Guerilla Games has shared some short video clips of Horizon Forbidden West gameplay captured on a PS4 Pro. Unfortunately, the developer didn’t include lengthy trailers or teaser videos — and gameplay footage captured on a standard PS4 — with its post on the PlayStation blog. But this is at least some form of assurance from Guerilla that the game works on a previous-gen console a couple of weeks before it’s released.

Some gamers may have become wary of titles made for the PS5 and released for older consoles after what happened to Cyberpunk 2077. The CD Projekt Red game was plagued with glitches and graphical issues, among other problems, when played on a PS4. Things had gotten so bad, Sony had to pull the PS4 version from its digital store and offer refunds for those who’d purchased it.  

The GIFs Guerilla shared show Aloy in different situations, such as walking across a village and quickly running around while shooting arrows at her enemies. In the latter, the animation looked smooth despite the explosions and the character’s quick movements — hopefully, that’s true for the entire game when played on a previous-gen console. Sony reportedly had to cut its production forecast for the PS5, after all, and it’s still not easy finding one for purchase. Horizon Forbidden West will be available for the PS5 and the PS4 starting on February 18th.

Source: Engadget – Sony shows how ‘Horizon Forbidden West’ runs on a PS4 Pro

A robot has successfully performed “keyhole” intestinal surgery on pigs without any aid from humans, according to a study from John Hopkins University (published in Science Robotics). What’s more, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) handled the tricky procedure “significantly better” than human doctors. The breakthrough marks a significant step towards automated surgery that could one day help “democratize” patient care, the researchers said. 

Laparoscopic or keyhole surgery requires surgeons to manipulate and stitch intestines and other organs through tiny incisions, a technique that requires high levels of skill and has little margin for error. The team chose to do “intestinal anastomosis” (joining two ends of an intestine), a particularly challenging keyhole procedure.  

Soft tissue surgery in general is hard for robots due to the unpredictability. To deal with that, the STAR robot was equipped with specialized suturing tools and state-of-the-art imaging systems that could deliver extremely accurate visualizations. 

Specifically, it had a “structural light–based three-dimensional endoscope and machine learning–based tracking algorithm” to guide the robots. “We believe an advanced three-dimensional machine vision system is essential in making intelligent surgical robots smarter and safer,” said John Hopkins professor Jin Kang. On top of that, STAR is the first robotic system that can “plan, adapt and execute a surgical plan in soft tissue with minimal human intervention,” said first author Hamed Saeidi. Using all that technology, the STAR robot successfully performed the procedure in four animals

Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive compared to regular surgery, which helps ensure better patient outcomes. However, because it takes so long to master, there’s a relatively small pool of doctors able to do it.

“Robotic anastomosis is one way to ensure that surgical tasks that require high precision and repeatability can be performed with more accuracy and precision in every patient independent of surgeon skill,” said senior author Axel Krieger from John Hopkins. “We hypothesize that this will result in a democratized surgical approach to patient care with more predictable and consistent patient outcomes.”

Source: Engadget – Robot performs complex ‘keyhole’ intestinal surgery on pigs without human aid

Google has launched an Offers tab for the Play Store featuring deals on apps, games, movies, books and other purchases, Android Police has reported. It appears at the bottom of the Play screen, along with Games, Apps, Movies & TV and Books, separate from the existing “Offers and notifications” section. 

“[Offers is] a new tab in the Google Play Store app to help you discover deals in games and apps across travel, shopping, media & entertainment, fitness, and more,” Google said in a blog post. When you tap on the tab, it displays multiple carousels with offers on movie rentals, apps, games and more. It includes sales on in-game items, in-app purchases and offers app trials, Android Police noted. 

Google used to have a separate Android app called “Offers,” that let you find deals in your current location, but that was way back in 2011 with Android 2.1 “Eclair” when Google Play was called Android Market. Its current “Offers & notifications” section on Play is sparse and not that easy to find, while the new tab is front and center and covers a wide range of products. The Offers tab is already rolling out to the US, India and Indonesia and will arrive in other markets later this year. 

Source: Engadget – Google Play Store’s new ‘Offers’ tab highlights deals on apps, movies and more

Fitness trackers and smartwatches can help keep you honest as you try to get more active and healthier in the new year. If you or someone you live is looking for a new one, Fitbit’s latest sale has discounted a bunch of its latest wearables. Key among them is the Charge 5 fitness tracker, which is $60 off and down to a new record low of $120. The Versa 2 and Sense smartwatches are also on sale for $130 and $200, respectively.

Buy Fitbit Charge 5 at Amazon – $120Buy Fitbit Versa 2 at Amazon – $130Buy Fitbit Sense at Amazon – $200

Maybe you’re not totally on the smartwatch bandwagon but want a wearable to track things like heart rate, steps, workouts and more. Fitbit’s Charge 5 might do the trick since it’s a band-style tracker and not a full-fledged smartwatch. It has a fairly low-profile design and a full-color touchscreen that supports always-on mode. Arguably more importantly, it has a bunch of sensors inside to track all-day heart rate, movement and stress.

It also has a built-in GPS, which means it’ll map your outdoor runs and bike rides without the help of your smartphone. And with Fitbit Pay support, you could leave your phone at home while you go for a run and pay for a coffee on your way home without having your wallet on hand.

There are a few downsides, though, like the lack of music controls and the fact that Fitbit devices still don’t integrate with Apple Health or Google Fit. However, the Charge 5 still packs a lot of value and does so even at its normal $180 price.

If you’re ready to embrace the smartwatch life, or want to replace an aging wearable, Fitbit’s Versa 2 or the Sense would make good options. We’d recommend the Sense over the Versa 2 purely because the latter is about a year older than the former. Also, the Sense is the most powerful smartwatch that Fitbit makes, so you’ll get things like a built-in heart rate monitor and GPS, stress tracking with the EDA Scan app, an ECG monitoring app, onboard music storage, Fitbit Pay, Alexa and Google Assistant voice command support and more.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Source: Engadget – Fitbit’s Charge 5 is on sale for a record low of 0 right now

The National Labor Relations Board has accused Amazon of threatening, surveilling and interrogating workers at its JFK8 warehouse in New York to discourage them from unionizing. According to the board’s complaint as seen by Motherboard, Amazon brought a union avoidance consultant to the facility and told employees that it “would be futile for them to select the Union as their bargaining representative.” The consultant reportedly said that union organizing at the warehouse would fail anyway, because the organizers were “thugs.”

NLRB’s complaint also said that Amazon representatives interrogated workers about union activities and promised to fix their issues if they didn’t support the union and didn’t distribute union literature. Further, the labor board alleges that security guards confiscated union literature from workers and told them they couldn’t distribute the materials without permission. If you’ll recall, Amazon’s warehouse workers in New York filed a petition to unionize with the board last year, but they had to withdraw it after failing to gather enough signatures to be approved. The JFK8 workers re-filed their application in December and recently reached union vote threshold.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel denied the allegations to Motherboard, telling the publication: “These allegations are false and we look forward to showing that through this process.”

These allegations come from a series of unfair labor practice charges filed by workers in May and June last year. The board investigated the incidents and found merit that they occurred. It has given Amazon February 10th to respond to the complaint and has set a hearing for it on April 5th. In addition to detailing workers’ allegations in its complaint, the NLRB has also outlined a series of remedies it wants the company to follow. In particular, it wants Amazon to train its managers, supervisors, security guards and union avoidance consultants on workers’ rights to organize and form unions. 

Source: Engadget – Amazon allegedly called union organizers ‘thugs’ to discourage workers from unionizing