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

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

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

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

Back in April, Netflix released its Play Something feature for TV devices with the promise of making it available on mobile in the near future. If you've been waiting for it to make its way to your phone, you'll be thrilled to know that the time has come: The streaming giant's shuffle play functionality will start rolling out to all Android users around the world today. 

Streaming services have such a wide variety of choices, which keep growing every day, that scrolling through them and deciding on what to play could take hours. If you don't have anything specific to watch at the moment, the Play Something feature could held you fend off decision paralysis and prevent you from wasting what little time you have to relax. Just tap it to watch something the service's algorithm thinks you might enjoy based on your history.

Netflix started testing the feature for both adult and kids' profiles on Android in May, and a spokesperson told us testing for iOS will begin in the coming months. According to the streaming giant, users have been loving its shuffle play function for leading them to hidden gems they might not have found otherwise. Of course, the opposite could also be true if it turns out that Netflix's algorithm doesn't know you at all. 

You can find the floating Play Something button at different places within the app, including the home screen. If you're viewing the page of a specific show, a button that says Play Something Else will show up. Patrick Flemming, Netflix's Director of Product Innovation, said in a statement:

"Play Something helps Netflix members discover new shows and movies when they don’t want to make decisions. Today, we're excited to bring this feature to Android, too - choosing what to watch on your phone has never been easier."

In addition, Netflix is launching Fast Laughs, its TikTok-style comedy feed that pulls funny clips from its catalog, for Android. Previously exclusive for iOS users, the feature will be available for Android in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Ireland, India, Malaysia, Philippines and other select markets. 

As promised earlier in the year, Samsung is removing ads from its first-party mobile apps. As of today, you won’t see the company advertise things to you in Samsung Pay, Weather, Theme and Health. Reports of the change first started to filter out on Samsung’s Community Forum in South Korea, with 9to5Google and TizenHelp later spotting the posts. Engadget saw the change go through when we updated the software on one of our Galaxy Flip 3 review units.   

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Almost universally across the apps, you won’t see banner ads anymore. The only exception to this rule is Samsung Pay where there’s a section of the main interface dedicated to special offers, but that makes sense in the context of the software. If you still see ads on your Samsung phone, it looks like you can push through the update by using the force stop functionality in Android to manually restart the Pay, Weather, Health and Theme apps.

First announced back in January at Samsung's Galaxy S21 event, Hyundai revealed on Thursday that its upcoming GV60 crossover will be the first to work with the phonemaker's newfangled Digital Key — at least for GV60 owners living in Korea.

The Digital Key utilizes NFC and ultra wideband (UWB) technologies to grant drivers passive access to their vehicles — that is, so long as your Galaxy phone is in your possession, the vehicle will open automatically as you approach. The key can also be shared with "family and friends" according to a Thursday media release from Hyundai, though they'll need to own a Galaxy S21+ or Ultra, Note20 Ultra, or a Z Fold 2 or 3 for it to work. The system is designed to run on Android 12 and later, assuming your phone has a UWB chip, though it will also operate via NFC if you don't. 

Hyundai touts Samsung's embedded Secure Element (eSE) in terms of data protection and notes that the UWB-based transmission system is highly resistant to interception, cloning or jamming. Whether that security scheme will stand up to a mugger bonking you on the head, then taking your phone and your car remains to be seen. The digital key feature is expected to launch in Korea by the end of this year.

Google announced back in May that it planned to begin offering its own digital key system — separate from what Samsung has developed — on "select Pixel and Galaxy phones" with UWB capabilities. We've now seen UWB in the Galaxy, does that mean the Pixel 6 could offer it as well?

After debuting on Nintendo Switch toward the start of the year, Monster Hunter Rise is finally making its way to PC. The latest entry in Capcom’s much-loved action RPG series will make the jump to Steam on January 12th, 2022, the publisher announced on Thursday.

It looks like PC fans can look forward to a thoughtful port. Not only will the Windows release include all previously available content for the title, but Capcom has also promised it will allow you to play the game at 4K with an unlocked framerate and on widescreen monitors. Additionally, the PC version will feature optimized keyboard and mouse controls and much sharper textures than you’ll find on the Switch release. Lastly, Monster Hunter Rise’s upcoming Sunbreak expansion will arrive on both Switch and PC sometime in the summer of 2022.

Ahead of the game’s January 12th release date, Capcom will release a Steam demo of Monster Hunter Rise on October 13th. It will include all 14 weapons types found in the final game, allowing players to get a good sense of what Rise is all about.

Sony has acquired Bluepoint Games, the Austin-based studio best known for remaking Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus. Financial terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed. Rumors that Sony was buying Bluepoint started to spread online right around the time the company acquired Returnal developer Housemarque in late June. Sony didn’t say whether Bluepoint will continue to focus its efforts on remastering past titles or if it will work on an entirely new IP now that it’s part of the PlayStation Studios family.

“PlayStation has such an iconic gaming catalog and for us there’s been nothing better than to bring some of gaming’s masterpieces to new players,” said Marco Thrush, the president of Bluepoint Games. “Becoming a part of PlayStation Studios empowers our team to raise the quality-bar even further and create even more impactful experiences for the PlayStation community.”

With the announcement of today’s deal, Sony has acquired three studios in the past year. That number increases to four over more than two years if you include its 2019 purchase of Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games. That’s a significant change of pace for a company that was previously much slower to buy up external developers to bolster its first-party lineup. But then a lot has changed in just the last year. Microsoft’s recent $7.5 billion deal to buy Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media means many highly anticipated games like Starfield aren’t coming to PlayStation anymore. Sony needs the kind of talent that’s at Bluepoint to keep pace.

I didn't expect much from the second-generation Sonos Beam. It has the same exact speaker components as the original, a device we already loved. The main difference is that the new Beam also has more processing power to handle Dolby Atmos surround sound. I tend to want more in a sequel, especially since in this case Gen 2 costs $50 more at $450. But even though it's more of a revision, the new Beam still manages to deliver a wider, more immersive soundscape than before. It proves that having a dollop of Dolby Atmos can go a long way.

The original Sonos Beam was a predictable hit. Consumers were hungry for soundbars to beef up their flatscreen TVs, and it turned out that many people also wanted a cheaper alternative to Sonos's two TV solutions at the time , the aging Playbar and the awkwardly shaped PlayBase, both priced at $699. Enter the $400 Beam: it was compact enough to fit in small living rooms; featured Amazon Alexa built in; and, most importantly, it sounded great. It was an accessible entry point into Sonos's family of connected speakers, pluss an easy upgrade for existing customers.

The new Beam looks almost the same as before; the only difference is that it has a perforated plastic grille around its curved exterior, a departure from the thin cloth covering on the previous-gen model. It's still surprisingly small, measuring just 25.6 inches wide and weighing a mere six pounds. It has the same rear ports, too: Ethernet, HDMI and power. You'll need to plug it into an HDMI ARC/eARC socket on your TV to tap into the power of Dolby Atmos and TrueHD. (But if you've got an older set, you can get basic Dolby Digital decoding with the bundled HDMI to optical adapter.)

Speaking of Atmos, that was a major deficiency on the earlier Beam. When that speaker was released in 2018, soundbar makers like Vizio were already exploring what was possible with Dolby's new technology. Typically, that involved using upward-firing speakers to bounce sound off of your ceiling. And, despite seeming like a bit of an audio hack, in my experience those speakers do a decent job of replicating what you get from Atmos-equipped cinemas, which have dedicated hardware built into their ceilings. There are limits, though: Upward-firing Atmos speakers tend to max out with 15-foot ceilings, and they work best with flat surfaces.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Given the additional hardware and room requirements, why go through the trouble of getting Atmos hardware at all? Simply put, it makes for more room-filling surround sound than traditional 5.1 solutions like Dolby Digital and DTS. Those earlier technologies sent sound to specific channels — left, right, center, two rears and a subwoofer. Atmos is different: It's object based, allowing engineers to map sounds in 3D (XYZ) space coordinates. That lets an Atmos mix automatically scale up anywhere from two speakers (or basic stereo support) to 64 in cinemas.

Sonos is no stranger to Atmos soundbars: It's the defining feature on the $899 Arc. But what makes the second-generation Beam unique is that it doesn't even have upward-firing speakers. It has the same basic hardware as before: a center tweeter, four mid-woofers for mid-range sound, and three passive radiators to handle the low-end. Instead, it's relying entirely on audio processing to simulate the Dolby Atmos experience. The additional CPU speed allows it to power two additional channels: height and surround for both the left and right speakers.

When Sonos first announced the second-gen Beam, I immediately wondered how the heck it could provide any height channels without adding more speakers. It turns out, the company leaned even more heavily into psychoacoustics, or the science of how we perceive sound. According to Scott Fink, the product manager behind all of Sonos's home theater gear, the company can tweak the audio timing and frequency to make it seem as if sound is coming from the side, or slightly above you. It's no replacement for having actual speakers dedicated to blasting height channels, but it worked surprisingly well in my testing.

During the opening chase in Baby Driver, for example, I could hear cars whizzing by my ears, the roar of powerful engines and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's "Bellbottoms" filling my family room. That same scene on the original Beam sounded fine, but there was no sense of enveloping surround sound. The second-generation model just sounded like a richer experience, as if cotton balls were removed from my ears.

The same was true while revisiting 2015's (seriously underrated) The Man from U.N.C.L.E., or the epic car-turned-motorcycle chase in MIssion Impossible: Rogue Nation. The new Beam is a tiny speaker meant to make a meal of bombastic action sequences, and it does so without distorting or breaking a sweat. Sonos also focused on making dialog clearer too, something I appreciated when conversations were happening amid those huge set pieces.

Mostly, though, I was impressed by what Sonos was able to do with such a small device. You can find soundbars and wireless surround sound systems for less than $450, and many will deliver bigger sound. But Sonos offers things other systems don't. For one, it's easy to set up: You just plug it into the appropriate ports and step through the process on Sonos's app. With competing products, you may also have to find spots to hold rear speakers, which still need to plug into power. As great as the new Beam sounds, though, it's no match for the Atmos capabilities of the Arc. But for half the price, I wouldn't expect it to.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

When it comes to synchronized audio throughout your home, Sonos is still the connected speaker company to beat. There's no easier way to program music for house parties (and outdoor shindigs with the portable Roam and Move speakers). The second-gen Beam is a solid addition to the family when it comes to music, though it's less of an immediate upgrade compared to movies. It'll support Dolby Atmos on Amazon Music later this year, but that service currently doesn't have a huge number of Atmos tracks. Sonos isn't saying when it'll support Atmos on Apple Music, but there's technically nothing stopping that from happening down the line.

The new Beam sounded fine while playing back some of my favorite albums, like Bjork's Homogenic and Janelle Monae's The Electric Lady, with a decent sense of presence and some thumping low-end. But it didn't sound dramatically different like it did with action movies. Amazon Music's Ultra HD mix of Marvin Gayes' "What's Going On" sounded very crisp and clear, but I'll be more interested in hearing what the Atmos version of that song sounds like eventually. On my Echo Studio, that Atmos mix almost sounds like Gaye is performing a live concert right in front of you.

And speaking of Echo devices, the Beam’s Alexa integration still works well. Its far-field microphones can hear me from the other side of my large family room, and it supports all of the same commands as Amazon’s own devices. It could easily replace an Echo in the same room, but you can also just mute the microphone and keep your Amazon account unlinked if you don’t want to have it listening in.

The Sonos Beam excels at being a simple and compact soundbar that'll give you a large soundstage for movies. But I'd recommend sitting back and thinking about what's really important to you. Do you care more about having a clean TV setup without many wires? Or do you want a soundbar system with more realistic surround sound? (Actual rears, a subwoofer and upward-firing Atmos speakers.) If so, you've also got great options like Vizio's M-series 5.1.2 for around $500.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

You could eventually build a Sonos surround sound system around the Beam by adding two One speakers as rears, as well as the company's wireless subwoofer. But those two pieces of hardware alone would run you another $1,150 (or you could buy them all bundled together for $1,499). If you're going that route, you might as well jump straight to the $899 Arc to have the best possible Sonos system.

The second-generation Sonos Beam isn’t a huge leap ahead of the original, but it’s still a better soundbar overall thanks to the addition of Atmos. If you already own a Beam, you don’t need to run out and grab one. But it’s a solid sub-$500 soundbar if you want to take your movie watching up a notch.

Note: Sonos is a former sponsor of my movie podcast, The Filmcast, but that hasn't stopped me from being critical of the company.

Swiss company ABB, which supplies EV chargers to Ionity and Electrify America, has unveiled what it calls the "world's fastest electric car charger," Reuters has reported. As its name suggests, the Terra 360 has a 360 kW capacity, meaning it could fully charge a (theoretical) EV in 15 minutes. More realistically, it can charge four vehicles simultaneously, saving space at charging stations. 

The Terra 360 isn't the most powerful charger by much, as companies like Electrify America, Ionity and EVGo have been using 350 kW chargers manufactured by ABB and others since at least 2018. However, it's the "only charger designed explicitly to charge up to four vehicles at once," the company said. "This gives owners the flexibility to charge up to four vehicles overnight or to give a quick refill to their EVs in the day." They also have a relatively small footprint, allowing installation in small depots or parking lots. 

There aren't a lot of EVs that can handle that kind of charge. The fastest-charging EV available is Hyundai's Ioniq 5, which supports DC fast-charging at up to 350 kW, in theory. The only two approaching that are Porsche's Taycan, with 270 kW of charging capacity and the new Lucid Air, which allows for up to 300 kW fast-charging. Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y EVs can charge at up to 250 kW. 

Such high charging levels aren't necessarily great for an EV's battery. Porsche, for instance, has a battery preservation setting on its Plug & Charge Taycan feature that lowers voltage to 200 kW from the maximum 270 kW allowed — so it's essentially acknowledging that faster charging degrades the battery. On top of that, extreme charging levels don't necessarily save you much time, as Car and Driver found. Tesla recently promised to upgrade its own Supercharger V3 network from 250kW to 300kW. 

ABB's new chargers will be able to add 100 km (62 miles) of range in less than three minutes. They'll arrive in Europe by the end of the year and start rolling out in the US and elsewhere in 2022.

Compared to what we were driving just a decade ago, today's connected cars and trucks are practically computers on wheels. From content streaming infotainment systems to the background processes that interpret sensor data and power the advanced driver assist features, software has become a fundamental component in modern vehicles. To better manage those countless lines of code, GM announced on Wednesday that it has developed an end-to-end software platform, dubbed Ulfiti (rhymes with "multiply").

GM's latest vehicles already enjoy features like OTA software updates and on-board internet connectivity thanks to the company's Vehicle Intelligence Platform (VIP). the Linux-based Ulfiti is designed to sit on top of that existing architecture and serve as a central hub for select software systems, separating them from the vehicle's core operations. 

"In all of the embedded controllers, we refactored them and extracted the software from the hardware out of them, making them available to our SOA layer," Scott Miller, Vice President of Software Defined Vehicle. at General Motors, said during a recent teleconference. "Basically we're abstracting them and making them available for a powerful hub for all the vehicle's systems."

"Then we're adding this service oriented layer on our high performance computing that we have in the vehicle for infotainment and safety," he continued. "And we're going to organize those abstractions as services."

This will enable GM to more quickly develop and deploy updates, new features and apps to customers. In essence, Ultifi will serve a similar function as Android does on smartphones — an API layer sitting between the underlying hardware and the end user. GM did note that Ultifi will run in conjunction with existing automotive OSes, such as Android Automotive, which GM announced in 2019 it would begin supporting. 

"Android Automotive is a certain subset of functionality in the car," Darryl Harrison, GM's Director of Global Product Development, explained. "Ultifi is more of an umbrella overall strategy. Some vehicles will have Android Automotive and some will have other infotainment apps and services."

In essence, GM wants to treat your vehicle like a rolling smartphone, offering users continuous OTA updates, cloud-based personalization options that drivers can transfer between GM vehicles, and smart home connectivity. The company is also considering pushing out various safety and comfort upgrades through via OTA, such as using the vehicle's onboard cameras to automatically engage the child locks when they detect children in the back seat or remotely closing the vehicle's sunroof if you parked outdoors and the weather forecast calls for rain.  

GM is also considering using Ultifi to offer subscription services to users, such as on-demand Supercruise that drivers can enable on long road trips but cancel once they reach their destination. Ulfiti could also allow for improved V2V (vehicle to vehicle) and V2X (vehicle to everything) applications including near-real time traffic and road hazard updates. Expect to see Ulfiti in select GM vehicles — both internal combustion and EV — starting in 2023.            

Sony's flagship noise-cancelling headphones and tech-filled true wireless earbuds were refreshed with new 1000XM4 models in recent months. However, the company's more affordable options are still due for a refresh, and Sony begins that process today. With the WF-C500, the company offers a solid set of true wireless earbuds capable of handling immersive 360 Reality Audio for $100. And if over-ear noise-cancelling headphones are more your vibe, the WF-XB910N pairs ANC (active noise cancellation) with 30-hour battery life for $250. 

The true wireless WF-C500 replaces the WF-XB700 at the bottom of Sony's price range. What's more, they're $30 cheaper than the XB700 was initially at $99.99. This substitution is a good thing because despite handling the basics well, the tiered design wasn't as ergonomic or comfy as the company suggested. With the WF-C500, Sony takes design cues from its high-end WF-1000XM4 earbuds. The result is smaller size and a more secure fit that should be more comfortable during hours of continuous use. And an IPX4 rating means you can use these during workouts without worrying about moisture damage. 

Inside, the C500 is equipped with Sony's DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) that restores some of the detail lost when music is compressed for streaming over Bluetooth. The company also allows you employ sound presets and adjust the EQ with its Headphones app. Plus, you have the option of listening in Sony's 360 Reality Audio if you're willing to splurge for the priciest streaming plan on select services (Amazon Music HD, Tidal HiFi, etc.). On-board controls give you the ability to manage music, adjust volume, take calls and activate a voice assistant without reaching for your phone. Lastly, the C500 will give you up to 10 hours of listening time with one additional charge in the included case. A quick-charge feature offers an hour of tunes in 10 minutes. 

The WF-C500 is available for pre-order today, but colors vary by retailer. Sony will offer them in black, as will Amazon, Best Buy and Target. Exclusive colors include white (Amazon), green (Best Buy) and orange (Target). The earbuds are set to ship in October. 

Sony

For the over-ear noise-cancelling crowd, the WH-XB910N replaces the WH-XB900N in the middle of Sony's headphone lineup. The price stays the same at $249.99, but the company offers a new design and improved ANC thanks to a Dual Noise Sensor. As the "XB" signifies, this model is equipped with the company's Extra Bass feature that amps up the low-end tone when activated. DSEE tech makes streaming over Bluetooth a bit more enjoyable by restoring detail lost to compression. The XB910N can also manage Sony's 360 Reality Audio content and employs Adaptive Sound Control, a staple of the company's pricier headphones, that can automatically adjust settings based on activity or location. 

Sony is also angling at the remote working crowd here. The company explains that Precise Voice Pickup tech uses a combination of microphones and signal processing to amplify your voice on calls. There's also "a more natural listening experience" in ambient sound mode as Sony says the XB910N can pick up more of what's going on around you. That's handy whether you need to stay tuned in to what's going on either at home or in the office. On-board controls include Sony's quick attention feature which lets outside noise in when you place your hand over an earcup and there's a dedicated button to quickly change from ANC to ambient sound. 

Sony says the XB910N will last up to 30 hours with the option of 4.5 hours of listening time after a 10-minute quick charge. To further cater to travelers, the company opted for soft, oval-shaped earpads for extra cushion and a design that folds flat for easy storage. If you prefer to save even more on your noise-cancelling headphones, the excellent WH-CH710N will stick around and are currently $98. Although they lack a lot of the handy features from Sony's other models, the noise-cancelling CH710N are light and comfy, handling the basics very well for that price.

The WF-C500 is available for pre-order today, and once again, the colors vary by retailer. Sony will offer them in black, as will Amazon and Best Buy. Exclusive colors include blue (Amazon) and gray (Best Buy). The headphones are scheduled to ship in October.