Nintendo launched its paid Switch Online Expansion Pack tier with a very limited number of N64 games in October. And according to Kotaku, they were plagued with various technical issues, such as wonky layouts, poor graphics quality and bugs that cause crashes. Soon, though, the gaming giant will add a Nintendo 64 classic to the list of titles you can access with the subscription service: The original Paper Mario game that was released over 20 years ago. 

The base Switch Online subscription, which gives you access to NES and SNES titles, costs $20 a year. If you want to play the N64 games the expansion pack offers, you'll have pony up $50 a year or $80 for a family plan. In addition to getting access to N64 games, the more expensive tier also include retro SEGA Genesis games and the $25 Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise DLC. There's still a huge jump from $20 to $50, though, and the addition of Paper Mario could convince fans of the series to subscribe. 

Here's a summary of what the turn-based game is about:

"After Bowser steals the Star Rod and kidnaps Princess Peach, Mario plots to rescue the seven Star Spirits and free the Mushroom Kingdom from the Koopa's rule. As Mario travels from the tropical jungles of Lavalava Island to the frosty heights of Shiver Mountain, he'll need all the help he can get. Master the abilities of the seven Star Spirits and the other allies joining the adventure to aid our hero on the battlefield."

Paper Mario for the N64 will be available to Expansion Pack subscribers starting on December 10th.  

Google workers in the US will no longer be required to return to in-office work on January 10th. According to CNBC, company security VP Chris Rackow told employees in an email that Google will wait to reassess the situation and figure out when it's safe to return to an in-office environment until the new year. The tech giant originally planned to implement a hybrid work week starting on October 18th before pushing it back to January next year. Now, it may all depend on each of its offices. 

Rackow didn't explain the company's reasoning in his email, and he didn't mention the newly discovered Omicron COVID-19 variant, as well. There's a lot of uncertainty around Omicron, and experts are still looking into whether it's more transmissible than previous variants and if it's more resistant to current vaccines. What he reportedly said, however, is that Google will allow specific offices to decide when it's safe to go back into the office. The company will form Local Incident Response Teams to help them assess risk levels, but bottom line is that Google employees may not be required to adhere to a hybrid workplace schedule all at the same time. 

Despite canceling its January 10th target date, Google is still encouraging employees to work in the office "where conditions allow, to reconnect with colleagues in person and start regaining the muscle memory of being in [one] more regularly." Google has already reopened 90 percent of its offices in the US, and 40 percent of its employees in the country already came in. As for its international locations, the company also delayed workers' return to face-to-face work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Facebook has taken steps to ensure that users most at risk of being hacked don't lose their accounts to bad actors. The social network has updated its Protect program that was designed to provide extra security features to human rights activists, politicians, journalists and other at-risk users. In a press call with reporters, Facebook announced that it'll start requiring users part of the program to switch on two-factor authentication. 

The website will start implementing the new rule over the coming months all over the world — for members in the US, the requirement will take effect sometime in mid-to-late February. Facebook explained that it worked on making the enrollment and use of two-factor on its website "as frictionless as possible for these groups of people by providing better user experience and support." It admitted that it may take time for all users to be able to comply with the new rule, since not everyone actively uses its platform. But Facebook and its parent company seem to be pleased with what they'd seen in early testing.

Meta's head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher said:

"So far, it's actually going very, very well we're seeing well above 90% of people successfully enabling ahead of that mandatory period."

Facebook first tested Protect back in 2018 and offered it to American politicians ahead of the 2020 US Elections. It expanded the program's scope and opened it up to more users after that— in my case, I was locked out of my account until I activated it. The website is now on track to make the program available in more than 50 countries by the end of year, including the US and India, where most of its users are based.

Gleicher said over 1.5 million users had enrolled in the program so far, and 950,000 had already switched on 2FA. He also said that 2FA is an underutilized feature on the platform, with only 4 percent of the website's monthly users enabling it. Even so, there are no plans to require people outside of the Protect program to switch it on.

Tesla has started selling the Cyberquad, but it's not the ATV it previewed when it unveiled its electric truck in 2019. No, the Cybersquad you can now buy from the automaker's store is a much smaller version of the vehicle meant kids — and yes, it actually works. 

The four-wheel ATV is powered by a lithium-ion battery and will run on electricity like its bigger version. It has 15 miles of range with a configurable top speed of 10mph, a full steel frame, a cushioned seat, adjustable suspension and LED light bars. In other words, it looks like a shrunken down version of a legit ATV. 

A small Cyberquad will set you back $1,900 and is expected to start shipping within the next two to four weeks. But before you seriously start considering getting it as a gift for your kid this Christmas, know that Tesla says that orders aren't guaranteed to arrive before the holidays. Also, it's only currently available from Tesla's US shop and can only be shipped to continental United States.

We first saw a glimpse of the Cyberquad (the actual one for for adults) at the Cybertruck event, where it rode onto the back of the truck to show how its adaptive suspension enables easier loading. Musk then confirmed that it will be available for purchase initially as an option for Cybertruck buyers. 

Tesla

Apple may be struggling with both demand and supply when it comes to the iPhone 13 lineup. According to Bloomberg, the tech giant has told its component suppliers that demand for its biggest moneymaker has weakened just before the holiday season. 

Back in October, the organization reported that Apple lowered the lineup's production goal to 80 million units — 10 million less than its original target — due to the lack of parts. However, the company was expecting to make up for the loss next year when component supplies are set to improve. Now, Apple has reportedly told its suppliers that the orders it was expecting to get next year might not materialize at all. 

The global chip shortage has had significant effects on companies across industries, forcing tech companies and automakers to significantly slash their production targets. In addition to lowering the iPhone 13's production goals, Apple reportedly chose to cut back on the iPad's production to be able to allocate more chips for its new phones. But some potential buyers may already have decided to skip this generation altogether after they were faced with lengthy wait times and lack of stocks at retailers. Especially since reports suggest that the iPhone 14 will be a major upgrade and will represent a complete redesign of the company's mobile devices. 

Despite the weakening demand, analysts are still expecting Apple to reveal a sales increase of 6 percent in the final three months of 2021. It remains to be seen whether slower demand for the iPhone 13 will have a significant effect on Apple's numbers next year, seeing as its phones have been the biggest contributors to its revenue for years. 

Niantic has acquired another company to help build out its augmented reality platforms. The company has announced that it's acquiring the team behind Lowkey, an app you can use to easily capture and share gameplay moments. While you can use any screen capture application — or even your phone's built-in feature — to record your games, Lowkey was designed with casual gamers or those who don't want to spend time editing their videos in mind. 

The app can capture videos on your computer, for instance, and sync them with your phone where you can use its simple editing tools to create short clips optimized for mobile viewing. You're also able to share those clips with friends within the app Snapchat-style or publish it for public viewing like TikTok. Niantic didn't reveal what the Lowkey team will be doing for its AR games and experiences exactly, but it said the team's "leadership in this space will accelerate the social experiences [it's] building in [its] products." The company added: "We share a common vision for building community around shared experiences, and enabling new ways to connect and play for our explorers."

The Pokémon Go creator purchased other companies in the past in its quest to build more tools and features for its augmented reality products. In 2017, it purchased social animation startup Evertoon to build a social network for its games. Last year, it bought 3D mapping startup 6D.ai to develop "planet-scale" augmented reality, and just this August, it acquired LiDAR scanning app Scaniverse to create a 3D map of the world.

Microsoft's shareholders have forced the tech giant to write up an annual report that would detail how it handles sexual harassment cases within the company. Investors voted in favor of passing a proposal requesting the annual report at their recent meeting despite the company's recommendation that they vote against it. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has been planning to disclose how it implements sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies even before the vote took place. However, the company didn't want to reveal independent investigations into its executives, including the probe into Bill Gates. One of the proposal's key requests is the disclosure of executive-level investigations. 

Following the news that Bill and Melinda Gates were having a divorce, reports came out accusing the former of questionable behavior. The Microsoft co-founder allegedly pursued women who worked for him at the tech giant and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2019, Microsoft's board of directors opened an investigation after discovering that he had an affair with an employee around 20 years ago. 

The greater transparency around sexual harassment in the company was proposed by financial services provider Arjuna Capital. Natasha Lamb, a portfolio manager at Arjuna, said during the meeting that the investor is "concerned about Microsoft's alleged continued culture of workplace sexual harassment and its history of unfulfilled previous commitments to resolve it." Arjuna said the reports about the probe into Gates' affair and behavior that came out earlier this year "put into question whether Microsoft was maintaining and protecting a culture of sexual harassment, especially seeing how Bill Gates was protected around this issue by the board."

Despite advising against voting for the proposal, Microsoft will take steps to comply with it. Company President Brad Smith said Microsoft will bring in a third party to assess its investigations and will share what those assessments contain. He also gave a taste of what the annual reports would include: Apparently, the tech giant received 51 complaints from employees in the fiscal year ending in June, and 47 percent of them were substantiated. The year before that, it received 142 complaints.

HTC has rolled out a firmware update for the latest standalone Vive Focus that greatly improves its hand-tracking capabilities. The company says firmware version 3.0.999.284 significantly improves the feature's performance, stability and accuracy. HTC's Vive Focus 3 launched with hand tracking back in July, allowing users to use their hands as controllers. With this software engine upgrade, HTC says the headset will be able to track fast hand movements more easily and recognize pinch-to-zoom gestures more accurately. 

Since the company opened the feature to developers, these improvements would translate to better hand tracking within applications. Developers can integrate the headset's six current predefined hand gestures into their VR apps, and HTC previously said that additional gestures will be added in the future. 

HTC said in its announcement:

"Being able to navigate virtual environments naturally and intuitively will go a long way towards making VR more accessible to everyone, no matter their familiarity with technology. As we step into the metaverse era, we couldn’t be more excited to bring these quality-of-life improvements to all VIVE Focus 3 customers around the world."

When the manufacturer launched the Vive Focus 3 back in July, we found it to be the best standalone VR headset yet. It's not a direct competitor to the Quest 2, however, seeing as it costs $1,300. Unlike the Oculus (now Meta) headset, it targets business users and not ordinary consumers who want to enjoy VR experiences in their own home. 

VCV Rack 2 has arrived, and it could help you figure out if modular synthesis is something you can get into before blowing a fortune on it. The original app dropped in 2017, giving you access to thousands of virtual modules that let you try Eurorack for free. This upgraded app comes with a completely redesigned user interface with a dark room mode and a much better module browser than its predecessor. VCV has a library of almost 2,700 modules, and the new browser will make them easier to sort with its category filters and the capability to highlight the modules you use the most.

While the app itself is still free to download and use, there's now a Pro version that includes a VST plugin for full integration into the digital audio workstation of your choice. That means you'll be able to use VCV Rack within Ableton, Logic or even GarageBand. The Pro tier also comes with professional support — and the promise of more plugin formats in the future. Rack 2's paid version will set you back $99 until 2022, though you can also get it bundled with VCV Drums and VCV Sound Stage for $209. You can get both paid and free VCV Rack 2 versions right now from its official page.

If you weren't able to grab a smartwatch this past Black Friday and Cyber Monday, here's a deal you may want to take a note of: Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active 2 is currently available for only $149 on Amazon. That's $101 less than retail and the lowest price we've seen for the mid-range smartwatch, which typically sells for $250. 

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 also sold for $110 lower than its retail price on Cyber Monday, but that deal is no longer available. The good news is that the Watch Active 2 is a solid smartwatch, as well. In our review, we praised it for having better health tracking capabilities than its predecessor, thanks to its upgraded sensors. The one for heart rate measurements contain twice as many LEDs, for instance, giving it the power to determine your heart rate faster. Its accelerometer is also apparently twice as sensitive than the first Watch Active, making it better at sensing whether you're moving.

While the watch doesn't have a physical rotating wheel, its bezel is touch-sensitive (with haptic feedback) and can be easily used for navigation. We also found Tizen OS easy to use, responsive and proactive with its various reminders. Overall, we concluded that the Watch Active 2 is a well-rounded choice that offers a lot for its price point. That was when the watch sold for $280 a piece, so $149 is a steal if you've been eyeing the wearable for quite some time.

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