Death's Door, one of the best indie games to come out earlier this year, is heading to PlayStation consoles. During Sony's State of Play presentation on Wednesday, Devolver Digital announced it will release the Zelda-like action-adventure game on November 23rd, allowing PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 fans to experience it.  

Released this past summer on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, Death's Door is the latest project from Acid Nerve, the studio behind 2015's Titan Souls. You play as a crow whose job it is to collect souls for a bureaucratic organization called the Reaping Commission Headquarters. In addition to The Legend of Zelda, it has a lot of similarities to From Software's Dark Souls. The game has earned praise for its art direction, music and gameplay. If you pre-order Death's Door before its November 23rd release date, you'll get Titan Souls for free. 

Something Adobe does at nearly every one of its annual design conferences is preview experimental features that may one day make their way to its apps. In 2020, it was a tool called Sharp Shots. This year, it was Project In-Between and a feature called Project Morpheus.

Building on the Neural Filters Adobe debuted last year, Project Morpheus is capable of automating frame-by-frame video edits in a way that produces consistent results. In the demo the company showed off, one of its employees modified a video of themselves where they had a neutral expression throughout to put a smile on their face. They did it in mere moments, with Adobe’s Sensei AI most of the heavy lifting. You only need to see the demo once to understand the potential for misuse, something Adobe told Engadget it's taking into account. 

“As with all Adobe Max Sneaks, Project Morpheus is a way in which we preview exploratory and forward-looking technologies from our research labs and engineering teams. These proof-of-concept ideas aren’t always destined for inclusion in products,” a spokesperson for the company said. “We recognize that we have to balance innovation with our responsibility to ensure our technology is being used for the good of our customers and society. Our development of AI is guided by the principles of Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency.”

Additionally, the company pointed to its work on the Content Authenticity Initiative. First announced in 2019, the project has seen Adobe work with The New York Times and Twitter to develop a metadata tagging system designed to limit the number of altered images and videos that circulate online. At Max 2021, it also started beta testing a feature Content Credentials. It allows professionals, including photojournalists and artists, to attach attribution data to their images that details the edit history of a file.

The right to repair movement just got a big boost from the US Copyright Office. Responding to proposals from a variety of organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and iFixit, the office on Wednesday recommended new exemptions to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as it relates to the repair of consumer electronics. The statute prohibits the circumvention of software copy protection and has been the target of right to repair advocates for years.

As reported by The Verge, the Copyright Office recommends additional protections for many consumer-facing devices that rely on software to function. As one example, it adopts a recommendation from Public Knowledge and iFixit that involves video game consoles. It says “the repair of software-enabled consumer devices is likely to be fair use, the Register finds that certain video game console repair is also likely fair use.”

It notes consumers can access the firmware on their systems as long as it’s with the intention of fixing the device’s optical drive and they restore any protective measures afterward. The rulemaking stops short of protecting non-consumer devices. However, the Library of Congress has signed off on the recommendations, paving the way for them to go into effect on October 28th.

The decision is likely to complement the efforts of the Biden administration on the same front. At the start of July, the president ordered the Federal Trade Commission to draft new rules to empower consumers and businesses to repair their devices on their own and at independent shops. The executive order marked the first time a US president had ever weighed in on the right to repair movement. Later that same month, the FTC complied with the directive, voting unanimously to tackle unlawful repair restrictions. At the time, it said it would work with law enforcement and policymakers to update existing regulations to protect small businesses and companies that would prevent them from fixing their own products.

We’ve reached out to iFixit and the EFF for comment.

More than two years after announcing the Osmo Action, DJI is back with a new rugged camera that not only drops the Osmo name but also adopts a fresh new design. The Action 2 features a 155-degree field of view lens and 12-megapixel sensor that can capture 4K footage at up to 120 frames per second, and 240 frames per second slow-motion video at 1080p. In 2021, that’s not impressive for an action camera when you consider GoPro’s latest top-end model, the Hero 10 Black, can do 5.3K at 60 frames per second and 240 frames per second at 2.7K. So what makes Action 2 into something interesting? It’s all about the form factor.

DJI

DJI’s latest device weighs just under two ounces and includes a magnetic mounting system you can use to expand the functionality of the camera. We’ve seen companies like Insta360 pull off similar designs, but DJI’s execution looks particularly handy. Want to add a front-facing display to make the Action 2 into a vlogging camera? You can with a touchscreen module that adds a secondary OLED display and three additional microphones to the camera, as well as allows you to record up to 160 minutes of footage without stopping. A separate battery module extends the Action 2’s battery life from 70 minutes to three hours and adds an extra microSD slot. Other accessories allow you to mount the camera to a floating handle, a 3-in-1 extension rod and a lanyard, among other things.

Other nifty features include a dedicated sensor that can help the camera produce accurate color tones in challenging lighting conditions and underwater. A feature called SnapShot allows you to turn on the device and start recording right away by holding down the power button. It also comes with all of DJI’s usual camera features, including the ability to double as a web camera and capture time-lapses.

The Action 2 is available to buy today from DJI’s website. The company isn’t selling the camera on its own. Instead, you can either buy it as part of either a $399 or $519 bundle. The former comes with the aforementioned battery module while the latter includes the touchscreen accessory. Both bundles also come with a variety of mounts.

For the first time ever, people recently spent more time on Facebook Gaming than YouTube Gaming watching their favorite streamers. That’s according to Streamlabs, which published its Q3 2021 Live Streaming Industry Report on Wednesday.

The company says viewers watched 1.29 billion hours of content on Facebook Gaming between August and September, representing a 9.2 percent increase from the previous quarter. By contrast, the amount of content people watched on YouTube Gaming went from 1.294 billion hours in Q2 2021 to 1.13 billion hours in the most recent three-month period. In terms of viewership, Google’s platform has seen a steady decline since it hit a peak at the end of last year.

YouTube’s struggles are surprising considering the company recently spent big to secure talent like DrLupo and TimTheTatman. Steamlabs attributes the milestone to Facebook Gaming’s international popularity, in addition to the recent rollout of features like co-streaming. Whether Facebook can continue to top YouTube is hard to say. Over the same timeframe, the platform saw a decline in both total hours streamed and unique channels. Those stand at 17.1 million and 440,000 currently, representing declines of 17.8 percent and 48 percent from the previous quarter. For what it’s worth, Steamlabs predicts the company is on the right path.

As for Twitch, it ran into its own set of problems. People watched 5.79 billion hours of content last quarter. Obviously, that’s more than Facebook and YouTube combined, but it’s also a 11 percent decrease from the viewership numbers it saw in Q2 2021. What’s more, the above number represents a year-over-year decline of 22 percent. At the same time, Twitch saw, for the first time ever, a year-over-year decline in unique channels, with that number decreasing from 10.6 million in Q3 2020 to 10.4 million in Q3 2021. Still, with a 70 percent share of the market in terms of hours watched, Twitch is the dominant platform in the space, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

LinkedIn is introducing dedicated remote, hybrid and on-site search filters to help users on their next job hunt. You’ll see the labels when using the social network’s job search and Open to Work features. In the latter case, taking advantage of the filters will privately inform recruiters of the type of work you’re looking for, which the company says should help the right job find you. At the same time, LinkedIn is adding similar filters for company pages, allowing them to indicate things like their vaccine policies and return-to-office plans.

In testing the filters, LinkedIn says it saw more than 70 percent of searches involve people looking for remote-only roles. It’s a testament to how uncertain the pandemic has made every return-to-office plan. Even companies Amazon, Google and Facebook have struggled to find ones that stick. And so it’s no surprise most LinkedIn users are looking for opportunities where they can continue working from home.

When Amazon’s Echo Frames smart glasses first became widely available, we found they were capable if somewhat boring. There simply weren’t many styles, colors and sizes to choose from at launch. Thankfully, Amazon is working to address that issue. The company is introducing two new colors called “Quartz Grey” and “Pacific Blue.” Amazon will offer both with a variety of lens options, including ones that filter out blue light. Additionally, you can now order the existing Modern Tortoise Echo Frames with either sunglasses or blue light lenses.

If you already own a pair of Echo Frames, you can look forward to new software features coming to your smart glasses. The first of those, Top Contact, allows you to add a phone number you can quickly call by long-pressing on the touchpad of your Echo Frames. No need to reach for your phone or activate Alexa. Speaking of the digital assistant, Amazon is adding a settings option that will allow you to change the wake word you use to activate the software from “Alexa” to “Echo.”

Another handy new feature will put the smart glasses into a low power mode if you place them upside down. Amazon has also enhanced the auto volume feature. It will now take into account ambient sounds throughout a listening session, instead of only at the start. Lastly, and this is a big one, “in the coming months” Echo Frames will support sending SMS messages through iOS.

Amazon will release all of the new frame and lens options, in addition to updated features, on November 10th. The Frames start at $250. 

After debuting on Samsung Galaxy devices at the start of September, WhatsApp’s cross-platform chat history transfer feature is now rolling out to the wider Android ecosystem. Starting today, you can move your entire message history, including any voice memos, photos and videos, from an iPhone to an Android device.

However, unlike with Samsung phones, where the feature is available on devices running Android 10 and above, here it’s limited to phones with Android 12. Effectively, that means it’s only accessible to those with Pixel devices at the moment, but Google says it will also soon come to new smartphones that launch with its latest mobile OS. As before, the process also isn’t as straightforward as other chat apps offer. You’ll need a Lightning to USB-C cable to connect your two phones together. What’s more, it involves a QR code you need to scan when first setting up your new Android phone.

Blizzard won’t host a BlizzConline event in early 2022 as it previously said it would. Back at the end of May, when it canceled BlizzCon 2021, the studio said its plan was to put on a global event at the start of 2022 that would feature both in-person and online components. Now that won’t happen.

“Any BlizzCon event takes every single one of us to make happen, an entire-company effort, fueled by our desire to share what we create with the community we care about so much,” the company said. “At this time, we feel the energy it would take to put on a show like this is best directed towards supporting our teams and progressing development of our games and experiences.”

Without directly referencing the sexual harassment scandal that has rocked the studio in recent months, Blizzard notes it plans to take time to “reimagine” BlizzCon. “Whatever the event looks like in the future, we also need to ensure that it feels as safe, welcoming, and inclusive as possible,” it said.

It’s no surprise Blizzard wants to rework the event. One of the most serious allegations made by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing involved BlizzCon. According to the agency, the annual show was the site of the infamous “Cosby Suite” where Blizzard employees, including former World of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi, allegedly sexually harassed women.

The Federal Communications Commission has revoked the ability of China Telecom Americas to operate in the US. Citing national security concerns, the agency voted unanimously in favor of a proposal it had been considering since the end of 2020. With today’s order, the company, a subsidiary of China’s largest state-owned carrier, has 60 days to discontinue telecom services in the US.

Following a proceeding that involved input from the Justice Department, the FCC found that China Telecom is likely to comply with requests from the Chinese government, affording the country the opportunity to access, store, disrupt and misroute US communications. “Promoting national security is an integral part of the Commission’s responsibility to advance the public interest, and today’s action carries out that mission to safeguard the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure from potential security threats,” the FCC said.

Over the last year, the FCC has taken similar actions against other Chinese telecoms and equipment manufacturers. Most notably, it labeled both Huawei and ZTE as national security threats and ordered US carriers to replace any networking equipment from the two companies.

We've reached out to China Telecom Americas for comment.