Assassin's Creed Infinity won't be a free-to-play online game, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has confirmed during the developer's latest earnings call. Bloomberg first reported about the project's existence back in July, and the company has shared details about it bit by bit since then. The publication said that AC Infinity, which is the project's name that could change upon release, will be a live online service similar to Grand Theft Auto Online that requires you to own the base game. According to Gamespot, Guillemot also said:

"This game is going to have a lot of narrative elements in it. It's going to be very innovative game, but it will have what players already have in all the other Assassin's Creed games, all the elements that they love... right from the start. So it's going to be a huge game. But with lots of elements that already exist in the games that we published in the past."

Unlike other Assassin's Creed games with a single narrative story, Infinity will reportedly have multiple settings that will feel and look different from each other but will still be connected in some way. That means Infinity could have several games in one package, though how that will resonate with long-time fans remains to be seen. The original Bloomberg report also called it a massive online platform with room to expand in the months and years after its launch, so we may see new content hit the service as campaigns or seasons. 

Ubisoft pooled its resources and unified the Montreal and Quebec teams, which previously worked on separate Assassin's Creed titles, to develop Infinity. Guillemot said it's still in its very early stages, however, and previous reports said its soonest possible release won't be until 2024.

Canon has unveiled the PowerShot PX, a stationary camera that uses facial recognition and auto-subject search to automatically capture 11.7-megapixel images or 1080p60 video. It's based on the PowerShot Pick, an experimental, crowdfunded camera that was released only in Japan. 

The PowerShot PX has pan-and-tilt functionality (340 degrees horizontally and 110 degrees vertically) and a 19-57mm (35mm equivalent) focal length range. The idea is that you you can place it a strategic spot, like on a table during a family picnic, for example. The camera can then scan the scene, find people's faces and automatically determine the best moment to capture a photo. "The best photos aren't always the posed smiles.... the PowerShot PX captures a huge range of looks and precious reactions that you might not capture," Canon wrote.

It can frame subjects "intelligently to capture natural expressions and reactions," Canon says. You can also prioritize specific faces, like if it's someone's birthday. In theory, that would allow you to enjoy a gathering without the need to break away and take photos, knowing that it will be done automatically. You can also grab photos manually via an app or voice control. 

Following an event, you can use the PowerShot PX's iOS or Android apps to get recommendations on the best photos to keep. Those are then stored on a memory card, where they can be uploaded to a computer. It supports WiFi and Bluetooth for smartphone connections, so you can control images with no need to check the device, Canon said. It can also double as a webcam via Canon's webcam utility app. (It runs on batteries with charging via USB-C.)

The PowerShot PX is coming to Europe and the UK in November 2021 for £500/€500 (around $585). There's no word yet on a release to North America or elsewhere. 

Panasonic’s GH5 was such an iconic vlogging camera that Panasonic unveiled two Micro Four Thirds successors to replace it. The $2,500 GH6, due to arrive later this year, has major upgrades like 4K 120p and even 5.7K video. The other is the model I’m reviewing today, the $1,700 GH5 II.

As the name suggests, the GH5 II is more of a refresh, with the same 20-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor. However, it has an all-new processor that delivers significant improvements in speed, video quality and AI smarts. Best of all, it’s $300 less than the GH5 was at launch.

The big question is whether it’s worth getting this model, waiting for the GH6, or even purchasing an older GH5 that’s now steeply discounted. To find out, I tested the GH5 II’s new features, video quality, autofocus and more — here’s what I found out.

Body and handling

Steve Dent/Engadget

If you’re already familiar with the GH5, you’ll be very comfortable with the GH5 II — the bodies are nearly identical. That’s a good thing, because it still out-handles many newer cameras, thanks to the excellent grip and logical control positions.

There are a few key changes, though. While the rear display is a little smaller at 3 inches instead of 3.2 inches, it has slightly more resolution and is significantly brighter. That fixes one of the biggest issues with the GH5: its relatively dim display.

The electronic viewfinder (EVF) carries the same 3.68 million dot resolution and .76x magnification, but has double the refresh rate at 120Hz. That makes a noticeable difference in image quality; more so than a resolution bump in my opinion. However, it also drains the battery a touch faster.

Another nice improvement is the addition of USB-C PD compatibility that can charge the battery more quickly. And it comes with a more powerful DMW-BLK22 battery, the same one found in the company’s full-frame S5 camera. While it’s still CIPA-rated for 410 shots like the GH5, it delivers a few more minutes of video recording.

Steve Dent/Engadget

The GH5 II has better menus than the GH5, gaining those introduced on the GH5s. It’s a color coded, tabbed menu system with hints to find the option you’re looking for. It also has the info panel from Panasonic’s pro Varicam models (also available on the GH5s), that show important settings at a glance. Another feature for pro shooters is dual zebra controls that let you check two levels at once, like highlights and skin tones.

As with the GH5, the new model has dual UHS II card slots, but they now support the maximum V90 (300 MB/s) speeds. That’ll ensure stable capture if you’re using the new All-I 4K video settings at up to 400 Mbps, or let the buffer clear faster if you’re snapping photos.

Video performance

There are several subtle, but important changes to the video capabilities of the GH5. A key one is an update to the image stabilization system. It now delivers up to 6.5 EV of shake protection, up by 1.5 EV over the GH5. When working with compatible lenses and using the IS boost mode, it’s designed to provide more steady shots, even if you’re walking or moving.

No in-camera stabilization system is ever going to beat a gimbal. However, the GH5 II does a better job than most mirrorless cameras I’ve tried at smoothing out walking or running, provided you’re reasonably careful. More importantly, it makes handheld camera pans and other motion smoother than the GH5 does. If you need some extra stabilization, there’s an electronic mode that does help, though it crops in slightly.

Another key change is with the autofocus system. In general, continuous autofocus for video is faster and smoother than before, though you’ll still see a tiny bit of hunting or wobble that’s unavoidable with a contrast-detect-only AF system. As before, the system works better at higher frame rates when it has more information to work with.

Steve Dent/Engadget

The GH5 II also brings some AI autofocus smarts that couldn’t be added via firmware to the GH5 because of its relatively old processor. It offers double the face and eye-tracking speeds, and can pick up focus when a face is tilted away from the camera. It can recognize heads and human bodies, making tracking more feasible if a person is turning or moving towards or away from the camera. It adds new animal tracking features that can handle most pets and some types of wildlife, as well.

With these features enabled, it’s easier to keep someone in focus if they or you are moving. Again, this works best at higher frame-rates, but overall, the improved focus hit rates make the camera more practical for vlogging or run-and-gun work, especially for solo operators. Animal tracking is also pretty useful, particularly if pets and/or kids are running around.

Is the GH5’s subject tracking as good as on Canon or especially Sony’s latest mirrorless cameras? No, because both of those brands use phase-detect systems that can nail focus directly without any wobble. Sony’s latest models, particularly the A1 and A7S III, also have uncannily fast tracking capabilities that Panasonic has yet to match. Still, the new model is a big step up from the GH5 and certainly good enough for many types of projects.

Video quality

Steve Dent/Engadget

Video made the GH5 popular, as it was far ahead of the competition for the price when it first arrived. Five years on, it’s getting pretty old, though, so a new processor helped Panasonic boost the GH5 II’s specs in line with what it’s done on full-frame models like the S5.

To that end, the new model now offers 10-bit 4:2:0 4K and C4K (4,096 x 2,160) video at up to 60 fps, rather than just 8-bit video at 60p as before. That makes it better for slow-mo or high frame-rate video if you want to use log or HDR video settings. Like the GH5, it can also handle 6K 30p anamorphic (4,992 x 3,774) with 10-bit, 4:2:0 color settings. And where All-I capture was limited to 24/25 fps on the GH5, the GH II can now do it at up to 30 fps.

Though the GH5 II comes with VLog-L shooting out of the box, it's limited to 12 stops of dynamic range rather than 13 like Panasonic’s BGH1 box camera and other recent models. Panasonic also introduced two new video modes, Cinelike D2 and Cinelike V2, that let you shoot log-like video with less hassle. Those deliver slightly more saturated colors and improved skin tones than the original Cinelike D and V modes.

Like other newer models, the GH5 II shows a red frame around the screen while recording, along with aspect ratio guides and a TikTok-style portrait video mode. With the same sensor, the GH5 II has pretty much the same readout speeds, so as before, rolling shutter is present but well controlled.

Steve Dent/Engadget

The GH5 II can now capture video simultaneously to an external recorder over the HDMI port, unlike the GH5. However, it can’t capture RAW video like the S5, for instance. Hopefully, that and the limited VLog-L dynamic range will be addressed in future firmware updates.

With all those tweaks, the GH5 II delivers sharp video with high levels of color accuracy for demanding work. It handles skin tones well and colors are natural and accurate. Low-light shooting is not its strong point, though, due to the smaller sensor size. For that, you’d be better off with either the GH5s or one of Panasonic’s newer full-frame models.

The new video quality changes are subtle, but could be helpful for certain types of work. Overall, it delivers the video quality everyone liked from the GH5, plus a little more.

Live Streaming

Steve Dent/Engadget

A key new feature for the GH5 II is the ability to broadcast live on the web, either using WiFi or a USB-C. The latter will require a firmware update that essentially allows the GH5 II’s USB-C port to be used as a wired LAN connection, however.

You can either stream to a smartphone via WiFi using the Lumix Sync app, or stream directly over WiFi without the need for a PC or phone. The latter requires you to use the Lumix Network software for PC or Mac to write your streaming settings to an SD card. Since it uses the RTMP/RTMPS standard, it supports YouTube, Facebook and other services. Better still, it supports camera audio as well as video.

Live streaming does require a robust connection, however, as I struggled to maintain a livestream in the countryside with a 16 Mbps connection. You won’t want to use the maximum 1080p 60 fps settings unless you have internet speed well above 16 Mbps.

Photos

With the same sensor as the GH5, the GH5 II delivers much the same image quality and photo shooting specs, including 12 fps burst shooting speeds. Where it has improved, though, is in the autofocus features, particularly with tracking.

The G9 was always a better photo camera than the GH5, as it had a noticeably quicker autofocus system. However, the GH5 II’s new processor means faster AF calculations, so the hit rate with continuous burst shooting is higher. It can also do face and eye tracking more quickly, and as with video, can handle head and body tracking, too.

With those changes, I was able to get more burst action shots in focus than I could with the GH5, whether shooting people, dogs or horses. At the same time, it tends to nail exposure more accurately than the original model.

Image quality is largely along the same lines as video, with low-light capability that gets pretty noisy above ISO 3200 or so, but sharp, color-accurate photos in good light. As before, it’s best not to let your highlights get too blown out as they’re difficult to recover when shooting RAW.

Wrap-up

Steve Dent/Engadget

The GH5 II is a worthy upgrade to the original, bringing enough improvements and new technology to justify its existence. Given that the all-new GH6 model is coming soon as well, it’s clear that Panasonic is still committed to small sensor, video-centric mirrorless cameras.

Video has modestly improved, and it’s better for handheld shooting thanks to the improved stabilization. Autofocus is still a drawback but it’s faster and more reliable than before. It would be nice if it supported RAW external capture, but that’s probably not a dealbreaker for most users. It can handle stills reasonably well, though it’s not the camera’s strong point.

Other cameras have caught up with the GH5 II in terms of video performance, but most, like the Canon R6 ($2,500) and Nikon Z6 II ($2,000) are more expensive. Fujifilm’s $1,700 X-T4 is a better choice if you want a larger sensor and shoot a lot of photos, but it lacks the streaming capabilities. Its biggest rival may be the original GH5 that can now be found for $1,300, if you don’t need the video streaming or other features. In any case, the GH5 II is now the best Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera for video. At least until the GH6 comes along.

Do you want a do-everything multicooker, but don't need an Instant Pot? You're in luck. Amazon is selling Ninja's OS301 Foodi 10-in-1 for $119, a 41 percent discount on the regular price, as part of a one-day sale. This may be the best Ninja cooker deal yet — there was a Prime Day deal last year for a less-capable (if larger) 9-in-1 model that still cost more.

It's easy to see the appeal for this model. It handles typical multicooker tasks like pressure cooking, slow cooking, steaming and yogurt, but it also includes air frying (not always present in multicookers) and a nesting broil rack that lets you broil or steam on different levels. The 6.5-quart capacity is also just slightly higher than the six quarts you find in comparable Instant Pot models, so Ninja's offering is worth considering if you're worried about space.

The drawbacks mainly stem from your choice of ecosystem. Instant Pot's fandom is large enough that you'll find recipes and other guides for it where you won't with Ninja's cookers. If you're just interested in preparing a tasty dish, though, there's no reason you have to follow the crowd — especially not at a price like this.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

McDonald's might not be the only restaurant experimenting with AI-based order taking in the near future. Restaurant Divereports McDonald's is selling its McD Tech Labs to IBM in order to "further accelerate" work on its automated voice ordering systems. The deal will help apply the technology to a wider variety of countries, languages and menus, McDonald's said, while bolstering IBM's Watson-powered customer service offerings.

The deal is expected to close in December. McD Tech Labs will join IBM's Cloud & Cognitive Software team.

McDonald's started testing AI drive-thru order taking in 10 Chicago-area restaurants in late spring. While the fast food chain saw "substantial benefits" for both customers and staff, it was clear the system needed improvement. It was only about 85 percent accurate, necessitating human intervention for nearly a fifth of orders. CEO Chris Kempczinski said it would take more than a year or two to implement the technology on a broader scale, and indicated that McDonald's routinely bought companies (like the AI firm Apprente) for short stints before spinning them out with partners who can expand the technology — it clearly sees IBM as key to making AI drive-thrus a success, at McDonald's and elsewhere.

It's not clear whether or not restaurant employees should be thrilled. This will save staff from the drudgery of listening to orders at 2AM, but it also raises the possibility of job cuts as restaurants limit human involvement to preparing orders. As before, automation could be a double-edged sword that hurts as much as it helps.

Nikon has officially unveiled its new flagship mirrorless camera, the $5,500, 45.7-megapixel Z9 with 8K 30p video and up to 20 fps RAW burst shooting speeds. It's Nikon's first camera to use a stacked sensor with built in memory that allows for very fast readout speeds. In fact, Nikon is so confident in the electronic shutter that it has abandoned the mechanical shutter entirely, so the Z9 is the first high-end professional camera without one.

With that high-speed sensor (which has the same megapixel count as the Z7 II), the Z9 allows a flash sync of up to 1/200th of a second, which looks like the fastest sync speed ever for an electronic shutter. That should also make it very resistant to rolling shutter, which is crucial if the camera is to be used for sports or action photography. 

The faster sensor allows JPEG burst shooting at up to 30 fps, or RAW photos at 20 fps. If you're willing to drop down to 11 megapixels, you can shoot photos at an astounding 120 fps. As with other stacked sensor cameras, the Nikon Z has much improved buffering, letting you capture up to 1,000 frames at once with either JPEG or the new HE (high efficiency) RAW compression algorithms. 

Nikon

Nikon's autofocus (AF) system is also all-new, and makes even more extensive use of AI algorithms. Much like Canon's EOS R3, it can now track a wide range of subjects, including the eyes, faces and bodies of people, along with dogs, cats and birds, planes, trains, motorbike and bicycles. And unlike other AI cameras, there's no need to tell it what you're shooting — the camera will figure that out if you set it to "Auto" (or, you can set the subject type manually). It also offers a "3D tracking" system much like you can find on Nikon's DSLRs. All of this falls into line with the Z9's purpose as a sports/action/wildlife photography camera.

Nikon has also improved its in-body stabilization system (which it calls "vibration reduction" or VR). Now, it can combine in-body and lens stabilization system for steadier video or fewer blurry photos. This will only be available with several lenses to begin with, however, namely the Nikkor Z 70-200m F/2.8, Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR and freshly announced Z 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VR S. 

Video performance is equally impressive. The Z3 will be able to capture 8K at 30p at launch, along with oversampled 4K 30p from an 8K capture that should be incredibly sharp. If you don't mind pixel binning or line skipping, it will also be able to capture 4K at up to 120 fps.

To start with, you'll be able to capture these formats at up to 10-bit with H.264 or H.265 long GOP codecs. On top of that, Nikon is offering the very useful option of capturing video with ProRes 422 HQ compression, which is much easier to edit straight out of the camera. 

Things will get even more interesting later on, though. Nikon plans to introduce a future firmware update that will enable 12-bit 8K 60fps capture in a new, proprietary N-RAW format or using Apple ProRes RAW HQ capture at 4K/60p. Nikon promises that you'll be able to capture the oversampled 4K/30p for more than two hours at "normal" temperatures. 

The Z9 has a large pro-style body with controls about where you'd expect them, other than a repositioned play button and AF button near the front. It uses dual CFexpress Type B slots (backward compatible with XQD) for maximum performance for video and burst photos. The new large, EN-EL18d battery is rated for up to 740 shots per charge with the LCD, or 700 shots with the EVF enabled.

It has a 3.69 million dot OLED viewfinder with just a 60 fps refresh rate, but Nikon said that it always delivers that speed and never downgrades it. It uses a multi-direction rear LCD and not a fully-articulating screen, but you can tilt t he screen up to face yourself.

With the Z9, Nikon has taken some of the best aspects of Canon's EOS R3 and the Sony A1 and married them into a single, large body. It falls a bit short of those models in terms of shooting speed, and the electronic viewfinder isn't too impressive on paper. However, Nikon seems to have vaulted ahead of both Sony and Canon in terms of video specs, but we'll have to wait and see if video autofocus is up to snuff. The Nikon Z9 will arrive by the end of the year in the US for $5,500 for the body only. 

Raspberry Pi has introduced a new version of its tiny wireless Zero W board, the Zero 2 W, with much improved performance, added features and a slightly higher $15 price tag. It uses a mildly downclocked version of the same Broadcom BCM2710A1 SoC die used in the $35 Raspberry Pi 3, along with 512MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM. With that, it delivers a significant performance boost over the original Zero, up to five times faster for multithreaded chores. 

While just as tiny as the original Zero (about a quarter the size of a US bank note), it's highly capable. It comes with 2.4Ghz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2, a USB 2.0 interface, a MicroSD card slot, Mini HDMI port, CSI-2 camera connector, a HAT-compatible 40 pin I/O header, OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 graphics and H.264 1080p 30 encode and decode capabilities. 

Since it's the same size as the original Zero and the Zero W, "almost all cases and accessories designed for Zero should work perfectly with the new board, including our own case and selection of cables," the foundation said in a blog post. Additionally, it introduced a new official Raspberry Pi Zero 2 USB power supply unit ($8) that can also power the Raspberry Pi 3B or 3B+. The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W is now available to buy in the UK, EU, US, Canada and Hong Kong for $15 / £13.50.

Sony's PlayStation 5 sales remain relatively steady and strong, with 3.3 million units sold in fiscal Q2 compared to 2.2 million last quarter, bringing total sales to 13.4 million units, Sony announced. Game sales were also up significantly at 76.4 million units compared to 63.6 million in the previous quarter, due in large part to third-party sales.

All told, this amounted to a healthy 27 percent boost in gaming revenue to 645.4 billion yen ($5.68 billion). However, operating income of 82.7 billion yen ($728 million) was down compared to last quarter by 3.4 billion yen ($29 million). Sony's fiscal year ends on March 31, 2022.

So how can profit be lower when sales and revenue are up? While Sony did sell more games last quarter, first-party titles dropped very significantly, from 10.5 million last quarter to 7.6 million in Q2. That was offset in numbers by third-party games, but those don't tend to be as profitable. Both Microsoft and Sony have acquired gaming studios to boost their Xbox/PS first-party titles, but Microsoft has been more prolific in that regard. 

And while PS5 sales were up, PS4 units dropped considerably, down to just 200,000 from a half a million the quarter before. Other factors that Sony mentioned are a "loss resulting from strategic price points for PS5 hardware that were set lower than manufacturing costs." That means that Sony may have sold the PS5 with minimal or negative profits this quarter, although in August, the company said it was no longer selling the PS5 at a loss. 

Despite the drop in quarterly income, Sony's gaming division appears to be on pretty solid footing. In its August earnings call, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki told investors that the company believes it will eclipse the 14.8 million unit sales achieved by the PlayStation 4 in its first year. PS5 sales are tracking close to that figure.

The company also said at the time that it had secured enough components for 22.6 million units sold by March 2022. That would be enough to meet its sales projections, but if sales really explode during the holidays, it may not have a lot of margin for error — meaning shortages could continue through next year. 

The right to repair movement just got a big boost from the US Copyright Office. Responding to proposals from a variety of organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and iFixit, the office on Wednesday recommended new exemptions to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as it relates to the repair of consumer electronics. The statute prohibits the circumvention of software copy protection and has been the target of right to repair advocates for years.

As reported by The Verge, the Copyright Office recommends additional protections for many consumer-facing devices that rely on software to function. As one example, it adopts a recommendation from Public Knowledge and iFixit that involves video game consoles. It says “the repair of software-enabled consumer devices is likely to be fair use, the Register finds that certain video game console repair is also likely fair use.”

It notes consumers can access the firmware on their systems as long as it’s with the intention of fixing the device’s optical drive and they restore any protective measures afterward. The rulemaking stops short of protecting non-consumer devices. However, the Library of Congress has signed off on the recommendations, paving the way for them to go into effect on October 28th.

The decision is likely to complement the efforts of the Biden administration on the same front. At the start of July, the president ordered the Federal Trade Commission to draft new rules to empower consumers and businesses to repair their devices on their own and at independent shops. The executive order marked the first time a US president had ever weighed in on the right to repair movement. Later that same month, the FTC complied with the directive, voting unanimously to tackle unlawful repair restrictions. At the time, it said it would work with law enforcement and policymakers to update existing regulations to protect small businesses and companies that would prevent them from fixing their own products.

We’ve reached out to iFixit and the EFF for comment.

More than two years after announcing the Osmo Action, DJI is back with a new rugged camera that not only drops the Osmo name but also adopts a fresh new design. The Action 2 features a 155-degree field of view lens and 12-megapixel sensor that can capture 4K footage at up to 120 frames per second, and 240 frames per second slow-motion video at 1080p. In 2021, that’s not impressive for an action camera when you consider GoPro’s latest top-end model, the Hero 10 Black, can do 5.3K at 60 frames per second and 240 frames per second at 2.7K. So what makes Action 2 into something interesting? It’s all about the form factor.

DJI

DJI’s latest device weighs just under two ounces and includes a magnetic mounting system you can use to expand the functionality of the camera. We’ve seen companies like Insta360 pull off similar designs, but DJI’s execution looks particularly handy. Want to add a front-facing display to make the Action 2 into a vlogging camera? You can with a touchscreen module that adds a secondary OLED display and three additional microphones to the camera, as well as allows you to record up to 160 minutes of footage without stopping. A separate battery module extends the Action 2’s battery life from 70 minutes to three hours and adds an extra microSD slot. Other accessories allow you to mount the camera to a floating handle, a 3-in-1 extension rod and a lanyard, among other things.

Other nifty features include a dedicated sensor that can help the camera produce accurate color tones in challenging lighting conditions and underwater. A feature called SnapShot allows you to turn on the device and start recording right away by holding down the power button. It also comes with all of DJI’s usual camera features, including the ability to double as a web camera and capture time-lapses.

The Action 2 is available to buy today from DJI’s website. The company isn’t selling the camera on its own. Instead, you can either buy it as part of either a $399 or $519 bundle. The former comes with the aforementioned battery module while the latter includes the touchscreen accessory. Both bundles also come with a variety of mounts.