NVIDIA has released a major update for its Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology. With version 2.3 of the software, the company says the AI algorithm makes smarter use of motion vectors to improve how objects look when they’re moving. The update also helps to reduce ghosting, make particle effects look clearer and improve temporal stability. The latter has traditionally been one of the weakest aspects of the technology, so DLSS 2.3 represents a major improvement. As of today, 16 games feature support for DLSS 2.3. Highlights include Cyberpunk 2077, Deathloop and Doom Eternal.
If you don’t own an RTX GPU but still want to take advantage of the performance boost you can get from upscaling a game, NVIDIA has updated its Image Scaling technology to improve both fidelity and performance. Accessible through the NVIDIA Control Panel, the tool uses spatial upscaling to do the job. That means the result isn’t as clean as the temporal method DLSS uses, but the advantage is you don’t need special hardware. To that end, NVIDIA is releasing an SDK that will allow any GPU, regardless of make, to take advantage of the technology. In that way, NVIDIA says game developers can offer the best of both worlds: DLSS for the best possible image quality and NVIDIA Image Scaling for cross-platform support.
Over the past few years, Google has been trying to repair its reputation as a source for disinformation by launching multiple programs, particularly the Google News Initiative. Now, the company has teamed with PBS Student Report Labs (SRL) and other journalism organizations on programs designed to strengthen media literacy for students, educators and the public.
Google and Student Report Labs are creating educational resources aimed at teaching young people how to talk about misinformation with older family members and friends, Google wrote. "Through storytelling and co-production with students, we’ll explore the media literacy needs of different communities and generations, and how they can connect with each other to find solutions,” says SRL Founder Leah Clapman. As an example, Google referenced an SRL YouTube video called "What does a school board do?" (below).
Google also teamed with the News Literacy Project (NLP), a nonpartisan national education nonprofit, to again provide media literacy education to students, teachers and the public. Google aims to bring its "Newsroom to Classroom" initiative to more journalists and educators, helping NLP expand it to areas in California, Colorado, Texas, Iowa and Nebraska, "places hit particularly hard by the decline in local news," according to Google.
Finally, Google is expanding its Spanish language outreach by teaming with Poynter's MediaWise project focused on students and seniors. It's joining forces with the team to translate their "How to Spot Misinformation Online" course in Spanish and creating a text-based version that will be delivered via SMS, "which is how many seniors find and share news," the company wrote.
Google said the efforts will bolster its existing projects like Fact Check Explorer and "about this result" from Search. However, the company has a long way to go to assuage critics in the public and governments around the world that it's beating the misinformation that still plagues its various platforms.
1Password's latest major update is now out of early access and is officially available for Windows 11. The version, called 1Password 8, features a brand new design and new productivity and security capabilities. Company chief experience officer Matt Davey said 1Password created a whole new design language dubbed Knox for the project to help ensure consistency across devices. As we mentioned in the past, categories have moved from the sidebar to a dropdown menu, and you'll also see new icons and the option to switch to dark mode.
The new version was built to be faster than its predecessor, with a feature called Quick Access that gives you a way to find and use saved credentials even when the 1Password app isn't open. There's also a new Item Catalog feature that guides you through the process of viewing or adding items, and smart suggestions that recommend matches as soon as you type in your search term.
On the security front, 1Password 8 comes with a new Watchtower Dashboard that helps you identify weak or compromised passwords and inactive two-factor log-ins. You'll also be able to restore deleted items, which can be extremely helpful for when accidents happen, and you'll be able to share log-in details with anyone through Psst! The company introduced the password-sharing feature in October, giving you a way to safely share logins with co-workers or clients even if they don't have an account themselves.
1Password also made the latest version available for early access on Macs in August, a couple of months after early access came out for Windows. It has yet to announce when general availability will be open for Mac users, but it did say in the past that it expects to release 1Password 8 for Apple's OS later this year.
Yes, you can play Halo Infinite now, but only multiplayer. That's only part of the Xbox news, however.
To celebrate the Xbox’s 20th anniversary — beyond the Gucci console — Microsoft announced its final additions to the Xbox backward compatibility program, a heady 76 games. Highlights include the entire Max Payne series and F.E.A.R franchise, as well as Skate 2.
Many will look much better, too: The Xbox Series X and Xbox One X will render those titles at four times their native resolution, while 11 of the titles will support FPS Boost, which increases the framerate of a game up to 60 frames per second.
Microsoft says this is the final update. Games that haven’t quite made it were limited by “licensing, legal and technical constraints,” said Xbox Compatibility Program Lead Peggy Lo.
That’s hardly any money for a streaming stick. The new Roku LE is an IR-controlled 1080p HDMI-connected streaming player with an included HDMI cable. And I repeat: It’s only $15.
The campaign is still scheduled to land on December 8th.
As rumored, Microsoft confirmed it’s releasing the free Halo Infinite multiplayer mode before the full game. The standalone mode is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Players can access it through Xbox Cloud Gaming later today. The Halo Infinite campaign release date is still set for December 8th, and your multiplayer progress will carry over. A few features will be missing at launch, however. Both campaign co-op and Forge modes will arrive later after launch.
Last year, California's supreme court ruled that Apple broke the law by failing to pay employees while they waited for mandatory bag and iPhone searches. Now, Apple has offered to pay $30 million to settle the suit, and lawyers for the employees have urged them to accept it.
Employees launched the suit way back in 2013, saying they weren't paid while being searched for stolen merchandise or trade secrets. The workers felt they were still under Apple's "control" during that five- to 20-minute process and should, therefore, be compensated. Apple, in turn, argued that the employees could choose not to bring their bags or iPhones, thus avoiding a search in the first place.
20 years ago today, the original Xbox arrived. Back then it was pretty risky. Microsoft, the company that brought us gaming hits like Solitaire and Minesweeper, was the first American firm to release a gaming system in eight years. We take a look back at what Microsoft did right. Oh, and that huge controller.
First-time subscribers can get the All Apps plan for $30 per month.
Between today and December 3rd, Adobe’s Creative Cloud All Apps plan is 40 percent off for first-time customers. The bundle includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro and Acrobat. With the discount, it costs $30 per month, down from $53. If you're a student, you can get almost 70 percent off the plan, making it $16 per month.
Both older Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Active models will benefit.
Along with the release of its One UI 4.0 update for its Galaxy phones, Samsung has revealed new Galaxy Watch software that brings features from its latest Watch 4 model to four older smartwatches. With the Galaxy Watch 4, Samsung introduced Fall Detection with more levels of sensitivity and the ability to enable detection even if you're standing still. It will also send an SOS alert to approved contacts. That update is now available on the Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2. It also adds 10 new watch faces and more accurate health tracking, too.
OnePlus has dabbled in special-edition phones for years, but this time, it's moving from iconic cars to iconic video games. The company has unveiled the OnePlus Nord 2 x Pac-Man edition with custom covers, themed wallpapers and even a Lego-like smartphone holder.
It goes on sale tomorrow for £499/€529/₹37,999 in the UK, Europe and India respectively, and as with the regular Nord 2, isn't available in the US.
Snap has signed a music licensing deal with Sony Music Entertainment. The partnership means Snapchat users will have access to songs from Sony artists. With today’s announcement, the company has licensing deals with all the major music labels. And Snap plans to take advantage of the milestone by launching new AR music filters.
Sometime “soon,” the company says it will release a set that will feature pre-selected songs embedded in the filter. Additionally, they’ll be ones that allow you to make it look like you're singing along to a song and yet another set that adds you and a friend to an animated music video. In short, Snapchat is becoming more like TikTok and Instagram. You’ll know you’re about to add one of the new filters if there’s a musical note next to it.
You don’t have to look far to find out why Snap is doing this. Since launching the Sounds feature last year, the company notes its users have created more than 1.2 billion videos, leading to nearly 77 billion views. In other words, music has been great for Snapchat’s engagement metrics.
Rumors started swirling over the last few days that Microsoft will release the free Halo Infinite multiplayer mode before the full game. During its Xbox 20th anniversary event, the company confirmed that's the case. The standalone mode is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
In honor of Halo's 20th anniversary, your Spartan journey officially begins today. Dive into Season 1 of #HaloInfinite, in the multiplayer beta starting today on Xbox and PC!
The Halo Infinite campaign release date is still set for December 8th, though a few features will be missing at launch. The campaign co-op and Forge modes will be released later, because 343 Industries wanted to focus on the quality of the single-player and multiplayer modes.
IBM claims it has taken a major step toward practical quantum computation. On Monday, the company unveiled Eagle, a 127 qubit quantum processor. IBM claims it’s the first such processor that can’t be simulated by a classical supercomputer. To make sense of what that means, the company says to simulate Eagle you would need more classical bits than there are atoms in every human being on the planet. IBM is crediting the breakthrough to a new design that puts the processor’s control components on multiple physical levels while the qubits are located on a single layer. It’s a design the company says allows for a significant increase in computing power.
One aspect of Eagle the company isn’t talking about at the moment is quantum volume. Cointed by IBM, it’s a metric that attempts to measure the performance of a quantum computer by taking a holistic view of its different parts. Not only does it take into account qubits, but also the way in which they interact with one another. The higher the quantum volume, the more capable a quantum computer is at tackling difficult problems.
IBM
“Our first 127-qubit Eagle processor is available as an exploratory system on the IBM Cloud to select members of the IBM Quantum Network,” Jerry Chow, the director of IBM’s Quantum Hardware System Development unit, told Engadget. “Exploratory systems are early access to our latest technologies and so we do not guarantee uptime or a particular level of repeatable performance, as measured by quantum volume.”
Without knowing the quantum volume of the Eagle processor, it’s hard to say exactly how it compares to what's out there already. Last October, Honeywell claimed its System Model H1 had a quantum volume of 128 with just 10 connected qubits. For reference, earlier in the year IBM announced a 27 qubit system with a then industry-leading quantum volume of 64. Clearly, the company’s new processor is powerful, but qubits don’t tell the whole story here.
What’s also notable about Eagle is that IBM is not claiming quantum supremacy. According to the company, it’s a step toward that milestone, but the processor is not yet at the point where it can solve problems that classical computers cannot. In 2019, Google sparked controversy when it (briefly) claimed it had achieved the feat with its Sycamore system. At the time, IBM called the company’s claims “indefensible” based on the fact Google built the computer to solve one specific equation.
IBM will make Eagle available to select members of its Quantum Network starting next month.
Apple's digital ID card support in iOS 15 may be convenient, but it also comes with tight requirements for the governments that use them. CNBC has learned states using Apple's system are required to not only run the platforms for issuing and checking credentials, but hire managers to handle Apple's requests and meet the iPhone maker's performance reporting expectations. States also have to "prominently" market the feature and encourage other government agencies (both state and federal) to adopt the technology.
Contracts are nearly identical for Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma, some of the earliest adopters of the program. That suggests other states, including Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland and Utah, may have to honor similar terms.
Apple declined to comment. A representative for Arizona's Transportation Department told CNBC there were no payments to Apple or other "economic considerations," though the states would have to cover the costs.
The details raise a number of concerns. While it isn't surprising that states would have pay for at least some of the expenses, the contracts give a private company a significant amount of control over the use and promotion of government systems while asking governments to foot the bills. There's also the question of what happens when Android digital IDs become available — how do states juggle multiple platforms? Apple isn't preventing states from offering IDs on Android, but its requirements could give it a significant early advantage.
After iOS 14 really shook up the iPhone’s interface with stackable widgets and an app library, iOS 15 at launch didn’t seem so dramatic. Given that several major features, like SharePlay were delayed, little seemed different from the public beta. But now, with iOS 15.1, everything seems to be in full working order. It’s time to put Apple’s latest mobile OS through its paces.
SharePlay is finally here
Mat Smith/Engadget
We had to wait until iOS 15.1 for SharePlay — one of the few significant features inside this otherwise quiet update. All things SharePlay are underpinned by the FaceTime app. We’ve got a guide on using SharePlay right here, but the major point is that not all apps are compatible.
You need to start a FaceTime call before doing anything SharePlay. Then, once connected to someone, you can open a supported app and you'll see an alert at the top of the screen asking if you want to stream your content to your FaceTime contact. They will then see a pop-up, asking them to join you.
Shared shows and content are impressively lag-free and can be navigated by anyone watching, so your friends can pause a TV show if they need to make a snack run. A picture-in-picture box offers a view of all the callers. It’s a little tight on an iPhone, but works well on Apple TV and iPads. When shows offer multiple subtitles and audio options, everyone can listen/read in their chosen languages.
There are also a few games compatible with SharePlay, but you’ll probably tend toward the free-to-play options, like the charades-based game, Heads-Up. (Testing it out with other Engadget editors was far more fun than it had any right to be.)
Fitness Plus, Apple’s on-demand workouts service, also works with SharePlay. Of course, you’ll need an Apple Watch to participate, but it’s a fun way to share a workout, and have someone to complain along with you. The app did an excellent job dipping out the Fitness Plus audio when my companion talked. Sometimes it’d pick up ambient noise, like distant door slams, but it was cool to be able to hear that someone else was sweating (and swearing) along with me, while still being in the privacy of my apartment.
Unfortunately, your favorite streaming service may not work on SharePlay. There’s currently no YouTube or Netflix, but Apple has managed to rope in TikTok, HBO Max, Hulu, Showtime, Paramount Plus, and the NBA. There are some third-party fitness apps (including SmartGym), but nothing hugely notable.
There is potential here, I just wish it wasn’t joined at the hip to FaceTime. I would have appreciated the ability to SharePlay from say, Apple TV+, and then put in the details of whoever I wanted to share with once I’d picked something — That order would make more sense.
While I might not be a FaceTime regular, I can appreciate the upgrades in iOS 15. For example, you can share your FaceTime calls beyond Apple’s walled garden, to anything with a web browser. This works best on Apple devices, but it’s relatively stable compared to the open beta we tried earlier this year. You’ll also immediately notice the new grid view that brings Apple up to parity with other video call services, like Google Hangouts or Zoom.
There’s also spatial audio — which makes each person on your FaceTime call sound like they’re coming from a particular direction. It’s not life-changing, but it’s a nice flourish. What’s even better are the new voice isolation and wide modes, the latter of which intentionally draws in more ambient noise. Those are also available outside of Apple’s own video call app. I inadvertently turned it on for some WhatsApp video calls with family while trying to console a cranky toddler — the caller had no idea that my niece was having a complete meltdown. Naturally, noise-cancellation effectiveness can vary, but in general, I found it impressive.
Focus modes
Mat Smith/Engadget
Apple’s attempt to help us claw back some of our life from our smartphones is a welcome one. Compared to Screentime, which came along with iOS 12, Focus seems more robust. It’s better equipped to help you steer away from your phone, and less about telling you about what you already know — you spent over 40 minutes reading Reddit when you should have been sleeping.
Focus offers multiple different profiles, evolving the single Do Not Disturb toggle from before. There are three placeholders to start with: Work, Bedtime and Personal, but there’s no stopping you from adding more focus modes to cover perhaps, gym trips or when you offer your phone to your kids.
There’s also a toggle within the Focus menus that allows compatible apps (there aren’t many) to notify anyone trying to contact you that messages were “delivered quietly.” If it’s very important, they can “send anyway” and it’ll still ping you. Of course, this is only when dealing with iOS users. Android users won’t have any hint that their message won’t be read.
In iOS 15, you can automate the transitions so that your device ‘locks you out’ when you should be filing your review draft and not mired in the latest Apple Arcade game. This can be based on location, time or even on AI smarts. The phone learns from when you manually switch between modes and will suggest the same transition, hopefully, before you do it yourself.
Mat Smith/Engadget
Inside the Focus settings, you can approve both apps and contacts. If they’re not on the list, notifications are corralled away until you swap modes.
You can also use Focus modes to customize your interface. Inside the settings for each mode, you’ll need to make each new home screen page as an additional panel. Once enabled, you’ll only see the panels enabled in that particular Focus mode — though the app drawer is always just a few swipes away…
If it’s any kind of endorsement, I set up a ‘sleep’ focus mode that interrupts messages and most things after 10 PM, protecting myself from some of the chaos of an international Engadget team and friends that are very much night owls. So far, it’s worked well.
A smarter iOS, again
Apple’s machine learning takes a few more steps forward in iOS 15. They’re small additions, but they point to where Apple is taking its mobile OS.
A handful of them are based on imaging. Visual Look-up will, er, look up photos on your iPhone, identifying people, places and more. It’s something that Google’s done for years on Lens — which you could also have used on your iPhone.
Live Text is a little more compelling. It can identify and pull text from a photo, which you can then paste into emails or notes. You can even translate this text in real-time, making it useful for menus and signs as we gradually venture beyond our own borders again.
Spotlight in iOS 15 has also been given some machine-learning smarts. You can now search your Photos app without having to open the app. Type in dog, ramen or baby and you’ll see your own images of whatever you type in, if you have them. This also works for people, if you’ve assigned their faces to photos. Even more impressive, it’ll search the text within your photos, although I haven’t needed it yet. This can backfire though: I have a photo of a Lulu Lemon tote bag (don’t ask), which is covered in random words. Apple has indexed all of them.
Mat Smith/Engadget
Across iOS 15, you’ll notice a new “Shared with You” section that’s based entirely on your Messages app and what content and links people have sent you. You’ll see it across Safari, Photos, Podcasts, Apple Music, and more.
Any content that someone shares with you on Messages will populate in the corresponding app. It works seamlessly, but it’s also only for all things Apple. I got the most use from sending and receiving photos, but I could see the utility being heavily tied to how many of my friends and family are watching TV Plus — or are iPhone users to begin with.
Safari got some surprising changes too. Yes, the address bar has now been relocated to the bottom of the screen — closer to fingers on ever bigger iPhones. While it’ll take a while to remember that’s where the URL box lives now, it makes sense. And, if you absolutely can’t tolerate it, you can turn off this design change. It’s a rare bit of flexibility from Apple.
Mat Smith/Engadget
Safari on iOS 15 also introduces extensions, like Safari has on Macs. Sadly, the best extension (and the only one I’m using) is Noir which tries to force a ‘dark mode’ effect on any websites you browse on Safari. It’s another area that could be more compelling in a year’s time.
Many of Apple’s other apps have picked up subtle upgrades too. Apple Maps continues its slow path to redemption with improved transit instructions and augmented-reality walking instructions. There’s a deeper level of detail for several cities, including New York, San Francisco and London, including bike lanes.
With the Weather app, you can now set up notifications for when it’s about to rain or snow, borrowed from Dark Sky, a weather app that Apple recently bought. And the Health app does a better job of notifying you of trends, like weight and physical activity. This week, I got a notification saying that my VO2 levels have improved since taking up daily HIIT classes, meaning that regardless of weight loss or what I see in the mirror, my cardiovascular system is getting stronger.
If you’re paying for iCloud, or Apple’s One service, you’ll get a few extras with iOS 15. It now includes a baked-in private relay that will scramble traffic at both ends of your internet connection — iOS will flag when it is turned on or off. It’s useful simply because it’s so entrenched within the OS, with no need to toggle it on or off. The paid-for service also adds the ability to make your own “burner” email addresses that auto-forward to your main email account. These work in places where the Sign in with Apple feature, which does a similar thing, isn’t supported.
Supported devices
Like iOS 14 before it, Apple supports devices from the iPhone 6s onwards, including the first iPhone SE and the 7th generation iPod touch. However, some features, especially ones that rely on AI and machine learning, depend on more modern mobile chips. You’ll need a device with an A12 chip, first used in 2018’s iPhone Xs, to use FaceTime’s new voice-isolation mode, spatial audio and its blurred-background Portrait mode. Offline Siri support and further Siri performance upgrades also need the same A12 chip or newer. The fancy cinematic video recording mode also remains exclusive to the iPhone 13 Pro models.
Wrap-up
Mat Smith/Engadget
iOS 15 is a quiet update. It can be hard to spot what’s changed unless you’re actively seeking out the differences. This isn’t a getting-rid-of-the-home-button edition of iOS.
Instead, Apple is both focusing on sharing as a way to court people outside of iOS while keeping those already committed to its apps deeply entrenched.
With FaceTime web links, SharePlay, and those new Shared With You sections, the company is coaxing you into sharing photos in Messages, stretching in a Fitness Plus yoga session with friends, or watching the latest season of Ted Lasso with family hundreds of miles away.
Apple wants you doing all those things Apple’s way, instead of through WhatsApp, Netflix or Peleton. That’s still a big ask, but Apple has weaved all these often disparate parts together so well, it’s easy to see what it’s trying to achieve, even if the content or flexibility isn’t quite there.
The next time you're watching a show on Prime Video and there's a moment that leaves you crying, laughing or feeling wowed, you might be able to share a clip of it with your friends. Prime Video users in the US can now try a clip feature on iOS.
Perhaps due to rights issues, the feature is limited to select Amazon Original series for now — season one of The Boys, The Wilds, Invincible and Fairfax — with more shows and movies to follow. When you're watching one of those shows, you can select the Share a Clip option. The app will pause the video and create a 30-second clip of what you just watched. You can move the starting point of the clip and watch a preview before sharing it on social networks or in a message.
The feature could come in handy if you ever feel the need to explain the appeal of Hot Priest from Fleabag in the future. Maybe you'll eventually be able to share a clip of one of James Bond's narrow escapes if Amazon's MGM deal goes through too.
