LG has presented its upcoming premium monitors at IFA Berlin this year, and one of the models it unveiled is a 45-inch curved display that was specifically design for more immersive gaming experiences. The company says the model (45GR95QE) is its first curved display under the UltraGear brand of gaming monitors and is also its first OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate. It has a 21:9 aspect ratio for an ultrawide view, has a WQHD (3440 x 1440) resolution, and it supports HDR10 and HDMI 2.1.

The monitor's aspect ratio and borderless design combined with its 800R curvature are supposed to make gamers feel like they're truly in the game they're playing. LG even gave the screen an anti-glare and low-reflection coating to lessen the feeling of viewing the game on a screen. If all these are sounding familiar, that's because Corsair also just launched a 45-inch 1440p gaming monitor called Xeneon Flex that it developed in partnership with LG. Unlike this UltraGear model, though, that one has a bendable design that can go from straight to 800R in curvature. 

In addition to its upcoming 45-inch curved display, LG has also showcased the UltraFine Display Ergo AI at IFA. The 31.5-inch display has a built-in camera that monitors the user's eye level and then automatically adjusts its height and tilt so that the user doesn't remain in a single position for a long period of time. Unfortunately, LG didn't reveal the monitors' pricing and availability, so those interested will just have to wait for more information. 

T-Mobile and SpaceX have announced a new technology alliance they're calling "Coverage and Above and Beyond" that aims to end mobile deadzones. In an event at SpaceX's Starbase facility, the companies have revealed that they're working on integrating a slice of T-Mobile's mid-band 5G spectrum into the second-gen Starlink satellites launching next year. It's like putting a cellular tower in the sky, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said during the event. He also said that they're envisioning a future wherein if you have a clear view of the sky, you are connected on your mobile phone — even if it's the middle of the ocean. No more getting worried that you won't be able to get in touch with first responders or friends and family while driving or hiking in places where there's typically no coverage. 

The companies are making it so that your existing phones can connect to the service, which will enter beta as soon as late next year. It will start with messaging (SMS, MMS and select messaging apps), allowing you to send and receive messages in real time, and Sievert said the companies will keep going until the service can also offer data and voice. While the partners didn't exactly launch a product during the event, the T-Mobile CEO promised that the service will come free with T-Mobile's popular plans. For low-cost plans that don't include it, the carrier may charge for the service, but for far lower prices than satellite services do. 

SpaceX chief Elon Musk tweeted that connectivity will be 2 to 4 Megabits per cell zone, which isn't a high bandwidth, but will work great for texting and for voice calls.

On stage, Musk said the service will save lives, as it will allow people to call for help even from the most remote places. When asked how his company had to tweak Starlink satellites for the service to work, Musk said SpaceX had to design a very big, extremely advanced antenna that has the ability to pick up very quiet signals from your cellphone. The company is still currently working on it in the lab, but Musk said SpaceX is confident that it's going to work in the field. 

The company chiefs have issued an open invitation to carriers around the world to make the service available everywhere. In the US, international carriers can team up with T-Mobile so that visitors to the country will also be able to connect to Starlink satellites with their mobile devices.

DJI has launched a new cinematic drone called Avata, which was made to work with the new DJI Goggles 2 video headset. While it's in the same category as the brand's previous first-person view (FPV) cinematic model, it takes on a more usual "cinewhoop" form factor with prop guards protecting its quad propellers. Since it's a cinewhoop, the Avata was designed to have the speed and agility of racers but with the stabilization technology needed to be able to capture smooth and vivid footage. 

It can hover, accelerate like a racer and zoom in and out of tight spaces while shooting videos, and its battery can last for up to 18 minutes before needing a recharge. The Avata is equipped with a stabilized camera that has a 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor with 48 million effective pixels, an f/2.8 aperture and an ultra wide-angle lens. That camera is capable of shooting 4K videos in 60fps and 2.7K videos in 50, 60, 100 or 120 fps. And users can shoot quite a bit of footage before worrying about space, since it has 20GB of internal storage.

While it can be controlled using the existing DJI FPV Remote Controller 2 and the DJI FPV Goggles V2, it was designed to be used with the company's newer models. DJI Goggles 2 is the brand's next-gen video headset with a clearer micro-OLED screen than its predecessor and an adjustable diopter, so that people who wear glasses wouldn't need them while using the device. It can wirelessly stream the drone's live footage from the user's phone or computer for an immersive first-person viewing experience. Meanwhile, the DJI Motion Controller gives pilots the power to perform complex flight maneuvers with one hand. 

The DJI Avata is available starting today from the company's website and various retailers. On its own, the drone costs €579, £499 or $629, while a set with the DJI Goggles 2 and a DJI Motion Controller costs €1,429, £1,229 or $1,388.

DJI

Supermassive Games, which you might know for developing Until Dawn, has released the trailer for the fourth entry of The Dark Pictures Anthology at Gamescom 2022. The anthology, which the developer first announced in 2018, is comprised of interactive standalone titles that tackle various horror tropes and subgenres. This entry is entitled The Devil in Me, and it's all about serial killers. It centers around a group of documentary filmmakers who gets invited to visit a replica of the Murder Castle, the hotel in Chicago where H. H. Holmes tortured and killed his victims. And because it's a survival horror game, of course things aren't what they seem, and the characters find themselves being watched and controlled.

The game serves as the anthology's Season One finals and will have to solving tool-based puzzles to survive and escape "killing rooms" where failure means death — and yes, all playable characters can die during your playthrough. If you don't want to play alone, you can share your story online with a friend or play offline with up to four other people using the pass-the-pad mode. 

The Devil in Me will be available starting on November 18th, 2022, and unlike Until Dawn, it won't be a PlayStation-exclusive. In addition to the PS5 and the PS4, it will also be playable on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, as well as on PCs. You can watch the game's full trailer below:

Gamers who've yet to get the PS5 may have to pay more for the console when they do buy it. Sony Interactive Entertainment has raised the console's prices in select markets due to "challenging economic conditions," president and CEO Jim Ryan has announced on the PlayStation blog. The company had to make the difficult decision, he said, due to high global inflation rates, as well as currency fluctuations. PlayStation fans in the US can breathe easy — there will be no price hikes in the US for now. 

Ryan said Sony is increasing the recommended retail price for the console in Canada, Mexico, Europe, the UK, Middle East, Africa (EMEA), Latin America, China and Australia. In Japan, the new prices will take effect on September 15th. Both the disc and the digital versions will cost €50 more than their launch prices (€500 and €300, respectively) in Europe and £30 more than their original prices (£450 and £360) in the UK. The consoles will cost around ¥10,500 more in Japan, as well, where they originally sold for ¥49,980 and ¥39,980.

As a closer, Ryan said the price increase is a necessity "given the current global economic environment." He promised, however, that Sony's top priority remains improving the PS5's supply so that more people can get it. The company said in May that it will finally be able to ramp up the console's production, though it also said that its efforts may not be enough to fully meet the strong demand for the console until next year.

The PS5's new prices in select markets are listed below. Take note that parts of EMEA, Latin America and Asia-Pacific will also be affected, and Sony recommends checking with local retailers for specifics.

• Europe
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – €549.99
  PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99

• UK
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – £479.99
  PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99

• Japan (effective Sept. 15, 2022)
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥60,478 yen (including tax)
  PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (including tax)

• China
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥4,299 yuan
  PS5 Digital Edition – ¥3,499 yuan

• Australia
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $799.95
  PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95

• Mexico
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – MXN $14,999
  PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $12,499

• Canada
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – CAD $649.99
  PS5 Digital Edition – CAD $519.99

Sonos is working on a new flagship speaker that could be quite a departure from its existing models, according to The Verge. The publication reports that it has seen early images of a new high-end speaker with the codename Optimo 2. If its current design sticks, the device will be encased in a dual-angled shell and will be able to fire sound in nearly all directions, including upwards. Its work-in-progress images apparently make it look like as big as the Sonos Five, an old flagship released in 2015 that went through an upgrade last year. And when it comes out, it will be available in black and white. 

Sources told The Verge that Optimo 2 will have twice the RAM and as much as eight times more flash memory than previous speakers, which could indicate that Sonos plans to support it with updates for a lengthy period of time. It will have both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, the latter only being present in the company's portable speakers at the moment. Sonos is reportedly also considering adding support for USB-C line-in playback. While Five also has line-in playback capability, it supports sound input via a 3.5mm jack, not a USB-C port. 

Based on the features it will supposedly have, the Optimo 2 could be Five's successor. The publication says it's just one of a trio of new speakers Sonos is currently developing, though, the others being the Optimo 1 and 1 SL. These two other models will likely be smaller speakers, and the "SL" in the latter's name stands for "speechless," which means it wouldn't come with microphones and wouldn't support voice control. Sonos has yet to confirm that any of these models are in development, but we've reached out to the company and will update this post when we hear back. 

Facebook looked different for at least a couple of thousands of users when they logged in earlier today. Instead of seeing posts from their friends and from the groups they're in, they saw their feeds spammed with random people's posts on celebrities' pages instead. As UK news organization Sky News reports, users posted about their dilemma on other social networks like Twitter, showing the state of their News Feeds with screenshots. 

Apparently, everyone following a certain celebrity page — say, The Rock's — were getting everything other people were posting on it in their timelines. Since users tend to follow multiple celebrities, their feeds got clogged with posts from strangers on the website. Some reportedly even used the opportunity to promote their businesses or look for jobs. 

While there are no official stats on what percentage of users was affected, over 2,600 people have reported the issue to DownDetector over the past few hours. Over 80 percent of the reports came from people using the desktop version of the social network, with the rest reporting issues with the app.

Sky News also says outages had been reported not just in the UK, but also in the US, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Italy, France, Poland and Australia. Facebook told the news organization that it's aware of the issue, but it didn't elaborate on what went wrong. In a newer statement provided to Metro UK, a Meta spokesperson said that the problem was caused by a "configuration change" earlier today. They added: "We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience."

For a while, BlackBerry phones were the phones to have, used corporate bigwigs and heads of state to answer emails and do tasks they couldn't normally do on other cell phones. Those days are long gone. Now, film studios want relive the rise and fall of the company from the time it was still known as Research in Motion until it lost its fight against Google and Apple in a new movie. According to Variety, the upcoming film that's simply entitled BlackBerry is directed by Operation Avalanche director Matt Johnson and has recently wrapped production. 

It stars Jay Baruchel (This Is The End) and Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Variety says. And though it's not confirmed, they're likely playing the company's founders and co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. The screenplay is based on the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by The Globe and Mail reporters Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. Since the book was published in 2015, the movie likely won't include all the failed attempts to revive the brand that happened in the years thereafter. 

In 2019, TCL manufactured new BlackBerry phones until the company decided not to renew its contract and stopped selling the devices merely a year later. Security startup OnwardMobility then announced that it was planning to release a 5G BlackBerry smartphone with a physical keyboard in 2021 for North America and Europe. In the end, however, those plans never came to fruition. OnwardMobility reportedly lost its license to use the BlackBerry name and ultimately shut down the company in February this year.

Plex users may want to change their passwords as soon as they're able. The digital media player and streaming service said a bad actor had infiltrated its system in a letter sent to users affected by the breach. In it, the company has revealed that it immediately started an investigation after it saw suspicious activity in one of its databases. Based on what it saw, Plex said it does appear that a third-party entity got access to a subset of its data, which includes people's emails, usernames and encrypted passwords. 

Even Troy Hunt of Have I Been Pwned was affected. As he noted in his tweet, there's nothing anyone can do to be exempt from service hacks, but using a password generator and 2FA make their impact much less severe. To note, he encountered an error while trying to change passwords and found that not signing out existing devices made the switch go through.

Plex said it has already addressed the method the bad actor used to infiltrate its system, but it didn't elaborate on what method that is or what vulnerability the hacker exploited if any. The company also vowed to do additional reviews to make sure its systems are "further hardened to prevent future incursions." For now, Plex is requiring all users to change their passwords "out of an abundance of caution" even if all the passwords the hacker got access to were hashed. It also assured all users in its letter that it doesn't store credit card numbers and other payment data in its servers, so the bad actor wasn't able to get access to them. 

Twitter is making a major change to its organization after former security head Peiter "Mudge" Zatko accused the company of having lax security and bot problems. According to Reuters, Twitter is merging its health experience team, which is in charge of clamping down on misinformation and harmful content on the website, with its service team. The latter reviews profiles when they're reported and takes down spam accounts. Together, the combined group will be called Health Products and Services (HPS). 

The group will be led by Ella Irwin, who joined the company in June and had previously worked for Amazon and Google. Reuters says Irwin sent a memo to staff members, telling them that HPS with "ruthlessly prioritize" its projects. "We need teams to focus on specific problems, working together as one team and no longer operating in silos," Irwin reportedly wrote. 

In a statement sent to Reuters, a Twitter spokesperson said the reshuffling "reflects [the company's] continued commitment to prioritize, and focus [its] teams in pursuit of [its] goals." A source also told the news organization that the teams dealing with harmful and toxic content have had major staff departures recently. Merging these two teams may be the best way to ensure that all important roles are filled going forward. 

This news comes on the heels of the revelation that Zatko filed a whistleblower complaint against his former employer. In it, he said Twitter has "extreme, egregious deficiencies" when it comes to security and that it prioritizes user growth over cleaning up spam. Shortly after The Washington Post reported on Zatko's complaint, which also raises concerns about national security, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle announced that they're looking into his claims. 

In an email to employees, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal defended the company and echoed its spokesperson's statement that Zatko's complaint is a "false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies." You can read the whole memo, obtained by Bloomberg, below:

"Team,

There are news reports outlining claims about Twitter’s privacy, security, and data protection practices that were made by Mudge Zatko, a former Twitter executive who was terminated in January 2022 for ineffective leadership and poor performance. We are reviewing the redacted claims that have been published, but what we’ve seen so far is a false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and presented without important context.

I know this is frustrating and confusing to read, given Mudge was accountable for many aspects of this work he is now inaccurately portraying more than six months after his termination. But none of this takes away from the important work you have done and continue to do to safeguard the privacy and security of our customers and their data. This year alone, we have meaningfully accelerated our progress through increased focus and incredible leadership from Lea Kissner, Damien Kieran, and Nick Caldwell. This work continues to be an important priority for us, and if you want to read more about our approach, you can find a summary here.

Given the spotlight on Twitter at the moment, we can assume that we will continue to see more headlines in the coming days – this will only make our work harder. I know that all of you take a lot of pride in the work we do together and in the values that guide us. We will pursue all paths to defend our integrity as a company and set the record straight.

See you all at #OneTeam tomorrow,

Parag"