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2K plans ‘Battleborn’ shutdown, yanks the game from digital shelves

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We first heard about Battleborn and its friendly shooter aspirations in 2014 when Gearbox announced it as a blend between MOBA and FPS. Unfortunately, by the time it launched in 2016 we were already unsure about the space left over for yet another team shooter. Despite beating Overwatch to market with varied artistic influences, inspired gameplay and an artsy opening cinematic, Battleborn couldn’t rise above the rest and shifted into a free-to-play setup in 2017.

Once again, despite offering its free multiplayer shooter action before Fortnite added a battle royale mode, Battleborn just couldn’t keep up, and in this games-as-a-service era, that meant the service wouldn’t have very long to live.



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Alexa is coming to low-spec devices like light switches and thermostats

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Up until now, Alexa required at least 100MB of RAM and an ARM Cortex-A processor. That limited it smart devices that served as a central hub for other things that are controlled by Alexa.

“We now offload the vast majority of all of this to the cloud,” AWS IoT VP Dirk Didascalou told TechCrunch. “The only thing that the device still needs to do is wake word detection.” That means companies will be able to reduce material costs by as much as 50 percent using lower-powered chips from NXP, Qualcomm and others, he added.

Amazon didn’t specify yet which devices might use this, but it could mean that you’ll just need to yell at your light bulb if you happen to be out of voice range of an Echo or other device. “Now you don’t need to identify where’s my hub — you just speak to your environment and your environment can interact with you,” said Didascalou. “I think that’s a massive step towards this ambient intelligence via Alexa.”

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Google Assistant ambient mode turns some phones into smart displays

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In a video (above) Android product manager Arvind Chandrababu said the feature makes it easy to accomplish tasks with just a few clicks while your phone is charging. “Now with one tap, you can set the alarm, you can look at what time your first meeting is the next day, you can turn off the lights and you can also have a slide show of your photo memories.” He added that the experience is “deeply integrated” into the Android OS and that Google has a number of similar similar features planned for OEM devices going forward.

Much like Pixel Stand, there’s both a lockscreen that shows the time over a Google Photos slideshow, if desired. Tapping through shows notification cards with messages, calls, appointments, weather and more. At the bottom is a row of icons for controlling smart lights, enabling “do not disturb” mode and more.

The experience is meant for phones that don’t have their own charging screen lock implementations, which might explain why it’s not coming to the Pixel and other brands, apparently including Samsung devices. Chandrababu said it would come to “select devices” with Android 8 and above in the coming weeks. When it does, you’ll get a notification to “see your photos and personal updates.”

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Microsoft updates developers on designing apps for dual-screens

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As 2020 draws closer, we’re also slowly nearing the debut of dual-screen devices from Microsoft and others. Now that the Surface Duo and Surface Neo have been revealed, the company’s next step is to help developers get their software ready for the new devices. While deeper details will have to wait until early next year, the message sent to developers via a blog post is that current apps (on Android and Windows 10X) will work without needing new tools and redesigns.

As far as making apps that can take advantage of new capabilities presented by these convertible devices, the idea is for a “common model” that overlays either Windows or Android. We’ll have to wait and see what that looks like in practice, but with both the Duo and Neo scheduled to arrive in the holiday season next year, hopefully developers have enough time to figure out what works — and what doesn’t — before they go on sale.

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VW’s factory race teams will exclusively drive electric cars

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On top of the ID.R, VW expects to rely on cars using its electric-oriented MEB platform for future competition.

You could see this coming when VW has increasingly touted the ID.R as its flagship race car. It’s also comparatively easier for VW to pull out of gas-powered racing given its level of investment. VW’s motorsport wing is best known for its rally cars, touring cars and not much else. A shift to EVs might be considerably harder for rivals like Mercedes that have deep investments in competitions like Formula 1. For that matter, VW itself still has strong commitments to gas-based racing through Audi and Porsche. This isn’t as wholesale a switch as VW implies.

It’s still a significant move, though. This is a major automaker ditching conventional engines for its factory teams. It’s also not completely surprising given VW’s long-term strategy. Car makers regularly use motorsport both as a marketing tool and as a research platform for technology that eventually makes its way to everyday vehicles. If VW is going to sell and sustain its growing electrification plans, its racing group needs to lead the way — and that means ditching conventional race cars years before its regular cars make the switch.

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Netflix steps in to save New York’s historic ‘Paris Theatre’

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While Netflix didn’t disclose the terms of the lease, it did say that it plans to use the space for special events and screenings, as well as to show its own movies. Netflix has been showing films like The Irishman and The King in theaters so that they can qualify for the Oscars.

This isn’t Netflix’s first foray into traditional cinemas. Since April, the company has been working on a deal to take over the historic Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. Netflix has also reportedly considered buying a small chain like Landmark Theatres. For Netflix, investing in small, historic theaters makes a lot of sense as it tries to shore up relations with older filmmakers. Last year, Steven Spielberg said the company’s films should be considered television instead of film. One of his main arguments was that movies shouldn’t qualify for the Oscars if they only run in cinemas for a few weeks. A theater like the Paris allows Netflix to both address those concerns and create goodwill with movie buffs.



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BioLite’s HeadLamp 330 is listed at its lowest price yet, $40

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Today through December 4th, BioLite is offering its HeadLamp 330 for $40. That’s $10 off the listing price and the largest price drop we’ve seen to date. We included the HeadLamp 330 in our list of best high-tech camping gear earlier this year. The rechargeable light isn’t anything fancy, but it’s remarkably comfortable. As Engadget’s Terrence O’Brien wrote when he reviewed the Headlamp 330, it “won’t make you feel like you’re carrying a laptop on your head,” and it promises 40 hours of battery life on a single charge.

The CampStove 2 Bundle is another great deal. It’s on sale for $160, a $40 discount. The bundle includes the CampStove 2, plus BioLite’s KettlePot and Portable Grill attachments. Being able to easily boil water and grill while you’re camping is great, but the CampStove 2 doubles as a power source, so you can charge your phone or other electronics. And, through December 25th, every CampStove 2 Bundle will come with a free CoffeePress valued at $15.

BioLite’s discounts don’t stop there. The retailer is offering sales storewide, plus daily deals like a free FlexLight with any purchase over $75 on Sunday.

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Google fires employee activist amid protests

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Reportedly, the four had conducted “systematic searches” for employees’ materials, shared it beyond their jobs despite warnings and even set notifications for what people were doing and when, including medical appointments. This led to targeted staffers feeling “scared or unsafe,” Google said. Calendar screenshots and other details reportedly found their way to people outside Google.

Rivers hasn’t commented beyond her tweet confirming the firing. Google has acknowledged the memo but declined to say more.

Whatever happened, the firings are unlikely to ease high tensions between Google and its rank-and-file staff. Protesters at Google’s San Francisco campus on November 23rd accused the company of using the alleged security violations (as a pretext for cracking down on organizing workers and placing them on indefinite leave. While it’s not clear if the protesters were aware of the extent of the allegations at the time, this won’t likely assuage their concerns that Google is retaliating against employees who speak out — not when the firm has scaled back town meetings, hired an anti-union consultancy and dealt with past complaints about retaliation.

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Massachusetts police have been quietly testing a robot dog

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The machine saw use in two real-world incidents in addition to training, the police said. It’s not clear how autonomous Spot was, but the police said they didn’t customize the robot canine’s software or weaponize it. Company chief Marc Raibert showed the Massachusetts State Police using Spot at TechCrunch Sessions: Robotics in April (see below), although it wasn’t mentioned that police intended to lease the hardware.

The police likely couldn’t have weaponized the bot if they wanted to. In a statement to Gizmodo, Boston Dynamics explained that its license forbids the use of Spot for any task that would “harm or intimidate people.” The company’s Michael Perry also told WBUR that this peaceful goal is also why it leases robots instead of selling them. This lets Boston Dynamics be picky about customers and pull access if they break the terms of the lease.

This use of robotics appeared to be above-board. However, the ACLU warned that there was a general lack of transparency surrounding the police force’s use of robots, including its policies surrounding use. How do they treat warrants, and will they weaponize robots when there isn’t leasing agreement that prevents it? Police in Dallas drew controversy when they used a bomb-laden robot to kill a shooter in 2016, and there’s a concern that Massachusetts officers could arm bots without telling the public or setting clear rules.

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