The last couple of Alien movies have been good for the most part but it feels like they’ve been missing the raw, skin-shredding tension of the first few films. The latest trailer for Alien: Romulus looks like the series is headed back to its dark, claustrophobic roots.
Alien: Romulus features a whole new crew of doomed space-trekking souls who encounter the deadly Xenomorph on a derelict spacecraft. This time, it’s a crew of space colonizers who are scavenging for resources from abandoned ships and stations.
This Alienfilm was co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez, the filmmaker behind cult horror flicks such as the two Don’t Breathe movies and the Evil Dead remake. So, yes, Alien: Romulus is gonna be very tense and very, very bloody. Where the original Alien merely strapped a parasitoid xenomorph to a crew member's face, the trailer for Romulus is willing to show a facehugger penetrating some poor guy's head. Yikes.
Alien: Romulus hits theaters on Friday, Aug. 16.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-final-trailer-for-alien-romulus-looks-tense-bloody-and-awesome-191908758.html?src=rss
The company confirmed the smartphone via an announcement video, one that could have been waiting for August 13. The video isn’t big on details, but there is some footage of the phone in action that confirms one major suspicion about the Pixel 9 Pro. The absolutely gigantic camera bump is real and is ready to make obvious indentations in pockets everywhere.
Just look at that glorious thing. The bump looks like a 3D approximation of Bender from Futurama’s head. One thing is for sure. If you buy the Pixel 9 Pro later this year, be sure to also buy a newly-designed case. There’s no way previous cases will fit around that monstrosity.
Beyond the camera bump, Google’s video teases heavy integration with the company’s Gemini family of AI models. Affiliated marketing copy simply states “oh hi, AI” and the video shows a chatbot answering a query. This emphasis on AI should surprise absolutely nobody. It’s 2024.
You can sign up for information about the phone directly from Google. While we don’t have any actual specs, it’s likely that ginormous bump exists for a reason (a really good camera system.)
There have been other leaks ahead of next month’s event, though this is the only one proven to be real. These leaks do indicate, however, that the Pixel Pro 9 will be joined by the garden variety Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro XL and a foldable called the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. As always, we’ll be on the scene August 13 to report on whatever Google announces.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-just-confirmed-the-pixel-9-pros-outrageous-camera-bump-185301609.html?src=rss
Ubisoft has released its latest earnings report and while there wasn't a ton of major news, there's a disappointing update for those who have been waiting on mobile versions of the Rainbow Six and The Division franchises. The company says that the Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division Resurgence development teams need more time to "deliver on expectations" amid "a demanding yet very large market."
As such, both titles are no longer expected to debut in the publisher's current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. That means yet another delay for Rainbow Six Mobile, which was initially supposed to arrive in 2022. The Division Resurgence had been expected to debut last year.
On an earnings call with investors, Ubisoft noted that "it's very difficult to define a set date" when asked why it was delaying the games now, with over eight months of the fiscal year to go. Executives said that Ubisoft wants the two titles to last forever and that the developers are "putting in the necessary work to make sure the games are perfect when they launch."
Elsewhere, Ubisoft said its free-to-play competitive shooter XDefiant "is off to an encouraging start," having roped in 10 million players in its first two weeks after debuting in May. Aside from updates for live-service games such as Rainbow Six Siege, The Crew Motorfest and Skull and Bones (all of which the company says are performing well), Ubisoft has a couple of exciting projects lined up for the rest of the year in Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Meanwhile, on its earnings call, Ubisift was asked about the status of bringing Call of Duty games to cloud gaming services. The publisher holds the cloud gaming rights to Activision Blizzard games. Microsoft sold those rights to help appease competition regulators and get its Activision Blizzard merger over the line.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-delays-its-rainbow-six-and-division-mobile-games-until-at-least-april-2025-174035060.html?src=rss
Cash App Pay has integrated with Google Play to give consumers another option when buying stuff online. This will be especially useful for Android users, as Google Play is baked right into the OS. Cash App says this partnership will give “next gen consumers more choice” and the company specifically called out the gaming space.
Cash App users will be able to pull money from a pre-existing balance or via a linked debit card to pay for stuff on Google Play. Cash App currently has four million monthly active users and the company claims to have added one million new users each quarter for the last year. That’s a lot of new people flowing into Google’s ecosystem.
To use Cash App on an Android device, just select the payment method when checking out on Google Play. Obviously, new users should download the app and make an account before all of that.
The Cash App integration, however, extends beyond Europe and Google already allows PayPal as an option in most countries. Also, Android developers who distribute apps on the Google Play store Google’s parent company Alphabet is considered a gatekeeper under the DMA and one of the mandates of the legislation is that these organizations must allow for alternative payment methods.
The Cash App integration, however, extends beyond Europe and Google already allowed PayPal as an option in most countries. Also, Android developers who distribute apps on the Google Play store can already use an array of third-party payment systems in Europe, to comply with the DMA.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cash-app-pay-integrates-with-google-play-to-offer-next-gen-consumers-more-choice-172310452.html?src=rss
OpenAI on Thursday released a smaller and more affordable version of its flagship large language model that powers ChatGPT. The new model, called GPT-4o mini, will cost developers 60 percent less to build AI-powered apps and services with as compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo, Open’s smallest model until today. But the big news here is for consumers. GPT-4o mini will replace GPT-3.5 Turbo for free users of ChatGPT starting today — which means that your baseline ChatGPT experience will improve significantly.
OpenAI claimed that GPT-4o mini achieved an 82 percent score on an industry benchmark called the MMLU, which stands for Measuring Massive Multitask Language Understanding, and includes 16,000 multiple-choice questions across 57 academic subjects. That’s slightly lower than GPT-4o, which scored 88.7 percent, but higher than GPT-3.5 Turbo, which scored just 70 percent. AI experts have warned against relying on these kinds of benchmarks to measure how smart AI systems are, but so far, they’re the only way to measure the performance of large language models.
Smaller versions of flagship models give developers more flexibility when it comes to building AI-powered apps. After all, not everyone needs or can afford access to the largest, most powerful models for every use case. In May, Google announced Gemini 1.5 Flash, its own lightweight model that the company said was optimized for speed and efficiency. Other AI companies like Anthropic, too, have smaller versions of their full-scale models.
GPT-4o mini can currently take in and generate text and images, but the model will eventually be able to process other types of content like audio and video. And even though GPT-3.5 Turbo is going away from ChatGPT, developers can still access it via OpenAI’s API to build apps and services with it for now — until it eventually goes away too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-lightweight-gpt-4o-mini-model-promises-an-improved-chatgpt-experience-170143382.html?src=rss
US college students can shave half off a Max subscription. As long as you can confirm your active student status, you’ll get a 50 percent discount on the Max With Ads monthly plan. Usually $10, you’ll only pay $5 each month to stream classic and current HBO series (and more).
The promotion is through a partnership with UNiDAYS, a (strangely capitalized) service that verifies college and university student status. The company has also partnered with Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Uber Eats, Nike and more.
After successfully verifying your status, the promotion will last for 12 months. But you’ll have the chance to re-verify your student status every year as long as you’re eligible to keep the discount. Once you’re in your last year with no plans to head to another school, you’ll graduate to the hard-knock life of $10 ad-supported streaming plans.
Max lets you stream classic HBO series like The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and The City, Game Of Thrones, Six Feet Under and more. You also get current-run content from HBO, Warner Bros., DC, HGTV and Food Network. These include series and films like The Last of Us, Dune: Part Two, House of the Dragon, Barbie and Euphoria. You’ll also be able to stream the upcoming The Batman spinoff The Penguin, costarring Colin Farrell with his fat suit and a bunch of prosthetics.
Once you’re verified through UNiDAYS, you’ll receive a promotional code. Just follow the instructions you get with the code to begin your subscription.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-college-students-can-take-half-off-a-max-subscription-163906242.html?src=rss
Overwatch 2 fans who are already jonesing for something new after the recent Transformers crossover won’t have to wait long. Blizzard has spilled the beans about the next hero that’s coming to the game, and you’ll be able to try her out as soon as this weekend.
Her name is Juno and she’s a support. The publisher teased this hero back at BlizzCon 2023 (when she was referred to only as Space Ranger) and in-game over the last few weeks. Now, her spacecraft has landed on this colorful version of near-future Earth — Juno is the game’s first playable Martian character.
A gameplay trailer gives a sense of Juno’s abilities and how they work. Her primary weapon is called the Mediblaster. It appears to work in a similar way to Ana’s Biotic Rifle in that it can heal allies and damage enemies, though it's not clear whether there's a different fire mode for each. One of her abilities, the Pulsar Torpedoes, can lock onto multiple targets to dish out healing and damage too.
Unlike Ana, though, Juno has traversal abilities. With Glide Boost, she can soar through the air. She can also temporarily provide herself and her teammates with a speed boost — and perhaps the ability to jump higher —thanks to her Hyper Ring.
As for Juno’s ultimate, that's called Orbital Ray. It’s a beam emanating from a satellite that moves across the map that heals allies and boosts damage. The specifics of how exactly all the abilities work haven't been announced, so we’ll likely have to hold on until Juno arrives in the game for the full lowdown.
Fortunately, that will be a short wait. Juno will be available in all modes except Competitive for a trial weekend that runs from July 19 until July 21. The No Limits mode will be in the Arcade, so chances are likely that we’ll see two teams of five Junos fighting each other as players get to grips with the newcomer.
On the rare occasions I play anything other than Mystery Heroes, I usually play the support role, so I can’t wait to try out Juno. She has a great look and the makings of an excellent kit, as long as it’s smartly balanced. Juno will join the lineup permanently when season 12 of Overwatch 2 starts on August 20.
Blizzard Entertainment
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-try-new-overwatch-2-support-hero-juno-this-weekend-160006353.html?src=rss
Proton Mail has a new AI-powered feature that could help it keep pace with the artificial intelligence tools Google and Microsoft offer for their email services. Proton Scribe is an AI writing assistant that can help you compose and clean up your drafts. Scribe was designed with privacy in mind — the assistant can't train on your inbox data, as Proton Mail has a zero-access approach to encryption. Proton doesn't save or log anything from your email drafts either.
According to Proton, a writing assistant was one of the most-requested features in a recent user survey. The company designed it as a secure alternative to other generative AI options. Scribe can be run locally if your system is compatible. Otherwise, you can run it on Proton's no-log servers. The assistant is powered by open-source models and code. As such, Proton says the tool itself is open-source and that independent researchers are free to carry out privacy and security audits.
Scribe can be accessed by clicking the pencil icon in the Proton Mail composer. After telling the tool what you want to say in an email, it will create a draft for you. You'll be able to use the Shorten and Proofread options to condense and clean up your draft. There's also the option to make the tone of your email more formal with the click of a button. You can review and tweak your drafts before sending them.
Proton says Scribe only fully supports English for now and it's rolling the assistant out to eligible users. Visionary and Lifetime subscribers will have access at no extra cost. Those on a Proton Business plan — Mail Essentials, Mail Professional or Proton Business Suite — can try Proton Scribe for free for 14 days. After that, the tool costs $3 per month per user.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/proton-mail-now-has-a-privacy-focused-ai-writing-assistant-155816223.html?src=rss
Nintendo just announced its own first-party Joy-Con controller charging station, which releases on October 17. This is an obvious boon for couch co-op addicts, as you can have two Joy-Cons charging on the dock and another two charging via the console at the same time. Nintendo’s charging station also integrates with the company’s retro wireless NES gamepads, which are primarily used with Nintendo Switch Online games.
The Joy-Con Charging Stand (Two-Way) accessory draws power from the Switch’s dock, via the USB-C port, or any other power adapter. The vertical support can also be removed to make it more portable, another bonus for those couch co-op sleepovers. Nintendo hasn’t released any pricing information yet to go along with the October release date. It’s currently set for a launch in the US, Europe and Japan. October 17 is the same day that Super Mario Party Jamboree launches, so that would make for some good accessory-based synergy.
Charge your #NintendoSwitch Joy-Con controllers and Nintendo Entertainment System controllers with the Joy-Con Charging Stand (Two-Way) accessory, available October 17th. pic.twitter.com/qv6k8GAm6e
— Nintendo of Europe (@NintendoEurope) July 18, 2024
It’s worth noting that the Nintendo Switch is over seven years old. This accessory will be released 2,785 days after the console originally launched. Heck, the Switch 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) will probably hit store shelves early next year. What I’m saying is that this would have been a lot more useful six or seven years ago. Better late than never?
This is likely to be the Switch’s final holiday season. There’s a new Legend of Zelda game hitting on September 26, along with a themed console. Another big holiday-adjacent title is Mario & Luigi: Brothership, which comes out on November 7.
Update, July 18 2024, 2:57 PM ET: This story has been updated to confirm a US release after speaking to a company rep.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-finally-made-a-first-party-joy-con-charging-station-152326371.html?src=rss
It was a shame to see 1047 Games putting Splitgate on ice back in 2022. The studio did a great job of freshening up the competitive arena shooter genre by adding portals (think: Quake meets Portal), but it moved on to a new project. We now know that’s going to be Splitgate 2, a free-to-play sequel that’s coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S next year.
1047 Games is going bigger in all kinds of ways this time around, including with a much larger development team. A group of 20 first-time game developers created Splitgate, which started as a school project. The team is now more than 150 strong and features devs with experience on the likes of Call of Duty, Overwatch, Halo, Valorant and League of Legends.
The sequel is being built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. It will have three factions you can pick from based on your preferred play style and tactics. The Aeros are agile, Sabrasks are all about power and Meridians can manipulate time.
There will be many areas, weapons and modes to check out, though the bulk of the action will be in four versus four combat. A debut trailer gives some idea of what to expect and more details will be revealed in August. Fans can check out a free comic series and unlock in-game collectibles through the Splitgate 2 companion app for iOS and Android.
1047 Games has a tough act to follow since Splitgate was very well received and it proved popular — it had more than 22 million downloads. It’s a strong foundation to build on, though, and the Splitgate 2 trailer (despite being a cinematic rather than gameplay-focused one) looks very promising.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/splitgate-2-is-coming-to-pc-and-consoles-in-2025-144400499.html?src=rss