Amazon is reportedly aiming to bring some of the tech it uses at cashierless Amazon Go stores to your kitchen. According to Insider, the company has been working on a smart fridge that can monitor items and help you order replacements if you're running low on something.

The team behind the Amazon Go systems is said to be heading the charge on the project, which has been in the works for at least two years. The Just Walk Out tech used at Go stores tracks what shoppers put in their carts and automatically charges them when they leave. Members of the Amazon Fresh and Lab126 hardware teams are reportedly involved with the fridge project too.

The fridge would monitor the items inside and keep tabs on your purchasing habits, according to the report. If you run low on something you buy frequently, the fridge would notify you and make it easier to order more from Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh, which could give the company's grocery division a boost. The fridge could offer recipe suggestions too, which may prove useful if you forget about an item that's about to expire.

Amazon wouldn't make the fridges itself, Insider's sources said. It's looking to team up with an appliance manufacturer. There's a possibility that Alexa voice control could be included. That's said to not be a major concern, but given Amazon's propensity for stuffing Alexa into nearly every other type of product, including home robots and its own TVs, it wouldn't be a surprise if the fridge has voice assistant support.

The company has reportedly spent upwards of $50 million per year on the project so far. Even so, there's no guarantee that the fridge will come to market as it's possible Amazon will shelve the plans. If the fridge does come to market, it likely won't come cheap. An Amazon spokesperson told Engadget the company doesn't comment “on rumors or speculation.”

The concept isn't entirely new. In 2016, Samsung revealed a fridge that can help you keep track of what's inside without having to open the door. You can even order groceries using the built-in touchscreen. Amazon's fridge would take the idea a little further, though, since it would flag items that you're about to run out of and help you order more through the company's own grocery ecosystem.

The three main Kingdom Hearts games are coming to Nintendo Switch. You'll be able to play Kingdom Hearts - HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III. They're all cloud streaming games on Switch, so you'll need a good internet connection to play them. The release dates and other details will be announced later.

The announcement was made during the last Super Smash Bros. Ultimate presentation. That game's director Masahiro Sakurai revealed that Sora from Kingdom Hearts is SSBU's final DLC fighter.

The first Kingdom Hearts title to land on Switch was the rhythm game Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory in 2020. The Square Enix series also arrived on PC earlier this year.

Nintendo has finalized the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster with the reveal of one last DLC fighter. Director Masahiro Sakurai revealed that Sora from Kingdom Hearts is joining the ranks.

Before the stream, Sakurai noted on Twitter (per Google Translate) that "new fighter may be a character you don't know." That dashed many fans' hopes that the fighter would be Waluigi or, as was previously rumored, Master Chief from Halo, though Sora isn't exactly an unknown quantity. The final Mii Costumes, which will be available on October 18th, are Doom Slayer (from Doom, naturally) and Octoling and Judd from Splatoon.

The last added fighter is the 82nd playable character to join the lineup since SSBU arrived in December 2018. The other members of the $30 Fighters Pass Vol. 2 bundle are Arms' Min Min, Steve and Alex from Minecraft, Sephiroth of Final Fantasy 7 fame, Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Kazuya Mishima, a staple of the Tekken series. Nintendo has brought together characters from a vast number of franchises in SSBU, including Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Pokémon, Bayonetta, Persona and Street Fighter.

Yubico's latest physical security keys have another layer of security: fingerprint readers. The YubiKey Bio Series is the company's first lineup with built-in biometric authentication for passwordless and second-factor logins.

You can use the keys on desktop platforms that support WebAuthn, including Windows, macOS, Chrome OS and Linux operating systems and Chromium-based browsers including Edge and Chrome. With the Yubico Authenticator for Desktop app, users can add and remove fingerprints. If, for some reason, you can't use the fingerprint reader, you can enter a PIN instead.

Yubico

YubiKey Bio devices support FIDO2/WebAuthn and U2F protocols, as well as the YubiEnterprise subscription service. You'll be able to use the same key for a variety of operating systems and desktop devices. It'll work with any app or service that supports FIDO protocols, including Citrix Workspace, GitHub, IBM Security Verify and Microsoft 365. 

Yubico opted for a three-chip architecture, which allows it to store fingerprint data separately on a secure element. The company says that provides "enhanced protection from physical attacks."

YubiKey Bio keys are available from Yubico's website in either USB-A or USB-C formats. The USB-A model costs $80 and the USB-C is $85.

Windows 11 is here and Microsoft has detailed how the phased rollout will work. The first systems to get the operating system are new devices on which it's pre-loaded. Starting on October 5th, Microsoft will initially offer the free upgrade to new PCs, laptops and tablets that ship with Windows 10.

Next, Microsoft says it will look at hardware eligibility, reliability metrics and other factors on existing Windows 10 devices to determine when to offer the latest OS through Windows Update. It's a similar approach to how the company has handled Windows 10 feature updates over the years. You can find out whether your device is compatible using the PC Health Check app.

Microsoft will let you know when Windows 11 is ready for your system via the Windows Update Settings page or when you check for updates. You might be in for a wait, though. The company expects to offer the upgrade to all eligible Windows 10 devices by mid-2022.

Microsoft

Windows Update is Microsoft's suggested Windows 11 upgrade method, and likely the easiest one for most people. However, you can install the OS manually if you prefer. You can download the Installation Assistant or use an ISO install.

Microsoft doesn't recommend installing Windows 11 on devices that don't meet the system requirements, but you'll still be able to do so. It's worth noting that you might not get Windows 11 updates on PCs with unsupported processors.

However you decide to make the switch to Windows 11, it's probably best to back up all of your files first. The OS is likely stable at this point, but it's not worth taking the risk that something will go awry and cause you to lose important data. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft says today marks the start of the 24-month lifecycle for Windows 11 Home and Pro editions, as well as the beginning of 36 months of servicing support for the Enterprise and Education versions.

Sony has revealed its first wireless neckband speaker with Dolby Atmos support. The company says the SRS-NS7 offers "an immersive home theater experience" without the need for a surround sound speaker system or having headphones clamped around your head.

For the full Dolby Atmos effect, you'll need a Sony Bravia XR TV and the included wireless transmitter. After you hook up the adapter and pair it with the neckband over Bluetooth, you can use the 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer app to take a photo of your ear. The app will estimate the shape of your ear and optimize the arrangement of virtual Dolby Atmos speakers for you.

The company says the transmitter also will minimize audio lag to precisely match up the audio and images. You can buy the WLA-NS7 wireless transmitter separately and use it with some Sony headphones for the same effect.

Sony

Along with watching their TV with the neckband, users can connect it to other devices. Pair the SRS-NS7 with a smartphone and you can listen to 360 Reality Audio from supported music streaming services such as Deezer and Tidal. Customers can link the device with a PC or tablet too.

Sony notes the flexibly designed SRS-NS7 includes multipoint connection, meaning it can link to two devices simultaneously. So if you're listening to music from your computer and a call comes in on your phone, you can answer with a press of a button and use the built-in microphone. In addition, the SRS-NS7 has an IPX4 rating, meaning it's splash-proof.

As for the battery life, you'll get up to 12 hours of use out of a single charge, Sony says, and up to five hours of playback at maximum volume. You'll get up to an hour of use after 10 minutes of charging.

The SRS-NS7 neckband costs $300 and the TV transmitter is $60. Pre-orders are open now and the devices will ship on October 27th.

Sony is bringing some major games to PlayStation Now this month, and they don't get much bigger than The Last of Us Part II. The latest entry in Naughty Dog's don't-call-them-zombies, post-apocalypse saga arrived in June 2020 and if it weren't for Hades, it might have swept all of the 2020 game of the year awards. The Last of Us Part II is excellent, but don't go into it expecting a relaxing day at the beach.

Also hitting PS Now is Fallout 76, a multiplayer entry in Microsoft-owned Bethesda's Fallout series. The rest of this month's additions are Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, Desperados III, Amnesia: Collection, Yet Another Zombie Defense and Victor Vran: Overkill Edition.

All of these games will hit PS Now on October 5th. The Last of Us Part II, which you'll be able to play on PC through the service, will be available to subscribers until January 3rd. 

If you're not interested in signing up for PS Now but still want to check out TLOU2, the game's currently on sale on the PlayStation Store. Sony has discounted hundreds of other titles as part of the Blockbuster Games sale, including Returnal, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Days Gone and God of War.

After decades of pretending to explore the universe in TV shows and movies, William Shatner is actually going to space. Blue Origin's second tourist spaceflight is scheduled for October 12th. The Star Trek actor and apparent Twitter verification gatekeeper will be one of New Shepard's passengers.

Shatner, 90, is set to become the oldest person to fly to space. He'll take the record from 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who was a passenger on New Shepard's first crewed flight in July.

Joining Shatner on the flight is Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers. The company previously announced Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen and Medidata co-founder Glen de Vries will be the other passengers. It's the second of three launches Blue Origin has planned for this year.

The next New Shepard flight will take place after the Federal Aviation Administration said it's looking into safety concerns current and former employees flagged in a joint essay last week. Alongside allegations of sexual harassment and attempts to silence internal critics, the group said the company "is not sufficiently attuned to safety concerns." According to CNBC, Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith told employees the company "went through a methodical and pain-staking process to certify" New Shepard and that "anyone that claims otherwise is uninformed and simply incorrect."

Apple has announced when you'll be able to snag an Apple Watch Series 7. Pre-orders start this Friday, October 8th. The device, which starts at $399, will be available one week later on October 15th.

Developing...

Google Chrome is experimenting with a couple of features that could help you continue research into a topic and compare the page you're on with other search results. The Journeys feature could give you more ways to keep track of what you look up.

The tool automatically collates pages and information related to the same topic, which would save you from looking through your history manually or creating a bookmarks folder with all of those sites. Chrome will also provide search suggestions to bolster your research. 

The groups are saved locally and aren't synced with your Google account, so you can't access them across devices. This may change in the future, though. You can switch off the feature at any time and clear journey-specific browsing history.

Journeys could come in useful if you spend several weeks planning a trip or trying to figure out what car to buy. The feature is only available in the Chrome Canary build on desktop for now. You can find your Journeys within the history section (or enter chrome://history/journeys on the address bar).

In addition, Google is testing a side panel for search. When you click a link after searching for something, a G icon will appear next to the Chrome address bar. If you click that, you'll see other results for that search in a side panel. That will let you compare the page you're on with other results without having to juggle multiple tabs or move back and forth between pages.

For the time being, this feature is being tested in the Chrome OS Dev channel with Google Search. If Google ends up rolling out the tool more broadly, it plans to bring the side panel to more platforms and add support for other default search engines.

Those aren't the only updates Google has planned for Chrome in the near future. Google Lens is coming to the browser in the coming months.