Category: I-phone

Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi recently passed Apple to become the world’s second-largest phone maker. It’s now banking on the fact its products are recognizable enough they don’t need additional branding. As first reported by XDA Developers, the company will phase out its “Mi” branding over the coming months, with new products slated to carry the Xiaomi name instead.

“Starting in 2021 Q3, Xiaomi's product series ‘Mi’ will be renamed to ‘Xiaomi,’” a spokesperson for the company told Engadget. “This change will unify our global brand presence and close the perception gap between the brand and its products.” The Mi branding isn’t going completely away. The company’s Mi Home stores will continue to carry the name. Xiaomi will also continue selling Redmi devices, with those targeted at consumers who want to save money on their next phone purchase.

In fact, it sounds like we’ll see the Redmi branding appear on more devices before too long. “The product series naming convention — Xiaomi and Redmi — will also be applied to our ecosystem and IoT products over time,” the spokesperson said. The possibility that Xiaomi was planning to retire the Mi name came out earlier this month when the company’s new Mix 4 phone didn’t feature the branding.

I missed one of my best friend’s birthdays this week – but belated best wishes are better than nothing. So, to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, my favorite console of all time, which arrived in the US on August 23rd, 1991, I wish you many happy returns.

The SNES wasn’t my first console. Like many kids of the ‘80s, I started with the venerable NES. But that system never quite felt like mine. I played it at friends’ houses for years before my parents relented and got me one for Christmas in 1989. While I don’t want to downplay my excitement, I had already played many of the platform’s classic games. So while it was a huge deal to have my own NES, I wasn’t exactly coming to it fresh.

But the Super NES, that console was mine. I didn’t get it on launch day, but I had been eagerly devouring details about it in Nintendo Power. I started saving my allowance, doing extra chores and monitoring weekly sales flyers for price drops. Finally, at some point in 1992, I brought it home – the console, two outstanding controllers whose design has stood the test of time and Super Mario World. (Remember how generous game companies used to be with the pack-ins?)

Obviously, one does not buy a console to ogle the hardware. It’s all about the games, and Super Mario World was an outstanding introduction to the system. I was plenty familiar with Mario at this point, but the sheer scope this time around was stunning. Individual levels were massive and crammed with secrets, and you could re-enter and play them again for the first time to find everything. New additions like Yoshi and the cape power-up offered new ways to navigate and explore these levels.

And, of course, the game both looked and sounded fantastic. Super Mario Bros. 3 pushed the NES about as far as it could go, but Super Mario World underscored how much more capable the new system was. Mario and some familiar enemies looked more vibrant and detailed than ever, and the system’s power was also evident in those sprawling levels and environments. It was the first Mario game with a save feature, and with good reason. There was no way to take in even half of what the game offered in just one sitting.

This underlines how video game development was changing with 16-bit consoles. Many NES games were ports of arcade mainstays, perhaps modified to make them more suitable for extended play sessions. But they were still games meant to be finished in one session, once you got good enough. RPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior, not to mention Nintendo’s own adventure game The Legend of Zelda bucked that trend with a bigger focus on exploration and a save feature so you could proceed at your own pace. But with the Super NES, developers were thinking bigger, regardless of genre.

For me, the finest example of this is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It was the second game I bought for the system, despite having never played the earlier NES Zelda games — the buzz around it was just too enticing. It was a smart choice, because it’s still on the short list of my favorite games ever. Its art style remains gorgeous 30 years later, the soundtrack is fantastic, and the freedom of exploration, combined with all the puzzles to unravel, was unlike anything I had played before. 

The story’s twists and turns made me always want to keep pushing forward, but I also was happy to go off the path and search for secrets I hadn’t found. And there are still a handful of show-stopping moments that rank among the most memorable game experiences I’ve had. Striding out of the Sanctuary after the first hour or so of gameplay with the booming main theme behind me, getting the Master Sword and the final showdown with Ganon after months of play leading up to it are just a few  parts of the game that I’ll never forget.

Besides these bigger titles, the SNES still had plenty of arcade ports – they were just much better than in the NES era. The SNES was far more capable of replicating the arcade experience, and games like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time were outstanding ways for me to get my arcade fix.

Broadly speaking, the SNES enjoyed strong third-party developer support from companies like Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square and Enix. And while I spent tons of hours on those aforementioned arcade games and other excellent titles like Capcom’s Mega Man X, the SNES allowed Nintendo to flex its muscles as one of the best game developers around.

The list of all-time classics that Nintendo published during the system’s lifespan is impressive. Aside from Super Mario World, games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country (and its sequels), Super Metroid, Yoshi’s Island, EarthBound and Super Mario Kart were critically acclaimed, hugely popular or both. Launch titles F-Zero and Pilotwings didn't hit those heights, but they still provided the SNES with a strong and varied lineup from day one.

All these games and many more have kept me coming back to the SNES over the many years since it launched. I played it throughout high school and when I came home from college; at some point I lost track of that console and all the games I had, though. It was a tough pill to swallow, but since I (like many Nintendo fans) have re-bought favorite games on the systems like the Wii and the Switch, not to mention the tiny SNES Classic Edition. Of course, you can’t be the real thing, so I picked up a used SNES about 10 years ago, too. I don’t play it often, but I’m happier knowing I can when I want to.

It’s not just for nostalgia, either. Somehow, I have never played Super Metroid – and with Metroid Dread coming out soon, I think it’s high time I finally try another of the system’s all-time greats. I never would have expected that I’d be playing the Super NES 30 years after it arrived in the US, but I won’t be surprised if I still go back to these games 30 years from now.

You're never really too young to start gaming, but some kids might struggle to get to grips with standard arcade machines. With that in mind, Arcade1Up is hoping to bring the joy of arcades to a new generation with its latest lineup of cabinets.

The first two machines in the Arcade1Up Jr. line are centered around the Pac-Man and PAW Patrol franchises. The former includes a trio of arcade classics: Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug. The PAW Patrol system also features three games: Chase is in a Race, PAW Patrol Off Duty and PAW Patrol Pups on the Go!

The cabinets are aimed at kids aged four to eight. They're three feet tall and have oversized buttons to make things easier for youngsters. The games include a way to slow down the action and other features (such as unlimited lives) to help burgeoning gamers learn the ropes. Each machine has an eight-inch monitor and it's ready to play right out of the box.

Arcade1Up has been around for few years. It aims to bring the arcade experience to gamers' homes by re-releasing classic cabinets such as NBA Jam, The Simpsons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Pac-Man system will be available starting on October 15th and the PAW Patrol version will go on sale on November 15th. You'll be able to buy the arcade machines, which start at $280, from a variety of retailers.

It's been a long, bumpy journey for Double Fine in its efforts to make a sequel to its very first game, but Psychonauts 2 is almost here. Just ahead of the release, the developer and Xbox Game Studios shone the spotlight on the hotly anticipated game during the Gamescom 2021 Xbox Stream.

The story picks up right where the VR game Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin left off. The launch trailer shows more of the colorful, action-packed platforming fans have come to expect from the series. You play as Raz, a Psychonaut who can explore other characters' minds and use psychic powers like telekinesis and levitation. Raz, who grew up in the circus, also has several acrobatic moves at his disposal as he takes on enemies based on emotions.

The original Psychonauts was released in 2005. After several aborted attempts to make a sequel, Double Fine ran a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2015 to covering some of the development costs. Xbox Game Studios bought Double Fine in 2019, and help the developer finish Psychonauts 2 as intended. 

Psychonauts 2 will finally hit PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S (with optimizations for the latter consoles) on August 25th. Naturally, it's included with Xbox Game Pass for PC and console. On top of that, Microsoft is once again in the unusual position of publishing a game on PlayStation 4.

Following its announcement late last month, Facebook’s new 128GB model of the Oculus Quest 2 is now available to buy. You can purchase the VR headset from the company’s website for the same $299 price as the previous 64GB base model. “Long story short? We’ve created this 128GB model so that players can easily store and access more games and apps on a single device,” Facebook says of the new variant.

Facebook announced the 128GB model at the same time it issued a voluntary recall of the Quest 2 to address an issue with the original face insert that came with the headset. The company temporarily stopped selling the Quest 2 for about a month so that it could add a new silicone face cover inside the box of each new unit. If you’re a current Quest 2 owner, you can request Facebook send you the new silicone cover by visiting the My Devices section of the account settings. The new 128GB model also comes with the silicone cover inside the box.

Microsoft is moving into the next phase of its plan to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to as many devices as possible, and it's one of the most important steps yet. Starting this holiday season, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will have access to cloud gaming on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles.

The company, which made the announcement during its Gamescom showcase, said you'll be able to fire up more than 100 games without having to download them first. At some point in the future, Xbox One owners can play some Series X/S games through the cloud, such as Microsoft Flight Simulator. You'll know a title is cloud gaming-compatible if you see a cloud icon next to it in the Game Pass library. Microsoft is targeting 1080p gameplay at 60 frames per second.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is already available on phones, tablets and PC. Microsoft is also working on Xbox game streaming sticks as well as a smart TV cloud gaming app. This summer, the company started transitioning cloud gaming onto beefier Xbox Series X hardware after launching the service on Xbox One S-based blade servers.

Alphabet's fully autonomous driving unit Waymo is ready to offer rides to select passengers in San Francisco, the company announced on Tuesday. Starting later today, residents can sign up to become "Trusted Testers." With an invite to the program, you can use the Waymo One app to take rides in the fleet of Jaguar I-Pace vehicles Waymo will have stationed in the city. 

Waymo describes the Trusted Tester program as a "research-focused" effort designed to help it collect feedback on its ride experience, with an emphasis on gathering information related to accessibility.   

"We kicked off this program last week with a select few and are now expanding the program to all interested San Franciscans," the company said. "We’ll begin with an initial group and welcome more riders in the weeks to come." Much like it did in Arizona, Waymo won't let the cars drive without supervision right off the back. The company will have employees in the cars to ensure its fifth-generation Waymo Driver technology doesn't get lost on San Francisco's tricky one-way streets and hills. The company also told Bloomberg passengers will ride for free.  

The expansion comes after Waymo recently announced CEO John Krafcik was leaving the company to pursue other projects. Some saw Krafcik as being too slow to push the company toward commercialization. 

Walmart has announced a delivery service for local businesses, which should be up and running by the end of the year. It plans to use drones and self-driving cars as part of the Walmart GoLocal infrastructure. Earlier this year, Walmart invested in Cruise after previously running a delivery pilot with GM's autonomous vehicle startup.

Local retailers might be able to keep using their current commerce platform and hook it into GoLocal. It's a white-label service, so deliveries won't be made by Walmart-branded vehicles. Associates, members of the Spark Driver program and other delivery companies will handle orders, according to CNBC. 

Walmart says it will be able to offer delivery within two hours in certain markets. There's a two-day delivery option as well. The company claims shipping will be priced competitively and that it can handle everything from groceries to kiddie pools and oversize items.

GoLocal is a key part of Walmart's strategy and it should help the company to diversify revenue streams. There might be some advantages for small businesses as well. It could slightly level the playing field with the likes of Amazon, which is largely moving its delivery network in-house and promising same-day or next-day delivery in many cases.

The sticky tentacles of capitalism have slithered into a fresh space: TikTok. Shopify and TikTok are rolling out TikTok Shopping, a new tab that business users can add to their profiles, syncing their product catalogues and linking out to their online stores for payment. 

The new tab will be available to Shopify sellers with a TikTok For Business account, and the program is live now as a pilot in the United States and United Kingdom. The beta will open up to some users in Canada over the coming weeks, with additional regions planned in the following months.

In addition to the new tab, Shopify and TikTok are launching product links in the app as well, allowing Shopify merchants to tag items in normal TikTok posts. The tag will send the user directly to the merchant's online store.

For everyday TikTok users, this means you can expect to see more links and opportunities to throw your hard-earned money at social media stars on the app. Truly, this was only a matter of time.

The Witch Queen, Destiny’s 2 long-awaited fourth expansion, will launch on February 22nd, 2022, Bungie announced on Tuesday. The expansion will pit players against Savathûn. First mentioned in 2015’s The Taken King, the titular Witch Queen is a foe Destiny players have been waiting years to face. She’s the sister of Oryx, the Hive god players defeated in the aforementioned Taken King expansion, and a character Bungie has meticulously teased in strikes, in-game lore items and more.

In The Witch Queen, players will travel to Savathûn’s Throne World to face the Lucent Hive. Bungie is introducing a new crafting mechanic that will allow players to create their own custom weapons, complete with unique mods, shaders and stat combinations. The expansion will also add a new Glaive weapon type that allows players to complete melee combos, fire energy projectiles and deploy a shield. You won't find your first Glaive. Instead, you'll make it yourself using the new crafting mechanic. 

Bungie had originally planned to release The Witch Queen in 2021 but delayed the expansion to early 2022 at the start of the year. By the time the studio announced the decision, it had said it was already considering pushing back the expansion for the sake of “the health of the team.” In combination with other plans the studio had for 2021, the coronavirus pandemic made that decision easier.

The Witch Queen will launch simultaneously on Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. 

Riot Games is changing its plans for the 2021 League of Legends World Championship (aka Worlds). The event was supposed to take place in China for the second straight year, but it's moving to Europe amid travel complications brought on by the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

"We've reached the point where it's extremely difficult to guarantee that qualifying teams and their best players would be able to attend Worlds this year," John Needham, Riot's global head of esports, said in a video. "After considering all possible options, we concluded that moving Worlds to Europe provided the best opportunity for the most teams and their best players to compete."

Worlds 2021 was supposed to take place in five cities across China, culminating in Shenzhen in November, after initially being announced for the US in 2018. Riot hasn't revealed exactly where in Europe it will bring one of the biggest events in esports this year, though Needham noted that accessibility for the highest number of teams and their key players will be the most critical factor. Riot will reveal more details about Worlds 2021 in the coming days and weeks.

Earlier this month, Riot moved the final matches of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) — the esport's North American league — from a New Jersey arena to its LCS Arena in Los Angeles. It said the rise in Delta variant cases meant that it "cannot in good conscience conduct a massive fan event at this time."

Other esports are still pressing forward with in-person events in North America. The 2021 Call of Duty League season just wrapped up, with its championship weekend being held at a packed Galen Center in Los Angeles. The Overwatch League playoffs and grand finals are set to take place in Dallas and the same LA arena respectively next month, marking the esport's return to in-person events in the US.

Just ahead of Gamescom's official opening, Microsoft is hosting its latest showcase on Tuesday. You can expect around 90 minutes of news and updates during the event, which starts at 1PM ET.

Microsoft is promising more info about Xbox Game Pass and some of the biggest upcoming Xbox titles, including details about some previously announced games from internal studios and third-party developers. Much of the focus will be on the company's holiday slate, so there's a good chance Xbox will finally reveal the release date for Halo Infinite (even if the game will lack a couple of core game modes at the outset). The event will also include another look at gameplay from Techland's Dying Light 2 Stay Human.

You can watch the Gamescom 2021 Xbox Stream on official Xbox channels on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, or simply watch it via the below embed. Microsoft is broadcasting the event on other platforms elsewhere, including Bilibili in China and VK in Russia. There'll be American Sign Language, German Sign Language and English audio description versions of the stream too. The company is subtitling the event in 30 languages, but not all of those will be available during the live broadcast.

It's worth noting that Xbox will stream the event in 1080p at 60 frames per second. A 4K version will be available on its YouTube channel afterward.

August impressed us with its 4th-generation WiFi smart lock, which has a subtle design, an easy installation process and a decent price compared to its competition. However, it's normal price of $230 isn't exactly cheap — but now you can get the smart lock for the best price we've seen by going to Wellbots. The online retailer has the 4th-generation WiFi smart lock for $179 when you use the coupon code ENGADGET20 at checkout.

Buy August WiFi smart lock at Wellbots – $179

August didn't fix what wasn't broken about its smart lock, but it did take the time to add features that make the 4th-generation feel like a substantial upgrade. It's half the size of the previous generation lock and it no longer requires a bridge thanks to its WiFi connectivity. Installation is pretty quick and easy, thanks in part to the helpful video instructions in the August mobile app, and we appreciate that the company forces you to turn on two-factor authentication during setup. It's an extra security measure that's especially important when you're talking about a device that lets people into your home. In addition to two-factor authentication, the lock also uses Bluetooth encryption, AES 128-bit and TLS encryption.

Once installed, the mobile app can act as your digital keys, remotely locking and unlocking your door at any time. This makes it easy to let a friend or family member into your home when necessary even if you're away. You also don't have to forsake your physical keys all together — you can still use them to unlock your door at any time, so even if you forget to replace the smart lock's dual CR123 batteries, you'll still be able to get into your home. Just make sure to check out August's support page to see if your deadbolt is compatible with the smart lock before you buy it.

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Spotify is expanding paid podcast subscriptions to all US creators as a means of monetizing more content. Since its launch with a dozen indie publishers in the Spring, the premium option has been activated on 100 podcasts, according to the Sweden-based streaming service. On September 15th, subscriber-only content will be made available to international listeners. While overseas creators will have to wait a tad bit longer to get their hands on the monetization tools.

The program itself is available through Anchor, the podcast creation platform Spotify acquired alongside podcast network Gimlet for just shy of $340 million in 2019. The company has billed the service as a win-win for its entire user base, giving publishers the chance to reap subscription fees with no commission (for the first two years) from avid listeners. Spotify will start taking a cut of 5 percent in 2023. Comparatively, Apple charges a $20 annual fee for its program and takes a 30 percent cut of subscriptions for the first year and 15 percent thereafter.

Based on learnings from its test period, Spotify is introducing 20 new pricing options for podcasts to offer creators more flexibility. It's also allowing publishers to download a list of contact addresses for their subscribers so they can better engage with them. That should help creators to further promote their content using email marketing and notifications.

Movies Anywhere, the streaming hub that pulls together films you purchase for a variety of digital stores, has added a feature many users have long been hoping for: lists. Not only will this help you better organize your library, the system will automatically generate personalized lists based on the movies you own. You should now see a My Lists tab next to My Movies.

Organizing a Movies Anywhere library presents a different challenge to grouping titles together on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. While subscribers of those services have access to the same content based on the country they're in, every Movies Anywhere user has a unique selection of films in their locker.

Movies Anywhere is looking to avoid having the same movie in too many lists. As such, movies are typically funneled into categories to which they're most closely matched.

One key part of the My Lists feature is that it takes into account viewing behavior. During a demo last week, Movies Anywhere didn’t go into too much detail about how this works. However, if you watch a few minutes of any film, the algorithm, artificial intelligence and machine learning systems will consider what you're interested in watching when they organize your lists.

Movies Anywhere’s content team classifies the films and there are around 2,000 different potential categories as things stand. These are centered around things like genres, franchises, people (say, actors, directors or composers) and themes. So, if you have a lot of movies about robots or cyborgs in your library, they might be grouped together in a list. Same thing goes for a collection of Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Other lists might focus on movies focused on antiheroes or musicians. The system might generate a list of nostalgic flicks, or classify films into subgenres.

Lists that Movies Anywhere creates for you are marked as "automatic lists." You can also create and modify lists. You'll be able to add and remove films, reorganize lists and rename them. If you own all the Star Wars movies, for instance, you can place them in release order, sort them in the canonical timeline or even arrange them in the so-called Machete order. It’s up to you.

One thing you can't do right now is modify any lists on the Movies Anywhere smart TV app. You can only browse your lists there. But because your lists sync across devices, you can make changes on a phone, tablet or computer, and you'll see those reflected on your smart TV.

This is a useful update, especially for Movies Anywhere users who pick up a ton of movies during sales or those who redeem tons of digital codes from Blu-ray purchases. The service says that My Lists is "a direct response to specific requests" from users. It should bring some more order to users' libraries, which can get unwieldy as they grow in size.