Google Fiber will offer 5Gbps and 8Gbps internet plans in early 2023

Google Fiber’s sudden revival will include a dramatic boost to internet speeds. Google has revealed that it will offer 5Gbps and 8Gbps plans in early 2023 at respective monthly rates of $125 and $150. Both tiers will include symmetric upload and download rates, a WiFi 6 router and up to two mesh network extenders. The upgrades should help with massive file transfers while keeping lag and jittering to a bare minimum, according to the company.

Current customers, particularly in Kansas City, Utah and West Des Moines, can try the speedier plans as soon as November if they sign up to become “trusted testers.” If you’re eligible, Google will ask you how you expect to use the extra bandwidth.

This is a big jump from the previous-best 2Gbps service Google introduced in 2020, and could make a big difference if you’re a gamer or thrive on cloud computing. If a 150GB Microsoft Flight Simulator download takes 11 minutes at 2Gbps, the 8Gbps plan could cut that wait to less than three minutes in ideal conditions. It certainly makes typical cable internet plans seem expensive. Comcast is already offering 6Gbps service in some areas, for instance, but that costs $300 per month on contract and doesn’t yet include symmetric uploads.

Either way, the new plans represent a declaration of intent. Alongside the first network expansions in five years, the upgraded speeds suggest Google is getting back to Fiber’s roots. That is, it’s both raising expectations for truly fast internet access and (to a degree) spurring competition among incumbent providers. This could help Google pitch its other services, of course, but you might not mind if it gives telecoms an extra incentive to roll out ’10G’ and similar upgrades sooner than they might have otherwise.

‘Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion’ tries to scale up a PSP game to the PS5

In 2007, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core was a spin-off game; One part of a cash grab aimed at Final Fantasy 7 obsessives that were looking for something to play on the PlayStation Portable. It was a prequel-flavored slice of Midgar and the world of FF7 with real-time battles, baffling reels and enough goodwill and story lore to make it all just about work.

The story centers around a relatively minor (but popular!) character from the original game, Zack. Without spoiling the whys and whens (and 2020’s FF7R is shaking up the canon of Final Fantasy 7 anyhow), Zack has significant connections to Cloud, the big bad Sephiroth and other characters. Unfortunately, he dies before the original game starts and only appears in flashbacks.

As Square Enix tees up part 2 of its big-budget Remake project, Crisis Core Reunion gives newer players the chance to fill in the storyline blanks on Zack. He’s featured in post-credit scenes in Remake, suggesting he might be a more significant character going forward.

Square Enix has upgraded the character models, backgrounds, textures and the UI to bring some degree of graphical parity between Crisis Core and the recent Remake. There’s also voice acting across the entire storyline of the game. However, the character animations haven’t benefited from the same level of attention – it looks like Final Fantasy X’s HD remaster. That’s not so bad, but it’s a little disappointing from a PS5 game in 2022. Crisis Core Reunion has several character models that look almost good enough to appear in Remake, even if they move like characters in a PS2 game. (Sephiroth in particular, who appears briefly in the demo, seems more lovingly remastered than even Zack.)

It’s not all bad news. Now on a home console, you have two analog controllers to control camera and movement simultaneously: the PSP just had one analog nub. It makes the battles far easier to parse and focus on. And the battles were still enjoyable, if a little simple, during my demo.

Crisis Core Reunion
Square Enix

Don’t expect the responsive battles and spectacle of Remake, either. Crisis Core’s slot-machine battle mechanism called “Digital Mind Wave (DMW) – no idea – is still here. During battles, it will cycle automatically through numbers and pictures of characters you meet through the game. If some of the numbers match, you can pick up health, ability points, improved chances of a critical hit and more. If the reel pictures match up, you can launch a powerful Limit Break attack that can do a lot of damage, buff your character and some other nice things. If the numbers line up as “777”, Zack will gain a level — and that’s still weird.

The battle system, like the visuals, is from a simpler time. You’ll fight with a combination of sword swings, spells, and techniques, topped up with Limit Breaks. You can block and dodge, which was crucial in the two boss battles I faced. But it all felt a little too basic.

I keep comparing Crisis Core with Remake, with its fluid animation, slow-mo menus and.. Millions of dollars of development capital. That’s a little unfair, but Crisis Core Reunion is here for FF7 fans looking dive deeper into the game’s lore — 2007 was a very long time ago.

iRobot’s Roomba 694 is on sale for $199, plus the rest of the week’s best tech deals

While most of the Prime Early Access Sale deals have come and gone, there are a few sales still thriving on Amazon. Google’s Pixel 6a smartphone remains down to one of the best prices we’ve seen, while one of our favorite budget robot vacuums is close …

Apple’s mixed reality headset reportedly uses iris scanning for payments and sign-ins

Apple’s long-rumored AR/VR headset may have a few extra tricks. The Information‘s sources claim the mixed reality hardware will use iris scanning for signing in and making payments. This would make it easier to buy apps and could even simplify multi-user support, according to the tipsters. Apple has declined to comment, but it reportedly bought eye-tracking glasses creator SensoMotorics in 2017 with the headset in mind. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said in 2021 that Primax would supply the eye tracking modules, and that they support iris detection.

The headset might also have a few advantages over Meta’s just-announced Quest Pro. Two of the previously claimed 14 cameras will supposedly track your legs, giving it an advantage in full-body tracking versus the 10-camera Meta device (which doesn’t have leg-focused cams). The goggle-like design’s combination of aluminum, fabric and glass is also said to be lighter than the 1.6-pound Quest Pro, although the tipsters didn’t say by how much.

Past rumors also hinted at other premium features, including very high-resolution displays, detailed face expression tracking and even a way to magnetically clip on custom prescription lenses. The headset might be powered by the M2 chip in recent Macs, but could use a low display refresh rate to extend battery life at the expense of a more natural-feeling experience.

Numerous reported leaks have pointed to a headset launch sometime in 2023. The question is whether or not any final product will be accessible. More than one rumor has floated a price tag as high as $3,000. You might get more features than the $1,500 Quest Pro, but you’d also pay for them. Even more so than with Meta’s hardware, that pricing could limit the initial Apple headset’s audience to developers and other pro creators.

SpaceX says it needs US government help funding Starlink satellite internet in Ukraine

SpaceX’s donations of Starlink satellite service to Ukraine might not last much longer. CNN says it obtained documents indicating that SpaceX sent a letter to the Defense Department in September claiming the company is “not in a position” to fund Starlink internet in Ukraine as it has without tens of millions of dollars in monthly funding. The company estimated that data access for the Ukranian government and military might cost $124 million for the rest of 2022 and almost $380 million per year, and asked the Pentagon to take over that financing.

Elon Musk elaborated on the reasoning in a tweet on Friday. SpaceX couldn’t afford to fund the current infrastructure “indefinitely” while simultaneously delivering more Starlink terminals and managing data use “100X greater” than typical homes, Musk claimed. The satellite technology has not only been used to coordinate Ukranian military campaigns, but can be used to provide data to cell towers and other civilian networks that serve many people. The executive added that the “burn” was close to $20 million per month and included the cost of defending against Russian “cyberattacks & jamming.”

The documents apparently contradict one of Musk’s earlier claims, however. Where he said last week that only a “small percentage” of Starlink terminals and service received external funding, the letter suggests about 85 percent of the 20,000 Ukraine systems at the time (now 25,000) were at least partly funded by the US, Poland and others. A leak in April indicated that the US had already spent millions to get Starlink hardware to Ukraine. Even so, resources may have been tight. Ukranian commander General Valerii Zaluzhniy directly asked Musk to provide close to 8,000 additional terminals in July, but SpaceX answered by pointing the military leader to the Defense Department.

Word of the letter comes at a bad moment for Musk. He recently drew flak from Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky and diplomat Andrij Melnyk for proposing a peace deal that included conceding the illegally annexed Crimea region to Russia. Musk even half-joked his firm was “just following [Melnyk’s] recommendation” to “fuck off” following the proposal. We’d add that Musk’s net worth of roughly $220 billion is more than Ukraine’s 2021 GDP — there have been numerous calls for the entrepreneur to personally fund Starlink service. There are doubts SpaceX is fully committed to supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia, and the funding request doesn’t help matters.

The best fitness trackers for 2022

The fitness tracker isn’t dead, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably one of the people keeping these little devices alive. Smartwatches like the Apple Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Watch have all but taken over the mainstream wearable space, but …

Engadget Podcast: Microsoft’s Surface event, Pixel reviews and the Quest Pro headset

What a week! This episode, Cherlynn, Devindra and Engadget’s Sam Rutherford dive into everything we learned at Microsoft’s Surface event. No, there was no new Surface Duo or Neo, and the actual fresh hardware was mostly incremental. We also reviewed the Pixel 7, 7 Pro and Pixel Watch, and Sam had some hands-on time with the latest Quest VR headset. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s some other news from Samsung, Chromebooks and more.

Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

  • Surface Studio 2+, Surface Laptop 5 and Surface Pro 9 – 1:32

  • Microsoft’s new Designer app is powered by Dall-E – 4:56

  • Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro review – 32:48

  • Pixel Watch review – 40:34

  • Sam Rutherford’s Meta Quest Pro hands-on thoughts – 55:24

  • Other news – 1:11:47

  • Working on – 1:21:23

  • Pop culture picks – 1:24:32

Video Stream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Sam Rutherford
Producer: Ben Ellman
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphics artists: Julio Barrientos, Brian Oh
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien