- Engadget
Discord now offers early access games on its PC store
The most popular chat platform for gamers, Discord, will now be selling early access games, adding to the growing catalog of titles on the Discord Store. Early access was popularized initially by Steam and allows gamers to buy games that are still in development. It gives players access to games months -- or even years -- before launch, while giving valuable feedback to developers.
- Engadget
Uber lost over $1 billion in Q3 as it closes in on an IPO
Uber, according to its self-reported financials, said it lost (on a GAAP basis) $1.07 billion as it continues to invest in new areas, such as bicycles, scooters and freight shipments. The company is still growing however, as revenue rose 38 percent from a year ago to $2.95 billion. Albeit, those gains are down 51 percent from the previous quarter, meaning that overall the speed of growth is slightly down. Uber earned $12.7 billion from gross bookings, or the money it makes after paying commissions to drivers and delivery people, which is up 34 percent from the previous year.
- Engadget
Amazon strikes a global deal with Blumhouse for eight thrillers
Jason Blum's Blumhouse Television, the production house behind TV shows like Eye Candy and Cold Case Files, has struck a deal with Amazon Studios to create eight dark/thriller films that will all be thematically connected. If the name Jason Blum sound familiar, he's the man behind such horror films as Paranormal Activity, The Purge, and the recent Unfriended: Dark Web. He's also behind the highly successful Halloween reboot that premiered earlier this year.
- Engadget
DOJ and SEC subpoena Snap over allegedly misleading investors
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have subpoenaed Snap Inc. requesting information about its March 2017 initial public offering. In a statement to Reuters, Snap said it has responded to a government subpoena and believes that the SEC is "investigating issues related to the previously disclosed allegations asserted in a class action about our IPO disclosures."
- Engadget
Action-packed ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ trailer shows off some combat
It's a bummer that Alita: Battle Angel was delayed from its planned holiday season launch, but there's good news for fans eager to see more of the film: a new trailer has arrived. Unlike the preview that dropped in July which focused more on Alita finding herself, this one shows a lot more action and sword-swinging. We see Alita fight in a more advanced body, sliding around on a concrete luge track and slicing up bad guys.
- Engadget
NASA and Autodesk are testing new ways to design interplanetary landers
Autodesk, the software company behind AutoCAD, has teamed up with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to look at news ways to create an interplanetary lander that could potentially touch down on the moons of Saturn or Jupiter. When Mark Davis, the senior director of industry research at Autodesk, first approached JPL about the collaboration, NASA wasn't too interested. But when Autodesk showed that it was possible to achieve a 30 percent or more performance improvement by way of new designs and materials, Davis' team had JPL's attention.
- Engadget
Gaming guide creator Prima Games is shutting down
Prima Games, the company that's been creating physical video game strategy guides for the past 28 years, is shutting down according to Publisher's Lunch. Prima's publisher DK's CEO Ian Hudson sent out an internal memo saying it was an "extremely difficult decision" and one that was made due to a "significant decline" in the video game guide sector per reports by Publishers Weekly. No more guides will be coming out of Prima Games, and its doors will officially close this coming spring.
- Engadget
Volkswagen reportedly has $23,000 Tesla competitor in the works
Volkswagen, the German automaker that cheated diesel emissions tests, is aiming to release an all-electric car for $23,000 -- undercutting the Tesla Model 3 by nearly $12,000 -- sources have told Reuters. VW will convert three of its factories in Germany to produce the "MEB entry," with a production target of 200,000 vehicles. The MEB (modular electric drive matrix) platform is being used to develop VW's I.D. family of electric vehicles. And the company has high hopes for the new platform, with a goal of selling 10 million vehicles by the end of its "first wave." The I.D. Aero, a mid-size sedan, will also see a production target of 100,000 vehicles. A release date for the MEB entry was not disclosed, but the first I.D. vehicle should land in 2020. The German automaker will discuss all of this in a supervisory board meeting on November 16th.
- Engadget
China implements tech that can detect people by the way they walk
A Chinese surveillance company, Watrix, has developed a new system for "gait recognition" that can identify people up to 165 feet away based on how they walk. This means that if a person is wearing a mask or is at an awkward angle, the software can use existing footage to detect them. CEO of Watrix, Huang Yongzhen, told the Associated Press in an interview that the software can't be fooled by limping or other out-of-the-ordinary stances because it analyzes a person's entire body.
- Engadget
US charges Chinese, Taiwan firms for stealing secrets from Micron
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Justice has filed charges against a Taiwanese company, a Chinese PRC-backed company, and three Taiwanese nationals of economic espionage against Idaho-based semiconductor manufacturer Micron over the production of F32nm DRAM. Sessions also announced the creation of the China Initiative, led by Assistant Attorney General John Demers, to identify Chinese trade theft and allocate the necessary resources to go after these cases.
- Engadget
Microsoft’s Mixer game streaming service adds new ways to interact
Microsoft's game streaming service and Twitch competitor, Mixer, is entering its second season, and with it comes a slew of new features to help fans engage and allow streamers to make more money. The first addition is Skills, which will let viewers send animated stickers and GIFs, launch effects like fireworks and laser shows or keep digital beach balls bouncing. Skills can be bought, and using it will help streamers financially. But for users that don't want to drop cash, they can use Sparks (new, earnable tokens) instead. Sparks can be earned by watching streams, and those Sparks can then purchase Skills.
- Engadget
‘Fortnitemares’ ends Sunday with a live in-game event
Fortnite really got into the Halloween spirit with its Fortnitemares special event. Sadly, it will come to an end Sunday evening. But developer Epic Games wants to give fans a final treat, with a one-time event that will occur inside the game at 1PM ET.
- Engadget
Ford and Baidu team up to test autonomous cars in China
There's a new partnership in the autonomous vehicle game as Ford has announced it will be teaming up with Chinese internet company Baidu to work on autonomous vehicles, with testing set to begin in Beijing by the end of the year. The initiative hopes to achieve SAE L4 (a classification that measures level of human involvement) autonomous standards, meaning that vehicles can run autonomously within specific areas and under the correct weather conditions, within the next two years. And on the roads of Beijing, Ford will be joined by Mercedes-Benz, which too got approval to test cars in the capital city earlier this summer.
- Engadget
US government accuses Chinese hackers of stealing jet engine IP
The Justice Department has charged ten Chinese nationals -- two of which are intelligence officers -- of hacking into and stealing intellectual property from a pair of unnamed US and French companies between January 2015 to at least May of 2015. The hackers were after a type of turbofan (portmanteau of turbine and fan), a large commercial airline engine, to either circumvent its own development costs or avoid having to buy it. According to the complaint by the Department of Justice, a Chinese aerospace manufacturer was simultaneously working on making a comparable engine. The hack afflicted unnamed aerospace companies located in Arizona, Massachusetts and Oregon.
- Engadget
Facebook’s Level Up is available for game streamers in 21 countries
Facebook is still continuing its assault against Twitch, as the social media giant has expanded its Level Up Program to game streamers around the world, totalling 21 countries. The Level Up Program helps streamers build a community on Facebook. Streamers that are eligible can earn some extra cash through Facebook Stars -- similar to Twitch Bits -- which are virtual goods that fans can purchase to help their favorite streamers. Level Up streamers can also unlock 1080p/60fps streaming quality, customize their dashboard and get early access to beta products and features. And much like Twitch, Facebook has a partner program that can help streamers earn additional funds and have greater reach and visibility.
- Engadget
Uber’s $15 monthly subscription plan offers discounted rates
If you use Uber a lot in Los Angeles, Austin, Orlando, Denver or Miami, then a new Ride Pass can net you a flat rate on UberX and UberPool trips, offering savings of up to 15 percent. Ride Pass will run users $14.99 a month ($24.99 for Los Angeles residents). Rates will be based on historical data and will not increase due to weather, traffic, or surge pricing. Riders in LA will have to front a higher cost as they'll get additional benefits on e-bikes and scooters. And there's no limit to the number of rides Ride Pass users can take.
- Engadget
Gmail's iOS app finally has a unified inbox to view multiple accounts
The Gmail app on iOS just got a major upgrade, allowing users to view multiple email accounts at the same time. This much-wanted feature has been available to Android users for years, but has finally made its over to Apple's operating system. The update has already started rolling out, and will hit all users over the next 15 days.
- Engadget
'Twin Mirror' gameplay trailer enters DontNod's episodic mind palace
Fight Club meets Memento in Dontnod Entertainment's (Life is Strange, Vampyr, Remember Me) gameplay reveal for the episodic game Twin Mirror. In this game, players play as Sam, a man returning to his West Virginia hometown to attend his best friend's funeral. But his alter ego, a snarkier more annoying version of himself, will be following him throughout.
- Engadget
Twitch adds karaoke and multiplayer Squad Streams
At TwitchCon 2018 in San Jose, the Amazon-owned game streaming site announced a flurry of new features, including two new additions that could change the viewing experience altogether.
- Engadget
AI might concoct your next perfume
Perfumers look out: IBM Research partnered up with one of the top producers of flavors and fragrances, Symrise, to create an perfume-concocting AI. Named Philyra, after the Greed goddess of fragrance, it uses machine learning to sift through thousands of ingredients, formulas and industry trends to derive what IBM considers to be unique combinations. IBM is leveraging the AI to help perfumers design the next great scent rather than a machine that will replace experts of the human nose.