Geek News

A Normal Lost Phone is the kind of indie game that seizes a tricky niche (mobile gaming) and leans into the form factor for a unique experience -- a Gone Home or Life Is Strange that takes place entirely within a mock phone interface. The game will lose that skeuomorphic novelty when it arrives on Nintendo Switch on March 1st, but will be able to reach players on a console increasingly known for indie titles. Like other character-driven games, A Normal Lost Phone is best explored without spoilers. But some critics felt the central conceit -- picking up a stranger's phone, poking around their texts and photos and then sending personal information to other characters -- presented ethical challenges. The game aims to deliver a unique LGBTQ narrative, and the team received developmental input from members of that community. But it was criticized for forcing the player to expose details about its queer central character without their permission, a serious breach of privacy d

The zero-fee stock trading app, Robinhood, announced its plan to enable users to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum last month. Now the company is making good on its promises. Starting today, Robinhood is rolling out access to trade the two cryptocurrencies in California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana and New Hampshire, with plans to expand to many more states later. If you're not in one of the states covered, you can still monitor and track market data for all 16 cryptocurrencies in the Robinhood app. You'll also have access to a new feed, which gives users a way to talk about cryptocurrency, news and market swings in real time with other folks on the system. Robinhood Feed is only available to a limited number of people, however, so you'll need to update the app to see if you're one of them. Source: Robinhood via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2CDlERY"

Major League Baseball has gotten into VR lately with a host of initiatives, including partnerships with Google for At Bat VR , Intel for "Game of the Week" live streams and Samsung for immersive highlights of the 2017 season. Now MLB is bringing a VR Home Run Derby that debuted at the All-Star Game and select ballparks to your home via PlayStation VR and HTC Vive. The game should be available this spring on both platforms, though there are no details on pricing or a specific release date at this time. The game will put you at the plate in three different MLB stadiums -- Marlins Park in Miami, Nationals Park in Washington, DC and Progressive Field in Cleveland -- to hit as many home runs as you can. MLB plans to expand the number of stadiums you can virtually visit to at least 10 over the course of the 2018 season. Source: Yahoo Sports , Polygon via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2okfAJY"

Space These ships catch waves (and rockets) instead. SpaceX is known for their spaceships, but its ocean-going vessels have a huge role to play in their spaceflight ambitions. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2opoCVa"

Shari Steele is resigning her position as the director of the Tor Project, according to a report by Cyberscoop . Steele will remain director through December 31st, and the search for her replacement is still underway. Responsible for the development and maintenance of the Tor anonymity network, the Tor Project has long been a central institution in the internet freedom community. For many, Steele’s directorship, which started in December 2015 , signaled a sea change within the organization and shifted Tor towards being more inclusive and community focused. The following May , developer Jacob Appelbaum left the Tor Project amid widespread accusations of sexual assault, triggering a broader crisis within the organization. (Appelbaum denies... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2FrlPmF"

A day after Sling TV revealed that it counts 2.2 million subscribers, the over-the-top internet service announced that it's added new add-on options to watch NBA games. Users can access NBA League Pass today to watch out-of-market games, and in the coming weeks they'll be able to subscribe to Team Pass to follow a single club. Sling Orange, Sling Blue, Spanish-language and Sling International subscribers can get NBA League Pass for an additional $29 per month. That includes nearly 1,000 live out-of-market NBA games, along with access to NBA TV. Users with those package options will also be able to add Team Pass for $18 per month when it launches, allowing them to follow any one of the league's 30 teams for all of its regular-season games. Of course, if you don't want one of those packages, you can still watch NBA games on Sling TV packages that include NBA TV, TNT, ABC, ESPN3, ESPN and regional networks for Fox Sports and NBC Sports. Source: Sling TV via Engad

Environment And why are we trying to avoid it? Over the last 20 years, 2°C has been referenced in climate policies and agreements made by the Council of the EU, the G8, and more. What makes it so important? via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2EJO1jq"

The FCC's order to overturn net neutrality protections was officially published in the Federal Register today and soon thereafter, the attorneys general of 22 states and Washington DC filed a lawsuit challenging the FCC's order. The coalition filed a suit earlier this year , but agreed last week to withdraw it until the FCC published the order, Reuters reports. "Today, the FCC made official its illegal rollback of net neutrality -- and, as promised, our coalition of attorneys general is filing suit," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement . "Consumers and businesses in New York and across the country have the right to a free and open internet, and our coalition of attorneys general won't stop fighting to protect that right." Other efforts aimed at blocking the FCC's decision include a Senate challenge to the order that is currently one vote shy as well as a Day of Action aimed at convincing one more Senator to join th

Amazon may be producing more and more of its own shows, but it's also playing catch-up trying to follow industry trends in the fantasy and sci-fi genres. To shore up its dearth of Spanish-language content, the company just signed a deal with Televisa to license several of its upcoming scripted series. It's unclear how many different series will be included, or what they will be about, aside from "with a focus on multicultural characters and storytelling," according to Variety . We only know they will average eight to ten episodes each and will be developed, produced and distributed by the media company's subdivision Televisa Alternative Originals. As Variety points out, this deal is likely Amazon's attempt to compete with Netflix's Spanish-language content, which includes global hits like Narcos . But this is also an about-face for Televisa, which took its content off of Netflix in 2016 to stream on its own service, Blim. But the Mexican multimedi

At 3:28PM ET I made a discovery that will change humanity for the better. Okay, maybe not humanity, but it will certainly make my life better. I’m using a 2015 MacBook Pro. I bought it last fall because I needed a new computer, and because I need to plug things in all the time, I didn’t want any of the new Macs. This meant that my new old computer came installed with macOS Sierra 10.12.1. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about High Sierra so I’ve been holding off. But macOS doesn’t want me to hold off. I keep getting these notifications telling me to upgrade. I just want them to stop. You can’t even dismiss the notification: you have to click either “Install” or “Details.” And the details option just opens the Mac App Store… a place no... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EOhBby"

This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read their continuously updated list of deals here . Samsung 960 Evo M.2 500GB SSD Street Price: $230; Deal Price: $200 If you have a need for speed where your storage is concerned, this is a nice opportunity to save. The Samsung 960 Evo M.2 500GB SSD is down to $200, around $30 off the recent street price and the lowest price we've seen for it. At this price, it's well worth considering versus other storage options out there. The Samsung 960 Evo M.2 SSD is our upgrade pick in our guide to the best SSDs . Andrew Cunningham, Ben Keough, and Nathan Edwards wrote, "If you have a legitimate need for faster storage, you should buy the PCIe Samsung 960 Evo, which can quadruple the read speeds of the fastest SATA drives and more than double the write speeds. It's more expensive—$

Election Assistance Commission chairman Matthew Masterson is being removed from his post by the White House and House Speaker Paul Ryan, according to a report from Reuters . Appointed to the commission in 2014 and serving as chairman since February, Masterson was expected to be appointed to a second four-year term. It’s unclear why Masterson was removed, but the timing is likely to be a significant blow to the ongoing effort to secure voting machines against hacking. Less than nine months remain before the 2018 elections, and several types of voting machines remain vulnerable to remote hacking through remote-access software attacks and other vulnerabilities. Observers expect Masterson’s replacement to be former prosecutor Christy... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2ELvpDL"

Gadgets if you're e-sports sessions get intense, then this headset might be the right call. Logitech's e-sports headset can handle sweat. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2oqTa8S"

I’ve never seen The Ring because I’m a huge baby, but I’ve now watched a terrifying augmented reality demo of its main villain Samara coming out of the TV screen, just like in the movie. A developer named Abhishek Singh , who has created lots of AR experiences, tweeted his idea of The Ring in AR. I reenacted a famous scene from 'The Ring' to bring #horror movies to life in AR #madewithunity #ARKit pic.twitter.com/fRU2ul56ki — Abhishek Singh (@shekitup) February 21, 2018 Samara not only comes out of the screen, but she follows the user around the room and shows up in hallways. It’s terrifying, especially for a baby like me. Another developer, Mike Woods , created a Ring experience with ARKit earlier this year, but it isn’t as scary as... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2ot321Q"

HP’s first Windows 10 PC that’s powered by an ARM-based processor is now available for preorder for $999.99. It’s scheduled to ship by March 9th, and it’s one of the first “always connected PCs” that HP, Asus, and Lenovo have teamed up with Qualcomm to release over the next year or so. The HP Envy x2 is a 2-in-1 tablet with a 12.3-inch touchscreen that has an edge-to-edge 1920 x 1280 pixel display. It looks a lot like the HP Spectre x2 , which came out last year. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of universal flash storage. It has a Qualcomm Adreno 540 GPU. Bluetooth 5.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi are also built in. A nano SIM card reader allows access to LTE data, and the Envy also features a USB... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2ELGcK2"

Out of nowhere, Blizzard introduced a public test realm (PTR) last fall for its 15-year-old game Warcraft III . PC fans of its current best-sellers like Overwatch play on PTRs to try out new features before they're released to everyone, so creating one for an old title clearly implies greater plans. Today, as was rumored , we know what those are: A new gameplay patch and a tournament at the end of February featuring top players from the game's heydey to the present. Announcing the Warcraft III Invitational! See the latest PTR changes in action with @followgrubby , @Back2Warcraft and more! Learn more: https://t.co/NWhZ6IjO9x pic.twitter.com/rdAxYVFSkf — Blizzard Entertainment (@Blizzard_Ent) February 22, 2018 Blizzard will host 'the first Warcraft III Invitational' at their Irvine HQ on February 27th and 28th, with Twitch streams hosted by two casters from Back2Warcraft, the site and community helping to keep the game's competitive scene alive. The exh

We’re only days away from the official announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S9, but what might be the most important detail about the upcoming smartphone might have just leaked out: the price, which apparently will start at €841 for the S9 and a whopping €997 for the larger S9 Plus, courtesy of reliable leaker Evan Blass . Pricing. pic.twitter.com/wu4GlK1FCU — Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 22, 2018 That works out to approximately $1,038 for the S9 and a massive $1,229 for the S9 Plus, putting both phones in the approximate ballpark of Apple’s already incredibly expensive iPhone X ( which costs $999 for the 64GB model and $1,149 for 25GB of storage.) If prices hold true through exchange rates that would also make the S9 Plus the most... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2CCDjJt"

- Fixed a bug where hovering over an enemy ability button would show a range indicator if the ability was leveled up. via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2BJygdw"

UPS announced today that it will soon deploy 50 electric delivery trucks designed by Workhorse Group Inc. that will cost about the same as traditional, conventionally fueled trucks. They'll have a between-charge range of around 100 miles, will be zero-emission and the first vehicles will be tested in a handful of cities this year. "Electric vehicle technology is rapidly improving with battery, charging and smart grid advances that allow us to specify our delivery vehicles to eliminate emissions, noise and dependence on diesel and gasoline," Carlton Rose, UPS' president of global fleet maintenance and engineering, said in a statement . "With our scale and real-world duty cycles, these new electric trucks will be a quantum leap forward for the purpose-built UPS delivery fleet. The all electric trucks will deliver by day and re-charge overnight." The first batch of trucks will be tested in Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles and based on their performance, the v

Ricoh announced a new camera yesterday: the Pentax K-1 Mark II 35 mm DSLR. It’s a refreshed version of the original Pentax K-1 that was released in 2016 . (For those who are still using the original Pentax K-1, Ricoh is offering a limited time dea l to upgrade the older camera’s circuit board and logo with the new Mark II’s functions and logo. At the cost of $550, customers can upgrade their older gear from May 21st to September 30th this year.) The new camera has the same 36.4-megapixel full-frame sensor, but it now has an accelerator unit and Prime IV image processor, which both help produce higher-resolution photos in low-light. Ricoh claims the new Penta K-1 Mark II can shoot in ISOs as high as 819,200. It can also capture full HD... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2GBhAnB"

Sling TV has added NBA League Pass as another option in the internet TV service’s growing list of add-on content. League Pass costs an extra $29 per month on top of a customer’s regular subscription, and provides access to “nearly 1,000 live out-of-market regular-season NBA games in addition to those separately available on TNT, ABC, ESPN, NBA TV, local regional sports networks, and local broadcast networks,” the company said in a press release. If you’re only interested in a single team, it might be worth waiting a few weeks for when Sling TV launches NBA Team Pass. Team Pass is a cheaper version priced at $18 per month, and it gets you all of those out-of-market games for your favorite team and that team only. Team Pass will be... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EJZeEK"

A new beauty startup, Proven, is using artificial intelligence to determine the best skincare routines for people based on their skin type and needs, and all of the products will be made in-house. Amy Yuan, one of Proven’s co-founders, uses her computational physics background to build an “AI engine” that pores through reviews of various skincare products, reports TechCrunch . Proven claims the machine has analyzed 8 million reviews, 20,000 ingredients, and 100,000 products using fraud-detection algorithms to rule out fake reviews. By looking through a massive quantity of data, the machine can then determine trends and general patterns in what products are suitable for particular skin types. Proven suggests a skincare routine for you via... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2oi0MLA"

Health The virus doesn’t cause nearly as much misery as your body’s immune response to it. Unlike most common colds, strains of the influenza virus can cause symptoms all throughout the body. Here’s what goes down when you come down with the flu. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2sPjjUk"

Google has supported Rich Communication Services (RCS) for a while now, hoping to bring features like group chat, high-res photo sharing and read receipts to all Android users. The company made a big push to expand RCS support on Android last year, and carriers have been slowly adopting the standard and preloading Android Messages to the standard app load out. Now, Google says that it's convinced 43 carriers and device makers to add native support for the messaging protocol. The widespread adoption of RCS will likely help Google compete with Apple's iMessage, which has had similar features for a long time. As TechCrunch notes, Google is now pushing the business uses of RCS, which enables companies to send messages with things like boarding passes, financial fraud alerts and package notifications. The RCS standard can also allow suggested response buttons, like "Open in Maps" to find a nearby Walgreens or "View station map" from Virgin Trains. Goog

Airbnb is offering discounts on Nest products — specifically the smart home company’s popular thermostats and Nest Protect devices — for top-rated “superhosts” as part of a new initiative to better reward the top hosts on the service. Nest is the first of what Airbnb envisions as a wider store for discounted smart home devices for superhosts, offering a 30 percent discount on Nest thermostats and Nest Protect devices globally. The discount program should be rolling out later this spring alongside other changes for superhosts, including a new profile badge, free travel vouchers, and other perks. Airbnb also announced some major changes to its platform today in addition to the superhost perks, including a new hotel-like service called... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2oqV89l"