With its September Xbox update, Microsoft has brought the new, Chromium-based Edge browser to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles. It supports a keyboard and mouse and will introduce new capabilities like access to Google Stadia, Discord, web apps and more.

Microsoft started testing the Edge update on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S earlier this year, but today it's coming to everyone. Edge has been the default browser on Xbox One, but not the latest Chromium version that enables features like Google Stadia gameplay. 

It promises a "fast, secure and modern browsing experience right from your console," Microsoft wrote. It's nearly identical to the desktop version, with features like vertical tabs, collections and syncing of settings, favorites, history, tabs and more to other signed-in devices. As Reddit users have noted, though, it's missing extensions — so you won't be able to use an ad-blocker for now.

With mouse and keyboard support, gamers will find it far easier to use productivity apps. More importantly, you'll be able to play Google Stadia or Steam PC games with either a mouse and/or the Xbox controller. For now, there's no microphone support for live chats on Discord or other apps, according to The Verge.  

Microsoft also trumpeted the release of Play Later discovery, but it's not clear how that differs from the current Play Later features. It also re-announced the arrival of game streaming to PC via Xbox Game Pass cloud or using Xbox Remote Play. The new features are now available to all Xbox consoles. 

DJI's upcoming Mavic 3 Pro drone may be a big upgrade over the last model, according to leaks from DroneDJ and Jasper Ellens seen by The Verge. It may have a significantly longer flight time along with not just one, but two cameras, including a telephoto model and one with a larger Four Thirds sensor. If accurate, the Mavic 3 would be highly desirable for cinematographers and aerial photographers when it arrives, reportedly later this year. 

Where the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom make you choose between a larger sensor or a 24-48mm equivalent zoom, the new model will offer both on one drone. It reportedly comes with two separate cameras, including a 20-megapixel, 24mm f/2.8-f/11 primary camera with a Four Thirds sensor, along with a 12-megapixel, 1/2-inch sensor secondary camera with a 160mm-equivalent telephoto lens.

A Four Thirds sensor would be a huge boon for aerial shooters, allowing for extra detail and a more cinematic look in general. Currently, shooting in that format requires a large, relatively expensive drone and in many cases, a separate camera like DJI's Zenmuse line or Panasonic's BGH1. At the same time, a second telephoto camera would make it more versatile.

It will also offer direct USB-C charging so you don't need to remove the battery. All of that will boost the weight a bit, up from 907g on the Mavic 2 Pro to 920g for the Mavic 3 Pro. Despite that bump from the extra camera and other new features, the Mavic 3 will be able to fly for 46 minutes, way up from the 31 minutes available on the Mavic 2. 

The Mavic 3 will apparently come in two flavors, a Pro and a Cine model, with the latter offering a built-in SSD and a "1Gbps Lightspeed Data Cable" option for faster transfers. It will also offer a new version of DJI's display-equipped Smart Controller allowing for video transmission over 15km, up from 10km on the Mavic 2 Pro. 

The Mavic 3 Pro will cost $1,600, both sources say, which is the same price as the current Mavic 2 Pro. Prices for the Cine model are less clear, but could run around $1,000 more — still a relative deal for such a high tech camera drone. Both are expected to arrive on November 15th. 

Europe may require all manufacturers to use USB-C charging for all phones and electronic devices, according to a new EU Commission ruling proposal. It aims to reduce e-waste and "consumer inconvenience" caused by different and incompatible chargers still in use. The Commission also wants manufacturers to unbundle the sale of chargers with electronic devices. 

"With today's proposal... USB-C will become the standard port for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld videogame consoles," according to the report. 

The EU said its work with industry has managed to reduce the number of mobile phone chargers from 30 to 3 over the last decade. One of those three is Apple's Lightning port used by around 20 percent of devices sold in Europe. The EU hopes to change that situation, according to a statement by executive VP Margrethe Vestager:

European consumers were frustrated long enough about incompatible chargers piling up in their drawers. We gave industry plenty of time to come up with their own solutions, now time is ripe for legislative action for a common charger. This is an important win for our consumers and environment and in line with our green and digital ambitions.

When a common charger was first voted on by the EU last year, Apple issued a statement saying that the proposal would "stifle innovation," and its position has not changed. "We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world," an Apple spokesperson told the BBC. 

Since the launch of the iPhone 12, however, Apple has stopped including chargers in the box, something it said would save 861,000 tons of copper, zinc and tin. Apple itself now uses USB-C charging on its latest Mac laptops and certain iPad models, since that standard supports higher voltage charging required for larger devices.

Nearly all Android smartphones now use USB-C charging, and many models from Samsung and others are sold with charging/data cables but not chargers. It total, around 420 million mobile phones and other portable electronic devices sold in Europe just in the last year.

The EU throws away 12,000 tons of chargers each year, some unused, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, consumers spend around 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion) on standalone chargers not included with devices. The law is still in the proposal stages and needs to be passed by EU lawmakers and governments, so it could come into force around two years after that. 

Researchers have created a winged microchip around the size of a sand grain that may be the smallest flying device yet made, Vice has reported. They're designed to be carried around by the wind and could be used in numerous applications including disease and air pollution tracking, according to a paper published by Nature. At the same time, they could be made from biodegradable materials to prevent environmental contamination. 

The design of the flyers was inspired by spinning seeds from cottonwood and other trees. Those fall slowly by spinning like helicopters so they can be picked up by the wind and spread a long distance from the tree, increasing the range of the species. 

The team from Northwest University ran with that idea but made it better, and smaller. "We think we've beaten biology... we've been able to build structures that fall in a more stable trajectory at slower terminal velocities than equivalent seeds," said lead Professor John A. Rogers. "The other thing... was that we were able to make these helicopter flyer structures that are much smaller than seeds you would see in the natural world."  

They're not so small that the aerodynamics starts to break down, though. "All of the advantages of the helicopter design begin to disappear below a certain length scale, so we pushed it all the way, as far as you can go or as physics would allow," Rogers told Vice. "Below that size scale, everything looks and falls like a sphere."

The devices are also large enough to carry electronics, sensors and power sources. The team tested multiple versions that could carry payloads like antenna so that they could wireless communicate with a smartphone or each other. Other sensors could monitor things like air acidity, water quality and solar radiation. 

The flyers are still concepts right now and not ready to deploy into the atmosphere, but the team plans to expand their findings with different designs. Key to that is the use of biodegradable materials so they wouldn't persist in the environment. 

"We don't think about these devices... as a permanent monitoring componentry but rather temporary ones that are addressing a particular need that’s of finite time duration," Rogers said. “That's the way that we're envisioning things currently: you monitor for a month and then the devices die out, dissolve, and disappear, and maybe you have to redeploy them."

If you're attached to your Xbox 360 gamerpic but hate how that it looks small and ridiculous on modern consoles, don't change it for a newer one just yet. Microsoft developer Eden Marie has announced that a recent fix for Xbox 360 gamerpics on newer consoles is now rolling out to Insiders, so everyone should get it soon. 

As a reminder, tiny 72x72 pixel Xbox 360 gamerpics were never scaled up on new consoles, so they've grown smaller and smaller and are the wrong shape, to boot. Marie and others engineers originally fixed the issue by scaling the icons to the right size, fitting their square shape into modern round gamerpic (rather than cutting off the corners) and even using transparency for a more seamless appearance.

According to a tweet from Marie, the transparency fix was "walked back a bit due to user feedback that the square images looked too different from normal gamerpics." Rather, the circle is now semi-transparent. It will only show up if you've ever had an Xbox 360 gamerpic, "and if your current gamerpic isn't already your Xbox 360 gamerpic," she said. Once set, any changes you make on an Xbox 360 console will "automatically carry over." 

The fix arrived first to the Xbox Alpha Ring, but has now hit the Insider ring starting with Alpha Skip Ahead users. Pending more feedback and possible changes, it should work its way up the Insider ring levels and arrive to all users in the near future. 

MIT has unveiled a new toolkit that lets users design health-sensing devices that can detect how muscles move. The university's Science and and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) created the kit using something called "electrical impedance tomography" (EIT), that measures internal conductivity to gauge whether muscles are activated or relaxed. The research could allow for wearables that monitor distracted driving, hand gestures or muscle movements for physical rehabilitation. 

In a paper, the researchers wrote that EIT sensing usually requires expensive hardware setups and complex algorithms to decipher the data. The advent of 3D printing, inexpensive electronics and open-source EIT image libraries has made it feasible for more users, but designing a wearable setup is still a challenge. 

To that end, the "EIT-kit" 3D editor allows users to enter the device parameters and place the sensors on a device that may go on a user's wrist or leg, for instance. It can then be exported to a 3D printer and assembled, and the final step is to calibrate the device using a subject. For that, it's connected to the EIT-kit's sensing mother board, and "an on-board microcontroller library automates the electrical impedance measurement and lets you see the visual measured data, even on a mobile phone," according to CSAIL.

Where most wearables can only sense motion, and EIT device can sense actual muscle activity. The team built one prototype that could sense muscle strain and tension in a subject's thigh, allowing them to monitor muscle recovery after an injury. It also showed other possible uses, like gesture recognition, a distracted driving detector and more. 

The team is working with Massachusetts General Hospital on rehabilitation tech using the devices while refining the tech. The eventual aim is to develop "rapid function prototyping techniques and novel sensing technologies," said lead author Junyi Zhu. 

If Amazon opens mini department stores as rumored, they could include high-tech dressing rooms and the retailer's own private-label clothing brands, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The aim is apparently to address some of the normal irritants of clothes shopping, increase its own brand recognition and make the stores as efficient as possible.  

One idea is that customers would use a smartphone app to scan QR codes of items they want to try on. Associates would then gather the items and place them in fitting rooms, and the process could eventually become more automated with the use of robots. 

Once inside, you'd be able to ask for more clothes using a touchscreen, which could also recommend items you might like based on what you've chosen so far. Those could again be brought by associates and slid through a sliding door that would maintain your privacy.

In the past, Amazon has showcased other high-tech shopping experiences, like AR that would show how your hair would look with different hair dyes. It has also patented a mirror for trying on virtual clothes, but there's no sign yet that it would use such technology in department stores. It also sold the Echo Look camera, a standalone device that gave owners fashion advice using artificial intelligence and machine learning (below), though it was discontinued last year. 

Amazon will also reportedly sell its own private label brands, along with a selection of clothing from third-party manufacturers. On top of its own Amazon Essentials line, its online store currently carries products from designers like Oscar de la Renta, Altuzarra and La Perla. However, many luxury and high-end brands — which have the highest profitability — have resisted listing goods online with Amazon.

Reports of Amazon department stores started popping up last month, with sites tipped to be around a third the size of regular department stores. At 30,000 square feet, however, they'd still be larger than Amazon's other physical locations other than Whole Foods.

Even as some physical retailers including JC Penney and Niemen Marcus filed for bankruptcy, Amazon saw sales explode during the pandemic as users shopped online from home. However, customers surveyed recently by Wells Fargo said they preferred the physical department store experience and didn't want to pay for shipping if they weren't Prime members, the WSJ noted. On top of clothing, Amazon's department stores would reportedly allow it to showcase electronics like Fire TVs, readers, Echo speakers and more. 

All of this is still a rumor which hasn't been confirmed by Amazon, so take it with some skepticism. Considering how quickly the company is expanding into brick-and-mortar retail right now, though, it does make sense. 

Netflix is acquiring the Roald Dahl Story Company (RDSC) and rights to the author's entire catalog, including classics like Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach, the company announced. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed (and are subject to regulatory approval), but three years ago Netflix paid "nine figures" for the rights to 16 of Dahl's works, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In any event, it likely represents one of Netflix's largest acquisitions to date. 

News of the acquisition started bubbling up yesterday following a Bloomberg report. Netflix has big plans for Dahl's works, including "the creation of a unique universe across animated and live actions films and TV, publishing, games, immersive experiences, live theater, consumer products and more," wrote Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos and RDSC managing director (and Dahl's grandson) Luke Kelly. 

The companies revealed that director Taika Waititi and screenwriter Phil Johnston are working on a series based on the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory world. Netflix is also working with Sony and Working Title on an adaptation of Matilda The Musical. 

The acquisition appears to go well beyond Netflix's past content deals, in which it simply licensed content from others. It famously did so with Marvel, then ended up canceling Daredevil and other Marvel shows when it couldn't come to terms with Disney, which was planning at the time to launch rival service Disney+. 

With Roald Dahl's catalog, it promises to "bring these timeless tales to more audiences in new formats... [while] maintaining their unique spirit and their universal themes of surprise and kindness," Sarandos and Dahl wrote. "These stories and their messages of the power and possibility of young people have never felt more pertinent." Last year, the company issued an apology on its website for Dahl's history of antisemitic statements, as Bloomberg noted.  

Facebook shareholders have filed a lawsuit alleging that board members overpaid on a $5 billion FTC fine to protect CEO Mark Zuckerberg from an individual lawsuit, Politico has reported. "Zuckerberg, Sandberg, and other Facebook directors agreed to authorize a multi-billion settlement with the FTC as an express quid pro quo to protect Zuckerberg from being named in the FTC’s complaint, made subject to personal liability, or even required to sit for a deposition," according to one of the two suits filed.

The two lawsuits, filed in a Delaware court last month, cite internal discussion among Facebook's board members. In February of 2019, the FTC named both Facebook and Zuckerberg personally as defendants in a draft complaint sent to company lawyers, according to the shareholders (the FTC has never revealed any such plans). Two Democrats voted against the settlement, saying that Zuckerberg should have been held personally responsible. 

"The FTC has never disclosed that it originally planned to name Zuckerberg personally in the lawsuit, and the agency's two Democrats at the time voted against the settlement in part because of the lack of personal liability for the CEO," one group of shareholders alleged. 

The $5 billion settlement was the result of an FTC complaint filed over Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. Democratic commissioners said the settlement wouldn't have the desired outcome, which was to force Facebook to improve privacy and other issues. Since then, privacy has continued to be an issue across Facebook and its other platforms, along with areas like misinformation, harassment and double standards for elite users, according to a recent WSJ series. 

“The Board has never provided a serious check on Zuckerberg’s unfettered authority,” one set of shareholders said. “Instead, it has enabled him, defended him, and paid billions of dollars from Facebook’s corporate coffers to make his problems go away." Engadget has reached out to Facebook for comment. 

HP is again using OLED displays for its latest Spectre x360 2-in-1 laptops, but this time, you get a bit more screen for your money. The new HP Spectre x360 comes with an optional 16-inch, 16:10 4K OLED display — up from the 15.6-inch displays last year — delivering true VESA blacks with "100 percent color calibration," the company announced. 

The new model has an extra 22mm of viewing space compared to the previous models, while still offering fairly slim bezels all around with a 91 percent screen-to-body ratio. It's also available with a 3,072 x 1,920 IPS touchscreen, if budget is an issue. At the same time, you get a top-mounted 5-megapixel webcam with a physical shutter for privacy and Windows Hello support. It comes with HP's AI controls and "beauty mode" that can improve lighting and "touch up skin, teeth and eyes." 

HP

It should have enough power to drive those features too, with an 11th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU and Intel Evo graphics, or an optional NDIVIDA GeForce RTX 3050 laptop GPU, along with 16GB of memory, 512GB PCIe NVMe storage and 32GB of Intel Optane memory. It also offers quad B&O speakers, up to WiFi 6E, a MicroSD card reader, two Thunderbolt 4 with 40Gbps speeds and USB Power Delivery USB4 Type-C ports, HDMI 2.0b, Bluetooth 5.2 and 17 hours of battery life. The HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 arrives in the fall at HP.com or Best Buy starting at $1,639, but expect to pay more for the OLED 4K model.