Since the start of the year, Oculus Quest and Quest 2 owners have had the ability to use Messenger to chat with their Facebook friends. When using the app today, you can type out a message, send pre-written phrases or use voice-to-text to communicate. Soon, you’ll also be able to call your friends. 

At its Connect conference, Facebook announced it plans to bring audio calling to the platform. Later this year, the app will allow you to call contacts on any other Messenger-enabled platform. In the future, it will also allow you to invite your friends to hang out in VR destinations together.

Developing...

Here's what Facebook's metaverse isn't: It's not an alternative world to help us escape from our dystopian reality, a la Snow Crash. It won't require VR or AR glasses (at least, not at first). And, most importantly, it's not something Facebook wants to keep to itself. Instead, as Mark Zuckerberg described to media ahead of today's Facebook Connect conference, the company is betting it'll be the next major computing platform after the rise of smartphones and the mobile web.

After spending the last decade becoming obsessed with our phones and tablets — learning to stare down and scroll practically as a reflex — the Facebook founder thinks we'll be spending more time looking up at the 3D objects floating around us in the digital realm. Or maybe you'll be following a friend's avatar as they wander around your living room as a hologram. It's basically a digital world layered right on top of the real world, or an "embodied internet" as Zuckerberg describes.

Before he got into the weeds for his grand new vision, though, Zuckerberg also preempted criticism about looking into the future now, as the Facebook Papers paint the company as a mismanaged behemoth that constantly prioritizes profit over safety. While acknowledging the seriousness of the issues the company is facing, noting that it'll continue to focus on solving them with "industry-leading" investments, Zuckerberg said: 

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

"The reality is is that there's always going to be issues and for some people... they may have the view that there's never really a great time to focus on the future... From my perspective, I think that we're here to create things and we believe that we can do this and that technology can make things better. So we think it's important to to push forward."

Given the extent to which Facebook, and Zuckerberg in particular, have proven to be untrustworthy stewards of social technology, it's almost laughable that the company wants us to buy into its future. But, like the rise of photo sharing and group chat apps, Zuckerberg at least has a good sense of what's coming next. And for all of his talk of turning Facebook into a metaverse company, he's adamant that he doesn't want to build a metaverse that's entirely owned by Facebook. He doesn't think other companies will either. Like the mobile web, he thinks every major technology company will contribute something towards the metaverse. He's just hoping to make Facebook a pioneer.

"Instead of looking at a screen, or today, how we look at the Internet, I think in the future you're going to be in the experiences, and I think that's just a qualitatively different experience," Zuckerberg said. It's not quite virtual reality as we think of it, and it's not just augmented reality. But ultimately, he sees the metaverse as something that'll help to deliver more presence for digital social experiences — the sense of being there, instead of just being trapped in a zoom window. And he expects there to be continuity across devices, so you'll be able to start chatting with friends on your phone and seamlessly join them as a hologram when you slip on AR glasses.

Facebook

But, of course, the metaverse won't be built in a day. At Facebook Connect today, the company announced several ways it's moving towards making it more accessible. For one, Facebook will be transforming the Oculus Quest's Home interface into "Horizon Home," a more fully featured environment where you can invite friends and hang out virtually. Eventually, you'll also be able to build and customize your home space. The Venues app is also becoming "Horizon Venues," where it'll continue to serve as Facebook's prime spot for live virtual events. (The company also says NBA games are coming back to Venues in early November.)

The company is also making a major push for developers: its new Presence Platform offers through APIs that'll allow devs to make more inventive VR apps. The Insight SDK will let them take advantage of the Quest 2's cameras to bring the real world into VR; the Interaction SDK opens up the door for more hand-tracking interactions; and the Voice SDK will — you guessed it — let you use your words in more ways.

The Insight SDK, in particular, could reshape what Quest VR experiences could look like. It includes Spatial Anchors, which will let virtual objects persist across sessions in a space. So if you placed a VR pet bunny on your coffee table, it should always be there every time you logged into an app. Additionally, there's a Scene Understanding feature, which can help developers get a better sense of your physical space. A character talking to you in VR could, for example, wander around your living room without bumping into furniture.

Facebook

When it comes to augmented reality, Facebook also has plenty of upgrades in store for its Spark AR platform. For one, it's planning to launch an iOS app called Polar that'll let people design their own AR effects and objects without any coding. It's aimed at creators, who could use it to build unique 3D signage or makeup effects that their followers can apply. More experienced devs will also be able to create Geo-anchored objects, which are tied to specific locations in the real world, as well as AR effects that track your hands and body. They can also try out building group video chats for Messenger, something that'll eventually be supported in other apps.  

Like HoloLens and HTC Vive, Facebook plans to make a bigger push into enterprises with Quest for Business. It's a way for employees to log into Quest 2 headsets with secure work accounts (it's probably not great for your boss to see how often you're playing Beat Saber, after all). Since they're meant for office environments, IT departments will also be able to manage work accounts, specific devices and integrate their own security features. The key is that it's all going to be accessible on consumer-grade Quest 2 headsets, Facebook won't have to make entirely new hardware for work environments.

The company plans to take it slow with Quest for Business. It's currently being tested with a few companies now, and a wider beta is expected to come next year. At this point, Facebook isn't planning to officially roll it out to every company until 2023. Quest for Business will replace the previous Oculus for Business program, which required a special $799 Quest 2 headset.

Facebook already showed off one way remote meetings could be handled better with Horizon Workrooms, and that app is going to get better later this year with customizable workrooms. And when it comes to productivity, the company is also opening up the Oculus Store to 2D apps like Slack, Dropbox, Instagram and Facebook. You'll be able to dive into those apps right from your Horizon Home screen. It's convenient, but it's also a cheeky way to keep you from taking off your headset just to answer a Slack message.

Not everyone would want to spend a whole workday wearing a VR headset, but it's not hard to imagine how future AR glasses could let you dive into Slack and Office apps just about anywhere. They'll just be 2D projections floating around you, things that nobody else would be able to see. That may seem like science fiction today, but 15 years ago, so did the idea of having a touchscreen-enabled supercomputer in your pocket with blazing fast wireless internet. 

As Zuckerberg sees it, the metaverse will ultimately lead to a more natural relationship with technology. "It's not about you spending more time on screens," he told press before making a hasty retreat. "It's about making the time we spend better and I think you know screens can't really convey the full sense of presence."

This post contains moderate spoilers for the first episode and slight spoilers for episode two of ‘Star Trek: Prodigy.’

How do you make a series that can draw in newcomers while still appealing to long-time fans? In the case of Star Trek: Prodigy, you set it in a place where the United Federation of Planets has little to no presence — the Delta Quadrant — and make your cast a bunch of misfit kids who have never heard of the Federation or Starfleet. That puts them on the same level as the children this show hopes to draw in, while offering up just enough tidbits to intrigue their Trekkie parents.

The pilot, ‘Lost and Found,’ is a feature-length episode that debuted today on Paramount+ (that means it’s technically two parts). It was originally planned to air on Nickelodeon first, but it was changed to a streaming-exclusive for 2021 with the cable channel airing it later at a still-unknown date. The animated show fills in the content gap between the end of Lower Decks earlier this month and the premiere of Discoveryseason four in November — which in turn, should carry fans through to the start of season two of Picardin February. The idea is to keep Star Trek fans from dropping their subscriptions to Paramount+ during the downtime, something that was fairly common during Discovery’s first three seasons.

Nickelodeon

That assumes, however, that Prodigy has something to offer those adult fans. And that’s where the deeper ties to Trek lore come in. Though Voyager spent seven years in the Delta Quadrant, the ship’s mission to get back to Federation space meant it couldn’t stick around in any one place too long, or return to previous locales. There’s a ton left to explore — as well as plenty of room for Prodigy’s creators, Dan and Kevin Hageman, to populate their own corner of the universe.

First, they have to introduce their main characters, and that’s what ‘Lost and Found’ is largely dedicated to doing. Our cast of misfits, led by Dal (voiced by Brett Gray), lives on a mining colony populated by prisoners and orphans. It’s the last place anyone would want to be, especially a Star Trek character, which is why the main drive is to just get off this bleak rock. But right away the series makes its point about being far from Federation space and technology, as the inhabitants can’t even talk to each other due to a lack of universal translators. That system has been how, for over 55 years, Star Trek has managed to populate its cast with aliens who all speak English. It’s the future! Different languages aren’t a problem!

Except here, they are. It keeps the characters from even knowing each other’s names, which makes the discovery of the USS Protostar and its built-in translator the perfect opportunity for everyone to re-introduce themselves to each other and thus, to the audience. And, when Dal and Rocktok discover a lost Starfleet ship buried under the surface of the planet, the ship itself may fill them with awe, but it’s the translator that truly elicits the most enthusiastic reaction: Rocktok calls it “magic.” It’s a rather fitting introduction to a franchise with a goal to “seek out new life and new civilizations,” in how it puts the connection between these disparate aliens up front.

When I saw the pilot at New York Comic Con a few weeks ago, I compared it to shows like Clone Wars and Rebels. The Star Wars influence that J.J. Abrams brought to the Star Trek franchise is still present in Prodigy, notably in its action sequences and score, the latter composed by frequent Michael Giacchino collaborator Nami Melumad. Giacchino is best known for his work on various Pixar and Star Trek films, and he also supplies the main theme for Prodigy. You can hear his influence on Melumad’s score, which does a great job of blending a quirky style with the signature Trek leitmotifs.

The final action sequence feels like pure Star Wars, as the USS Protostar makes its way off the planet and Dal is trapped on its hull, battling the villainous Drednok. The bad guy’s insect-like cyborg body reminds me of General Grievous — if the general could turn into a giant gun, that is. It’s the kind of thing that works best in CG and, like Lower Decks before it, Prodigy seems more than willing to embrace the extra freedom offered by animation as a medium. We’re long past the clunky microfiche displays and cosplaying dogs of the original series.

That freedom is probably best illustrated in the character of hologram Captain Janeway, voiced by Kate Mulgrew (of course). It’s been over 20 years since Voyager last graced the small screen, and Mulgrew has kept busy on shows like Warehouse 13 and Orange is the New Black. But in the Star Trek universe, it’s only been six years (though an exact date is never given on-screen in Prodigy). Animation means they can easily erase the decades from Janeway without resorting to the creepy live-action simulacrums seen in Rogue One of Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia.

Hologram Janeway makes her debut at the end of today’s pilot episode, but she’ll make a much fuller appearance in next week’s ‘Starstruck.’ That’s where the new “cadets” get to explore the ship and learn more about the distant “Federation.” While there’s still plenty of banter and conflict between the characters, the real star of the second episode is the ship itself — what it looks like, and what it’s capable of. While there is a plot — which I won’t divulge details of — it serves as a showcase for all the different features of this new prototype ship. You can almost imagine Janeway as a car salesman, slapping the hood of the Protostar and saying “this baby’s warp core can travel to so many planets.”

Star Trek has always been a humanist franchise, devoted to exploring social themes and dilemmas. It also has a tendency to take its technology and the “post-scarcity utopia” for granted. Prodigy goes against the grain by showing from the start how technology can change lives.

iOS 15.1 was released yesterday, which means you can finally start checking out Apple's long-awaited SharePlay feature. After seeing how buggy it was on the iOS 15 beta, I was able to check out SharePlay this week during a briefing with Apple, and the experience was surprisingly smooth. Though SharePlay works with just a small collection of apps at the moment, it's also coming soon to Disney+, while the NBA and TikTok apps will be updated today to support it. I watched a few videos and a Milwaukee Bucks game via these apps on my demo, and beyond being impressed by how much more stable everything is since the beta, I also found some tips particularly useful.

Setup and starting a SharePlay session

First, make sure you and your friends all update your devices to iOS 15.1 or iPadOS 15.1. Just like we observed in the beta, you need to start a FaceTime call before you can SharePlay anything. Once you're on a call, open a supported app and you'll see an alert at the top of the screen asking if you want to stream your content. When you start a session, your callers will see a box pop up at the top of the screen to join you. 

For the most part, everyone you're SharePlaying with will need to have the relevant apps installed (i.e. TikTok, HBO Max, Showtime, Paramount, Apple TV etc). In some cases, they'll also need to have a subscription or at least an account. 

While you watch a show together, anyone on the call can pause, skip forward or rewind, and that will bring everyone to the same point on the stream. As you watch something, FaceTime will run in picture-in-picture mode on top of your display, and whoever on your call is talking will appear in that box. 

Share your screen

If you want to share your screen instead of watching a show, though, you'll need to tap on the screen while on your FaceTime call to pull up the commands panel and press the button on the right that resembles a person in front of a rectangle. 

While you're sharing your screen, your friend can pinch to zoom on what you're showing them. But during a screen share session, your alerts (or other notices that pop up) won't appear on their screen, in case there's sensitive info you don't want others seeing. The pill on the top left of your screen will also turn purple to let remind you you're screen-sharing. 

When I was watching someone share their screen, by the way, I could still go back to my own phone and open another app. FaceTime's picture-in-picture tile showed my caller's screen with their face in an embedded picture-in-picture. Inception!

Other features

The controls box also lets you access the iMessage window for everyone on the call. You can continue to watch a game on the NBA app with your family without your camera or mic on, and send texts instead. That's particularly helpful when you need a toilet break when a game runs long.

Apple also built a feature called smart volume to automatically lower the streaming audio when you're speaking so everyone can hear you. This works best with AirPods, but it'll also work with your device's speaker.

Depending on each app's developers, other tools can be embedded to make them more useful. In Apple Music, for example, you can look at the song's lyrics as they play in real time, and tapping on a specific lyric will bring you and your callers to that point in the track. When you're all on TikTok together, each person can like the videos they want, too. The popular game Heads Up will also be coming to SharePlay so you can guess the word on your face while your friends act it out for you. 

SharePlay works with iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs, and most playback features are the same across Apple's ecosystem. Those with Apple Watches will also be able to use this feature for group workouts or meditations on Fitness+ with up to 32 callers. So far, SharePlay works with just a few apps, but as more developers integrate it, iOS users could find more ways to socialize and digitally gather with loved ones soon.

Spotify isn't the only service PlayStation 5 owners can stream music from while they're playing Deathloop, Returnal or other games. Starting today, you can fire up tracks from Apple Music as well.

The PS5 is the first console with Apple Music integration. Subscribers can access the service's library of more than 90 million songs, playlists, Apple Music Radio and 4K music videos on a PS5. You can control playback while playing games by hitting the PS button on the controller and going to the music tab. You'll also see music recommendations for the game you're playing.

The Apple Music app (which you can download via the Media section) will let you view music videos too. If you're watching a video and leave the app to switch to a game or another screen, the music will keep playing. 

It's the second Apple app to hit the console after Apple TV landed on PS4 and PS5 last year. This summer, Sony and Apple offered PS5 owners six months of free access to Apple TV+.

Spotify has been a part of the PlayStation ecosystem since it arrived on PS4 in 2015. Six years later, it's neat to see players getting another option for streaming music. It'll be a nice perk for Apple Music subscribers who've managed to score a PS5.

With four movies under its belt, the Toy Story franchise remains the undeniable crown jewel in Pixar's portfolio. But after Toy Story 4 put something of a boy on Woody's story, the focus is now shifting to Buzz Lightyear. The first trailer for Lightyear just arrived, and it sure paints a different picture than what we're used to in the Toy Story universe. For one, the titular character isn't a toy, but a real flesh-and-blood human who appears to be the inspiration for the Buzz Lightyear figure we know so well. 

The trailer definitely gives off origin story vibes, as it looks like Buzz makes the journey from pilot to intergalactic explorer in his signature spacesuit. How he gets from there to a beloved toy in the Toy Story world remains to be seen — but since this is Pixar, we're expecting the two stories to collide in a way that's fairly unexpected. 

Lightyear is set to hit theaters on June 17th, 2022, with Chris Evans voicing Buzz for the first time. Unfortunately for those of us who have gotten used to watching new Pixar films on Disney+, it seems like you'll have to head out into the world if you want to see this during that summer release window.

LinkedIn is introducing dedicated remote, hybrid and on-site search filters to help users on their next job hunt. You’ll see the labels when using the social network’s job search and Open to Work features. In the latter case, taking advantage of the filters will privately inform recruiters of the type of work you’re looking for, which the company says should help the right job find you. At the same time, LinkedIn is adding similar filters for company pages, allowing them to indicate things like their vaccine policies and return-to-office plans.

In testing the filters, LinkedIn says it saw more than 70 percent of searches involve people looking for remote-only roles. It’s a testament to how uncertain the pandemic has made every return-to-office plan. Even companies Amazon, Google and Facebook have struggled to find ones that stick. And so it’s no surprise most LinkedIn users are looking for opportunities where they can continue working from home.

Netflix has previously given us glimpses of its live-action adaptation of the classic anime Cowboy Bebop. Its latest trailer, however, shows actual footage from the series for the first time. You'll see scenes of the crew in action, from the time they met and decided to team up to the time they start hunting criminals in exchange for bounty. It shows fight scenes with Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir) and Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda), their spaceship (the Bebop) and their corgi Ein. No Ed yet, unfortunately.

The streaming giant first announced its live-action adaptation way back in 2018, but it wasn't until earlier this year that production wrapped for season one. While the cast and crew have been shooting since 2019, production was paused after Cho got injured on set, and the coronavirus pandemic delayed things even further. Since then, Netflix has been preparing for its debut. In addition to releasing teasers for the show, the company has added all 26 episodes of the anime to its catalogue, so you can marathon all things Cowboy Bebop without having to hop services. (The anime is also available on Hulu.) 

Netflix's live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop will start streaming on November 19th.

It didn't take long to greenlight a follow-up to Denis Villeneuve's Dune. Legendary Pictures has confirmed plans to release Dune: Part Two, saying it was "excited to the continue the journey." The studio expects the movie to premiere October 20th, 2023, and it's safe to presume Part Two will cover the back half of Frank Herbert's classic novel.

The move isn't shocking. Villeneuve clearly wanted to finish telling Paul Atreides' story, but the movie also fared better than expected. Deadlinenoted that Dune racked up $41 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend. That's not as strong as movies like Shang-Chi ($71.4 million) and a far cry from pre-pandemic openings, but it's the best opening for a Warner Bros. movie with simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max releases this year.

It's not yet clear how much the HBO Max launch helped (or hindered) Dune's theatrical premiere. However, Villeneuve won't have to worry about a simultaneous streaming release for Part Two. Warner Bros. is returning to theater-first openings starting in 2022. Like it or not, you'll have to brave the crowds and buy tickets if you insist on watching the follow-up as soon as possible.

No one in their right mind would actually want to live in the world of A Quiet Place, where denizens walk around barefoot and move as silently as possible to avoid incurring the wrath of highly noise-sensitive aliens. But, if you'd like to find out how well you might cope in that universe, you can test your nerves in the franchise's first video game, which is scheduled to arrive next year.

Publisher Saber Interactive has announced that a single-player, story-driven horror adventure is in development by iLLOGIKA and EP1T0ME. The iLLOGIKA team includes developers who have worked on the Rainbow Six and Far Cry franchises, and the studio helped with the development of games including Hyper Scape and Cuphead.

There aren't many other details about A Quiet Place just yet, such as the platforms on which it will be available. However, it will have an original story and "gameplay that captures the compelling suspense, emotion and drama for which the series is famous," according to a press release. Saber plans to reveal more information about the game by the end of the year.