Nothing is preparing to release its second set of true wireless earbuds and it’s given a first peek at what it has in store. The company started teasing the Ear Stick with images of the cylindrical charging case, which made an appearance on the runway at London Fashion Week.
Details are still scant, though the Ear Stick is an “entirely new product” with a fresh bud and case, Nothing told The Verge. Nothing also says the earbuds have a “feather-light” ergonomic design, which is “molded to your ears.” Leaked images of Nothing’s next earbuds indicated that they have a similar design to the company’s first attempt, Ear 1. As for the new charging case, Nothing said it was “inspired by classic cosmetic silhouettes” to build a product that can easily slip into users’ pockets.
The Ear Stick earbuds are slated to arrive later this year. Given its track record, expect Nothing to tediously drip feed more info about the product in the coming weeks.
ByteDance subsidiary Pico has unveiled its latest virtual reality headset. The Pico 4 will initially be available in Japan, South Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and eight other European countries. Pico hasn’t revealed US release plans as yet, but it aims to bring the device to Singapore and Malaysia by the end of the year, and China at a later date.
The headset — which has a Qualcomm XR2 processor, an Adreno 650 GPU and 8GB of RAM — can be used as a standalone device. Pico claims the battery, which is in the rear strap to help keep things balanced, offers around three hours of use on a single charge, as The Verge notes. The device weighs 295 grams without the strap and 586 grams when it’s attached.
You can also connect Pico 4 to a gaming PC for higher-end VR experiences. That might be necessary to make full use of the dual displays, which offer higher than 4K resolution at 4,320 x 2,160 resolution for each eye. The displays have a 90Hz refresh rate and 105-degree field of view, according to Pocket-lint.
The Pico 4 uses inside-out tracking with no need for external beacons. It comes with Pico 4 motion controllers (which have vibration features) and there are four external cameras, as Road to VR points out. According to the Pico website, the device will offer full-color passthrough — something Meta is working on for its Project Cambria headset.
Pico
Given that ByteDance also owns TikTok, it shouldn’t be surprising that there’s a way to view videos from that app. You’ll be able to share VR experiences to TikTok as well. There will be hundreds more things to watch in VR and 360 formats. Pico is working to bring live sports and “avatar-based concerts” to the platform as well.
As for games, there are 165 of them in the Pico store and more being added each week. The headset will support the likes of Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, Demeo, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, All-in-One Summer Sports VR and Just Dance VR (which will arrive in 2023 as a Pico exclusive). There will also be SteamVR support.
Meanwhile, there are plans to launch a metaverse-style experience called Pico Worlds next year. Unlike in Meta’s Horizon Worlds, Pico’s avatars appear to have legs.
Considering the price and specs, it’s Pico is trying to compete with Meta Quest 2 (Meta recently bumped up the price of that product). Whether the brand can hang with Meta on the content front remains to be seen. Users are unlikely to be able to play Beat Saber, for instance. Pico also revealed its latest device just a few weeks before Meta will show off at least one VR headset, likely to be the higher-end Project Cambria model, at Connect.
A Pico 4 with 128GB of storage costs €429 (around $422). A model with double the storage capacity will run you €499 (approximately $491). Preorders open next month and the headset will ship on October 18th. Pico also plans to release some accessories next year. A more accurate fitness tracker, a wireless dongle for PC connectivity and a carrying case will each cost €50 (or around $49).
Microsoft isn’t going to be left off the fall hardware event calendar. The company will hold a Surface event on October 12th at 10AM ET. While it’s not completely clear what Microsoft plans to show off beyond “devices,” we may get our first official look at the Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5 in a few weeks. Some details about the upcoming products emerged this week via retailer leaks.
According to WinFuture, the devices will likely use 12th-gen Intel CPUs, though the Surface Pro 9 may have an ARM-based processor option with 5G support. Microsoft may offer up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM in both devices. It seems there are new color options too.
Microsoft is adding its name to a busy event schedule. Amazon will hold a hardware showcase on September 28th, while Google has set a Pixel event for October 6th. Apple is also expected to run a Mac- and iPad-focused event in October.
Logitech has unveiled two new products aimed at creators, including one designed to help them look their best while streaming or recording videos. Litra Beam is a key light that has a three-way adjustable desktop stand, which should help you find the right height, tilt and rotation for your needs. Logitech notes that, by adding one or more of the lights to their setup, creators can employ various lighting techniques, such as Front, Split, Butterfly or Rembrandt.
The key light employs TrueSoft tech. According to Logitech, that helps to provide “balanced, full-spectrum LED light with cinematic color accuracy for a natural, radiant look across all skin tones.” The company also claims the Litra Beam can do away with harsh shadows thanks to its frameless diffuser. Since it can run on either USB or AC power, you’ll have more flexibility over where to place the device.
There are buttons on the rear, which provide a way to quickly switch between five brightness and five color temperature settings. Alternatively, you can control the Litra Beam via the Logitech G Hub desktop app. From here, you can tweak brightness by percentage value, adjust the color temperature by Kelvins, control multiple key lights at the same time and manage presets.
Logitech
You might want your streams, videos and calls to sound good too. Logitech also announced a Blue Sona XLR broadcast mic. It has a built-in preamp that offers a +25dB gain boost, a dual-diaphragm capsule and supercardioid pickup pattern (designed to reduce or eliminate background noise) and a 290-degree swivel mount. It’s available in graphite and off-white finishes with swappable red and graphite windscreens.
The Litra Beam, which follows the $60 Litra Glow light Logitech announced earlier this year, won’t break the bank. It costs $100/£99/€119, so it’s perhaps a more budget-friendly alternative to Elgato’s lights. As for the Blue Sona, that will run you $350/£329/€349. Both products are available starting today in the US, Canada and some European countries.
Ted Lasso is coming to FIFA 23 and he’s bringing AFC Richmond with him. EA teamed up with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to include the stars of Ted Lasso in the game — Warner Bros. is one of the producers and distributors of the Apple TV+ hit. You’ll be able to play as Roy Kent et al in several modes, including Career Mode, Kickoff, Online Friendlies and Online Seasons.
FIFA 23will make Richmond kits, tifos, manager items (including Coach Beard ones) and other content available to unlock through FIFA Ultimate Team and Pro Clubs. Richmond’s Nelson Road stadium will be in the game too. Hopefully, we’ll hear a Roy Kent chant or two from the crowd.
As for Ted Lasso himself, you’ll be able to select him as the manager of Richmond or any other team in Career Mode. Alternatively, any other manager, including a created one, can take control of Richmond. You can also have your own created player take to the pitch alongside the likes of Jamie Tartt, Sam Obisanya and Dani Rojas. EA released a trailer that features Wayne Rooney, Jack Grealish and Trent Crimm (formerly of The Independent):
“It is so f***ing cool to be in FIFA. I’m not sure this is going to help dispel the CGI rumors but f*** it, totally worth it,” Brett Goldstein, who plays Roy Kent, said in a statement. “I look forward to beating my nephew in a game with me as Roy Kent and him as Jamie Tartt. He’s gonna be furious.”
FIFA 23 is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC (where it will have EA’s new anti-cheat tech) and Stadia on September 30th. It might not be Ted Lasso’s only appearance in a video game, though. Leaks have suggested he’ll be a playable character in Warner Bros’ crossover fighting game MultiVersus at some point.
Logitech is hosting an event today, during which it’s revealing some new products for gamers and streamers. Details on one of those leaked in advance as a preorder page for the Logitech G Cloud Gaming Handheld went live on Amazon Canada a bit early. The company has now officially unveiled the device.
According to the listing, which was spotted by Lbabinz on Twitter, the Cloud Gaming Handheld will arrive on October 18th and cost $400 CAD. Logitech’s press materials, on the other hand, say the product will ship next month. The system will also be available from Amazon in the US, where it costs $350 USD, or $300 if you preorder. That’s fairly pricey for a dedicated cloud gaming handheld, especially considering that a Nintendo Switch OLED is the same price (and can be jailbroken to run cloud gaming services).
Logitech
The specs and design align with leaked details from late August. You’ll be able to stream games in 1080p at up to 60 frames per second on the seven-inch, 450-nit touchscreen. The handheld, which is a customized Android tablet housed inside a controller unit, offers haptic feedback, gyroscope controls and remappable buttons. It has the inputs you’d expect, including a D-pad, face buttons, dual thumbsticks, bumpers and triggers, along with option buttons on both sides, a G button and a Home button.
Because you’ll be streaming games for the most part, the Cloud Gaming Handheld doesn’t require a ton of processing power. That’s one likely reason why Logitech has been able to limit the weight to 463g, or just over a pound. For comparison, the Nintendo Switch weighs 0.88 pounds (398g) when the Joy-Cons are attached and the Steam Deck weighs around 1.5 pounds (669g).
The device runs on an octo-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G. It has 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 64GB of storage, which is expandable through a microSD slot. Logitech claims the battery will run for up to 12 hours on a single charge. If the power’s off, it should fully recharge in around 2.5 hours through a USB-C cable.
There are stereo speakers and a stereo microphone, which offers echo canceling and noise suppression. In addition, the device has Bluetooth 5.1 and USB-C headphone support, as well as, thankfully, a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Logitech
Logitech and Tencent (who built the device together) collaborated with Microsoft and NVIDIA to ensure there’s native support for Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now. You’ll be able to use the Steam Link app to play games from your PC remotely, while the Xbox app supports remote play from consoles. Logitech notes that users will be able to download apps from the Google Play Store. So, you should be able to access the likes of Google Stadia and Amazon Luna, as well as social media apps, Android games and streaming video services such as YouTube and Netflix (you can use the device in tablet mode).
“What we wanted to do was challenge ourselves to build a device that was perfectly optimized for cloud gaming,” Ujesh Desai, vice president and general manager of Logitech Gaming, said in a statement. “This meant precision controls – similar to a high-end Xbox controller – a large HD screen, amazing battery life and lightweight design so players can enjoy long gaming sessions, without any compromises.”
Update 12:12 PM ET: Added more details from Logitech.
American Airlines says that hackers may have obtained personal information for a “very small number” of customers and employees. The company did not say exactly how many people were impacted, though it noted there’s no evidence that the attackers have misused the information. It told affected customers that names, driver’s license and passport numbers, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and medical information may have been compromised.
The hackers gained access to American’s email system through a phishing campaign, as the Associated Press reported. The company told regulators in Montana that it discovered the intrusion in July. It started informing affected customers last week. American says it has secured the breached email accounts and brought in a third-party cybersecurity firm to investigate.
American said it’s putting more technical measures in place to prevent similar breaches from occurring. The company has also offered customers affected by the breach two years of identity theft-protection coverage.
An American Airlines spokesperson provided the following statement to Engadget:
“American Airlines is aware of a phishing campaign that led to the unauthorized access to a limited number of team member mailboxes. A very small number of customers and employees’ personal information was contained in those email accounts. While we have no evidence that any personal information has been misused, data security is of the utmost importance and we offered customers and team members precautionary support. We are also currently implementing additional technical safeguards to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.”
EA’s Motive Studio is putting the finishing touches on its solid-looking Dead Space remake, but it’s already looking ahead to other projects. EA announced that Motive has teamed up with Marvel to make an Iron Man game.
Although the title is in early development, the company has teased out a few details. It will be a single-player, third-person, action-adventure game with an original story. The idea is that you’ll be able to “feel what it’s like to truly play as Iron Man,” EA claimed in a statement.
The Motive team working on the project will be led by Olivier Proulx, who was a senior producer on last year’s surprisingly great Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Proulx also worked on the single-player side of Marvel’s Avengers and so won’t be a stranger to Iron Man. “We have a great opportunity to create a new and unique story that we can call our own. Marvel is encouraging us to create something fresh,” Proulx said.
EA said the Iron Man game marks the beginning of its partnership with Marvel as it’s the first of several titles they’ll make together. Rumors suggest one of those is a Black Panther game.
NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference isn’t only about gaming graphics cards. The company had other news up its sleeve, including in the autonomous vehicle space. During the GTC keynote, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced a system-on-chip (SoC) called Drive Thor. NVIDIA says it designed the chip using the latest advancements in graphics and processing to provide 2,000 teraflops of performance, all while keeping costs down.
NVIDIA says that Drive Thor can unify all the various functions of vehicles — including infotainment, the digital dashboard, sensors, parking and autonomous operation — for greater efficiency. Vehicles with the chipset will be able to run Linux, QNX and Android simultaneously. Given the vast processing power that autonomous vehicle operations require, automakers can even use two of the Drive Thor chipsets in tandem by employing a NVLink-C2C chip interconnect technology to have them running a single operating system.
In addition, NVIDIA claims that the SoC marks a significant leap forward in “deep neural network accuracy.” The chipset has a transformer engine, a new addition to the NVIDIA GPU Tensor Core. “Transformer networks process video data as a single perception frame, enabling the compute platform to process more data over time,” NVIDIA says. It noted that the SoC can boost inference performance of transformer deep neural networks by up to nine times, “which is paramount for supporting the massive and complex AI workloads associated with self driving.”
The SoC follows NVIDIA’s Drive Orin chipset and it replaces Drive Atlan. It will be used in vehicles that go into production starting in 2025. The first customer NVIDIA has lined up is Geely-owned EV brand Zeekr, which is already using Orin chipsets for level 3 automation. Meanwhile, NVIDIA has signed up two more Drive Orin partners: automakers Xpeng and QCraft.
Deathloop, a terrific time-loop puzzle box in the guise of a first-person shooter, is now available on Xbox. Until now, Arkane Lyon’s most recent game had been a PlayStation 5 console exclusive (it was available on PC too). As of today, though, it’s playable on Xbox Series X/S through Xbox Game Pass, as well as on Xbox One, tablets, phones and desktop browsers through cloud gaming. PC Game Pass subscribers can check it out at no extra cost on their gaming rig too. In addition, PS Plus Extra and Premium members now have access to Deathloopon PS5 as part of their subscription.
It’s not exactly surprising that Deathloop landed on Xbox Game Pass after the PS5 exclusivity window closed. Arkane Lyon and publisher Bethesda Softworks are now owned by Microsoft, which honored Sony’s exclusivity deals for Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo after completing its acquisition of ZeniMax Media.
Meanwhile, Arkane has rolled out a free Deathloop update called Goldenloop. It introduces cross-play for player vs. player matchmaking across all platforms, as well as cross-saves across Xbox and PC. There’s a new ability called Fugue, a projectile that can slow down and confuse targets to briefly make them harmless. There are four Fugue upgrades to discover, including one that allows you to deploy the projectile as a proximity mine on a surface. Julianna’s Masquerade ability now has some upgrades too.
Players will have access to a new weapon called the Halps Prototype. This is a laser-style rifle with a beam that you can bounce off of turrets and security cameras to hit enemies from surprising angles with bank shots. The Paint-Bomber is a fresh enemy that will run toward you with paint-filled explosives strapped to them. Elsewhere, there are new 2-in-1 trinkets that combine the effects of two previous trinkets to beef up your loadout and perhaps free up some space in your inventory for other perks. Arkane also said the update brings an extended ending and some new secrets to Deathloop.
In addition, Microsoft revealed details on some more titles that are coming to Game Pass in the coming weeks. Among them is Hardspace: Shipbreaker, a puzzle game that sees you cutting up old spaceships for salvage. That’s available for Xbox Series X/S and via the cloud today. Slime Rancher 2is coming to PC, Series X/S and Xbox Cloud Gaming through Game Pass on its release date of September 22nd. As for smash hit survival title Valheim, that will land on PC Game Pass on September 29th ahead of an upcoming console version.
