Joseph Staten, one of the creatives most closely associated with the Halo franchise, is leaving Microsoft. News of the departure was first reported on Friday by IGN. “We’re grateful for Joseph’s contributions to the Halo franchise and Xbox as a whole," Microsoft told the outlet. “We wish him all the best in his new adventure.” Staten later confirmed the news that same day. "Hey folks, I am indeed leaving Microsoft,” he said on Twitter. “I'll have more info to share soon, but for now, I'd just like to thank all my Xbox colleagues for all their understanding and support as I embark on a new adventure."

Staten was a writer and director of cinematics for Bungie’s first three Halo games and later served as a co-creative director for Destiny. He left the studio in 2013 and joined Microsoft the following year as a senior creative director on the Xbox Games Studios team. In 2020, he moved over to 343 Industries to help the studio complete work on Halo Infinite. Staten’s departure from Microsoft comes following months of uncertainty around 343 and the future of Halo. In January, the company reassigned Staten to its Xbox publishing division at the same time that it “cut at least” 95 jobs at the studio. Later that same month, Bloomberg reported the studio was “starting from scratch” on a new Halo game following its struggle to maintain interest in Infinite. 

SpaceX could conduct Starship’s first orbital flight test as early as the week after next. On Thursday, the private space firm tweeted new photos of the super heavy-lift rocket at its Boca Chica facility in Texas. “Starship fully stacked at Starbase,” SpaceX said of the images. “Team is working towards a launch rehearsal next week followed by Starship’s first integrated flight test ~week later pending regulatory approval.” That same day, SpaceX owner Elon Musk offered an even more aggressive timeline. “Starship is stacked & ready to launch next week, pending regulatory approval,” he said on Twitter.

The date of Starship’s first orbital flight has been a moving target for nearly two years. At the start of February, a week after SpaceX successfully carried out the rocket’s first-ever stacked fueling test, Musk said the company would attempt to launch Starship in March if its remaining tests went well. Days later, SpaceX attempted to static fire all of the vehicle’s 33 first-stage Raptor engines, something it had not tried to do before. The trial was a critical step toward Starship’s first orbital flight, though the rocket didn’t exactly ace the test, with two engines failing before the end of the firing.

Still, the timeline Musk shared this week may be overly optimistic. According to Space.com, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) set a provisional April 17th launch window for Starship. However, the outlet reports the FAA has yet to grant SpaceX a launch license for the rocket, something it will need to do before Starship can legally fly.

If you missed the chance to buy the PlayStation 5 God of War: Ragnarok bundle when it was $50 off last month, now you have another opportunity to do so. Amazon is again offering the bundle for $509, down from $560. With the discount, you’re effectively getting God of War: Ragnarok for $10 since the disc variant of the PS5 will set you back $499 on its own.

Before this year, Sony’s latest console was notoriously tricky to find in stores and online due to pandemic-related supply shortages. That meant the console rarely went on sale, so while $50 off is not much of a discount, it is an all-time low price for the disc version of the PS5. The fact you get God of War: Ragnarok, one of the PlayStation 5’s best games, in the bundle makes this an even better deal. Now is also the perfect time to play the game. Sony’s Santa Monica Studio recently released a hefty update for Ragnarok that added an NG+ mode, alongside new armor and enhancements for players to collect.

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On the surface, ChatGPT might seem like a tool that can come in useful for an array of work tasks. But before you ask the chatbot to summarize important memos or check your work for errors, it's worth remembering that anything you share with ChatGPT could be used to train the system and perhaps even pop up in its responses to other users. That's something several Samsung employees probably should have been aware of before they reportedly shared confidential information with the chatbot.

Soon after Samsung's semiconductor division started allowing engineers to use ChatGPT, workers leaked secret info to it on at least three occasions, according to The Economist Korea (as spotted by Mashable). One employee reportedly asked the chatbot to check sensitive database source code for errors, another solicited code optimization and a third fed a recorded meeting into ChatGPT and asked it to generate minutes.

Reports suggest that, after learning about the security slip-ups, Samsung attempted to limit the extent of future faux pas by restricting the length of employees' ChatGPT prompts to a kilobyte, or 1024 characters of text. The company is also said to be investigating the three employees in question and building its own chatbot to prevent similar mishaps. Engadget has contacted Samsung for comment.

ChatGPT's data policy states that, unless users explicitly opt out, it uses their prompts to train its models. The chatbot's owner OpenAI urges users not to share secret information with ChatGPT in conversations as it's “not able to delete specific prompts from your history.” The only way to get rid of personally identifying information on ChatGPT is to delete your account — a process that can take up to four weeks.

The Samsung saga is another example of why it's worth exercising caution when using chatbots, as you perhaps should with all your online activity. You never truly know where your data will end up.

Substack users woke to a strange surprise today when trying to share links on Twitter, finding an error message when interacting with any tweet featuring a Substack link. Tweets with an outgoing link to Substack cannot be retweeted, replied to or even liked. The error message states that “some actions on this tweet have been disabled by Twitter.” The loss in functionality even extends to tools like TweetDeck.

You can still tweet out Substack links, but that is where engagement ends. This could be a garden variety error, but it could be a response by Musk and Twitter to Substack’s recently-announced Twitter-esque Notes feature. After all, Twitter is no stranger to silencing rivals, both real and imagined. The social network briefly placed restrictions on tweets with outgoing links to Mastodon, Facebook, Instagram and Truth Social, even outlawing outgoing links to other social media profiles in bios. Musk has also experimented with banning journalists who cover Twitter and made other questionable decisions for a self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist.

The founders of Substack issued a response to the move and it certainly seems like they believe the restrictions were instituted on purpose and not part of a system error.

“We’re disappointed that Twitter has chosen to restrict writers’ ability to share their work. Writers deserve the freedom to share links to Substack or anywhere else. This abrupt change is a reminder of why writers deserve a model that puts them in charge,” the founders wrote.

There is another option beyond spite or a system error. It is possible Substack ran afoul of Twitter’s recently-announced API pricing scheme. The sheer number of links to Substack content from users would force the company to invest in the Enterprise-level API at $42,000 a month. If Substalk balked about these costs and Twitter caught wind of it, this could be another New York Times checkmark situation.

Substack says it is currently investigating the newly-imposed restrictions and that it will “share updates as additional information becomes available.” The company shared a blog post in which it expressed hope that these moves were made in error and stated that "cracks are starting to show in the internet’s legacy business models." We reached out to Substack and will update this post if the situation changes or if functionality is restored.

Outdoor pizza ovens are having a moment. The compact, portable models have become popular for both novice and pro cooks alike, allowing them to host casual pizza parties or cater events as part of a restaurant business. While the wood- and gas-burning ovens can be fun to use for all skill levels, they have to remain outdoors, and using wood or charcoal requires more attention.

After making some of the best outdoor pizza ovens, Ooni introduced its first electric model designed for indoor use in March. The Volt 12 ($999) encompasses everything from the company’s existing product line, from high-heat cooking to consistent results, and adds ease of use and baking versatility to the mix. This beast is big and expensive, but it also makes some damn good pizza.

Design

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

The Volt 12 looks like what I’d expect an electric pizza oven from Ooni to look like. It bears the most resemblance to the Karu 16, one of the largest models the company offers. The gray and black color scheme is on every current Ooni model, except for the all-silver multi-fuel Karu 12. Rather than a rectangle, the Volt 12 has angled corners, making it more of a flat octagon than a boring box. Ooni says the exterior is powder-coated and weather resistant so you can take it outdoors – not that you would want it to get too wet. Since this model is more of a countertop appliance than its open-flame predecessors, the Volt 12 has short, stubby legs rather than the longer, folding ones on the wood- and gas- burning units.

Only three Ooni models have glass doors that allow you to watch the entire cooking process. As an electric, indoor oven, the Volt 12 is one of those. Unlike the Karu 16 and Karu 12G, this panel is gloss black instead of metal. The door has a robust black handle that remains cool to the touch, even at 850 degrees, and a row of three control dials sit beneath the glass window. The only other button is an on/off switch on the left side of the front. This turns off the power completely. When this is switched on, the oven sits in standby mode until you hit the power button on the front that actually gets the Volt 12 ready to use.

On the left is the time dial with the power button above it. The center control is for temperature, which ranges from 350 to 850 degrees Fahrenheit. Lastly, the far right dial is for “balance,” allowing you to shift how much power is given to the top and bottom heating elements. In other words, you can put more emphasis on the stone for a crisper crust or more on the top for a bit more browning/char. The balance control also activates a boost feature that can be used to get the stone to return to target temp quickly between pizzas (it takes about 45 seconds). All three controls are flanked by white lights for precise level indications. During pre-heating, for example, the temperature dial starts at 350 and slowly moves around to your target, blinking along the way at the current status.

The bottom heating element sits underneath the stone – a 13-inch square cooking surface that can accommodate a variety of pans in addition to 12-inch pizza. There’s also an interior light that stays on the whole time, making it very easy to see how things are progressing without having to open the door.

Setup and use

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Before the first use, you’ll need to season Volt 12. This requires you to run the oven at full blast (850) for 20 minutes and then allow it to cool before preheating to launch your first pizza. The cooldown takes quite a bit longer than the preheating or 20-minute burnoff, so you’ll want to do thing well before you need to actually cook. The cool down time on the Volt 12 takes a while. While the exterior will be back to room temp sooner, it takes a while for the inside to do the same since the Volt 12 is so well-insulated. This means you’ll have to wait at least an hour to safely store it or put the cover on.

Ooni says the 1,600-watt Volt 12 can hit 850 degrees in 20 minutes where it can cook a pizza in 90 seconds. This makes it slightly slower to achieve max temperature than its wood- or gas-burning counterparts. The Karu 16, for example, can reach 950 degrees Fahrenheit in 15 minutes. Still, 20 minutes is remarkably quick, and in my experience, the Volt 12 actually hit 850 faster than that.

The key advantage the Volt 12 has over its wood-burning siblings is convenience. Those models make great pizza with the subtle flavor of wood fire, but the flames require supervision whereas the Volt 12 is very much set it and forget it. You don’t have to worry about maintaining the fire in between stretching dough, topping pizzas and launching them into the oven. The Volt 12 also sets the balance dial based on your cooking temperature, but you can adjust it if you need to. Most outdoor Ooni ovens have an optional gas burner (propane and natural gas models), which would also remedy some of the headaches with temperature regulation.

Making the pizza

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

All of this sounds great on paper, but it would be for naught if the thing didn’t make good pizza. Thankfully, Ooni has translated its formula for excellent outdoor cooking to its electric oven. The Volt 12 produces comparable results to any of the company’s other models, right down to the char and leoparding on Neapolitan pies. Since the temperature dial gives you more precise control, it’s easier to achieve the desired cook on everything from New York style to thin-and-crispy. With the extra space inside, you can also make Detroit pan pizza, as well as roast and bake other items with ease. The Volt 12 did well with any type of crust I threw at it, churning out tasty pies consistently in just a few minutes.

Running wide open at 850 degrees, the Volt 12 makes excellent Neapolitan-style pizza. You’ll need to make sure you have a proper dough recipe (Scott Deley’s The Ooni Pizza Project is a great guide), but assuming you're starting with a good base, the oven will do its thing well. I found that the Volt 12 is a little more forgiving with rotating the pies than the open-flame outdoor models, so you don’t need to babysit it quite as much. These pizzas were light and airy with a slight crispness to the bottom and the requisite leoparding. New York-style pizzas baked at 650 were also great, with crisp edges and bottom, with a pleasant chewiness to the crust.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

There are some downsides to the Volt 12, the big one being the price. It’s $999, and I’ll be the first to tell you that excellent pizza is achievable with your main oven and a baking stone or steel that costs a fraction as much. The second thing is it’s huge. The Volt 12 takes up the entire depth of the counter and is 20 inches wide. It also weighs just under 40 pounds. That’s not too heavy, relatively speaking, and the Volt 12 can easily be chucked in the backseat for a nearby party. Ooni did design it with built-in handles on the sides though, which makes the task of moving it slightly easier.

The competition

In the US, Ooni’s main competition for the Volt 12 is the Breville Pizzaiolo. This oven has been on the market for a few years at this point, with a design that looks more like one of the company’s toaster ovens. It’s an all-stainless steel aesthetic, with a glass door for viewing and easy-to-use controls up front. Out of the box, the Pizzaiolo runs on a variety of presets for different styles, but Breville also equipped it with a manual mode to give you full control over the top and bottom heating elements.

The three strikes against this alternative are cost, a confining cooking surface and the lack of interior lighting. The Pizzaiolo is $999.95, so unless you find one on sale, you won’t save any money over the Volt 12. The stone on the Pizzaiolo is circular instead of square, so you’ll only be able to use 12-inch round pans in addition to your pizza. And lastly, there’s no light inside, so it can be a challenge to keep tabs on the cooking process. You’ll almost certainly have to open the door at some point for a closer inspection.

Wrap-up

With the Volt 12, Ooni enters new territory by bringing its formula for stone-baked pizza indoors. While the results are consistently great across a range of styles, this is the company’s most expensive product to date, and I can see that being prohibitive for some – no matter how good the pizza is. A Karu 16 with the additional purchase of a gas burner is $920 or $950 (propane vs. natural gas), which would give you the convenience of a control dial with option of cooking with wood. Still not cheap, but that oven is big enough to do more than just pizza, so it’s also quite versatile. What it really comes down to is where you’ll be cooking most often – inside or out – or if you’re just fine upgrading your pizza game with accessories for your kitchen oven. And there’s absolutely no shame in doing that.

Google announced end-of-life dates today for products relying on the Nest app that won’t carry over to the new Google Home. If you own any Nest Secure or Dropcam home-security products, you have a year to use them before they become paperweights. Phasing out old and incompatible hardware could signal that the arrival of Google’s more customizable new Home app is drawing near.

Nest Secure will continue to work until April 8th, 2024. To ease the blow, Google is offering some freebies to customers — as the company often does when its products head to the Google Graveyard. Nest Secure users will receive an offer for a free ADT Self Setup System (up to a $485 value); alternatively, they can opt for $200 in Google Store credit. Google says it will send an email with redemption instructions to eligible users.

Dropcam products will also cease to work after April 8th of next year. Google advises users to download and save their video history before this date to avoid losing it. As consolation for Dropcam customers, the company is offering a free Nest Cam (indoor, wired) for those with a Nest Aware subscription; those without a subscription can take 50 percent off the same camera.

Dropcam

Finally, Works With Nest, the API system allowing third-party integrations with otherwise incompatible smart home accessories, will stop working after September 29th. Google points customers to Assistant-based routines in the Google Home app as a replacement, and it plans to launch a script editor “in the coming months” to make up for other lost features. The company says it’s also “working closely” with partners to provide replacement integrations.

Google announced an updated Home app last October that could be the primary source for today’s hardware cutoff announcements. The updated Home app integrates Matter, including its Fast Pair feature. It’s available now in a public preview.

Nest Secure launched in 2017 as a fresh take on smart home security. Designed to compete with legacy brands like ADT (which Google later invested in), the system included a Guard base, motion-detecting sensors for windows and doors and tag keychains, which let you quickly enable or disable the system. Google announced in 2020 it had discontinued the platform but promised it would continue working for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Dropcam began as a pioneering smart home security brand, launching some of the first cloud-connected cameras. Google / Nest bought the startup in 2014 for $555 million, a move that founder Greg Duffy later described as a “mistake.”

NASA has launched an innovative air quality monitoring instrument into a fixed-rotation orbit around Earth. The tool is called TEMPO, which stands for Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution instrument, and it keeps an eye on a handful of harmful airborne pollutants in the atmosphere, such as nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde and ground-level ozone. These chemicals are the building blocks of smog.

TEMPO traveled to space hitched to a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA says the launch was completed successfully, with the atmospheric satellite separating from the rocket without any incidents. NASA acquired the appropriate signal and the agency says the instrument will begin monitoring duties in late May or early June.

TEMPO sits at a fixed geostationary orbit just above the equator and it measures air quality over North America every hour and measures regions spaced apart by just a few miles. This is a significant improvement to existing technologies, as current measurements are conducted within areas of 100 square miles. TEMPO should be able to take accurate measurements from neighborhood to neighborhood, giving a comprehensive view of pollution from both the macro and micro levels.

This also gives us some unique opportunities to pick up new kinds of data, such as changing pollution levels throughout rush hour, the effects of lightning on the ozone layer, the movement of pollution related to forest fires and the long-term effects of fertilizers on the atmosphere, among other data points. More information is never bad. 

NASA

TEMPO is the middle child in a group of high-powered instruments tracking pollution. South Korea's Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer went up in 2020, measuring pollution over Asia, and the ESA (European Space Agency) Sentinel-4 satellite launches in 2024 to handle European and North African measurements. Other tracking satellites will eventually join TEMPO up there in the great black, including the forthcoming NASA instrument to measure the planet's crust.

You may notice that TEMPO flew into space on a SpaceX rocket and not a NASA rocket. This is by design, as the agency is testing a new business model to send crucial instruments into orbit. Paying a private company seems to be the more budget-friendly option when compared to sending up a rocket itself. 

For the fifth time in just over three months, Tesla has slashed the prices of its electric vehicles in the US, as Reuters reports. The company has cut prices by up to six percent across its lineup. The Model 3, for instance, is $1,000 less expensive than it was yesterday. It now starts at $41,990, according to Tesla's website.

There are bigger discounts on higher-end configurations. The Model Y Long Range and Performance models have dropped by another $2,000 to $52,990 and $56,990, respectively. The Model S and Model X have already seen major price cuts this year and have dipped by an extra $5,000 to starting prices of $84,990 and $94,990. As Electrek points out, the price of the base Model S has tumbled by $20,000 since 2022, while the Model S Plaid is over $25,000 less expensive than it was a few months ago.

Tesla said this week it delivered almost 423,000 EVs in the first three months of 2023 amid the initial waves of price cuts in the US, China and other countries. That figure marked a company record, as deliveries increased by four percent from the previous quarter. However, Tesla again missed analyst estimates.

The company aims to deliver 1.8 million EVs this year. It's not on track to do that yet based on the first-quarter figures. Although the multitude of price cuts could ultimately boost demand and make Tesla more competitive in an increasingly crowded sector, analysts have noted that the discounts could eat into the company's profit margins given the relatively small increase in deliveries they've spurred to date.

EA will release the mobile free-to-play Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth on May 10th, marking its first LOTR game since 2009's The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. It also unveiled the first real trailer, showing gameplay, menus and more. It's one of five LOTR games currently in development from Embracer (which bought the rights last year), including the much anticipated Lord of the Rings: Gollum set to arrive shortly afterwards. 

The trailer features a "stylized realism art style," EA wrote, leaning into existing lore with wanderers, warriors, wizards and other classic LOTR characters. AT the same time, it creates "a more diverse and inclusive Middle-earth," the company said, while showing off Story, PVP and other gameplay modes.  

Heroes of Middle-earth includes characters from both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, along with collection systems, turn-based combat and more. In a previous news release, EA said that players will experience "iconic stories from the world of Tolkien and take up the fight against the great evils of Middle-earth." Given the free-to-play aspect, there are of course microtransactions.

Heroes of Middle-earth is set to arrive on iOS and Android on May 10th, with pre-registration now open. Meanwhile, Lord of the Rings: Gollum will launch on consoles and PC May 25th, and Embracer reportedly has three additional titles in development for the next two years.