Blog

‘Halo 3’ for PC should be ready for public testing in June

[ad_1]

It won’t be too much longer before you can play the whole of the original Halo trilogy on PC. The 343 Industries team has announced (via Windows Central) that public testing for Halo 3’s Master Chief Collection PC release should start sometime in the “first half of June,” or roughly a month after Halo 2’s release. You’ll have to enroll in the Halo Insider program (thankfully free) for a chance to participate.

In some ways, this is a particularly important remaster. You’ll get to play the core Covenant storyline from start to finish on your PC — you won’t have to fire up your Xbox to “finish the fight.” It’ll also give you a chance to see how 343 spruces up one of the Xbox 360’s marquee titles for an audience that might have been too young to try it the first time around.

[ad_2]

Source link

Amazon accused of fighting efforts to track COVID-19 in Wisconsin facilities

[ad_1]

Amazon may be improving safety measures in warehouses to protect against COVID-19, but it’s also accused of being less than forthcoming with vital data. The health officer for Kenosha County in Wisconsin, Jen Freiheit, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Gizmodo) that Amazon was uncooperative with public staff trying to track COVID-19 cases at its facilities. If it didn’t help out, Freiheit said she might push to shut down the Kenosha location.

A company spokesperson told Gizmodo that it had started testing some workers across its warehouses for COVID-19, and that this would “soon” include Kenosha. It said that “noting is more important” than the health of its, staff, and that it would “welcome a visit” from county health staff to see what it had done to improve safety, such as mandatory mask use and temperature checks.

[ad_2]

Source link

Google is working on end-to-end encryption for RCS texts in Messages

[ad_1]

RCS is supposed to be the spiritual successor to classic SMS and MMS texting, but the lack of built-in encryption puts a damper on that — someone could theoretically snoop on your messages where they can’t with services like iMessage. You might get your privacy after all, though. The 9to5Google crew has found evidence of plans to add end-to-end encryption to RCS conversations in Google Messages. While full details of how this would work aren’t clear, you could decide whether not third-party apps see encrypted messages. It’s also safe to assume that both participants would need a compatible app with reliable data connections.

The code is only just showing up in a “dogfood” test version of Messages meant for Google employees. It could be a while before this shows up in a release you can use yourself. Still, it’s good news. So long as you aren’t picky about your choice of messaging app, you could use all the rich media features of RCS without worrying that you’re compromising your privacy in the process.

[ad_2]

Source link

Tesla’s Cybertruck won’t get smaller any time soon

[ad_1]

Is Tesla’s Cybertruck too enormous for your garage? Unfortunately, you’ll have to shop for something else. Elon Musk has revealed that the electric pickup will stay “pretty much” the size of the prototype despite previous claims the production model would get smaller. There isn’t much room to shrink after a design review, according to the CEO — “even 3% smaller is too small,” he said.

Musk added that Tesla would “probably” make a smaller “world truck” in the future.

[ad_2]

Source link

‘Iron Man VR’ gameplay demo arrives to satisfy your inner Tony Stark

[ad_1]

It’s not just the game itself that’s launching on July 3rd. There’s also a PlayStation VR bundle coming out that day, which comes with the Iron Man VR Blu-ray disc, a PlayStation VR headset, a PlayStation Camera and two PlayStation Move motion controllers. The bundle is now up for pre-order and will be available in the US, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic for $350.

In case you don’t have a PS VR yet and want to check if getting the bundle is worth it, you can also watch a video of the demo gameplay below.

[ad_2]

Source link

Messages on the Mac may finally catch up to its iOS counterpart

[ad_1]

The Messages app on the Mac has lagged behind its iOS equivalent for a long time — it’s good for answering text messages without reaching for your iPhone, but many of the features and effects are missing. It might catch up this year, though. The 9to5Mac team has discovered hints of an overhauled Messages app for macOS in leaked iOS 14 code. The new software is reportedly a Catalyst-based app that will effectively mirror what you see in the iOS and iPadOS versions. You could chat with someone on their iPhone without worrying that you’ll miss part of the conversation, even if it’s just a fanciful sticker.

There aren’t definitive clues as to when this Messages revamp would arrive, although history suggests it’ll be unveiled alongside the next version of macOS at WWDC in June, with the finished software reaching users in the fall.

[ad_2]

Source link

UK reportedly aims to drop Huawei from 5G networks in 3 years

[ad_1]

The UK’s decision to allow Huawei gear in its 5G networks may be short-lived. Officials talking to the Financial Times (via The Verge) say the UK government is planning to gradually phase out use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks, eliminating it entirely in 2023. According to the Daily Telegraph, which first broke the story, Prime Minister Boris Johnson always had “serious concerns” about allowing Huawei’s involvement, and they’ve been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Huawei’s Victor Zhang told the FT that the reports “simply don’t make sense” and argued that the UK chose to allow Huawei because it needed the “best possible technologies, more choice, innovation and more suppliers.”

[ad_2]

Source link

Valve starts inviting players to ‘Artifact’ Beta 2.0

[ad_1]

It appears that Artifact Beta 2.0 is the latest result of that re-examining. According to Valve, the beta of the original Artifact was “too late” and “too short,” so it wanted to seek out public opinion a little earlier this time around. “We’ve decided to approach things a bit differently this time around by gradually inviting people to join us while we are still ‘Under Construction’,” it said on its website. 

As mentioned above, the players of the original game will get priority to sign up for the beta. Valve will send out emails to all of them by next week. “We will use a lottery system to invite people who have opted in,” it said in a statement. “Access to the Beta will remain closed until we’ve worked through the signups from players of the original. Communication about the game will remain open for the duration of the Beta.”

During this phase, Valve hopes to test out a host of different mechanisms such as gameplay, balance and hero identity. Some gameplay modes will be locked however, such as tournaments and draft modes. 

It remains unclear as to when Valve will finally move on to an open beta of Artifact, but if all goes according to plan, it’ll be after this particular round of “experimentation and development” is over. 



[ad_2]

Source link

Two of Apple’s former HomePod masterminds prep a ‘revolutionary’ speaker

[ad_1]

Many tech startups like to brag about having former employees of Silicon Valley giants among their ranks, but this is one that may have more of an impact than most. Financial Times sources say that ex-Apple design legend Christopher Stringer and engineer Afrooz Family are using their startup Syng to develop a “revolutionary” speaker system that would tackle both their former employer’s HomePod as well as Sonos’ home audio devices. Their upcoming Cell speakers would reportedly use a mix of Stringer’s design and Family’s audio engineering to produce “immersive rendering” whose sound would be “indistinguishable from reality,” according to the investment pitch.

This kind of hype is common among startups, but the two have some credibility to back up their boasts. Stringer has handled design work on numerous major Apple projects, including the HomePod as well as the Apple Watch and iPhone. Family, meanwhile, was key to designing the spatial audio system that lets the HomePod adjust its sound based on its location in the room — Apple’s speaker wouldn’t have its audio wizardry without him.

[ad_2]

Source link

Recommended Reading: COVID-19 and AI health care

[ad_1]

COVID-19 will accelerate the AI health care revolutionKai-Fu Lee, WiredThe coronavirus pandemic will cause us to rethink major aspects of everyday life around the world, but it may also expedite the use of artificial intelligence in health care. Sino…

[ad_2]

Source link