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8Bitdo has a new $50 Android gaming controller with Hall effect sticks and triggers

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8BitDo, once known exclusively as a purveyor of Nintendo-infused nostalgia, has expanded in recent years into all sorts of gaming controllers and accessories. The company’s latest foray is into mobile gaming controllers. The 8Bitdo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller takes the highlights of its well-received Ultimate series — Hall effect included! — and brings them to an extendable accessory that latches onto your smartphone, a la Backbone and Razer Kishi.

First, the bad news (for some). The 8Bitdo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller is Android only, so no love here for iPhone owners. It’s also a Bluetooth accessory, rather than a plug-in one like Backbone’s, which means it has a 350mAh battery and weighs more than some rivals. (As The Verge notes, it tips the scales at 236g, making it 71 percent heavier than the BackBone One.) 8Bitdo says its battery lasts up to 15 hours from 1.5 hours of charging time.

But for Android device owners, it’s a versatile controller. 8Bitdo says it’s compatible with mobile devices that are 100mm to 170mm in length. That can even include some small tablets, although not many these days are that small. (Even Amazon’s relatively small Fire HD 8 is about 32mm too wide.) However, it should fit just about any Android phone.

Product photo of two versions of the 8Bitdo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller (black and white), arranged vertically in a mirror-like orientation.
8Bitdo

The controller has Hall effect triggers and joysticks, so you shouldn’t have any drifting worries. It includes a standard four action buttons, a “clicky,” “smooth” and “tactile” D-Pad, a profile button and two paddle buttons on its back. The sticks have “wear-resistant metal joystick rings.”

It works with 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software, letting you remap buttons, adjust stick and trigger sensitivity and create or edit profiles. The software is available on Windows and Android. The iOS version is installable on Macs from the App Store.

You can’t get the 8Bitdo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller quite yet, but you can pre-order it now from Amazon. It costs $50 (half the price of Backbone One!), comes in black and white options and will arrive on November 29, Black Friday.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/8bitdo-has-a-new-50-android-gaming-controller-with-hall-effect-sticks-and-triggers-192521405.html?src=rss

8Bitdo has a new $50 Android gaming controller with Hall effect sticks and triggers

Posted on by

8BitDo, once known exclusively as a purveyor of Nintendo-infused nostalgia, has expanded in recent years into all sorts of gaming controllers and accessories. The company’s latest foray is into mobile gaming controllers. The 8Bitdo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller takes the highlights of its well-received Ultimate series — Hall effect included! — and brings them to an extendable accessory that latches onto your smartphone, a la Backbone and Razer Kishi.

First, the bad news (for some). The 8Bitdo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller is Android only, so no love here for iPhone owners. It’s also a Bluetooth accessory, rather than a plug-in one like Backbone’s, which means it has a 350mAh battery and weighs more than some rivals. (As The Verge notes, it tips the scales at 236g, making it 71 percent heavier than the BackBone One.) 8Bitdo says its battery lasts up to 15 hours from 1.5 hours of charging time.

But for Android device owners, it’s a versatile controller. 8Bitdo says it’s compatible with mobile devices that are 100mm to 170mm in length. That can even include some small tablets, although not many these days are that small. (Even Amazon’s relatively small Fire HD 8 is about 32mm too wide.) However, it should fit just about any Android phone.

Product photo of two versions of the 8Bitdo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller (black and white), arranged vertically in a mirror-like orientation.
8Bitdo

The controller has Hall effect triggers and joysticks, so you shouldn’t have any drifting worries. It includes a standard four action buttons, a “clicky,” “smooth” and “tactile” D-Pad, a profile button and two paddle buttons on its back. The sticks have “wear-resistant metal joystick rings.”

It works with 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software, letting you remap buttons, adjust stick and trigger sensitivity and create or edit profiles. The software is available on Windows and Android. The iOS version is installable on Macs from the App Store.

You can’t get the 8Bitdo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller quite yet, but you can pre-order it now from Amazon. It costs $50 (half the price of Backbone One!), comes in black and white options and will arrive on November 29, Black Friday.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/8bitdo-has-a-new-50-android-gaming-controller-with-hall-effect-sticks-and-triggers-192521405.html?src=rss

Apple updates its beta testing service Testflight with redesigned invites and more

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Apple’s beta testing service Testflight just got a fairly substantial update, according to a report by TechCrunch. The software refresh gives developers much more control over who can join a beta and how new features are shared. It also allows beta testers to get more information about an app before they dive in.

Developers will be able to set all kinds of criteria as to who can or cannot access the beta. This should help devs narrow the test groups to specific audiences, like those using a particular device or OS version. Testflight offers a maximum of 10,000 invitations by default, so this should help reserve spots for an intended audience. The developers can also now decrease this maximum number to whatever they want.

The update allows for more control over the beta invites, as they can highlight new features and content. Apple says that beta builds of apps that have already been approved for publication can now include screenshots and the app category along with the invite.

App creators will also be able to view metrics regarding the success of a beta invite, which includes information as to how many people viewed the invite, who opted in and why folks declined.

As for users, beta invites can include a feedback field. This is for people to let the developer know why they chose not to download an app.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-updates-its-beta-testing-service-testflight-with-redesigned-invites-and-more-185002704.html?src=rss

Apple updates its beta testing service Testflight with redesigned invites and more

Posted on by

Apple’s beta testing service Testflight just got a fairly substantial update, according to a report by TechCrunch. The software refresh gives developers much more control over who can join a beta and how new features are shared. It also allows beta testers to get more information about an app before they dive in.

Developers will be able to set all kinds of criteria as to who can or cannot access the beta. This should help devs narrow the test groups to specific audiences, like those using a particular device or OS version. Testflight offers a maximum of 10,000 invitations by default, so this should help reserve spots for an intended audience. The developers can also now decrease this maximum number to whatever they want.

The update allows for more control over the beta invites, as they can highlight new features and content. Apple says that beta builds of apps that have already been approved for publication can now include screenshots and the app category along with the invite.

App creators will also be able to view metrics regarding the success of a beta invite, which includes information as to how many people viewed the invite, who opted in and why folks declined.

As for users, beta invites can include a feedback field. This is for people to let the developer know why they chose not to download an app.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-updates-its-beta-testing-service-testflight-with-redesigned-invites-and-more-185002704.html?src=rss

McDonald’s restaurants can finally repair their own McFlurry machines

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There are days where it feels like nothing will ever change and the best thing you can do is just learn to tolerate mediocrity. Today is not one of those days. Public Knowledge announced that the US Copyright Office granted an exemption request from the non-profit public interest group and the DIY repair site iFixit to allow McDonald’s franchise owners to hire a third-party to repair their McFlurry and soft service ice cream machines.

Franchise owners legally couldn’t hire any outside business to work on the machine because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). McDonald’s soft serve ice cream machines have a digital lock and Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it illegal for anyone to bypass the lock on a copyrighted work even if no copyright infringement occurs. Only the original manufacturer of the machine can repair a copyrighted device with a digital lock. The recent exemption overrules the digital lock law.

If you’ve ever pulled up to a McDonald’s drive-thru window and couldn’t get an ice cream treat like a McFlurry, it probably wasn’t an anomaly. Franchises had to wait on the McDonald’s corporation to send an approved repair person to fix the machines. The problem caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission in 2021 under a directive by President Joe Biden to draft new regulations to allow consumers to legally repair their own devices and hire third-parties to fix them. The FTC contacted McDonald’s franchise owners to learn more about the ice cream machines and the difficulties in repairing them.

iFixit did a teardown of a McDonald’s ice cream dispenser last year and found it had “lots of easily replaceable parts” but they couldn’t be fixed without earning the wrath of federal copyright laws. The teardown prompted the companyto work with Public Knowledge to obtain a copyright exemption to repair them. The repair website also compiled a video explaining the machine’s innerworkings in more detail.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mcdonalds-restaurants-can-finally-repair-their-own-mcflurry-machines-183006996.html?src=rss

McDonald’s restaurants can finally repair their own McFlurry machines

Posted on by

There are days where it feels like nothing will ever change and the best thing you can do is just learn to tolerate mediocrity. Today is not one of those days. Public Knowledge announced that the US Copyright Office granted an exemption request from the non-profit public interest group and the DIY repair site iFixit to allow McDonald’s franchise owners to hire a third-party to repair their McFlurry and soft service ice cream machines.

Franchise owners legally couldn’t hire any outside business to work on the machine because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). McDonald’s soft serve ice cream machines have a digital lock and Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it illegal for anyone to bypass the lock on a copyrighted work even if no copyright infringement occurs. Only the original manufacturer of the machine can repair a copyrighted device with a digital lock. The recent exemption overrules the digital lock law.

If you’ve ever pulled up to a McDonald’s drive-thru window and couldn’t get an ice cream treat like a McFlurry, it probably wasn’t an anomaly. Franchises had to wait on the McDonald’s corporation to send an approved repair person to fix the machines. The problem caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission in 2021 under a directive by President Joe Biden to draft new regulations to allow consumers to legally repair their own devices and hire third-parties to fix them. The FTC contacted McDonald’s franchise owners to learn more about the ice cream machines and the difficulties in repairing them.

iFixit did a teardown of a McDonald’s ice cream dispenser last year and found it had “lots of easily replaceable parts” but they couldn’t be fixed without earning the wrath of federal copyright laws. The teardown prompted the companyto work with Public Knowledge to obtain a copyright exemption to repair them. The repair website also compiled a video explaining the machine’s innerworkings in more detail.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mcdonalds-restaurants-can-finally-repair-their-own-mcflurry-machines-183006996.html?src=rss

NASA spent October hoisting a 103-ton simulator section onto a test stand to prep for the next Moon mission

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NASA spent the last two weeks hoisting a 103-ton component onto a simulator and installing it to help prepare for the next Moon missions. Crews fitted the interstage simulator component onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The connecting section mimics the same SLS (Space Launch System) part that will help protect the rocket’s upper stage, which will propel the Orion spacecraft on its planned Artemis launches.

The Thad Cochran Test Stand is where NASA sets up the SLS components and conducts thorough testing to ensure they’ll be safe and operating as intended on the versions that fly into space. The new section was installed onto the B-2 position of the testing center and is now fitted with all the necessary piping, tubing and electrical systems for future test runs.

Top-down view of the SLS interstage section installed at a test center.
NASA

The interstage section will protect electrical and propulsion systems and support the SLS’s EUS (Exploration Upper Stage) in the rocket’s latest design iteration, Block 1B. It will replace the current Block 1 version and offer a 40 percent bigger payload. The EUS will support 38 tons of cargo with a crew or 42 tons without a crew, compared to 27 tons of crew and cargo in the Block 1 iteration. (Progress!) Four RL10 engines, made by contractor L3Harris, will power the new EUS.

The interstage simulator section NASA spent mid-October installing weighs 103 tons and measures 31 feet in diameter and 33 feet tall. The section’s top portion will absorb the EUS hot fire thrust, transferring it back to the test stand so the test stand doesn’t collapse under the four engines’ more than 97,000 pounds of thrust.

NASA’s testing at Stennis Space Center will prepare the SLS for the Artemis IV mission, which will send four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft to the Lunar Gateway space station to install a new module. After that, they’ll descend to the Moon’s surface in the Starship HLS (Human Landing System) lunar lander.

You can catch some glimpses into NASA’s heavy lifting in the video below:

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-spent-october-hoisting-a-103-ton-simulator-section-onto-a-test-stand-to-prep-for-the-next-moon-mission-173008826.html?src=rss

NASA spent October hoisting a 103-ton simulator section onto a test stand to prep for the next Moon mission

Posted on by

NASA spent the last two weeks hoisting a 103-ton component onto a simulator and installing it to help prepare for the next Moon missions. Crews fitted the interstage simulator component onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The connecting section mimics the same SLS (Space Launch System) part that will help protect the rocket’s upper stage, which will propel the Orion spacecraft on its planned Artemis launches.

The Thad Cochran Test Stand is where NASA sets up the SLS components and conducts thorough testing to ensure they’ll be safe and operating as intended on the versions that fly into space. The new section was installed onto the B-2 position of the testing center and is now fitted with all the necessary piping, tubing and electrical systems for future test runs.

Top-down view of the SLS interstage section installed at a test center.
NASA

The interstage section will protect electrical and propulsion systems and support the SLS’s EUS (Exploration Upper Stage) in the rocket’s latest design iteration, Block 1B. It will replace the current Block 1 version and offer a 40 percent bigger payload. The EUS will support 38 tons of cargo with a crew or 42 tons without a crew, compared to 27 tons of crew and cargo in the Block 1 iteration. (Progress!) Four RL10 engines, made by contractor L3Harris, will power the new EUS.

The interstage simulator section NASA spent mid-October installing weighs 103 tons and measures 31 feet in diameter and 33 feet tall. The section’s top portion will absorb the EUS hot fire thrust, transferring it back to the test stand so the test stand doesn’t collapse under the four engines’ more than 97,000 pounds of thrust.

NASA’s testing at Stennis Space Center will prepare the SLS for the Artemis IV mission, which will send four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft to the Lunar Gateway space station to install a new module. After that, they’ll descend to the Moon’s surface in the Starship HLS (Human Landing System) lunar lander.

You can catch some glimpses into NASA’s heavy lifting in the video below:

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-spent-october-hoisting-a-103-ton-simulator-section-onto-a-test-stand-to-prep-for-the-next-moon-mission-173008826.html?src=rss

Waymo raises $5.6 billion to fund Austin and Atlanta expansion

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Waymo has raised another huge chunk of change from investors. The company announced on its blog that it secured an “oversubscribed investment round” of $5.6 billion in funding, the largest of which came from Google's parent company Alphabet.

The company is working with Uber to expand to Austin and Atlanta by the early part of next year. Waymo says it plans to use this latest infusion of capital for the expansions. This latest round brings Waymo’s total capital fundraising to $11.1 billion, with the $5.5 billion it picked up in two earlier rounds in 2020 and 2021.

Waymo currently operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix with a curbside transport service for Sky Harbor International Airport through its Waymo One driving system for businesses. The company announced it’s also started offering “fully autonomous freeway operations in Phoenix and San Francisco.”

The new funding will also help Waymo advance its Waymo One system, an adaptable autonomous driving system for different businesses. Waymo wrote on its blog it plans to “support a variety of business applications over time” through Waymo One.

Alphabet ponied up $5 billion for Waymo back in July as part of what Alphabet’s chief financial officer Ruth Porat called a “multi-year investment.” The driverless vehicle fleet logged a total of 25 million miles in July outpacing companies like Uber, which sold its self-driving unit four years ago before joining forces with Waymo.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymo-raises-56-billion-to-fund-austin-and-atlanta-expansion-172031686.html?src=rss

Waymo raises $5.6 billion to fund Austin and Atlanta expansion

Posted on by

Waymo has raised another huge chunk of change from investors. The company announced on its blog that it secured an “oversubscribed investment round” of $5.6 billion in funding, the largest of which came from Google's parent company Alphabet.

The company is working with Uber to expand to Austin and Atlanta by the early part of next year. Waymo says it plans to use this latest infusion of capital for the expansions. This latest round brings Waymo’s total capital fundraising to $11.1 billion, with the $5.5 billion it picked up in two earlier rounds in 2020 and 2021.

Waymo currently operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix with a curbside transport service for Sky Harbor International Airport through its Waymo One driving system for businesses. The company announced it’s also started offering “fully autonomous freeway operations in Phoenix and San Francisco.”

The new funding will also help Waymo advance its Waymo One system, an adaptable autonomous driving system for different businesses. Waymo wrote on its blog it plans to “support a variety of business applications over time” through Waymo One.

Alphabet ponied up $5 billion for Waymo back in July as part of what Alphabet’s chief financial officer Ruth Porat called a “multi-year investment.” The driverless vehicle fleet logged a total of 25 million miles in July outpacing companies like Uber, which sold its self-driving unit four years ago before joining forces with Waymo.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymo-raises-56-billion-to-fund-austin-and-atlanta-expansion-172031686.html?src=rss