Patreon doesn't let creators offer crypto coins for the sake of profit, but that might change before long. TechCrunchreports Patreon executives Jack Conte and Julian Gutman said the company was "evaluating" the use of crypto, including a previously hinted-at possibility of allowing "creator coins" that fans can buy to show support. You could invest in creators and reap rewards if they hit the big time, or access special content reserved for coin owners.

Conte wouldn't say if Patreon had staff devoted to crypto projects, but did say the company was "thinking about it." The company had discussed the possibility of allowing creator coins during an online September discussion, but it was sidelined as the company grappled with the implications of Mastercard's tougher adult content standards.

Gutman added that Patreon was "interested" in studying the potential benefits of NFTs and related technologies for creators looking to sustain a business. NFTs have boosted the value of digital art, sometimes leading to sales worth millions, but there are also widespread concerns about the highly speculative nature of the market and the blockchain-based technology's environmental impact.

It wouldn't be surprising if Patreon embraced coins, NFTs or both. Patreon has fared well despite early pandemic jitters and raised $90 million just a year ago, but there's little doubt the service is trying to court as many creators as possible. A new stance on crypto might entice content producers who currently have to go elsewhere if they want to dabble in the technology.

You'd think global supply shortages would hit Apple's tech products the hardest, but that's apparently not the case. As The New York Timesreports, Apple's most backordered new release is its $19 Polishing Cloth. Order the microfiber cloth from the company store as of this writing and you'll wait 10 to 12 weeks — in other words, you won't get your Apple-branded polishing experience until January 2022 at the earliest. You could buy a new MacBook Pro and wait another two months to (officially) wipe smudges off the screen. 

It's not clear what prompted the backlog, but it might be sheer popularity. An anonymous Apple official talking to The Times said the company wasn't surprised by high demand, and that the cloth was both specially designed (it was originally meant for the nano-texture glass on the Pro Display XDR) and particularly effective.

It's no secret that you can find far, far less expensive alternatives if you're cleaning a regular screen. Amazon is selling a six-pack of MagicFiber cloths for $9, and even the pricer options tend to offer better value. However, the shortfall illustrates both the cachet of the official product and the sheer range of supply constraints affecting tech, sometimes in unexpected ways. If you can't even count on getting a polishing cloth in a timely fashion, you know the industry is struggling with broad supply issues.

Cricket is no longer reserving 5G for its priciest service tier. As of today, 5G is enabled for all of the prepaid carrier's plans. As you might guess, the provider is also doing away with the modest 8Mbps cap on most of its plans. You can pay as little as $30 per month (for one line) for 5G, to put it another way — important if you're more interested in raw speed than anything else.

There are some caveats. Cricket isn't changing data caps for its two lowest-priced plans, so you could burn through the modest 2GB or 10GB allotments that much sooner. You also don't have many choices for 5G phones if you buy directly from Cricket, including the iPhone 13 range as well as a handful of low-end Motorola and Samsung models. You'll still have a strong incentive to use the higher-end tiers, and you may want to bring your own phone.

It's no secret as to why AT&T is making Cricket more appealing, though. Cricket added 2 million customers (now 12.4 million total) in just the past two years. While AT&T's regular service clearly has more overall subscribers, Cricket is the hotter property in terms of relative growth. Adding 5G to more plans could keep that momentum alive. And simply speaking, Cricket needed to catch up. Rivals like Boost Mobile and T-Mobile's Metro already offer 5G across multiple tiers. Your choice of prepaid carriers may now boil down to specific plan features and network quality.

You won't have to buy a Lucid Air if you want a car with more immersive Dolby Atmos. Mercedes will equip its cars with Atmos audio on all models that use both its latest MBUX interface (introduced with the latest S-Class) and an optional Burmester 3D or 4D sound system. Whether or not you'll driving, you'll hear compatible music in a vertically enhanced sound field — it might not sound like a "live concert" as Mercedes claims, but it should be a step up from the usual stereo playback.

The 4D system includes 31 speakers, six of which create the 3D effect from above. Another four "near-ear" speakers sit in the front seats, and all four seats have two sound transducers (aka exciters) each. Throw in 1750W of total power (including an 18.5-liter subwoofer) and you'll likely be happy regardless of the audio processing.

Just don't plan on buying an Atmos-equipped car right away. The format will first be available in the Mercedes-Maybach in summer 2022, and the S-Class soon after. Other models will follow, but you might not want to count on buying an A-Class with Atmos any time soon.

Blade & Sorcery has been a strong showcase for VR, but it has a drawback: its PC-only nature has meant occasionally tripping over wires while you fight your fantasy battles. Thankfully, that won't be an issue for long. Warpfrog has unveiledBlade & Sorcery: Nomad, a stand-alone game coming to the Oculus Quest 2 on November 4th for $20. The basic concept remains the same — it's a "sandbox" brawler with immersive swordplay and magic — but the developers are taking advantage of the freedom that comes with a stand-alone headset.

The familiar Sandbox mode is now fine-tuned for room-scale VR. There's also a Dungeons mode that challenges you to fight through "semi-procedurally generated" chambers. In 2022, there will also be a mode with progression that rewards frequent play.

This probably won't get you to spring for a Quest 2 by itself. It might tip the balance if you were already curious about titles like GTA: San Andreas, though, and it may serve as a good introduction to what VR can do. If nothing else, it shows what's possible when you aren't tied to a computer.

You can soon use an Oculus Quest 2 headset for VR workouts without it being quite so... grimy. Oculus has previewed an Active Pack for the Quest 2 that will make it easier to use the headset as part of your fitness routine. New grips for the Touch controller should keep them from flying out of your sweaty hands, while an exercise-ready "facial interface" will be easier to wipe down after an intense session.

The Active Pack won't be available until sometime in 2022. Quest 2 fitness apps will get some meaningful updates before then, though. FitXR will get a new fitness studio before the end of 2021, while Player 22 by Rezzil will offer hand-tracked bodyweight exercises in a similar time frame.

Oculus' fitness shift isn't completely surprising. The pandemic led many people to shift their workouts to VR, and not all of those people will return to the gym. If Oculus can pitch the Quest 2 as a fitness tool, it could boost adoption among people who wouldn't have previously considered a VR headset.

Developing...

The Apple TV app has reached its final frontier: your cable provider's set-top box. According to Variety, Comcast used its latest earnings call to reveal that the Apple TV app will be available on Comcast's platforms in the "coming months." Viewers with Xfinity X1 set-tops, Flex streaming hubs, XClass TVs and (in the UK and Europe) Sky Glass sets will have access to Apple TV+, in-app channels (like AMC+ and Showtime) and Apple's usual video purchases and rentals.

In exchange, Comcast is bringing its Xfinity Stream app to Apple TV hardware. The move will let you use the Apple TV device either as a set-top stand in or to watch broadcasts on someone else's TV when you're away.

This may be a more significant expansion than it seems. Apple's streaming video app is available on many smart TVs, dedicated media players and game consoles in addition to the company's own products, but there are many people whose cable box is the smartest device in the living room. This brings Apple TV+ to many people who wouldn't even consider a service if it required a new TV or any device beyond the ones included with their cable subscriptions.

Do you want a do-everything multicooker, but don't need an Instant Pot? You're in luck. Amazon is selling Ninja's OS301 Foodi 10-in-1 for $119, a 41 percent discount on the regular price, as part of a one-day sale. This may be the best Ninja cooker deal yet — there was a Prime Day deal last year for a less-capable (if larger) 9-in-1 model that still cost more.

It's easy to see the appeal for this model. It handles typical multicooker tasks like pressure cooking, slow cooking, steaming and yogurt, but it also includes air frying (not always present in multicookers) and a nesting broil rack that lets you broil or steam on different levels. The 6.5-quart capacity is also just slightly higher than the six quarts you find in comparable Instant Pot models, so Ninja's offering is worth considering if you're worried about space.

The drawbacks mainly stem from your choice of ecosystem. Instant Pot's fandom is large enough that you'll find recipes and other guides for it where you won't with Ninja's cookers. If you're just interested in preparing a tasty dish, though, there's no reason you have to follow the crowd — especially not at a price like this.

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

McDonald's might not be the only restaurant experimenting with AI-based order taking in the near future. Restaurant Divereports McDonald's is selling its McD Tech Labs to IBM in order to "further accelerate" work on its automated voice ordering systems. The deal will help apply the technology to a wider variety of countries, languages and menus, McDonald's said, while bolstering IBM's Watson-powered customer service offerings.

The deal is expected to close in December. McD Tech Labs will join IBM's Cloud & Cognitive Software team.

McDonald's started testing AI drive-thru order taking in 10 Chicago-area restaurants in late spring. While the fast food chain saw "substantial benefits" for both customers and staff, it was clear the system needed improvement. It was only about 85 percent accurate, necessitating human intervention for nearly a fifth of orders. CEO Chris Kempczinski said it would take more than a year or two to implement the technology on a broader scale, and indicated that McDonald's routinely bought companies (like the AI firm Apprente) for short stints before spinning them out with partners who can expand the technology — it clearly sees IBM as key to making AI drive-thrus a success, at McDonald's and elsewhere.

It's not clear whether or not restaurant employees should be thrilled. This will save staff from the drudgery of listening to orders at 2AM, but it also raises the possibility of job cuts as restaurants limit human involvement to preparing orders. As before, automation could be a double-edged sword that hurts as much as it helps.

Mercedes is using the impending COP26 climate conference to highlight its EV efforts — and show how sustainability can involve more than a switch to battery power. The newly unveiled Sustaineer delivery van concept is fully electric, as you'd guess, but it also improves the environment around it. Fine particulate filters on the front and underbody purify the air around the van no matter what its speed. It even uses cast iron, ceramic-coated disc brakes that both reduce the amount of dust in the air and limit brake wear.

The Sustaineer also has solar panels on its roof to extend range and reduce the need for plug-in charging (this sometimes contributes to CO2 emissions). It can further power devices whether or not the van is running, such as tools and laptops. Solar power on electrified vehicles is nothing new, but Mercedes clearly hopes implementations like this would keep EVs as green as possible.

Other eco-conscious technology includes an energy-saving heating system that hews close to the body (including the seatbelt) and a heavy use of recycled materials. The filler is made from household waste, the cab partition is built from natural straw and the underbody includes recycled polypropylene and used tires. Mercedes lowers noise pollution, too, thanks to a quiet electric drivetrain, low rolling resistance tires and a hushed automatic delivery door.

Safety is a concern as well. A camera monitors road conditions to share reports of potholes and other hazards with cities, while digital mirrors provide a clearer field of view than you normally get with cargo vans. A "biologically active" light keeps the driver alert by filling the cab with illumination similar to daylight while maintaining a natural rhythm.

There are no mentions of plans to mass-produce the Sustaineer. With that said, Mercedes stressed that all the van's technology was crafted with large-scale production in mind. You might see this in other vans, not to mention other Mercedes vehicles. The company already has other green tech on the horizon, such as sustainable repairs for EV batteries in 2022, and Sustaineer is ultimately a logical extension of those plans.