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• Amazon one-day sale drops the price of Philips Hue kits and bulbs
• The Morning After: McDonald's plant-based burger is here
• Google Stadia adds free trials for 'Control' and 'Riders Republic'
• Apple sold a record number of MacBooks last quarter, says Strategy Analytics
• HBO Max teases post-apocalyptic series 'Station Eleven'
• University of Adelaide built a robot spider to scan Australia’s Naracoorte Caves
• Blizzard's first female leader, Jen Oneal, steps down amid ongoing gender discrimination suit
• 'Overwatch 2' and 'Diablo IV' have been delayed indefinitely
• Report links most climate change denial on Facebook to 10 publications
• Roku will effectively ban porn channels on March 1st, 2022
• Lenovo's Flex 5 Chromebook is on sale for $300 right now
• 'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' is shutting down on January 31st, 2022
• 'Skyrim' is getting the board game treatment
• Facebook is shutting down its face recognition system
• Netflix starts rolling out mobile games to all Android subscribers
• Microsoft makes a vague commitment to metaverse gaming
• Razer's latest Productivity keyboard and mouse have 'silent' mechanical switches
• Amazon Music now offers synchronized transcripts for podcasts
• Samsung's 1TB T7 Touch portable drive drops to $150 at Amazon
• Sony's budget WH-CH710N ANC headphones drop back down to $78
• Microsoft's Mesh for Teams brings mixed reality to work
• Microsoft Loop is a new Office app built for collaborative work
• Video editing and audio recording are coming to Microsoft Office apps
• Zoom starts showing ads to free users in limited test
• The home theater gear worth gifting this year (even if the giftee is you)

Amazon one-day sale drops the price of Philips Hue kits and bulbs Posted: 03 Nov 2021 04:50 AM PDT Philips Hue lighting products can do some pretty cool things these days, like syncing with Spotify or helping you sleep. They're not exactly cheap, but luckily Amazon is offering significant discounts on Hue bulbs and kits as an early Black Friday sale, for today only. The deals includes a starter kit with Hue bulbs and buttons, a colored Hue bulb pack and a Smart Lightstrip Bundle, with discounts up to 41 percent. Buy Philips Hue kits and bulbs at Amazon A good way to get started would be with the Philips Hue White LED Smart Button Starter Kit, now on sale for $80 instead of $100 (20 percent off). That gets you three Hue White LED 60W bulbs that can fit in most lamps, overhead lights and recessed cans. It also comes with the Philips Hue hub that can reliably control up to 50 Hue lights without taxing your WiFi, along with one Smart Button that can be attached with magnets or tape — no hard-wiring required.  If you want some color on top of that, the above bundle together with a Bluetooth Smart Lightstrip Plus Bundle is also on sale for $144, a savings of 19 percent. The latter product connects with the Hue Hub, allowing you create a colored light experience across the entire six-foot strip for extra ambience around your home. You can also sync the Lightstrip with gaming, music or movies using the Hue Sync app.  Amazon Finally, if you want color and simplicity, the best Amazon deal is on the Philips Hue White and Color Ambience bulbs (above). Pick up a three-pack for just $80 ($26.66 each), for a savings of $55 or 41 percent. Up to ten of these bulbs can be controlled directly or by voice control with your smartphone using the Hue App. From there, you can program up to 16 million colors for parties or to set different moods in your house depending on the time of day.  Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

The Morning After: McDonald's plant-based burger is here Posted: 03 Nov 2021 04:28 AM PDT Roughly a year since announcing it, McDonald's is ready to test its first plant-based burger. Ahead of its trial launch in the US today, I tasted the collaboration between Beyond Meat and the Golden Arches; although the version here in the UK is entirely vegan, with pea-protein-based 'cheese,' a vegan sauce subbing in for mayo and even a vegan-friendly sesame-seed bun. The US take uses a slice of American cheese and proper mayo — though you can customize your order to avoid these. The plant-based patty will also be cooked alongside meat-based products, making it not entirely vegan. Given the cheese included, however, McDonald's USA is positioning it more like a substitute item for people looking to reduce their meat intake. But how does it taste? You'll have to read on. — Mat Smith NVIDIA Broadcast is kinda underrated How your GPU might give your streams a leg up. NVIDIA is tapping the potential of its own GPUs to do things beyond, well, graphics. Evolving from RTX Voice, which as the name implies, is a tool for upping your microphone skills, it quietly released Broadcast — a more comprehensive tool aimed squarely at streamers and content creators. Broadcast dabbles in both audio and video improvements, and James Trew has been testing it out. Expect to see his spin-off Twitch stream dedicated to the Atari Lynx very soon. Continue reading. Sponsored by UserTesting Improve the player's journey with user feedback. Get the gaming testing guide. 'Overwatch 2' and 'Diablo IV' have been delayed indefinitely Literally, there is no release date. Blizzard Activision Blizzard is once again delaying Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV. Following months of upheaval at its Blizzard Entertainment subsidiary, stemming from a sexual harassment lawsuit the State of California filed in July, the publisher announced during its recent third-quarter 2021 earnings call that it's pushing those games back to give the teams working on them more time. "While we are still planning to deliver a substantial amount of content from Blizzard next year, we are now planning for a later launch for Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV than originally envisaged," the company said. This announcement came alongside news that Jen Oneal has stepped down from her role as co-leader of Blizzard, leaving Mike Ybarra as the head of the studio. Oneal, the first woman in a president role since Activision's founding in 1979, will temporarily transition to a new position, but will leave Activision Blizzard at the end of the year. Continue reading. 'Squid Game' cryptocurrency collapses in a $3 million scam Its creators may have made off with as much as $3.38 million. ​​A cryptocurrency inspired by Netflix hit Squid Game successfully enticed enough investors to see its value soar to over $2,800... before its creators cashed out and disappeared. The cryptocurrency called $SQUID launched in late October and rose up to 310,000 percent in value in just a few days. It was meant to be for playing for an upcoming online game based on the South Korean series. Early Monday morning, however, the coin's value plummeted to $0, its website disappeared (you can view an archive here) and its Twitter account got blocked. Continue reading. Microsoft Loop is a new Office app built for collaborative work It makes the company's vision of collaborative work clearer. Microsoft Loop, a new Office collaboration app announced today, takes the company's Fluid Framework vision one step further. You might remember the technology from Microsoft's recent developer events. Simply put, it should allow collaboration on specific chunks of content, say a table or chart, synchronized across multiple Office apps. A table you create in Outlook, for example, would instantly update if someone plugs it into a Word document and adds new information. Oh, and Microsoft is, naturally, working on the multiverse. MS Word in VR, baby! Continue reading. Traeger now ships full barbecue meals for you to cook on its smart grills Everything aspiring pitmasters need to prepare a feast. Traeger Definitely not a plant-based burger. Traeger is expanding its range of supplies and gear to offer you literally everything you might need for a full meal, with all the dishes cooked directly on its grills. Traeger Provisions is a HelloFresh-like meal kit that includes the meat, sides, rubs, sauces and more. At launch, the meat options are Wagyu beef brisket, Poulet Rouge chicken and Berkshire St. Louis pork ribs. Traeger says portion sizes for all three will accommodate 4 to 8 people, depending on the protein. For the brisket, the company also offers an option for 14 to 16 people (half brisket vs. whole brisket). Prices range from $150 to $180 for the smaller packages, while the larger whole brisket box is $250. Continue reading.      The biggest news stories you might have missed Elon Musk says Hertz hasn't actually ordered 100,000 Tesla EVs yet Seven tech charities to support this holiday season The home theater gear worth gifting this year (even if the giftee is you) Tesla issues recall of 11,704 EVs over braking software glitch Apple's 512GB Mac Mini M1 returns to a record low of $750 at Amazon Netflix starts rolling out mobile games to all Android subscribers 'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' is shutting down on January 31st, 2022 Razer's latest Productivity keyboard and mouse have 'silent' mechanical switches

Google Stadia adds free trials for 'Control' and 'Riders Republic' Posted: 03 Nov 2021 03:25 AM PDT Back in October, Google Stadia introduced free trials with its Hello Engineer game. While the service lets users try any game they want with a $10-per-month Pro subscription, it was the first time free users were given the chance to test a game before purchase. Now, according to 9to5Google, Stadia is giving free users the opportunity to take two more games for a spin before they have to buy them. One of those games is Control: Ultimate Edition, which recently just came out for the platform. Ultimate Edition contains the core Control game, along with the expansions that were released for it. Like Hello Engineer, players will be able to test it out for 30 minutes before they have to decide whether to pay $40 for a copy. The other game is Ubisoft's recently released Riders Republic, a massively multiplayer extreme sports game, where teams can battle each other on bikes, skis, snowboards and in flying wingsuits. Players will get the chance to try it out for two hours instead of just 30 minutes, perhaps because half an hour might barely be enough to cover tutorials when there are several extreme sports to choose from. Besides, Riders Republic isn't cheap and costs $60 to purchase. With the addition of these two games, we can probably expect Google to make more titles available for free trial in the future. It could be an effective way to get people who'd rather own the titles they play interested in purchasing from Stadia instead of from other gaming platforms.

Apple sold a record number of MacBooks last quarter, says Strategy Analytics Posted: 03 Nov 2021 02:12 AM PDT Apple got some of its MacBook sales mojo back last quarter thanks to discounts on the MacBook Air, according to the research firm Strategy Analytics. The company sold a record 6.5 million MacBooks in Q3 2021, up 10 percent over last year — no doubt contributing to its blockbuster Mac quarter. Meanwhile, Chromebook sales actually declined for the first time since the pandemic started, IDC reported.  Laptop sales in general were up eight percent over last year to 66.8 million units, due largely to commercial and educational sales. That was aided in part by "higher discounts on premium products like MacBook Air and gaming notebooks," according to Strategy Analytics.  Strategy Analytics Sales could have been even higher if not for a shortage of components and higher freight costs that drove prices higher and caused some delays. Lenovo topped the sales list for the fourth quarter in a row with 15.3 million units shipped, with HP, Dell, Apple and ASUS rounding out the top five.  Chromebook and tablet sales didn't fare so well though, according to IDC. Chromebook sales tumbled by 29.8 percent year-over-year to 6.5 million units, thanks largely to "saturation" in the education market. "Many schools and governments blew out their budgets to provide devices for remote learning and even consumers aggressively purchased devices for learning in 2020," the firm wrote. Lenovo again topped the sales list for Chromebooks, followed by Acer, Dell, HP and Samsung. Tablet sales slowed 9.4 percent to 42.3 million units, due to reduced demand and limited supply. The exception to that trend was Apple, which saw iPad sales grow 4.6 percent over last year to 14.7 million units. That dominated the category, as Samsung sold just over half that number (7.5 million), followed by Amazon, Lenovo and Huawei.

HBO Max teases post-apocalyptic series 'Station Eleven' Posted: 03 Nov 2021 12:17 AM PDT HBO Max has released the first teaser video and images for its adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel's post-apocalyptic novel, Station Eleven. In the short video, you'll get glimpses of Jeevan (Himesh Patel), Kirsten (Matilda Lawler as her younger version and Mackenzie Davis as her older version) and the other main characters of the story, as they face a pandemic that ravaged most of the planet.  The teaser trailer starts off with Jeevan and young Kirsten purchasing carts upon carts of food from a nearly empty supermarket, as well as a a lone cashier who didn't know where to go. From there, we see a montage of bleak landscapes, a ferris wheel and a building on fire, a theater performance (which is a central element to the story), a mysterious figure, people panicking and then trying to rebuild what they lost. Mandel's novel is set in the Great Lakes region before and after a fictional swine flu pandemic killed most of the world's population. According to Polygon, it started shooting in Chicago in January 2020, but because of the real-life pandemic still affecting us right now, production had to be moved to Mississauga, Ontario and concluded in July. The 10-episode limited series was directed by Hiro Murai (Atlanta), while Patrick Somerville (Made for Love) served as writer and showrunner. It will be available to stream on HBO Max, starting on December 16th.

University of Adelaide built a robot spider to scan Australia’s Naracoorte Caves Posted: 02 Nov 2021 03:48 PM PDT In the southeast of South Australia lie the Naracoorte Caves. The national park is an UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its stalactites, stalagmites and prehistoric fossils. Recently, a group of students from the University of Adelaide built a robot to complete a 3D scan of the site. The project, called CaveX, saw the group create 15 iterations of the model you see above before they settled on a final design. They went with a robot that walks on a set of six legs out of a fear that one with treads or wheels would damage the surface of the caves. The design also allowed it to traverse uneven terrain with a variety of different gaits. Matthew King As for the 3D scans, the hope is that they'll lead to new discoveries at the site. "We're looking at the cave surface to find new cave entrances which will hopefully lead to new fossil deposits," Craig Williams, one of the PhD students who worked on the project, told ABC Australia. "That will help us enhance the range of knowledge on the fossils that are here." The team that worked on the project hopes a new generation of engineering students will continue to work on the robot. One day, they'd like to see it take advantage of technologies like computer vision AI to make it better at its job.

Blizzard's first female leader, Jen Oneal, steps down amid ongoing gender discrimination suit Posted: 02 Nov 2021 02:37 PM PDT Jen Oneal has stepped down from her role as co-leader of Blizzard, leaving Mike Ybarra as the head of the studio known for making Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Diablo. Oneal will temporarily transition to a new position, but will leave Activision Blizzard (fine, and King) at the end of the year. Activision Blizzard is facing a handful of lawsuits and investigations into reports of sexual harassment, gropings, and systemic gender discrimination at the studio, stemming from the leadership down. Oneal and Ybarra took over as co-leaders of Blizzard in August after president J. Allen Brack was named in the original California lawsuit, leading to his dismissal. Oneal was the first woman in a president role since Activision's founding in 1979. Oneal published an open letter to the Blizzard community, reading in part as follows: I have made the decision to step away from co-leading Blizzard Entertainment and will transition to a new position before departing ABK at the end of the year. Effective immediately, Mike Ybarra will lead Blizzard. I am doing this not because I am without hope for Blizzard, quite the opposite — I'm inspired by the passion of everyone here, working towards meaningful, lasting change with their whole hearts. This energy has inspired me to step out and explore how I can do more to have games and diversity intersect, and hopefully make a broader industry impact that will benefit Blizzard (and other studios) as well. While I am not totally sure what form that will take, I am excited to embark on a new journey to find out. After months of pressure from employees, shareholders and government agencies, Activision Blizzard ended its policy of forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination, and implemented a zero-tolerance approach to harassment at the studio. The original California lawsuit is ongoing. Blizzard announced two big delays alongside news of Oneal's departure: Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV, neither of which was given a release window.

'Overwatch 2' and 'Diablo IV' have been delayed indefinitely Posted: 02 Nov 2021 02:20 PM PDT Activision Blizzard is once again delaying Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV. Following months of upheaval at its Blizzard Entertainment subsidiary stemming from a sexual harassment lawsuit the State of California filed in July, the publisher announced during its recent third-quarter 2021 earnings call that it's pushing those games back to give the teams working on them more time.  "While we are still planning to deliver a substantial amount of content from Blizzard next year, we are now planning for a later launch for Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV than originally envisaged," the company said.  Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 delayed pic.twitter.com/4pr9c0OEdz — Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) November 2, 2021 It did not share a revised release date for either title. "These decisions will push will push the financial uplift that we had expected to see next year," Activision said. "But we are confident that is the right course of action for our people, our players, and the long-term successes of our franchises."  Blizzard unveiled Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV at Blizzcon 2019. At the time, the studio made it clear that both games were in early development, but the expectation was that it would release them sometime in 2021. Activision dashed those hopes at the start of the year when it said neither title would come out in 2021.

Report links most climate change denial on Facebook to 10 publications Posted: 02 Nov 2021 01:53 PM PDT Most climate change misinformation comes from only a handful of sources. That's according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). The organization found that ten publishers are responsible for 69 percent of all interactions with climate change denial content on Facebook. Included in the group, which the CCDH titled "The Toxic Ten," are Breitbart, Russia Today and Media Research Center, which has ties to the fossil fuel industry. The findings broadly mirror that of another report the CCDH published earlier in the year, which found that as much as 73 percent of vaccine misinformation on Facebook can be linked to only 12 individuals dubbed the "disinformation dozen." That study has been widely cited by US lawmakers who have called on social media platforms to do more to address the "urgent threat" misinformation represents to public health. As it did with the earlier disinformation dozen report, Meta, Facebook's parent company, disputed the methodology the CCDH used to compile its latest study. "The 700,000 interactions this report says were on climate denial represent 0.3 percent of the over 200 million interactions on English public climate change content from Pages and public groups over the same time period," a spokesperson for the company said. It also pointed to the recently announced expansion of features like the Climate Change Information Center as evidence of its commitment to tackling misinformation on the topic. In an interview with The Washington Post, Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the CCDH, said the organization looked at approximately 7,000 articles published between October 2020 and October 2021. He called the sample "robust" and said there was enough data "to derive representative finds of trends." Additionally, the report examined the financial incentives involved in publishing climate change denial content. The CCDH estimates eight of the companies included in the Toxic Ten made $5.3 million in Google ad revenue over the last six months, with $1.7 million going to the search giant. "We recently announced a new policy that explicitly prohibits publishers and YouTube Creators from monetizing content that promotes climate change denial. This policy will go into effect on November 8 and our enforcement will be as targeted as removing ads from individual pages with violating content," a spokesperson for Google told Engadget. "When you put it all together, you've got these two industries, Big Oil and Big Tech, and they are the two industries that pose the greatest threat to the survival of our species," Ahmed told The Post. The timing of The Toxic Ten report comes as delegates from around the world meet at the UN's COP26 climate summit in Scotland in what's been described as "the world's last best chance" to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Without dramatic reductions, the planet is currently on track for a "catastrophic" 2.7 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures. With every additional degree of warming beyond the 1.5-degree target put forward by the Paris Agreement, there's a greater risk of the planet passing specific tipping points that could lead to even more dramatic changes to the climate.

Roku will effectively ban porn channels on March 1st, 2022 Posted: 02 Nov 2021 01:11 PM PDT Porn fans with Roku players will have to turn to other devices before long. Protocol has learned that Roku will effectively ban channels from Pornhub and other porn services on March 1st, 2022. The company is dropping support for "non-certified" private channels on that day in favor of beta channels that are limited to 20 users. That's potentially better for testers, but a headache for adult content providers who used those channels to get around Roku's restrictions on regular channels. Roku has been accused of largely ignoring private channels before. That didn't necessarily clash with porn sites, but it did create issues with both rights holders worried about privacy as well as critics concerned Roku was enabling the spread of harmful misinformation and violence. Roku eventually pulled InfoWars' channel and issued warnings that it might remove illegal private channels without warning. We've asked Roku for comment. Unlike policy decisions (however temporary) at sites like OnlyFans, though this isn't likely the result of anti-porn mindsets from partners. Rather, this may be more about control. Roku doesn't have to worry about channel operators bypassing its official system, particularly those that might get the company in trouble. Whatever the reasoning, this may prompt porn fans to switch to Android TV, Fire TV or browser-equipped platforms that still offer ways to watch racy material.

Lenovo's Flex 5 Chromebook is on sale for $300 right now Posted: 02 Nov 2021 11:30 AM PDT If you're going to use a Chromebook as your daily driver — or even just more than once or twice a day — you should get a decently powerful one. Perhaps unsurprisingly, even Chrome OS machines can get expensive when you start to spec them out, but Lenovo's Flex 5 Chromebook has been one of our favorites precisely for how much value it packs at a relatively affordable $430. Amazon now has this versatile Chrome OS laptop at the best price we've seen — only $300. That's $130 off its normal price and an all-time low. Buy Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook at Amazon - $300 The model on sale runs on a 10th-generation Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. While the latter two are pretty common in entry- to mid-level Chromebooks, the Core i3 processor will help this laptop feel zippier than others. While we initially weren't thrilled by the 4GB of RAM, we found that the Flex 5 Chromebook was more than capable of running multiple tabs simultaneously. As for storage, 64GB should be enough for most people who do most of their work in the Chrome browser anyway. Even at its normal price, the Flex 5 Chromebook provides a lot of power compared to other similarly priced devices — but at $300, it's a fantastic value. Most Chrome OS machines in this price range tend to sacrifice on style, and while Lenovo's laptop isn't ugly by any means, it's not the slickest either. It weights about three pounds and measures 0.66-inches thick, but it does have a handy convertible design so you could use it as a tablet or even in tent mode to watch TV shows and movies. It has a decent 1080p touchscreen, too, along with a decent array of ports that includes two USB-C ports and a USB-A port. Lenovo did a good job of combining most key features of a good Chromebook into this laptop, which is why we continue to recommend it both when it's on sale or at regular price. Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' is shutting down on January 31st, 2022 Posted: 02 Nov 2021 11:10 AM PDT Niantic is ending support for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The studio announced today it will shutter the AR game on January 31st, 2022. Ahead of the sunset, it plans to delist the title from the App Store, Google Play and Galaxy Store on December 6th. That same day, it will also remove all in-app purchases from the experience. Niantic first launched Wizards Unite back in 2019. And in many ways, it never replicated the runaway success of Pokémon Go. "Not all games are meant to last forever," the company said of the decision to stop working on the title. "Our goal with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was to bring the magic of the wizarding world to life for millions of players as they stepped outside and explored their neighborhoods. We accomplished that together, delivering a two-year narrative story arc that will soon complete." For Niantic, this is the second game it has decided to shut down in less than two months. In September, it announced it was discontinuing development on Catan: World Explorers before the game was even widely available outside of a few select markets. Then, as now, Niantic says it will take what it learned from the experience and apply it to future projects. Presumably that includes Pikmin Bloom, which recently launched in Singapore and Australia, as well as the upcoming Transformers: Heavy Metal. In total, the studio says it's working on nine games and apps, some of which will soft-launch next year.

'Skyrim' is getting the board game treatment Posted: 02 Nov 2021 10:42 AM PDT Ready to buy yet another version of Skyrim? After coming to nearly every system imaginable, Bethesda's seminal 2011 RPG is about to get the tabletop treatment. Modiphius Entertainment, the company behind Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, is working on The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - The Adventure Game. Set to come out sometime next summer, the game will allow you to revisit Tamriel's frozen north as an agent of the Imperial Blades. You can play either by yourself or with up to three other friends. The narrative-driven game will ship with two campaigns made up of three chapters. Modiphius says each one should take about 90 to 120 minutes to complete. Provided you don't get distracted by side quests and exploration (not an easy feat in any Elder Scrolls game), you can expect your initial playthrough to take about 12 hours. Worry not, you can "save" your progress at any point, and pick up where you left off. The decisions you make during a playthrough will shape how the story unfolds. And with a deck of about 600 cards driving the narrative, no two sessions should play out exactly the same. If you want to read more about the game, Polygon has a detailed preview. You can pre-order The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - The Adventure Game through Gamefound. The first 2,011 people to back the project's base tier can get the game by itself for £68 (approximately $92). For everyone else, it will start at £82 ($111).

Facebook is shutting down its face recognition system Posted: 02 Nov 2021 10:17 AM PDT Meta is further backing away from facial recognition. The company has announced it's shutting down the Face Recognition system on Facebook in the "coming weeks." You'll no longer be automatically recognized in photos if you opted in to the feature, and the Facebook team will delete over a billion facial recognition templates. Automatic Alt Text's descriptions for the visually impaired will also stop naming people detected in photos. The company said it made the decision following "growing concerns" about the broader use of facial recognition, including "uncertainty" about regulation of the technology. While Meta believed face recognition could still be helpful in some situations, such as gaining access to a locked account, it felt a "narrower," more privacy-oriented approach was a better fit than the broader outgoing strategy. On-device recognition wouldn't require sharing data with outside servers, for example. There was already significant pressure to shut down the system. Meta (then Facebook) settled a privacy lawsuit over facial recognition for $650 million in 2020, and it likely isn't eager to grapple with similar cases. Governments ranging from Massachusetts to the European Union have either passed or are strongly considering at least partial bans on facial recognition use. Facebook's opt-in system may not have explicitly run afoul of those laws, but the message is clear: wide-ranging facial recognition systems aren't very welcome. As it stands, Meta isn't alone. Amazon now has an indefinite ban on police use of its Rekognition platform, and Google has declined to sell facial recognition tech since 2018. Although Meta hasn't completely given up on the concept, it's clearly eager to be seen as forward-thinking — and continue mending its less-than-stellar reputation for privacy.

Netflix starts rolling out mobile games to all Android subscribers Posted: 02 Nov 2021 10:12 AM PDT Netflix is taking a big step forward with its gaming ambitions. Starting today, all subscribers can play five mobile games on Android devices at no extra cost by downloading them from the Google Play store on phones and tablets. The games will be available through the Netflix app starting on November 3rd as part of a gradual rollout. As for iOS users, they can access the games at a later date. In August, Netflix started testing games in its Android app in Poland with Stranger Things 1984 and Stranger Things 3. The test expanded to Spain and Italy the following month with three other casual games — Shooting Hoops, Teeter Up and Card Blast — none of which are connected to Netflix shows or movies. The games have no ads or in-app purchases. You can access them on your phone or tablet by going to the games section of the app's homepage or through the games tab. Once you select a game, you can download it from the Google Play Store or (soon) the App Store, and play it via the Netflix app. 🎮📱 Let the Games Begin📱🎮 Tomorrow, Netflix Games will start rolling out on the Netflix mobile app. First on Android, with iOS on the way. It's early days, but we're excited to start bringing you exclusive games, with no ads, no additional fees and no in-app purchases. pic.twitter.com/ofNGF4b8At — Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) November 2, 2021 Games will default to the preferred language in your Netflix profile. However, if a game isn't yet available in that language, it will default to English. Some games will work offline too. Everyone with a profile on a Netflix account can play the games without the need for a separate subscription. However, the games aren't available on kids profiles. Users who have set up a PIN to prevent access to adult profiles will need to enter their code to play games too. After experimenting with interactive shows and movies over the last few years, Netflix has made it clear it's eager to gain a bigger foothold in gaming. During its Q2 earnings call in July, the company said its most serious gaming push to date would start on mobile.  Netflix says the initial batch of five titles are just the beginning of its gaming aspirations. In September, the company bought a game studio for the first time in the form of Oxenfree developer Night School Studio. "Just like our series, films and specials, we want to design games for any level of play and every kind of player, whether you're a beginner or a lifelong gamer," Mike Verdu, Netflix vice president of game development, wrote in a blog post. Update 11/2 2:15PM ET: Clarifying the rollout timeline on Android.

Microsoft makes a vague commitment to metaverse gaming Posted: 02 Nov 2021 10:04 AM PDT Microsoft's metaverse ambitions extend well beyond a handful of Teams features. The Vergereports chief executive Satya Nadella told Bloomberg the company is "absolutely" planning on creating a gaming metaverse with "full 3D" worlds. The claim was about as vague as can be, and didn't include a timeline or software, but it's (eventually) in the works. The question, of course, is just what those metaverse experiences will look like. Nadella wasn't exactly clear on the definition of a metaverse and believed that games like Halo, Minecraft and even Flight Simulator were simpler "2D" metaverses. Sorry, Nadella, but they're not — merely having a multiplayer space doesn't create a metaverse, especially not with match-oriented games like Halo. The potential is there, though. Microsoft has dabbled in metaverse-like projects such as Minecraft on HoloLens and the defunct Minecraft Earth. The software creator could easily translate lessons learned from that software to a shared virtual environment, even it looks nothing like any of the company's best-known franchises.

Razer's latest Productivity keyboard and mouse have 'silent' mechanical switches Posted: 02 Nov 2021 09:42 AM PDT Many members of the workforce are returning to the office after over 18 months of working from home. But folks might not be quite ready to give up on some of the luxuries they treated themselves to while they were cooped up in a private workspace. Perhaps you picked up a fancy mechanical keyboard, but don't want to take it to the office, since the clacking might annoy your coworkers. Perhaps with that in mind, Razer has a couple of new products in its Productivity lineup that might give you that enjoyable tactile typing and clicking sensation without infuriating those around you. The Pro Type Ultra wireless keyboard and new Pro Click Mini mouse have "silent mechanical switches," which Razer says will offer a quieter experience wherever you're working from. Razer The keyboard also has dampening foam to mitigate the sound, and Razer claims the keys will be good for up to 80 million presses. The fingerprint-resistant keycaps have a "soft-touch coating for a luxurious, cushioned feel," according to the company. A wrist rest is included too. Razer says you'll get up to 214 hours of use over Bluetooth and up to 207 hours of use via the low-latency Razer HyperSpeed Wireless connection before you need to recharge the keyboard. You can use it in wired mode over USB-C too. In addition, you'll be able to connect up to four devices and switch between them without having to re-pair them with a Pro Type Ultra. If you're buying a new keyboard, you might want a matching mouse. As luck would have it, the Pro Click Mouse shares the Pro Type Ultra's white, dull-by-Razer-standards design. You can also pair the mouse (which isn't entirely silent based on an audio demo on Razer's website) with up to four devices. There are a few scroll-wheel modes you can switch between depending on your current task. The free-spin mode is designed for zooming through long documents and webpages, tilt-click is geared toward horizontal scrolling and tactile mode is centered around more precise scrolling.  Razer The mouse is rated for up to 15 million clicks. Razer claims you'll get up to 725 hours of battery life over Bluetooth and up to 465 hours via Razer HyperSpeed Wireless if you're using two AA batteries. There's an option to use only one battery if you'd prefer to reduce the weight. If you decide to pick up both the keyboard and mouse, you can pair them to the same USB dongle to free up a port on your computer.  The new peripherals follow the Pro Type keyboard and Pro Click mouse Razer released in August 2020. Those devices had more muted designs than Razer's gaming-focused products to help them blend in a bit more. The $80 Pro Click Mini is available now from Razer's website and other retailers. The Pro Type Ultra keyboard costs $160, and will be available by the end of the year. Razer also introduced an enormous Pro Glide XXL mousepad with "thick, high-density rubber foam," which will run you $30.

Amazon Music now offers synchronized transcripts for podcasts Posted: 02 Nov 2021 09:05 AM PDT Spotify isn't the only one banking on podcast transcripts to reel you in. Amazon Music is rolling out synchronized podcast transcripts in the US for both original shows and popular third-party series like Modern Love and This American Life. Listen on Android or iOS and you can read what's being said, much as you would song lyrics. This helps with search, too. You can scroll through the transcript and tap on a line to jump to that point in the podcast. You can read what you missed, or get a preview of what's coming up. Transcripts are available today. Amazon hasn't said when it might expand the feature to other countries. This is clearly a move to draw you away from rival podcast services. Still, it could be more than a little helpful to follow along when loud noises drown out your podcast — or to skip to the most interesting segment when you're pressed for time.

Samsung's 1TB T7 Touch portable drive drops to $150 at Amazon Posted: 02 Nov 2021 08:56 AM PDT At Engadget, we've long been fans of Samsung's T7 portable SSDs for their fast performance and compact design. They tend to be more expensive than some competing options, but if you're patient, you can usually find them on sale. To that point, Amazon has discounted the black 1TB Touch model from $190 to $150, matching the previous all-time low price for the SSD. You can also get the silver colorway for less than MSRP, but it's only discounted by $20. Additionally, the 2TB variant is $70 off, making it $300 currently. If you want to save an extra $10, the non-Touch model, which doesn't include a built-in fingerprint sensor, is $140 at the moment. Buy Samsung T7 Touch (1TB) at Amazon - $150 Buy Samsung T7 (1TB) at Amazon - $140 Whether you go for the standard or Touch model, the T7 has a lot going for it. Both variants feature an aluminum outer casing that will protect the solid-state drive from drops. They also include ePCM technology and a Dynamic Thermal Guard feature to assist with heat management. When it comes to performance, the T7 can read files at up to 1,050 MB/s and write them at up to 1,000 MB/s. And while it only features a single USB-C port, the T7 comes with both USB-C and USB-A cables inside the box, allowing you to use it with almost any modern device, including some video game consoles. For those reasons, we think the T7 is a solid option for storing your photos and other important files. Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

Sony's budget WH-CH710N ANC headphones drop back down to $78 Posted: 02 Nov 2021 08:11 AM PDT More and more early Black Friday deals are popping up, and if you're looking to snag an entry-level set of active noise cancellation (ANC) headphones, you can't go too far wrong with Sony's WH-CH710N. The headphones are on sale for $78 on Amazon, which is $102 less than the standard price. Buy Sony WH-CH710N at Amazon - $78 The discount matches the lowest price we've seen for the headphones, which occurred during Amazon Prime Day, though the headphones have dipped to $88 on several occasions. Given the solid sound quality and ANC, the WH-CH710N was already a decent option at the regular price, so it's even more worthy of consideration at $78. There are tradeoffs, of course, for a pair of ANC headphones in this price range. The WH-CH710N set has "decent range and good clarity, but they lack deep, punchy bass that would help create a fuller sound," as Engadget senior news editor Billy Steele noted. Still, you'll get up to 35 hours of use before you need to recharge the headphones and sensors can monitor surrounding noise to select the optimal ANC settings. There's also an ambient-sound passthrough option for when you need to hear what's going on in your environment. The WH-CH710N can't quite measure up to Sony's WH-1000XM4, which we reckon are the best wireless headphones you can buy right now. That said, this set is hard to beat at the lower end of the scale — even more so when the cans are available for such a hefty discount. Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

Microsoft's Mesh for Teams brings mixed reality to work Posted: 02 Nov 2021 08:00 AM PDT Meta may be grabbing most of the metaverse headlines for now, but it's far from the only company exploring how we can experience virtual events across a variety of devices. Microsoft gave us a glimpse of its vision earlier this year with Mesh, a platform for virtual meetings that can take place across HoloLens 2, mixed reality headsets, computers and smartphones. It'll be a while before we're stepping into meetings as holographic projections, though, so Microsoft is announcing something a bit more grounded: Mesh for Teams. The pitch, as you'd expect, combines the virtual environments and personas that Mesh delivers with Teams' established workplace collaboration. Instead of hopping on a Teams meeting with your webcam, for example, you could pop up as a customized avatar that talks and animates along with your voice. Eventually, Microsoft plans to animate your avatar by following your face and movements with your webcam, something that should get even better as you step up to devices with more microphones, cameras and sensors like the HoloLens 2. Microsoft It's all about delivering that elusive sense of "presence," the feeling that you're right beside your colleagues virtually. And while it may seem silly at first, Mesh for Teams could be a huge step forward for people who don't always feel comfortable on webcams. After all, there are plenty of times, like when you're working early in pajamas, or covered in your kids' lunch mess, where you may be working but not exactly camera ready. In addition to avatars, Mesh for Teams will also include pre-built immersive spaces to hang out virtually. That could let groups create a customized meeting space, much like an actual office. There's also the potential for those spaces to replicate hanging out in an office kitchen or water cooler. That seems a bit more fanciful, but it makes sense to experiment with virtual spaces. Having a virtual coffee chat with your avatar could end up being less stressful than flipping on your camera. Microsoft says companies will eventually be able to design spaces themselves, allowing them to reflect their actual offices. Microsoft Mesh for Teams will start rolling out in 2022. Microsoft isn't giving up on its more expansive Mesh vision though: companies can still use that platform to create complex 3D environments, which workers can access through a variety of devices. Alex Kipman, the Microsoft technical fellow who spearheaded the Kinect and HoloLens, originally pitched Mesh as a way for first-line workers to remotely collaborate on complex 3D models. Mesh for Teams boils that idea down for the typical knowledge worker, the sort of person who spends most of their day at a desk hopping between meetings, emails and office apps. It may not seem as exciting as Meta's pitch for a metaverse filled with multiplayer games and virtual events, but for many people, it's a far more useful way of thinking of a more connected internet.

Microsoft Loop is a new Office app built for collaborative work Posted: 02 Nov 2021 08:00 AM PDT Microsoft Loop, a new Office collaboration app announced today, takes the company's Fluid Framework vision one step further. You might remember that technology from Microsoft's recent developer events: It's a way to collaborate on specific chunks of content, say a table or chart, synchronized across multiple Office apps. A table you create in Outlook, for example, would instantly update if someone plugs it into a Word document and adds new information. Up until now, we've only seen that implemented in Office online as a sort of test. Microsoft Loop is a far bigger bet on the future of document collaboration. Multiple people collaborating on a Fluid Framework poll. Microsoft Like Fluid Framework, one of the core parts of the new app are Loop Components, which Microsoft calls "atomic units of productivity." They can include anything from as a list to a complex Dynamics 365 project, all of which will stay in sync when they're deployed in Office apps. You can organize your Components in Loop Pages, a new type of document that can also include files and links. Think of them like unstructured Word documents (or perhaps more like how people typically use Google Docs). Finally, there are Loop Workspaces, a way to view components and pages related to specific projects. According to Microsoft, "Workspaces make it easy for you to catch up on what everyone is working on, react to others' ideas, or track progress toward shared goals." If you're getting serious Google Wave vibes from all of this, you're not alone. But Microsoft Loop sounds a bit more focused than that failed attempt at team collaboration. For one, the core idea of Fluid Framework makes sense. Now that we're all working across multiple documents online, it makes sense to have a way to synchronize elements within those files. Wave felt like a solution in search of a problem, whereas Microsoft Loop, despite its seeming complexity, addresses a growing problem many office workers face today. Microsoft says it'll share more about Loop in the upcoming months. Until then, though, you can expect to see Loop components coming to Teams, Outlook, OneNote and other Microsoft 365 apps later this month.

Video editing and audio recording are coming to Microsoft Office apps Posted: 02 Nov 2021 08:00 AM PDT Microsoft is boosting Office with some (arguably overdue) media creation tools. As part of a sweeping set of updates, the company is adding Clipchamp video editing to the Office suite. The recently acquired web-based tool helps you make "professional-looking" clips regardless of your skills. You can produce videos for your other Office projects, of course, but Microsoft also sees Clipchamp as a straightforward editing tool for personal footage. It will also be much easier to add that professional sheen to your PowerPoint presentations. Microsoft is adding a "recording studio" to PowerPoint that lets you capture audio for those moments when you can't (or just don't want to) present live. You can annotate slides, customize the background and pick the view that will best help you record. When you're done, you can preview the presentation and re-record as much as necessary. Be patient for this feature, though, as Microsoft only expects it to become "generally available" in early 2022. Other updates are subtler, but could be just as helpful in the right circumstances. Microsoft is trotting out Context IQ, a set of AI "experiences" for Microsoft 365 that will initially make situationally-aware recommendations in Editor. It will suggest relevant contacts when you want to tag people, for instance, or recommend meeting times when everyone is available. Developers will also have a better reason to try Excel. Microsoft is introducing a JavaScript framework in the spreadsheet app that lets you create custom data types and functions using the web-based language. JavaScript will be available later in November in preview form. Many (if not most) Excel users won't have much need for this, but it could be valuable if your job revolves around data.

Zoom starts showing ads to free users in limited test Posted: 02 Nov 2021 07:40 AM PDT Zoom users on the free Basic plan may start seeing ads starting today. At the outset, ads will only appear on the browser page after a call ends, and you'll only see them following meetings hosted by other Basic users. The test is limited to certain countries too. The company has updated its privacy policy to reflect the change. Zoom says it won't use content (in other words, video, audio, messages and files) from meetings, webinars or messaging "for any marketing, promotions, or third-party advertising purposes." The company's advertising partners might use cookies to track your activity on Zoom's website. You can block them from doing so via Zoom's cookie management tool. Zoom expects the ad program "will enable us to support investment and continue providing free Basic users with access to our robust platform," chief marketing officer Janine Pelosi wrote in a blog post. Basic users can take part in as many meetings as they like, but there are time limits of 30 minutes on one-on-one calls and 40 minutes on group meetings. They don't have any cloud storage for meeting recordings or access to features like transcripts, either, though the company just rolled out a live transcription/closed captioning option on the free tier. Zoom became an essential tool for millions amid a widespread shift to remote working as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold last year, and many opted for the free plan, given its solid capabilities. It shouldn't be too surprising that Zoom is moving into advertising, but it seems that, at least for now, the ads will be fairly unobtrusive while respecting users' privacy preferences.

The home theater gear worth gifting this year (even if the giftee is you) Posted: 02 Nov 2021 07:30 AM PDT So you've got all the gifts you need for the kids, your family and the friends who really matter. But it's been a tough year, surely you deserve some joy as well. Maybe it's time to upgrade that HDTV to a 4K OLED, or to finally move on from using sad TV speakers. It's time to treat yourself, in true Parks and Rec fashion. Here are some of the best home theater gadgets we'd recommend when budget isn't an issue. Apple TV 4K Will Lipman Photography for Engadget While the latest Apple TV model isn't a massive leap over its predecessor, there are a few updates that make it worthy of a holiday splurge. The redesigned Siri remote is a big improvement over the previous version, both app and streaming performance is quicker than ever and there's support for Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. As always, there's deep integration with iOS, and HomeKit compatibility is a nice bonus. And when you tire of music and movies, the Apple TV also works as a gaming console with access to Apple Arcade and support for Bluetooth gamepads. — Billy Steele, Senior News Editor Buy Apple TV 4K at Amazon - $169 BenQ HT2050A projector Will Lipman Photography for Engadget A projector is a great gift for any of the cinephiles or gamers in your life, and for around $800, the BenQ HT2050A is the best budget 1080p projector available. Its DLP tech delivers where it counts with the best contrast (ANSI 1,574:1) and color accuracy in its class, and is reasonably bright as well, with 2,200 lumens in "vivid" mode. On top of that, it comes with a 1.3x zoom and vertical lens shift option for maximum installation flexibility. It's also a nice option for gaming, thanks to the relatively low 16 millisecond input lag. The drawbacks include slightly excessive fan noise, rainbow effect and red-tinted 3D. — Steve Dent, Associate Editor Buy BenQ HT2050A projector at Amazon - $850 65-inch LG C1 OLED TV LG If you're looking for the best possible TV to buy, there's no question: Pick an OLED model. Personally I'd stick with LG's C1, the latest generation of the company's astounding OLED screens. Unlike LCD TVs, which rely on backlights, pixels on OLED TVs can turn themselves on and off individually. That allows them to capture inky blacks and deliver better contrast than most LCD panels. The C1 isn't much different from last year's CX line, but it's LG's most evolved OLED yet. It has a 120Hz refresh rate for speedy gaming, as well as support for G-SYNC and Freesync to avoid annoying frame stuttering. Its wide viewing angles also mean everyone can get a perfect picture, no matter where they're sitting. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor Buy 65-inch LG C1 OLED TV at Amazon - $2,500 Monoprice Monolith THX Atmos home theater speakers Monoprice Sometimes, a soundbar just doesn't cut it. No matter how many drivers you can cram in, or how good the virtual surround sound is, nothing beats the immersion of a full home theater speaker setup. Monoprice's Monolith series is one of the best options around: It sports a powerful center channel, your choice of towers or bookshelf speakers with upward-firing Dolby Atmos drivers, and subwoofers powerful enough to rattle your walls. There are tons of surround sound systems to choose from, but the beauty of the Monolith line is that it has all of the latest speaker tech and it's reasonably priced, at least compared to other Hi-Fi systems. It used to be that you had to mix and match speakers to create an affordable surround setup. You can start small with a few towers and a subwoofer—and once you've got a complete system, you may never need to go to the cinema again. — D.H. Buy Monolith speakers at Monoprice starting at $250 Optoma Cinemax P2 Optoma With high brightness and ease of setup, ultra short throw projectors are all the rage right now — making one the ultimate gift for any movie lover. The CinemaX P2 is the best among those for the price thanks to a good combination of features. It delivers 3,000 lumens of brightness, while offering good contrast and accurate colors, with 80 percent DCI-P3 coverage. The 40-watt NuForce Dolby Digital 2.0 soundbar is one of the best on any ultra-short-throw projector and it's relatively stylish in white. On the downside, while it does offer apps, they're not as good as you'll find on, say, Google's Chromecast — though that's an easy fix as it has three HDMI 2.0 ports. — S.D. Buy Optoma CinemaX P2 at Amazon - $3,300 Roku Ultra Will Lipman Photography for Engadget If you're not a fan of the Apple TV, the Roku Ultra is the only other set-top box worth considering. It's fast enough to stream 4K video with Dolby Vision, and it supports just about every streaming app you'd want. It also has a solid remote with voice-search capabilities, and you can still access all of Apple's streaming video via the Apple TV app. And while Roku's interface isn't pretty, it's fast and gets the job done. — D.H. Buy Roku Ultra at Amazon - $99 Sonos Arc Will Lipman Photography for Engadget Sonos finally introduced an upgrade to its aging Playbar last summer when it debuted the Arc. In addition to an updated design, the soundbar also supports Dolby Atmos which makes it an excellent choice for the living room. True to Sonos' lineage, the Arc is also well-suited for music and you have the ability to add a subwoofer or satellite speakers as you see fit. It will also function as part of a new or existing Sonos multi-room setup and any time you add on to the main living room configuration, the Arc automatically adjusts to compensate for the extra gear. — B.S. Buy Arc at Sonos - $899 Sony HT-A7000 soundbar Sony Sony's Atmos-enabled soundbars are among the best and its most recent top-end model is no different. The A7000 replaced the HT-ST5000 as the flagship in the company's lineup, only this time, the soundbar doesn't come with a wireless subwoofer in the box. Instead, Sony is offering you the ability to add to your home theater setup as needed. The company offers two subwoofer options, as well a pair of rear speakers. The A7000 on its own though, is a 7.1.2-channel unit equipped with HDMI 2.1 with eARC, plus both 8K and 4K/120 Hz passthrough. This means Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision are both in play as well as ample support for gaming. Plus, wireless connectivity includes Chromecast, AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect when you just need some tunes. — B.S. Buy Sony A7000 at Crutchfield - $1,298 65-inch TCL 6 Series smart TV Will Lipman Photography for Engadget / TCL If OLED is too rich for your blood, consider TCL's MiniLED-powered 6-series line. It features far more backlight zones than typical LCDs, which can lead to black and contrast levels that are approaching what you'd see from OLED. The lower cost is the big selling point here though, giving you enough leftover cash to invest in your sound system. It's a solid entry both for movie watching and gaming. The 6-series also includes some of the cheapest 8K TVs on the market, though we'd recommend holding out on 8K until more content is actually available. (Something that may take a long while.) — D.H. Buy 65-inch TCL 6 Series TV at Amazon - $1,139 Valencia Theater Seating Verona seats Valencia Theater Seating Where your butt sits is just as important to your home theater as your screen and sound setup. You'll want seats that you can lounge in for hours without hurting your back, and they need to be sturdy enough to survive real-world usage with pets and kids. Valencia's Verona seats are a solid option if you want to replicate the experience of high-end theaters with reclining seats. They're made out of genuine leather, and they offer separate reclining options for your back and head. And sure, they're pricey, but a decent couch will set you back just as much as three Veronas. And, let's face it, they'll be far more comfortable for movie watching and gaming than your typical West Elm option. — D.H. Buy Verona seats at Amazon - $1,750 Vizio M-Series 5.1 soundbar Vizio If you've got a smaller space, or you can't justify stringing wires around your living room for a complete home theater system, Vizio's M-series 5.1 soundbar kit offers plenty of value. It supports Dolby Atmos, for enveloping surround sound, and it comes with wireless rear channels and a subwoofer. Best of all, it's far cheaper than competing systems (though if you want, you can also step up to other Vizio Atmos options, like the rotating Elevate). Consider the M-series a solid entry into the world of surround sound (and one you won't feel too bad about replacing when you want bigger speakers). — D.H. Buy Vizio M-Series 5.1 soundbar at Amazon - $328

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