Just ahead of Mobile World Congress, HMD Global has announced a trio of Nokia phones, including the first one it built specifically with repairability in mind. The company has teamed up with iFixit to offer official repair guides and parts to help people fix issues such as a busted display, kaput battery or wonky charging port on the G22.
The device has a plastic rear casing made entirely of recycled materials, and comes with the promise of two years of Android updates, three years of security patches and a three-year warranty. The G22 is very much an entry-level phone — it has a Unisoc T606 CPU and tops out at 128GB of internal storage (though that's expandable via microSD). It has a 6.5-inch HD display with a 90Hz refresh rate. There's a 50MP camera, 2MP depth camera and 2MP macro sensor. The device supports 20W fast charging, though it runs on Android 12 rather than the latest OS.
HMD Global
The G22 embodies the drive HMD has been making to become more environmentally friendly. With other manufacturers such as Apple, Google and Samsung offering official repair guides and parts so consumers can resolve issues by themselves, it makes sense that smaller brands would do the same.
You'll be able to pick up a G22 in gray or blue starting on March 8th. It starts at £150 ($179) or you can snag one through HMD's Circular subscription service. To fix certain issues, you can snap up a Fit Kit (i.e., the tools) from iFixit for £5. A replacement battery will cost £23, a display £45 and a charging port £19.
HMD also announced the Nokia C32, an Android 13 phone with "stellar imaging algorithms" and a 50MP main camera. The company says it offers the best image quality of any C-series device to date. The C32 has an octa-core, 1.6Ghz CPU, up to 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage. There's a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a notch for the 8MP selfie camera. The £130 ($155) device will be available in charcoal, green and pink, and it will land in the UK this spring.
HMD Global
In addition, there's the Nokia C22. Like the other new models, it has IP52 splash and dust protection, a microSD slot and (HMD claims) a battery that can run for up to three days on a single charge. The C22 has a dual 13MP camera and a rugged metal chassis, along with Android 13, a 6.5-inch display and an octa-core, 1.6Ghz CPU. Internal storage tops out at 64GB. Again, this is a budget-friendly phone — it starts at £110 ($131). It comes in black and sand colorways and it will be available in the spring.
On top of all that, HMD wants to bring manufacturing to Europe. "In the first stage of this journey, the company is developing capabilities and processes to bring 5G Nokia device production to Europe in 2023," it said in a press release. The fact that the European Union is aiming to manufacture more chips in the region rather than relying on parts from Asia could make HMD's plan more viable. Making phones in Europe primarily for a European market falls in with HMD's environmentally friendly mission too.
It's a bit of a slow week for tech deals, but we've still found a handful of good prices on gadgets and gear we like. For instance, Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5, our preferred smartwatch for Android users, is down to a new low of $220, while Apple's iPad Air is $99 off its MSRP at $500. Sony is running a sale on PS5 and PS4 exclusive games, and a handful of recommended SSDs and microSD cards are down to their best prices to date. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5
The 40mm version of Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 is on sale for $220, which is only about $10 to $15 less than its typical street price in recent months but still represents an all-time low. We gave the Galaxy Watch 5 a review score of 85 last year, and it's currently the "best for Android users" pick in our guide to the best smartwatches. Its battery life could be better, but we dig its durable, minimalist design, crisp display and capable health tracking. Samsung's One UI interface is easy enough to navigate as well, and the company says it'll support the watch with software updates through 2026.
Anker's 715 Charger is a 65W USB-C charger with a highly compact design that should be suitable for travel. It only has one port, but it has enough power to charge most phones, tablets and even some laptops at their maximum rate. The device is back down to $35 at Amazon, which is a price we've seen a few times before but still comes in $15 below the charger's typical going rate. This deal is also available at Anker's online store, but you'll need to use the code WS7DOOUANO at checkout there.
Samsung Evo Select microSD card
Samsung's Evo Select is a U3-, V30-rated microSD card that should be more than fast enough for 4K video on a GoPro or game storage on a Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck. It's also backed by a 10-year limited warranty. The 128GB and 512GB versions of the card are still available for $13.49 and $45, respectively, both of which match the lowest prices we've tracked.
Samsung 980 Pro SSD
In other Samsung storage deals, the 1TB version of company's 980 Pro SSD is available for an all-time low of $100. That's about $20 below the drive's average going rate in recent months. If you need more space, the 2TB model is also on sale for a low of $160. Not everyone needs to pay up for a high-performing NVMe 4.0 drive like this, but for higher-performing builds or expanding the storage of a PlayStation 5, it'll work well. If you do buy for a PS5, just make sure you pair the drive with a heatsink first. (You can also buy a version of this SSD with an integrated heatsink for $10 to $20 more, depending on how much capacity you need.) You'll also want to make sure the SSD's firmware is up-to-date: Various users have reported higher-than-usual failure rates with specific Samsung drives, including the 2TB 980 Pro here, but the company looks to have fixed the issue with a recent update.
Crucial MX500 SSD (1TB)
You wouldn't buy a 2.5-inch SATA SSD like the Crucial MX500 for fast storage performance on a new PC, but if you're looking to upgrade an older computer that came with a slower HDD installed by default, it can still provide a noticeable boost. The MX500 itself is the top SATA pick in our guide to the best SSDs, and right now its 1TB model is on sale for an all-time low of $52. Typically, the drive retails closer to $65. If you need more space, the 2TB model is down to $120, while the 4TB model is available for $240. Those prices are $8 and $2 off the two models' respective all-time lows.
Apple iPad Air
Apple's iPad Air is back down to $500 at Amazon, which is $20 more than its all-time low but still roughly $30 below its typical street price and $100 below Apple's MSRP. You should see the full discount at checkout. We gave this 10.9-inch tablet a review score of 90 last year, and we generally consider it the best iPad for most people. While it lacks the 120Hz refresh rate or top-end M2 chip of the iPad Pro, it still gets you a modern design, more than enough power, the usual 10-ish hours of battery life and support for Apple's best accessories, all at a more affordable price.
Bose Portable Smart Speaker
We highlight the aptly named Bose Portable Smart Speaker in our guide to the best portable Bluetooth speakers, and right now the device is down to $319. That's $20 more than its all-time low but still about $45 below its typical street price and $80 below Bose's MSRP. While there are certainly cheaper options out there, this wireless speaker still gets you a travel-friendly, IPX4-rated design (complete with a built-in carrying handle), impressive bass for its size, AirPlay 2 functionality and support for both Alexa and the Google Assistant. Think of it like a smaller rival to the Sonos Move. Bose rates the speaker's battery life at up to 12 hours, too, though that will be lower if you regularly stream over WiFi.
Beats Fit Pro
Beats rolled out a handful of new finishes for its workout-friendly Fit Pro earphones this week, and a couple of them — the "coral pink" and "volt yellow" colorways — are already on sale for $170. That's $30 off Beats' MSRP. We've seen prior versions of the Fit Pro drop as low as $145, so this deal isn't an all-time low, but if you like the look of these colors specifically, you can save a few bucks all the same. The Fit Pro themselves are the "best for workouts" pick in our best wireless earbuds guide and earned a review score of 87 back in late 2021. While their active noise cancellation can't match what you'd get from Apple's AirPods Pro, they pack many of that pair's conveniences in a sportier design.
Somehow, Dead Space is one of the freshest games of 2023. The original hit literal store shelves in 2008 and the remake, which landed in January, doesn't change the game's fundamental mechanics. The remake is a downright treat to play; it's terrifying, fast-paced and expertly balanced. Dead Space's core loop is focused, and this only highlights how chaotic many AAA games are today.
Built-in limitations of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era were critical in helping developers narrow their focus and innovate, and this generation spawned a litany of iconic franchises, including Dead Space, Dark Souls, Dishonored, Red Dead Redemption, Portal, Alan Wake and Arkham. Meanwhile, developers in the ninth console generation are grappling with an abundance of technological possibility, founded on the power and fidelity provided by modern gaming hardware. This has resulted in a litany of chaotic blandness from many AAA studios in recent years. In a creative industry unlimited by its tools, the most powerful mechanic is restraint.
Dive deeper into this conversation in the below video.
Sony is set to host its first State of Play showcase of 2023 this afternoon, featuring some new announcements and updates on previously revealed games. The stream starts at 4PM and you can watch it on PlayStation's Twitch and YouTube channels. Alternatively, you can check out the State of Play via the embedded video below.
We're expecting to hear about five games that are coming to PS VR2 later this year. It seems like an ideal time for Sony to show off what's in the pipeline for the new headset, which it released earlier this week. We'll also get details on some "anticipated" third-party games, as well as an in-depth look at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Given the heavy focus on the followup to Batman: Arkham Knight, it'd be a little surprising if there were any other big announcements that could upstage that game, but you never know. Thankfully, we won't have to wait long to find out what's up Sony's sleeve.
Samsung's latest flagship smartphones haven't even been out for a week, but you can already score a solid discount on one model. The Samsung Galaxy S23+ with 256GB of storage has dropped by $140 to $860. That makes it the same price as the standard Galaxy S23 with the same storage capacity. It's worth noting that the discount only applies to the Phantom Black colorway.
At 6.6 inches, the S23+ has a larger screen than the 6.1-inch S23. It has a bigger battery too. The specs are otherwise the same, save for ultrawideband support on the S23+. The phone runs on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy with a 3.36GHz octa-core CPU and Adreno 740 GPU. There's 8GB of RAM, WiFi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3. The S23+ lineup runs on Android 13 too.
The S23+ doesn't boast the same 200MP camera as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it's a worthy phone in its own right. It does have 50MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide and 10MP telephoto cameras. Although it's more of an evolution from the S22 than a revolution, the S23+ is especially worth considering if you've been hanging onto the same phone for a few years or you're looking to make the switch from iOS to Android.
While popular with vloggers, Panasonic’s mirrorless cameras have been held back from true greatness by the lack of a phase-detect autofocus system. Finally, the company has rectified that problem with the launch of the S5 II. It has a new 24-megapixel sensor with phase-detect pixels that should get rid of the wobble and hunting that have plagued the contrast-detect AF on Panasonic cameras over the years.
To make it even better for content creators, Panasonic also brought over its new, more powerful stabilization system from the GH6. And you still get the powerful video features you’d expect on Panasonic cameras, like video up to 6K, monitoring tools and advanced audio features. The S5 II is also attractively priced at $2,000 – that’s $500 less than the Sony A7 IV and Canon EOS R6 II, its main competitors.
This is Panasonic’s first hybrid phase-detect autofocus system, so I was very curious to see how it stacks up against those cameras. I also wanted to see if it would let you leave your gimbal at home, as the company suggests in its ads. To find out, I took it around Paris and my hometown of Gien, France.
Body and Handling
The S5 II’s body and control layout is identical to the S5, and that’s generally a good thing. At 740 grams, it is a bit heavier than its main rivals. However, it’s still a reasonably lightweight video camera that’s comfortable enough to shoot for a full day.
It has a big comfortable grip, along with lots of manual controls that let you change settings without the need to dip into menus. It has all the controls you’d hope for like a joystick, dedicated AF control and more. The record button is placed on top so it’s easy to find when vlogging, but it would be nice to have a record button on front like the GH6.
Should you need to use the menus, Panasonic has nailed that part, with well-organized categories that make important adjustments fairly easy to find. It’s also quite easy to customize things, so as with any camera, I’d recommend doing that for your own workstyle.
The 3-inch, 1.8 million dot rear display is the same one as before and is bright and sharp for video work. It of course fully articulates, so you can flip it around for vlogging, hold it high or low and more. The only drawback is that it can get tangled up with any cables, particularly the headphone jack.
Luckily, Panasonic boosted the OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) resolution to 3.68 million dots from 2.34 million dots on the original S5. It's now decently sharp and clear, addressing one of my biggest complaints of the last model.
Steve Dent/Engadget
Another welcome update is two fast UHS-II card slots, rather than one UHS-II and one UHS-I slot on the S5. That allows for faster transfer speeds and more reliable backups, if you like to shoot video to two cards at once. It also now uses a full-sized, rather than a micro HDMI jack as before, making it far more reliable when using an external recorder.
There are of course headphone and mic jacks, but the S5 II now offers 4-channel recording via the DMW-XLR1 hotshoe audio adapter, just like the GH6. It also borrows the latter’s audio interface that gives you a central hub for all audio settings. It doesn’t have a dedicated button like the GH6, but you can assign any function button.
Finally, the batteries are borrowed from the S5 II, and deliver up to 470 shots on a charge or a solid two hours of 4K recording.
Video
Panasonic’s mirrorless cameras are primarily designed for video shooters, so let’s get into that first. The centerpiece of this camera is that new phase-detect autofocus, designed to eliminate the wobble or hunting that happened with past Panasonic models that had contrast-detect only autofocus. So how does it work for content creators
Steve Dent/Engadget
As with other recent models, the S5 II’s system includes regular continuous AF modes along with subject tracking, for both humans and animals. However, it’s not as sophisticated as recent rival cameras like the A7 IV and EOS R6II, though, as it can’t track things like cars and airplanes, and doesn’t distinguish between birds and other animals.
Luckily, the capabilities it does have are on par with those models. It smoothly tracks subjects and has very little lag if they move toward the camera, for example. Face and eye detection is good, though it struggles a bit if the subject turns, and can’t track their eyes if they’re not reasonably close to the camera. It’s also not quite as sticky as rival models.
Still, it generally tracks focus reliably for interviews, vlogging and other situations. More importantly, the pulsing, hunting and wobbling is completely gone, so you can now rely on the S5 II’s autofocus in most situations.
There is one caveat that may be important to some users. As YouTuber CameraOfChoice notes, the phase-detect AF works great at all 4K and 6K resolutions, and 1080 25p. However, the camera switches to contrast-detect AF at 10-bit 1080p 60 fps and 120 fps resolutions, along with 3.3K 422/10L 25p. I’ve reached out to Panasonic for more information, but if you use those resolutions frequently, you may need to look at a different model.
Steve Dent/Engadget
With autofocus issues mostly gone, the S5 II is a far more attractive vlogging and video camera thanks to its other powerful features.
You can shoot 5.9K video at 30p using the full width of the sensor, or full-width supersampled 4K at up to 30 fps. 60p 4K video is possible as well, but requires an APS-C crop and some loss of sharpness. The S5 II can also handle 4:3 anamorphic video at up to 6K using the full sensor width, or 3:2 “open gate” video that makes it easier to crop or deliver in social media formats.
There are few temperature-related time restrictions in any of these modes, thanks to the inclusion of a clever fan that only kicks in when you need it (below). Namely, there are no time restrictions on any video at 4K and below, including 1080p 120, while 6K is limited to 30 minutes. Panasonic is the only manufacturer to test its cameras at up to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit, so most users will likely never experience any problems.
As with most Panasonic cameras, you can shoot 10-bit video with V-log to boost dynamic range. And it’s easier than ever to monitor V-Log. You can not only choose a standard Rec.709 output, but display your own custom look-up-table or LUT, too. You can even record those LUTs as your final video output, giving you unlimited “looks” and potentially saving time in post.
Steve Dent/Engadget
The main video drawback is the lowish data rates (200 Mbps and below) and the lack of any ProRes or All-I internal recording modes. There’s also no external RAW capture, though you’ll be able to add that later for a $200 fee. You can, however, capture other ProRes codecs to an Atomos Ninja V/V+ or BlackMagic Video Assist recorder.
And that brings up Panasonic’s upcoming S5 IIx, announced at the same time as the S5 II. It’s priced at $2,200 and is mostly identical in terms of features. However, the extra $200 gets you not only RAW external video included but also ProRes capture to an external SSD via the USB-C port. With a small price difference to get such a useful feature, a lot of people might want to wait for this model.
Another terrific new capability is the updated in-body stabilization borrowed from the GH6. It’s now much better at smoothing out vertical step motion than the S5, though there’s still some side-to-side sway. It also has a “Boost IS” for handheld video where you don’t need to move, keeping shots locked off like the camera’s on a tripod. Can it replace your gimbal? In some cases, yes, but you'll have to work carefully as it still can't match a gimbal's smoothness.
Steve Dent/Engadget
Video quality is excellent, with extremely sharp 4K 30p and 4K 60p that’s just a touch less so. Colors are accurate and pleasing straight out of the camera, with natural-looking flesh tones. The 10-bit V-log video delivers a very solid 14+ stops of dynamic range, just slightly below Nikon and Sony models. That gave me plenty of room for extra creativity or to correct over- and underexposed shots.
The S5 is also good in low light, thanks to Panasonic’s Dual Native ISO system. Don’t expect Sony A7S III-level performance, but the Dual ISO system really keeps noise down at ISOs as high as 12,800 or even 25,600. You’ll of course see noise when you boost shadows at those ISOs, but the grain looks quite natural. Anything below ISO 6400 has very little visible noise. One quirk is that it’s best to use ISO 4000 instead of ISO 3200, as the Dual ISO is set for ISO 640 and ISO 4000.
As for rolling shutter, the S5 II is middling in this regard. It’s most noticeable in 6K or supersampled 4K modes, but not bad at all with an APS-C crop. I’d rate it as better than the higher-resolution A7 IV and about the same as Canon’s R6 II.
Finally, Panasonic offers a lot of ways to monitor video not seen on rival cameras, including waveforms and vectorscopes. Those features are very useful to video pros, helping them nail exposure and color accuracy. And as mentioned, audio is very easy to work with thanks to a dedicated hub to adjust settings, along with both line and mic inputs.
Photography
Most people likely won’t buy the S5 II for photography, but it’s not bad at all in this department. It can handle bursts at up to 7 fps with the mechanical shutter or 30 fps in electronic mode. The buffer is quite impressive, as it allows for 200 shots in RAW before throttling – a full 6-seconds of uninterrupted 30 fps burst shooting.
At those speeds the autofocus largely keeps up, though it’s not quite as fast or accurate as the R6 II and A7 IV AF systems. As with video, the photo autofocus isn’t quite as smart or tenacious with subjects as Sony's A7 IV. Still, it’s much better than the contrast-detect AF of the last model and up there with recent Nikon and Fujifilm AF systems.
Despite the fast electronic burst speeds, the S5 II has limited usage as a sports camera. The rolling shutter would impact shots with fast moving subjects, unless you use it in APS-C mode. That’s a feasible option, but it reduces the resolution by half.
Given how well it handles video, photos are a piece of cake for the image stabilization system. It locks things down so well that I was able to shoot down to a quarter-second or even less and still get sharp images
Despite the shift to a sensor with phase-detect pixels, image quality hasn’t suffered, with dynamic range just slightly below Sony and Nikon models. JPEGs offer a good balance between noise reduction and sharpness, while delivering natural colors and pleasing skin tones. If you want more control, the RAW photos dial up the dynamic range so you can claw back highlights or dig into shadows.
As with video, it also excels in low light, with very little noise up to ISO 6400, nothing too objectionable at ISO 12800 and usable images at ISO 25600 if you don’t try to lift the shadows too much. Beyond that, the color grain in particular can get too harsh.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent/Engadget
With the autofocus finally keeping up with rival cameras, Panasonic’s S5 II is an awesome full-frame vlogging and video camera option. Priced at $2,000, it’s also a very strong value proposition, particularly for video shooters.
Its primary competition is the Sony A7 IV and Canon EOS R6 II. Both of those cameras are better for photography, but the S5 II is much better for video and particularly vlogging, thanks to the built-in monitoring tools and superior stabilization. If you want a better match of photography and video tools, Fujifilm’s 40-megapixel $2,000 X-H2 is the best option – if you don’t mind stepping down to an APS-C sensor.
In fact, the S5 II’s greatest rival might be the upcoming S5 IIx. I’d argue that many people paying $2,000 wouldn’t hesitate to spend an extra $200 to get some pretty valuable features like ProRes SSD recording. Either way, it’s Panasonic’s best vlogging camera since the original GH5 and should rise to the top of many content creators’ shopping lists.
Early on in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, our hero Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) are warped into a quantum-level universe. It’s filled with alien biology and vistas that wouldn't be out of place on distant planets. But while that sounds like the perfect setup for a fun sci-fi romp, I never bought it. And, unfortunately, the actors didn't appear to buy it either. The backgrounds looked like psychedelic screensavers, and, similar to the Star Wars prequels, there was an uncanny disconnect between the live humans and their mostly digital surroundings.
I found the aesthetic so viscerally ugly, it made me fear for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and for anything else made with ILM's StageCraft technology (AKA “the volume”). That realization surprised me, since I've mostly enjoyed how that tech helped make The Mandalorian's unique worlds come alive. The volume is a series of enormous LED walls that can display real time footage. Together with interactive lighting, it makes actors seem like they’re actually walking around artificial environments. Another plus? It also helps the lighting look far more realistic, something that was particularly noticeable on Mando's polished armor.
So what the hell happened to Quantumania? Its artificiality seems partially intentional, as it's trying to evoke pulp fantasy and even a bit of Star Wars. But somewhere along the line, director Peyton Reed forgot to ground its fantastical visuals with anything resembling human emotion. When Ant-Man, his daughter, or their tiny-tech compatriots, Hank Pym (Michael Douglass) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), enter the Quantum Realm, there's little room for awe and wonder. Sure, they occasionally quip about something weird: buildings that move! An alien intrigued by body holes! But we quickly move onto a rote sci-fi tale of rebellion against an evil conqueror (in this case it's Kang, played by Jonathan Majors.)
Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri, who calls the film “a cry for help,” succinctly describes why Quantumania falls flat: “The action is tired, the universe unconvincing, and nobody on screen looks like they want to be there. They don’t even look like they know where there is.”
Marvel
Clearly, we can't blame”the volume” for all of the film's faults, it's just another tool in a director's kit. In an interview with Collider, Reed said that he wasn't sure if the technology would work out for Quantumania, but eventually he found it to be "great for certain environments, but not necessarily right for other ones." He later added "There are limitations to it [the volume], and we push that system to its limit on this movie... What works so well in Mandalorian is they have a lot of lead time, because they're doing a whole series, to invest and create these environments, and on the schedule we were on, it's not always right for that situation."
Several anonymous VFX workers told Vulturethat Quantumania’s hectic production schedule was one reason its computer generated worlds fall so flat. The higher-profile Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever, was a higher priority for Marvel (no surprise when that first movie made over $1.3 billion globally) when it came to VFX work. And there were apparently late-stage changes to Quantumania that led to some rushed work – though it’s worth noting that isn’t unusual for a major Marvel film.
“Making big pivots late in the game has consequences, and there is a constant scramble from the VFX houses to keep up,” a former VFX worker told Engadget. (They requested anonymity due to confidentiality agreements around their work.] “And near the end, it's almost always a disaster. Lots of miracles. Lots of clever solutions, not based on heightening the art, but just being able to do a week’s worth of work in 24 hours.”
While watching Quantumania, I couldn't help but compare it to Avatar: The Way of Water, another big-budget science fiction epic that brings us to another alien, almost completely computer-generated world. That film goes even further than Ant-Man, since almost every scene involves actors playing CG Na’vi characters, one or two humans and elaborate sets. But I never once doubted the reality of The Way of Water.
You could tell that director James Cameron has actually been thinking about the world of Pandora for over a decade, so he has a strong vision of how the Na'vi are supposed to interact with their animal companions, or how a soulless corporation may view a pristine planet as a way to make more revenue. With Quantumania, there's no clear sense of why that sub-atomic universe is special, or why Kang may want to rule it. We might as well be watching a lesser Star Wars movie.
Marvel
Perhaps that's why the volume rubbed me the wrong way this time around. When you have a stronger grasp of character and story, as The Mandalorian (mostly) demonstrated, it can help to make the entire experience feel more epic. But if your narrative is dull and unfocused, the volume can easily heighten its flaws. There's room to do something truly special with the idea of a sub-atomic universe, the sort of thing screenwriter Jeff Loveness frequently did on Rick and Morty.
In the end, though, Quantumania feels like an episode of that show stretched out to two hours, and molded to fit the plot machinations of the MCU. Any enjoyment I had while watching it was instantly warped to the quantum realm when it was over.
Mercedes-Benz is developing a new in-house operating system to power its next generation of electric vehicles. Announced today at an event the automaker held in California, Mercedes said MB.OS – short for Mercedes-Benz Operating System – will deliver enhancements in safety, automated driving and navigation.
The automaker is working with several partners to build its new software stack, including NVIDIA, Luminar and Google. Mercedes will lean on NVIDIA for the company’s software, data and AI expertise. The GPU maker's Orin chipset will also power the first generation of electric cars Mercedes builds based on its upcoming Mercedes Modular Architecture (MMA) platform. The automaker expects the first MMA EV to arrive by mid-decade.
Mercedes-Benz
As for Luminar and Google, the former will provide Mercedes with its LiDAR technology, while the latter will work with the company to build a branded navigation experience incorporating features from Google Maps. In the meantime, Mercedes is partnering with Google to bring the company’s “Place Details” data to all cars that sport the latest version of its MBUX infotainment system. You can use the integration to look up a local business, find out when it opens, and see photos of the inside and what other Google users have to say about it. Mercedes plans to open MB.OS to other partners as well, including TikTok, Zoom and even Angry Birds developer Rovio.
All MMA EVs will ship with the hardware needed for Level 2 automated driving. Mercedes is also working with NVIDIA and Luminar to offer Drive Pilot, a Level 3 automated driving system. The software will arrive later this year in 2024 EQS and S-Class models. Naturally, MB.OS will also enable Mercedes to deliver over-the-air updates, allowing it to add new features to existing cars.
The company isn’t shy about the fact that some upgrades may cost a one-time fee or come as part of a subscription package. In fact, Mercedes has already announced a handful of software bundles it will offer to owners of cars with MB.OS. MB.Connect, for instance, will bring together the company’s navigation, entertainment and communication features in one package. Other bundles, such as MB.Charge, will provide customers with priority access to Mercedes-Benz charging stations. The automaker says it will allow drivers to explore and buy upgrades for their Benz online, through the Mercedes mobile app and directly from the car.
“The company is confident that this strategic approach to software and hardware development will be the basis for lifetime revenues as well as additional contributions,” Mercedes said, adding it expects software revenue from bundles like MB.Connect to contribute “a low-to-mid single-digit billion euro figure” to its bottom line by mid-decade.
In 2019, No Man’s Sky reinvented itself for virtual reality. Now, nearly four years later, it’s doing so again. With the release of PlayStation VR2, Hello Games has announced Fractal, a free update for No Man’s Sky that overhauls the game’s virtual reality experience on all platforms.
In a blog post published Wednesday, the studio said it redesigned the HUD and user interface in No Man’s Sky to make every interaction within the game feel natural and purpose-built. In practice, that means Hello Games has devised some clever ways for you to interact with your tools while playing No Man’s Sky in VR. For instance, you can access all of your Multi-Tool’s capabilities through a menu embedded into the device. Similarly, you can browse your character’s inventory through a wrist-mounted display they wear on their spacesuit.
PlayStation VR2 users can look forward to a handful of platform-specific enhancements. Thanks to the power of the PlayStation 5, the PS VR2 version of the game features enhanced reflections, denser foliage, higher-quality textures and better draw distances, among other technical improvements. The PS VR2 release also takes advantage of the headset’s signature features, including 3D audio technology and intelligent tracking. Best of all, you can seamlessly switch between VR and standard gameplay whenever you feel you need a break from the headset.
If you don’t own a VR headset, Hello Games hasn’t forgotten about you. The Fractal update includes new content and features for all No Man's Sky players to experience. To start, there’s the new “Utopia Speeder” spacecraft for players to add their stable. Hello Games says this ship is perfect for flying across the surface of a planet at high speed. Additionally, there’s a new expedition that tasks players with rebuilding a solar system. Taking part will allow you to earn a new drone companion for your character, among other items. On the technical front, Hello Games has redesigned the game’s options menu to add new accessibility features. It has also added support for gyro controls on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.
All told, Fractal looks like yet another meaningful update for a game that has evolved so much since its rough launch in 2016. You can download version 4.1 of No Man’s Sky today.
According to a report from Reuters, ChatGPT is listed as the author or co-author of at least 200 books on Amazon’s Kindle Store. However, the number of bot-written books is likely higher than that since Amazon’s policies don’t require authors to disclose their use of AI.
Brett Schickler published on the Kindle Store a children’s book written and illustrated by AI. Although Schickler says the book has earned him less than $100 since its January release, he only spent a few hours creating it with ChatGPT prompts like “write a story about a dad teaching his son about financial literacy.”
Science-fiction publication Clarkesworld Magazine has temporarily halted short-story submissions after receiving a flood of articles suspected of using AI without disclosure, which was reported by PCMag. Although Editor Neil Clarke didn’t specify how he identified them, he recognized the (allegedly) bot-assisted stories due to “some very obvious patterns.” He added that spam submissions resulting in bans hit 38 percent in February.
– Mat Smith
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Bungie has been embroiled in a legal battle with cheat provider AimJunkies since 2021, with both sides slapping the other with lawsuits. Now, the game developer has walked away with $4.3 million in damages and fees after a victory in an arbitration proceeding. However, US District Court Judge Thomas Zilly ruled mostly in favor of AimJunkies last year, deciding Bungie had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove its claim. He gave Bungie the chance to present more evidence – and that copyright infringement lawsuit is still headed to trial. Bungie will use this first victory in its argument during AimJunkies' countersuit, in which it accused the developer of violating its ToS for reverse-engineering its cheat software.
The company says it will restore long chats 'responsibly.'
Microsoft limited Bing's AI chats early after launch to prevent disturbing answers, but it now plans to restore longer chats. It’s expanding the chats to six turns per session (up from five) and 60 chats per day (up from 50). The daily cap will climb to 100 chats soon, Microsoft says, and regular searches will no longer count against that total. An upcoming test will also let you choose a tone that's "precise" (that is, shorter and more to-the-point answers), "creative" (longer) or "balanced."
If the deal goes through, Call of Duty games will come to NVIDIA's streaming service.
During the European Commission hearing over Microsoft's proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard, Brad Smith, Microsoft president, announced the company and NVIDIA have struck a 10-year deal to bring Xbox games to the GeForce Now streaming service. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said: “This partnership will help grow NVIDIA’s catalog of titles to include games like Call of Duty, while giving developers more ways to offer streaming games.”
Earlier this month, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority said the Activision acquisition could result in a "substantial lessening of competition in gaming consoles," and that Microsoft already had a 60 to 70 percent share of the cloud gaming market and that, should the deal go through, it would "reinforce this strong position." In December, the US Federal Trade Commission sued to block the merger.
Horror movie behemoth Blumhouse is getting into video games. The company behind hits like M3GAN, Get Out, The Purge and Insidious is opening a production and publishing division that will work on original horror games for PC, consoles and mobile. “We’re in the scary story business. We do films, we do TV and there is this massive, growing segment in media and entertainment called gaming,” Blumhouse President Abhijay Prakash told Bloomberg. The game publishing division will keep the budgets modest and rather than adapting its own movies into games (something Blumhouse has tried in the past), the company will look for projects that are in development and offer studios financial support and creative insight.
