In late 2020, Google bought the company Neverware, which had made a name for itself thanks to a product called CloudReady that let individual users or large organizations turn old Windows PCs and Macs into Chrome OS devices. The idea was that if you had aging hardware that wasn’t running Windows or macOS as well as it used to, you could get more life out of it by using it as a Chromebook. CloudReady continued to be available after Google bought Neverware, but today we’re getting our first look at an updated version of the product that’s been in the works for the last year or so.
It’s called Chrome OS Flex, and it’s a rebuilt version of CloudReady that was built internally with access to all of Google’s code and resources. The idea behind Chrome OS Flex is the same: you can visit a website, quickly make a Chrome OS image on a USB drive, and then run that on a PC or Mac. If you decide that you’re ready to wipe the computer, you can then replace the existing OS with Chrome OS and use the computer as a full-fledged Chromebook.
Anyone can try Chrome OS Flex today, but Google is positioning the product more towards businesses and education institutions — something that the company already focuses on with Chrome OS more broadly. As such, one of the big benefits of Chrome OS Flex is that IT departments can manage the devices just like any other Chrome OS hardware. Flex can be deployed over a network to multiple devices, and IT departments can manage everything through Google’s Admin console. Once Flex is installed, those devices can be managed in the same way any other Chrome OS hardware is, so IT departments can deploy specific software installs or permissions.
Chrome OS Flex is also more capable than the CloudReady product it will eventually replace. It uses the same code base as Chrome OS, and Flex devices will get software updates simultaneously (before, Neverware had to wait for Google to push out a Chrome OS update and then make it work with CloudReady). Flex also has access to the Google Assistant, a feature built into most popular Chromebooks these days and something CloudReady didn’t offer before.
While Google is focusing Flex on businesses and education, anyone can try it. You just need to visit this site to create a bootable Chrome OS Flex instance on a USB drive and go from there. As this is early access software, though, you’ll probably want to do it on a computer that isn’t your main device. Google’s making the process of creating a bootable drive built right into the Chrome browser, too — the Chromebook Recovery Utility extension already lets you make Chrome OS recovery media, and now a Flex install will be one of the available options.
One thing Google is being clear about is that this Chrome OS Flex launch is an “early access” product. They want people to try it and give feedback, but are noting that there may be bugs that still need to be squashed. A full, final release of Chrome OS Flex is planned for Q2 this year. For now, Google will continue offering the stable version of CloudReady; once Chrome OS Flex is final, CloudReady users will be transitioned over to Flex.
We've seen bits and pieces of Google's Smart Canvas platform trickle out since it was announced last May, and now, we're getting a look at a few more features coming today and in the next few weeks. The company is unveiling a set of updates for Google Docs, Sheets and Workspace that will make it easier for you and your teammates to work on the same files together.
After rolling out the "universal @ menu" last year, Google is now expanding the available building blocks that you can add to a doc. The company already released blocks for People and Meeting Notes, the latter of which lets you quickly insert automatically generated dates, meeting names, attendees and notes from your calendar events, Soon, you'll see options for email drafts and Maps.
The latter is fairly self-explanatory — you can embed a Google Maps link and when you click on it, a snippet shows up on the right column in the same page, giving you a preview of the area, as well as directions and traffic info. Just as you can in the Maps app, you can also send directions to your phone through this snippet.
Google
Meanwhile, the new email draft building block lets you compose a message within a box in your Doc, and allows your collaborators to view and tweak your addressees, subject line and letter copy. Those with edit permissions can even send the emails by clicking the envelope icon to the top left of the block, and a small window will pop up with the contents exported to Gmail. The message will be sent from the email of the collaborator who clicked on the icon. Google said the email drafts building block will be available "in the coming weeks."
Because this new format of collaboration will allow people to embed multiple files into one, it's important to get a preview of every document within one page instead of having to open each to see what it contains. Of course, you could use informative titles, but a document summary can provide helpful details like "budget breakdown table here." Today, Google is adding automatically-generated summaries in Docs to make adding a summary to a document preview a little easier. When you click the Summary field, an AI-generated suggestion appears in the box, similar to Google's sentence completion suggestions, and you can hit tab to accept it.
Google
Since you can also already pull in slides and sheets to a document via the @ menu, it'd be a little inaccurate to think of Docs as a specific file type with a set canvas. Google's building blocks are very similar to how Microsoft's Fluid Framework is doing away with file formats and refocusing around the idea of a "free-flowing canvas."
But Google also wants to move its Workspace apps out of the confines of the traditional desktop view. It also unveiled today a "pageless format." Starting today, Workspace users will no longer see page boundaries in Docs. Instead of a white paper-like canvas flanked by gray space, the entire page will be white, and your content won't be broken up by page breaks. Those who prefer the traditional demarcations can still switch back to a paginated view.
Google
In addition, the canvas will automatically resize to fit the width of the screen you're working on, whether it's a laptop, an external monitor or your phone. The content in your document will rearrange itself accordingly so you won't have to deal with endless horizontal scrollbars just because you're working while in transit.
Finally, those who often use formulas in Sheets may find the upcoming "formula corrections" feature useful. Like the already available "formula suggestions," this tool will help catch errors and troubleshoot your formulas. It will be available "in the coming weeks."
If you're not already a Google Workspace user, you can sign up for free and check out these new collaborative features when they roll out to the basic tiers. For now, between Google and Microsoft's tools, it looks like collaborative online work is going to get better, just in time for the hybrid workforce.
The long-awaited PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of Cyberpunk 2077 are out now. CD Projekt Red previously planned to release the new versions last year, but delayed them until early 2022. Those who own the game on PS4 and Xbox One will get a free upgrade to the respective current-gen version.
Players can expect faster loading, dynamic scaling and other visual and technical upgrades. The PS5 version takes advantage of the DualSense controller's haptic feedback, built-in speaker and adaptive trigger functions, as well as activity cards and 3D audio.
There are performance and ray-tracing modes on PS5 and Xbox Series X. In performance mode, the game will run in 4K at 60 frames per second with expected rare, small framerate drops, with medium/half-res SSR (Screen Space Reflection) quality. With ray-tracing on, the framerate will drop to 30 fps with SSR quality at high/half-res. On Xbox Series S, the game will run in 1440p at 30fps.
The current-gen editions are arriving 14 months after Cyberpunk 2077's tumultuous debut. There were widespread reports of the game running poorly on PS4 and Xbox One, so much so that Sony yanked Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store. Both it and Microsoft offered refunds to any player who wanted one. The game stayed off of Sony's digital storefront for six months — CDPR has rolled out a laundry list of bug fixes since Cyberpunk 2077's debut. Here's hoping things go much more smoothly for PS5 and Series X/S players this time.
CD Projekt Red
Along with the current-gen update, patch 1.5 includes updates for all platforms, including previous-gen consoles, PC and Stadia. The perk system has been overhauled Perk points will all be unassigned, so players can revamp their build based on the new skill trees.
Enemies are smarter and it's easier for them to find cover. Crowds should be more responsive to aggressive actions you carry out — some bystanders might even attack you if they're threatened — though it seems these changes won't apply to PS4 or Xbox One. Driving should be better to, with better braking and suspension, and all bikes will have glowing wheel wells players can switch on. Completing missions will mean more cash in your pocket and cars won't cost as much. There are new guns and attachments to check out as well (though I'm not sure they can beat running around Night City with a sword).
CDPR is adding more character customization options, including an increased range of makeup options. Also, players will at long last be able to change how their version of V looks mid-game. You'll be able to rent apartments (or home bases) in other parts of the city and change the look of your living space too.
There's much more going on in this patch, including tweaks to relationships, the loot system and economy; an option to walk slowly; and more poses for Johnny Silverhand. There's a Spanish voiceover support in the Americas, but only on the current-gen consoles. CDPR is leaving some changes for players to discover by themselves.
The patch is around 50 GB on Xbox and PC. PS5 owners will need to download the new version of the game manually from the PlayStation Store, and they'll be able to transfer one of their save files.
Newcomers will be able to check out a fairly meaty chunk of the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S without paying anything, as there's a five-hour trial available. Your progress will carry over to the full game. Cyberpunk 2077 is currently 50 percent off on the Xbox store and GOG.
The next PlayStation trophy you earn could provide more than just bragging rights. Sony has launched a "Play and Plant" program that will plant a tree when you earn a trophy in Horizon Forbidden West. Complete "Reached the Daunt" by March 25th and Sony will team with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant a tree as part of reforestation efforts in California, Florida and Wisconsin. You can save the real Earth while you save the virtual one, to put it another way.
The project won't please every environmentalist. Sony and the Arbor Day Foundation will halt donations when they reach the estimated 288,000 trees needed to complete the reforestation efforts. Given that Horizon Forbidden West is Sony's tentpole game for early 2022, the company could hit that milestone very quickly. Wouldn't it be kinder to the planet (and latecomers) to plant as many trees as possible?
Still, the plant-a-tree program represents a unique tie-in, and an experiment in pairing in-game achievements with real-world outcomes. You now have a material incentive to make progress. We wouldn't expect initiatives like this to become commonplace, but it's easy to see more of them in the future — if just to keep people engrossed in a game beyond its first few hours.
Ford teased the prospect of 3D-printing your own accessories when it unveiled the Maverick hybrid pickup truck, and it's acting on that promise. According to 3D Printing Industry and Newsweek, the brand has released CAD files to help you 3D-print add-ons compatible with the Ford Integrated Tether System (FITS) slots behind the center console and under-seat storage bins. You can build a cupholder that fits your favorite drink, or a phone mount tailored to your latest handset.
You could say Ford is late. Enthusiasts have already designed FITS accessories in the months since the Maverick's launch. You can even find unofficial FITS slots for the dashboard cubby and non-Ford vehicles. The official files should make it that much easier to create add-ons, though, and it won't be surprising if there's a surge in user-made designs.
Ford
The company is still happy to sell pre-made FITS accessories. As design manager Scott Anderson told Newsweek, however, the 3D printing support represents a "pretty big shift" in Ford's attitude toward users. It's an acknowledgment do-it-yourself accessory making is on the rise, and that customizing a vehicle can include more than just performance tuning or cosmetics. What Ford loses in accessory sales it might gain in loyal fans who buy the brand's vehicles again.
Epic Games has rolled out the latest Fortnite patch, which gives players more ways to control their character as they pursue a Victory Crown. The game now supports gyro and flick stick controls on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Android and PC (but not, unfortunately, Xbox). Although gyro controls were already available on Switch and Android, Epic says the latest iteration is more robust.
The studio worked with input specialist Julian “Jibb” Smart on the updated gyro options. When the setting is enabled, you'll be able to move the camera by physically moving the controller. It should make Fortnite more accessible, while some players may find the gyro option improves their aim (they can, for instance, use the right stick for most camera movement and make finer adjustments with gyro aiming).
The feature works in tandem with flick stick control. That setting, which is only available when gyro is enabled, will flick the camera in a certain direction when you point the right stick that way. You'll need to use the gyro controls to aim up or down, since pulling the stick back will snap the camera 180 degrees to look behind you.
Players will find both options in the Touch and Motion tab of the settings. They'll be able to, for instance, enable gyro functions only while aiming and tweak factors like sensitivity.
The 19.30 patch brings in some other changes. All players will now load directly into the Battle Royale lobby when they boot up the game. They'll need to go to the Discover screen to access the Save the World and Creative modes. It's a smart move, since Battle Royale is why most people come to Fortnite, and Epic knows where its bread is buttered. Elsewhere, Armored Walls will have vanished from Supply Drops in competitive playlists.
Fisker is at last ready to share more about Project PEAR. The automaker has started taking reservations for the Pear, a five-passenger "urban EV" that will start at $29,900 before incentives and taxes. That's less than Tesla's originally quoted $35,000 for the Model 3, and well below the $37,499 price of Fisker's Ocean SUV. You'll have to place a $250 deposit ($100 for a second reservation) and wait until 2024 to receive your car, but it might prove tempting if you're not willing to wait for Tesla's fabled $25,000 car and aren't fond of Chevy's upcoming Equinox EV.
The Pear (PEAR originally stood for Personal Electric Automotive Revolution) is the result of a collaboration with Foxconn where the manufacturing capability is as important as the technology. Fisker is shy on details besides promises of sportier driving characteristics, an intuitive interface, smart storage and a "focus on industry firsts." However, the Pear will be built in Ohio with a production rate of at least 250,000 vehicles per year — Fisker and Foxconn are evidently counting on economies of scale to reach that lower-than-usual price point.
There are more than a few risks involved. The revived Fisker doesn't start producing the Ocean, its first EV, until November 2022. It's unclear whether that initial model will foster enough demand to justify the Pear's production levels. Range, performance and quality are still unknowns. Fisker will also have some competition by the time the Pear arrives, and it won't be surprising if more direct rivals surface between now and 2024. All the same, the Pear might be welcome as a sign that EVs are becoming more affordable.
Audio-Technica is looking to up the battery-life ante with its latest true wireless earbuds. The company says the high-capacity battery in the ATH-CKS50TW can deliver 20 hours of continuous playback, or 15 hours with active noise cancellation (ANC) switched on. Add the charging case to the mix, and Audio-Technica claims you'll get up to 50 hours of on-the-go use. The company says that you'll get up to 90 minutes of listening time with ANC off after 10 minutes of charging the earbuds in the case.
The earbuds are lightweight and deliver "deep, powerful bass" thanks to 9mm HD TWS drivers, according to Audio-Technica. They're Sony 360 Reality Audio certified, so you should get the intended experience while listening to music that's formatted for the spatial audio tech.There's a low-latency mode, which should reduce audio lag when streaming video and playing games, as well as a passthrough mode. This, the company says, will lower the volume and let you hear ambient sound while enhancing vocal bandwidth.
The earbuds have multipoint support, so you can connect them to your phone and tablet or computer at the same time, and JIS/IEC protection from splashes, which Audio-Technica says is equivalent to an IPX4 rating. Other features include fast pairing on Android, the option to use one earbud at a time and customizable button assignments.
Audio-Technica is promising seriously impressive battery life with this model. The company's products typically deliversolid sound quality as well, so the ATH-CKS50TW could be well worth checking out. You might not need to wait long to put Audio-Technica's claims to the test either. The ATH-CKS50TW earbuds are available today in the UK and EU for £150/€169. The company didn't share US pricing or availability in advance.
Now that Virgin Galactic has a working spaceflight system, it needs to sell rides. The company has announced that it's opening ticket sales to the general public starting on February 16th, letting you become an astronaut if you're willing to pay $450,000 and put down a $150,000 deposit. To mark the launch of public sales, Virgin Galactic revealed new consumer branding (above).
"We plan to have our first 1,000 customers on board at the start of commercial service later this year, providing an incredibly strong foundation as we begin regular operations and scale our fleet," said Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier in a statement.
For that $450K, you'll get a 90-minute ride to the edge of space including the "signature air launch and Mach-3 boost to space," the company said. Passengers will enjoy several minutes of weightlessness and spectacular views of Earth from the 17 windows, as it showed in a new video (below). The ticket also includes several days of astronaut training, a fitted Under Armour spacesuit, and membership in the Future Astronaut community. All flights launch from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
The sub-orbital spaceflights definitely aren't cheap, but are far less than the $55 million you'll pay for an orbital 10-day SpaceX flight. Virgin Galactic's main competitor is Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, though that company has yet to decide on a final price for its suborbital tickets. Virgin Galactic was originally set to launch public and commercial research flights last year, but they were delayed until 2022.
As of late last year, the company had sold 100 tickets to space at the updated $450,000 ticket price. Around 700 people, including Elon Musk, have made reservations.
Logitech’s Mevo Start cameras were built for live streaming. I don’t mean webcam conference calls or video that you can record and edit (though you can do both of those things with the Start). These are live streaming cameras, first and foremost, aimed at the growing number of creators on YouTube, Twitch and elsewhere.
The Mevo Start 3-pack kit ($1,000) consists of three streaming cameras that connect together wirelessly through the companion Multicam app. With the ability to instantly switch and stream between three different camera angles, it has the potential to overhaul how streamers broadcast. Until now, that has usually demanded thousands of dollars of equipment, along with significant expertise.
If you have a strong internet connection, some practice live streaming and, to be honest, a lot of patience during the setup, this could change how you stream. It could also lower the barrier to entry – so I thought I would test it out. Am I willing to make the leap from my camera, PC and OBS setup to three tiny wireless cameras?
Mat Smith/ Engadget
Let’s start with the Mevo Start itself. It’s a solid camera small enough to slip into a trouser or jacket pocket. On the back, it has inputs for mics, USB-C for both charging devices and being charged itself, and a microSD slot too. The unit has a nice matte finish (sadly, yes it’s a fingerprint magnet), and a rubberized power button at the back that’s easy to find without having to look. The 3-pack consists of, yes, three of them, with USB-C charging cables. From there, it’s all down to you to figure things out, which for many, will mean tripods, plural, and microSD cards if you want to record footage of each individual camera. Oh and also a standalone mic if you want to improve the audio quality.
I’m not going to dig too deep into the minutiae of sound and image quality, but the camera mics will pick up everything around you, so most users will need a mic for decent audio talking to the camera – especially in busy environments.
Unless you’re stepping up from a webcam to the Mevo Start, you’ll probably notice a dip in image quality compared to streaming from a flagship phone or digital camera. Streaming resolution on the Start tops out at 1080p at 30 frames per second, which is a little disappointing when we’re starting to get comfortable with 4K content, but also because that means any digital zooming (well, cropping – more on that later), is going to lead to even grainier video. Conversely, this means less heavy lifting for your internet connection, which is a good thing.
While it is not the most high-fidelity streaming option, the Start aims for versatility over specialization. And let’s not forget: the eye-catching feature is this multi-camera setup. There’s nothing quite at this price (and level of accessibility) for a multi-camera streaming setup. Normally it would cost far more than $1,000 to offer a comparable camera ‘studio’ capable of live broadcasting online.
Logitech has made some sensible choices with the Start specifications, too. Each camera can record and stream for up to six hours without the need to be plugged into a power source. This means less cable calculus when packing the cameras and also offers you greater freedom when you’re rigging up the cameras. I balanced one on top of my kitchen cabinet, pointing down as I prepared vegetables for a meal.
The Start also has a very slight light hood around the camera lens to help reduce light flare, while the thread for tripods fits two different types of stands. Logitech has thought about these cameras from the perspective of a stream.
But maybe it should have thought a little more: My first afternoons with these cameras were so frustrating, I wanted to give up.
Once you’ve downloaded the Mevo MultiCam app, you’ll then need to individually download firmware updates to each camera… if your phone or tablet deigns to register the existence of each camera. For me, it led to a frustrating loop of a camera being detected and trying to corral it into a firmware update before it suddenly disappeared from the Bluetooth ether. This part ended up taking hours, turning into days. (Well, a couple of afternoons.)
It was the first sign that consistency is the biggest issue with the Mevo camera setup. And while I could give the product the benefit of the doubt, live streams are fraught at the best of times. I’ve done countless streams for Engadget, flanked by professionals who make sure I’m not screwing things up. I’ve never disappeared from an Engadget livestream, but I can’t say the same of my week of stream attempts with Mevo Start. But before I relive that horror, what is the Mevo Start capable of? I was pleasantly surprised to discover: a lot.
The Mevo app has an auto-director mode that will switch between the cameras without you having to tap on your phone. Better still, you can choose to prioritize one camera and adjust how long the robo-director holds a shot before switching. You can even pick the kind of transition used, from immediate cuts through to slide swipes and other gentler changes. Alas, no star swipe.
It’s these elegant touches that elevate a plain stream into something a little slicker. You can also crop the video on each camera, helping to cut out, say, a messy corner of your apartment, or just offer up a closer look at whatever you’re cooking or crafting.
As the camera maxes out at 1080p, the more you crop, the more fidelity you will lose on your stream, which really limits the usefulness of the feature. While no one streams in 4K, if these cameras had 4K you’d at least be able to crop in without losing too much quality. In the same settings menu, you can adjust the degree of latency you want to use. High latency means that your feed will be held up a little longer before it’s streamed to viewers, ensuring a more consistent connection and – hopefully – video feed. There’s also a low-latency option if you’re extremely confident in your web connection, and this will ensure the video stays closer to real-time.
You can fine-tune the cameras further, with profiles for outdoor lighting and even an HDR toggle. There are also some stylistic profiles for vivid high-contrast, grayscale and more, adding more flexibility depending on your own lighting setup, location or simply artistic tastes.
There’s even a degree of editing available through overlays, where you can add lower third text (like you’ll see most TV news shows, and a lot of YouTube streams) or even introductory full-screen text to your video stream. It’s simplistic but it’s built into the app – it’s easy.
So there is a lot to praise in the Start kit, but then you, well, start using it. The main test for me was to see how easy it was to stream directly to YouTube. The first issue I encountered is one every new streamer will struggle with: you need over 1,000 subscribers to your YouTube channel in order to enable a simple connection. As I didn’t want to mess up Engadget’s official channel cooking up a storm with tempeh (with hindsight, I could have made an unlisted stream), instead I had to use the Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP). And go a little mad.
Once your camera angles are in place and your connection looks stable, you can tap the live button on the app. This will take you through to all the livestream options, including platforms YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo. The RTMP option is all the way to the right of these options, which is tough to find on a phone.
Mat Smith/ Engadget
While you can set up everything on a single device, but I’d suggest having a laptop or something else internet-connected nearby for setting up your streams on YouTube, as you may find yourself flitting between a web browser (needed to tinker with YouTube Studio settings not available on the app) and Mevo multicam app a little too much.
Tap on RTMP, and you can set up the hooks for YouTube to pick up at its end. Other notes that might help you: Server URL and Stream URL are different things, don’t mix them up. Also don’t expect your stream to go instantly live. My Start camera stream typically took a minute to buffer or settle into a feed that the public could watch. What’s frustrating is that YouTube Studio’s interface shows a buffering window, regardless of whether your stream is live or not. I would have to check the shareable link to the stream to check if I was even live. The “live” labels on the Mevo app itself are not accurate.
The multicam app was mostly responsive and did what I expected it to do, but it was also fussy. Swap between one too many apps (remember how I initially tried to adjust my Youtube settings on Safari on the same phone?), and the connection will cut out. Absent-mindedly lock your screen, and again, the stream is lost. I think it’s common sense that you probably didn’t want to cut a livestream connection if you locked your phone. Or maybe I’m making excuses for myself. It’s probably a little of both.
Despite having a healthy internet connection and keeping in close proximity to the cameras, I lost my stream a few times for reasons I’ll never know. And that’s a shame, as there’s so much potential in this Mevo camera trio.
While I’ve touched on some of the settings you can access on the cameras, there’s further flexibility inside the app. You can tweak frame rate, suppress echo and even choose the bitrate and recording format for your backup recording, all of which will be stored on your iOS or Android device. I like that these backup files are neatly stored in one place.
Mat Smith/ Engadget
For beginners or streamers looking to upgrade their streaming style, there are a few bumps on the road to a flawless multicam setup. Mevo does offer a glimpse at an effortless solution – it’s definitely streamlined many of the processes, and the jack-of-all-trades specs mean that this could be the ideal setup for upgraded live music streams, community projects or simply to add polish to existing livestreams. You will have to consider consistency though. My experience has been mixed, but others have fared better. There’s also a vibrant user community across both Facebook and Reddit that was able to help me when things went wrong. Hopefully, there’s a future Mevo camera in the works that’s a little more stable and polished. And maybe 4K capable.
