to address "because the companies refuse to disclose how their platforms work." Among the researchers recommendations is that Congress force "Facebook and Google/YouTube, to share data on how algorithms rank, recommend, and remove content." Platforms releasing the data, and independent researchers who study it, should be legally protected as part of that work, they write.

Additionally, Congress should "empower the Federal Trade Commission to draft and enforce an industry code of conduct," and "provide research funding" for alternative business models for social media platforms. The researchers also raise several changes that Facebook and other platforms could implement directly, including adjusting their internal algorithms to further de-emphasize polarizing content, and make these changes more transparent to the public. The platforms should also "double the number of human content moderators" and make them all full employees, in order to make decisions more consistent.

Sennheiser debuts CX Plus noise-cancelling earbuds for $180

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 03:00 PM PDT

By this point, Sennheiser is no stranger to true wireless earbuds. The company has several models under its belt, and the current lineup spans from basic and affordable to premium and pricey. Today, Sennheiser is introducing its latest earbuds with the CX Plus True Wireless. This newest entry offers active noise cancellation (ANC), ambient sound and the ability to customize both the on-board controls and the EQ. It also costs less than the company's previous ANC model, the Momentum True Wireless 2. 

The CX Plus has a similar design to the CX and CX 400BT true wireless earbuds Sennheiser currently sells. The outer touch panel is a rounded rectangle compared to the circular exterior of the Momentum buds. On-board touch controls give you everything you need to play music, take calls and use a voice assistant without reaching for your phone. As the name implies, the CX Plus has features that aren't on the CX True Wireless. That includes a Smart Pause feature, which is basically just automatic pausing when you remove an earbud from your ear, but Sennheiser has given it a fancy name. Smart Pause was previously reserved for the pricier Momentum True Wireless 2.

Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless
Sennheiser

Another key addition for the CX Plus is ANC. The two preceding CX models only offer passive noise isolation. The CX Plus also offers ambient sound mode, or as Sennheiser calls it, Transparent Hearing. That feature was also not available on the CX series earbuds before now. Both active noise cancellation and Transparent Hearing were only on the Momentum True Wireless 2. The company's Bass Boost preset from some previous models and the IPX4 splash-proof rating from the CX True Wireless both made the leap to the CX Plus. 

In terms of sound quality, Sennheiser says the CX Plus offers "audiophile technology" in "everyday" earbuds thanks to its TrueResponse transducer. The acoustic setup was built for much more expensive earphones and designed for "high-fidelity stereo sound" that offers "deep basses, natural mids and clear, detailed treble." The company has a solid track record when it comes to sound, but we'll still need to check those claims ourselves to make sure they hold up this time around. Sennhesier is promising up to 24 hours of total listening time: eight hours on the buds with two additional charges in the case. 

The CX Plus will be available September 28th in black and white color options for $179.95

Instagram is internally testing a feature that'll show some people higher in its feed

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 12:42 PM PDT

Instagram is working on a tool that could give people more control over its famously obtuse feed algorithm. Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi recently shared screenshots of an in-development feature called Favorites. Those images suggest the tool will allow you to add friends, family members and creators to a list of accounts you want the software to prioritize when you're scrolling through your feed.

Since Instagram switched from a chronological feed to an algorithmic one back in 2016, people have consistently complained the app doesn't do an adequate job of showing them the images and videos they want to see the most. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, tried to speak to those concerns recently when he wrote a blog post about how the platform's various algorithms work. Currently, the feed algorithm tends to look at the popularity of a post, in addition to your recent activity and history of interacting with someone, when deciding how to prioritize the content it shows you.

It's unclear if Favorites will become an official feature within Instagram. A spokesperson for Instagram told Engadget the company is currently testing the tool internally but offered no further details on when we might see an external test, if at all.

Apple releases iOS 14.8 and macOS 11.6 to address Pegasus spyware hack

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 11:28 AM PDT

One day before its next major event, Apple has released iOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.8, watchOS 7.6.2 and macOS Big Sur 11.6. All four are minor updates that don't add new features to their respective operating systems but include important security fixes. As such, Apple recommends all users download them as soon as they can.

Depending on the update, it addresses as many as two issues. One relates to the CoreGraphics framework in iOS, iPadOS and macOS, while the other stems from Apple's WebKit browser engine. In both instances, the company says it's aware of at least one report where the vulnerabilities may have been actively exploited to execute arbitrary code.

One of the flaws was discovered by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab and is linked to the Pegasus spyware. According to The Washington Post, the flaw has been in use on iOS, watchOS and macOS since at least February. Citizen Lab advises all Apple users to update their devices immediately. 

On an iPhone or iPad, you can manually check for iOS 14.8 and iPadOS 14.8 by opening the Settings app on your device, tapping "General" and then "Software Update." On macOS, meanwhile, open the System Preferences menu and then click on "Software Update."

Update 4:19 PM ET: Added more information about one of the flaws. 

Facebook's program for VIPs allows politicians and celebs to break its rules, report says

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 11:17 AM PDT

Facebook has for years used a little known VIP program that's enabled millions of high-profile users to skirt its rules, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, the program, called "XCheck" or "cross check" was created in order to avoid "PR fires," the public backlash that occurs when Facebook made a mistake affecting a high profile user's account. The cross check program meant that if one of these accounts broke its rules, the violation was sent to a separate team so that it could be reviewed by Facebook employees, rather than its non-employee moderators who typically review rule-breaking content.

Facebook had previously disclosed the existence of cross check, which had also been reported on by other outlets. But The Wall Street Journal report revealed that "most of the content flagged by the XCheck system faced no subsequent review." This effectively allowed celebrities, politicians and other high profile users to break rules without consequences.

In one incident described in the report, Brazilian soccer star Neymar posted nude photos of a woman who had accused him of sexual assault. Such a post is a violation of Facebook's rule around non-consensual nudity, and rule breakers are typically banned from the platform. But the cross check system "blocked Facebook's moderators from removing the video," and the post was viewed nearly 60 million times before it was eventually removed. His account faced no other consequences.

Last year alone, the cross check system enabled rule-breaking content to be viewed more than 16 billion times before being removed, according to internal Facebook documents cited by The Wall Street Journal. The report also says Facebook 'misled' its Oversight Board, which pressed the company on its cross check system in June when weighing in on how the company should handle Donald Trump's "indefinite suspension." The company told the board at the time that the system only affected "a small number" of its decisions and that it was "not feasible" to share more data.

"The Oversight Board has expressed on multiple occasions its concern about the lack of transparency in Facebook's content moderation processes, especially relating to the company's inconsistent management of high-profile accounts," the Oversight Board said in a statement shared on Twitter. "The Board has repeatedly made recommendations that Facebook be far more transparent in general, including about its management of high-profile accounts, while ensuring that its policies treat all users fairly."

Facebook told The Wall Street Journal that its reporting was based on "outdated information" and that the company has been trying to improve the cross check system. "In the end, at the center of this story is Facebook's own analysis that we need to improve the program," Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone wrote in a statement. "We know our enforcement is not perfect and there are tradeoffs between speed and accuracy."

The revelations could prompt new investigations into Facebook's content moderation policies. Some information related to cross check has been "turned over to the Securities and Exchange Commission and to Congress by a person seeking federal whistleblower protection," according to The Wall Street Journal.

Fake Walmart press release caused litecoin's price to jump 20 percent

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 10:48 AM PDT

Despite a bogus press release claiming otherwise, Walmart isn't accepting litecoin for payments anytime soon. The fake release caused the price of the cryptocurrency to briefly shoot up by 20 percent before it tumbled back down.

The press release went out on newswire distribution network GlobeNewswire, which later pulled the phony announcement and issued a notice to disregard it. A Walmart spokesperson told CNBC the press release was fake and that the company asked GlobeNewswire how it was distributed in the first place.

Walmart didn't post the announcement on its own website and the press release listed an email address with a website that doesn't work. Engadget has contacted Walmart and GlobeNewswire owner Intrado for comment.

If the person who sent the fake press release had a cryptocurrency wallet bulging with litecoin, they may have made an absolute killing. There's no doubt it was a creative way to inflate the price of a cryptocurrency, but perhaps it wasn't the smartest idea. It could draw an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Zoom's live captioning feature will soon work with 30 languages

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 10:32 AM PDT

Zoom held its annual Zoomtoopia conference today, providing a glimpse at some of the features it's working on bringing to its video conferencing software. There are almost too many enhancements to count, but some of the more notable ones have the potential to change how you use the service.

The first of those is an expansion of Zoom's automated closed captioning system. At the start of the year, Zoom announced it was making the feature available to all of its users by the fall of 2021. Now, the company plans to make it work in a total of 30 languages. It's also adding live translation support for 12 languages. Both expansions will occur over the next year and come after the company bought a startup that specializes in real-time translation.

Zoom is also working on an expanded Whiteboard experience that will make the feature available on the web and outside of meetings and calls. To that end, you'll find a separate Whiteboard tab once the experience rolls out in beta later this year. Then, sometime next year, Zoom plans to work with Facebook to bring its video conferencing software and Whiteboard feature to the company's Horizon Workrooms to allow you to access them both in virtual reality.

Zoom is also working on several smaller but still notable features. For instance, support for end-to-end encryption is coming to Zoom Phone, which will allow you to keep phone calls you make over Zoom secure. Check out the company's blog post to see everything it's working on at the moment.

Apple Watch now syncs with Tempo's AI-powered home gym

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 10:30 AM PDT

Tempo has rolled out Apple Watch integration for its AI-powered home gym, giving users an easy way to track their heart rate during workouts without the need for a dedicated HR monitor. Upon syncing the wearable, users can also view other data on it, including how many calories they burned during studio classes, the total volume of weights they lifted and their ranking on the leaderboard.

The company says 70 percent of its users own an iPhone, and 35 percent from that group has an Apple Watch. With that in mind, rolling out Apple integration for its product is a no-brainer. In addition to being able to view stats and data, syncing their Watch will also give users the capability to pause and resume classes, as well as to manage their workouts, without having to walk up to the smart home gym's touchscreen panel. 

Tempo launched its Studio home gym cabinet, which includes a touchscreen panel, a 3D camera track workouts, weights and other equipment, in early 2020. The pandemic brought about a need for home workout solutions as gyms around the world closed down, and Tempo was one of the companies that experienced a surge in demand. In April, the company raised $220 million in funding to be able to keep up with an increasing number of orders and give its research and development efforts a boost.

Those who already have a Tempo Studio and want to sync it with an Apple Watch will have to make sure both devices, along with their iPhone, are connected to the same WiFi network. All three have to be near each other, as well. After they've logged into their profile on the Tempo Studio and download the app for the Watch, they only need to follow the steps laid out on their iPhone.

Sony permanently shuts down LittleBigPlanet's PS3 and Vita servers

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 09:33 AM PDT

Sony has permanently shut down the online services for LittleBigPlanet games on PlayStation 3 and PS Vita after "extended downtime." As such, online multiplayer and community levels are no longer available for LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet 3 (on PS3) and LittleBigPlanet PS Vita. You can still play story modes and local co-op, however.

"We have no doubt that this news will come as a disappointment to a lot of you," the LittleBigPlanet team wrote in a statement. "Ultimately, this is the best way to protect the LittleBigPlanet community and to help ensure that our online environment remains safe."

Sony temporarily shut down LittleBigPlanet's online services in May, following reports of DDOS attacks and hackers posting offensive messages. The PS3 games were on the same servers, so if an issue affected one game, it impacted all of them.

There is a silver lining to this development, though. The developers have updated the PS4 version of LittleBigPlanet 3 and that game's servers are back online. Players once again have access to more than 10 million community levels, including all of the ones users created on the three PS3 games, as Eurogamer noted.

The unbelievably charming platformers have been a staple of PlayStation since MediaMolecule released the original LittleBigPlanet in 2008. It's a shame to see the community levels disappear from the Vita game and those who've been clinging onto the PS3 versions lose access to online services. Still, it's good to see all of the community levels live on elsewhere and that they haven't just vanished forever. 

The latest entry in the franchise, spinoff game Sackboy: A Big Adventure, hit PS4 and PS5 last November.

Steve Wozniak's latest moonshot is a private space company

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 09:01 AM PDT

Steve Wozniak has started a company called Privateer Space. The Apple co-founder announced the private space firm on late Sunday. Unfortunately, other than to promise his company would be "unlike the others," Woz didn't provide many details on the venture.

A teaser Privateer released on YouTube mentions the startup was co-founded by former Apple engineer Alex Fielding. Wozniak and Fielding have collaborated frequently over the years. Back in 2002, they co-founded a company called Wheels of Zeus (WoZ), which worked on GPS smart tags. Wozniak later sat on the board of directors of Ripcord Networks, the robotics startup Fielding founded after Wheel of Zeus shut down in 2006.

On its website, Privateer says it will have more to share at the upcoming AMOS tech conference in Maui, Hawaii that's scheduled to start on September 14th. What's clear is Woz and company are about to enter a highly competitive market that is dominated by billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. That's not an easy space to succeed in. 

DC AG expands Amazon lawsuit to include wholesaler pricing tactics

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 08:20 AM PDT

Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine has filed an amended antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. He accused Amazon of strong-arming wholesalers that provide it with products into anti-competitive agreements and making them subsidize lower prices. Engadget has contacted Amazon for comment.

The AG contends that Amazon requires a guarantee from wholesalers that it will make a minimum profit when it buys and resells their products. Those deals enable Amazon to undercut competitors' pricing and force wholesalers to pay the difference for lost profit margins, according to court documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Racine claims that Amazon's Minimum Margin Agreement (MMA) prompts wholesalers to charge more for goods elsewhere to cover those costs, making it more difficult for other e-commerce platforms to compete against Amazon's prices. The MMA leads to higher prices and less choice for consumers, according to Racine, as well as reduced levels of competition and innovation among online marketplaces.

"Amazon has continued to use its dominant position as an online marketplace to rig the system, leading to higher prices for consumers and less competition among online marketplaces," Racine told Engadget in a statement. "As we further investigated Amazon's anti-competitive practices that harm consumers and further entrench Amazon's monopoly, we learned it was also engaging in anti-competitive agreements with first party sellers, or wholesalers – in addition to third-party sellers. I filed this antitrust lawsuit to stand up for consumers, hold Amazon accountable for its anti-competitive practices, and protect competition. We're continuing to do just that with this amended complaint that adds more of Amazon's misconduct."

Others have accused Amazon of adopting such tactics. PopSockets CEO David Barnett previously testified that Amazon demanded payment from the company to make up for lost profits after it slashed prices.

In the initial version of his suit, which was filed in May, Racine claimed Amazon blocks third-party sellers from offering their wares at lower prices on other platforms. Amazon is facing antitrust scrutiny elsewhere, including from the House of Representatives, the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission. Several state attorneys general are also said to be looking into whether the company has broken antitrust laws.

Update 9/13 12:18PM ET: Added Racine's statement and other clarifications.

AirPods Pro drop back down to $180 at Amazon

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 07:10 AM PDT

If you missed last week's sale on AirPods Pro, you have another opportunity to grab them at close to a record-low price. Apple's advanced wireless earbuds are down to $180 again on Amazon thanks to an automatically applied coupon that knocks $17.01 off the buds' $197 sale price. While we do expect to learn more about new regular AirPods during Apple's event tomorrow, it's unclear if we'll see a brand new version of the Pros.

Buy AirPods Pro at Amazon - $180

These are Apple's most powerful earbuds and we gave them a score of 87 when they first came out. Yes, it's been nearly two years since then, but the AirPods Pro remain the best wireless earbuds for those with iPhones. That's due in part to how easily they pair and switch between Apple devices thanks to the H1 chip inside the buds, a piece of tech that also enables hands-free Siri access. Connecting the AirPods Pro to your iPhone for the first time is a quick and seamless process, and after that, you can go from listening to music on your Mac to taking a call on your iPhone with little hassle.

The AirPods Pro also have a better fitting design than standard AirPods, although that could change if Apple announces an updated model of its standard buds tomorrow. The Pros support ANC and Transparency Mode, which lets you hop in and out of conversations easily, and they support spatial audio along with Apple Music's new Dolby Atmos format. And if you want a pair of AirPods with wireless charging, the Pros are a good option because, unlike regular AirPods, their case has wireless charging support by default.

If you're more concerned about getting the latest earbuds Apple has to offer, it's worth it to wait until after tomorrow's event to see what the company has in store. However, if you're more concerned about your budget, this sale on the AirPods Pro is one of the best we've seen in recent months.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Disney+ 'Hawkeye' trailer shows Clint Barton's past catching up with him

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 07:00 AM PDT

The next Marvel Cinematic Universe show will premiere on Disney+ in November and, appropriately enough, Hawkeye has a festive setting. Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye) just wants to spend Christmas with his family, but his enemies have other plans.

The series marks the return of Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye. This time around, he has a new partner: Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), the self-professed "world's greatest archer." Hawkeye is said to center on the relationship between the two toxophilites, with Clint training Kate to take over as Hawkeye, as the character does in the comics. There are hints of that passing of the torch in the trailer. It shows the pair meeting for the first time and forming a bond as they work together to battle some goons.

There are a few nods to other parts of the MCU here, including the existence of a Broadway musical about Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) and a tip of the cap toward the "masked vigilante" Hawkeye battled in Avengers: Endgame. Something we don't see in the trailer is an appearance by Florence Pugh, who made her MCU bow as assassin Yelena Belova in Black Widow this summer. She was cast in Hawkeye last December.

In any case, you won't have to wait too long to see what happens when Yelena, Clint and Kate encounter each other. The eight-episode first season of Hawkeye will debut on November 24th on Disney+.

'Deathloop' is an exhilarating, innovative, time-bending mess

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 05:01 AM PDT

Deathloop is the coolest escape room I've ever experienced. That may not sound like much, considering plenty of escape rooms are cheesy monuments to corporate team-building exercises and gentrification, but I mean it as a compliment. Deathloop uses the fundamentals of old-school locked-room mysteries to deliver a rich and stylish universe driven by intrigue, action and strategy. The main difference between Deathloop and an actual escape room is, well, all the death.

Unsurprisingly, there's a fair amount of dying in Deathloop. Dying is a core mechanic of the game, and it's the first thing players actually do in the campaign, called Break the Loop. The opening scene has Colt, the main character, on his back with a murderous woman called Julianna sitting on top of him, pressing a massive blade to his chest. After some banter, she plunges the knife into Colt's heart, and he sputters and dies.

Deathloop
Bethesda

And then the game begins. Colt awakens on a cold, empty beach littered with bottles, and he makes his way to a compound built into the side of the sea wall. As he walks, glowing words appear around the environment, as if a loved one is leaving words of encouragement and warning for him. Colt is confused — he doesn't even know his own name at this point, let alone how he got here or who's trying to talk to him.

The identity of the message-writer is just one of a dozen or so core mysteries in Deathloop, and these are the driving force of the campaign. Colt's job is to explore Blackreef, the island where he's been trapped in an infinite respawn cycle, and learn as much about its leaders and technology as possible, in order to burn it all down. Blackreef is a retrofuturistic bubble populated by residents who split their time between partying and violently defending their consequence-free way of life, and Colt can either sneak or shoot his way through their ranks.

In action, Deathloop feels a lot like Dishonored (of course), with a chaser of We Happy Few and Quadrilateral Cowboy. It's mechanically mature and narratively dense, but best of all, it doesn't take itself too seriously.

Deathloop
Bethesda

Deathloop is one of the few first-person action games that I can successfully play in stealth mode, silently taking down enemies, hacking turrets and sniping from the rooftops in order to stay alive. Usually with games like this — I'm thinking Deus Ex and Far Cry — I intend to play stealthily, but it doesn't work out. I get too close to an enemy, or miss my headshot, or forget about that security camera, and I end up just throwing a grenade and emptying my magazine, recklessly running into danger.

Deathloop invites the kind of stealth that I can sustain. The environments are endlessly climbable, offering plenty of vantage points for Colt to survey and mark his enemies, tracking their movements and revealing the kinds of weapons they're carrying. If something in Deathloop looks scalable, it likely is, opening up the game world in all directions. Additionally, if I accidentally alert the enemies in one location, I don't feel like I have to abandon my plans and roll in guns blazing. Generally speaking, I can find some cover, pick off the folks that follow me, and return to the rest of the mission in stealth mode. My favorite weapons in these moments are the Tribunal and the PT-6 Spiker, both of which are silent and deliver instant-kill headshots.

I'd like to blame the success of Deathloop's stealth mechanics on my own skills or the masterful sense of level design coming out of Arkane Studios, but it might just be the game's hit-or-miss AI. There are times it feels too easy to sneak up on enemies, and moments when they fail to react appropriately to Colt's presence, standing still for seconds too long, piling up in hallways or ignoring nearby scuffles. It's not every encounter, and there are still plenty of moments when I'm bested by the NPCs, but it's enough that I'd classify the enemy AI in Deathloop as OK, rather than good.

Deathloop

Along his way, Colt picks up a variety of weapons and ultra-high-tech artifacts that grant him special abilities and perks. There are Trinkets, which are small glowing items that enhance whatever gun they're attached to, and Slabs, which give Colt — and his enemies — superhuman powers like invisibility, telekinesis and short-distance teleportation. Once collected, the Slabs are swappable in Colt's loadout, and they tend to be tons of fun.

Blackreef is controlled by eight Visionaries of the AEON Program, one of whom is Julianna, and the only way to escape the island is for Colt to kill them all in a single day, breaking the loop. However, it's not as simple as speedrunning through Blackreef in order to take them all out. Colt has deep ties to the AEON Program and the Visionaries all keep their own schedules, meaning a successful assassination run will require hours of information-gathering and strategizing. And, it turns out, dying.

Once he gets going, Colt is able to die twice during any playthrough with few consequences; he's simply transported to a previous location and allowed to keep going, health restored. On the third death, however, he's sent back to that bottle-lined beach, resources depleted.

He also loses his gear after a full day of activity, regardless of progress. Deathloop is divided into four times — morning, noon, afternoon and night — and after each complete sequence, Colt is beached. Certain missions can only be completed at specific times of day, so players have to plan their attacks accordingly, either shifting time forward or simply delaying until the next loop.

Deathloop
Bethesda

Eventually, Colt gains the ability to carry some slabs, trinkets and weapons with him between loops, though he has to infuse the items he wants to keep with a resource called Residiuum. Colt can harvest Residiuum from the shiny, glitched-out objects in Blackreef, or by killing visionaries and absorbing their energy. Residiuum can then be applied to specific items in Colt's kit, holding them for good.

With all of these trinkets, slabs, weapons, Residiuum, visionaries and loops, there's a lot to keep tabs on in Deathlooop. The amount of stuff in the game is overwhelming at times, and it's complicated by an intense plot filled with overlapping, time-bending mysteries. Small scraps of paper and brief audio recordings often contain crucial bits of information, rewarding players who obsessively explore every bookshelf, desk and dead-end with reams of notes and leads. The game does a good job of organizing all of these details in the resource-management screen, but overall, Deathloop demands full and complete attention, lest you completely lose the plot.

For those who pay attention, the story and environment of Blackreef unravels beautifully, with important secrets hidden in plain view, and new parts of the world opening and closing depending on the time of day. From this perspective, the density of things to collect, use and learn in Deathloop makes perfect sense. This game is built on the idea of replaying the same four maps again and again — Colt needs something new to do every time.

Deathloop
Bethesda

Julianna is a charming constant in Deathloop, generally talking shit and fleshing out the background of Blackreef. She's also the star of the game's second mode, Protect the Loop. Here, players are able to invade the games of friends or strangers, playing as Julianna and hunting down Colt as he tries to complete a mission. She has her own loadout, trinkets and slabs, including a masquerade ability that lets her trade appearances with allied NPCs — meaning, everyone except Colt.

Protect the Loop is marked by long periods of silence and inactivity, followed by furious gunfire and death. Colt can take any route he wants through the various maps, and Julianna has to actively hunt him down or wait for him to appear near the objective. She may be able to disguise herself, but she only has one life, while Colt has to die three times to make it final. This results in a delicious cat-and-mouse game that's different with each new player.

That said, Protect the Loop is also where I've encountered the most technical issues. I played on PS5, and one round crashed fully right after launching, while two more were completely unplayable from my end, repeatedly setting my Julianna back a few frames until Colt finally showed up and shot her. That's in comparison with four glitch-free rounds. My recommendation here is to use an ethernet cable, rather than Wi-Fi, and make sure your friends do, too.

Deathloop

Deathloop is incredibly dense, but it's also inherently forgiving. Relying on death as a mechanic in Break the Loop takes the sting out of failing a cycle or two, since retrying is built into the narrative. Colt uncovers helpful information in most of his runs, even when he ends up dead — like, dead dead — and it feels like there's always something new to uncover in Blackreef, no matter how many times he returns to the same location. If it does ever get old, there's always the option to Protect the Loop.

And then Break the Loop. And then Protect the Loop. And then Break the Loop.

You get the idea.
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