You can finally say goodbye to your dated and clunky Steam mobile app. Valve has rolled out the redesigned version of its Steam mobile app for Android and iOS, which it's been testing since at least August this year. When it was looking for beta testers for the application, the game developer said it rebuilt the app "on a new framework and modernized the design." It has also bundled the app with new features, including the ability to log in using QR codes. 

The new sign-in method gives you a way to access your Steam account without having to type in your username and password. It uses the two-factor authentication credentials stored in your phone to verify your identity. If you do use Steam's QR sign-in method, the app will show you a confirmation page with details, such as a map with the approximate location of the device you're signing into, after you scan the code with your phone. That way, you can be sure that you're approving your own login attempt

If you'd rather use your username and password to log in, the app will still ask if you'd like to accept or deny the sign-in attempt. And if you want to make sure there's no device linked to your account that shouldn't be, you can now review and revoke access if needed in the Authorized Devices page.

The new Steam mobile app now also displays all your games in the Library. When you click on a game's cover image in the list, you'll find an option that lets you download the game remotely to your PC, and another that gives you the power to uninstall it. Other new features include an improved store browsing experience for mobile displays and customizable Steam notifications for sales, trades, friend requests and other categories. Based on its announcement post, Valve is also working on bringing QR sign-in to the Steam Deck and on adding the Authorized Devices page to the Steam Client and browser.

Microsoft has been gradually updating its Seeing AI app since its launch in 2017, expanding language support and general functionality over the years. Today, the company is announcing a new feature that would let Seeing AI read out detailed information when users scan the barcodes of products by healthcare company Haleon. The feature is rolling out today for US and UK users on the free app, which is only available on iOS. The company says an Android version will be available "in the future."

In a press release, Microsoft and Haleon said "With today’s launch in honor of World Sight Day, people can now hear packaging information through the Microsoft Seeing AI app by scanning the barcode of Haleon products." Users who are blind, have trouble reading or have low literacy can use the app to scan more than 1,500 Haleon products like Advil, Excedrin, Theraflu, Emergen-C and more, and their device will read out product information, instructions, ingredients "and other crucial details."

The press release also noted that "The Seeing AI collaboration with Microsoft is one of Haleon’s first new initiatives to champion health inclusivity." We may be seeing more from the healthcare company in future, but for now, it's nice to see that people with visual impairments or low literacy can more easily and independently learn about the drugs they are considering or consuming. That is, at least, if they use iOS. 

The Donald Trump-backed Truth Social is live in Google’s Play Store following a months-long delay due to concerns over its content moderation policies. The two sides had been going back and forth about the app’s approval since late August, according toAxios.

Truth Social launched in Apple’s App Store back in February, but up until now Android users either had to use the web version of the service or sideload the app. Google had reportedly flagged content moderation issues on the app, including physical threats and content that incited violence.

Google requires that apps with user generated content have policies to prevent abusive behavior, like violent threats, as well as mechanisms for enforcing those rules. Truth Social’s service apparently didn’t meet those standards when it first tried to launch on Android in August. But the company has apparently now resolved those concerns.

“Apps may be distributed on Google Play provided they comply with our developer guidelines, including the requirement to effectively moderate user-generated content and remove objectionable posts such as those that incite violence,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

Truth Social isn’t the only app that’s received extra scrutiny over this policy. Google cited the same conditions when it took Parler out of its app store last January. The app was reinstated last month.

Google has begun rolling out initial passkey support for Android and Chrome. In a blog post published Wednesday, the company said web admins can start integrating the technology into their websites through the WebAuthn API. Similarly, developers can download the latest Google Play Services beta to start testing the authentication standard within their apps.

Google expects to roll out stable support for passkeys later this year, with an API for native Android apps arriving in 2022 as well. The latter will allow you to choose between a passkey and a saved password when logging into a supported platform.

As more apps and websites add support for passkeys, Android and Chrome users will see their relationship with online credentials change. "Passkeys are a significantly safer replacement for passwords and other phishable authentication factors,” Google notes. “They cannot be reused, don't leak in server breaches and protect users from phishing attacks."

Creating a passkey on your Android phone will involve confirming you want to make one and then authenticating your identity with a fingerprint or face scan (you can also use a screen lock). Signing in is just as easy. You simply authenticate your identity and you’re good to go. You’ll manage your passkeys through Google Password Manager, where they’ll be automatically backed up to the cloud to prevent lockouts if you ever lose your device.

Since passkeys are part of an industry-wide initiative to do away with passwords, they work across different devices, platforms and browsers. For instance, as you can see in the screenshot above, you can use a passkey stored on an Android phone to log into a website you visit through Safari. With Apple and Microsoft making similar efforts, the web will hopefully become safer soon.

During its Surface event, Microsoft said Apple TV and Apple Music apps are coming to the operating system next year. You'll be able to check out previews of them in the Microsoft Store before the year is out. As such, those who use Apple's services soon won't need to use a web app or creaky old iTunes to access Apple Music or Apple TV on a Windows system.

Xbox users, meanwhile, can download an Apple Music app starting today, a year after the service landed on PS5. Apple TV has been available on Xbox consoles since late 2020.

In addition, you'll be able to access iCloud photo libraries in Windows without relying on a browser. These will be available to everyone through the Windows Photos app next month. Folks in the Windows Insider program can try the integration today by installing the latest version of the iCloud Windows app.

Apple's standalone Windows media apps have been a long time coming. The company was recruiting engineers to build them as far back as 2019, the same year Apple announced separate Music, TV and Podcast apps for Mac.

On the one hand, the Surface Pro 9 is pretty much what we expected: a jump up to Intel's 12th-gen CPUs. But Microsoft surprised us with a huge shakeup for its tablet PCs. There's also a Surface Pro 9 running a custom SQ3 Arm chip, which also includes built-in 5G. Can an x86 Intel processor and a mobile Arm chip really sit side by side? We got a chance to compare the two new machines at Microsoft's hands-on event, and to be honest, we just have more questions.

Both models look and feel the same, save for the more visible 5G antennas on the Arm model. Microsoft representatives say performance is also comparable between the SQ3 and Intel's chips, something we'll have to fully test to believe. The same reps also noted that app compatibility with legacy x86 apps has gotten better for Arm devices, and there are an increasing number of native Windows apps which will run just fine across both platforms.

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Follow along with the rest of our news from Microsoft's 2022 Surface event.

It should soon be much easier to access your iPhone's photo collection on a Windows-based PC. Microsoft is updating Windows 11 with the option to directly view iCloud photo libraries in the Photos app — you won't need your browser or special software. So long as your iCloud account has enough space to hold all your images, you might never need to manually transfer photos to your Windows machines.

The news comes just as the Apple Music app launches on Xbox consoles. It reflects Microsoft's ambition to make Windows the "most open" desktop platform with support for rival services and apps. You can use Android apps and run Linux instances, for example. While this is partly a not-so-subtle dig at Apple's more closed ecosystem, it's good news for users who'd rather not switch hardware just to get seamless photo syncing.

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New hardware isn’t the only thing Microsoft had to share at its Surface event. On Wednesday, Chief Product Officer Panos Panay announced Microsoft Designer, a new graphic design offering within the company’s 365 productivity suite. The app features DALL-E 2 integration, allowing you to use the well-known image generator to add supporting art to your social media posts, invitations and documents. In the future, Microsoft plans to bring DALL-E support to Bing and Edge “so you can use your words not just to search but to create.”

The announcement comes just two weeks after OpenAI removed the waiting list that had existed for DALL-E, making the tool more accessible. However, the public debut came with some unanswered questions, ones today’s announcement of Designer doesn’t answer. For instance, it’s unclear if AI-generated images are fair use or stolen. Services like Getty Images have banned the technology in response to copyright concerns. For its part, Microsoft has sometimes tried new AI technologies before backtracking on them as was the case with its Tay chat bot.

Though already having some success with its Ioniq lineup, Hyundai has far bigger plans for its EV future — including taking a page from Tesla in terms of software updates. The automaker just unveiled a new roadmap, saying it'll invest $12.6 billion to transform its lineup across brands into "Software Defined Vehicles" (SDVs). 

As part of that, it's developing new platforms and a new Connected Car Operating System (CCOS). It wants all its vehicles (both ICE and EV) to be over-the-air (OTA) capable by 2025, at which point it expects to have 20 million connected vehicles on the road.

The first leg in Hyundai's plans is two new EV platforms called eM and eS for Hyundai, Kia and Genesis vehicles based on its Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA) announced earlier this year. The eM platform will be used for consumer EVs in all segments, offering 50 percent more range on a charge than current models, according to Hyundai. It'll also support Level 3 and higher self-driving levels. Meanwhile, the eS platform is designed for logistics, deliveries and other business segments. 

The idea is to have more more modularity and standardization for components like batteries and motors, helping streamline production and cut costs. Critically, it'll also let Hyundai use the same vehicle controller across brands and segments, making OTA software and "Feature on Demand" (FoD) upgrades possible.

Hyundai Motor Group

Another key part of the roadmap is the software platform. The group will use something Hyundai calls the Connected Car Operating System (ccOS), applied to all controllers and using "extremely high computing power." To achieve that, it's working with NVIDIA on loading an optimized version of ccOS onto NVIDIA DRIVE, its next-gen chipset for autonomous driving and other vehicle functions. 

Speaking of that, it also plans to advance its autonomous driving tech. The ccOS operating system is a key part of that, processing all the data collected by cameras, radars and LiDARs mounted in vehicles. Hyundai hopes to use ccOS to commercialize Level 3 vehicles soon, and go to Level 4 and 5 "in due course." 

“This year, the Group will apply an advanced Highway Driving Pilot (HDP) on the Genesis G90, which is a Level 3 technology for autonomous driving based on the second-generation integrated controller," said Hyundai's autonomous driving head Woongjun Jang. "The Group is also developing its Remote Parking Pilot (RPP) for Level 3 autonomous driving."

To accomplish all that, Hyundai Group plans to invest 18 trillion won ($12.6 billion) by 2030, which will go toward building a Global Software Center and be ploughed into research. "This will pace the Group at the forefront of providing entirely new mobility solutions as society changes, transportation means evolve, and software defined vehicles become commonplace," according to the press release. 

It has been two years since EA announced it was working on a replacement for its Origin PC client, and it's now starting to roll out the new app to Windows users. The publisher claims that the EA app, which has just concluded its open beta phase, is its fastest and lightest PC client to date.

EA is promising a streamlined design and suggests navigation will be easier. It seems the app has improved social features as well, since you'll be able to connect your EA account to platforms including Steam, Xbox and PlayStation — which could come in handy for games with cross-play support, such as Apex Legends and FIFA 23. You'll have a custom EA ID that should make it easy for your pals to recognize you.

The publisher says that it will soon invite Origin users to switch over to the new app. As you might imagine, all your stuff will be present, including your games, save data and friends list. It's worth noting that the new client will only be available on Windows PC for now. If you're a macOS user, you'll continue to use the Origin for Mac app for the foreseeable future. However, EA noted that it will have more to share on that front in the coming months.