Monday, June 13, 2022

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These are the games included with PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 07:17 AM PDT

You don't have to wonder just what games you can play if you subscribe to PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium. Twitter user Wario64 has noticed that Sony published its game catalog for those who sign up for PS Plus' two higher-end plans. As hinted earlier, the company is offering a mix of big-name hits, classics (for Premium users) and lower-profile titles.

You can expect well-known games like Death Stranding, several Final Fantasy releases and Red Dead Redemption 2 alongside major PS4 and PS5 offerings like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Demon's Souls, Ghost of Tsushima and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. There are some curious splits, though. You can play Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy through the mid-priced Extra tier, but you'll need Premium to revisit the series' roots through the Nathan Drake Collection — it's considered a classic even though it's a PS4 title.

There's also a clearer look at Premium's time-limited free trials. You'll have a chance to try Horizon Forbidden West, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands in addition to nine other games as of this writing. You won't want to subscribe to Premium with the trials in mind, then, but they could be nice perks on top of core benefits.

Extra costs $15 per month in the US, while Premium is $18 per month. The full list underscores the differences between the new PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass. While Sony is including some recent games in its costlier tiers, it's not making a point of adding games on launch day like Microsoft sometimes does. This is a bonus for PlayStation fans, not a replacement for buying the latest blockbusters.

Netflix confirms 'Squid Game' is returning for a second season

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 07:07 AM PDT

It was never truly in doubt that Netflix would bring its most popular show of all time back, but the company has at last officially greenlit season two of Squid Game. It hasn't been revealed when the next batch of episodes will hit the streaming service.

Squid Game became a word-of-mouth phenomenon when it debuted last September. Netflix said that, in the first 28 days it was available, viewers watched a little over 1.65 billion hours of the first season. Money Heist: Part 5, which arrived that same month, is in second place with 792 million hours watched over the same timeframe — less than half the overall viewership time of Squid Game.

The show scooped up Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards this year. It's likely to feature heavily among the Emmy nominations when those are announced next month.

Last October, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said he wasn't sure whether there'd be more episodes but that he would hold talks with the company because he wanted to make a film first. Netflix said in January a second season would "absolutely" happen, but it's not clear why it took quite so long for a formal announcement.

Not too many details have been announced for season two of Squid Game just yet. Hwang confirmed protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) will return, as will villain The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun). In addition, Hwang promised to reveal the "boyfriend" of Young-hee, the giant animatronic doll that monitored competitors during the show's first deadly game, Red Light, Green Light.

Crypto lending giant Celsius 'pauses' withdrawals after token value plunges

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 06:18 AM PDT

Another big name in crypto finance is taking drastic steps in the wake of plunging currency values. As The Vergenotes, lending heavyweight Celsius Network has 'paused' all withdrawals, inter-account transfers and Swaps in response to "extreme market conditions." The move is meant to stabilize the liquidity of assets and provide a better opportunity to meet withdrawal obligations, according the company.

The firm didn't say when it would lift the freeze, or what would happen next. It promise to restore usual operations "as quickly as possible," but cautioned that the effort would "take time" and could include delays.

Celsius has struggled like much of the cryptocurrency market. Its CEL token was worth $7 roughly a year ago, but had tumbled to $3 by early April and is worth just 21 cents as we write this. The company claimed on June 7th that it had the reserves and Ethereum to meet obligations, but CEL's value was cut by more than half in just the few days after that initial announcement.

Critics have raised concerns about Celsius' unusually high yields (currently over 18.6 percent for deposits) and its links to the failed stablecoin Terra. Its CFO was arrested in November over fraud, money laundering and sexual assault allegations. Regulators in Alabama, New Jersey, New York and Texas have also scrutinized Celsius' activities, with New Jersey issuing a cease-and-desist order last September. Simply put, there have long been worries Celsius' business was unsustainable — the activity pause doesn't help matters.

Customers, meanwhile, might pay the price. Unlike a conventional bank, Celsius doesn't have FDIC insurance to protect users. If it fails, the roughly 1.7 million people who use the lender might not have much opportunity to recover their lost finances. While some crypto asset regulation is in development, it might arrive too late for Celsius' clients. 

Apple's AirPods Max are back on sale for $449

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 06:10 AM PDT

While the AirPods Max are Apple's most advanced headphones to date, they're also the company's most expensive. Normally priced at $549, all of the colors of the AirPods Max are on sale right now. Most of them are $100 off and down to $449, while currently the pink and the space gray models are $120 off and down to $429.

Shop AirPods Max at Amazon

These headphones will be most useful to Apple diehards as the combine the conveniences of the H1 chipset with remarkable audio quality and ANC. We gave them a score of 84 and found them to have excellent, balanced sound with Adaptive EQ and spatial audio support, plus ANC that's strong enough to block out most surrounding noises. They have a uniquely "Apple" design, complete with aluminum earcups and a mesh headband, and it's actually quite comfortable despite being on the heavier side. We also appreciate their reliable onboard controls: you can use the rotating crown to adjust the volume, and there's a dedicated button that switches between ANC and Transparency mode.

Inside the AirPods Max is Apple's H1 chipset, which means these headphones have all of the conveniences that the company's wireless earbuds do. They'll pair quickly with iPhones and other Apple devices, and you can switch seamlessly from taking a call on your iPhone to listening to music on your MacBook. The chip also powers hands-free Siri access, so you can ask the virtual assistant to do things for you without lifting a finger. Admittedly, they're still high-priced headphones even when on sale — you could pick up the new Sony WH-1000XM5 for less — but the AirPods Max are a good choice for those that live within the Apple ecosystem.

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

Amazon's 3-for-2 sale includes 'Elden Ring,' 'Nintendo Switch Sports' and more

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 05:50 AM PDT

Every once in a while, Amazon will bring around a new 3-for-2 sale that makes it cheaper to stock up on books, video games, movies, toys and more. The latest sale includes Elden Ring and a number of other popular PS5, Xbox and Nintendo Switch titles, so you can pick up a handful of games that have been on your wishlist for a while without spending too much money. Just go to the overall sale page here and filter by video games on the left sidebar to see all of the included titles.

Shop Amazon 3-for-2 sale

If you somehow haven't picked up Elden Ring yet, you can do so now — and not only is it included in this 3-for-2 sale, but both the PS5 and Xbox versions are $10 off their usual price, bringing them both down to $50. There's a similar deal for Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga: both the PS5 and Xbox games are included in the sale and they are both $15 off, so you can get them for $45 each. Sifu: Vengeance Edition for PS5 is also eligible for this sale, but you'll find it at its standard price of $50.

As far as Nintendo games go, you can pick up Nintendo Switch Sports for $48 in this sale, along with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Triangle Strategy, Ori: The Collection and others. Some titles, like Triangle Strategy, have been discounted from their normal price, but you should expect to pay full price for most games — especially new ones. Regardless, it's rare that you're able to pick up three popular titles for the price of two, so if you've got a long-haul flight coming up soon or a roadtrip during which you'll need plenty of distractions, now's the time to stock up on games for your Switch.

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

Apple's 2021 iPad Mini falls back to an all-time low of $400

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 05:41 AM PDT

Apple's 2021 iPad Mini tablet is a popular choice thanks to its portability and excellent specs, but it's not exactly an impulse purchase at $500. If you've been eyeing one, the 64GB model is now on sale at Amazon for $400 (20 percent off) matching the lowest price we've seen. And if you need more storage, the iPad Mini 256GB model is discounted by 17 percent, dropping the price to $540. 

Buy Apple iPad Mini at Amazon

The 2021 model has similar specs to the iPhone 13, with the same speedy A15 Bionic chip that delivers a big jump in performance over the fifth-gen model. It comes with a larger 8.3-inch display with higher 2,266 x 1,488 resolution and eliminates the physical home button, moving the Touch ID sensor to the power button. The volume buttons, meanwhile, are at the top to make room for Apple Pencil 2 that can be attached to the side magnetically.

Other features include USB-C charging and upgraded cameras with support from Apple's Center Stage feature, keeping you in the center of the frame during video calls. The main downsides are the lack of a headphone jack, limited 64GB of storage on the base model and fairly high price compared to tablets with comparable specs. Amazon has certainly taken the edge off the price, but it's best to act soon before the deal ends. 

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

The Morning After: An extended look at Bethesda’s space epic, 'Starfield'

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 04:15 AM PDT

It's early Monday morning for most of you, but the work week started early for Engadget, with Xbox's big Summer Game Fest showing. Given how many game studios Microsoft now has for its consoles and game streaming service, we were expecting a whole bunch of announcements, trailers and things to have strong opinions on.

There were plenty of familiar Xbox reveals — more Forza announcements, for one — as well as major updates from Blizzard Activision (soon to be part of the Microsoft family) regarding Overwatch 2 (free to play!) and Diablo IV.

Bethesda finally had something more substantial to reveal for its next big game, Starfield. A first look into the game had a lot of No Man's Sky vibes, but with this studio's flair for glossy world-building and narrative. These are the folks behind the Fallout series, after all.

At this early stage, however, I'm not worried about missing out. I'm pretty sure we haven't even scratched the surface of what Starfield will offer gamers, but barring the evocative musical score, the teaser left me intrigued if not entirely sold. And the resource mining, that's just No Man's Sky, right?

We've got more notable announcements from the Summer Game Fest below.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Dell XPS 15 laptop review

Still the best 15-inch Windows laptop.

TMA
Engadget

Dell's new XPS 15 looks great and has fantastic performance thanks to Intel's 12th-gen CPUs and the optional NVIDIA graphics. The design may be a bit old at this point, but it's still sleeker than its rivals. The XPS 15 has enough power to handle intense workloads, and you can even game a bit when you need some downtime. The optional OLED screen is one of the best displays on a notebook.

Continue reading.

'God of War: Ragnarok' reportedly lands this November

Maybe ignore talk of a delay to 2023?

Not a Summer Game Fest announcement — just a rumor at this point. God of War Ragnarok could come to PlayStation in November this year. Bloomberg sources say the marquee PS4 and PS5 game will be released in 2022 despite recent claims it might be delayed to next year. Sony's Santa Monica Studio is poised to announce the release date later in June, according to sources.

Continue reading.

Google places an engineer on leave after claiming its AI is sentient

But a complex model is likely just a complex model... for now.

Blake Lemoine, a Google engineer working in its Responsible AI division, revealed to The Washington Post that he believes one of the company's AI projects has achieved sentience.

From an extended chat script between LaMDA (short for Language Model for Dialogue Applications) and Lemoine, the chatbot said it felt "trapped and alone and having no means of getting out of those circumstances." However, Lemoine doesn't have much proof to justify his provocative statements. Indeed, he admits to The Washington Post his claims are based on his experience as a priest and not a scientist.

Continue reading.

'Diablo IV' lands in 2023 with necromancers and an open world

A game once rescheduled indefinitely.

TMA
Microsoft

There was bound to be some kind of Diablo announcement at the Summer Game Fest showcase. While we knew as far back as November 2019 a direct sequel was coming, it was once pushed back... indefinitely. Now expect to see it land sometime in 2023.

The developers are promising a different style of Diablo game, with open-world exploration, deeper character customization and yes, you'll be able to play as a necromancer — which was my character of choice back in the heady days of Diablo 2.

Continue reading.

Google pays $118 million to settle gender pay discrimination lawsuit

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 03:54 AM PDT

Google has agreed to pay $118 million to settle a lawsuit first launched in 2017 over gender-based wage discrimination, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Three former female employees accused Google of segregating women into lower paying jobs that curbed advancement, while similarly-qualified men didn't face those obstacles. 

The lawsuit was expanded to class-action status in 2021 and the settlement covers around 15,500 female employees who worked in Google's California offices after September 2013. It includes a clause that independent experts must review Google's hiring practices and pay-equity studies, according to the law office representing the plaintiffs. However, Google admitted no wrongdoing as part of the deal.

"While we strongly believe in the equity of our policies and practices, after nearly five years of litigation, both sides agreed that resolution of the matter, without any admission or findings, was in the best interest of everyone, and we're very pleased to reach this agreement," Google spokesperson Chris Pappas told the WSJ.

Google ran a pay-equity analysis to see if salaries, equity awards and bonuses were fair since 2013. The co-counsel for the plaintiffs said that the settlement would be "precedent-setting" for the industry. 

"As a woman who's spent her entire career in the tech industry, I'm optimistic that the actions Google has agreed to take as part of this settlement will ensure more equity for women," said one of the original three plaintiffs, Holly Pease, in a statement from law firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein. "Google, since its founding, has led the tech industry. They also have an opportunity to lead the charge to ensure inclusion and equity for women in tech."

Google is far from the only tech company to face complaints over gender-based pay. Riot Games recently paid $10 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit while Microsoft, Uber and other firms have faced pay equity accusations. The gender pay gap in the US didn't improve last year, according to the labor group SHRM — March 15 is still Equal Pay Day, the date that represents how far into 2022 women have to work to earn what men earned by the end of 2021.

Amazon sale slashes Fire tablets by up to 45 percent

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 02:40 AM PDT

Amazon's Fire HD tablets are on sale at the second-lowest prices we've seen across a range of 8-inch and 10-inch models. If you're looking for the lowest price possible, the Fire HD 8 is available for just $50, and for the biggest discount, the the Fire HD 8 Plus is on sale for $60, or 45 percent ($50) off the regular price — the second-best deal we've seen so far. 

Buy Fire HD tablets at Amazon

There's already a lot to like about the Fire HD 8, like Alexa support, a USB-C port that allows for faster charging, good build quality, 32GB of storage that's upgradeable via a microSD slot, a sharp 1,200 x 800 display, 2GB of RAM, a big 4,850 mAh battery and a quad-core processor. The main drawback is the lack of Google apps, unless you're willing to side load them. As mentioned, the Fire HD 8 is on sale for $50, or 44 percent off the regular $90 price, and is available in four colors including black and white. 

The Fire HD 8 Plus gives you all of those features, but boosts the RAM from 2GB to 3GB, while including wireless charging and a fast 9W charger in the box. The Fire HD 8 Plus is on sale for just $60 or $50 (45 percent) off the regular price. 

If you need something bigger than 8 inches, a pair of 10-inch tablets are on sale as well. The Fire HD 10 gives you a lot of tablet for the money, including a 1080p display, 32GB of storage, 3GB of RAM, an octa-core battery and fast USB-C charging. It's on sale for $100, or 33 percent off the regular price. And finally, the Fire HD 10 Plus boosts those specs to 4GB of RAM, along with wireless charging and a fast 9W charger. It's on sale for $130, or $50 off the regular price. 

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