Since Sony announced its latest flagship soundbar at the end of July, we’ve been patiently waiting for the company to release the HT-A7000 to put it through testing. That hasn’t happened yet, but starting today you can pre-order the unit, as well as the supporting speakers Sony announced at the same time, from Amazon.

Part of what makes the $1,300 HT-A7000 intriguing is all the features Sony packed into it. Highlights include an HDMI 2.1 connection with eARC and both 8K and 4K/120 Hz passthrough, in addition to Dolby Atmos support. It also comes with the company’s DSEE Extreme technology for upscaling compressed audio. Another nifty feature is a set of built-in microphones the speaker can use to calibrate itself to your space.

Starting today, you can also pre-order the SA-SW5 and SA-SW3 Sony announced alongside the HT-A7000. The $700 SW5 is a 300-watt subwoofer with a 7-inch speaker, while the more affordable SA-SW3 will give you 200-watts of bass for $400. Also up for pre-order today are the SA-RS3S satellite speakers. They’re priced at $350 for the pair.

If you want to take your home theatre in a different direction, Sony’s HT-A9 system is another option. $1,800 nets you four cylindrical speakers the company says you can adapt to almost any space and layout. The system comes with a wireless control box that features an HDMI 2.1 connection with eARC output and 8K and 4K/120 Hz passthrough alongside Dolby Vision. They also come with Sony’s Sound Mapping Technology, which the company claims allows them to create a more immersive soundstage.

Add Facebook to the list of companies that could be trying to reduce its dependence on Intel and Qualcomm. According to The Information, the social media giant is developing a suite of custom chips for its data centers. One of the processors is reportedly designed to power machine learning tasks, including the algorithm that handles Facebook’s content recommendations, while another would assist in transcoding videos to improve the quality of livestreamed videos.

In addition to helping reduce its dependence on outside chipmakers, the move to custom silicon could help Facebook lower the carbon footprint of its data centers. The new chips would work alongside the third-party processors the company currently uses in its servers, and reportedly aren’t meant to completely replace what it already has.

“Facebook is always exploring ways to drive greater levels of compute performance and power efficiency with our silicon partners and through our own internal efforts,” a spokesperson for the company told Engadget when we reached out to the company about the report. “We have nothing new to share on our future plans at this time."

It wouldn’t be a stretch for Facebook to dip its toes in custom silicon. The company has already dabbled in semi-custom chips. In 2019, for instance, it announced it was working on an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for video transcoding and inference work. It also wouldn't be the first company to look at designing its own chips to improve efficiency and save on costs. Google has had its Tensor chips since 2016, and, as of last year, Microsoft was reportedly exploring custom chips for its own servers as well.    

Apple has reportedly appointed a new executive to lead the development of its secretive self-driving car division. According to Bloomberg, the company has tapped Kevin Lynch to oversee Project Titan following the departure of executive Doug Field, who left the iPhone maker for Ford earlier this week. 

The name may not be familiar, but if you’ve watched any Apple event in recent years, you’ve seen Lynch on stage. After a stint at Adobe, he joined Apple in 2013 to oversee the company’s wearable and health unit and has frequently been the one to present whatever new features Apple is working on for watchOS. 

Bloomberg reports Lynch joined the division earlier in the year but is now overseeing the entire unit. The outlet notes Lynch’s appointment suggests Apple is likely focusing on underlying software that a self-driving car would need to navigate the road, instead of a vehicle that we could see the company release anytime soon.

Sony is working on not one but two new Marvel games. During its PlayStation Showcase, the company revealed Insomniac Games is developing a sequel to 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man and 2020's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Slated to come out sometime in 2023 exclusively on PS5, Spider-Man 2 will feature both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, with the two set to face off against Venom.   

Sony didn't share many other details on the project, but based on the trailer it looks Spider-Man 2 may support co-op play. In a post over on the PlayStation blog published following the event, Insomniac's Ryan Schneider said much of the original team that worked on the first game is back for the sequel. He also revealed Tony Todd, best known for his role in the Candyman films, will voice Venom. Both Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter will also reprise their roles as Peter and Miles.    

Nearly a decade after its initial release on the seventh generation of consoles, Grand Theft Auto V will come out on PlayStation 5 in March 2022. Rockstar first announced GTA V was making its way to Sony's latest console at the company's previous PlayStation 5 showcase last summer. The enhanced and expanded port was originally supposed to come out in the second half of 2021. 

The new trailer Rockstar shared during Sony's promised the game will feature improved graphics, gameplay enhancements and seamless character switching between its three protagonists. It will also come with the game's immensely popular GTA Online multiplayer component.

The rumors were true, BioWare's classic Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic is getting a remake. Sony announced the title during its PlayStation showcase, revealing Aspyr, a studio best known for its macOS ports, is working on the project. 

The trailer Sony showed off featured Bastila Shan, one of the main characters from the game, speaking to the nature of the Sith. "Peace is a lie. That is what the Sith believe," she says while the camera zooms in on Revan, the protagonist of Knights of the Old Republic. 

The card Sony showed off at the end of the trailer said "a legend remade for PS5," suggesting the game may be a PlayStation exclusive. Knights of the Old Republic was originally released on Xbox and Windows PC in 2003. It was later ported to macOS, iOS and Android by Aspyr. 

General Motors can’t seem to catch a break. One week after the automaker announced it was suspending production at all but four of its North American manufacturing facilities, it said it plans to extend the shutdown of its Orion assembly plant by two weeks. The facility is where the company makes its Chevy Bolt electric vehicles. It was one of the assembly plants GM shut down last week — though it did so because of the recent Bolt recall, not the chip shortage that affected its other factories.

Per Reuters, GM expects the shutdown to continue until at least September 24th. The company blamed battery pack shortages for the extended halt to production. GM added it won’t resume Bolt manufacturing or sales until it’s sure it has addressed the fire concerns that forced it to recall the vehicle in the first place.

It’s the latest setback in a series of setbacks for GM when it comes to the Bolt. The automaker initially recalled more than 68,000 cars last November after five reports of battery fires between 2017 and 2019. After two Bolt EVs included in the company’s 2020 recall caught fire recently, GM issued a second recall. It then widened that action to include more than 140,000 vehicles globally. It’s estimated the entire saga will cost the company more than $1.8 billion.

Google has announced a new water stewardship target that will see the company commit to replenishing on average 120 percent of the water it consumes at its data centers and offices by 2030. To that end, the search giant says it will use freshwater alternatives to cool its server farms. In places like Douglas County, Georgia, the company already uses reclaimed wastewater to keep its servers running. Moving forward, it will work to double down on that practice by finding more opportunities to use wastewater and seawater.

At its offices, meanwhile, the company plans to use more on-site water sources, such as collected stormwater, for things like landscape irrigation and toilet flushing that don't require potable water. Google points to its Bay Area campuses and a landscaping project where it worked with local ecologists as an example of an initiative where it's already thinking about its water use.

"Our water stewardship journey will involve continuously enhancing our water use and consumption," said Google sustainability officer Kate Brandt in a blog post.

In its efforts to replenish more water than it consumes, the company says it will also invest in community projects working to address local water and watershed challenges in places where the company has data centers and offices. As an example of the work Google plans to do here, the company points to a partnership it already has in place with the Colorado River Indian Tribes to reduce the amount of water removed from Lake Mead. The reservoir, the largest in the US, faces a pressing water shortage due to a combination of overuse and extended drought.

Lastly, the company plans to continue working with communities, policymakers and planners to help them with tools and technologies they need to measure and predict water availability and needs. Here, the company references work it did with the United Nations Environment Programme to create the Freshwater Ecosystems Explorer. It's a tool that tracks national and local surface water changes over time.

Today's commitment comes after Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the company would attempt to run all of its data centers and offices entirely on carbon-free energy by 2030. Pichai described the effort as a "moonshot," noting it would be tricky in some instances to achieve due to the remote location of some of Google's facilities.

When Football Manager 2022 debuts on November 9th, it will be available through Xbox Game Pass on day one, Sega announced on Thursday. Both the Windows and Xbox Edition versions of the game will launch on the same day. The former will be available through Game Pass for PC while the latter is coming to Game Pass for consoles. However, if you’re an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, you get access to both titles.

Microsoft has offered Football Manager titles through Game Pass before but this is the first time a new entry in the series will be available on the service from day one. It’s a big get for Microsoft given the popularity of the franchise. Series director Miles Jacobson shared at the start of the year that the Football Manager series had cumulatively sold more than 33 million copies.

Sega didn’t say whether the Xbox Edition of Football Manager is based on the Touch version of the game, as was the case last year. But the publisher promised to share more details about new features and upgrades in the coming weeks. If you don’t have a Game Pass subscription, you can buy Football Manager 2022 from Steam, the Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store.

With Luna’s one-year anniversary quickly approaching, Amazon is expanding the places where you can access the platform. Starting today, the cloud gaming service is available on Fire tablets and Chromebooks. With the expansion, Amazon is also introducing new hardware bundles you can buy to get access to the service without an invitation from the company.

One option is to spend $99 to buy a Fire TV Stick 4K Max and a Luna controller. Two other new bundles allow you to get a Fire HD 10 tablet or a Fire HD 8 tablet with a controller for $156 or $116 respectively.

New hardware bundles aren’t the only way Amazon hopes to attract new subscribers to Luna. The company is also introducing a feature called Luna Couch. If you find yourself playing a game such as Team Sonic Racing that includes support for local cooperative play, you can invite one of your friends to play with you over the internet — even if they don’t have their own Luna subscription. The invite process involves creating a session code you share with your friend. If they want to play on PC or Mac, they’ll need to input that code online. Otherwise, on every other supported device, you input the code through the Luna app.

Elsewhere, the company is making tweaks to channels. The Luna+ and Ubisoft+ channels now come with access to some 120 games between the two of them. They will be joined by two new channels. The Family Channel, available today, costs $2.99 per month and comes with a curated selection of more than 35 family-friendly titles, including SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom. The other new addition, the Retro Gaming Channel, is coming “soon” and will include classic games from publishers like Atari and SNK.

Lastly, if you’re a current Prime Member in the mainland US, you can play four Luna games for seven days until September 15th. The free lineup is made up of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Metro Exodus, Katamari Damacy Reroll and Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.