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It was revealed back in June that helicopters and gliders are coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator, but they'll arrive earlier than expected. Developer Asobo Studio previously said it would add them on November 22nd, but it will introduce both types of aircraft on November 11th instead.

That's the release date for the game's 40th Anniversary Edition, which will be available as a free update for anyone who has bought Microsoft Flight Simulator. Xbox Game Pass members will get access at no extra cost. On the same date, Asobo Studio will add another aircraft that has been widely requested by the community — a true-to-life airliner. Nearly every button in the Airbus A-310 will work as expected, as Microsoft Flight Simulator head Jorg Neumann noted on the Xbox blog.

Some famous historical aircraft will also join the game, including the 1947 Hughes H-4 Hercules (aka the Spruce Goose), which is the largest seaplane and wooden plane ever built. In addition, the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane Charles Lindbergh flew in the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in May 1927, will be available.

In all, Asobo will add 12 aircraft, four classic commercial airports (including Meigs Field in Chicago), 10 glider airports, 14 heliports and 20 missions from previous games on November 11th. Meanwhile, the studio has just released Microsoft Flight Simulator's first city update, with photogrammetry improvements for the German locales of Hanover, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Bonn and Cologne. The update coincides with Gamescom, which is taking place in Cologne this week.

Meta is finally addressing a problem that’s long vexed users: its lack of customer support. Bloombergreports that Meta is now planning to build a customer support division, which will be able to help users “who have had posts or accounts removed unexpectedly.”

Meta’s plans are apparently still in “early stages,” so it’s not yet clear when the new services will be available. According to Bloomberg, Meta’s plans were at least partially driven by insight from its Oversight Board, which handles requests from users to appeal the company’s content decisions. The board has repeatedly said that Meta should be more transparent in the way it communicates with users about its decisions.

The addition of customer service representatives who are able to actually speak with users could solve a long-running headache for many. Currently, users who lose access to their accounts — either through hackings or wrongful suspensions — have few options available to get them back. The company has an appeals process, as well as automated tools, but both can be difficult to navigate. The tools are so confusing, and often ineffective, that desperate users sometimes resort to other means, like hiring legal services or even hackers to try and get their accounts back. They often plead with executives and journalists on social media to help them regain their accounts.

But with actual customer support, frustrated Facebook and Instagram users would finally have a Meta-sanctioned resource to turn to. The company didn’t share specifics on how the customer service division would operate or would be eligible for help.

In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, Google announced that it is making it easier to use its Maps and Search products to find medical providers that offer abortions. When someone searches for specific services and Google has confirmation that a location provides those services, it'll be clearly labeled in Search and Maps. For example, Google notes that it already does this when you search for EV charging stations or a specific COVID-19 vaccine brand, and now it'll do so for veterans hospitals and healthcare facilities that provide abortions. As you can see in the above image, searching for "abortion clinics near me" will bring up a list of locations that Google has confirmed provide abortion services.

While Google isn't coming right out and saying it, this seems to be an effort to avoid sending people who are searching for medical care to so-called "abortion crisis centers" or anti-abortion centers. For locations that Google doesn't have confirmation for, it'll instead say "might not provide abortions," which serves as a passive but still significant red flag for anyone looking for treatment. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that anti-abortion centers couldn't be forced to acknowledge abortion as an option, something that outsources that work to private companies like Google. 

Earlier this week, Yelp announced it would take a similar but more definitive step by adding warning labels to anti-abortion centers; these warnings note that such facilities "may not have licensed medical professionals on site." Google says its update has been in the works for months, but it comes at a time where employees have said the company needs to do more to project both users and its contract workers in a post-Roe world.

The fact that Google is getting confirmation from centers that provide abortions should make both Search and Maps results more useful. A Google spokesperson said that "we get confirmation that places provide a particular service in a number of ways, including regularly calling businesses directly and working with authoritative data sources." So users should be able to trust that medical centers that are labeled as providing abortions do in fact offer the service. Google is also making it easy to expand your search if you don't find relevant results nearby with a "search farther away" prompt, another tool that can help people looking for abortion services where clinics are rare. 

Google says these changes will start rolling out today, though they won't immediately be visible to all Google users until a bit later.

Anker's Soundcore brand has built a reputation for delivering audio devices with a solid blend of sound quality and features for a reasonable price. Its latest active noise canceling (ANC) headphones and earbuds may fit that ethos, though we haven't yet tried them to determine how good they sound.

The Space Q45 headphones cost $150 and include a four-microphone hybrid ANC system. Soundcore claims this can reduce noise by up to 98 percent. It says the headphones have an adaptive noise canceling feature that adjusts the ANC level based on ambient sound. There's a passthrough mode too.

Soundcore

The brand says the headphones have a battery life of a whopping 50 hours with ANC on and 65 hours with the feature turned off. Thanks to fast charging, you'll get up to four hours of playtime after just five minutes of charging. You'll also be able to connect the Q45 to two devices simultaneously. In addition, Soundcore says the headphones support high-resolution audio even in wireless mode. The Q45 is available in black today, while white and navy blue variants will arrive later this year.

Meanwhile, the Space A40 earbuds are also said to reduce noise by up to 98 percent. They have a one-touch transparency mode, adaptive noise cancellation and wireless high-res audio, according to Soundcore. A feature called Hear ID Sound is designed to analyze how you hear music to create a sound profile tuned for your ears.

The A40 is 25 percent smaller than Soundcore's previous-gen earbuds, though the brand still packed in 10mm drivers that deliver "pumping bass" along with "rich middle and crisp trebles." You'll get up to 10 hours of playtime on a single charge, Soundcore claims, with the charging case providing another 40 hours of playback. Charging for 10 minutes could get you up to four hours of playtime. Other features include the option to connect to two devices at once, IPX4 waterproofing and wireless charging. The Space A40 costs $100 and is available in black, white and navy blue starting today.

Soundcore

Sony revealed a few months back that a Netflix show based on Horizon Zero Dawnwas in development and now we have a few more details. Steve Blackman, the creator and showrunner of The Umbrella Academy, has re-upped his deal with Netflix and is working on the adaptation.

Blackman said the game's protagonist, Aloy, will be a main character in the show. This is also the first confirmation from Netflix that the series will be based on Horizon Zero Dawn, instead of a show that's set in the same universe. Rumors previously indicated it would be set in 2047, before the fall of humanity and nearly a thousand years before Aloy was born. Still, the show may still depict some of the events that led to animal-like robot organisms reigning over Earth.  

"Horizon Zero Dawn is an exceptionally well-crafted game with wonderful characters not often seen in the rank-and-file of the gaming world. Guerrilla Games has created an incredibly lush and vivid world of man and machine who find themselves on a collision course to oblivion," Blackman told Netflix's Tudum site. "Their salvation comes in the form of a young female warrior named Aloy, who has no idea she's the key to saving the world. My writing partner on this, Michelle Lovretta, and I are thrilled to be able to expand this remarkable IP into a series for all types of viewers."

The latest update on the Horizon Zero Dawn project came as Netflix renewed The Umbrella Academy for its fourth and final season. The other show Blackman is currently developing is an intriguing-sounding thriller called Orbital, which is set on the International Space Station.

"From a character- and world-building perspective, there's a clear throughline: I gravitate to characters who are grounded and relatable but exist on the fringe," Blackman said about his projects. "Outliers who struggle to find their place in a world of conformity and structure. All my stories strive to subvert expectation and find a new way of looking into the worlds we think we know." Aloy fits that description perfectly.

Netflix is working on the Horizon Zero Dawn series with PlayStation Productions, which has a ton of other shows and movies based on Sony's games in the pipeline. Among them are HBO's The Last of Us, a Gran Turismo film, a God of War series for Amazon Prime Video and the Peacock show Twisted Metal. Recent reports suggested that movies based on Days Gone and Gravity Rush are in development too.

The first fully hydrogen-powered passenger train service is now up and running. Coradia iLint trains built by Alstom are running on the line in Lower Saxony, Germany. The only emissions are steam and condensed water, and Alstom notes that the train operates with a low level of noise.

Five of the trains started running this week. Another nine will be added in the coming months to replace 15 diesel trains on the regional route. Alstom says the Coradia iLint has a range of 1,000 kilometers, meaning that it can run all day on the line using a single tank of hydrogen. A hydrogen filling station has been set up on the route between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude.

Alstom, which started testing the trains in 2018, has agreements for Coradia iLint in other locales, including for 27 trains in the Frankfurt metropolitan area. The two other contracts are for regions in Italy and France.

The company notes that despite electrification efforts in some countries, much of Europe's rail network will rely on trains that are not electrified in the long term. It notes that there are more than 4,000 diesel-powered cars in Germany alone. In 2020, the country's national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, said it was developing a hydrogen-powered train. While it will take some time to entirely switch the continent's rail network to green energy (assuming the full conversion happens at some point), bringing hydrogen-powered trains into service is a positive step forward.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lincoln being part of the Ford Motor Company, Lincoln reached back 100 years to the Model L as inspiration for its Model L100 concept. The large luxury sedan combines Lincoln's take on autonomous luxury and electric vehicles. 

Because the vehicle is so low to the ground Lincoln decided to create four-foot-long doors that move out and open and a roof that lifts up to make it easier for passengers to get in and out. It’s an insane idea that’ll never make it to production, but the inside of the vehicle is an impressive take on how the one percent will ride around in the future. 

DJI has launched a new cinematic drone called Avata, which was made to work with the new DJI Goggles 2 video headset. While it's in the same category as the brand's previous first-person view (FPV) cinematic model, it takes on a more usual "cinewhoop" form factor with prop guards protecting its quad propellers. Since it's a cinewhoop, the Avata was designed to have the speed and agility of racers but with the stabilization technology needed to be able to capture smooth and vivid footage. 

It can hover, accelerate like a racer and zoom in and out of tight spaces while shooting videos, and its battery can last for up to 18 minutes before needing a recharge. The Avata is equipped with a stabilized camera that has a 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor with 48 million effective pixels, an f/2.8 aperture and an ultra wide-angle lens. That camera is capable of shooting 4K videos in 60fps and 2.7K videos in 50, 60, 100 or 120 fps. And users can shoot quite a bit of footage before worrying about space, since it has 20GB of internal storage.

While it can be controlled using the existing DJI FPV Remote Controller 2 and the DJI FPV Goggles V2, it was designed to be used with the company's newer models. DJI Goggles 2 is the brand's next-gen video headset with a clearer micro-OLED screen than its predecessor and an adjustable diopter, so that people who wear glasses wouldn't need them while using the device. It can wirelessly stream the drone's live footage from the user's phone or computer for an immersive first-person viewing experience. Meanwhile, the DJI Motion Controller gives pilots the power to perform complex flight maneuvers with one hand. 

The DJI Avata is available starting today from the company's website and various retailers. On its own, the drone costs €579, £499 or $629, while a set with the DJI Goggles 2 and a DJI Motion Controller costs €1,429, £1,229 or $1,388.

DJI

Last year, DuckDuckGo announced a free service designed to fend off email trackers and help people protect their privacy. The Email Protection beta was initially available through a waitlist. Now, it's now in open beta, meaning everyone can try it without having to wait for access. 

Email Protection is a forwarding service that removes trackers from messages. DuckDuckGo will tell you which trackers it scrubs as well. During the waitlist beta, DuckDuckGo says it found trackers in 85 percent of testers' emails.

Anyone can now sign up for an @duck.com email address, which will work across desktop, iOS and Android. DuckDuckGo says you can create unlimited private email addresses, including a throwaway one for every website, if you prefer. You can also deactivate an address at any time.

The company has been beefing up Email Protection with more privacy-focused measures. It says Link Tracking Protection helps prevent tracking in email links, while Smarter Encryption upgrades unencrypted HTTP links in emails to secure HTTPS links whenever possible. On top of that, you can now reply to messages with an @duck.com address instead of your regular email account.

Email Protection is available on the DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser for iOS and Android. Go to the Email Protection section of the settings to try it. On desktop, you'll need the DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials extension for Firefox, Chrome, Edge and Brave or DuckDuckGo's Mac browser. Simply visit the email section of the company's website.

HP's work PCs typically focus more on performance than clever features, but you can't accuse it of playing it safe this time around. The company has unveiled a pair of computers that each have their share of tricks for remote workers. To start, HP has introduced the first Folio hybrid in its Dragonfly line, the Dragonfly Folio G3. As with earlier Folios, you can pull the 13.5-inch screen forward to convert the machine from a laptop to a presentation device or tablet. Don't expect the Snapdragon chip from the Elite Folio, though — this is a conventionally-powered PC with a 12th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7, up to 32GB of RAM and a new cooling system that promises to maximize performance without extra bulk.

The 3.1lb design is also thoroughly up to date. You can choose between either a 1,920 x 1,280 LCD or a 3,000 x 2,000 OLED panel. There's no slot for the stylus, alas, but you can magnetically attach and charge the pen on the side like you can with some recent iPads. You'll find a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports plus the usual audio jack, and optional 5G can keep you online away from WiFi. Storage starts with a 256GB SSD and scales up to 2TB.

The Dragonfly Folio G3 is already available with a $2,379 starting price. That's far from modest, but it's better than the $2,642 Elite Folio HP was selling as of this writing while offering better performance.

HP

Desktop-bound remote workers are well accounted for. HP has unveiled a 34-inch All in One (that's the actual name) whose centerpiece, beyond the 5K ultra-wide display, is its webcam system. You can move the magnetically attached 16MP camera to multiple places on the top bezel, and point it toward the desk for sharing documents. You can even add a second camera to share your notes while you stay on-screen. 

You have the choice of 12th-gen Core i5, i7 or i9 processors, and you'll have GeForce RTX 3050 or 3060 dedicated graphics. Expansion shouldn't be much of an issue with up to 128GB of RAM, 4TB of SSD storage, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, four USB-A ports, Ethernet, HDMI 2.1 output, an audio jack and an SD card reader. The 34-inch All-in-One arrives in September with a base price of $2,119.

HP

There are a pair accessories that might prove appealing whether or not you care for HP's computers. The 32-inch Z32k G3 is billed as the first monitor to combine LG's IPS Black tech (higher contrast ratios) with Thunderbolt 4. You can plug in and charge many recent laptops (up to 100W), daisy-chain another 4K screen and otherwise minimize the need for cables and docks. It's not the brightest display at 400 nites, but the 98 percent DCI-P3 color coverage, pivoting and tilting will make it useful for creatives. It doesn't ship until November and has yet to receive a price.

There's also an add-on webcam. The HP 965 touts a 4K resolution, AI-guided framing and autofocusing and a low-light-friendly 18mm f/2.0 lens. You can buy it today for $199.