HTC Vive has unveiled the Mars CamTrack, a system designed to put real-world actors into virtual environments Mandalorian-style, at a relatively affordable price. It'll let producers film actors against a projected background that moves in sync with the camera so it looks like they're in a real environment.
The system uses existing hardware along with a new box called Mars that processes all the signals. It also includes a pair of Vive Trackers (3.0) to track camera, light or prop movement, three Rovers to send the signal from a Vive Tracker to Mars and a pair of Base Stations (2) that determine the exact location of each Vive Tracker and Rover module.
The idea is to use Unreal Engine to create virtual 3D environments (space ships, planets, etc.) that can be manipulated in real-time on a computer and projected onto a screen. You then track up to three cameras and feed the signal into Unreal Engine via a system called LiveLink. When the camera follows the actor, the background moves in real time based on tracker data so that it looks like the actor is really in the scene.
There are some big advantages to this technique. Everything can be done in one place with no need for expensive location shoots, and sets can be changed on the fly. It also makes performing easier, as actors can see their environment rather than needing to pretend it's there. Plus, it saves on post-production costs — according to ILM, the technique was used in 50 percent of The Mandalorian's shots. The technique also works for greenscreen shooting, as a video linked by HTC Vive shows.
HTC Vive
Setting up such systems can be complicated, but HTC Vive promises features like automatic calibration for camera offset and lens distortion. It also has plug and play compatibility, letting you sync Unreal Engine's LiveLink system "with no additional software required."
Mars CamTrack is being sold in package with the Trackers, Rovers, Base Stations, Mars unit, cables, a calibration kit and more. The early bird price is $5,000, which isn't cheap (and doesn't include a projector and other things you may need), but it is a bargain compared to what it would cost you to try to build one yourself. If you're interested, you can now register to buy a Mars CamTrack kit.
Panasonic launched the GH5 over five years ago, helping set off a mini vlogging boom and confirming the potential of mirrorless cameras for video. Its replacement has finally come in the form of the $2,200 GH6 with an all-new sensor and desirable features like ProRes, 5.7K 60p video and an all-new stabilization system.
Panasonic had the video creator market largely to itself in 2018, but things are different now. It’s crowded with models from Canon, Sony and Nikon, all offering similar features to the GH6 for a similar price. Some of those, like Sony’s A7 IV and the Canon EOS R6, have full-frame sensors and superior phase-detect autofocus systems.
Panasonic has its own full-frame lineup too, so it’s effectively competing with its own Lumix S5 model. Is there still a place for a video-centric Micro Four Thirds camera with contrast-detect autofocus? I took a final production version of the GH6 out in the French countryside to find out.
Body and handling
Apart from the similar control layout, the GH6 doesn’t look much like the GH5 anymore. The first substantial change is the hump on the back. It accommodates both a multi-angle articulating display and an active cooling system with a fan and vents for continuous video shooting at high video resolutions.
It’s got a new grip too, which is perhaps the largest I’ve ever seen on any camera, mirrorless or otherwise. It uses a tackier rubber material and has a bigger ridge for your fingers, giving a secure grasp on the camera at all times.
All the buttons and dials are in roughly the same spots, save a few exceptions. The most noticeable change is the addition of a switch on the top left corner that lets you lock out any controls you want. The other is a dedicated autofocus button for changing AF areas, models, eye detection and more.
Another big change is the addition of a second video record button on the front, ideally placed for vloggers. There's also a nice dedicated audio control button that lets you quickly access levels, quality and more without diving into menus. Finally, there’s a second button up front that can be set to do whatever you want.
Steve Dent/Engadget
The GH6 uses the new style of Panasonic menu found on the GH5 II and S5. It's among the easiest to use of any mirrorless camera, with logical categories and not too much scrolling needed. Plus, it can be operated by touch or using the buttons and dials.
As mentioned, the GH6 has a fully articulating 1.84-million dot rear touchscreen, as you’d expect, but it borrowed a feature from the full-frame S1H as well: It tilts up by about 45 degrees, letting you keep it clear of the microphone and HDMI ports for vlogging or external capture.
The 3.68 million dot OLED electronic viewfinder is as sharp as rivals, but the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz. Since the GH6 is primarily designed for video that’s not too big a deal, as higher EVF frequencies mostly help action photographers.
With the introduction of ProRes and ProRes HQ, internal data rates can hit up to 1.9Gbps (237.5 MB/s). To that end, the GH6 now has a high-speed CFexpress slot, along with a UHS II slot. The drawback of having one very fast card and one very slow card is that you can’t backup ProRes (or 800Mbps All-I H.264 video) to the SD card. That could be a problem for videographers that absolutely require a backup when shooting video for weddings and other live events.
Steve Dent/Engadget
As for ports, it has a full-sized HDMI port as you’d hope on such a camera, along with a USB-C port that supports power delivery so you can charge or power the camera while shooting. Naturally, it has headphone and microphone jacks, and you can upgrade that to four-channel XLR inputs using Panasonic’s $400 DMW-XLR1 hotshoe adapter.
Overall, the GH6 is a well designed and great-handling camera, particularly for video. Key settings like audio levels, video resolution and autofocus are easy to change and monitor.
There are a few drawbacks, though. It's heavy for a Micro Four Thirds camera at 823g, and the battery life isn’t great either. It’s rated for just 350 still images on a charge, compared to 400 on the GH5 with the same settings, and about an hour of continuous 4K shooting. On one of our shoots, however, it didn’t manage more than about 45 minutes of stop-start shooting, so you’ll want to buy and carry a lot of extra cells.
Video
Just like the GH5, the GH6 is a video creator’s camera above all. For that, it’s better than its predecessor in nearly every way, from resolution to stabilization to dynamic range.
The GH6 can shoot 5.7K all the way up to 60 fps, DCI 4K up to 120 fps and 1080p at 240 fps. As with other Panasonic cameras, it supports anamorphic shooting up to 5.7K. That lets you use lenses from Vazen, Sirui and others and get those dramatic JJ Abrams horizontal lens flares. 10-bit video with billions of colors is available for most of these formats, with an Intraframe I mode for easier editing and LongGop L mode, (both with H.264 and H.265 codecs), to conserve space.
Steve Dent/Engadget
It also supports 12-bit ProRes and ProRes HQ, formats that gobble card space but are easier to edit than MP4. You can only shoot 5.7K 25p ProRes video for now, but ProRes DCI 4K and full HD are coming later via a firmware update. RAW output at up to C4K (4,096 x 2,160) 120p to an external Atomos Ninja V+ recorder will also be introduced down the road.
The 5.7K ProRes footage allows for crisp downsampled 4K footage or cropping where needed, while delivering the best possible quality with minimal compression and 12 bits of color. It’ll also play in real time on a decent editing computer, but you’ll need lots of storage space – the file sizes are massive.
Meanwhile, 4K at 120 fps is a big plus for dramatic slow-mo. Unlike with rivals, there’s no cropping or drop in sharpness at those higher frame rates, and 10-bit video is available. The only downside to 120p is that a feature called Dynamic Range Boost isn’t supported.
So what is that? Rather than Dual Native ISO like the GH5, the GH6 has Dynamic Range Boost. It combines high and low-gain readouts to deliver extra dynamic range at ISO settings over 800. With the feature turned off, dynamic range is a bit below the GH5 and when enabled, it’s a full stop higher.
The GH6 is also Panasonic’s first non-professional camera with full V-Log, not hobbled V-Log L. With all that, video quality is outstanding, particularly in demanding, contrasty scenes. It’s sharp, colors are right on point and the extra stop of dynamic range over the GH5 gives editors more room to dial down bright scenes and amp up shadows in post-production.
Considering the small sensor, the GH6 is a surprisingly decent low-light camera, too. Noise is well controlled up to ISO 12800, with the best results at ISO 6400. That’s aided by Panasonic’s new “3D Noise Reduction” that kicks in at higher ISOs to suppress grain with a slight loss of detail.
The downside with the system is that, weirdly, there’s more noise in shadows at low ISOs. That’s because the Dynamic Range Boost can’t be engaged below ISO 800, so there’s more noise in dark areas of the picture.
The GH6 has much improved in-body stabilization (IBS) over its predecessor. Panasonic boosted that to 7.5 stops with supported lenses, just below Canon’s R6. However, numbers only tell part of the story. It’s not only great for handheld video, but is the best camera for walkaround vlogging I’ve ever tried. Without even trying to smooth out my footsteps, I only saw a mild up and down motion with none of the jerking I’ve seen on other cameras.
If you do hit the odd jolt or whip the camera around, you won’t see much wobble or jello, either. That’s because even though it doesn’t have a stacked sensor, rolling shutter is well controlled – a big benefit of a smaller sensor.
Shooters have been screaming for a histogram display and Panasonic has finally added one. It’s the best way to set exposure, especially for log video, and you can resize and position it anywhere in the frame.
Steve Dent/Engadget
The GH6’s biggest issue is still contrast detect autofocus, or what Panasonic calls Depth from Defocus. It is improved over the GH5, with new AI smarts to boost tracking and subject recognition for people and animals. However, it still isn’t as fast or accurate as the phase detect systems on rival cameras.
By its nature, contrast detect can’t lock into focus as fast as phase detect. In certain circumstances, Panasonic’s system also has a tendency to “hunt” for focus, causing a distracting pulsing as the video goes in and out of focus.
As a workaround, you can shoot at higher frame rates, as contrast detect AF functions better when it has more frames to analyze. However, that’s not always convenient, particularly if you want maximum control over shutter speeds and motion blur. Because of this, I don’t always trust it for interviews, standup or other situations.
Overall, Panasonic has done as much as it can do with contrast detect, but it’s just a fundamentally inferior system. Thankfully, the company is starting to hint that phase detect might arrive in future models.
Photography
Now, let’s talk about photography. With relatively slow 7 fps burst speeds with continuous autofocus, the GH6 is not a great choice for action or wildlife shooting. If you’re into that and want Micro Four Thirds, get the Olympus OM-1 instead.
There are improvements that make it good for certain things, though, particularly the 25.2-megapixel sensor. That’s the highest resolution yet on a Micro Four Thirds camera, so it’s more useful than the GH5 for things a hybrid shooter might do like product photography or portraits.
Like video, photos have improved dynamic range, sharpness and high-ISO capability. The Dynamic Range Boost is particularly useful for RAW photos in tricky lighting situations, letting you pull detail out of shadows and highlights.
Finally, the contrast-detect AF isn’t as big of a drawback for photos as it is for video, particularly for a relatively slow camera like the GH6. It usually delivers sharp photos for burst shooting with human or animal subjects, though it’s still not as reliable as recent competing cameras. Overall, it’s an improvement over the GH5, but still well short of models like the Sony A7 IV.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent/Engadget
Panasonic’s GH6 is a lot of camera for the money, offering an outstanding feature set for vloggers and creators that rivals many professional video cameras. The stabilization system and handling are first-rate, video quality is outstanding and it’s more affordable than rival full-frame cameras with similar capabilities. Micro Four Thirds lenses are also much cheaper than full-frame lenses.
As usual, the bugbear with the GH6 is the contrast-detect autofocus that’s not up to par with Sony, Nikon and Canon’s latest offerings. It’s also heavy for a Micro Four Thirds camera and battery life is subpar. Finally, the Micro Four Thirds sensor might not cut it if you need shallow depth of field and superior low-light capability.
It has some stiff competition like the Sony A7 IV and Canon EOS R6, both priced at $2,500. For a lot less, look at Fujifilm’s $1,700 X-T4 or the $960 Nikon Z FC. And if you want a Micro Four Thirds action or wildlife camera, get the $2,200 OM-1. If you’re good with the AF and sensor size limitations, however, the GH6 is a top choice for vlogging and content creation.
Your mom might not be as up to date as you on the latest tech trends, but that doesn't mean a carefully chosen gadget wouldn't make her life easier. While flowers and breakfast in bed remain lovely Mother's Day gifts, you may want to try a different tack this year and get your mom something she'll use long after the holiday is over. To help, we've collected a list of some of our favorite gadgets and services that any mother, tech-savvy or not, will love.
Apple iPad mini
Valentina Palladino / Engadget
We consider the iPad mini to be the best small tablet for most people, and that includes parents who could use a slightly larger screen to watch videos, read text messages and check out photos of their children (or grandchildren) on Facebook. The 2021 model with the A15 Bionic chip runs smoothly even when using more than one app in Split View, so mom can stream her favorite show on Netflix while quickly replying to messages without any issues. We appreciate the design updates Apple made to this model, making the mini look more like a smaller iPad Air than ever before. Its compact size makes it easy to throw in a bag and take with you, and it’ll last the whole day, too, thanks to its 12-hour battery. Not to mention, its new Center Stage front-facing cameras will keep Mom in the frame as she FaceTimes for the third time today. — Valentina Palladino, Commerce Editor
Your mom might have become a clean freak over the past year (who can blame her?) and Belkin’s UV sanitizer and wireless charger is a good device to give her to keep right near her doorway. It uses UV rays to get rid of 99 percent of bacteria on keys, cards, rings and other small items that your mom might bring with her wherever she goes. Yes, that also includes her smartphone and once it’s completely sanitized, your mom can set the handset on top of the lid to power up thanks to its built-in 10W wireless charging pad. The device is silent while sanitizing and as a bonus, it comes with its own cable and wall adapter so you can use it straight out of the box. — V.P.
Take your mother’s morning coffee routine up a notch with the Ember Mug, a self-heating smart mug that keeps beverages at just the right temperature for up to 1.5 hours or all day if the mug is kept on its charging coaster. It has a temperature range between 120 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit, which lets your mom dial in just how hot she wants her brew. There’s also a companion app which lets her save preset temps for her favorite drinks, track her caffeine intake, customize the color of the LED light on the front of the mug and more. The latest version comes in a pretty rose gold color as well as white, black, gold, silver and copper. — Nicole Lee, Commerce Writer
After the past few years, your mom is likely excited to get out of the house more often – especially as the weather improves – and maybe she wants to take more regular walks and runs in her neighborhood. The Fitbit Inspire 2 is a low-cost and easy-to-use way to track her steps and sleep, along with other stats that indicate our overall fitness level. New users can also snag a free year of Fitbit Premium to add even more fitness guides and meditation features to the already-great app. — Kris Naudus, Commerce Writer
For busy moms who love to cook but are short on time, an Instant Pot makes for a thoughtful gift. While it can be used as a slow cooker, rice cooker or yogurt maker, it’s particularly useful as a pressure cooker. It can shave hours off the cooking time of a lot of dishes, particularly braises and stews. Also, unlike its stovetop equivalent, the Instant Pot can come to pressure and stay there without having to be babysat the whole time. A built-in timer means it turns off on its own, while a Keep Warm function does exactly what you'd expect. Thanks to the popularity of the Instant Pot line, there’s also a vast array of recipes online that your mom will be able to make with her new cooking gadget. For more on how to make the most of it, check out our Instant Pot guide. — N.L.
The Apple Watch is arguably the most sought-after accessory for iPhone users, and the Apple Watch SE is a good starter option for moms who want a more convenient way to stay in the loop. It has all of the essential features you’d expect a smartwatch to have, including smart alerts, activity and workout tracking, built-in GPS and Apple Pay. The SE’s Retina display is 30 percent larger than that of the Series 3 and, in addition to a water-resistant design, it has features like fall detection, high and low heart rate notifications and Emergency SOS. While the SE doesn’t have ECG capabilities or blood oxygen tracking like the Series 7 does, it remains a good gift for mom that will let her keep in touch with those she loves without whipping out her iPhone every second. — V.P.
So many of us take hundreds of photos with our phones and then never do anything with them. They’re left to languish in our camera rolls, only to be uncovered when you have to scroll back months to find that one image you’re searching for. If you want to give mom a more polished way to look back at her favorite photos, an album from Mpix will do the trick. You can customize your photo book from the ground up, choosing the best images of her family and friends and laying them out on each page in a neat way. You can also pick from different types of cover options and paper weights, making the final product as premium as you want it to be. With options starting at $20 per book, it’s pretty easy to make mom a gift she’ll want to revisit long after Mother’s Day is over. – V.P.
While it sounds like an impersonal gift, a power bank can really help your mom if her smartphone dies while she’s out. Anker’s PowerCore Redux is an improvement on the typical lipstick-sized portable batteries thanks to its slightly larger frame that houses a 10,000mAh cell. That capacity can power up an iPhone XS more than two times over, plus it can charge two devices simultaneously thanks to its USB-A and USB-C output ports. The LED light wheel will show mom how much battery power is left in the accessory and she’ll be able to throw it into any bag she owns thanks to its compact, 6.8-ounce design. – V.P.
Your mom probably spends her day juggling a lot of responsibilities. A good pair of earbuds can make her busy days more enjoyable by letting her listen to her favorite playlists, podcasts or audiobooks while she’s getting it all done. The Beats Studio Buds are small, comfortable and stylish, plus they now work better with Android than ever before. Since Apple owns Beats, iPhone users get perks like hands-free Siri access, quick-pairing and Find My support, but now Android users also have access to the latter two features as well. That means your mom can make the most of these earbuds regardless of the smartphone she has. Plus, she’ll be able to take calls without picking up her handset by using the buds’ five built-in microphones. – V.P.
While a robot vacuum won’t eliminate all the cleaning your mom might already do around the house, it definitely makes one portion of it easier. The Roomba 694 is one of our favorite budget robot vacuums in part because it provides a ton of value for its $274 price. Most importantly, it does a great job cleaning both hard and carpeted floors and it runs long enough that it should get to most areas in your home before needing to recharge. It connects to WiFi so you can control it either with its companion mobile app, or using Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands. Your mom can even use the mobile app to set a cleaning schedule, so she doesn’t even have to think about the machine — it’ll scurry around the house, sucking up dirt and debris, all on its own time. — V.P.
If your mom is a cook and has the counter space for it, we highly recommend getting her a toaster oven like the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. She can use it to toast bread, bake dishes or reheat food. Sure, a full-size oven can do the same thing, but firing it up can often warm up the whole house, which isn’t so great in the summer months. It’s also a lot more efficient. While a regular oven might need 20 or so minutes to preheat, a toaster oven can often get to temperature in just five or 10 minutes.
We also like this model for its 1-cubic-foot capacity. (In lay terms, it can fit a 9-by-13-inch casserole or a 14-pound turkey.) It can handle air frying (thanks to a “super convection” mode) and it comes with an air fryer basket that’s large enough to fit a dozen chicken wings. The oven also has several preset modes designed for specific functions such as toasting bagels or baking pizzas.
The Smart Oven Air is the classic model, but if your mom is extra adventurous in the kitchen (or extra tech-savvy), Breville’s latest tabletop appliance, the Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro, is a good step up. It does everything the Smart Oven Air does, but it adds WiFi connectivity so you can control the machine from your phone. Mom will get alerts when it’s time to put her dish in the oven after the preheat cycle, and when her food finished cooking to perfection. There are even recipes she can try out in the app, including some that have an “autopilot” feature, which automatically adjusts the oven’s temperature during cooking to make things like perfectly golden croissants and bread loaves. — N.L.
Flowers die. Sure, they’re pretty and they smell nice but in the end they wilt, which is always kind of a bummer. So why not get your mom something just as beautiful that will stay that way? This LEGO bouquet is lovely to behold but also a great way to spend an evening putting together. As a bonus, it’s cheaper than a lot of flower arrangements you’d buy around Mother’s Day, and if she ever tires of it she can take it apart and build something else with the 756 pieces. — K.N.
If your mom loves reading but doesn’t have a ton of time to sit down and crack open a book, an Audible membership can give her a new way to enjoy reading anywhere. Gift memberships range from one month for $8 to one year for $230 and include a certain number of book credits that she can use on any title. Members also get access to exclusive sales and Audible has been experimenting with original content like podcasts recently, so there’s a ton of listening options to choose from. But the best part is being able to read anywhere at any time, be it in the car on the way to work, around the house while tidying up or at the beach on a lazy summer day. — V.P.
Women play games too, even if a lot of games marketing still says otherwise. In a house dominated by behemoths like the PlayStation 5 or a gigantic gaming PC, mom might appreciate having something that’s just for her, a handheld console she can sneak away with into the bedroom or yard whenever she needs some alone time. The Switch Lite is small enough to hide in a pocket or purse and, while there are plenty of great games she’d enjoy like Breath of the Wild, Untitled Goose Game and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, we recommend snagging an eShop card so she can choose her own adventures. — K.N.
Forget giving your mother a bottle of wine she might not even like. Instead, give her a subscription to a wine club. There are many available today, including hyper-curated boxes, all-natural boxes and even celebrity-branded ones like Martha Stewart's club. If you’d rather take the guesswork out of choosing one, Winc is a good option. All mom has to do is fill out a short six-question survey about her tastes and then Winc chooses the wines for her. She can then rate the wines she receives, so Winc will get a better idea of what she wants, offering up more personalized selections the next time around. Winc is also great for you, the gifter, since gift subscriptions start at only $60. — N.L.
Apple's latest 16-inch MacBook Pro is now more affordable than it's ever been. Amazon is selling the 10-core M1 Pro variant with 512GB of storage at an all-time low price of $2,249, or $250 below the official sticker. That's $50 below the previous best, and makes this a more viable option if you've wanted a large, powerful Mac laptop but couldn't justify the usual cost.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro represents a return to form for Apple. It's speedy while delivering long battery life, low noise and — much to the relief of many — a healthy range of ports. Throw in the high-quality display, a superb keyboard and surprisingly rich speakers and it's an easy pick if you want a large-screen portable that can replace many desktops.
It's not for everyone. This larger MacBook Pro is still expensive, and it's best-suited to creative apps and general productivity — you wouldn't buy one for gaming, for instance. There's no way to expand the memory or storage, either, so you'll need to be content with the included 16GB of RAM and 512GB of space for the life of the system. If those aren't obstacles, though, you'll likely be happy.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Samsung's latest Galaxy S22 handsets are some of the best Android phones you can get right now, and Amazon has discounted the entire lineup. Each of the three S22 models is cheaper than usual, with the best savings being on the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the S22+ — both are $200 off, bringing them down to $1,000 and $800, respectively. The standard Galaxy S22 is $100 off and back down to an all-time low of $700. And if you decide to take the plunge, you can get $60 off the Galaxy Buds 2 if you buy the earbuds along with one of the S22 smartphones. Just click on the "extra savings" banner on the phones' product pages to see how to add both items to your cart.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best of the best coming from Samsung right now, and it marries a lot of features from the company's Note family with its flagship S lineup. It sports a 6.8-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen that has a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. It also has the new "Vision Booster" feature, which automatically adjusts display brightness and contrast depending on how bright or dim your environment is. The phone runs on Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processors, and the model on sale has 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
With the phone being so large, it has space for a built-in S Pen, which lets you take notes and doodle on the phone's screen. This is the main feature taken from the Note family, and power users will appreciate it. Samsung also improved the latency to 2.8 milliseconds, so writing with the S Pen will feel even more natural than it did before.
As far as cameras go, you're getting a 108-megapixel main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide shooter and two 10MP telephoto lenses, plus a host of improvements like auto-framing, better video stabilization, more accurate portrait blur and Samsung's new Adaptive Pixel feature. That's all to say you're getting a very capable camera setup that holds its own against those on the latest iPhones and Google smartphones.
Ultimately, the S22 Ultra is the handset to get if you want all of the latest features that Samsung has to offer in a smartphone. But if you're ok with a slightly smaller device and one that doesn't have perks like a built-in S Pen, either the S22 or S22+ will serve you well. We gave both smartphones a score of 87 for their lovely displays, strong performance and slick design. The S22+ has the added benefits of UWB and WiFi 6E connectivity, slightly faster WiFi speeds and a longer battery life. Considering this sale makes the S22+ only $100 more than the S22, it's a good opportunity to get a slightly more capable device without paying too much of a premium for it.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Apple may have begun more rigorously enforcing its policy against unused and dysfunctional apps. Back in 2016, the company vowed it would go out of its way to remove applications that had stopped working, not kept up with its latest guidelines or become outdated. After not drawing much attention over the last few years, that policy came back into the public consciousness this week. In a series of tweets spotted by The Verge, a handful of indie developers shared an email notice from Apple prompting them to update their games.
I feel sick. Apple just sent me an email saying they're removing my free game Motivoto because its more than 2 years old.
It's part of their App improvement system.
This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.
“This app has not been updated in a significant amount of time and is scheduled to be removed from sale in 30 days,” the company states in the email. “You can keep this app available for new users to discover and download from the App Store by submitting an update for review within 30 days.”
Apple notes developers can continue to earn revenue from microtransactions even if it removes their app or game from the store. Moreover, their programs will continue to work for those who have them downloaded to their devices. Some people who shared screenshots of the notice on Twitter expressed concern that the policy disproportionately affects smaller developers.
“This is an unfair barrier to indie devs,” Protopop Games developer Robert Kabwe said. “I’m sitting here on a Friday night, working myself to the bone after my day job, trying my best to scrape a living from my indie games, trying to keep up with Apple, Google, Unity, Xcode, macOS changes that happen so fast my head spins while performing worse on older devices.”
On a support page dedicated to its App Store Improvements initiative, the company states the policy is designed “to make it easier for customers to find great apps that fit their needs.” It also notes it wants to ensure all the software you found on the platform is “functional and up-to-date.”
Obviously, there isn’t an easy answer to the situation. From the perspective of an iOS user, it’s not great when you buy a new Apple device and find apps that aren’t optimized to take advantage of the hardware. I encountered that situation when I bought my 2020 iPad Air and downloaded Klei’s tactical espionage RPG Invisible, Inc. Playing the game for the first time, I was disappointed when I found out the studio had not updated the game to support the iPad Air’s 2,360 by 1,640 resolution. In fact, Klei hasn’t updated the iOS version of Invisible, Inc. since 2016. That hasn’t stopped me from enjoying the game, but I wish I could play it without black bars letterboxing the interface.
In 2010, Apple software engineer Gray Powell left a prototype iPhone 4 in a bar in Redwood City, California. In an era where nearly every device leaks before it’s officially announced, images of a new iPhone showing up online seem quaint. But at the time it was a big deal and the incident even came to involve US law enforcement. Now, more than a decade later, images of another highly anticipated device have made their way online in much the same way.
Android Central
On Saturday evening, Android Central shared photos of Google’s long-rumored Pixel Watch. The outlet says it obtained the images you see throughout this post from someone who found the smartwatch at a restaurant in the US. The photos confirm the Pixel Watch will feature a circular face with minimal display bezels. If you look closely, you can see the wearable’s band attaches directly to its case, with a latch mechanism that looks proprietary to Google and reminiscent of the design employed by Fitbit on its Versa and Sense smartwatches (Google acquired the company in 2021).
The watch features a single button next to its crown and what looks like a microphone or altimeter port. On the back of the device, you can see an optical heartrate sensor. Unfortunately, the watch wouldn’t go beyond its boot screen so there are no photos of it running Wear OS 3.
Android Central
According to a report leaker Jon Prosser published in January, Google will announce the Pixel Watch on May 26th. The company recently filed to trademark the Pixel Watch name. Visit Android Central to see more photos of the leaked device.
Before police arrested seven of the group's more prolific members in late March, ransomware gang Lapsus$ stole T-Mobile's source code that same month. In a report published Friday and spotted by The Verge, security journalist Brian Krebs shared screenshots of private Telegram messages that show the group targeted the carrier multiple times.
"Several weeks ago, our monitoring tools detected a bad actor using stolen credentials to access internal systems that house operational tools software," T-Mobile told Krebs. "Our systems and processes worked as designed, the intrusion was rapidly shut down and closed off, and the compromised credentials used were rendered obsolete." The company added the "systems accessed contained no customer or government information or other similarly sensitive information."
Lapsus$ initially accessed T-Mobile's internal tools by buying stolen employee credentials on websites like Russian Market. The group then carried out a series of SIM swap attacks. Those type of intrusions typically involve a hacker hijacking their target's mobile phone by transferring the number to a device in their possession. The attacker can then use that access to intercept SMS messages, including links to password resets and one-time codes for multi-factor authentication. Some Lapsus$ members attempted to use their access to hack into T-Mobile accounts associated with the FBI and Department of Defense but failed to do so due to the additional verification measures tied to those accounts.
Hackers have frequently targeted T-Mobile in recent years. Last August, the company confirmed it had fallen victim to a hack that saw the personal data of more than 54 million of its customers compromised. That breach also involved SIM swap attacks and may have even seen the carrier secretly pay a third-party firm to limit the damage.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has revealed its rollout plan for the overhauled PlayStation Plus service. It's targeting a launch date of May 23rd in select markets in Asia before expanding to Japan on June 1st. The new tiers are then expected to arrive in the Americas on June 13th, followed by Europe on June 22nd.
In addition, SIE is opening up access to cloud streaming in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Folks in those countries and the 19 others where PlayStation Now is currently available will be able to sign up for the Premium tier of PS Plus at launch.
Sony announced the long-rumored PS Plus restructuring in March. The current version of PS Plus will soon be the lowest tier of the updated service. As is more or less the case now, PS Plus Essential will offer online multiplayer access, cloud storage, PSN Store discounts and two claimable games per month (down from the usual three).
The middle tier is PlayStation Plus Extra, which adds a library of 400 PS4 and PS5 games that players can download to their console. At the outset, those are expected to include the likes of Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11 and PS5 exclusive Returnal.
At the highest end is PlayStation Plus Premium, which includes access to another 340 games from PlayStation, PS2 and PSP titles that you can stream or download. PS3 games will be available through cloud streaming. Premium will also offer limited-time game trials and cloud gaming on PC.
In countries where cloud streaming isn't available yet, Sony will offer a Premium tier replacement called PS Plus Deluxe. This will be a bit less expensive than Premium and include downloadable PS1, PS2 and PSP games as well as everything from the Essential and Extra tiers.
US pricing starts at $10 per month, $25 per quarter or $60 per year for PS Plus Essential. Extra costs $15 per month, $40 per quarter or $100 annually. As for Premium, you'll need to pay $18 per month, $50 per quarter or $120 for a year of access. PlayStation Now will be folded into the new PS Plus, and subscribers of that service will be moved to the Premium tier.
Unlike with Microsoft's Game Pass, none of the tiers will offer access to first-party PlayStation games on their release day. However, a year of access to PS Plus Premium costs $60 less than 12 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at the standard price.
Twitter might soon take a page from Instagram's defunct Threads app — not to mention other messaging apps you used in the past two decades. As The Vergereports, code sleuth Jane Manchun Wong has discovered that Twitter is developing a "Vibe" feature that would let you set status updates akin to Threads and the many, many IM clients at the turn of the century. You could set status at the profile level, but you could also attach them to specific tweets to indicate what you were doing at a specific moment.
Wong's examples only showed generic presets like eating, listening to music and shopping. It's not clear if you have the option of writing your own updates, or if third-party apps could hook into the feature (say, for music and videos).
The concept of a Twitter status update isn't completely new, either. The social network was testing another form of status update back in 2018, although it didn't work the same way and never reached everyday users.
We've asked Twitter for comment. There are no guarantees Vibe will reach the broader public or even enter testing. We wouldn't be surprised if it does, however. Twitter has long had messaging features that could benefit from status updates (such as letting others know you're busy), and it's increasingly relying on live features like Spaces audio sessions where you might want to share what you're doing.
Twitter is working on “Set a status” in Tweet Composer, codenamed “Vibe”
