Olympus cameras are getting a new name. Parent company OM Digital has chosen OM System as the brand's new moniker.

There are still some Olympus cameras on the market and those won't be rebranded, so the two names will co-exist for a while. But eventually the old name will fade away as OM System introduces new models and phases out the current ones.

In addition to cameras and lenses, OM System plans to sell audio products, binoculars and other services. It's currently developing a Micro Four Thirds-based interchangeable lens camera. OM Digital plans to make more compact and lightweight systems using that standard while "accelerating the improvement of image quality and photographic expression through the use of computational photographic technology," according to a press release.

Olympus finalized the sale of its imaging division to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) at the start of the year. JIP swiftly spun out OM Digital Solutions as a separate company to oversee Olympus (now OM System) cameras.

Something Adobe does at nearly every one of its annual design conferences is preview experimental features that may one day make their way to its apps. In 2020, it was a tool called Sharp Shots. This year, it was Project In-Between and a feature called Project Morpheus.

Building on the Neural Filters Adobe debuted last year, Project Morpheus is capable of automating frame-by-frame video edits in a way that produces consistent results. In the demo the company showed off, one of its employees modified a video of themselves where they had a neutral expression throughout to put a smile on their face. They did it in mere moments, with Adobe’s Sensei AI most of the heavy lifting. You only need to see the demo once to understand the potential for misuse, something Adobe told Engadget it's taking into account. 

“As with all Adobe Max Sneaks, Project Morpheus is a way in which we preview exploratory and forward-looking technologies from our research labs and engineering teams. These proof-of-concept ideas aren’t always destined for inclusion in products,” a spokesperson for the company said. “We recognize that we have to balance innovation with our responsibility to ensure our technology is being used for the good of our customers and society. Our development of AI is guided by the principles of Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency.”

Additionally, the company pointed to its work on the Content Authenticity Initiative. First announced in 2019, the project has seen Adobe work with The New York Times and Twitter to develop a metadata tagging system designed to limit the number of altered images and videos that circulate online. At Max 2021, it also started beta testing a feature Content Credentials. It allows professionals, including photojournalists and artists, to attach attribution data to their images that details the edit history of a file.

Call of Duty: Vanguard won't eat up as much console disk space as previous games in the series, but you still might need to delete some downloads to make room for all this WWII frenzy. Here's how much space you'll need on each console to install Vanguard at launch, including the pre-load:

• Xbox One: 56.6GB

• Xbox Series X/S: 61GB

• PS4: 93.12GB (54.65GB download)

• PS5: 89.84GB (64.13GB download)

This marks a significant decrease from last year's Call of Duty installment, Black Ops Cold War, which hit 200GB of required space on PS5 and 250GB on PC, with similar numbers on other platforms. Meanwhile, 2019's Modern Warfare launched at 175GB and grew as the updates rolled out, while Warzone added an additional 15GB - 22GB, or 80GB - 100GB on its own. Activision rolled out a big update in March to reduce the footprint of Modern Warfare and Warzone, and Call of Duty developers have long been aware that file sizes are an issue for many players.

Activision has yet to release details on the size of the PC install for Vanguard, but pre-loading on PC begins November 2nd.

Pre-loading for PS4 and PS5 versions of the game begins on October 28th at 9PM PT in North and South America, and midnight local time on October 29th in other countries. Xbox One and Series X/S pre-loading starts at the same time across the board: October 28th at 9PM PT. Anyone who pre-ordered the game digitally can pre-load it so it's ready to rock at launch on November 5th.

Two more Onewheel electric boards have arrived to expand Future Motion's lineup. The Onewheel Pint X is an upgraded version of the Onewheel Pint from 2019. It has double the range of the previous model at up to 18 miles per charge and a faster top speed of 18 mph (compared with the Pint's 16mph limit).

Future Motion

Although it has similar specs to the Onewheel+ XR (which tops out at 19mph), the Pint X is smaller than that machine. The cost is lower too, at $1,400, compared with the Onewheel+ XR's starting price of $1,799. It's more expensive than the $950 Onewheel Pint. Still, for those looking for a Pint-sized model with higher performance, the Pint X, which is available now, might fit the bill.

At the higher end of the lineup is Future Motion's new flagship electric board: the Onewheel GT. The company designed the board from scratch, and it includes a new control system with a higher voltage. That, according to Future Motion, will deliver more power, torque and dynamic performance at all speeds. In fact, it's the first three-horsepower Onewheel.

Future Motion

A new battery system will keep the Onewheel GT rolling for up to 32 miles on a single charge, the company claims. Elsewhere, Future Motion says the built-in Maghandle Pro and LED headlights are over 300 percent brighter than lighting in other models, so the GT might be more viable for nighttime rides. The footpads might be more comfortable too, since they're concave on both sides. In addition, there's a version with a treaded tire for increased traction.

The Onewheel GT is also available starting today, but a premium product means a higher price. It starts at $2,200. However, Future Motion is sweetening the deal for the first 48 hours with promotional offers such as bundle savings up to $275, free fenders and free priority shipping to the lower 48 states.

The right to repair movement just got a big boost from the US Copyright Office. Responding to proposals from a variety of organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and iFixit, the office on Wednesday recommended new exemptions to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as it relates to the repair of consumer electronics. The statute prohibits the circumvention of software copy protection and has been the target of right to repair advocates for years.

As reported by The Verge, the Copyright Office recommends additional protections for many consumer-facing devices that rely on software to function. As one example, it adopts a recommendation from Public Knowledge and iFixit that involves video game consoles. It says “the repair of software-enabled consumer devices is likely to be fair use, the Register finds that certain video game console repair is also likely fair use.”

It notes consumers can access the firmware on their systems as long as it’s with the intention of fixing the device’s optical drive and they restore any protective measures afterward. The rulemaking stops short of protecting non-consumer devices. However, the Library of Congress has signed off on the recommendations, paving the way for them to go into effect on October 28th.

The decision is likely to complement the efforts of the Biden administration on the same front. At the start of July, the president ordered the Federal Trade Commission to draft new rules to empower consumers and businesses to repair their devices on their own and at independent shops. The executive order marked the first time a US president had ever weighed in on the right to repair movement. Later that same month, the FTC complied with the directive, voting unanimously to tackle unlawful repair restrictions. At the time, it said it would work with law enforcement and policymakers to update existing regulations to protect small businesses and companies that would prevent them from fixing their own products.

We’ve reached out to iFixit and the EFF for comment.

Amazon's first in-house TVs may be showcases for Alexa, but that isn't precluding the company from supporting someone else's ecosystem. According to The Verge, Amazon has unveiled plans to add support for Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to both higher-end Omni and budget 4-series Fire TV sets now that they're available. You can use AirPlay 2 to cast content from your iPhone, iPad or Mac, but the HomeKit integration may be the most notable — yes, you can use Siri to control an Amazon TV as part of your wider smart home network. Amazon would only say the support was coming "soon."

The TVs themselves start at $370 for the 4-series, which provide the usual Fire TV integrations along with 4K and HDR support in sizes ranging from 43 inches to 55 inches. Omni sets, meanwhile, deliver Alexa-friendly far-field microphones and (on the two largest models) Dolby Vision HDR. They start at $410 and range from 43 inches to 75 inches.

The expansion isn't a complete shock. Insignia- and Toshiba-made Fire TV Edition sets received AirPlay and HomeKit support in July. We'd add that Apple and Amazon are relatively cozy. Amazon Echo speakers have streamed Apple Music since 2018, for instance, while Prime Video integrates with the Apple TV app. Amazon has a strong incentive to include AirPlay and HomeKit, if just to fend off competition from Android TV and sets that rely on Google Assistant.

As The Verge observed, though, there's no mention of either Apple platform coming to add-on media players like the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. For now, you'll have to buy hardware like the Apple TV or modern Roku devices to bring AirPlay and HomeKit to TVs where they aren't built-in.

iOS 15.1 was released yesterday, which means you can finally start checking out Apple's long-awaited SharePlay feature. After seeing how buggy it was on the iOS 15 beta, I was able to check out SharePlay this week during a briefing with Apple, and the experience was surprisingly smooth. Though SharePlay works with just a small collection of apps at the moment, it's also coming soon to Disney+, while the NBA and TikTok apps will be updated today to support it. I watched a few videos and a Milwaukee Bucks game via these apps on my demo, and beyond being impressed by how much more stable everything is since the beta, I also found some tips particularly useful.

Setup and starting a SharePlay session

First, make sure you and your friends all update your devices to iOS 15.1 or iPadOS 15.1. Just like we observed in the beta, you need to start a FaceTime call before you can SharePlay anything. Once you're on a call, open a supported app and you'll see an alert at the top of the screen asking if you want to stream your content. When you start a session, your callers will see a box pop up at the top of the screen to join you. 

For the most part, everyone you're SharePlaying with will need to have the relevant apps installed (i.e. TikTok, HBO Max, Showtime, Paramount, Apple TV etc). In some cases, they'll also need to have a subscription or at least an account. 

While you watch a show together, anyone on the call can pause, skip forward or rewind, and that will bring everyone to the same point on the stream. As you watch something, FaceTime will run in picture-in-picture mode on top of your display, and whoever on your call is talking will appear in that box. 

Share your screen

If you want to share your screen instead of watching a show, though, you'll need to tap on the screen while on your FaceTime call to pull up the commands panel and press the button on the right that resembles a person in front of a rectangle. 

While you're sharing your screen, your friend can pinch to zoom on what you're showing them. But during a screen share session, your alerts (or other notices that pop up) won't appear on their screen, in case there's sensitive info you don't want others seeing. The pill on the top left of your screen will also turn purple to let remind you you're screen-sharing. 

When I was watching someone share their screen, by the way, I could still go back to my own phone and open another app. FaceTime's picture-in-picture tile showed my caller's screen with their face in an embedded picture-in-picture. Inception!

Other features

The controls box also lets you access the iMessage window for everyone on the call. You can continue to watch a game on the NBA app with your family without your camera or mic on, and send texts instead. That's particularly helpful when you need a toilet break when a game runs long.

Apple also built a feature called smart volume to automatically lower the streaming audio when you're speaking so everyone can hear you. This works best with AirPods, but it'll also work with your device's speaker.

Depending on each app's developers, other tools can be embedded to make them more useful. In Apple Music, for example, you can look at the song's lyrics as they play in real time, and tapping on a specific lyric will bring you and your callers to that point in the track. When you're all on TikTok together, each person can like the videos they want, too. The popular game Heads Up will also be coming to SharePlay so you can guess the word on your face while your friends act it out for you. 

SharePlay works with iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs, and most playback features are the same across Apple's ecosystem. Those with Apple Watches will also be able to use this feature for group workouts or meditations on Fitness+ with up to 32 callers. So far, SharePlay works with just a few apps, but as more developers integrate it, iOS users could find more ways to socialize and digitally gather with loved ones soon.

In case there wasn't enough news this week, Google is revealing a new version of Android that's designed for larger screens like tablets and foldables. It's called Android 12L, and is really just a set of new features for the existing OS that are optimized for big screens. The developer preview is available today as an SDK on Google's site so app makers can begin taking in some of the new features that should make for a more cohesive experience on devices with bigger displays. The public version of 12L will arrive early next year, "in time for the next wave of Android 12 tablets and foldables," the company said. The preview will also be "coming soon to the Lenovo P12 Pro."

While Android already supports a sort of multi-window experience, there are still areas of the interface that feel more like a blown up version of a phone OS, rather than something that makes better use of the increased space. One of the things coming to Android 12L is a two-column layout for the notification shade and lockscreen when the system detects that the screen is above 600dps wide. Google said other system surfaces and apps will adopt this look too, though it didn't specify which yet. 

Android 12L will also feature a taskbar at the bottom of larger screens that will let you more easily open apps. This will also simplify the process of launching things in split-screen mode: just drag and drop an icon from the taskbar. Google is also enabling all apps to run in split screen, regardless of whether they are resizable. 

Google

Cosmetically, Google is also adding tools that let developers make their apps look better in various windows or views. They'll be able to use custom letterbox colors or treatments, apply custom rounded corners and adjust the position of inset windows. 

The above features are already available for preview in the developer software, but there are also changes coming that app creators have to apply for users to experience them. Google recommends that developers create versions of their UI tailored to the window size class of each device, and it's added reference devices for programmers to see their layouts across phones, tablets, foldable's larger internal displays and desktops. 

For devices that can fold, Android 12L will offer an API that will allow developers to make their apps aware of hinges or other boundaries, and use them "as natural separators." This means that when supported, you might be able to use an app like Kindle and have it show a two-column layout when your device is folded and expand to fullscreen when you open your phone completely flat.

Google is also adding ways to make adopting this easier for developers with a new Activity embedding tool and other updates in the Jetpack Window Manager library. The interface will be backward-compatible, so those using older versions of Android can still use apps that are optimized for 12L. 

Google

The company is also releasing its Material You design system to Jetpack Compose, so that developers can add the adaptive theming capabilities to their apps. This means that, when supported, third-party apps can also take on the color scheme that Google derived from your wallpaper, and buttons or menu highlight hues can reflect the palette for a more cohesive look throughout Android 12. 

Finally, to give developers a reason (or disincentive) to get their apps optimized for Android 12L, Google is updating the Play Store. It will check each app against its large screen app quality guidelines and take the results into ranking and search listing considerations. It'll go even further by warning people on bigger devices with notices on an app's Play Store page if it's not been optimized for 12L. 

Android has long faced criticism over being a poor OS for tablets and bigger displays, and 12L does appear promising. Google also announced some updates to make it easier for developers to code for WearOS, including offering Jetpack Compose support for the platform. It looks like the company is working hard to improve areas that it's been behind Apple on, and we'll have to see how developers take to these changes to know if Google's tablet, foldable and smartwatch dreams might succeed.

Hinge is the latest dating app that's making a push into audio. Starting today, users can attach voice clips to profiles, in what's said to be a first for a major dating app. You can also send audio notes to your matches.

You can add an audio clip to your profile by going to the Edit Profile section of the settings and selecting Voice Prompt. You can choose a prompt (a question or comment suggested by the app to highlight something about you) and respond with a 30-second recording. “This is just the beginning of a lot of things that we’ll see come out over the next six to 12 months that really help people tell a richer story in their profiles,” Hinge CEO Justin McLeod told CNBC.

Hinge

Some users might find it easier to get to know matches through voice messages rather than text. Many dating apps have added video and audio features, particularly after the onset of COVID-19 made in-person dating more difficult. 

Rival dating app Bumble has allowed would-be lovebirds to send audio messages to each other since April 2020, while Tinder started allowing users to add videos to their profiles this summer. Hinge, however, has had the latter feature since 2017.

Hinge is introducing more features for LGBTQ+ users too. As of Thursday, the app will introduce a non-binary gender category to its algorithm. McLeod noted that although other apps let users identify as non-binary, they typically require those users to say whether they want their profile to be seen by people looking for men or women. Prompts designed for LGBTQ+ users will also be added in November.

Electrified versions of vehicles typically end up trading eco-friendly driving for the handling of a gas-powered counterpart. Batteries are heavy and while they lower the center of gravity, the extra weight does make itself known. Enter the 2022 BMW i4 M50, the first M-powered electric BMW that makes you forget about the 4-Series with all its petrol power.

Starting at $65,900, the i4 M50 is an all-wheel-drive delight behind the wheel that surprised us with its impressive handling and interior that’s actually more like a traditional BMW but with the latest version of the automaker’s infotainment system. We had a chance to drive it in the mountains and on the autobahn in Germany and, if you’ve been waiting for an electric BMW sedan that delivers that ultimate driving machine feeling, look no further. For the full story, check out the video below.