Microsoft's latest acquisition could add an easy-to-use video editing experience to its software suite. The tech giant has purchased a startup called Clipchamp, which is known for its in-browser video creation and editing tool. In its announcement, Microsoft says Clipchamp's approach combines "the simplicity of a web app with the ability to process video using the full computing power of a PC with graphics processing unit (GPU) acceleration," which is "something that was formerly limited to traditional video applications."

Clipchamp specifically targets non-professionals and non-creatives — people who don't have or know how to use specialized software for videos, in other words. "Our mission is to empower anyone to tell stories worth sharing and millions of people around the world... We will continue to make video creation even easier, more accessible and fun," company CEO Alexander Dreiling wrote in a post announcing the acquisition. 

Neither party has disclosed the terms of their agreement, but as CNBC notes, Clipchamp said in July that it has 17 million registered users with an adoption rate that's up 54 percent year over year. The service saw huge growth in 9:16 aspect ratio exports, in particular, which are commonly used for TikTok and Instagram or Facebook Stories. Microsoft was one of its clients before the acquisition, along with Google. While Microsoft has yet to announce how it will offer Clipchamp to its customers, it called the tool a "natural fit" for its cloud-powered productivity experiences in Microsoft 365. A spokesperson also told CNBC that the tech giant will eventually introduce a process to convert existing Clipchamp users to Microsoft subscribers.

After making its debut in Japan last year, the Pokémon franchise’s 23rd animated movie is making its way to Netflix. Outside of Japan, China and Korea, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle will debut globally on the streaming platform on October 8th. The premiere will mark the film’s international debut.

The film is essentially Pokémon’s take on the tale of Tarzan. When Ash and Pikachu go to explore the forest of Okoya, they discover a boy named Koko. Thanks to an upbringing at the hands of a Pokémon named Dada Zarude, Koko believes he too is a Pokémon. Ash and Pikachu’s arrival in his forest home leads him to question everything he thought was true about his existence.

Ahead of the movie’s release, you can add Dada Zarude and a shiny Celebi to your Pokémon Sword and Shield roster by signing up for the Trainer’s Club newsletter by September 25th. The Pokémon Company, Niantic and Netflix also plan a special Pokémon Go event tied to the film’s release. They promised to share more information on that front soon. 

Twitter has launched its second feature test in one day, and this one could be particularly helpful if you've ever been subjected to online abuse. A newly available web test lets you remove followers without blocking them. You'll disappear from their feed without notifications that might spark harassment and threats.

The social network hasn't said if or when it might roll out follower removals. This is coming alongside a string of anti-harassment and privacy-related projects, though, including a "Safety Mode" test and an experimental option to automatically archive tweets. It might be just a matter of time before tighter follower control is available to a wider audience.

This test may be particularly useful in fighting abuse. Until now, Twitter users have typically had to either report offending accounts (and hope Twitter takes action) or block them and risk retaliation. This won't prevent creeps from following your activity if you have a public account, but it could lessen the chance of immediate outrage.

Add another wrinkle to Apple’s oft-rumored efforts to build its own electric vehicle. On Tuesday, Ford announced the hire of Doug Field. The former Tesla executive, known for his involvement in the development of the Model 3, most recently held the position of vice president of special projects at Apple. It’s believed Field oversaw Project Titan.

In his new position of chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer, Field will report to Ford CEO and president Jim Farley. He will oversee Ford’s Embedded Software and Hardware division, which will see him lead development on the automaker’s Blue Oval intelligence stack. It’s expected he will have a say in everything from vehicle controls to enterprise connectivity features and driver assistance technology. For Field, this is something of a return to where everything started. He began his career at Ford back in 1987.

What’s unclear is what this means for Apple’s automotive ambitions. Bloomberg reporter and Apple insider Mark Gurman says it’s bad news for the company. “This is probably the largest setback in a history filled with setbacks for Apple’s car project,” he tweeted. “As I wrote in January, there is no Apple Car launching anytime soon, not 2024, not 2025. Further out now, if ever.” Apple does have executives who could take over Field’s role. For instance, the company recently hired Ulrich Kranz, a former BMW executive who led the development of the i3. All the same, it's never a good sign when a high-profile executive leaves a company. 

Many efforts are underway to reduce the environmental impact of cars, but what about the tires those cars ride on? Continental thinks it might help. Roadshowreports the company has introduced the Conti GreenConcept (yes, a concept tire) where more than half of the materials are "traceable, renewable and recycled." You can even renew the natural rubber tread with little trouble — not a completely new idea, but refreshable treads have generally been reserved for large commercial trucks. Three renewals would be enough to ensure the material used for casing is cut in half relative to the total mileage.

About 35 percent of the materials are renewables, including dandelion rubber, silicate made from rice husk ash and a string of vegetable oils and resins. Another 17 percent is polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles, reclaimed steel and recovered carbon black.

The design should improve the efficiency of the cars themselves, Continental added. New casing, sidewall and tread patterns make the GreenConcept about 40 percent lighter than a conventional tire at about 16.5lbs, That, in turn, leads to 25 percent lower rolling resistance than the highest-rated tires in the EU. Continental estimates you'd get six percent more range from an electric vehicle.

While you might not outfit your car with these exact tires any time soon, this is more than just a thought exercise. Continental plans to gradually deploy its recycling technology starting in 2022, including the production of tires using recycled bottles. 

Efforts like the Conti GreenConcept are partly meant to burnish Continental's public image. It wants to be the most environmentally responsible tire company by 2030, and become completely carbon-neutral by 2050 "at the latest." However, it also hints at a more holistic approach to eco-friendly cars where many components, not just the powertrain, are kinder to the planet.

With Vanguard, Activision’s Call of Duty franchise is returning to the Second World War for the first time since 2017’s WWII. We already had a chance to take in the new single-player story lead developer Sledgehammer Games plans to tell, but we’ve only seen a few glimpses of the title’s multiplayer offering outside of its Champion Hill mode. That changed on Tuesday when the studio broadcast a nearly 30-minute multiplayer deep dive and shared a new trailer.

Vanguard looks to attract new players to the series with a feature called Combat Pacing that allows you to decide how hectic you want matches to play out. Three filters — Tactical, Assualt and Blitz — determine the number of players in a match. Tactical, for instance, limits things to a 12-person match, while in Blitz there can be as many as 24 players on each team. 

Vanguard also introduces a new game mode called Patrol. It’s a fresh take on Domination that sees a capture zone slowly move across the map. It’s joined by classics like Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Domination and Search and Destroy. Returning from previous Call of Duty titles is Gunsmith. It’s a feature that allows you to customize your weapons with various accessories.

If you want to see more of Call of Duty: Vanguard’s multiplayer before the game comes out on November 5th, the game’s multiplayer beta starts later this week. Provided you pre-ordered Vanguard on PlayStation, you can see what’s new before anyone else. The beta will open up to all PlayStation users on September 16th. That same day, those who pre-ordered the game for Xbox and PC can also see what's on offer. For everyone else, the beta opens up on September 18th and runs through to the 20th.

Never mind buying a robot dog for your kids — you might just get them a mythical creature instead. Chinese EV maker Xpeng has teased a robot unicorn meant for children to ride. As SCMPnotes, the quadruped will take advantage of Xpeng's experiences with autonomous driving and other AI tasks to navigate multiple terrain types, recognize objects and provide "emotional interaction."

The company is shy on most other details, although the design looks and trots like a cuter, more kid-friendly version of Boston Robotics' Spot. It's appropriately about as tall as a child. Sorry, folks, you won't prance your way to work.

This robot unicorn is just about as mythical as the 'real' thing, too. Xpeng hasn't revealed when it expects to deliver its robotic horse-with-a-horn, let alone pricing or availability. It might not cost as much as a $75,000 Spot, but we'd expect something this sophisticated to cost more than the $2,900 Aibo from 2019.

To some extent, profit is beside the point. Xpeng chief He Xiaopeng said the unicorn was part of a broader move into the robotics space by taking advantage of the company's existing technology. Think of this as a first step. What Xpeng learns from its unicorn could lead to more sophisticated (and hopefully adult-oriented) robots you're more likely to buy.

Netflix and WWE have been working together for quite a while, and their next project is a little spookier than usual. Escape the Undertaker is an interactive horror movie that's coming to Netflix on October 5th — just in time for Halloween.

The flick stars the legendary Undertaker, along with Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, who comprise The New Day, one of WWE's most popular acts of the last decade. The film sees the trio visit The Undertaker's mansion, which turns out to be "an extreme haunted house, packed to the brim with supernatural challenges," according to Bloody Disgusting. You'll decide the fate of The New Day as the group tries to "survive the wrath of The Undertaker."

Other WWE-related fictional projects have landed on Netflix over the last few years, including a sitcom called The Big Show Show and The Main Event, a movie in which a kid becomes a wrestler after finding a magical mask. The latest offering will add to Netflix's growing library of interactive content, which includes the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt finale, a Carmen Sandiego special, a mindfulness experience and, more recently, video games.

WWE actually has a long history of making horror movies through its WWE Studios arm, including an ill-fated reboot of the Leprechaun series. It has had a hand in some fine horror flicks, such as Oculus and Mohawk, so Escape the Undertaker could turn out to be pretty solid. Just try to keep The New Day out of The Undertaker's boiler room.

Twitter is an increasingly visual social network, and it's accordingly giving your media some more breathing room. The company has started testing an "edge-to-edge" timeline on iOS that gives you a much larger, borderless view for photos and videos.. You won't have to tap on a picture just to make full use of your big smartphone screen, to put it another way.

The firm didn't say how soon the feature might move beyond the experimental stage, but did vow to "iterate" on the test. We've asked about the possibility of (and timing for) Android and web tests.

The test is a bid to "bring more focus to the content" as more Twitter users share media. We'd add that it could also help Twitter counter Instagram, TikTok and other imagery-driven social networks. You may have a stronger incentive to post on Twitter if you know people are more likely to see (and appreciate) your snapshots.

Ahead of September 9th, when it plans to share the first full trailer from The Matrix Resurrections, Warner Bros. has launched a teaser for the upcoming film. The website, whatisthematrix.com, offers a first look at Neo's latest adventure. 

In a call back to the first film, you'll see a red and blue pill on the screen when you first visit the website. Choose the former and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will narrate the clip that follows, while the latter will treat you to the voice of Neil Patrick Harris. Each will present a different interpretation of what follows and a different series of cuts from the movie. 

What's more, each time you refresh the website and watch the clips again, you'll see a different set of scenes from the movie, as well as a mention of the current time — you know, to break the fourth wall. There aren't an infinite number of variations of each teaser, but you can piece together quite a few different scenes together if you watch each one multiple times.  

Either way, it's a fun way to build up excitement for the film before the first official trailer drops later this week. Of course, if you want to go into The Matrix Resurrections blind, then it's best to wait until December to see it on your own terms.