If you’ve been patiently waiting for Valve to ship that Steam Deck you reserved months ago, you may not have to wait too much longer to get your hands on the device. The company claims it will be able to fulfill all current Steam Deck reservations by the end of the year.

Valve says that many of its supply chain issues are easing and it’s able to continue increasing production. It has moved some people’s scheduled deliveries up to the third quarter (i.e. between now and the end of September). All other outstanding reservations are now scheduled for delivery in Q4. People who lock in a reservation right now should still be able to get one in time for the holiday season. After Valve reaches its capacity for that period, it will start filling up the delivery queue for early 2023. 

The update comes a month after Valve said it was doubling the number of weekly Steam Deck shipments. This is a rare sliver of positive news for a sought-after piece of gaming hardware, given the supply chain problems that have stymied PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X production. Who knows? We might even see the Steam Deck on retail shelves before too long.

Blue Origin has revealed when New Shepard's sixth crewed flight will take place. The NS-22 mission (New Shepard's 22nd launch overall) is set for August 4th, which is two months to the day after its previous spaceflight. The launch window opens at 9:30AM ET.

The company recently announced the passengers who will travel to the edge of space this time around. Among them are engineer Sara Sabry and entrepreneur Mário Ferreira, who will be the first Egyptian and Portuguese people to visit space, respectively. Mountaineer Vanessa O’Brien, meanwhile, will become the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, venture to Challenger Deep (believed to be the deepest point of the ocean) and cross the Kármán line — the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.

The crew also includes Coby Cotton, a cofounder of the popular trickshot and comedy YouTube channel Dude Perfect, and telecoms executive Steve Young. The sixth passenger is Clint Kelly III, who started the Autonomous Land Vehicle project at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the 1980s. Blue Origin notes that Kelly is credited with creating the technology base that paved the way for modern self-driving vehicles.

Blue Origin

Twitter has been testing out a few experimental features lately, including tweets that can be co-authored by two accounts and an AIM- or MySpace-style status label. For its latest trick, Twitter is toying around with a way for people to pack a single tweet with multiple images, videos and GIFs.

“We’re testing a new feature with select accounts for a limited time that will allow people to mix up to four media assets into a single tweet, regardless of format. We’re seeing people have more visual conversations on Twitter and are using images, GIFs and videos to make these conversations more exciting," Twitter told TechCrunch in a statement. "With this test we’re hoping to learn how people combine these different media formats to express themselves more creatively on Twitter beyond 280 characters.”

Although we haven't seen these tweets in the wild as yet, app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi previously shared screenshots of what the tweet composer looks like when adding several forms of media. It looks similar to the existing method of attaching multiple images to a tweet, with the option to add and remove photos, videos and GIFs and to shuffle the order of them around. Having multiple videos or GIFs in a single tweet could end up looking messy, though, and it might cause havoc on people's data plans.

Snap has set up a new grant program to pay indie musicians behind popular songs on Snapchat. It created the Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund to "recognize emerging, independent artists for the critical role they play in driving video creations, inspiring internet trends and defining cultural moments," according to a blog post.

Starting in August, the fund will give artists who distribute music on Snapchat Sounds via DistroKid up to $100,000 in total each month. For now, the program is limited to 20 songs each month. The artists behind each of the songs Snapchat selects will receive $5,000. "We want to support the independent and emerging artists that are driving creation on Snapchat," said Snap's global head of music partnerships Ted Suh said. 

Artists need to be at least 18 years old to be eligible (or 16 if they have written consent from a parent or guardian). Snap says artists can't apply for a grant and it will decide recipients at its own discretion.

Snapchat started letting users attach music to snaps through the Sounds feature in October 2020. Creators have made more than 2.7 billion videos with music from Sounds and have accrued more than 183 billion views in total. The Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund seems like a reasonable way to reward musicians whose work has become a viral hit on the platform or helped creators to express themselves.

Following a significant backlash from its users, Instagram is walking back some of major changes. Last month, Instagram started testing a full-screen display for photos and videos. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri told Platformer that test will be wound down over the next couple of weeks. “For the new feed designs, people are frustrated and the usage data isn’t great,” Mosseri said. “So there I think that we need to take a big step back, regroup and figure out how we want to move forward.”

Along with getting rid of the full-screen feed, the app will reduce the level of recommended content that you see, at least temporarily. Mosseri suggested that Instagram will improve its algorithms before increasing the volume of recommendations again.

On Tuesday, Mosseri said the full-screen design was "not yet good" and needed more work before Instagram rolled it out to everyone. However, he noted that Instagram would become more video-focused over time, since that's the kind of content people are sharing these days.

Mosseri also tried to justify the prevalence of recommended posts in the app, noting that they're important to help creators build their audiences — whether or not you care about seeing content from them in your feed or Stories. You have the option to switch off all recommendations for a month, he noted 

In an earnings call on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said around 15 percent of the posts people see on Facebook and more on Instagram are recommended by algorithms. He expected the volume of recommended posts to double over the next year or so.

Instagram brought in the full-screen feed and larger number of recommended posts in a bid to compete with TikTok and to contend with the pivot from photos to videos. Many revolted against the changes, including high-profile users like Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian who wanted Meta to “Make Instagram Instagram again.” 

Mosseri said Instagram's data showed that users weren't on board with the changes. 

Developing...

A group of 411 TV showrunners, creators and writers sent letters to executives at streaming platforms and other major Hollywood companies to demand better protections for workers in anti-abortion states. "We have grave concerns about the lack of specific production protocols in place to protect those at work for Netflix in anti-abortion states," they wrote in a letter to Netflix. “It is unacceptable to ask any person to choose between their human rights and their employment.” 

Similar letters, which were first reported on by Variety, were addressed to the likes of Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Paramount, Lionsgate, Amazon and AMC. The signatories include well-known creators, such as Issa Rae, Lilly Wachowski, Lena Waithe, Amy Schumer, Shonda Rhimes, Mindy Kaling, Ava DuVernay and Lena Dunham. They're demanding specific safety measures for people working on productions in states that have banned abortion after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month.

The group has demanded that the companies respond with details on their abortion safety plans within 10 days. Among other things, the writers want information on abortion travel subsidies, medical care for pregnancy complications (including ectopic pregnancies) and legal protections for workers who uphold a studio's abortion policies or help someone else obtain an abortion. They also implored the companies to immediately halt “all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees."

A Bloomberg report this week noted that studios are spending billions on productions in states that have banned or restricted abortions, though many were already filming before the Supreme Court decision in late June. Georgia, for instance, offers generous tax credits to productions, which has helped the state become a TV and film powerhouse. Last week, a law came into effect in the state. It essentially banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, which is before many people know whether they're pregnant.

Annapurna Interactive is set to hold its second games showcase today at 3PM and you can watch it below (we'll embed the stream once it's available). The powerhouse indie publisher just released one of the most anticipated games of the year in Stray, as well as the acclaimed, speedrun-friendly Neon White. It's about to offer a look at what's next.

We might find out a release date for Open Roads, the latest game from Gone Home and Tacoma studio Fullbright. The road trip adventure is still slated to arrive this year, according to its Steam page. Here's hoping for more details on Sayonara Wild Hearts developer Simogo's Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and Cocoon, from Limbo and Inside lead gameplay designer Jeppe Carlsen. 

Maybe there will be word of updates for Annapurna's previous games too. In any case, we won't have long to wait to find out.

Between the controversy over Instagram’s attempts to ape TikTok and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noting that the volume of recommended content is set to double over the next year, the app has barely been out of the news this week. Now, the Instagram team wants to know more about the experiences of marginalized communities in the app.

To gain a fuller understanding of the different kinds of experiences people can have on the platform, Instagram says it needs more demographic information. “If we don’t know people's race or ethnicity, we’re limited in our ability to assess how our products impact different communities,” an Instagram blog post reads.

Starting today and over the next few months, it's asking some users in the US to share that information about themselves. The survey is optional and not everyone will see it. Instagram says taking part in the survey will not change anything about how you use the platform, such as the reach of your posts.

Instagram

Instagram isn’t hosting the survey itself. Research and polling company YouGov will collect the data. It will encrypt the de-identified responses and split the information between several research institutions. In the end, Instagram will receive aggregated data. Neither Instagram nor its research partners — Texas Southern University, University of Central Florida, Northeastern University and Oasis Labs — will be able to link responses to individual users. YouGov will delete the responses after 30 days and the research partners will do so on request.

In June 2020, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri pledged to examine how the platform impacts communities differently, specifically in terms of harassment, verification, content distribution and algorithmic bias. A few months later, Instagram said it was building an equity team to focus on "better understanding and addressing bias in our product development and people’s experiences on Instagram.”

Nintendo has unveiled the second wave of Booster Course Pass tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. One of them is a brand-new track that will be added to smartphone spin-off Mario Kart Tour at a later date. It's called Sky-High Sundae and it's bursting with colorful, oversized desserts.

Sky-High Sundae will be part of the Propeller Cup along with another Mario Kart Tour course, Sydney Sprint, Snow Land from Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Mario Kart Wii's Mushroom Gorge. The Turnip Cup offers Mario Kart Tour track New York Minute, Mario Circuit 3 from the original Super Mario Kart on SNES, Mario Kart 64's Kalimari Desert and fan-favorite Waluigi Pinball from Mario Kart DS. These tracks will hit the game on August 4th.

Nintendo announced the Booster Course Pass back in February and said it would bring 48 courses from other titles to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch. The company released the first of six planned bundles of tracks in March. The last batch should arrive by the end of 2023. The Booster Course Pass costs $25 as a standalone DLC (you'll need to own Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as well). The extra courses are also available at no extra cost to members of the Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription service.

The Federal Trade Commission has filed an antitrust suit against Meta in a bid to block it from buying Within Unlimited, the maker of the virtual reality workout app Supernatural. The agency accused the company and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg of "planning to expand Meta’s virtual reality empire with this attempt to illegally acquire a dedicated fitness app that proves the value of virtual reality to users."

The FTC claimed that Meta is "already a key player" at every level of the VR ecosystem. It said the company has the top-selling VR device (Meta Quest 2), a leading VR app store, "seven of the most successful developers and one of the best-selling apps of all time." The latter is likely referring to Beat Saber. Meta bought the maker of that rhythm game, Beat Games, in 2019.

“Instead of competing on the merits, Meta is trying to buy its way to the top,” John Newman, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “Meta already owns a best-selling virtual reality fitness app and it had the capabilities to compete even more closely with Within’s popular Supernatural app. But Meta chose to buy market position instead of earning it on the merits. This is an illegal acquisition and we will pursue all appropriate relief.”

Meta announced its plan to buy Within last October. It was reported in December that the FTC was looking into the $400 million deal. Meta, of course, got into the VR market in the first place when it bought Oculus in 2014.

The FTC argues in the complaint that Meta has the resources and "reasonable probability" of entering the VR fitness market by building its own app. That approach, the agency claims, would "increase consumer choice, increase innovation, spur additional competition to attract the best employees, and yield other competitive benefits." Instead, if it were to buy Within, the FTC claims Meta would limit "future innovation and competitive rivalry" and says "that lessening of competition violates the antitrust laws."

“The FTC's case is based on ideology and speculation, not evidence. The idea that this acquisition would lead to anticompetitive outcomes in a dynamic space with as much entry and growth as online and connected fitness is simply not credible," a Meta spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. "By attacking this deal in a 3-2 vote, the FTC is sending a chilling message to anyone who wishes to innovate in VR. We are confident that our acquisition of Within will be good for people, developers and the VR space.” 

The move will come as another blow to Meta's aim to become the leading metaverse player. The company has plowed billions into the effort, though in recent months it has dialed back some of its ambitions by cutting costs and reportedly shelving plans for some devices that were supposed to hook into its metaverse. This week, the company announced that it will increase the price of a Meta Quest 2 headset by $100 as of August 1st. News of the FTC's move to block the Within acquisition comes on the same day that Meta will report its earnings for the second quarter of 2022.