The rumors of a Horizon Forbidden West delay were true, although the wait won't be as long as you might think. Guerilla has revealed that Forbidden West will be released on February 18th, 2022 for both PS4 and PS5 owners, with pre-orders starting on September 2nd. The developer previously promised a free upgrade to the PS5 version if you have to continue Aloy's journey on the older console.

The open-world adventure was originally slated to arrive in holiday 2021. However, the COVID-19 pandemic "hugely impacted" development, Guerilla said. Like many game creators, the team had to rethink its work strategy while also trying to maintain a "healthy" work-life balance.

If you can't wait that long, you'll still have a reason to revisit Horizon Zero Dawn. Guerilla has released a free Enhanced Performance Patch for the earlier game that gives PS5 players a "targeted" 60FPS. This won't suddenly drag the game into the next-gen console era, but the improved frame rate should make it that much easier to dodge charging robots and line up bow shots.

The next Marvel superhero game is reaching deeper into the comic books' back catalog. XCOM developer Firaxis has unveiledMarvel's Midnight Suns, a turn-based role-playing game based on the Midnight Sons team from 1990s crossover issues. The modern take has you play a new Marvel co-created superhero, The Hunter, as she fights the Mother of Demons, Lilith. Your character will have help from Midnight Sons members like Blade, Ghost Rider and Wolverine as well as Avengers mainstays like Captain America and Iron Man.

The title reaches PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch and Windows PCs in March 2022. A gameplay presentation is due on September 1st.

In case you're wondering: no, this won't just be an XCOM game with capes. Game lead Jake Solomon told Polygon in an interview that Midnight Suns shares "zero mechanics" with the XCOM series. You'll play missions with up to three other heroes as you develop The Hunter's powers. When you're not in combat, an open-world area will help you form bonds with fellow heroes. And instead of the paranoia and fear that drive XCOM, you're rolling into battle with confidence — there's no permanent character death, for starters.

This is something of a gamble when many Marvel appearances have involved more conventional brawlers and fighting games. Firaxis has a strong track record, however, and dipping into the Midnight Sons catalog draw in both long-time Marvel fans as well as those who don't want to rehash the brand's most familiar stories.

Kanye West is no stranger to dabbling with technology (he discussed a Teenage Engineering collaboration in 2019), but now there's a device you can buy for yourself. The rapper and electronics design firm Kano have introduced a Donda Stem Player that, as the name implies, lets you remix music from Kanye's upcoming album Donda (plus your own tunes) using song stems.

The puck-like gadget reportedly lets you isolate song parts and control aspects like bass, drums, samples and vocals. You can reportedly split "any" song into stems. We've asked Kano how this works, but it's unlikely that it will perfectly separate song elements — that's a difficult feat for a full-fledged PC, let alone something as portable as this.

The Stem Player also includes familiar tools including effects, four-channel audio mixing, live sampling and real-time loop and speed controls. You navigate much of the interface through four touch-sensitive "light sliders" with haptic feedback and customizable colors, and you can save and share your creations with othrs.

You can pipe audio through the built-in speaker, Bluetooth or a 3.5mm headphone jack through a variety of lossy and lossless formats (including AAC, AIFF, MP3 and WAV). You'll have just 8GB of storage to work with, though — minus the bundled Donda stems.

You can order the Stem Player now for $200. That's not a trivial outlay if you're eager to tinker with songs, but it's relatively affordable as far as electronic music-making devices go. Just be aware that it's really just one part of a larger creative toolset, not your ticket to stardom.

The US has suffered a flurry of major cyberattacks targeting everyone from federal prosecutors through to meat suppliers, and the White House hopes some discussions with key companies will produce some long-term security solutions. The Washington Postreports that President Biden, certain cabinet members and relevant security officials are holding talks on August 25th with tech giants ADP, Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft to see how they can help bolster cybersecurity.

While the spate of ransomware attacks will be on the agenda, a senior Biden administration official said the White House wanted to tackle the "root causes" of cybersecurity issues. This included addressing a wide range of vulnerabilities, instituting "good operational practices" and hiring more security workers.

The conversations will also involve financial and insurance giants (including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Travelers) as well as educational organizations like Code.org and Girls Who Code. While the Biden meeting is at the center of the discussions, the chats with cabinet members and officials are billed as "informal" sessions that will help establish definitive solutions.

The White House said the meetups were a recognition that the US needed a "whole-of-nation" cybersecurity strategy involving both the government and private sector. It also promised this wouldn't be the "last engagement" with companies on security issues. This comes soon after Biden took multiple steps in a bid to improve digital security for vital infrastructure, such as issuing an executive order meant to bolster federal security standards and coordination.

The question, as always, is whether or not the discussions will lead to meaningful action. The meeting with tech firms might help with top-down decision-making, but that won't matter much unless the other talks also lead to tangible strategy changes. This could be little more than a public relations exercise if the companies don't (or can't) commit to specific cybersecurity improvements.

OnlyFans' upcoming ban on sexually explicit material appears to be over before it even began. The company said it had "suspended" its planned October 1st change after having "secured assurances" needed to support its existing creator base.

The exact situation isn't clear (we've asked for comment), but it appears adults-only content is safe for now. A more detailed communique will reach producers soon.

The statement suggests OnlyFans has triumphed at least momentarily in its fight against big banks. These institutions have historically balked at tech companies that court sexually explicit content, pushing sites like Patreon to drop sex workers if they wanted to maintain their financing. It's not clear just how OnlyFans might have prevailed as we write this (did the banks change their minds, or is there new funding?), but the tension seems to have dissipated, at least for now.

Even a permanent victory might be bittersweet, however. The planned crackdown shook the trust of some sex workers and other OnlyFans creators — a key source of income is no longer quite so reliable as it once was. It won't be surprising if some content makers either switch services or add alternatives to protect their income.

You won't have to spring for AT&T's regular phone service if you want HBO Max tacked on to your plan — provided you're wiling to make some sacrifices. The carrier's Cricket Wireless brand has revealed that it will provide free HBO Max service to customers using its $60 per month Unlimited plan if they're willing to live with the ad-supported tier. This isn't as sweet as what you'll get at AT&T proper, but it will give you a chance to catch up on shows without pricier wireless service or a separate Max subscription.

The offer will be available to both new and current customers starting on August 20th. We've asked if Cricket customers can pay extra for ad-free HBO Max.

It's a logical move for AT&T. The telecom will likely still own WarnerMedia until 2022, and this gives it a chance to boost both Cricket and HBO Max until that split happens. It could help the company maintain or increase plan prices, too. Nonetheless, you might appreciate this if you're looking to save money. Prepaid phone customers in the US seldom get the no-extra-charge services and other perks that increasingly come with conventional (postpaid) plans — this could save you money if you've been looking for something to watch.

The US crackdown on flavored e-cigarettes might soon reach the federal government. A New York-led coalition of 31 states and territories is pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to regulate flavored e-cigarettes. The group wants to not only ban e-cigs with "youth-appealing" flavors like candy, mint and menthol, but to limit nicotine levels and restrict marketing efforts aimed at kids.

The coalition is hoping to thwart what it calls a "youth nicotine epidemic." About 19.6 percent of high school students from 2020 said they'd used e-cigarettes at least once in the past 30 days, according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine. The alliance also pointed to the effects of nicotine on kids' brains, including higher chances of addiction as well as mental health issues and poisoning.

The pressure campaign follows high-profile action against e-cigarettes at the state level, particularly in New York. The state not only banned flavored cigarettes in late 2019, but sued Juul (owned by tobacco giant Altria) for "deceptive and misleading" marketing that contributed to a youth vaping crisis. We've asked Juul for comment on this latest action.

There's a chance the states could get more than they were hoping for when the FDA will decide whether or not to ban e-cigs and oral nicotine starting on September 9th. Even if this doesn't lead to an extensive ban, though, the coalition's sought-after measures could significantly limit the reach of e-cig technology across the US.

Waze might have a way to keep your kids entertained during a drive without handing them a tablet: distract them with your navigation app. The company has added a PAW Patrol experience to Waze that has the TV show's Ryder guide you to your destination with help from Chase, Marshall and Skye. You can also switch your Waze Mood to replace the usual icon with Chase's police car, Marshall's fire truck or Skye's aircraft.

The feature is available for a "limited time" to English users through the My Waze section in the app. It's available on both Android and iOS.

This is a not-so-subtle plug for the upcoming PAW Patrol movie, but it could be helpful for keeping your young ones engaged. It might even encourage them to take an interest in the drive and the world outside the car window. Of course, it's also easy to see this going very badly — the last thing you want is to have your kids shouting at the phone while you're listening for directions. This might be best for children who tend to watch the show in raptured silence.

Audio-Technica is giving its wireless M50x headphones a refresh after three years, and the new over-ears include some welcome upgrades that bring them into the modern era. The just-introduced ATH-M50xBT2 maintains the familiar design and 45mm drivers we liked so much, but notably adds a built-in Alexa voice assistant and multi-point Bluetooth pairing. It'll be easier to both ask for help and switch from your computer to your phone, to put it another way.

There are more functional improvements regardless of quality. A low latency mode helps with games and streamed video. Codec support has widened to include AAC, LDAC and SBC, although there's curiously no mention of AptX. The updated USB-C connection gives you three hours of listening with a 10-minute charge, although you won't be plugging in too often when Audio-Technica claims 50 hours of use.

There's still no active noise cancellation, but you do get a cable for wired listening, control over common voice assistants and Fast Pair setup on Android.

The ATH-M50xBT2 is available today for $199. That's slightly higher than the original headphones' $180, but that still makes them a bargain if you're more interested in pure sound quality than ANC or other common frills for over-ear headphones.

Safaris can help you see nature, but they also tend to disrupt nature — the loud, smelly vehicles involved can disturb animals and hurt the environment in the process. They're quickly becoming less intrusive, however. Reutersnotes that the Kenyan-Swedish firm Opibus is converting diesel and gas safari vehicles in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve into electric models. 

The converted EVs are not only quieter, but don't rumble or spew foul odors that might alarm animals. Many of the other benefits of electric cars apply here, too. Opibus' conversions don't produce CO2 emissions, and the company claims that electric motors cut operating costs in half by ditching fuel (and, we'd add, the quirks of combustion engines).

Opibus is the only company performing these conversions in Kenya, and it has only electrified 10 vehicles so far. There are also practical challenges to deploying safari EVs. African electrical grids aren't always reliable, and charging an EV in a nature reserve isn't as simple as finding a public station. There's also the simple matter of range — safari companies can't necessarily afford hours of downtime to recharge vehicles in between tours.

Even so, it's easy to imagine EVs finding widespread adoption in Kenya, South Africa and other countries where safari tourism is vital. The less intrusive the vehicles are, the more likely it is that wildlife will continue unimpeded. That's good for both the animals and the tourists hoping to spot elephants and lions that might otherwise stay away.