Netflix will host the second installment of its Tudum global fan event today. The stream will feature news, trailers and clips from more than 120 shows, movies, specials, documentaries and games. You'll be able to watch the event, which starts at 1PM ET, below. Netflix will also stream the event on its Twitter, Twitch and Facebook channels, as well as its YouTube channels around the world.

Among many, many other projects, Tudum will feature an update on season three of The Witcher, details on prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin, an appearance from the Squid Game cast and a Stranger Things blooper reel. In addition, Tudum will include news on The Crown, trailers for new seasons of Outer Banks and Manifest, a first peek at Jennifer Lopez's movie The Mother and an exclusive clip from Rian Johnson's follow-up to Knives Out, Glass Onion. There will also be a look at the Netflix version of Oxenfree — the company bought developer Night School Studio last year. 

This could be an important event for Netflix, which has had a fairly rough year. Its subscriber numbers dropped for the first time — it lost around 1.2 million subscribers in the first six months of 2022. Netflix has raised prices in several territories in recent months and it has a cheaper, ad-supported tier on the way. To both keep current subscribers on board and bring in newcomers, Netflix has to get folks excited about what it has to offer. Events like Tudum can help with that.

Anyone who has been taking advantage of Amazon's liberal return policy regarding e-books could soon be in for a shock. That's because following discussions with the Authors Guild, Amazon has agreed to block automatic returns on digital books that are more than 10 percent read. 

Currently, the problem for authors on Amazon is that customers can return e-books online anytime within seven days of purchase no matter how much content has been consumed. That means if you can you read a book in less than a week, you can simply return it when you're done for free, resulting in a loss of profits for the author. 

However, under the new policy which is scheduled to go into effect sometime before the end of the year, Amazon will begin blocking automatic returns on e-books that are more than 10 read, which will then need to be reviewed by a representative to ensure that the return is genuine. The Authors Guild says the goal is to create a deterrent for people who abuse Amazon's current policy and to prevent people from treating Amazon's e-book marketplace as an ersatz library. 

Issues with Amazon's e-book return policy date back more than a decade, but had recently come under fire again after lifehacks about the company's guidelines began circulating online. And according to NPR, in some cases, abuse of the company's return policy even resulted in some authors having negative earnings balances, which typically happened when customers returned an e-book after the creator had been paid out by Amazon.

Thankfully, after concerns were raised by both the Authors Guild and the Society of Authors in the UK earlier this year, it seems Amazon has finally decided to update its policy, with the Authors Guild posting a statement thanking the company for "taking good faith action" against returns abuse. 

Unsolicited nude photos are a massive problem on social media, but Instagram is reportedly working on a tool that could help. An early screengrab tweeted by researcher Alessandro Paluzzi indicates that "Nudity protection" technology "covers photos that may contain nudity in chat," giving users the option to view them or not. Instagram parent Meta confirmed to The Verge that it's in development. 

Meta said the aim is to help shield people from nude images or other unsolicited messages. As further protection, the company said it can't view the images itself nor share them with third parties. "We’re working closely with experts to ensure these new features preserve people’s privacy, while giving them control over the messages they receive," a spokesperson said. It plans to share more details in the coming weeks ahead of any testing.

The new feature is akin to the "Hidden Words" tool launched last year, Meta added. That feature allows users to filter abusive message in DM requests based on key words. If a request contains any filter word you've chosen, it's automatically placed in a hidden folder that you can choose to never open — though it's not completely deleted. 

The feature is welcome but long overdue, as unwanted nude photos were largely ignored by social media companies and are now a pervasive problem. One study back in 2020 by the University College London found that of 150 young people aged 12-18, 75.8 percent had been sent unsolicited nude images.

Sending unwanted nude photos, also known as "cyberflashing" has been targeted by multiple jurisdictions including California and the UK. In the UK, it could become a criminal offense if the Online Safety Bill is passed by parliament. California didn't go quite that far, but last month, the state legislature and senate voted unanimously to allow users to sue over unsolicited nude photos and other sexually graphic material. 

Three years after becoming the newest branch of the US Armed Forces, the Space Force has an official song. Titled “Semper Supra” (or “Always Above,” if you’re not a fan of Latin), the tune made its debut on Tuesday at the 2022 Air, Space and Cyber Conference in Maryland. Now, before I say anything else about it, I think it’s best you hear the song for yourself.

If you ask me, it’s jauntier than I expected, particularly for a song that is supposed to embody a 21st-century military branch. According to Chief of Space Operations John Raymond, the Space Force wanted a song that “spoke to our Guardians” – and, no, he’s not talking about Destiny 2 players.

The eight lines of lyrics you hear were the result of “years of research and revisions.” Former service and US Air Force Band member James Teachenor wrote "Semper Supra" with General Raymond’s help. "The song was a long work in progress because I wanted it to encompass all the capabilities that the Space Force offers and its vision," Teachenor said. Once the two settled on the song’s lyrics, they recruited Sean Nelson of the US Coast Guard Band to create an arrangement, with the USCG Band providing the instrumentation. 

If you ask us, the final product sounds a bit too similar too to other Armed Forces tunes like “The Army Goes Rolling Along.” Personally, I think the Space Force should have gone down a prog rock route and made the song sound, you know, spacey. 

After several moves that indicated this day was coming, Spotify has officially added audiobooks as yet another listening option in its app. Starting today, users in the US will have a dedicated section for the format that allows standalone purchases via a web link. At launch, the company says its library will contain over 300,000 titles.

In addition to their own section alongside music and podcasts, audiobooks will show up in your recommendations on the main page. When you dive into the audiobooks tab, you'll see a collection of picks from Spotify at launch. Over time, this section will be tailored to your activity just like any other content that's recommended for you on the service. The service's library of titles will also show up in search results like artists, albums, songs and podcasts already do. 

When you select an audiobook, you'll see a lock icon on the play button that indicates you haven't yet purchased the title. If you decide to do so, a link will boot you out to a browser to complete the transaction before beaming you back to Spotify to start listening. Any purchased titles will automatically appear in your library and will be available for offline listening. Just like podcasts, the service will offer speed controls so you can listen at your preferred pace. 

Spotify

Spotify has been heading down this path for quite a while. The service offered an audio version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone read by various celebrities in the spring of 2020. In a test early last year, the company added a selection of public domain books in the spoken word format — again read by a roster of famous names. Spotify then announced that Storytel subscribers would be able to link their account to the streaming service as the audiobook platform was is one of the first major publishers to take advantage of Spotify's Open Access Platform (OAP). The tech allows publishers and creators to stream their content through Spotify while using their existing login system. In November, Spotify acquired Findaway, an audiobook platform with over 325,000 titles and tools for creators. That was seemingly the last piece of the puzzle.

Spotify is clear this is "the first iteration"of audiobooks on its platform. The company plans to take notes and see what needs to be changed before expanding to other markets. It also wants to "innovate the format" so that listeners, authors and publishers benefit more from what the format can offer. 

Blizzard plans to invite some of its most dedicated fans to play Diablo IV in the coming weeks. The studio shared details about its upcoming end game closed beta test on Monday. Using “specific gameplay data,” Blizzard will select players who have recently spent “significant” time with the post-story experiences found in Diablo II: Resurrected and Diablo III. If you feel that describes you, you can let the studio know you’re interested in participating in the beta by ensuring the “News and Special Offers from Battle.net” option is enabled on your account by October 11th. Once that’s done, look for an email from Blizzard in your inbox for an invite. 

Once the beta arrives, it will be available on PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and PS4, with support for crossplay and cross-progression between platforms supported. If you don’t get into this round of testing, Blizzard notes public testing will begin early next year.

The upcoming beta will focus on Diablo IV’s endgame experience for a couple of reasons. Blizzard says it doesn’t want to spoil the game’s story before release. The decision is also a reflection of the way a lot of players enjoy Diablo games. “For many, the end game is their favorite aspect of Diablo — we want to ensure it feels satisfying, and with no shortage of challenging variety to experience across many, many demon-slaying gaming sessions,” the studio said, adding feedback from participants will play a critical part in polishing the experience. One thing you should not expect is to hear from those playing the closed beta. Blizzard said the event would be “confidential,” a not-so-subtle allusion to the fact footage from Diablo IVleaked over the weekend.

A massive trove of footage from the next installment in Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series has leaked online. On early Sunday morning, a hacker who goes by teapotuberhacker uploaded 90 videos from a test build of Grand Theft Auto VI to GTAForums. Since PCGamer spotted the post, the clips have proliferated across YouTube and social media, and as of the writing of this article, they're still viewable.

In line with reporting Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier published in July, the footage shows two playable protagonists. One of them is a female character named Lucia, who we see robbing a restaurant in one of the clips. In a separate video, you can see the other playable character riding the “Vice City Metro,” pointing to the fact that GTA VI will take place in a fictionalized version of Miami. According to Schreier, the leaked footage is legitimate.

“Not that there was much doubt, but I’ve confirmed with Rockstar sources that this weekend’s massive Grand Theft Auto VI leak is indeed real. The footage is early and unfinished, of course,” he tweeted. “This is one of the biggest leaks in video game history and a nightmare for Rockstar Games.”

Adding intrigue to an already interesting story, teapotuberhacker claims they’re also responsible for the recent Uber hack. They said they obtained the test build after gaining access to a Rockstar employee’s Slack account and may upload additional data online, including source code and assets from GTA V and GTA VI, as well as the test build itself. It’s unclear how old this version of the game is. Rockstar has reportedly been working on GTA VI since 2014. In July, Schreier reported the studio was at least another two years away from releasing the game to the public.

Grand Theft Auto series publisher Take-Two Interactive did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment.

The long-teased Blade Runner sequel series is real. Variety has confirmed Amazon has ordered production of Blade Runner 2099 for Prime Video. Original movie director Ridley Scott will serve as an executive producer alongside Silka Luisa (Halo and Shining Girls), who will also be the showrunner. The premise of 2099 isn't yet clear beyond its setting 50 years after Blade Runner 2049, but Amazon's global TV head Vernon Sanders claimed the follow-up would preserve the "intellect, themes, and spirit" of the movies.

The cast hasn't been set at this stage, although it's doubtful you'll see familiar names given events in past movies and the timeline of the show. Amazon also hasn't said when it expects to release the series.

The project could still be one of Amazon's more ambitious shows to date. The company has been ramping up the production values of Prime Video productions in recent years, and that appears to have paid off — the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power reportedly cost $465 million to make, and set a Prime viewing record upon its debut. It wouldn't be surprising if Amazon committed to a major investment (if not necessarily as large) for a recognizable franchise like Blade Runner, particularly with Scott involved.

Electronic Arts is determined to keep cheaters at bay. The company has developed a kernel-level anti-cheat system for PC that it will deploy alongside FIFA 23 when the game arrives on September 30th. According to the publisher, the move was necessary to "ensure fair play" by taking on PC cheat developers who are increasingly building kernel-level exploits that OS-level anti-cheat tools are unable to detect.

In a blog post, EA's senior director of game security and anti-cheat Elise Murphy wrote that the company created EA AntiCheat (EAAC) because "third-party anti-cheat solutions are often opaque to our teams, and prevent us from implementing additional privacy controls or customizations that provide greater accuracy and granularity for EA-specific game modes." It should also be able to address security issues head on.

EAAC won't be used in all EA games, though the publisher says it's necessary for competitive titles with an online focus, such as FIFA 23. This year's edition includes cross-play support and, in theory, EAAC should prevent console players from having to deal with PC cheaters. The company may take different anti-cheat approaches in games without leaderboards or a competitive system. As such, it wouldn't be a surprise to see EA add EAAC to the likes of Apex Legends, but it seems unlikely to be patched in to the 2021 Game of the Year (don't take my word for it) It Takes Two.

The tool will only be active when a game with EAAC is running on your PC. It will be uninstalled when you remove all EA games that require it (you can uninstall EAAC manually, but the likes of FIFA 23 won't be playable). Murphy wrote that "EAAC will have negligible impact on your gameplay," so it shouldn't diminish performance.

As far as system privacy and security goes, Murphy says that EAAC will only examine the files it needs to for anti-cheat reasons. EAAC will hash the information that it does collect and jettison the original data. The tool won't collect data from your browsing history, apps that don't interact with EA games or anything else that's irrelevant to its purposes, according to the blog post.

EA isn't the first publisher to adopt a kernel-level anti-cheat approach. Riot and Activision use similar tools in Valorant, Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone.

Meta is introducing a new way for Facebook’s nearly 3 billion users to connect with one another. In the coming weeks, the company plans to expand the availability of Community Chats, a feature that will allow Facebook and Messenger groups to organize discussions around their favorite topics. On top of the usual text conversations, Community Chats will support audio and video channels and allow admins to broadcast messages to their groups.

Since Meta envisions you using Community Chats to communicate with people outside of your immediate social circle, admins will have access to a handful of moderation tools to ensure conversations stay civil. An “Admin Assist” feature will allow them to create a list of words and phrases they want the platform to automatically flag and take action against. Admins also have the power to block, mute and suspend individuals who don’t play by their community’s rules. They can also host admin-only chats where they can talk privately with their moderation team. 

If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because Meta is effectively replicating how Discord works. On Discord, you can join Community Servers that are organized around a single game or interest, and it’s even possible for admins to create multiple sub-channels for people to discuss specific aspects of their interest, much like Meta will allow Community Chats users to do. Even the moderation tools are reminiscent of features Discord has released in recent months to combat trolls.