A surprising contradiction sits at the heart of PC gaming: the medium’s most open platform is nevertheless dominated by a single storefront. That storefront belongs to Valve, it’s called Steam, and despite plenty of challenges in the two decades since it launched, no one has yet come close to unseating the Counter-Stri…
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It’s like reading the Old Testament: Star Writer begat StarOffice who begat OpenOffice, which begat LibreOffice. All but the standalone version of Star Writer battled with Microsoft’s Office suite in the marketplace arena.
The post No, LibreOffice Doesn’t Turn 40 This Year, but StarOffice Would if It Were Still Around appeared first on FOSS Force.
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Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That’s why I’ve pored over release schedules to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch on Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms this week.
My pick of the week is left-field gem Grand Theft Hamlet, a hilarious and moving backstage documentary about a production of Hamlet staged entirely in Grand Theft Auto V Online.
Back in the bad old days of the full-lockdown pandemic, British stage actors and gamers Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen had the audacious, ridiculous idea of staging a production of Hamlet within the video game Grand Theft Auto V Online. Composed entirely of footage captured in-game, Grand Theft Hamlet features all the backstage drama of a “let’s put on a show” documentary, but it’s punctuated by the chaos and violence of online gaming—other players break up rehearsals with gunplay, the NPC police arrive ready to kill the cast and crew, etc. Grand Theft Hamlet is funny, but it’s also shot through with glimpses of the lives behind the avatars, and it defiantly asserts that Art still matters, no matter how absurd the world becomes, online and off.
Where to stream: Mubi
Robert Eggers’s remake of Nosferatu doesn’t rethink the source material. Instead, Eggers raises the original film’s dark, corrupted imagery from the dead to terrify another generation. The new Nosferatu hits the same basic plot beats as F. W. Murnau’s 1922 expressionist masterpiece: Thomas Hutter, an unsuspecting young lawyer, travels to the Carpathian Mountains for some routine business with a new client, but quickly learns that Count Orlock is actually Nosferatu, an elementally evil vampire who is has dark plans for Hutter and Humanity. If you like your vampires un-sexy and truly monstrous, don’t miss Nosferatu.
Where to stream: Peacock
Peacock is a must-subscribe for fans of Saturday Night Live. Viewers can stream all 50 seasons of the show, the 50th anniversary special, a multi-part behind-the-scenes docu-series, the SNL concert at Radio City Music Hall, and more. But, because music ages better than comedy, my must-watch piece of SNL 50th anniversary content is Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music. Directed by Questlove, this documentary chronicles the ludicrously deep lineup of emerging geniuses, one-hit-wonders, and musical legends who have performed on the show, including David Bowie, Prince, Radiohead, Adele, Run DMC, Beyonce, The Replacements, Nirvana, and basically everyone else who is awesome.
Where to stream: Peacock
LeBron James and Maverick Carter executive-produced Memes and Nightmares, a quirky comedy documentary that takes viewers inside the world of NBA Twitter (or NBA X now, I guess). When a beloved meme (J.R. Smith Squinting) disappears from the internet, Josiah Johnson, former college baller and current king of NBA Twitter, embarks on a quixotic quest to uncover what happened. Featuring interviews with terminally online fans, NBA players, techies, and many other possible suspects, Memes and Nightmares is as much about the bonds we form and the communities we build in a digital world as it is about a missing meme.
Where to stream: Hulu
In this inventive puzzle-box thriller, first-time director Michael Felker deftly blends sci-fi, action, and horror into a movie with more twists than 1950s dance party. Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy play Joseph and Sidney, a brother and sister who use time travel to escape after a bank robbery. But the pair learns that the punishment for breaking state and federal laws is child’s play compared to the punishment for breaking the laws of Space and Time.
Where to stream: Hulu
Apple TV+ is going against the Valentine’s grain with The Gorge, a supernatural thriller starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. They play top secret government operatives whose mission is to live in a heavily armed towers on opposite sides of a mysterious gorge because there’s something unspeakably horrible down there, and someone has to keep it from escaping. Spooky!
Where to stream: Apple TV+
If you’ve been following the romantic life of Bridget Jones since 2001’s Bridget Jones’ Diary, there is no reason to stop now. In the Bridget-verse, Jones, still played by Renée Zellweger, was widowed four years ago, leaving her the single mother to two kids, nine and four. With the help of her former lover Daniel (Hugh Grant) and her mum (Emma Thompson) Jones tries to move on with her life by (you guessed it) signing on to Tinder and looking for love—or at least a good shag. There’s also a younger man in the Mad About the Boy mix, and the lad seems quite interested in our plucky, slightly bawdy heroine.
Where to stream: Peacock
Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes La Dolce Villa, a Netflix original rom-com set in a romantic Italian village. Scott Foley plays Eric, a businessman who’s lost his mojo, who travels to Italy to stop his daughter from wasting her money restoring a crumbling villa she bought for a single Euro. Along the way, he rediscovers his lust for life, laughter, beauty, and love. I bet the old Villa actually isn’t even such a dump after all. La Dolce Villa also stars Maia Reficco, Giuseppe Futia, and Violante Placido.
Where to stream: Netflix
My Fault: London is a British romantic drama based on the novel Culpa mía by Mercedes Ron. It tells the story of Noah, played by Asha Banks, whose mother marries a rich British man and drags her daughter from Florida to London (oh no!). Despite the tony Notting Hill address, things in the U.K. don’t go great for Noah, especially after she meets Nick, played by Matthew Broome, her mother’s new husband’s privileged and snobby son. Surprisingly (?), love blooms between the the extremely attractive couple, who then must navigate a chaotic life of partying in Ibiza and driving around in cars worth a million dollars each.
Where to stream: Prime
Well we didn’t get the iPhone SE fourth-gen this week — instead Apple debuted the iPhone 16e, a $599 model based on the iPhone 14’s design. It has a 6.1-inch OLED screen and the A18 chip for Apple Intelligence, but should we really consider it a cheap iPhone? In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn dive into the iPhone 16e and how it compares to the rest of the iPhone 16 family.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!
Apple unveils its SE successor, the iPhone 16e for $599 – 1:22
Trump administration planning on 25 percent tariffs on auto and semiconductor imports – 32:02
Acer to raise prices by 10 percent following tariff talk – 34:26
Humane AI sells to HP, pin will go offline February 28 – 36:42
Microsoft’s new quantum computing chip runs on topological qubits – 41:14
Working on – 47:28
Pop culture picks – 50:06
Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Cherlynn Low
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/engadget-podcast-hello-599-iphone-16e-rip-iphone-se-123035392.html?src=rss
Alien: Rogue Incursion’s Quest 3 patch with visual and performance improvements has been delayed until next week.
Previously due this week following the recent Alien: Rogue Incursion launch on Quest 3, developer Survios announced that patch 1.01 has been briefly pushed back. The studio confirmed this is because “some patch elements needed more time to ensure they meet our quality bar,” taking this decision to prevent the introduction of any new issues.
Reaffirming what the studio advised UploadVR following our recent hands-on impressions, Survios shared some highlights that patch 1.01 seeks to address. We’re still planning to revisit Alien: Rogue Incursion on Quest 3 once Patch 1.01 becomes available, and you can find the promised improvements listed below.
Alien: Rogue Incursion is available now on PS VR2, PC VR, and Quest 3.
Don Hopper
If you couldn’t stomach $800 for a new iPhone with Apple Intelligence, don’t worry: Apple just announced the iPhone 16e. At $599, it strikes a balance on specs, which is the soft and cosy way to say it doesn’t have everything.
It has a lot, though. With a 6.1-inch screen, it’s a much bigger device than the 4.7-inch iPhone SE, with a notch for FaceID (no more TouchID), USB-C (adios, Lightning) and the company’s A18 processor. There’s also an action button, which arrived with the iPhone 15 series, but no Camera Control.
That’s the same processor as the $800 iPhone 16, so you’ve got access to what seems to be the full gamut of Apple Intelligence. That includes generative AI writing tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence and ChatGPT integration. So yeah, a mixed bag.
The notable hardware standout might be the single 48-megapixel Fusion camera, at a time when ‘pro’ iPhones have three. The last time I tested a single-camera smartphone was the Pixel 4a back in 2020. Oh, and the last iPhone SE.
Apple has dropped both wireless charging and MagSafe’s magnetic ring for the iPhone 16e too, which is a surprise. I’m not a huge fan of wireless charging. It’s slow, inefficient and confusing. Having said that, I hope this isn’t the beginning of the end for Apple’s wireless charging feature. I love the mag part of MagSafe, which has introduced far more elegant tripods and phone mounts that lock iPhones in place without needing a clamp or a plug. In recent years, we’ve got unofficial MagSafe cases for other smartphones, so I can do the same with my Android phones.
The iPhone 16e lands on February 28 in black and white, but don’t worry, there will be fizzy color cases. Even if they don’t have MagSafe.
(And kudos to this hilariously timed discount on the Pixel 8a, now only $399. I love a good troll deal.)
— Mat Smith
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The company behind the widely ridiculed AI assistant badge/thing has sold all its assets to HP for $116 million — not the billion-dollar buyout it hoped for.
In a note to its customers, the company said AI Pins will “continue to function normally” until 12PM PT on February 28, less than a week from now. Customers still within the 90-day return window (why did you buy it?!) will get a refund.
The Humane AI Pin is the solution to none of technology’s problems
After its reputation went up in flames, Humane warns users its charging case may too
Oppo’s Find N5 is thinner than a headphone jack when unfolded and weighs only 229 grams. That’s just a few more than a typical flagship phone. Despite that footprint, it packs a 6.62-inch outer display and an 8.12-inch inner screen, with a seven-core Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and a 5,600mAh battery, which supports 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. It’s technically impressive, but there’s no word on when the device will make it to the US. Typically, the devices hit the US under OnePlus branding, but that company says there will be no OnePlus Open 2 this year, so you may have to go out of your way to get your hands on one. Also, expect to pay just shy of $2,000.
The biggest tech stories you might have missed
DJI’s Osmo Mobile 7P gimbal can track you around on any Android or iOS camera app
xAI launches Grok 3 AI, claiming it is capable of ‘human reasoning’
You can now apply for the ‘opportunity to purchase’ an RTX 5090 or 5080 from NVIDIA
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121944067.html?src=rss
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.
Ten new electric vehicle battery factories are on track to go online this year in the United States.
This includes large plants from global battery giants such as Panasonic, Samsung, and SK On, and automakers such as Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Stellantis, and Toyota.
Welcome to Edition 7.32 of the Rocket Report! It’s true that the US space program has always been political. Domestic and global politics have driven nearly all of the US government’s decisions on major space issues, most notably President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to land astronauts on the Moon amid intense Cold War competition with the Soviet Union. The Nixon administration’s decision to end the Apollo program and focus on building a reusable Space Shuttle was a political move. More than 30 years later, the Clinton administration ordered a reevaluation NASA’s plans for a massive space station in low-Earth orbit. In the post-Cold War zeitgeist of the 1990s, this resulted in Russia’s inclusion on the International Space Station program. Flawed or not, these decisions were backstopped with some level of reasoning, debate, and national consensus-building. Today, the politics of space seem personal, small, and mean-spirited. Thankfully, there’s a lot of launch action next week that might thrust us out of the abyss, even just for a moment.
As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Rocket Lab launches for the 60th time. It’s safe to say Rocket Lab is an established player in the launch business. The company launched its 60th Electron rocket Tuesday from New Zealand, Space News reports. It was the second Electron launch of the year, coming just 10 days after Rocket Lab’s previous mission. The payload was a new-generation small electro-optical reconnaissance satellite for BlackSky. Rocket Lab has not disclosed a projected number of Electron launches for the year beyond estimating it will be more than the 16 Electron missions in 2024. The company said on its launch webcast that the next Electron launch was planned from New Zealand in “a few short weeks.”
A PC VR release for Zero Caliber 2 is “in the works” and the developer confirmed plans for a spin-off game.
Released last year on Quest, you may recall that the initial Zero Caliber 2 reveal confirmed the VR FPS sequel was also heading to Steam. While XReal Games later informed UploadVR that “we’d have to see a really high demand” for a PC VR release, the studio advised earlier this week that the Steam release is back on track.
“We now have a working [PC VR] build – no release date yet as we still have quite a bit of fine-tuning to do. Soon though!” confirmed the team.
Following this news, yesterday then saw XReal Games release Patch 8 for Zero Caliber 2. While notable changes include removing the Christmas-themed items and six new challenges that unlock ‘OSA’ themed skins, the developer also announced it’s working on a new Zero Caliber spin-off. Nothing further was revealed about this upcoming game, and more details will be shared “when the time is right.”
XReal Games also used the Patch 8 blog to highlight “serious challenges” facing VR developers, touching upon similar concerns to our recent report. The studio criticized last year’s App Lab merge for creating “abysmal” store visibility, while pointing to Meta “aggressively pushing” Horizon Worlds, manufacturers redirecting their focus to MR/AR, and more. Despite this, the studio states it’s committed to “keeping the single-player/co-op shooter genre alive” in VR.
Zero Caliber 2 is out now on the Meta Quest platform, and the Steam release date is currently unconfirmed.
Pete Austin
Schell Games and Innersloth announced that flatscreen support is coming to Among Us VR (2022), which means crossplay for VR and PC players.
Additionally, the studios announced the VR game is rebranding to Among Us 3D, bringing a first-person perspective to PC users for the first time.
Schell Games confirmed Among Us 3D will allow PC users to join cross-platform lobbies with VR players across all supported platforms, including Quest, SteamVR, PSVR 2 and Pico headsets.
Notably, Among Us 3D is not compatible with the original Among Us (2018) 2D game, which has remained separate since the initial launch of Among Us VR in November 2022.
“With Among Us 3D, we’re excited to bring the first-person perspective to an even wider audience,” said Ryan Hall, Project Director at Schell Games. “By uniting VR and PC players, we’re opening up even more ways to brutally betray your friends—your whole crew can get in on the fun!”
The rebrand is slated to take effect over the next few months, the studios say, which will include updates rolling out across store pages, websites, and in-game branding.
Among Us 3D is also set to include a new in-game currency, called ‘Stardust’, which will ostensibly allow players to purchase cosmetic items, which the studios say will “support the expansion of the game.”
There’s no launch date yet, although it could be fairly soon, as Among Us 3D will be featured in Steam Next Fest, giving players an exclusive early demo before launch.
The post ‘Among Us VR’ to Become ‘Among Us 3D’, Adding Support for Flatscreen PC Play appeared first on Road to VR.