Facebook recently introduced its first wearable: Ray-Ban Stories, smart sunglasses with cameras, microphones and speakers built in.If that sounds familiar, it might be because the glasses are pretty similar to what Snapchat has been doing for the last five years with Spectacles. Even the name, Ray-Ban Stories, feels like a big subtweet at Snap. But despite its head start, Spectacles have yet to be a big hit for the company. And, with a $300 price tag and Facebook’s name on the box, Ray-Ban Stories may also prove to be a difficult sell.
Both Spectacles and Ray-Ban Stories represent something much bigger to the social media companies that made them. Snapchat and Facebook are hoping to define the future of augmented reality, and are betting that camera-enabled sunglasses will help them get there.
But look closely, and the companies have taken very different approaches. While Ray-Ban Stories look pretty close to regular Wayfarers, Spectacles have never looked like a typical pair of sunglasses. Snapchat has also been more ambitious about integrating its augmented reality effects into the glasses. And the company recently began experimenting with a new set of Specs that are capable of real AR, though they aren’t for sale.
Non-AR “smart glasses” are still a niche product, but Ray-Ban Stories might be one of the best iterations yet. The frames make it easy to capture first-person photos and videos, and the built-in speakers sound surprisingly good. Most importantly, they look more like designer sunglasses than a piece of tech. But Facebook’s reputation is hard to ignore, especially when you’re wearing a camera it designed on your actual face.
But if you’re excited about the future of augmented reality, and what one day might be possible, both Ray-Ban Stories and Spectacles offer an intriguing look at how two of the biggest social media platforms are thinking about getting there.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has shared what it says are the first images and video captured inside a hurricane by a surface drone. The agency placed the Saildrone Explorer SD 1045 in the path of the category-four Hurricane Sam. The saildrone overcame 50-foot waves and winds at speeds topping 120 miles per hour to capture data from the hurricane and offer a new perspective into such storms.
The device has a special “hurricane wing” to help it survive the intense wind conditions. The SD 1045 is one of five saildrones that have been in the Atlantic Ocean during hurricane season. They are constantly recording data to help researchers gain a deeper understanding into hurricanes. The information could help improve storm forecasting, which will hopefully reduce the loss of lives when hurricanes make landfall.
“Using data collected by saildrones, we expect to improve forecast models that predict rapid intensification of hurricanes,” Greg Foltz, a scientist at NOAA, said in a statement. “Rapid intensification, when hurricane winds strengthen in a matter of hours, is a serious threat to coastal communities. New data from saildrones and other uncrewed systems that NOAA is using will help us better predict the forces that drive hurricanes and be able to warn communities earlier.”
Sidenote: I can't be the only one with a sudden urge to watch Twister again.
When 343 Industries set out to create Halo Infinite, it says one of its goals was to make the game more accessible to as many people as possible. As part of Microsoft’s recent Xbox Accessibility Showcase, the studio detailed the lengths it went to make that vision a reality. The included accessibility options that will come with Halo Infinite don’t look as comprehensive as they were in The Last of Us Part II, but they come close.
For example, in addition to the usual UI and subtitle options you find in many other games, Halo Infinite will include a feature called Linear Navigation. You can enable it to move through the user interface without the need to see how controls are positioned on the screen. Another new enhancement called Movement Assisted Steering allows you to use additional controls to steer vehicles if the traditional look-to-steer mechanic isn’t doing it for you.
Outside of those, there are options that allow you to tweak the colors of friendlies and enemies beyond the usual red and blue. Another setting lets players enable menu narration, and adjust the reading speed of the feature. It’s also possible to enable text-to-speech and speech-to-text tools to make party chat more accessible. The included options probably won't cover every accessibility need, but they should help make Halo Infinite playable for a much broader group of people when the game comes out on December 8th.
During the same showcase, Microsoft announced it adding introducing accessibility tags to the Microsoft Store on Xbox. At launch, there will be 20 of these tags, with the company planning to add more with time. Each one will denote a specific accessibility feature.
Some of the currently available tags include “Narrated Game Menus,” “Input Remapping” and Single Stick Gameplay.” Each one comes with specific implementation requirements. For instance, in the case of a developer that wants to point to the subtitle support in their title, they’ll need to allow players to resize them by up to 200 percent. Members of the Xbox Accessibility Insiders League (XAIL) will see the tags appear in the Microsoft Store starting today. In the coming months, the feature will roll out to Xbox.com, the Xbox app on PC and Xbox Game Pass apps.
Discord says Stage Channels is a hit, but the Stage Discovery platform that was designed to make it easier to find servers with live speakers still needs a lot of work. After evaluating whether or not the portal has actually been helping users find communities broadcasting audio content relevant to them, Discord has decided to kill Stage Discovery on October 4th.
Stage Discovery is an interface within the app populated with Channels broadcasting at that moment, including those from servers the user is already a member of. Based on some users' initial impressions, though, it tends to be full of random shows they don't particular care about. "In listening to our communities and admins directly, we’ve learned that we still have work to do in regards to server onboarding and moderation," the company writes in its announcement.
Since Discord plans to continue investing in and expanding Stage Channels, it's bound to roll out other ways to find audio broadcasts in the future. The company says it's taking some time to rethink the discovery aspect of Stages and how it can better connect users with communities that are relevant to their interests.
According to the company's announcement, almost a million communities have run a Stage as of today. People have been using it to host AMAs, conferences and even beatboxing competitions. For now, it will focus on introducing more features for Stage Channels itself, including better moderation tools. Discord also recently rolled out Scheduled Events for Stage, which allows users to plan events ahead of time so they can reach more potential attendees.
Microsoft's software suite is getting an upgrade on October 5th with the rollout of Windows 11, and this includes Office Home and Student 2021, and Office Home and Business 2021. Office Home and Student, which unlocks Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Microsoft Teams, will cost $150. Office Home and Business adds Outlook to that list and grants the rights to use these apps for commercial purposes, and it costs $250.
With this year's launch, some extra tools from the Microsoft 365 subscription service are making their way to Office, such as collaboration features like co-authoring and the ability to send out automatic updates when files are edited. Many of the apps are getting a new look, too, with rounded window corners and a neutral color palette. Programs receiving a digital facelift are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher and Visio. The updated look will also go live for Windows 10 users.
Microsoft 365 and the Office bundles will feature Teams, the company's video-chat app. Windows 11 already includes Teams, but this move brings the app to Windows 10 and macOS as well.
Microsoft 365, the company's top-tier all-inclusive option, costs $70 a year or $7 a month, with the Family plan for up to six people running $100 a year or $10 a month. It includes PC, Mac and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, OneDrive, Microsoft Editor, and Microsoft Family Safety, plus Access and Publisher for PC.
Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Disney are among the major companies backing corporate lobby groups and organizations that are battling a US climate bill, according to a report. That's despite those companies all making pledges to reduce their impact on the environment.
The United States Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the Rate Coalition are three of the lobbyist and business groups that oppose the Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget bill, which includes measures to fight climate change. The Guardianreports that watchdog Accountable.US analyzed the groups to learn which companies have connections to them.
The Chamber of Commerce, the biggest lobbying group in the US, has said it would "do everything we can to prevent this tax-raising, job-killing reconciliation bill from becoming law.” The group's board includes executives from the likes of United Airlines and Microsoft.
The board of the Business Roundtable includes Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google and Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. The group has said it's “deeply concerned” about the bill and the increased taxes it would lead to for the rich. Google has also made political contributions in the past to individuals and organizations that have denied climate change.
The report notes that The Rate Coalition is set to release attack ads against the bill. That body's members include Disney and Verizon (Engadget's former parent company).
The support of lobbying groups that are attempting to kill the bill conflicts with the tech companies' attempts to tackle the climate crisis. Apple, Google and Microsoft have all backed the Paris Agreement, for one thing. Apple and Microsoft promised to become carbon neutral and carbon negative respectively by 2030.
In 2019, Amazon and founder Jeff Bezos launched the Climate Pledge, which has a goal of hitting net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and meeting the Paris Agreement benchmarks a decade early. Microsoft is among the 200+ companies that have joined the pledge. Disney, meanwhile, is aiming to reach net zero emissions for its direct operations by 2030.
Engadget has contacted Apple, Google and Microsoft for comment. The Guardian said that none of the companies it contacted rejected the stances of the groups they're members of. None of them said they would re-assess their connections to those bodies either.
As Congress considers a vote on the #IIJA, we urge action to modernize the transportation network, reduce emissions and address the climate change crisis. The climate-focused elements included represent significant strides to turn ideas to reality. https://t.co/J1nHUGs1yC
On Friday, Amazon expressed support for the infrastructure bill and the climate aspects of the Build Back Better reconciliation bill. A spokesperson provided the following statement to Engadget:
Amazon believes both private and public sector leadership is required to tackle the global issue of climate change. That’s why we actively advocate for policies that promote clean energy, increase access to renewable electricity, and decarbonize the transportation system. In addition to advocating for these issues on a local, state, and international level, we have a worldwide sustainability team that innovates sustainable solutions for both our business and customers, as well as co-founded The Climate Pledge - a commitment to be net-zero carbon 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
Amazon has made bold commitments to reduce our carbon emissions, and we continue to encourage other companies to join us. We support investments in the Infrastructure and Build Back Better bills to lower emissions in key sectors like energy and transportation, and we believe these investments will help advance America’s carbon reduction goals. As we said earlier this year, we support an increase in the corporate tax rate to pay for things like infrastructure, and we look forward to Congress and the administration coming together to find the right, balanced solution that maintains or enhances U.S. competitiveness.
After coming to public blows earlier in the week, YouTube TV and NBCUniversal have come to terms on a “short-term” agreement for the streaming service to continue carrying the broadcaster’s content. With the extension, YouTube TV subscribers won’t lose access to more than a dozen channels, including NBC, Bravo and the Golf Channel, while the companies attempt to negotiate a longer-term pact.
“NBCUniversal and YouTube TV have agreed to a short extension while parties continue talks,” a spokesperson for NBCUniversal told Variety. “NBCUniversal will not go dark on YouTube TV at midnight eastern tonight.”
When the dispute first went public, YouTube said it would reduce the monthly price of its service from $65 to $55 per month if subscribers lost access to NBCU content. It’s currently unclear just how long the current extension is slated to last. What appears to be at the center of the disagreement is just how much YouTube should pay for content from the broadcaster.
“For the duration of our agreement, YouTube TV seeks the same rates that services of a similar size get from NBCU so we can continue offering YouTube TV to members at a competitive and fair price," the Google-owned service said at the start of the week. A spokesperson for YouTube also told Variety NBCU had asked the company to bundle Peacock Premium with its TV service, a demand they said would have effectively double-charged customers for the same content.
Although most tech deals this week were limited-time sales, there remain a few good ones to consider as we head into the weekend. Apple's Mac Mini M1 is down to $600, or $100 off its normal price, and Best Buy has the original Google Nest Hub for only $40. Solo Stove is having a sale on its Bonfire fire pit and some of our favorite Sennheiser wireless earbuds are still $100 off. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Mac Mini M1
Apple
Apple's Mac Mini M1 is down to its all-time-low price of $600 thanks to a sale and an automatically applied coupon. You're getting all of the performance boosts provided by the M1 chipset in a compact desktop package. This is a good machine to get if you have an older desktop that needs replacing, but you don't want to spend a ton of money.
Google's original Nest Hub is down to $40 at Best Buy, or $50 off its normal price. While it doesn't have the motion sensor and the improved audio of the latest Nest Hub, we still like it for its lovely 7-inch display, minimalist design and solid performance.
Amazon and Sennheiser have the excellent Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds for $200, or $100 off their normal price. We gave these buds a score of 85 for their stellar audio quality, good ANC, smaller size and handy companion app.
Solo Stove's Bonfire is $100 off right now, bringing it down to $250. This is one of the company's best-selling fire pits and it's made it into some of our outdoor-focused gift guides in the past. It's a good device to get if you like gathering around a fire pit in the backyard but you don't like the smoke or cleanup that typically comes with it.
Through October 6, GOG.com has more than 120 games on sale, with some up to 90 percent off. Included this time around are Blood Omen, Elvira, Baldur's Gate, Dishonored, Wolfenstein, Cuphead and more.
Fitbit's Luxe tracker is down to $100 on QVC, or $50 off its normal price. We gave this slim band a score of 82 for its delicate design, solid activity tracking and good battery life.
Through December 8, you can enter to win four-day passes to San Diego Comic-Con 2022. Along with the passes, you'll get access to a special preview night, reserved seating in Hall H, a personal concierge, a private tour of the Comic-Con Museum, dinner in Balboa Park and tickets to the "Night at the Comic-Con Museum" event. It's free to enter, but funds from this sweepstakes will go to the San Diego Comic Convention.
Woot is having a big sale on 2019 and 2020 iPad Pros, knocking some 12.9-inch models down to $769. Apple's most powerful iPad hasn't changed much in look over the past few years, but the 2021 models got a big upgrade in performance with the M1 processor. If you're comfortable skipping that and a number of other, smaller updates, you could save a bunch and still get a powerful iPad. Just make sure to review Woot's return policy before you buy.
75-inch Hisense U6G Series Quantum Dot 4K Android TV
This massive Hisense 4K smart TV is $255 off, bringing it down to $995. It has local dimming zones for better brightness, Quantum Dot technology for rich colors and it supports Dolby Vision and Atmos. It also has auto low latency mode for better gaming, and Android TV gives you access to a plethora of streaming services including Netflix and Prime Video.
Through October 7, Satechi has knocked 20 percent off of its 100W USB-C PD wall charger, bringing it down to $56, when you use the code GAN100 at checkout. This brick uses gallium nitride technology to prevent overheating and provide a faster, more efficient charge. Not only can it power up smartphones and tablets, but it can juice up a 16-inch MacBook Pro at full speed as well.
NordVPN, one of our favorite VPNs, is running a sale on a two-year subscription. You can sign up and pay $99 for two years, plus you'll get an extra three months free. We like NordVPN for its speed, its no-logs policy, the thousands of servers it has to choose from and that one account supports up to six connected devices.
Only a few months after we got our first look at Stranger in Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Square Enix announced a release date at Tokyo Game Show. It will hit PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC on March 18th.
Stranger in Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an attempt to bring a Dark Souls-style feel to the Final Fantasy universe. It's an action RPG from Niohdeveloper Team Ninja that by all accounts will be pretty difficult, which fits in with the Souls-like vibe.
A new trailer gives some hints at the story and a peek at some of the beings you'll encounter, including a pirate with an enormous ax and a multi-headed monster. The visuals still look a bit rough, but at least Team Ninja and Square Enix have a few months to polish things up.
Meanwhile, Square Enix has released a second demo. It's an expansion of the first timed trial that was available in June, only this time you can play with your friends on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. There are more enemies to test your mettle against, new areas to explore and additional playstyles and jobs to check out. The demo is available until October 11th at 10:59AM ET.
Stranger in Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin has a free upgrade path from PS4 and Xbox One to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S respectively. Along with the base game, you can preorder a Digital Deluxe Edition, which includes extra missions and a digital artbook and mini soundtrack. Preordering either version will net you a few in-game goodies, and you'll have early access to the whole game 72 hours before the official launch.
Mozilla's Firefox is introducing some new features that will make it easier and more secure to log in to apps on Android, matching some of the features available via Google Chrome. The update will give you the ability to save and autofill passwords for Android apps using Firefox, or unlock them using your face or fingerprints.
Firefox already has its Lockbox for storing credentials, but accessing sites or apps has never been as easy as it is with Google's Chrome. With the update, when you create an app on your Android device, you'll be able to add a new password and save it directly into the Firefox browser. It will then be saved both on mobile and desktop.
From there, you can autofill any password you've saved in the browser "to log into any online account like your Twitter or Instagram app... no need to open a web page," the Firefox team wrote. If you have multiple devices, you can use your Firefox account to sync passwords on all of them. Firefox is also introducing biometric security, letting you access accounts using your face and fingerprints.
Mozilla introduced all of this to time up with Cybersecurity Awareness month, which is October in case you didn't know. The new features will arrive with the Firefox 93 update, which will start rolling out on October 5th, 2021.
