BeReal, which still exists, gets tags, private groups and a 2023 recap

BeReal is launching new features for its app, which won Apple’s 2022 iPhone App of the Year. The company tries to differentiate its platform by prompting spontaneous authenticity via randomly timed two-minute windows to take selfies. Now, it’s adding a feature similar to Apple’s Live Photos. In addition, invite-only groups, tags and 2023 recaps are on their way to the “Your friends for real” platform.

Behind the Scenes (BTS) is BeReal’s branding for its Live Photos-esque feature. Like Apple’s version, BTS captures a video for a few seconds before taking a static shot. After posting, your friends can long-press on the shot to see the short video clip. BTS is an opt-in feature, so nobody should be sucked into it unwillingly, and you can toggle it anytime.

Meanwhile, RealGroups are invite-only groups. In the new communities, group creators can manage the “Time to BeReal” notification (alerting you it’s time to say cheese), offering users a degree of control over the app’s core gimmick for the first time. RealGroups will also support private chat and private BeReals between group members. The company says its Live Photos clone and groups have been the platform’s “most community-requested features.”

Like Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music and various social platforms, BeReal will offer a 2023 recap. It sounds like it doesn’t stray far from the beaten path, with the company pegging it as “a custom experience that users can record and share anywhere they want,” alongside promotional hashtags.

Finally, the app’s new tagging feature lets you cc your friends to ensure they catch your daily selfies. There should be plenty of people to choose from, as BeReal says its platform now has over 25 million daily active users.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bereal-which-still-exists-gets-tags-private-groups-and-a-2023-recap-120041785.html?src=rss

Beeper Mini’s iMessage integration is on the fritz

Beeper Mini, the chat app that reverse-engineered Apple’s iMessage for Android, is having problems. 9to5Google reported Friday the entire Beeper platform is seemingly broken right now, leading to the obvious speculation that Apple has stomped on the bootleg iMessage workaround. Beeper posted on X that it’s “investigating reports that sending/receiving is not working in Beeper Mini.”

Engadget contacted Beeper co-founder Eric Migicovsky by email to ask whether the outage could have been triggered on Apple’s end, and he suggested it’s possible. “We had overwhelming interest and excitement in Beeper Mini this week!” Migicovsky wrote to Engadget. “As I tweeted, Beeper Mini is experiencing an outage — sending and receiving is not working right now.”

“If it's Apple, then I think the biggest question is — if Apple truly cares about the privacy and security of their own iPhone users, why would they try to kill a service that enables iPhones to send encrypted chats to Android users?” the founder and former Pebble CEO wrote to Engadget. “With their announcement of RCS support, it's clear that Apple knows they have a gaping hole here. Beeper Mini is here today and works great. Why force iPhone users back to sending unencrypted SMS when they chat with friends on Android?”

Beeper’s crafty solution — surprisingly — seemed to work well. The app automatically scans for messages from iMessage users and changes them to blue bubbles, apparently routing them through Apple’s servers. The wizardry is the product of a 16-year-old high school student, who reverse-engineered it by jailbreaking iPhones and digging into them to learn how iOS handles iMessages. It even included end-to-end encryption between iPhones and Android phones.

Migicovsky described the service to Engadget’s Richard Lai earlier this week as a “scale-up.” The original (pre-mini) Beeper depended on a Mac mini server farm to relay chats through Apple’s system. Whether Beeper Mini is going the way of the dodo (or the Sunbird), we’ll have to wait and see.

Update, December 8, 2023, 4:59 PM ET: This story has been updated to include a comment Migicovsky made to Engadget.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/beeper-minis-imessage-integration-is-on-the-fritz-211712651.html?src=rss

The FTC is reportedly looking into Microsoft’s $13 billion OpenAI investment

OpenAI’s recent drama hasn’t only caught UK regulators’ attention. Bloomberg reported Friday that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into Microsoft’s investment in the Sam Altman-led company and whether it violates US antitrust laws. FTC Chair Lina Khan wrote in a New York Times op-ed earlier this year that “the expanding adoption of AI risks further locking in the market dominance of large incumbent technology firms.”

Bloomberg’s report stresses that the FTC inquiry is preliminary, and the agency hasn’t opened a formal investigation. But Khan and company are reportedly “analyzing the situation and assessing what its options are.” One complicating factor for regulation is that OpenAI is a non-profit, and transactions involving non-corporate entities aren’t required by law to be reported.

In addition, Microsoft’s $13 billion investment doesn’t technically give it control over OpenAI in the eyes of the law, another factor in determining what action a governmental agency might be able to take. However, the recent ousting and re-hiring of Altman — and the integral role Microsoft played in reverting those chess pieces to its preferred positions — suggests the lack of control over the nonprofit is more a technicality than the relationship’s underlying essence.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 06: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (R) speaks as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (L) looks on during the OpenAI DevDay event on November 06, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Altman delivered the keynote address at the first ever Open AI DevDay conference. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (left) and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) wrote earlier today that it’s considering investigating the relationship between AI’s two dominant players. It said it’s weighing “recent developments,” referring obliquely to the Altman-Microsoft drama. “The CMA will review whether the partnership has resulted in an acquisition of control — that is, where it results in one party having material influence, de facto control or more than 50% of the voting rights over another entity,” the CMA wrote in its news release.

Khan, also challenging Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition, has previously sounded the alarm about the need for AI regulations.

“As these technologies evolve, we are committed to doing our part to uphold America’s longstanding tradition of maintaining the open, fair and competitive markets that have underpinned both breakthrough innovations and our nation’s economic success — without tolerating business models or practices involving the mass exploitation of their users,” the youngest-ever FTC chair wrote in May. “Although these tools are novel, they are not exempt from existing rules, and the F.T.C. will vigorously enforce the laws we are charged with administering, even in this new market.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-ftc-is-reportedly-looking-into-microsofts-13-billion-openai-investment-185201614.html?src=rss

Hideo Kojima’s documentary will be a Disney+ exclusive

Hideo Kojima said his documentary, Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds, will be distributed exclusively by Disney+. The legendary game designer posted Thursday on X (formerly Twitter) that the film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this summer, will launch globally in the spring of 2024.

Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds tracks the pioneering auteur during the development of Death Stranding while providing a rare glimpse into his creative process as he launched his studio, Kojima Productions. The film also includes “shots from the early days of our independent studio, memories from my childhood and my creative journey,” as the designer said. The film strives to capture the artistic side of gaming, which Kojima embodies as well as anyone.

Still from the trailer to the documentary Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds. The game designer sits, smiling, in a work setting. A caption reads,
Kojima Productions

The documentary announcement follows the official reveal of Kojima’s next game, OD. Although we don’t know much about it yet, its trailer blends a cinematic art style with horror, aligning with previous leaks. Director and comedian Jordan Peele is even involved. Xbox Game Studios is publishing the title, which Kojima has said will lean heavily on Microsoft’s cloud technology.

“Video gaming is an art,” director Guillermo del Toro summarizes in the documentary trailer (below) about the Metal Gear creator. “But the only person in charge of the orchestra is the auteur.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hideo-kojimas-documentary-will-be-a-disney-exclusive-171555906.html?src=rss

The first Final Fantasy XVI DLC ‘Echoes of the Fallen’ is out now

The first Final Fantasy XVI DLC was not only announced at the Game Awards 2023; it’s already available on the PlayStation Store. Echoes of the Fallen, set before the base game’s final battle, is out now, while a second DLC installment, The Rising Tide, arrives in spring 2024.

The PlayStation blog says Echoes of the Fallen “unlocks a whole new story, battles, weapons, accessories, level cap and more.” You’ll follow Clive and the gang as they run into “a group of suspicious traders,” which points them to an abandoned Fallen tower, the Sagespire. “Terrible secrets” lie in store.

A bonus awaits those who buy Echoes of the Fallen or the game’s Expansion Pass, in the form of the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII. In addition, it adds the “Away (1987)” Orchestrion Roll, unlocking a chiptune version of the song as new hideout background music.

As for The Rising Tide, Square Enix promises a climactic confrontation between Clive and Leviathan, the legendary Eikon. In addition, if you haven’t played the base Final Fantasy XVI game yet, it’s discounted on the PlayStation Store through December 11.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-first-final-fantasy-xvi-dlc-echoes-of-the-fallen-is-out-now-043119823.html?src=rss

Hideo Kojima’s Xbox game is the cinematic horrorfest ‘OD’

Hideo Kojima officially unveiled his upcoming game (that leaked in 2022) at the Game Awards 2023. Previously described as something “no one has ever experienced or seen before,” the cinematic OD (previously known as Overdose) will include a collaboration with horror director and comedian Jordan Peele.

OD’s 90-second trailer includes intimate closeups of actors reading nursery rhymes and other dialogue as they grow increasingly frantic. In the clip’s final moments, you catch a glimpse of a door opening in the reflection of their eyes (with a creaking sound hammering the point home). Wherever the game’s plot takes us, the trailer makes it clear it falls squarely in the horror genre (as expected).

We already knew the title would be published by Xbox Game Studios, relying heavily on Microsoft’s cloud technology. Previous leaks indicated Death Stranding actor Margaret Qualley would play the protagonist, although she was nowhere to be found in the trailer. The billed cast in the trailer includes Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer and Udo Kier.

You can watch OD’s cryptic trailer below.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hideo-kojimas-xbox-game-is-the-cinematic-horrorfest-od-024342457.html?src=rss

Hideo Kojima’s Xbox game is the cinematic horrorfest ‘OD’

Hideo Kojima officially unveiled his upcoming game (that leaked in 2022) at the Game Awards 2023. Previously described as something “no one has ever experienced or seen before,” the cinematic OD (previously known as Overdose) will include a collaboration with horror director and comedian Jordan Peele.

OD’s 90-second trailer includes intimate closeups of actors reading nursery rhymes and other dialogue as they grow increasingly frantic. In the clip’s final moments, you catch a glimpse of a door opening in the reflection of their eyes (with a creaking sound hammering the point home). Wherever the game’s plot takes us, the trailer makes it clear it falls squarely in the horror genre (as expected).

We already knew the title would be published by Xbox Game Studios, relying heavily on Microsoft’s cloud technology. Previous leaks indicated Death Stranding actor Margaret Qualley would play the protagonist, although she was nowhere to be found in the trailer. The billed cast in the trailer includes Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer and Udo Kier.

You can watch OD’s cryptic trailer below.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hideo-kojimas-xbox-game-is-the-cinematic-horrorfest-od-024342457.html?src=rss

Windblown is the next game from the creators of Dead Cells

Dead Cells developer Motion Twin dropped one of the first eye-popping trailers of the Game Awards 2023 (in the pre-show, no less). The visually striking Windblown is billed as “a lightning-fast action roguelike,” bringing “a whole new level of speed to the action rogue-like genre.”

Windblown takes place in The Ark, a floating village in the sky, full of “innocent souls.” It orbits the deadly Vortex with its army of Sentinels, as they threaten to “devour” the protagonists’ aerial home. Playing solo or multiplayer, you’ll control characters called Leapers, who “absorb the memories of the fallen warriors who came before, learning how to master the fighting styles of their predecessors to unleash their full potential.”

The game’s blurb invites you to “find your rhythm” in the fast-paced combat, which the trailer appears to back up. Both its cutscenes and gameplay use a cel-shaded art style that should at least comfort you with plenty of eye candy as you die 20 times in a row.

Windblown is scheduled to arrive in early access on PC in 2024. You can add it to your Steam wishlist now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/windblown-is-the-next-game-from-the-creators-of-dead-cells-012941545.html?src=rss

Windblown is the next game from the creators of Dead Cells

Dead Cells developer Motion Twin dropped one of the first eye-popping trailers of the Game Awards 2023 (in the pre-show, no less). The visually striking Windblown is billed as “a lightning-fast action roguelike,” bringing “a whole new level of speed to the action rogue-like genre.”

Windblown takes place in The Ark, a floating village in the sky, full of “innocent souls.” It orbits the deadly Vortex with its army of Sentinels, as they threaten to “devour” the protagonists’ aerial home. Playing solo or multiplayer, you’ll control characters called Leapers, who “absorb the memories of the fallen warriors who came before, learning how to master the fighting styles of their predecessors to unleash their full potential.”

The game’s blurb invites you to “find your rhythm” in the fast-paced combat, which the trailer appears to back up. Both its cutscenes and gameplay use a cel-shaded art style that should at least comfort you with plenty of eye candy as you die 20 times in a row.

Windblown is scheduled to arrive in early access on PC in 2024. You can add it to your Steam wishlist now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/windblown-is-the-next-game-from-the-creators-of-dead-cells-012941545.html?src=rss

Watch The Game Awards 2023 here at 7:30PM ET

The tenth edition of the Game Awards is upon us. The event unfolds Thursday evening, with host Geoff Keighley scheduled to take the stage at 7:30PM ET. In addition to the myriad trailers, announcements, gameplay clips and speeches, six titles will compete for the coveted Game of the Year award. Engadget will cover all the big news as it happens, and you can watch along below.

Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 lead the pack with eight total nominations. They’ll compete for Game of the Year with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (seven nods), Super Mario Bros. Wonder (five), The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (five) and the Resident Evil 4 remake (four).

Nintendo had a banner year, even as the Switch likely approaches its swan song. The company raked in 15 total nominations — the most of any publisher. Sony was next, with 13 nods, while Microsoft (including Bethesda and Activision Blizzard) received 10 noms. Meanwhile, Epic Games, the only non-hardware-producing publisher in the top four, snagged nine.

The awards show includes 31 total awards in areas as diverse as Best Action Game, Best Esports Coach and Best Independent Game. The indie category opened a can of worms this year, as the beloved Dave the Diver was included in the category despite being produced by a subsidiary of Nexon, a behemoth with an $18.3 billion market cap.

You can tune into the Game Awards on YouTube, Twitch (and other platforms) at 7:30PM ET on Thursday. Or, watch below:

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/watch-the-game-awards-2023-here-at-730pm-et-190011911.html?src=rss