Google Stadia is still very much alive and kicking — and has made some updates that will make it easier to livestream games. XDA Developers reported that Stadia will unveil a new Party Stream feature that enables players to privately broadcast their gameplay to up to nine other users, who can opt to either play or watch. Users can take advantage of Stadia’s party chat features during these streams, including emoji and voice reactions. A Google spokesperson confirmed the news to Engadget in an email.

Stadia already allows players to directly share their gameplay to YouTube. The Party Stream feature accommodates gamers who don’t want to broadcast their games to the world — but merely wants to share it with a few friends. We've already seen platforms like Discord (with its Go Live feature) tap into this need to gamestream to a select few. Party Stream also saves Stadia players the trouble of using Twitch to share games with friends, which requires downloading a third-party encoder.

Other updates include the ability for players to switch devices mid-game without ending the livestream. For example, you could stream a Stadia game from your PC and then resume playing it on your Android device— without halting the streaming session.

According to XDA Developers, Party Stream began rolling out to users on Monday and should be available to all players in the next 24 hours. Keep in mind that it is currently only limited to desktop and Android devices — but will likely expand to more devices in the future.

Amazon's palm-reading payment technology will soon be available in many more Whole Foods stores. The company is rolling out Amazon One to more than 65 Whole Foods shops in California, starting with Malibu, Montana Avenue and Santa Monica locations in Los Angeles. More stores in LA, Orange County, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Cruz will come online in the "coming weeks."

Before, palm-based payments were only available in a handful of Whole Foods stores in Austin, LA, New York City and Seattle. In California, you could also try Amazon One at the company's Style fashion store in Glendale and certain Fresh and Go locations.

As usual, One is meant to streamline retail shopping. So long as you link your palm and payment card to the service, you just have to hover your hand over a scanner to complete a purchase. While you still have to stop at a checkout terminal, you don't have to pull out a phone like you do with Amazon's camera-based Just Walk Out system.

Third-party adoption may be trickier. While Amazon has touted plans to use One at concert venues and sport stadiums, there's been a mounting backlash over worries palm data could be misused or stolen. Amazon has maintained that it holds info in secure, One-exclusive cloud storage, but politicians have still been concerned enough to grill company leadership over its practices. There's a reluctance to trust biometric tech like this, and the Whole Foods expansion isn't guaranteed to assuage people's fears.

After launching earlier this summer, Yamaha’s flagship TW-E7B true wireless earbuds are now available in the US. You can buy them starting today for $279.95. The TW-E7B have a few things going for them. They’re the first true wireless earbuds from Yamaha to include the company’s proprietary active noise cancelation algorithm. Yamaha claims its take on ANC doesn’t “color” audio the way some implementations do. The earbuds also feature an internal microphone that monitors how the shape of your ear affects audio output and adjusts accordingly.

Many of the other software features you’ll find on the TW-E7B are standard at this price range. The usual ambient mode makes an appearance, as does Google’s Fast Pair. For gamers, there’s a low-latency mode you can activate by triple tapping the volume down button on the right earbud. On that note, the inclusion of built-in volume controls is notable. Most true wireless earbuds don’t have them. Bluetooth codec support isn’t as extensive as some of the earbuds we’ve seen hit the market recently, but you do get access to AAC and aptX adaptive.

According to Yamaha, you can get up to six hours of battery life from the earbuds alone, and a total of 22 hours with the included charging case. The casing protecting the 10mm drivers is IPX5 certified against moisture. The TW-E7B are available in four colors: black, dark blue, beige and white. They also come with five different silicone eartips.

The number of hours streamed and watched across Twitch, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming have dropped significantly over the last year, according to the latest Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet report on the landscape of livestreaming. Between April and June, streamers on the three platforms were live for 273 million hours. That's down 19.4 percent from Q2 2021 and 12 percent from the previous quarter.

Viewers tuned in to streams for 7.36 billion hours across the three platforms last quarter. That's a drop of 18.1 percent year over year (viewership was at 8.99 billion hours in Q2 2021) and 8.4 percent from the previous quarter. The slowdown for all three platforms could be a case of people spending more time outside than they did last year for pandemic-related reasons.

Twitch is still by far the biggest player among the three platforms, with 76.7 percent of market share in terms of hours watched (5.64 billion) and 92.7 percent of hours streamed (204.2 million). Those figures dropped by 13.4 percent and 16 percent from Q2 2021. The number of unique channels streaming on the platform dropped by nearly 2 million to 9.6 million as well.

However, Twitch's Just Chatting category continues to go from strength to strength. Hours watched there actually grew by 2.2 percent from the previous quarter, giving the category its highest ever viewership. The most-watched categories after that were Grand Theft Auto V (465 million hours) and League of Legends (464 million).

YouTube Gaming viewership actually remained steady from the previous quarter, though it dropped 13.1 percent from Q2 2021 to 1.13 billion hours. The total hours streamed dropped by 9.6 percent year over year to 8.05 million.

Facebook Gaming suffered a bigger setback, per the report, despite Meta's efforts to court creators. The number of hours watched fell by a whopping 51 percent from a year ago to 580 million. There was an even bigger drop in terms of hours streamed, from 20.8 million in Q2 2021 to 7.9 million last quarter — a decline of 62 percent.

Perhaps we'll soon start seeing some of those numbers creep up again, though. With a recession looming, folks may spend more time indoors again, tuning back into streamers they enjoyed watching during the first 18 months or so after COVID-19 took hold.

It took several months, but you now have access to 1Password's major updates on your phone. The company has released 1Password 8 for Android and iOS, and many of the desktop version's features have carried over to mobile. For starters, there's a new home screen that provides quicker, customized access to frequently-used passwords. There's also a new navigation bar to help you find info across every account you use.

The updated 1Password is also better at dealing with an era when data breaches are all too common. The Watchtower dashboard has reached mobile devices, providing alerts when a breach compromises your login. The tool also helps you randomly generate answers to security questions, and even encourages you to strengthen your sign-ins by generating an overall security score. More advanced passwords, two-factor authentication and other changes can boost your rating.

The additions won't necessarily persuade you to switch from LastPass and similar password managers. However, they might make a good case for trying 1Password f you routinely search for passwords or want a broader picture of your digital security.

You no longer have to reach for your Android phone to try Google's learn-to-read tool. Google has launched a beta web version of Read Along that offers a similar experience on your computer. As before, the virtual helper Diya encourages your kids to read aloud and offers correctional feedback. Children can read at different skill levels and receive digital prizes for completing goals.

The beta currently supports reading on Chrome, Edge and Firefox, with functionality for Safari and other browsers due "soon." Kids can learn in several languages, including English and Hindi. You can sign in for a personalized experience, but Google makes clear that you don't need an account. All speech recognition also happens in your browser, so you don't have to worry that someone might grab your child's voice recordings.

Read Along's web version won't change your mind if you prefer the personal touch. However, Google isn't pitching this as a full substitute for human contact. It helps kids improve their reading in moments where their parents aren't available, and could help schools teach literacy when one-on-one time isn't practical.

Ford will open up orders for the next wave of F-150 Lightning reservation holders this Thursday, but those buying the electric pickup as of this week will need to dig deeper in their pockets. The automaker is bumping up the prices by between $4,200 and $8,900, depending on the trim. It cited "significant material cost increases and other factors" as reasons for the adjustments.

“Current order holders awaiting delivery are not impacted by these price adjustments,” Model E chief customer officer Marin Gjaja said in a statement. “We’ve announced pricing ahead of re-opening order banks so our reservation holders can make an informed decision around ordering a Lightning.” Those who have a reservation and already received an invite order but chose to wait for their preferred configuration to be available will "receive a private offer for use in upcoming waves," Ford said.

The base F-150 Lightning now costs $46,974 (up by $7,000) and the standard mid-range XLT is $59,474, which marks an increase of $6,500. At the higher end of the scale, Ford bumped up the price of the Platinum Extended Range by just over $4,000 to $96,874. The biggest increase, per The Verge, is for the Lariat Extended Range, which has jumped up by $8,900 to $85,974. Those prices don't include the delivery fee.

As somewhat of a makegood for the price increase, models with the standard-range battery will have a target EPA-estimated range of 240 miles, an increase of 10 miles per charge. That battery is available for the Pro, XLT and Lariat trims. Ford is also adding Pro Trailer Hitch Assist tech, which it says will make it easier for drivers to hitch trailers thanks to automatic steering, throttle and brake controls. It's available as part of the Tow Technology Package on Pro, XLT and Lariat trims and as standard on some Lariat trims and the Platinum trim.

Ford is changing up the color options too. Avalanche Gray and Azure Gray metallic tri-coat options will replace Atlas Blue, Ice Blue Silver and Smoked Quartz Metallic. Those will not be available on models it builds as of this fall.

The automaker temporarily capped reservations at 200,000 last December, after receiving enough to fill three years of production capacity. Ford began making the F-150 Lightning in April and it started deliveries the following month. It has sold more than 4,400 to date. Starting in 2023, the company aims to produce 150,000 units per year at a plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

In a nondescript warehouse outside of Atlanta, nestled among the office parks and chain restaurants that pepper suburban America, AT&T is preparing for catastrophe. This is one of the company's Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) sites, a place where a volunteer group of AT&T workers can test and train on equipment that can quickly spin up connectivity when a local office is destroyed. 

Longtime Engadget readers may remember our 2008 visit to a similar Chicago-area site, only a year after the launch of the iPhone and long before the company started deploying 4G LTE. Given just how much the world has changed since then — with smartphones in practically every pocket, and billion-dollar weather and climate disasters on the rise.

Originally launched in 1991, AT&T has spent over $650 million in the US building up the NDR program (up $100 million since 2008). Since 2017, AT&T has also provided network support for FirstNet (First Responder Network Authority), which delivers a public safety wireless network throughout America. Both T-Mobile and Verizon have their own disaster response initiatives, but AT&T’s cellular division has the advantage of launching more than a decade before either of those competitors arrived in the US. Neither company has publicly stated how much they invest in disaster recovery, and our inquiries for more specifics have gone unanswered.

It’s one thing for AT&T to claim it’s spending a huge chunk of change on disaster recovery (the cynic in me can’t help but wonder how that figure is calculated). But seeing the vast amounts of gear the company has devoted to its NDR program makes one thing clear: This is more than just good PR. It’s a moral mission for AT&T’s volunteer staff, many of which come from military backgrounds. While it’s not as mission critical as supplying food, water and shelter, providing connectivity could still save lives by making it easier for first responders to communicate with each other, not to mention giving people in danger a way to reach out for help.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

During our 2008 visit, we learned the NDR team was using a standard Chevy Suburban jam-packed with cellular gear to restore parts of its network. Today, they’re looking to the sky and beyond. (That Suburban has also been replaced by a 4x4 emergency response club cab pickup.) AT&T has been using drones called Flying COWs (Cell-on-wings) for several years, but its upcoming iteration can spit out 5G coverage to around ten square miles from 300 feet in the air, while the drones currently being used deliver Band 14 LTE.

For safety reasons, all of the company's drones are currently tethered to stations on the ground, which provide power for as long as their generators can stay fueled. They also require two people to operate — one to fly the drone, and another to keep an eye out for obstacles. The drone I saw looked larger than any consumer model I've seen, and it can hold a payload up to five pounds.

Looking ahead, AT&T has patented a remote flight system that lets operators control drones from thousands of miles away, and it's exploring solar-powered units that could fly autonomously for days. (Unfortunately, I didn't get to see AT&T's 55-foot long blimp, which flies 1,000 feet in the air to provide connectivity across 100 miles for up to two weeks.) NDR staffers tell me AT&T is also testing robodogs that can deal with a variety of scenarios – from running up a mountain during a forest fire, to helping with bomb disarmament.

The company has also beefed up its ground and water game with the Amphib. With its enormous treads, it looks like a red mini-tank, but it can also float and make its way through water using rear propellers. It's the sort of vehicle that can make dealing with hurricanes much easier, according to AT&T's Kelly Morrison, who is also a longtime NDR volunteer. The Amphib is basically a people and payload mover, but it gives the company more flexibility when dealing with flooded areas. Given the historic rainfalls we've recently seen in St. Louis and Kentucky, in addition to inevitable rising sea levels, the Amphib could end up being one of the NDR team's most useful tools.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Of course, these new toys are great and all, but the core of AT&T'S NDR team continues to be its COLTs (Cell on Light Truck). They can tap into the company's existing fiber backhaul lines and deliver cellular connectivity within a few hours. If local infrastructure is completely down, AT&T can use SatCOLTs to reach satellites instead. And for hard-to-access areas, the company now has "Compact Rapid Deployables" (CRDs), which can fit on the back of a truck or be hiked to the top of a mountain. The company also has thousands of generators on-hand – a necessity for every disaster site. While the main goal is to restore connectivity for first responders and customers, AT&T’s FirstNet commitment also ensures interoperability with competing carriers too.

During the devastating Marshall Fire in Colorado, which destroyed more than 1,000 homes, FirstNet responders rushed to set up two SatCOLT's over New Year's Eve. Additional teams came in from Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and Missouri, leading to a peak of eight SatCOLTs being used to support FirstNet works and local businesses. The fire wasn't the only challenge: Additional calls required a team to cover two mountain passes during heavy snow conditions.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The NDR team hasn't gotten many breaks throughout the year. According to AT&T, three SatCOLTs helped first responders during Yosemite's wildfire in July. And as of August 1st, FirstNET also deployed another two SatCOLTs to assist rescue operations during the recent flood in Kentucky. The team has been deployed more often since 2018, when AT&T was tapped to support FirstNet, and it’s also responding to the increasing number of wildfires we’re seeing in the US.

And, of course, NDR workers are always keeping an eye on new ways to improve their disaster response. The team tells us they're looking forward to using low-Earth satellites eventually, which would offer more bandwidth and lower latency than the existing fixed satellites. Virtualizing their work would also be a huge help. Currently, much of their response involves moving workers and setting up control centers in dangerous areas. But as they move towards smaller and easier to deploy assets, like drones and CRDs, they may not have to set up a trailer at all.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

After my tour of the NDR site, I couldn’t help but notice the cellular equipment dotting the sparse Georgia landscape. I could see towers at practically every high point in the area, delivering robust 5G speeds on the same roads where I used to struggle to get 2.5G Edge reception over a decade ago. It’s easy to take this blanket of connectivity for granted. And now that we’re starting to see more frequent extreme weather events, it’s clear that AT&T’s NDR team, and similar initiatives from competitors, will be more necessary than ever.

Following successful votes in the Senate and House of Representatives, President Joe Biden has signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law. The $280 billion measure will provide significant financial assistance to American semiconductor firms. It sets aside $52 billion in tax credits and funding for US chipmakers to expand domestic production. In a rare episode of bipartisan unity, the Senate voted 64-33 in favor of the bill. It was later passed by the House thanks to a 243-187 vote.

“America invented the semiconductor, but over the years we let manufacturing of semiconductors move overseas. As we saw during the pandemic, when the factories that make these chips shut down, the global economy came to a screeching halt, driving up costs for families” Biden said during the ceremony. “A third of the core inflation last year was due to the high price of automobiles, which was driven by the shortage of semiconductors. For the sake of our economy, jobs and national security, we have to make these semiconductors in America again.”

The CHIPS and Science Act is unlikely to affect domestic production immediately. It takes years to build new foundries and upgrade existing ones to increase output. When Intel recently broke ground on two new $20 billion facilities in Arizona, the company said it would take about three years to complete construction on those plants.

The signing comes shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a trip to Taiwan, despite warnings from China that there would be “resolute and strong measures” if she went ahead with visit. Before her arrival on the island, Taiwan’s presidential website went down to an apparent cyberattack. The self-governing island is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the most important chip foundry in the world. On its own, TSMC supplies the majority of all semiconductor parts used by US companies.

Spotify's Soundtrap is now more useful for artists who want to make music with distant friends. The online digital audio workstation (DAW) now has an opt-in beta for a live collaboration feature that lets multiple people make and see changes to a tune in real time. If you want to add a sick beat, you don't have to tap a sync button to ensure everyone hears it.

Another opt-in beta adds an (arguably overdue) auto-save feature to preserve your work. If you'd rather not participate in any tests, you can now leave Google Docs-style comments on tracks to guide your fellow composers.

Soundtrap starts at $10 per month, or $8 per month if you pay yearly. That's not as affordable as a collab-friendly alternative like Soundation ($5 per month when paid yearly), but it could make the DAW more compelling if you crave unlimited projects (Soundation's entry paid tier is limited to 10) or simply want Spotify's resources at your disposal.