A live-action Resident Evil series is coming to Netflix this summer, and a teaser offers a first look at what's in store. The story takes place across two timelines and locations: a seemingly pristine New Raccoon City in the present day and a ruined version of London in 2036.

In 2022, we see Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick) bringing his daughters Jade and Billie to New Raccoon City. Albert works for the Umbrella Corporation, which unleashes the devastating T-virus on humanity. Fast forward 14 years and Jade is one of the last 15 million or so people on Earth. She tries to survive the zombie apocalypse while reckoning with her family's dark secrets.

The show will build on existing lore from the Resident Evil games but will have an original narrative. The teaser makes it pretty clear this is primarily a horror series with some action weaved in. There are nods to the games as well, including a quick flash of a zombie dog at the end.

This show follows on from the anime Resident Evil:Infinite Darkness, which hit Netflix last year. The first eight-episode season of Resident Evil will arrive on July 14th.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has provided a first proper look at the company's next mixed-reality headset, codenamed Project Cambria, in action. The "high-end headset" is scheduled for release later this year and it will support a new augmented reality experience called The World Beyond.

We see Zuckerberg playing with and petting a virtual creature that's superimposed onto the real world. The clip also shows a user in front of a virtual workstation before looking down at a notepad and writing on it. Reports suggested that Cambria's image quality would allow users to clearly read text, and that seems to be the case.

In addition, the demo shows a virtual workout instructor who appears to be in the same space as the headset wearer. The World Beyond was built with Meta's Presence Platform, which is designed to help developers create mixed-reality experiences.

Project Cambria will support full-color passthrough. Its onboard cameras can seemingly provide wearers with a higher fidelity view of their surroundings for mixed-reality purposes than existing Quest headsets can offer. The World Beyond will be available on Quest soon through App Lab, though you won't be able to access the full-color passthrough experience just yet.

The new headset itself was blurred in the clip. However, it's not that hard to imagine roughly what it will look like, especially given the teaser Meta released last year. Project Cambria (or whatever it will actually be called) will reportedly cost over $799.

A recent report noted that Meta employees likened Project Cambria to a "laptop for the face," given that it's said to have similar specs to a Chromebook. It's believed Meta is planning to release a more advanced version of the Cambria headset in 2024 as well as two new Quest models over the next few years.

However, it seems Meta is scaling back some of its metaverse ambitions. On Wednesday, it was reported that the company is shutting down some projects at Reality Labs, the hardware and metaverse division that lost $10 billion last year, and putting others on hold. Meta is said to be hiring fewer staff than usual this year to reduce costs amid slowing revenue growth. Meanwhile, the company this week opened its first physical store for Reality Labs products.

The UK's Royal Mail wants to set up as many as 50 drone routes over the next three years to make deliveries to remote communities. The plan, which requires approval from the Civil Aviation Authority, would see the service secure up to 200 of the autonomous devices from logistics drone company Windracers.

The Royal Mail said the first communities to benefit would be the Isles of Scilly (off the coast of Cornwall in south-west England) and the Scottish islands of Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides.

Test flights started last year. In the most recent one, held in April, the service was able to use a UAV to deliver mail to Unst, Britain's most northerly inhabited island, from Tingwall Airport on Shetland's largest island. That's a 50-mile flight each way.

The twin-engine drone used in the tests can carry a payload of up to 100 kg of mail and take two return flights each day. The Royal Mail said the device has a wingspan of 10 meters and can withstand difficult weather conditions with the help of its autopilot system. After the drone arrives at its destination, a postal worker will retrieve the mail and parcels and deliver them.

The Royal Mail claimed the drones would help it reduce carbon emissions and provide a more reliable delivery service to islands. It eventually hopes to have a fleet of more than 500 drones that will operate across the UK.

Nintendo held its latest Indie World stream today and, as is often the case at these events, a few games that were shown off suddenly popped up in the Switch eShop. One of those is Mini Motorways, a puzzle strategy game that debuted on Apple Arcade in 2019 before making its way to PC last year. Dinosaur Polo Club's follow up to Mini Metro (which is also available on Switch) is making its console debut.

The core idea is that you'll build out roads to keep traffic flowing in a growing city. Things will naturally get more complicated as demand grows. You'll also be able to compete against other players in daily and weekly challenges. The Switch version of Mini Motorways costs $14.99.

Three other indie games landed on Switch today: Soundfall, OPUS: Echo of Starsong – Full Bloom Edition and Gibbon: Beyond the Trees. Soundfall is a rhythm-based dungeon crawler with dynamically generated levels that are based on the music you select. There are more than 140 tracks to choose from and there's support for local and online multiplayer. OPUS: Echo of Starsong is a visual novel-style puzzle game, while Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is a slick-looking 2D platformer.

It was also revealed that We Are OFK is coming to Switch this year, as are Cult of the Lamb, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator,Ooblets and ElecHead. One of the other games that caught my eye in the showcase was Gunbrella from Doinksoft and Devolver Digital (which recently released the terrific Trek to Yomi). It's a "noir-punk adventure" in which you wield a gun that's also an umbrella. However, you play as a woodsman who's seeking revenge rather than a Batman villain. 

Another game that looked intriguing was Another Crab’s Treasure from Aggro Crab. It's a soulslike (meaning it takes inspiration from FromSoftware titles such as Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls) that takes place in an undersea world. You play as a hermit crab who has to use trash as makeshift shells to protect yourself from enemies. Like Gunbrella, this one should land on Switch in 2023.

The Indie World stream shone a spotlight on several other titles, such as Wildfrost and Wayward Strand, but there was sadly no sign of Hollow Knight: Silksong. You can check out the showcase in full below.

Almost a year after Google switched on end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for one-on-one chats in the Messages app, it says it's bringing those protections to group texts. The expanded feature will be available as an open beta later this year.

Google hasn't revealed more details about E2EE in group chats, but it will almost certainly be similar to how it works in one-on-one conversations. Everyone in the group will need to have RCS chat functions switched on to use the feature. You'll be able to tell if a message you're about to share with the group is encrypted if there's a lock icon on the send button.

The Messages app now has has more than 500 million monthly active users with RCS. So, there's already a large number of people who'd be able to take advantage of E2EE in group chats. If everyone in a group text enables E2EE, it'll be much more difficult for snoopers to see the messages they're sharing with each other.

Developing...

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

You won't have to wait much longer if you want to check out some of the Android updates that Google plans to roll out later this year. The company revealed at its I/O 2022 developer conference today that the second public beta of Android 13 will be available starting today.

Google said it designed the latest version of the OS around three big themes: doing more with your phone at the center; going beyond the phone to other devices like tablets and watches; and making all those devices work together in harmony.

You should expect privacy and security upgrades, along with more ways to personalize your device with the likes of app icons. There's a big focus on Android tablets this time around, with features such as a new taskbar at the bottom of the home screen and redesigns for more than 20 Google apps, including Messages, Maps and YouTube Music.

It was already expected that Google would release the second beta this month as it moves towards a final Android 13 release later this year. The first beta, which followed two developer previews, was mostly about behind-the-scenes backend improvements, though there were some welcome UI updates, such as a refreshed media playback box.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Google I/O is one of the company's most important events of the year, and it all kicks off with today's keynote. It's a safe bet that Google will reveal fresh details about Android 13, but the company will most likely have much more to discuss.

It's not exactly a secret that Google has been beavering away on its own smartwatch — especially after a prototype was left at a restaurant recently. It wouldn't be a surprise if the company officially showed off the Pixel Watch for the first time today. There are also rumblings of news on the smartphone front, particularly in the form of the rumored Pixel 6a. 

Google will also surely have announcements on other fronts. Key products like Search, Google Assistant and other hardware may be on the docket as well (I have my fingers crossed for some Stadia news, but I'm not holding my breath).

Before the keynote gets underway at 1PM ET, join us for our pre-show, which starts at 12:40PM. Deputy Editor Cherlynn Low and Senior Reporter Sam Rutherford will break down what we expect Google to announce and provide their expert analysis. Engadget will also have full coverage of all the biggest news from I/O.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Amazon is rolling out some more features for Alexa Together, a service designed to help aging folks and caregivers stay connected using the voice assistant and Echo devices. One of these is called Circle of Support, which is now available to all users. This allows the person receiving support to have up to 10 designated caregivers.

Both that person and their primary caregiver can add or remove trusted people such as siblings, cousins, friends and close neighbors. All caregivers will receive daily alerts and check-ins through the activity feed. Circle of Support could be especially useful if the primary caregiver doesn't live close to the person receiving care. If the person receiving support enables Remote Assist, only the primary caregiver will be able to use it. 

Speaking of Remote Assist, Amazon will soon upgrade that feature to let the primary caregiver set up Alexa Routines for their loved one. For instance, to make life a little simpler for the person receiving care, a routine might group together early morning actions like switching off the alarm, playing a news bulletin and turning on the coffee machine, all of which can be triggered with a single voice command.

Amazon says over 25 percent of Alexa Together users communicate across state lines and 65 percent do so between different cities. Adding some extra functions for users who live far apart from each other could make the service a more attractive proposition for some folks. Alexa Together, which is only available in the US for now, costs $20 per month or $200 per year. There's a six-month trial available as well.

Electric vehicle maker Canoo has warned investors it's running low on funds as it works toward bringing its products to market. It said that, due to the timing of the announced funding and some other factors, it has "substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern."

"We have been clear about our philosophy of raising capital judiciously and will continue with this disciplined approach," CEO Tony Aquila said in a statement. "We have more than $600 million in accessible capital to support Start of Production (SOP). As operators and investors, we have significant experience raising capital in challenging markets — and the best way to raise capital is to achieve your goals. We will continue to raise when needed, bridge to milestones and be in a position to take advantage of improving market conditions. We are focused on long term value creation for our customers and shareholders."

Canoo reported a $125.4 million net loss in its first-quarter earnings (compared with $15.2 million in Q1 2021). It burned through $120.3 million in the first three months of the year, up from $53.9 million a year earlier. That left it with cash and cash equivalents of $104.9 million as of the end of March.

The company projects operating expenses of between $95 million and $115 million this quarter, as well as $85 million to $105 million in capital expenditures. As it stands, Canoo is not generating revenue.

The EV maker says it had built 39 Gamma lifestyle vans as of the end of March, with 17 of those now on the road. According to Reuters, company leaders said in an earnings call that it's making up to just 12 vehicles a week and is focusing on fleet customers for the time being. Canoo claims it has received more than 17,500 pre-orders with a projected value of $750 million, and added that it secured a deal with NASA to provide Artemis ground crew transportation vehicles.

The company has had a turbulent history, as TechCrunch notes. It's been the subject of an SEC investigation into factors such as the departure of certain executives and the SPAC merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp that took it public. Canoo has also been beset by production delays.

Although it's supposed to be restricted by surveillance rules at local, state and federal levels, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has built up a mass surveillance system that includes details on almost all US residents, according to a report from a major think tank. Researchers from Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology said ICE "now operates as a domestic surveillance agency" and that it was able to bypass regulations in part by purchasing databases from private companies. 

"Since its founding in 2003, ICE has not only been building its own capacity to use surveillance to carry out deportations but has also played a key role in the federal government’s larger push to amass as much information as possible about all of our lives," the report's authors state. "By reaching into the digital records of state and local governments and buying databases with billions of data points from private companies, ICE has created a surveillance infrastructure that enables it to pull detailed dossiers on nearly anyone, seemingly at any time."

The researchers spent two years looking into ICE to put together the extensive report, which is called "American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century." They obtained information by filing hundreds of freedom of information requests and scouring more than 100,000 contracts and procurement records.

The agency is said to be using data from the Department of Motor Vehicles and utility companies, along with the likes of call records, child welfare records, phone location data, healthcare records and social media posts. ICE is now said to hold driver’s license data for 74 percent of adults and can track the movement of cars in cities that are home to 70 percent of the adult population in the US.

The study shows that ICE, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has already used facial recognition technology to search through driver’s license photos of a third of adults in the US. In 2020, the agency signed a deal with Clearview AI to use that company's controversial technology. In addition, the report states that when 74 percent of adults hook up gas, electricity, phone or internet utilities in a new residence, ICE was able to automatically find out their updated address.

The authors wrote that ICE is able to carry out these actions in secret and without warrants. Along with the data it acquired from other government departments, utilities, private companies and third-party data brokers, "the power of algorithmic tools for sorting, matching, searching and analysis has dramatically expanded the scope and regularity of ICE surveillance," the report states.

Spending transactions reviewed by the researchers showed that, between 2008 and last year, ICE spent around $2.8 billion on "new surveillance, data collection and data-sharing initiatives." It spent approximately $569 million on data analysis, including $186.6 million in contracts with Palantir Technologies to help it make sense of its vast troves of data. Records showed that ICE also spent more than $1.3 billion on geolocation tech during that timeframe and $389 million on telecom interception, which includes tech that helps the agency track someone's phone calls, emails, social media activity and real-time internet use.

In addition, the findings suggest the agency started engaging in certain surveillance activities much earlier than previously believed. The researchers found a contract from 2008 that granted ICE access to the Rhode Island motor vehicle department’s facial recognition database. Prior to that, it was understood that ICE started conducting facial recognition searches on state and local data sets in 2013.

The authors claim that ICE has been able to sidestep congressional oversight and bypass attempts at state level to curtain its surveillance capabilities. They included a list of recommendations that may help rein in the agency's surveillance dragnet, such as Congress reforming immigration laws to "undercut ICE surveillance authority" and blocking ICE's use of DMV data. The recommended measures also include protecting people who trust federal, state and local authorities with their data and blocking the use of utility records for immigration enforcement.

Engadget has contacted ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.