Polestar is finally ready to confirm pricing and details for its more affordable single-motor Polestar 2. As Autoblogreports, the 2022 "entry-level" EV will start at $45,900 before incentives, or a cool $14,000 below the original dual-motor version's price. If you're in California, that cost after incentives could dip to a relatively low $34,900. That's no mean feat when it offers the longest range of the bunch at an EPA-estimated 265 miles.
The long-range dual-motor version starts at a lower $49,900 for 2022 ($38,900 after California incentives), with a longer 249-mile range on top of that. The catch, as you might guess, is that you'll need to add "packs" to get certain creature comforts, regardless of which car you're buying.
The promised mechanical heat pump, which extends range in chilly conditions, is part of a $4,000 Plus Pack that also includes a full-length glass roof, a "premium" interior (with Harman Kardon audio), vegan seating and cabin illumination. A $3,200 Pilot Pack adds driver aids like adaptive cruise control, blind spot warnings and a 360-degree camera. The dual-motor-only $5,000 Performance Pack adds 20-inch alloy wheels with Brembo brakes, sport tires and gold cosmetic touches.
Deliveries of single-motor Polestar 2 units are expected by the end of 2021, while the updated dual-motor configurations should arrive in October. The pricing still makes the electric fastback more expensive than its most obvious rival, the $39,900 Tesla Model 3 in Standard Range Plus trim. However, it's now close enough that you might not mind the extra outlay if Polestar's design is more appealing — and the claimed range is finally competitive.
Three years after taking on Brexit in Not Tonight, publisher No More Robots and developer PanicBarn are working on a sequel to the satirical political RPG. Not Tonight 2 takes place in a supposedly alternate version of the US, where "capitalism and political greed have taken center stage and democracy is a thing of the past."
Not Tonight 2 centers around three intertwined stories written by a group of POC artists and authors. Three characters — Malik, Kevin and Mari — embark on a road to trip to try and save their friend Eduardo from deportation or another terrible fate.
The original game drew comparisons to Papers, Please for its core gameplay of checking IDs as a bouncer at pubs and nightclubs. Those mechanics are back in the sequel, along with a variety of minigames, including everything from word association and rhythm games to working at the border wall, joining a cult and serving poutine to Canadians.
Verizon (currently Engadget's parent company) is still betting on streaming bonuses to win over new subscribers. The carrier has launched a promo that gives Fios and wireless subscribers up to a year of 'free' AMC+ streaming. Not surprisingly, you'll only get the full 12 months if you spend the most — you'll have to either sign up for a Mix & Match Fios plan or activate a new line on one of the network's better unlimited wireless plans (Play More, Do More or Get More) while buying one of the company's "best" 5G-capable phones.
Cellular subscribers who either activate a Start Unlimited plan or upgrade to a top-tier 5G phone on an existing line will get a more modest six months of AMC+ service. The promo expires for Fios customers on February 10th, 2022, but there's no mention of an expiry date for wireless.
Verizon isn't shy about the timing — The Walking Dead season 11 premieres August 22nd for most viewers, and the company is clearly hoping to reel in customers who want to watch more of AMC's humans-are-the-real-monsters drama. We'd add that this comes just a day after Samsung revealed the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3 — the bonus AMC+ access could serve as an incentive to update your phone.
The question, as with other carrier perks, is whether or not this is really adding value. Verizon already gives all its users at least six months of Disney+, Discovery+, Apple Arcade, Google Play Pass and Apple Music — if you aren't a hardcore Walking Dead fan, what's another service you'll try a few times and cancel? There's also the question of pricing — what if you were comfortable dropping the freebies in return for a lower rate? While networks like Verizon don't say how much it costs to offer bonuses like this, there's a mounting concern that the costs could add up.
Zagreus might struggle to escape the Underworld, but he's no longer bound by the confines of PC and Nintendo Switch. Hades, widely regarded as one of the best games of 2020, is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and PS5 on August 13th. It'll be on Xbox Game Pass on Xbox and PC on the same date.
Supergiant Games says the dungeon-crawling roguelike is targeting 60 frames per second at 1080p on Xbox One and PS4. It'll run at up to 60 fps in 4K on Series X/S and PS5.
Physical editions will come with a bonus download code for the soundtrack and a 32-page booklet. The Xbox One and Series X versions will be available on the same disk. Both the physical and digital PS4 versions offer a free upgrade to the digital PS5 version.
Unfortunately, unlike the Switch version, you won't be able to transfer Hades saves between PC and Xbox or PlayStation consoles. Still, Xbox and PlayStation owners will at last get their chance to tackle Hades again and again and again in a couple of months.
Foxconn is getting more serious about its electric vehicle ambitions. The company told investors during an earnings call that it plans to build EV factories in the US and Thailand in 2022 and start mass producing vehicles the following year. Chairman Liu Young-way said the company is also in talks regarding possible locations for plants in Europe.
At its US facility, Foxconn will build vehicles for EV clients including Fisker. The companies signed a deal in May, and Foxconn plans to start making Fisker EVs by the end of 2023. The two are jointly investing in the Project Pear vehicle and will share revenue from it.
Foxconn is in discussions with three states, including Wisconsin, for the EV plant, according to Nikkei. Earlier this year, Foxconn drastically scaled back plans for its existing facility in Wisconsin. Liu has also suggested Foxconn may build EVs at the controversial plant.
The planned Thai factory will form part of Foxconn's joint venture with oil and gas conglomerate PTT. The two are working on a platform for EV and component production. Liu said Foxconn plans to build up to 200,000 EVs at that plant each year.
If you’ve been holding out for VR hardware to mature, you chose wisely. Headsets have come a long way since the launch of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive five years ago. Standalone devices like the Oculus Quest 2 let you hop into virtual reality anywhere, while also giving you the flexibility of streaming virtual reality from powerful PCs. And if you don't care about dealing with a wired headset, there are a plethora of high-end options out there. Most importantly, there are plenty of memorable VR experiences like Vader Immortal and Half-LIfe: Alyx that you can't experience outside of a headset.
So what makes a good VR headset?
I tend to judge them on a few basic criteria: Ergonomics, immersion and controls. It's not that hard to shove a mobile display into a plastic headset and strap some cheap elastic headbands onto them. But it takes skill to craft something that's well balanced and doesn't feel uncomfortable after 30 minutes.
Immersion, meanwhile, comes from having high resolution screens with fast refresh rates, so everything looks sharp and smooth. Field of view is also a major element, as it describes how well VR screens can cover what you see. Having a low field of view makes it look like you’re looking through a pair of binoculars, which limits the sense of “presence” you can feel in VR. But a wide field of view can make it seem like you’re actually flying over the globe in Google Earth.
And when it comes to controllers, the best options fit naturally in your hands and offer accurate tracking. The industry has practically adopted the design of Oculus's excellent touch controllers, but we're also seeing intriguing leaps forward like Valve's finger tracking gamepads.
Best VR headset for most people: Oculus Quest 2
Engadget
Almost a year since its release, the Oculus Quest 2 remains the best VR option for the vast majority of consumers. It's completely cordless, relatively inexpensive (starting at $299) and it's comfortable to wear for long sessions. There's also a huge library of titles that you can experience anywhere, and it's bundled with Oculus's great motion controllers. You can also connect the Quest 2 to a gaming PC to stream more complex VR experiences.
The Quest 2 features fast-switching LCDs with a resolution 1832x1920 per eye, the highest we've seen from Oculus. It also has a smooth 90Hz refresh rate, which is impressive for something running entirely on mobile hardware. The Quest 2's field of view isn't the best — it's been measured at just around 90 degrees — but it's still enough to enjoy most VR experiences. You can also use different face pads to increase its field of view a bit. And if you want an even more comfortable fit, you can snag Oculus's Elite headstrap for $49 (or $129 with a built-in battery and case).
Facebook has recalled the foam inserts from the original model and is offering silicone covers to make the headset more comfortable. We didn't experience any issues during our review, or during the past year of usage, but there have been enough complaints for Facebook to take action. The base $299 Quest 2 will also come with 128GB of storage when it returns to store shelves on August 24th. That's double the storage of the original model, giving you even more room to cram in games and VR apps.
The Quest 2 may not offer the best overall VR experience, but it's certainly the most accessible headset on the market.
If you don't care about wireless VR, and you want to invest a bit more in a high-quality PC headset, HP's $599 Reverb G2 is meant for you. It was developed in cooperation with Valve and has some of the best features from the pricier Index headset, like near-field speakers. The Reverb G2 also has sharp screens, offering 2,160 by 2,160 pixels per eye, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a relatively wide 114-degree field of view.
It's also the first Windows Mixed Reality headset to include four tracking sensors, which helps to ensure more accurate VR tracking, especially during fast-paced games. I also give HP credit for making a headset that’s extremely comfortable thanks to its luxurious amount of cushioning around the eye-piece and rear strap.
The Reverb G2's motion controllers weren't my favorite, but they're still a big step up from HP's previous model. You could also upgrade it to use Valve's finger-tracking controllers, but that involves snagging SteamVR sensors and a lot more setup. Still, it's nice to have the upgrade path available.
Valve's Index kit remains one of the best high-end VR solutions on the market. For $999 you get the Index headset, Valve's finger tracking controllers and two SteamVR base stations. While we've seen higher-resolution headsets arrive in the last two years, it's still a very solid option, with a 1,440 by 1,600 pixel resolution, an eye-watering 144Hz refresh rate and a massive 130-degree field of view. I'd gladly lose a few pixels to get a smoother and more expansive screen, which are still far beyond any other consumer headset.
As a SteamVR product, the Index requires installing two sensors at opposite corners of your room. And of course, it's wired to your PC. But that clunkiness is worth it for the higher refresh rate and more accurate tracking. Sure, it's not as easy to use as the Quest 2, but at this price range, we assume you'll suffer a bit of inconvenience to get a truly high-quality VR experience.
Valve's finger tracking controllers are fantastic as well, with a convenient strap that locks them onto your hands. They make playing Half-Life: Alyx feel like a dream. It's unfortunate that other VR games haven't fully taken advantage of the finger tracking though.
Best VR quality, no matter the cost: HTC Vive Pro 2
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
HTC's Vive Pro 2 is the best-looking PC VR I've seen. It has an astoundingly sharp 5K screen and a solid 120Hz refresh rate. Just be prepared: the full kit, which includes the headset, two SteamVR sensors and wand controllers, costs $1,399. You can also buy the headset separately for $799 as an upgrade to the original Vive Pro, or the Valve Index.
For the price you get a well-balanced and supremely comfortable VR headset. The Pro 2 is a clear sign that Valve has practically perfected the art of making high-end hardware. I'm less impressed with the large wand controllers, which are exactly the same as the ones that came with the original HTC Vive in 2016. They're functional, but they're nowhere near as ergonomic as Oculus's Touch Controllers.
I'm mainly recommending the Pro 2 here based on the astounding quality of the headset.
True VR fans may want to just grab that separately along with SteamVR base stations and Valve's finger-tracking controllers. That way you can ensure you have the best experience while playing Half Life: Alyx.
We adored Sony’s PlayStation VR when it launched… but that was nearly five years ago. While it’s still a very comfortable headset, and it does magic with the PS4’s limited power, it’s not the smartest buy today. That’s particularly true when Sony has been eager to chat up its sequel VR headset for the PS5. We know that device will come with more modern controllers and have hardware similar to PC VR headsets. The only problem is that you’ll have to wait for it — Sony says it won’t be ready in 2021.
TikTok's determination to clean up its feeds now includes significant limits on its app for the teenage crowd. The social video service is limiting the visibility of teens' videos, with the most restrictions applying to the youngest users. Teens aged 13 to 15 are set to private by default, and will have to decide who can see a video the first time they post. They'll have that option for every video they post beyond that, and they won't have access to Duet or Stitch features.
Older teens will see restrictions, too. TikTok will turn off Direct Messages by default for 16- and 17-year-olds joining the service for the first time, and ask existing users to review their settings if they haven't tried DMs before. The company will also double-check before those older teens enable downloads for their videos.
The social media giant will try to promote healthy usage habits, too. Notifications will turn off for teens under 16 starting at 9PM local time, while 16- and 17-year-olds will receive their alerts until 10PM. This will theoretically help teens wind down, not to mention discourage late-night bullying.
TikTok stressed that there was "no finish line" for privacy and safety efforts, and that there would be more to come in the months ahead. The focus is clear, however — TikTok doesn't want stories of teens facing bullies, creeps and other abusers that found them through public videos and unsolicited messages. In theory, the restrictions provide a gentler introduction to TikTok that helps younger audiences understand the consequences of their actions.
Honor, the smartphone manufacturer that was, until late last year, Huawei’s budget division, is back. Not that it ever really went away, you understand, since it’s already released the View 40 and Honor 50 in its homeland while under its new owners. But today marks the first time that it is launching a flagship phone to the global market as an independent company. Free from the US sanctions that rocked its former parent, Honor is once again able to use American software (hello, Android 11) and silicon (hello, Qualcomm). This then, is the start of Honor’s second life, which is beginning with the launch of the Magic3, its first — well, “first” — flagship.
Historically, Honor was Huawei’s budget play, offering a surprising level of quality and tech for relatively low prices. The Honor 20, for instance, was the sort of phone that made you forget about the need to buy a flagship handset despite its modest sticker. Now, of course, with the freedom (read: obligation) to create high-end handsets, Honor is shuffling its brands. The high end will now be dominated by Magic-branded handsets, while the numbered line (like the Honor 50) will sit in the middle, and the low end now the domain of the X-Series.
Design-wise, Honor’s apple did not fall far from Huawei’s tree. From several angles, the Magic3 looks like a Huawei Mate, and this is not the only time I’ll bring this up. Given the sharing of IP and technology between the two companies before the split, this is not a huge surprise. I’m sure that many of the handsets Honor releases over the next couple of years will have that whiff of shared DNA, and like the Mate this phone has a waterfall display, with an 89-degree curve down both sides of the screen.
Honor
There are three Magic3 handsets in the range, the vanilla Magic3, Magic3 Pro, and the Magic3 Pro+. Every member of this trio is packing a 6.67-inch, 2,272 x 1,344, always-on flexible OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR 10+. There’s a 94.82 screen-to-body ratio, the ideal fact to wheel out when you need to impress folks in bars, too. The cut-out for imaging plays host to a 13-megapixel, f/2.4 wide camera with a 100-degree wide-angle lens no matter what model you opt for. Although the higher end Pro and Pro+ models are the only ones that pair it with a 3D Time of Flight sensor for face unlocking.
The real interest, however, is in the lenses on the back of the phone, and Honor is throwing all but the dishwasher at this phone. Arranged in a setup the company is calling "The Eye of Muse," the regular handsets get a 50-megapixel, f/1.9 lens with Sony's IMX766 image sensor, a 64-megapixel, f/2.2 monochrome camera and a 13-megapixel, 120-degree f/2.2 ultra-wide camera.
The Pro, meanwhile, adds a 64-megapixel, f/3.5 OIS telephoto camera with a 3.5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and 100x digital zoom. The Pro+, meanwhile, swaps out that IMX766 for the larger, f/1.9 1/1.28-inch IMX700 with OIS. You'll get that 64-megapixel monochrome camera with an f/1.8 aperture, a 64-megapixel 126-degree, f/2.4 ultra-wide camera and that same telephoto lens. (You'll also get a TOF sensor and color temperature sensor for more accurate imaging.)
Honor also said that this IMAX-enhanced camera can be used to shoot your own cinema-quality films, a boast previously used to sell Huawei’s Mate 30 and Mate 40 (told you I’d mention this again). Honor says that, unlike those handsets, it has developed a custom, mobile-friendly version of the filming standard Log, dubbed MagicLog, which is designed to shoot high-quality video.
Broadly speaking, Log is a way of recording footage that preserves as much of the dynamic range and tone as possible. When viewed straight from the camera, the footage looks weird and it requires a lot of post-processing and grading. In order to save ordinary users from that agony, Honor teamed up with professional colorist Bryan McMahan to create eight pre-set grades which work like Instagram filters.
Honor said that one minute of MagicLog footage will take up around 500MB of memory, so if you want to shoot a film with one of these, invest in one with lots of storage. And this is a feature that we’d love to test in depth in future, because if this in some crazy way does turn out to work, it could be a very big deal.
Beyond imaging, Honor wanted to talk up the various software engines that it has designed to help squeeze better performance out of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ 5G SoC found in the Pro and Pro+. (The regular Magic3 is using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888.) Long story short, Honor (and Huawei before it) uses an AI layer which has been trained to monitor for challenging processes and adjust power to compensate. It says that, for the Magic3, you can expect to see faster and more stable 5G and gaming performance when using the phone. Then there is OS Turbo X (Apple’s lawyers, I’m sure, will be taking notes) which, it’s claimed, will be able to keep the system running at peak performance for longer. Honor’s representatives said that this system alone will ensure that, after using it for 36 months, you’ll only experience a 3.8 percent drop in performance compared to the day you bought the phone.
And then there’s “Smart RAM,” which sounds like the sort of RAM-doubling scamware that we saw back in the days of Windows 3.1. Honor’s representatives said that, in times of need, the Magic3 can bounce some of the data from its RAM to the phone’s flash memory. Now it’s not clear if the company is trying to pass virtual memory off as some sort of new-fangled innovation or if there’s some clever new implementation here. Honor says that, no matter if you have the 8GB or 12GB variant, you can expect this system to offer you an additional 2GB of headroom when required. I have no idea if file transfer speeds between the SoC and flash memory are fast enough to make this a viable, boastworthy feature for a new flagship handset.
The company has also offered some smart privacy features, like obscuring message notifications when you cast video to a TV, as well as the ability to strip metadata from images before you share them to social media.
Honor hasn’t said how long this device will last on a single charge, but that 4,600mAh battery should have plenty of staying power. All three variants support 66W wired SuperCharge, and you can get up to 50 percent of your battery re-juiced with just 15 minutes of connection. In addition, the Pro and Pro+ models both support 50W wireless charging, should you feel the need.
Magic3 is available in four colors: Black, White, "Golden Hour" and "Blue Hour," the latter pair are a pinkish-orangey hue, and a deep royal blue. The standard colors are available in Honor's usual coating, while the two hours are available in vegan leather. The 3 Pro+, meanwhile, comes in either a ceramic black or white ceramic body with pinstripe texturing which, at first blush, looks extraordinary. All of the handsets are IP68-rated for water and dust resistance, which is about the minimum you can expect from a phone these days.
The Honor Magic3 series will make its debut in Mainland China, with news about arrivals in western markets coming in short order. CEO George Zhao did, however, reveal pricing for the handset when it reaches Europe, at the very least. The Magic3, with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, will retail for €899 ($1,054), while the Magic 3 Pro (8GB + 256GB) will set you back €1,099 ($1,289). Flagship-lovers, looking to grab the Magic3 Pro+ with 12GB RAM and 512GB Storage, meanwhile, will have to fork over at least €1,499 ($1,758).
Three senior designers pivotal to Diablo 4 and World of Warcraft are no longer at Activision Blizzard. Kotakuconfirmed the trio of abrupt departures after initially learning about them from internal sources. They include Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga, lead designer Jesse McCree, and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft. Insiders told the publication that the three developers names had been removed from Blizzard’s internal directory and Slack.
News of the shakeup arrives as Activision Blizzard is grappling with allegations of systemic gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The incendiary accusations, which were revealed in a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), have already led to damaging repercussions for the publisher. Blizzard is facing an internal outcry, with workers staging walkouts and demanding corrective action. Earlier this month, the company lost its president and was hit with a lawsuit by investors irked by its handling of the crisis. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has admitted that the publisher's original response to the DFEH filing was "tone-deaf."
While the company did not give a specific reason for the latest departures, two of the designers (namely McCree and LeCraft) were reportedly pictured in photos of the infamous "Cosby Suite." This was the hotel room explicitly mentioned in the DFEH lawsuit where male employees allegedly harassed women at company events. As Overwatch fans may know, the battle royale game features a cowboy called Jesse McCree named after the now ex-Blizzard employee. It remains to be seen if the publisher changes the character's name.
“We have a deep, talented roster of developers already in place and new leaders have been assigned where appropriate," a spokesperson for Blizzard told Kotaku. "We are confident in our ability to continue progress, deliver amazing experiences to our players, and move forward to ensure a safe, productive work environment for all.”
The UK's competition regulator has found that Facebook's acquisition of GIF-sharing platform Giphy will harm competition within social media and digital advertising. As part of its provisional decision, the watchdog voiced concerns that Facebook could prevent rivals including TikTok and Snapchat from accessing Giphy, a service they already use. It added that Facebook could also require customers of the GIF platform to hand over more data in return for access. If its objections are confirmed as part of the ongoing review, the regulator said it could force Facebook to unwind the deal and to sell off Giphy in its entirety.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ultimately determined that the deal stands to increase Facebook's sizeable market power. Together, its suite of apps — including Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram — account for 70 percent of social media activity and are accessed at least once a month by 80 percent of internet users, the CMA said.
Beyond social media, the watchdog suggested that the acquisition could remove a potential challenger to Facebook in the $5.5 billion display advertising market. Citing Facebook's termination of Giphy's paid ad partnerships following the deal, the regulator said the move had effectively stopped the company's ad expansion (including to additional countries like the UK) in its tracks. This in turn had an impact on innovation in the broader advertising sector, the CMA explained.
Facebook's announcement last May that it was acquiring Giphy, with plans to integrate it with Instagram, for a reported $400 million immediately raised alarm bells for regulators. The social network is facing antitrust complaints in the US and the EU over its social media and advertising monopolies, respectively. At the same time, the UK has ramped up its scrutiny of Big Tech by creating a dedicated Digital Markets Unit to oversee the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple. The fledgling agency sits within the CMA and is designed to give people more control over their data.
Today, the CMA echoed those principles in its initial decision. The regulator said that it would "take the necessary actions" to protect users if it concludes that the merger is detrimental to competition. It will now consult on its findings as part of the reviews process. A final decision is slated for October 6th.
Facebook told Varietythat it "disagrees" with the CMA's preliminary findings. "We will continue to work with the CMA to address the misconception that the deal harms competition,” the company added. It previously argued that Giphy has no operations in the UK, meaning that the CMA has no jurisdiction over the deal. In addition, it has claimed that Giphy's paid services cannot be classified as display advertising under the regulator's own market definition.
