Blog

Jay-Z’s music is back on Spotify after two years away

[ad_1]

In 2017, Tidal owner Jay-Z removed his music from several competing streaming services. While much of his catalog returned to some of them, like Apple Music, pretty quickly, it hasn’t been on the largest one ever since. Until now. Spotify announced at midnight ET that on the rapper’s 50th birthday, his catalog is once again part of its library.

There’s no word on what arrangement was necessary to make that happen, but fans should be happy to have easy access to his hit songs once again.



[ad_2]

Source link

Google Disability Support is more accessible with sign language specialists

[ad_1]

These are Connect Direct reps rather than Google staff, and they’ll only be available Monday through Friday between 11AM and 8PM Eastern. Nonetheless, this should make it considerably easier to get help without having to rely on text-based support or someone serving as a go-between. You might be that much more likely to use accessibility features and focus on enjoying your devices.

[ad_2]

Source link

Google Stadia’s Assistant button starts working in ‘early access’

[ad_1]

When Google unveiled Stadia, its cloud-based streaming games platform, it showed off a button on the controller that linked directly to its Google Assistant AI helper. The idea is that players will be able to easily pull up tips and relevant information without even losing their game, however it wasn’t quite ready for the service’s playable-but-fragile launch last month.

In a community update the company confirmed that it has rolled out “some Google Assistant functionality for your Stadia Controller.” On Twitter, @StadiaDaily and @theStadiaCrowd confirmed that the feature works for players who are using it via a Chromecast Ultra. However, at the moment it only works on the Stadia home screen and isn’t usable in-game. On Reddit Google said that right now players can use it to launch games, and the videos posted show players using Assistant pretty much as normal to answer questions.

Eventually Google Assistant may bring some exclusive experiences to gaming in the cloud, but right now it’s less functional than the Xbox One integration that can turn the system on and off, launch games and take screenshots.



[ad_2]

Source link

Firefox gets picture-in-picture video playback on Windows

[ad_1]

Once you’ve downloaded the most recent version of Firefox, hover over a video and a blue “Picture-in-Picture” option will pop up. Click the button and the video will open in a solitary player that you can move around as needed. The feature is only available on the Windows version of the browser, but it will hit Mac and Linux versions in January, according to Mozilla.

firefox picture in picture video playback

While having a second monitor would probably be the nicest way to keep one eye on a video and the other on work tasks, that’s not an option for everyone, and would be next to impossible for laptop users on the go. Picture-in-Picture mode could be a good fallback. Just make sure you’ve got a quick trigger finger for when your boss walks by.

[ad_2]

Source link

‘Firewatch’ team pauses its next game to work on Valve titles

[ad_1]

As Rodkin explained, Valve really does let developers work on the projects they like. Some of the ex-Campo crew started by “lending a hand” on Alyx, for example, and that switched to full-time work as the VR game edged closer to its March release. The Firewatch team’s knowledge of first-person adventures is “pretty relevant” for the new Half-Life game, to no one’s surprise.

This doesn’t mean that Gods is dead. Rodkin said it was a game people “can and may return to.” With that said, you might not want to hold your breath. Valve is notorious for letting games languish when it turns its attention elsewhere (just ask everyone waiting for it to resolve the drama from Half-Life 2: Episode Two), and it certainly has a lot on its plate at the moment.

[ad_2]

Source link

Ford GoRide Health shifts to autonomy and shuts down in five cities

[ad_1]

GoRide Health will no longer be available in Detroit or Toledo, Dayton, Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio. That will leave customers searching for new ways to get to appointments, which is not a great look for Ford.

The company has not revealed what its Miami-based program will look like, only that the pilot will research the role autonomous vehicles might play. “Our learnings from GoRide Health have led to a shift in strategy,” Ford told TechCrunch in an email. “We are moving to test the potential for AV technology to help improve access to transportation for those with limited mobility.”

Engadget has reached out to Ford for comment.

[ad_2]

Source link

Google announces the top Play Store downloads of 2019

[ad_1]

Google Play users voted for their favorite downloads in each category. Call of Duty: Mobile ranked as the top game, and GlitchCam — which adds ’90s-style effects to your videos — was voted as the top app. Avengers: Endgame was voters’ favorite movie, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was their favorite book.

The Play store’s editors chose Ablo as the best app of the year. It helps you explore foreign cultures and connect with people despite the language barrier; the app auto-generates subtitles as you video-chat with people across the globe.

Unsurprisingly, four of the year’s five top-selling movies were superhero flicks, and Game of Thrones was the most downloaded TV show. The most-read ebooks included titles from James S. A. Corey and Stephen King. And the top audiobooks included both The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson and Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life by Gary John Bishop.

Take a look at the full list of winners on Google’s blog. There might be a few downloads you hadn’t heard or worth grabbing. Meanwhile, if you’re an Apple user, check out the best and most popular apps on Mac and iOS that the company highlighted earlier today. You can also tune into the first-ever Apple Music Awards tomorrow, which is a “celebration of the best and boldest musicians of 2019 and the enormous impact they have had on global culture this year.”

[ad_2]

Source link

Formula E will be elevated to World Championship status for 2020

[ad_1]

As much as Formula E has grown, it still plays second fiddle to Formula 1. It’s about to get more legitimacy going forward, though. The FIA is granting World Championship status to the electric racing league starting with the 2020-2021 season, making it the only FIA single-seat competition beyond Formula 1 to receive that distinction. It’ll now be known as the (lengthily-worded) ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, and the driver who wins will be deemed a world champion. There’s no mention of Formula E getting practical benefits from the title, but it does show that the race series is important in the FIA’s eyes — it’s not just a sideshow next to the main event.

[ad_2]

Source link

Google’s next chat service is… Photos

[ad_1]

When you share individual photos and videos, you can add them to a private chat in the app or on the website. You’ll be able to like and comment on pictures and clips and save them to your own gallery.

“This feature isn’t designed to replace the chat apps you already use, but we do hope it improves sharing memories with your friends and family in Google Photos,” Janvi Shah, product manager at Google Photos, wrote in a blog post. Photos can be a great jumping-off point for a conversation, as the likes of Instagram have shown. The chat function is rolling out across Android, iOS and the web over the next week.



[ad_2]

Source link

Larry Page and Sergey Brin give Sundar Pichai control of Alphabet and Google

[ad_1]

The two outgoing execs explained this as a “natural time” to streamline management now that Alphabet is “well-established” and its various brands (including Google) are operating smoothly as independent companies. Alphabet and Google just don’t need two CEOs and a President, Page and Brin said. They pointed to Pichai as a logical pick given both his extensive experience and his “confidence in the value of the Alphabet structure.”

In other words, Pichai is unlikely to toss out the existing formula. Alphabet will continue to rely heavily on search, cloud services, Android and Chrome, all the while branching out with more adventurous efforts like Loon and Waymo.

With that said, the management shake-up comes at a rough time. Google employees have accused their employer of cracking down on worker organization, taking a lax attitude toward sexual harassment and otherwise being unresponsive to staff concerns. It’s also grappling with weighty issues like political ad integrity and accusations of bias. These problems aren’t going away now that Pichai has more power — he’ll just carry a heavier workload.

[ad_2]

Source link