Новости за 01.03.2022

Paramount+ is turning a year old, and the service is marking the occasion by offering some steep discounts to new subscribers. Sign up between now and March 7th with the code BIRTHDAY and you can try the ad-supported Essential plan at $1 per month for three months, or the ad-free Premium plan (with local CBS news) for $2 per month over the same period. Just remember that you'll jump to the normal $5 Essential or $10 Premium rates after the three months are over.

In 2018, Celeste won a Game Award for the best independent release of that year. For nearly four years since, that award has been missing, but now it’s on its way back to its rightful owners at Extremely OK Games thanks to YouTuber Ryan B. In a recent video spotted by PC Gamer, he details the unusual saga.

Tango Gameworks and Bethesda think they have a way to draw you into Ghostwire: Tokyo's universe before you even start playing: give away the prequel story. The two have released a free visual novel for PS4 and PS5, Ghostwire: Tokyo - Prelude, that sets the stage for the supernatural action adventure. The novel follows detective KK as he investigates strange events half a year before the main game.

Arturia has been on a bit of a roll over these last few years. The company has always made top notch MIDI controllers and soft synths. But in 2020 it announced the KeyStep Pro and PolyBrute — delivering the MIDI controller than many had been clamoring for and an analog polysynth that hasbowledpeopleover. (Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to get my hands on one.) Then in 2021 it gave the MicroFreak and Pigments, two hugefree updates, upgraded its FX Collection with seven new plugins, and launched the SQ80 V virtual synth... Читать дальше...

Apple Arcade is adding a couple more mobile gaming classics to the lineup this month. On March 11th, the beautiful puzzle game Monument Valley 2 joins its predecessor on the service. This edition, which is called Monument Valley 2+, includes a chapter Ustwo Games added four years after the game debuted to promote forest conservation.

Effectively putting a bookend to Sony’s $1.175 billion deal to buy the platform in 2020, Crunchyroll has added more than 50 series that were previously either exclusive to Funimation or weren’t available to watch dubbed. Some of the more notable additions joining the platform’s library today include Megalobox 2: Nomad, Wonder Egg Priority and Kyoto Animation’sHyouka. Additionally, some shows that were at one point available on Crunchyroll but that the platform later pulled after Sony acquired Funimation in 2017 have returned. Читать дальше...

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted Waymo and Cruise permission to start operating commercial robotaxi services as long as there's a safety driver in the car. The companies can now pick up passengers and charge for rides. They can also offer shared rides. 

Stellantis isn't just leaning on a Chrysler concept to define its EV future. As part of a new "Dare Forward 2030" strategic plan, the automaker has unveiled the first all-electric Jeep SUV. The company didn't provide specifications or even a name, but the Jeep EV launches in early 2023 and appears to be relatively compact like the Compass. Autoblognotes Jeep might be using the STLA Small platform that supports up to an 82kWh battery and 300 miles of range.

Facebook is taking new steps to curb the influence of Russian state media outlets on its platform. The company, which has already blocked access to RT and Sputnik within the European Union and Ukraine, now says it will demote all Russian state media across Facebook and Instagram around the world.

Instagram's fierce competition with TikTok is bearing more fruit. The social network is matching its rival by introducing automatic captions (which TikTok has had since last April) to videos in your feed. They'll be enabled by default for creators, too. Auto-generated captions will initially be available in "select" languages, but Instagram hopes to expand them to more languages and countries.

NVIDIA confirmed Tuesday some of its data was stolen as part of a cyberattack that occurred last week. “We are aware that the threat actor took employee credentials and some NVIDIA proprietary information from our systems and has begun leaking it online,” a company spokesman told Engadget.

Google has been working on a "new interaction language" for years, and today it's sharing a peek at what it's developed so far. The company is showcasing a set of movements it's defined in its new interaction language in the first episode of a new series called In the lab with Google ATAP. That acronym stands for Advanced Technology and Projects, and it's Google's more-experimental division that the company calls its "hardware invention studio."

There are only a few weeks left of winter, so it's time for many folks to start planning their outdoor setup so they can get the most out of the warmer months. Unfortunately, that means irritating bugs like mosquitos are on the way back. To ward off those pesky pests, Thermacell has released a smart mosquito repellent system called Liv.

It took a year and a half, but Amazon's Luna cloud gaming service finally exists as more than an early access project. Amazon has formally launched Luna in the mainland US for Android, iOS, Chrome OS, macOS and Windows. The core Luna+ service with over 100 games will normally cost $10 per month, with the kid-friendly Family Channel and Ubisoft+ Channels available for a respective $6 and $18 per month. Amazon hopes to reel in newcomers by dropping the monthly fees of Luna+ and the Family channel... Читать дальше...

You didn't think Disney+ would only offer Marvel's Netflix shows in Canada, did you? Sure enough, Disney+ has confirmed it will carry Daredevil, Jessica Jones and other former Netflix exclusives in the US starting March 16th. Agents of SHIELD will be available, too. As you might imagine, though, Disney isn't about to release that decidedly darker content without a heads-up to parents used to more family-friendly material — it's going to make everyone reconsider their content settings.

Microsoft has revealed a solid list of titles that are coming to Game Pass this month. Starting today, you’ll be able to play Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox One, phones, tablets and web browsers via the cloud (fittingly enough). It was already on Xbox Games Pass and PC Game Pass, but now it’s available on the service formerly known as xCloud, more folks might be tempted to try the game. Game Pass Ultimate subscribers who normally play on PC might be swayed if they don’t have a rig that can get the most out ofFlight Simulator. Читать дальше...

This might be a good moment to start building your next desktop PC. Amazon is selling some of AMD's best Ryzen 5000 series processors at new all-time low prices. The six-core Ryzen 5 5600X is the best value of the bunch, selling for $260 (16 percent off) in the US and £215 in the UK. If you prize performance above all else, the 16-core Ryzen 5950X has been discounted to $599 ($200 off) in the US and £549 for UK buyers.

To say the pandemic threw off my exercise routine would be an understatement. I was a gym regular who thrived on treadmills and weight machines, and I suddenly had to improvise with pushups and runs. I struggled to maintain a routine, and for a while gave up entirely. How was I going to stay fit at a time when merely ordering dumbbells was a challenge? Late last year, though, I resolved to get back into shape and bought a $397 Echelon Connect Sport exercise bike ($599 here in Canada) to use in... Читать дальше...

It’s been about a year since Sonos released the Roam, the company’s smallest and least expensive speaker yet. As with most modern Sonos speakers, the Roam has a built-in microphone that lets you use the speaker with Amazon’s Alexa or the Google Assistant. Today, Sonos is releasing a variant of the Roam that omits that microphone, the Roam SL.

Many of Amazon's attempts at fighting climate change have revolved around policy promises and investments, but now it's focusing more on the goods it sells. The company has launched an Aware product line devoted to eco-friendly items like bedding, clothing, home essentials and skincare. In every case, they're made with "bio-based ingredients," recycled materials and other more sustainable elements.

If there’s one thing that really defined that murky period just after the turn of the millennium, it was the Razor Scooter craze. A thin-and-light scooter with impractically-small wheels, these vehicles were the ride of choice for tweens all over the US, at least before they got their own cars. Now, however, Razor is hoping to juice the nostalgia gland of all those kids by electrifying its original thin-and-light kick scooter. The Razor Icon is a scaled-up version of its original Model A, remade... Читать дальше...

If you missed the sale earlier this month, now's your chance to grab Apple's Mac Mini M1 at its best price yet. The compact desktop has returned to a record low of $570, thanks to a discount and a coupon that knocks an additional $80 off the sale price. You'll get the best deal on the 256GB version, but the 512GB model is also cheaper than usual: it's on sale for $799, but an automatically applied coupon will bring the final price down to $750.

Reddit has made r/Russia harder to find and stumble across in a move meant to minimize misinformation on the website. It has added the group to the list of "quarantined subreddits," which means it won't show up in search and recommendations, as well as in non-subscription-based feeds. Also, anyone who loads an r/Russia URL it will go through a portal where they'll have explicitly agree to visit the subreddit before seeing its content. Those who do choose to visit will see a warning at the top... Читать дальше...

I grew up in the era of VHS board games and later, DVD special features that occasionally included little trivia games or interactive fiction (the Home Movies box sets have some particularly good ones). I find them sort of interesting in a “car crash” sort of a way, because they never really worked. Today’s streaming platforms would seem ripe for a revival of the “game video” concept, but even with better technology and storytelling available to creators the examples are still few and far between. Читать дальше...

We most likely won't see the ExoMars mission blast off and start its journey to the Red Planet this year. The European Space Agency has announced that it's fully implementing sanctions imposed on Russia by its member states following the country's invasion of Ukraine, and it expects the move to affect its joint projects with Roscosmos. One of those joint projects is ExoMars, which is being developed to search for past life on the Red Planet, as well as to assess its water and atmospheric trace gases. Читать дальше...