Russia is getting serious with demands that foreign tech companies set up shop within its borders. Reuterssays the country's telecom regulator Roskomnadzor has called on 13 foreign and mostly American companies to launch official Russian presences by 2022 so they can comply with a law that took effect July 1st. The list includes familiar tech names like Apple, Google, Meta (Facebook), Telegram, TikTok and Twitter.

The law demands local offices for "internet companies" with over 500,000 daily users. Some of the companies already have offices, though, and it's unclear just what constitutes an official presence. Those deemed violating the law could be subject to either complete bans or limits on their ads, data gathering and money transfers.

As you might have guessed, the concern is that Russia might use the law to wield more control over those companies and their content. Russia has clashed with Apple multiple times, for instance, including a fine for allegedly abusing App Store dominance — this law might give officials more leverage. The move might also help Russia pressure companies into censoring content the government deems objectionable, such as social media posts backing the political opposition to Putin's regime.

The announcement makes a tricky situation that much more difficult. Russia is a significant market some companies can't always afford to lose but honoring the request could also mean enabling censorship and other rights abuses. Companies may soon have to make decisions that are painful regardless of the outcome.

Reddit will shut down Dubsmash on February 22nd, 2022. The announcement comes less than a year after Reddit acquired the TikTok-like video platform for an undisclosed sum in December 2020. Following the 22nd, Dubsmash won’t be available to download through the App Store or Google Play, nor will the app work after that date.

When Reddit first announced the acquisition, it said Dubsmash would retain its own platform and brand. “Combining forces has been a perfect match. Reddit is where passionate communities come together for timely, interactive and authentic exchanges about topics that matter to them, and video is increasingly core to how people want to connect,” the company said in a blog post.

As part of today’s announcement, Reddit is also rolling out new video features that come courtesy of the Dubsmash team. The built-in camera now includes options to change recording speeds and set a timer. Additionally, it’s now possible to upload clips in landscape, portrait mode and fill, as well as adjust and trim multiple clips at once. A new editing screen allows users to add stickers, doodles, voice-overs and filters to their clips.

The impending shutdown of Dubsmash is likely to affect creators of color most acutely. Where TikTok’s best-known stars are white, Dubsmash was particularly popular among Black and Latinx users. At the end of 2020, Reddit noted 25 percent of all Black teens in the US were on the platform. Those users now face a tough decision: they either support a platform that has been seen as a safe harbor for hate speech and misinformation or look elsewhere to find a supportive community.

Apple has delayed the release of a feature that will eventually allow you to store your ID in the company’s Wallet app. In an update to the official iOS 15 website that was spotted by MacRumors, Apple says that functionality will now arrive sometime in early 2022. The company previously planned to launch in late 2021.

Apple first announced the feature at WWDC 2021. At the time, the company said the tool would allow you to add your driver’s license or state ID card to Apple Wallet just like you would a credit or debit card. Among the first locations that will support the feature will be select Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints at some US airports.

At those locations, you’ll have the option to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to present your ID to the TSA. You’ll do so by tapping your device on an identity reader, and you won’t need to hand over your iPhone or Apple Watch to a TSA employee.

In September, Apple announced eight states would support the feature at launch, starting with Arizona and Georgia, and Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma and Utah to follow. Beyond TSA checkpoints, Apple said retailers and venues would add support later.

Outside of early 2022, Apple has not shared a specific release date for the feature. What’s clear is that it won’t arrive with iOS 15.2. That update is currently in beta testing and does not include support for storing digital IDs.

The next season of Fall Guys starts on November 30th and the beans are getting into the party spirit. Developer Mediatonic took inspiration from festivals, carnivals and the circus for season six. New obstacles include a water balloon cannon, vacuum tubes, a circular version of the infamous seesaw and a platform that flips vertically after a certain length of time. What's more, there are trapezes that players can swing from.

There are more crossover costumes on the way in season six. Between December 1st and 5th, you can complete challenges to earn a Sackboy skin — the adorable PlayStation mascot is a perfect fit for Fall Guys. In addition, the Fame Pass, which players level up during the season, includes two rad costumes depicting Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima.

Meanwhile, cross-progression is coming to the battle royale platformer in season six, building on the cross-play feature that arrived in May. So you'll be able to access all of your costumes and other cosmetics across PlayStation and Steam. In addition, PC players will be able to select custom usernames again instead of whatever moniker Fall Guys generated for them.

As such, you'll soon need an Epic Games account to play Fall Guys. Epic bought Mediatonic earlier this year, and Rocket League and Fortnite use the Epic account system for cross-progression too.

You'll need to select a primary Fall Guys account, which is the first one that you link to an Epic account. Although you won't lose costumes, nameplates and so on from either platform, you'll only retain your season progress, crowns, shards and kudos from your primary account. So, it's probably best to spend your crowns and kudos on your secondary account before the new season starts.

Mediatonic also notes that if players have different costumes and DLC content across both platforms, they should contact the support team after linking to their Epic Games account. The team will transfer over those items, so you won't lose them. In addition, all players will receive a bonus of 10 crowns.

During the season six showcase, Mediatonic didn't mention when the Nintendo Switch and Xbox versions of Fall Guys will be released, even though they're still supposed to arrive by the end of the year. However, the developer did provide a peek at an upcoming round that features invisible beans.

Cowboy Bebop was like nothing else when it premiered twenty years ago. It was a neo-Western set in space; a noir thriller alongside the spectacle of martial arts action and John Woo-esque shootouts; an existential vision of a broken future where characters were forced to live with their shattered pasts. And on top of all of that, it was propelled by an iconic soundtrack that easily danced between genres. We didn't have much time in the Bebop-verse — just 26 episodes and a movie — so every second felt like a miracle. How could a live-action Netflix adaptation live up to that?

Simply put, it doesn't. While the original show was a love letter to cinema and pop culture, crafted by a creative dream team (director Shinichiro Watanabe, writer Keiko Nobumoto and composer Yoko Kanno), Netflix's remix is mainly in love with Cowboy Bebop. It wants to remind us of the anime, so much so that it replicates many iconic sequences shot-for-shot, but it doesn't latch onto what made it so special. It hums the melody, but has no soul. It's a hollow tune that's common to nostalgia-focused reboots, like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and it almost always holds them back.

By almost every measure, I should hate Netflix's Cowboy Bebop with a passion. But, it's a testament to the talented actors involved that I don't. John Cho wouldn't be my first choice to play the impossibly cool Spike Spiegel (that would be Sung Kang, Fast and Furious's swagger king Han), but he makes a serious effort to replicate his charm. Mustafa Shakir easily carries Jet Black's irascible yet lovable nature. And Daniella Pineda's Faye Valentine is an absolute scene stealer.

But this talented group is failed by a confounding production, which often looks worse than a cheap Doctor Who episode. Some sets appear to be made out of cardboard and spray paint, nothing conveys the lived-in aesthetic the anime captured so well. There are flashes of visual brilliance, to be clear, but that mainly comes from digital effects that often replicate shots from the original series. At times, Bebop wants to replicate the live-action cartoon aesthetic from the Wachowski's under-rated Speed Racer. Then, at other times, it will just have a bright neon "PORN" sign in the background, as if that's enough to convey the seediness of a neighborhood.

Geoffrey Short/Netflix

So where did everything start going wrong? As with most nostalgia reboots, it usually comes down to the writing. Netflix's Cowboy Bebop was developed by Christopher Yost (Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars Rebels) and includes genre talents like Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, Charmed). Their combined credits gave me hope that the show would be something more than a copycat of the anime, but instead it's a confusing mishmash of nostalgia worship and superfluous story additions.

Instead of being a mysterious cutthroat assassin, the villain Vicious comes across as a dull Eurotrash gangster. Instead of a haunting past based on the consequences of being overbearingly protective, Jet gets an estranged daughter and a ticked-off ex-wife. And perhaps most damningly, Spike's love interest Julia loses her mystique, and instead becomes another pretty damsel in distress. We've seen all of these storylines before, so instead of feeling like "a new genre unto itself," the bold proclamation the anime made in the middle of every episode, it all just feels like "been there, done that."

That's the same vibe I got while watching Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It starts out as an intriguing portrait of a struggling family, but eventually becomes bogged down by replicating almost every plot beat from the first Ghostbusters. It's still a fun and enjoyable film, but it's reverence for the past clearly prevented it from doing anything truly new. Watching that movie and Cowboy Bebop over the weekend made me genuinely worried about the future of pop culture. Are we just doomed to repeat the past, over and over again, to appease the fans?

Now, here's the thing: Despite all of the ways Cowboy Bebop fundamentally misunderstands its source material, it still ends up being a decently enjoyable sci-fi romp. And if you don't know what you're missing, it's easy to overlook the flaws as you soak in the talent of the cast, the strange yet familiar future filled with terraformed moons and planets, and the catchy Yoko Kanno tunes.

My one faint hope is that viewers who enjoy the live-action series will also check out the anime, which is also available on Netflix. I'm all for new viewers finding ways into existing properties. I just wish that didn't involve watering down classics to make them more palatable.

Epic Games has acquired Harmonix, the studio behind titles like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Dance Central and more recently Fuser. Financial terms have not been disclosed. Epic’s vision for Harmonix involves the metaverse. In the immediate future, the two plan to create “musical journeys and gameplay for Fortnite.”

Viewed through that lens, Epic’s interest in the studio makes a lot of sense. Outside of frequent brand collaborations, Fortnite is at this point best known for its virtual concerts. In the last two years, a handful of major artists like Ariana Grande and Travis Scott have drawn a lot of interest to the game. In the latter case, for example, more than 12.3 people watched Scott’s performance concurrently.

In the meantime, Harmonix says it will continue to support its existing slate of games. That means Rock Band players can continue to look forward to new DLC and Fuser players can expect the studio to continue hosting events. Additionally, any game that's currently available through Steam will continue to be sold through Valve's storefront.

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum hasn't been open much since the pandemic started, but it's already poised to shut its doors again — if for more positive reasons. The Washington Postreports the Smithsonian is closing its flagship National Mall building for at least six months of renovations starting March 28th, 2022. The move will maintain the "continued safety" of visitors while the museum finishes work on its first new west wing galleries.

The closure is part of the first phase of a seven-year renovation poised to cost over $1 billion. The Smithsonian is staggering closures to keep at least some physical museum spaces open during that period, including the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia (which will remain open). Some parts of the collection have relocated to other relevant museums in the meantime, such as the Museum of African American History and Culture, the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of the American Indian.

The wait could be worthwhile. Eight west wing exhibits should launch when the main museum reopens, including "One World Connected" (shown above) and spaces touching on the Wright brothers, planetary exploration and the Moon.

Some parts of the renovation are still far from completion. The museum will start "deinstallation" of the east wing in March and won't complete its upgrade until sometime in 2025. If you can live with those limitations, though, the Air and Space Museum may soon be more relevant and engaging than in the past — even if you've visited relatively recently.

Apple is more than a little angry at NSO Group for developing spyware tools. The iPhone maker has filed a lawsuit against NSO to "hold it accountable" for governments spying on and targeting Apple device users. In addition to punishing NSO, Apple also seeks to ban the surveillance software developer from using Apple products for future research.

Developing...

Android is forked. There are so many versions of it around: From stock Android to Google’s own Pixel-first edition to Samsung’s One UI 4 overlay, there are enough variants to overrun the Time Variance Authority (Loki, anyone?). That means that writing a review of Android 12 is a complicated task. With so many branded and device specific tweaks, it can be hard at times to differentiate core Android features from the window dressing.

The land of Android is messy, but we’re going to keep this review of Android 12 simple. If you want an idea of the Pixel-only features, head over to our Pixel 6 Pro review where I covered things like Live Translate and Magic Eraser. Features like HDR Net videos and white balance controls are also exclusive to Pixels, though that doesn’t mean they won’t one day roll out more widely.

Material You everywhere

Functionally, that means there isn’t much obviously different for those on other devices upgrading to Android 12. The biggest change will be the new Material You design, and how much of that makes its way to your particular handset will depend on your phone’s maker.

On One UI 4, for example, you’ll get something similar to Material You by way of Samsung’s “whole host of new Color Palettes,” which like Google’s version will apply to menus, buttons and icons. But these aren’t automatically generated by the phone based on your wallpaper, and have a distinct Samsung-y cartoonish style that Galaxy users will find familiar. One UI 4 and Android 12 both also offer new widgets that look much better and offer more customization options than before.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

So Android 12 is a nice visual change, but it does go beyond aesthetics and affects how you interact with the system. Sliders and buttons are larger than before, which some might find ugly compared to the cleaner, thinner options of Androids past.

After living with this new style for a few months, I’ve gotten used to the extra chonky navigational elements. In fact, in some apps, like Clock, the bigger targets are easier to see, and I can hit the Snooze slider more easily from bed. They even look pretty thanks to Material You, which beautifully infuses everything from the Settings shade to keyboards and numpads. I also like that the new lock screen clock takes over the whole display when you don’t have any notifications.

There’s plenty of little things that Google added throughout Android 12, like new animations across the interface and updated limits to toast dialogs. Those are the little boxes that pop up at the bottom of the screen when you copy text to your clipboard, for example. I’ll focus on just a few of the more obvious changes, starting with the quick settings panel and notification shade.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

In general, Google’s been busy decluttering. It removed the redundant “Conversations” and “Notifications” headers from the notifications list that took up extra lines, while using a background color in this area that’s close to the cards, making everything blend more smoothly. The Quick Settings area up top has a black background and just four buttons compared to the six from before, which means you’ll now need an extra swipe to access things like Battery Saver or Auto Rotate toggles. Of course, you can rearrange these to put your favorites first, but you’ll only be able to pick four.

This is a bummer, but at least when you make that extra swipe in Android 12, you’ll see eight settings shortcuts as opposed to just six. The net convenience lost or gained here is… kinda zero.

I also don’t love that Android 12 will default to summoning the Google Assistant when you long press the power button, but at least you can revert it to show the restart, shut down, lock and emergency buttons.

One of the most common ways I interact with my phone is by tapping the search bar at the bottom and typing either the name of an app I want or the show I’m about to watch. Nothing’s changed here since Android 11, you’ll still see your recent entries and suggested apps when you hit the text field. But if you use the search bar in the All Apps drawer, which requires a swipe up, you’ll get Android 12’s universal search. This will let you find things on your phone, including not just apps and contacts, but conversations within supported apps as well.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

I randomly hit “D,” and was shown a row of suggested apps, like Discord and Discovery+. Below that was a list of people from various apps, like my colleague Devindra on Gmail, as well as conversations with some guys named Dan and Dylan from Hinge. It also showed actions from specific apps, like “Submit a Front Desk instruction” in my building’s portal and “Connect with Mat Smith” on Duo. When I typed “the,” I got suggestions to order from “The Old Spot” on Uber Eats and quickly hail a ride to “The Westin Grand, Berlin” on Uber. Both are places I’d saved as favorites.

Finally, at the bottom, you’ll find an option to submit your query to Google’s search engine. Chances that I’ll scroll so far down the list are slim, but at least it gets shorter the more letters entered.

More privacy and battery information

Most of the changes in Android 12 I’ve described so far are in your face, and you’ll see them as you interact with the system. Others, like the new Privacy Dashboard, are things you’ll have to look for in Settings.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

That means they’ll be less impactful on your daily use, but they are, for the most part, informative. The Privacy Dashboard helped me realize that my camera and mic are activated a ton and showed the apps I most often use that require them. And speaking of, Android 12 also provides new indicators for when your mic and camera are being used (a green dot appears in the top right corner of the screen). This is basically the same as on iOS, except Google requires one more tap on the dot to see which app is accessing the sensor.

While the Battery Usage page isn’t new, it’s now more prominently featured as the first option in the Battery settings panel — you won’t have to tap a separate three-dot button to find it. Google did appear to update the graph showing your power levels for the last 24 hours, with the horizontal axis now poorly labeled with just the numbers 1, 7, 1, 7 and 1 (or 13, 19, 01, 07, 13 on the phone I set to military time) instead of “xx hr ago” and “xx min left”. I found myself ignoring this chart most of the time, since it isn’t all that helpful.

In the months I’ve been using Android 12, I’ve seen more apps ask for permission to access my specific or approximate location. I almost never selected the latter, but it’s nice to have the option for things like the weather app. In general, though, I relied on the “Allow this time” or “Allow while using” choices as a way to grant limited permissions to apps. Google will also tell you, after some time, which apps you haven’t used in awhile. It’ll automatically revoke permissions for those, which is nice. None of these apps were things I used often enough for this to be a problem.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

That’s… pretty much it for the major new Android 12 features. I’m still waiting to see an app that uses the new audio-coupled haptic feedback, since I enjoy the sensation it adds to games I’ve played on the iPhone 13 Pro. But there don’t appear to be any at the moment. Google is also constantly pushing out security and stability updates for Android 12, so maybe there are still more features to come.

Wrap-up

Ultimately, the biggest things Android 12 brings are Material You design and more privacy tools. That might seem minor on paper, but the visual refresh and faster animations throughout the system make it feel drastically different. Plus, Google continues to drop feature sets every quarter or so, meaning each version of Android doesn’t have to be as major of an upgrade. But if you’ve been looking for a fresh face for your phone, Android 12 is a fun, satisfying update.

Add Nintendo to the list of major gaming companies that say they're disappointed with Activision Blizzard following last week's bombshell Wall Street Journal report on the publisher and CEO Bobby Kotick. In an internal company email obtained by Fanbyte, Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser says he was distressed by the allegations detailed in The Journal's investigation.

"Along with all of you, I've been following the latest developments with Activision Blizzard and the ongoing reports of sexual harassment and toxicity at the company," Bowser says in the message. "I find these accounts distressing and disturbing. They run counter to my values as well as Nintendo's beliefs, values and policies."

According to Fanbyte, Bowser notes in the letter he's been in contact with Activision and is in the process of accessing potential "actions." What those actions may entail, Bowser doesn't say. However, there's no mention of reassessing the relationship with Activision like Xbox chief Phil Spencer said was on the table in his message to Microsoft employees. What he does mention is that Nintendo is working with the Entertainment Software Association, a lobbying group that represents both Nintendo and Activision, to strengthen its stance on harassment and workplace abuse.  

“Every company in the industry must create an environment where everyone is respected and treated as equals, and where all understand the consequences of not doing so,” he said in the email.

Bowser reportedly sent the letter on Friday, November 19th, to all levels of the company, including internal development teams like Retro Studios. Nintendo of America later confirmed the authenticity of the email. "We can confirm the content of Doug Bowser's internal email to Nintendo of America staff is accurate," a spokesperson for the company told Fanbyte. "We have nothing further to share on this topic."

According to The Journal, Kotick knew about many of the incidents of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard and, at times, acted to protect abusers at the company. He also allegedly acted as one himself at times. In a statement to Engadget, a spokesperson for the company said the article presented a "misleading view of Activision Blizzard and our CEO." The report drew an outcry from Activision Blizzard employees who staged a walkout on the day it was published. Some of those same employees have also called on Kotick to resign from his position, an action the executive reportedly said he would consider if he can't fix the company's culture "with speed."

"We respect all feedback from our valued partners and are engaging with them further," an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Engadget after the Microsoft letter surfaced online. "We have detailed important changes we have implemented in recent weeks, and we will continue to do so. We are committed to the work of ensuring our culture and workplace are safe, diverse, and inclusive. We know it will take time, but we will not stop until we have the best workplace for our team."