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Oculus Quest owners will soon have access to the entire library of Rift games, but not in the way you’d expect. Today at the Oculus Connect 6 conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Oculus Link, a new feature that’ll let Quest owners connect their headsets to gaming PCs with a USB-C cable. Basically, it turns that standalone headset into a fully functional Oculus Rift.
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Notably, Facebook just bought CTRL Labs, a startup that enabled finger tracking with an armband that reads electrical signals. The social giant filed a patent for its own finger-tracking armband earlier this year. Meanwhile, as Upload VR notes, Oculus software developers, including one who formerly worked on hand-tracking at Leap Motion, have teased something “game changing” for OC6.
So, there are plenty of indicators pointing (sorry) to Facebook having some sort of finger-tracking news up its sleeve. We may find out when Oculus Connect gets underway at 1PM ET. You’ll be able to watch Zuckerberg’s keynote right here.
Oculus wouldn’t be the first to adopt such tech for a VR setup, though. Valve’s Index headset has finger-tracking controllers.
Follow all the latest news from Oculus Connect 6 here!
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The automaker and partner Argo AI will start mapping downtown and east Austin in the coming months with manually driven vehicles. Ford will gradually increase the size of the coverage area and its fleet of self-driving cars, with a view towards launching an expansive autonomous taxi and delivery service in 2021.
Sherif Marakby, CEO of the autonomous vehicles division, wrote in a blog post that Ford will have to account for “heavy pedestrian activity, notably people riding bicycles and scooters. Scooters are especially interesting because they’re essentially motorized pedestrians, with speedy and unique movement behavior that needs to be accounted for. Austin has more scooter activity than we’ve seen in other cities where we’re currently testing.”
Austin seems like an ideal proving ground for the vehicles. “With our region’s population on track to double in the next 20 to 25 years, it’s clear we need to re-think how our right-of-way is used if we want people to be able to move around our city,” Mayor Steve Adler said in a statement.
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization expects vehicle use in the region may double by 2040, but highway capacity will only grow 15 percent. Combined with the fact almost 75 percent of Austin residents commute by driving solo, that’s a recipe for a congestion nightmare. Ford suggests autonomous vehicles will offer people more options to get around, which could ease traffic jams.
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It’s a stylish look that deftly balances Nintendo’s heritage with modern video game sensibilities. The controller also comes in three kickass color schemes: matte black, a SNES-themed grey and lavender, and a Gameboy-inspired cream and mulberry. I’ve been playing with the SNES variant but would happily own and display all three on my bookshelf.
Ergonomically, I prefer the SN30 Pro+ over the official Switch Pro Controller. The handles are longer and don’t dig into my palms as much during long play sessions. I like the symmetrical analog sticks, too, which ape Sony’s DualShock 4 — the other pad that I probably spend the most time with. The face buttons depress nicely and the D-Pad is practically identical to the one that shipped with the original Gameboy and SNES controller. It’s a simple, but proven design that works across a range of titles including Tetris 99, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection and the entire Nintendo Switch Online library of NES and SNES games.
The SN30 Pro+ is lighter than the Switch Pro Controller, which worried me initially. The first time I picked it up, I was reminded of every cheap and horrifically made third-party controller I had to endure as a child. The SN30 Pro+ doesn’t flex, creak or generally feel like it’s about to disintegrate, though. My initial fears quickly dissipated, therefore, and I appreciated its scant weight whenever I threw it into my backpack.
Unlike the Switch Pro Controller, the SN30 Pro+ has analog triggers that know how far you’ve pressed them. That’s handy for select games like Trials Rising where you need to carefully ramp up your acceleration. I also appreciated the deeper pull distance in Fortnite and first-person shooters such as Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. I don’t think the triggers improved my performance — I still haven’t won a game of Fortnite — but it made me more comfortable and, therefore, happier playing games competitively.
To my delight, the SN30 Pro+ has a removable battery pack. It lasts 20 hours on a single charge, which is only half the playtime advertised by the Switch Pro Controller. Still, I appreciated its flexibility. If you suddenly run out of juice and don’t have access to a power outlet, you can switch to AA batteries instead. It’s a useful backup for camping trips and long-haul flights that only offer a single USB port for charging your various gadgets.
You can wave the SN30 Pro+ around to perform basic motion controls. The experience is obviously inferior to a pair of Joy-Cons, but I didn’t have any problems waggling the pad to recharge my beam katana in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. The SN30 Pro+ has rumble, too, though it’s not the special “HD Rumble” that Nintendo offers with its Joy-Cons and Switch Pro Controller. 8BitDo’s alternative also doesn’t have NFC — if you love and frequently use Amiibo to unlock extras on your Switch, that might be a dealbreaker.
To use the controller, you’ll need to go through the slightly long-winded syncing process. There are four different button combos that turn the pad on: Y and Start (Switch), B and Start (Android), X and Start (Windows), A and Start (macOS). Secondly, you’ll need to press and hold the pair button next to the USB-C port. The four LED lights at the bottom of the pad will then cycle to indicate that it’s hunting for a companion piece of hardware. Finally, on the Switch, you have to open the Change Grip/Order menu and, if required, hit the shoulder buttons. For all other platforms, the controller will appear as an available Bluetooth device.
It took awhile for the controller to sync up with my Switch. Thankfully, you only have to go through this process once on Nintendo’s system. For all subsequent play sessions, you can just press the Start button and the controller will instantly connect.
I was a tad disappointed that the SN30 Pro+ can’t turn on the Switch itself. It’s a small nitpick, but I love that with the Switch Pro Controller I can start playing Splatoon 2 or Super Mario Odyssey without standing up and walking over to my Switch Dock.
The SN30 Pro+ has one huge trick up its sleeve that makes up for almost all of its shortcomings: customization. Through the 8BitDo Ultimate Software, you can remap any button and create custom profiles. I created a simple one for the Switch, for instance, that swapped A and B around. (At long last, the face buttons line up with the ‘confirm’ and ‘cancel’ commands on my PS4.) Another window lets you change the ‘dead zone’ around each analog stick and the exact point at which a trigger registers your input. You can even set up macros that let you activate tricky combos with a single button press. (I shamefully used this to create a Hadouken shortcut.)
You can only switch profiles through the app, which is currently exclusive to Windows and Mac. For me, this wasn’t a problem — I used the controller’s default settings most of the time — but I can imagine how frustrating this would be for people that have game-specific profiles.
The SN30 Pro+ has a few other weaknesses. It doesn’t have a headphone jack like, for instance, PDP’s wired Faceoff Deluxe+ controller. I would have loved a simple carry case, too, to protect the pad on the road. And, at the time of writing, the pad doesn’t support PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iPhones and iPads, though 8BitDo has hinted that it’s working on support for iOS 13.
Otherwise, the SN30 Pro+ is phenomenal. It’s a true alternative to the Switch Pro Controller that makes sensible compromises. NFC and HD Rumble? I’ll happily sacrifice those for a better D-Pad and triggers. The customization options — while overkill for me — are brilliant and I love that I can also use the pad with my Android smartphone, MacBook Pro, and any gaming PC or Raspberry Pi-powered retro console I decide to build in the future. For $50, it’s a no-brainer. Even if you own a Switch Pro Controller, I would recommend buying one as your Player Two or Three pad. And, like me, you might find that you prefer it over Nintendo’s official offering.
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The hardware involved in the demos creates a distinctly Microsoft feel — there’s a Surface tablet and Xbox Adaptive Controller, for example, designed to make the physical act of voting straightforward and accessible. But it’s the software that’s key. After a voter casts their ballot, ElectionGuard uses homomorphic encryption to count the vote while keeping the data encrypted, and it gives users a tracking code that can be entered on the web to verify the vote has both been counted and hasn’t been changed.
According to Microsoft, ElectionGuard is being incorporated by all major manufacturers of voting systems, such as Clear Ballot, Democracy Live and VotingWorks, and the company clearly has its eye on major voting events. It says it’s working on a number of pilot programs that will “put voting systems running ElectionGuard in the hands of voters for the 2020 elections or sooner,” and will share more information on these in due course. No doubt there will be a need for cast-iron voting systems come the US elections — it’s well documented that other countries are happy to meddle in politics using cyberattacks, and flawed voting machines will make for an easy target.
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The governor’s office said that 61 cases of potential lung disease related to vaping have been reported in Massachusetts alone. Three in the state have been confirmed by the center of disease control (CDC) and two are likely to be confirmed. “We’re declaring this public health emergency because medical and disease control experts have been tracking the rapidly increasing number of vaping related illnesses that in some cases have led to death,” said Baker.
We as a commonwealth need to pause sales in order for our medical experts to collect more information about what is driving these life threatening vaping-related illnesses.
To enforce the ban, local police and public health boards will need to check numerous retailers to ensure products are removed from shelves. That has convenience store owners concerned. “Is it the product being sold on the shelves by companies like Juul, or is it the off-brand stuff coming from other countries and sold on the internet?” Retailers Association of Massachusetts president Jon Hurst told the AP. “I hope we can all work together and find out what is the problem and find a solution soon.”
Other states, including New York and Michigan, have temporarily banned flavored vaping products, but Massachusetts is the first to do a full ban. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is mulling a nationwide ban of flavored vape products. The FDA is working on a policy to remove most non-tobacco-flavored e-cigs from the market, and is expected to share details of the plan soon.
The CDC has cautioned against using vape products until it knows what is causing the problems. At least 530 people have come down with a vaping-related lung illness, and nine have died. Patients have reported using products containing both THC and nicotine. The CDC has advised users to watch for symptoms like coughing, shortness of breath, chest pains, nausea, abdominal pain and fever. Above all, it said you “should not buy these products off the street.”
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It could be a fun way to start the job app process, but those interested will still need to finish it through more traditional means. Alexa or Assistant will ask potential applicants for their name, their location and job area of interest, among other information. But that’s it — they’ll get a text afterward with a URL they need to visit to continue their application.
While Apply Thru is available for both Alexa and Assistant devices, McDonald’s seems to be highlighting the Alexa skill a lot more. “We must continue to innovate and think of creative, and in this case, groundbreaking ways to meet potential job seekers on devices they are already using, like Alexa. Alexa has many of the qualities we look for on our teams — friendly, responsive and fun,” said McDonald’s Executive Vice President & Chief People Officer David Fairhurst. “I am looking forward to having our application process simplified with Alexa,” he added.
The Apply Thru experience is now available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK. Since it’s part of a global campaign aimed at driving job applications, the company plans to roll it out to other countries in the coming months.
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A total of 49 workers voted in favor of unionization, while 24 voted against. Based on the emails Motherboard saw, HCL America tried hard to convince them not to vote in favor of forming a union. HCL deputy general manager of operations Jeremy Carlson reportedly sent them at least half-a-dozen emails within two weeks before the vote, telling them that Steelworkers is typically for blue collar workers and doesn’t understand the tech industry. “Do you really think the Steelworkers understand our needs, our industry, our business, or even what you do on a daily basis? I don’t,” he apparently wrote in one of his emails.
Google told Motherboard that the workers’ vote will not affect their position in the company and that it will continue working with HCL. A spokesperson said:
“We work with lots of partners, many of which have unionized workforces, and many of which don’t. As with all our partners, whether HCL’s employees unionize or not is between them and their employer. We’ll continue to partner with HCL.”
Even though some chose to vote against unionization, workers from both sides showed concern about receiving lower wages and fewer benefits than Google employees and even fellow contractors. A New York Times report from May says temps and contractors make up over half of the company’s personnel, and they’ve started airing their grievances these past months. Earlier this year, at least 900 of those workers signed a letter protesting their lack of insurance and time off, forcing Google to implement “minimum standards” for temporary staff.
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With an entry-level price, the M200 is aimed at smartphone users who want to upgrade their photo powers. As such, it has the same body as the M100, with the same button layout, pocket-friendly size and pop-up selfie screen. Physical controls are minimal, so the camera settings are largely controlled from the flip-up touchscreen.
With an identical sensor to the M100, the M200 should also deliver the same excellent image quality as before, with accurate colors and detailed RAW images. Canon’s Dual Pixel autofocus is well-liked for its accuracy, both for photos and video, but eye-detect AF will make it a lot easier for novices to use. Canon has also increased the number of selectable AF points from 49 to 123.
The M200 can now do 4K video at 24 fps, but only with a 1.6 times crop. Combined with the 1.6 times APS-C crop, that means the 15-45mm kit lens effectively becomes a 38-115mm lens in 4K mode. That heavily limits its usefulness as a vlogging camera. Like Canon’s PowerShot G7 X Mark III compact, it can shoot vertical video, however.
Still, extra features on the EOS M200 will make it a tempting budget option, especially given Canon’s relatively inexpensive M lens lineup. It will arrive in October in black and while for $549 (£499) with an EF-M 15-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM lens.
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To start, merely shipping it to your part of the globe is expensive. It could cost $4,000 to ship it to the West coast of the US, $17,000 to the East and as much as $50,000 abroad. You’ll need about $7,000 to replace the worn-down pads, and a forklift to swap weapons. And remember, you’re running a 15-ton robot powered by a Corvette engine — that requires maintenance, too. The machine tends to spring a hydraulic leak with every four hours of use, and there are costs like oil changes to consider. Throw in the costs of displaying and hauling Eagle Prime and you’ll need to be well-heeled to think of even running this, let alone putting it on tour.
As for why MegaBots is bankrupt? Simply speaking, the company can’t make the interest payments on its loan. It’s selling assets to pay the bank as much as possible before formally declaring bankruptcy. Oehrlein was candid about the struggle to get enough appearances and videos. He added that he didn’t necessarily expect the buyer to simply continue the business. He’d be happy if the robot was relegated to a collection as long as it didn’t end up in a junkyard.
There is at least some interest in Eagle Prime. Bidding had topped $50,000 as of this writing after starting at a mere $1, and it’s likely to climb higher before the auction ends on October 3rd. Oehrlein added that this was only the end to MegaBots “in its current form,” and that people should “not feel bad” for him or the company. He’s “very happy” the project happened, and wanted to cheer how far it got.
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