Xbox is changing its process for forming connections on the gaming platform. Its new method works like, well, just about every other social platform, where you'll send a friend request that is either accepted or denied.
That sounds like the obvious way for this feature to function, but Xbox adopted a more passive approach to friends for the recent console generation. The way it works in the current system is that anybody can add another Xbox account to their follow list. When two accounts followed each other, they were upgraded to friends.
Microsoft
The change shouldn't yield much of a difference in players' social tab. If you're already friends, you'll stay friends. If you aren't mutuals, you'll continue following the account. That means you can still keep an eye on updates from individuals, clubs and games within the Xbox ecosystem.
Xbox is also launching new privacy and notification options to help manage the return of friendship, so players can set who is able to follow them or send them friend requests. The blog post didn't give a release date for when the new friends system will get a public rollout, but it is available starting this week as a preview for people in the Xbox Insiders program.
Today's announcement is the latest in a wave of Xbox news in the past month. The company also introduced the Game Pass Standard plan and opened pre-orders for the all-digital Xbox Series X.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/friend-requests-are-returning-to-xbox-220614785.html?src=rss
Earlier this year, Google said goodbye to its cached web page feature, saying it’s no longer needed. While many were sad to see it go, we can now rejoice as Google is partnering with the Internet Archive to bring something substantially similar back. Thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, you can now look at archived web pages easily.
Clicking on the three dots beside any search result will let you begin to access cached pages. Next, look for the “About this Result” panel and click “More About This Page.” Doing so will lead you to the Wayback Machine, allowing anyone to see snapshots of webpages from various times.
Director of the Wayback Machine Mark Graham said some archived web pages won’t be available because their rights holders have opted out of having their sites archived by the Internet Archive.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/google-searches-now-link-to-the-internet-archive-164814487.html?src=rss
With even Fox News and senior Republican figures admitting that Vice President Kamala Harris won Tuesday night’s presidential debate, some supporters of former president Donald Trump are desperately seeking crumbs of comfort. Cue the predictable conspiracy theories.
A frequent refrain that has emerged from conservatives (but curiously, not Democrats) over the last decade or so is that their guy's opponent was wearing an earpiece during debates. These baseless accusations were slung at President Joe Biden in 2020, at Hillary Clinton in 2016 and at Barack Obama in 2012. The theory was debunked on each occasion.
In Harris’ case, conspiracy theorists have claimed on X and other social media platforms that her earrings had earpieces built in. In search of an earpiece that resembles pearl studs, these sore losers declared Harris was using Nova's H1 Audio Earrings.
The earrings are said to have directional sound that remains audible only to the wearer. Per their Kickstarter page, they "are placed on the earlobes and project the sound from inside the pearl straight into your ear canal." Sure, they look a little like the pearl earrings Harris wore on stage but they're not the same. Style bloggers have already identified the pair of Tiffany earrings Harris wore to the debate and at previous events (as well as noting that she has worn a chain from the same collection).
The main trouble is that the Nova H1 Audio Earrings barely exist.
As Newsweekpointed out, the device was part of a Kickstarter project that faded into the ether. The earrings aren’t available to buy anywhere online and never have been. Nova Products, the company behind the campaign, hasn’t logged into Kickstarter since May 2023, and backers have posted on the page asking for a status update on the earrings they were supposed to receive in exchange for their pledge.
The URL for Nova Products’ website, as listed on Kickstarter, now redirects to that of another company, Icebach Sound Solutions. That website showcases a pair of audio earrings with a different design and, in the wake of the debate, a message stating "special edition for presidential debates — soon available to everyone" was added to the site sometime between 7AM and 11:25AM ET, according to caches on The Wayback Machine. That presumably tongue-in-cheek claim added links to the CES 2025 website.
Icebach Sound Solutions
Both Icebach and Nova's website's list their domain registrar as one Stephan Berendsen of BBG Entertainment GmbH, an apparent mobile games developer based in Germany. What such a company has to do with audio products or the US presidential election remains a mystery, but we've reached out to BBG — as well as the Harris campaign — for comment.
"We do not know whether Mrs. Harris wore one of our products. The resemblance is striking and while our product was not specifically developed for the use at presidential debates, it is nonetheless suited for it," Icebach Sound Solutions managing director Malte Iversen told Engadget in a statement, in what we assume is an attempt to cash in on some sudden if unusual publicity. "To ensure a level playing field for both candidates, we are currently developing a male version and will soon be able to offer it to the Trump campaign. The choice of color is a bit challenging though as orange does not go well with a lot of colors."
In any case, this seems like another straightforward job for Occam's razor. Harris almost certainly did not wear an earpiece because the earrings she wore look noticeably different and the product she's accused of wearing doesn't exist. By the same token, it's simply more plausible a seasoned politician can win a debate being extremely well-prepared and ready to throw an opponent with a notoriously fragile ego off their game without requiring a team to feed them information via an earpiece.
The Nova H1 Audio Earrings show all the classic signs of being vaporware, right down to being shown off for the first time at CES 2023, though perhaps we'll see a new version under different branding somewhere on the show floor in January.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/the-audio-earrings-kamala-harris-didnt-wear-during-the-debate-barely-even-exist-161526009.html?src=rss
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised to introduce legislation that would prevent children under a certain age from using social media. Reuters reported that Albanese issued his statement in a TV interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC).
Albanese says the Australian government would start its social media initiative by testing age verification technology sometime this year. He also didn’t state a specific age limit but estimated he’d like the ban to be for children younger than 14-16 because “we know that social media is causing social harm.”
Meta issued a statement in response to the PM’s proposal noting that Facebook and Instagram already have a minimum age requirement of 13 years for users. The social media company also noted it wants to empower young people to benefit from social media with parental controls and monitoring “instead of just cutting off access.”
Lawmakers in the US and other countries have suggested and tried to implement a federal age limit on social media access. Last year, US Senator Josh Hawley introduced two bills to Congress that would prohibit teenagers under 16 from using social media. The state of Utah also passed laws in 2023 requiring teens to have parental consent and provide a copy of an ID instead of just inputting their birthday to access their accounts. The following year, Utah repealed the ID requirements.
Social media use has become a greater health issue as experts raise concerns about its effects on younger users’ mental well being. An open letter signed by 42 US attorneys general supported US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s proposal to require social media websites to post visible health warnings the way that cigarette makers are required to do so on their products’ packaging.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/australias-prime-minister-wants-to-ban-social-media-for-children-212139064.html?src=rss
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised to introduce legislation that would prevent children under a certain age from using social media. Reuters reported that Albanese issued his statement in a TV interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC).
Albanese says the Australian government would start its social media initiative by testing age verification technology sometime this year. He also didn’t state a specific age limit but estimated he’d like the ban to be for children younger than 14-16 because “we know that social media is causing social harm.”
Meta issued a statement in response to the PM’s proposal noting that Facebook and Instagram already have a minimum age requirement of 13 years for users. The social media company also noted it wants to empower young people to benefit from social media with parental controls and monitoring “instead of just cutting off access.”
Lawmakers in the US and other countries have suggested and tried to implement a federal age limit on social media access. Last year, US Senator Josh Hawley introduced two bills to Congress that would prohibit teenagers under 16 from using social media. The state of Utah also passed laws in 2023 requiring teens to have parental consent and provide a copy of an ID instead of just inputting their birthday to access their accounts. The following year, Utah repealed the ID requirements.
Social media use has become a greater health issue as experts raise concerns about its effects on younger users’ mental well being. An open letter signed by 42 US attorneys general supported US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s proposal to require social media websites to post visible health warnings the way that cigarette makers are required to do so on their products’ packaging.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/australias-prime-minister-wants-to-ban-social-media-for-children-212139064.html?src=rss
If you grew up in the 1980s, then you probably remember the Carmen Sandiego games and how they turned learning boring old geography into a fun, criminal-catching adventure. Netflix, Gameloft and HarperCollins Productions are bringing the Carmen Sandiego franchise back with a brand new game that lets you play as the famous, fedora festooned felon.
Netflix Games announced today that Carmen Sandiego will be released sometime in the first quarter of 2025 starting on the Netflix mobile streaming app for iOS and Android. The game will also be released on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation and Xbox consoles and for PC on Steam sometime later. Carmen Sandiego will be free for Netflix subscribers to play without any in-game purchases or online play.
The new Carmen Sandiego puzzle-adventure game is based on the 2019 interactive Netflix cartoon series with Jane The Virgin star Gina Rodriguez voicing the titular thief. The new game picks up where the series left off but it’s more than just an interactive TV show. Netflix, GameLoft and HarperCollins will send players on an adventure across the world as Carmen Sandiego through a series of puzzle, clue gathering, flying and stealth missions. They'll track down members of the evil organization VILE based on clues that reveal each villain’s identity in various cities to obtain warrants and arrest them.
Of course, prior to being rebooted on Netflix, Carmen Sandiego was a classic educational game series that started on computers in 1985 with Where In The World is Carmen Sandiego? The geography puzzle games asked players to track down Carmen and her den of appropriately named thieves who stole some of the world’s rarest cultural artifacts.
The Carmen Sandiego games went through several variations and inspired the iconic kids’ game show on PBS in 1991 that ran for five seasons. The series also spawned a Saturday morning cartoon on FOX and a Netflix animated series. Netflix is also producing a live-action Carmen Sandiego film starring Rodriguez in the lead role, according to Entertainment Tonight.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-new-carmen-sandiego-game-will-let-you-play-as-carmen-sandiego-194540530.html?src=rss
If you grew up in the 1980s, then you probably remember the Carmen Sandiego games and how they turned learning boring old geography into a fun, criminal-catching adventure. Netflix, Gameloft and HarperCollins Productions are bringing the Carmen Sandiego franchise back with a brand new game that lets you play as the famous, fedora festooned felon.
Netflix Games announced today that Carmen Sandiego will be released sometime in the first quarter of 2025 starting on the Netflix mobile streaming app for iOS and Android. The game will also be released on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation and Xbox consoles and for PC on Steam sometime later. Carmen Sandiego will be free for Netflix subscribers to play without any in-game purchases or online play.
The new Carmen Sandiego puzzle-adventure game is based on the 2019 interactive Netflix cartoon series with Jane The Virgin star Gina Rodriguez voicing the titular thief. The new game picks up where the series left off but it’s more than just an interactive TV show. Netflix, GameLoft and HarperCollins will send players on an adventure across the world as Carmen Sandiego through a series of puzzle, clue gathering, flying and stealth missions. They'll track down members of the evil organization VILE based on clues that reveal each villain’s identity in various cities to obtain warrants and arrest them.
Of course, prior to being rebooted on Netflix, Carmen Sandiego was a classic educational game series that started on computers in 1985 with Where In The World is Carmen Sandiego? The geography puzzle games asked players to track down Carmen and her den of appropriately named thieves who stole some of the world’s rarest cultural artifacts.
The Carmen Sandiego games went through several variations and inspired the iconic kids’ game show on PBS in 1991 that ran for five seasons. The series also spawned a Saturday morning cartoon on FOX and a Netflix animated series. Netflix is also producing a live-action Carmen Sandiego film starring Rodriguez in the lead role, according to Entertainment Tonight.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-new-carmen-sandiego-game-will-let-you-play-as-carmen-sandiego-194540530.html?src=rss
Kind Words 2 (lofi city pop), a game where you send real letters to real people and then wander around a cozy town, is due to hit Steam on October 7.
It’s the sequel to Kind Words (lo-fi chill beats to write to), an award-winning 2019 game from independent Boston studio Popcannibal. Players in the original game had a single bedroom where, backdropped by a sweet lo-fi soundtrack, they wrote and responded to letters from other players. There were small bits of room customization and sticker collection in the game, but it was truly just about connecting with strangers in a warm and nice way. This was a prescient idea: Just six months after Kind Words came out, the coronavirus pandemic locked down the globe. Connecting with people safely and from a distance suddenly became a top priority, and Kind Words carried this responsibility well. In the five years since launch, hundreds of thousands of players have sent more than 6 million messages in-game.
Kind Words 2 imports your letters, room changes and stickers from the first game, and it allows you to leave the bedroom and explore a small town of shops, cafes and parks. On top of the standard letter-writing loop, you can customize your avatar with new clothes, scream (in written form) into the void, wish on a star, perform poetry and interact with other players in public spaces. The endlessly chill soundtrack comes from Slay the Spire and Kind Words composer Clark Aboud. It all looks — and sounds — incredibly adorable.
In terms of game design, Popcannibal faces a unique and impossible-sounding challenge with the Kind Words series. Instead of having to build innovative environments or ultra-responsive controls, developers have to create a world that encourages anonymous online strangers to be nice to each other. The original game excelled in this regard, using visuals, mechanics, mood and music to foster friendly conversations among thousands of anonymous players worldwide. Kind Words 2 is bigger, but the vibe seems just as snuggly, and this time around Popcannibal has years of experience moderating and vibe-curating under its belt. If anyone can create a troll-free anonymous social network, it’s these folks.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/kind-words-2-takes-cozy-letter-writing-to-the-city-on-october-7-215127953.html?src=rss
Indie developer Gardenfiend Games just released a gorgeous plant horror game that its team describes as “Hollow Knight meets Titan Souls.” Perennial Order, which dropped on September 6 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, is a 2D boss rush game that pulls inspiration from Dark Souls, Princess Mononoke, and the art style of Magic: The Gathering. Its protagonist is an undead knight with a pitcher plant for a head (or maybe it’s a helmet?) and a stinger grafted onto one arm, and the hostile world it’s set in is crawling with plant-infested monsters. Needless to say, I downloaded it immediately.
You can play Perennial Order solo or with a friend — it offers both local and online co-op, with cross-platform support. There are 15 bosses to face, and with one-hit-death combat, your every move is critical. Thankfully, you respawn close to where you died, because you’ll probably be doing a lot of that with some enemies.
I’ve spent a little bit of time with Perennial Order this weekend, and it is really captivating. The environment and music are beautiful, creating an atmosphere that’s wonderfully bleak as you explore between boss fights and piece together the lore through interactions with talkative NPCs. I love a good plant horror, and Perennial Order does not disappoint.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/perennial-order-is-a-stunning-2d-soulslike-filled-with-plant-monsters-thatll-kill-you-in-one-hit-203121605.html?src=rss
NBC is offering a discount on its Peacock Premium streaming service. Until September 6, you can get four months of access to the ad-supported tier of the streaming platform for $5 per month. This deal nets you more than 30 percent off the list price for the plan during that time frame; the Peacock Premium access tier normally costs $8 a month.
To take advantage of the reduced price, customers can sign in to the Peacock platform and use the code TGIF. Once you've signed up, the plan can be canceled at any time. The TGIF offer can't be combined with any other deal, and it does not extend to current subscribers on the Peacock Premium and Premium Plus plans. As mentioned, the deal is only available for a limited window, through September 6.
Now is a good time for football fans to try out Peacock. The NFL season begins this weekend and Peacock will have exclusive access to the Packers v. Eagles game being played in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 6. The network's exclusive stream of the AFC Wild Card game in January set records as the most streamed live event in history, reaching 27.6 million viewers.
On top of the seasonal sports content, Peacock is also home to several fan favorite TV sitcoms including The Office, Parks and Recreation, and New Girl. It also hosts original programming such as Poker Face.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/peacock-premium-is-only-5-for-four-months-for-a-limited-time-225157876.html?src=rss