Category: I-phone

DJI's upcoming Mavic 3 Pro drone may be a big upgrade over the last model, according to leaks from DroneDJ and Jasper Ellens seen by The Verge. It may have a significantly longer flight time along with not just one, but two cameras, including a telephoto model and one with a larger Four Thirds sensor. If accurate, the Mavic 3 would be highly desirable for cinematographers and aerial photographers when it arrives, reportedly later this year. 

Where the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom make you choose between a larger sensor or a 24-48mm equivalent zoom, the new model will offer both on one drone. It reportedly comes with two separate cameras, including a 20-megapixel, 24mm f/2.8-f/11 primary camera with a Four Thirds sensor, along with a 12-megapixel, 1/2-inch sensor secondary camera with a 160mm-equivalent telephoto lens.

A Four Thirds sensor would be a huge boon for aerial shooters, allowing for extra detail and a more cinematic look in general. Currently, shooting in that format requires a large, relatively expensive drone and in many cases, a separate camera like DJI's Zenmuse line or Panasonic's BGH1. At the same time, a second telephoto camera would make it more versatile.

It will also offer direct USB-C charging so you don't need to remove the battery. All of that will boost the weight a bit, up from 907g on the Mavic 2 Pro to 920g for the Mavic 3 Pro. Despite that bump from the extra camera and other new features, the Mavic 3 will be able to fly for 46 minutes, way up from the 31 minutes available on the Mavic 2. 

The Mavic 3 will apparently come in two flavors, a Pro and a Cine model, with the latter offering a built-in SSD and a "1Gbps Lightspeed Data Cable" option for faster transfers. It will also offer a new version of DJI's display-equipped Smart Controller allowing for video transmission over 15km, up from 10km on the Mavic 2 Pro. 

The Mavic 3 Pro will cost $1,600, both sources say, which is the same price as the current Mavic 2 Pro. Prices for the Cine model are less clear, but could run around $1,000 more — still a relative deal for such a high tech camera drone. Both are expected to arrive on November 15th. 

You may have to update your brand new Apple device before you can use it to play music. As spotted by MacRumors, the tech giant has issued an advisory warning users about an Apple Music bug and advising them to update their devices. Apparently, people may not be able to access their Apple Music catalog and settings or use Sync Library if they restore their new phone or tablet from a backup. The bug affects the company's latest mobile devices, namely the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, 6th-generation iPad mini and 9th-generation iPad.

Apple unveiled its new smartphones and tablets at an event in mid-September. The largest and most expensive phone in the bunch is the iPhone Pro Max, with its 6.33-inch screen and prices that reach $1,599. Compared to their predecessors, the standard iPhone 13 and iPhone mini models have smaller notches, batteries that last up to 2.5 hours longer and brighter displays. Meanwhile, the new entry-level iPad now ships with an A13 Bionic chip, promising faster performance than the previous generation. As for the new iPad mini, it now comes with a USB-C port instead of Apple's proprietary Lightning port.

The new devices started shipping on September 24th, and MacRumors says users have already started getting notifications for a software update. To install it, you simply have to go to Software Update under General in Settings.

Disco Elysium finally has a launch date for the Nintendo Switch over a year after its developer ZA/UM confirmed that it's heading to the console. The Final Cut version of the critically acclaimed title will be available from the Nintendo eShop on October 12th, with a physical release to follow next year. ZA/UM says the version heading to Switch isn't a port, but rather a "painstaking reassembly" of the game, with its redesigned user interface and font-scaling options.

The Final Cut version of the the game first became available for PCs, Stadia and PlayStation earlier this year. It doesn't just come with fresh playable content, but also full voice acting for the detective RPG. The hit indie open-world RPG is plot-heavy and features gameplay mechanics that focuses on dialogue and your choices. In the game, you'll take on the role of a detective trying to solve a murder case while suffering from drug and alcohol-induced amnesia. 

Disco Elysium was originally released for Windows in 2019 and has won multiple awards since then. Last year, ZA/UM and production house Dj2 Entertainment revealed that they're working to turn it into a TV series, though those plans will most likely take a while to solidify. For now, you can pre-order a digital copy of the game for Switch for £35 / US$40 / €40. You can also pre-order a physical collector's edition shipping in the second quarter of 2022 for the Switch or the PS5 for $250. The game is also expected to be available on the Xbox in the future, but ZA/UM has yet to announce a release date for platform.

New York City has passed sweeping legislation aimed at protecting workers of app-based food delivery services like Grubhub and DoorDash. The move makes the city one of the first municipalities in the US to aggressively regulate an industry that has grown by leaps and bounds during the pandemic.

Per Bloomberg, the legislation touches nearly every aspect of the job. For instance, addressing an issue that was a subject of a $2.5 million settlement, delivery apps and courier services must disclose their gratuity policies, and guarantee that workers always receive their tips. They must also pay them at least once a week, and provide them with payment options that don’t necessitate the need for a bank account. Another part of the legislation mandates platforms include a clause in their contracts with restaurants to ensure they provide bathroom access to delivery workers.

Both Grubhub and DoorDash told Engadget they support the legislation, though the latter voiced some reservations about specific measures. “We recognize the unique challenges facing delivery workers in New York City and share the goal of identifying policies that will help Dashers and workers like them,” a DoorDash spokesperson said. “We will continue to work with all stakeholders, including the City Council, to identify ways to support all delivery workers in New York City without unintended consequences.”

The company specifically pointed to the restroom mandate, which lawmakers tweaked near the end of the process to put the onus of ensuring compliance on platform holders. It’s also concerned about a provision that gives delivery workers the ability to set limits on their routes. The company contends that’s something that could hurt customers in underserved areas.

Meanwhile, Grubhub voiced, at least publicly, stronger support for the laws. “These bills are common-sense steps to support the delivery workers who work hard every day for New York’s restaurants and residents,” a spokesperson for the company told Engadget. “Ensuring they receive a living wage and have access to restrooms isn’t just a good idea — it’s the right thing to do.”

Just how difficult it can be to make a living as a delivery worker was put in sharp relief last month when Hurricane Ida blanketed New York City with torrential rain. Images and videos of workers navigating flooded streets spread on social media, leading to calls for more regulation.

During Thursday's latest Nintendo Direct event, acclaimed video game designer Miyamoto Shigeru announced that the company's upcoming feature length animation project — in conjunction with American film studio, Illumination — now has a firm North American theatrical release date of December 21st, 2022.

While release dates for Europe, Japan, and other markets have yet to be revealed, Miyamoto did share the studio's key character casting decisions. Chris Pratt will voice Mario. "He's so cool," Miyamoto commented. Anya Taylor-Joy, star of Netflix's hit series Queen's Gambit will portray Princess Peach while It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Charlie Day will voice Luigi. Jack Black will of course be the voice behind series villain, Bowser, while Keegan Michael-Key has been cast as Toad. And, for some reason, Seth Rogan will be in this too as Donkey Kong? The company is also bringing back long-time voice actor Charles Martinet — who has portrayed Mario and the rest of his cohort in a number of games to date — to fill in on various cameos throughout the film.

When Nintendo announced Bayonetta 3 in 2017,Reggie Fils-Aimé was still at the company. After the better part of four years, the Switch exclusive finally has a release date. 

Nintendo, Sega and Platinum Games will release Bayonetta 3 in 2022, the gaming giant announced today during its latest Direct presentation. Nintendo also shared a new trailer for the title, showing off gameplay for the first time. In classic Bayonetta style, the clip was completely absurd. At one point, we see Bayonetta controlling kaiju monsters in what almost looks like an action RPG. Take a look for yourself.

Nintendo promised to share more information about the game soon.

Netflix may be getting into video games sooner than expected. Without much fanfare, the company has been quietly working on a free Oculus Quest game called Eden Unearthed. Spotted by UploadVR, the game is available through the App Lab, which means it hasn’t gone through the full Oculus review process. The listing says the game was both developed and published by Netflix, but provides few other hints about its origins.

What we can say is that it was almost certainly envisioned as a tie-in for the Eden anime series the company released back in May. What’s interesting here is that there are two separate versions of the app with different release dates listed. The v0.7 release came out on April 20th, while the v0.8 was released in August. That fact, along with the App Lab listing, would appear to suggest Netflix is still working on the game.

At the moment, it’s hard to say whether Eden Unearthed represents the kind of video game release we can expect from Netflix moving forward. In July, the company hired former Oculus and EA executive Mike Verdu to help it build out a gaming team. At the time, Bloomberg reported the company’s plan was to offer games alongside its traditional video offerings within the next year. We’ve reached out to Netflix for more information on the Eden Unearthed.

Facebook quietly pushed out changes to News Feed that’s “interfering” with the browser-based tools used by journalists and researchers, according toThe Markup, the nonprofit news organization behind Citizen Browser.

According to the report, Facebook has been adding “junk code to HTML features meant to improve accessibility for visually impaired users.” The resulting code prevents browsers from automatically collecting data about posts in News Feed, and may also be hindering screen readers used by blind and visually impaired users.

The change has affected both The Markup’s Citizen Browser, as well as New York University’s Ad Observer, a browser extension that has helped researchers study political ads and vaccine misinformation. These types of browser-based tools have become increasingly important to researchers trying to study issues like ad targeting and misinformation. Researchers say these tools, which allow users to make the posts from their feeds available to academics and journalists, is one of the only ways to access important data about how News Feed works.

Laura Edelson, lead researcher at NYU’s Cybersecurity for Democracy, which runs Ad Observer, said Facebook’s changes “had the effect of breaking Ad Observer” though they were able to find a workaround.

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said that the company was “investigating” the claims. “We constantly make code changes across our services, but we did not make recent code changes to block these research projects,” the spokesperson said. “Our accessibility features largely appear to be working as normal, however, we are investigating the claimed disruptions.”

The code change is the latest dustup between Facebook and researchers who say Facebook has hindered their efforts to understand what’s happening on its platform. Last month, the company disabled the personal Facebook accounts of NYU researchers working with Ad Observer saying they broke the company’s privacy rules. (The FTC later rebuked Facebook for making “misleading” comments about its reasons for taking these actions.)

There are other implications to the changes. As The Markup and Edelson point out, the changes could affect screen readers, an important accessibility technology. They cite at least one instance of the code appearing to cause a screen reader to read out some of these “junk” characters. The changes may have also contributed to problems with some ad blockers.

Disney may insist on returning to theater-first movie releases, but that doesn't mean you'll be waiting long if you'd rather watch at home. The company is marking the second anniversary of the Disney+ launch on November 12th with the streaming debut of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — and yes, that's at no extra charge. That's not completely surprising when Disney said it would cut the Marvel movie's theatrical window in half, but it's good to know exactly when you can start streaming.

More people will have access to Disney+ around the same time. The service is launching in South Korea and Taiwan the same day, and will reach Hong Kong on November 16th. This is arguably the largest expansion for Disney+ in the region to date following rollouts in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Disney+ Day will also include a "look toward the future" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you aren't a fan of superheroes, you'll have general access to Jungle Cruise, a Boba Fett origins special, Home Sweet Home Alone and shorts linked to Frozen, Pixar's Luca and The Simpsons.

The content pile-up isn't a total shock. On top of the anniversary, all these releases could help fend off a wave of higher-profile Amazon and Netflix titles arriving around the same time. At the same time, it might keep Disney's streaming momentum going through what's left of 2021.

Facebook has just released a Billie Eilish pack for Beat Saber. Priced at $13 for the entire collection, the pack features 10 songs, including fan-favorites like “Bury a Friend” and “Bad Guy.” It also comes with a new environment inspired by Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” music video. If you want to buy specific tracks, you can do so for $2 per song. The DLC is available on Oculus Quest, Rift, PSVR and SteamVR headsets. 

If you own an Oculus headset, you can also look forward to watching the singer’s upcoming Governors Ball performance when it’s livestreamed through the platform’s Venues app on September 24th. Facebook acquired Beat Saber creator Beat Games in 2019. Since then, the company has used its robust music licensing deals to bring paid content from all sorts of artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Linkin Park and others. 

There's a real chance you'll need proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to enter certain venues, and Apple is hoping it can save you the hassle of digging up an email or carrying a physical card in your pocket. The company is bringing verifiable COVID-19 vaccination cards to Wallet as part of a future iPhone software update. The feature will take advantage of the international SMART Health Cards standard (already in use in several states) to produce proof of vaccination, sign it with a private key and create a public key to verify your info.

The just-released iOS 15 already lets you store verifiable vaccination and test results in the Health app using the same standard. You'll receive your records through QR codes, downloadable files or healthcare providers who use Health Records on iPhone.

Apple is promising strict privacy for all your data. The company won't have access to your imported or shared records, and all info must be encrypted and securely stored when transferred elsewhere. The tech giant also can't see your vaccination card or how you've used it. You can share information with "approved" third-party apps, but only on a one-time basis.

Apple didn't say when it might release the card update. This won't thrill you if you're anxious about the very concept of sharing your vaccination status with a concert venue or restaurant. However, it should at least streamline the process — important when you're already running late for a show.

With the 2022 EQS making its way to American dealerships this fall, Mercedes-Benz has finally shared US pricing for its first fully electric vehicle. Initially, the automaker plans to offer two different models of the luxury sedan called the EQS 450+ and EQS 580 4Matic.

Both will be available in three different trims: Premium, Exclusive and Pinnacle. The base model EQS 450+ costs $102,310, while its counterpart will set you back $119,110. The Exclusive models are priced at $105,710 and $122,510 respectively, while the Pinnacle variants cost $108,510 and $125,310. One thing to note is the above prices don’t include a $1,050 destination and delivery charge you have to pay separately.

To put that pricing in perspective, it means you can buy an EQS sedan for less than you would pay for an entry-level S-Class model from Mercedes. The S500 4Matic and S580, with destination charge included, start at $110,850 and $117,350.

Some of the highlights of the Premium trim include heated and ventilated front seats, leather upholstery and a 10-speaker sound system. Moving up to the more expensive trims, you can look forward to features like a head-up display, four-zone climate control, additional USB-C ports and more. No matter the trim, each EQS will also come with two years of complementary fast-charging at Electrify America stations and 24-months of free maintenance.

One of the main reasons to go for the 580 rather than the 450+ is that it will come with the 56-inch MBUX Hyperscreen the automaker unveiled at CES 2021. On the more affordable model, you get a single 12.8-inch OLED touchscreen. The 580 also comes with 21-inch wheels, while the 450+ features 20-inch ones.

The Oversight Board is pushing Facebook to provide more information on its controversial “cross-check” system, following a report that the company has allowed celebrities, politicians and other public figures to break its rules.

“In light of recent developments, we are looking into the degree to which Facebook has been fully forthcoming in its responses in relation to cross-check, including the practice of whitelisting,” the board said in a statement. “We expect to receive a briefing from Facebook in the coming days and will be reporting what we hear from this as part of our first release of quarterly transparency reports which we will publish in October.”

The statement comes one week after The Wall Street Journal reported on internal memos that raised significant issues with the “cross check” system. Facebook has said the rules are meant to provide an extra lawyer of scrutiny to potential rule-breaking posts from high-profile accounts. But according to The WSJ, these extra checks are often very delayed or don’t happen at all, effectively allowing famous people to break the platform’s rules without consequences. The report also stated that Facebook had ‘misled’ the Oversight Board when it said it was “not feasible” to share more information about cross check, and that the system only impacted a “small number” of accounts.

The cross check system was also one of the central issues in the decision about Donald Trump’s suspension from Facebook. “In our decision concerning former US President Donald Trump’s accounts, we warned that a lack of clear public information on cross-check and Facebook’s ‘newsworthiness exception’ could contribute to perceptions that Facebook is unduly influenced by political and commercial considerations,” the board writes. The group also notes that Facebook didn’t provide specifics data it had asked for about how cross check works.

It’s not clear how much more information Facebook plans to share with the Oversight Board. The company declined to comment on the board’s statement. But the Oversight Board says it will publish its first transparency report next month, which will provide an update on cross check, as well as its assessment of how Facebook is following its recommendations.

Google has released a handy Android Auto update for folks with vehicles where the driver sits on the right. The platform's version of Google Maps now shifts turn information and navigation bar closer to the driver.

Whether you have a left-hand drive vehicle or right-hand drive vehicle, the user interface will have more optimal orientation, Google says. As such, Brits, Indians, Aussies, Japanese drivers and those in the other dozens of countries where traffic moves on the left might find it a touch easier to reach the relevant buttons and enter a destination.

Maps will automatically switch the UI's orientation in right-hand drive vehicles, though you'll soon be able to return to the default look if you prefer. It's a relatively small quality-of-life update, but it's a thoughtful one. Google says the latest version of Android Auto also fixes some right-to-left language issues in the Maps app.

As it moves towards returning to the Moon ideally sometime in 2024, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is creating two new mission directorates. With the move, the agency is separating its existing Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate into the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) and Space Operations Mission Directorate. NASA said it's making the change in response to the increasing number of missions it's conducting in low-Earth orbit, in addition to the plans it has for exploring deep space in the future.

It also announced who's leading those units. Jim Free, a NASA veteran who has been with the space agency on and off since 1990, is the new associate administrator of ESDMD, while Kathy Lueders is taking on the equivalent position at the Space Operations Mission Directorate. Before becoming the first-ever woman to oversee human spaceflight at NASA, Lueders managed the Commercial Crew Program. As for what the two units will do, ESDMD will oversee the development of programs critical to Project Artemis and eventually manned spaceflight to Mars. Meanwhile, its counterpart will focus on launch operations, including those involving the International Space Station, with an eye towards Moon missions later.     

According to NASA, the reorganization is ultimately about looking forward to the next 20 years. The new structure will allow one unit to focus on human spaceflight while the other builds future space systems. In that way, the agency says there will be a constant cycle of development and operations to help it move forward with its space exploration goals.

"This reorganization positions NASA and the United States for success as we venture farther out into the cosmos than ever before, all while supporting the continued commercialization of space and research on the International Space Station," Nelson said. "This also will allow the United States to maintain its leadership in space for decades to come."