Geek News

Director Robert Rodriguez has been teasing a virtual reality video project for a while, and now it's clear just what it entails. He's partnering with STX on The Limit , a short-form VR action series starring long-time collaborator Michelle Rodriguez as a "genetically enhanced weapon of mass destruction" bent on destroying her creators. It's not a profound exploration of the human condition, then, but there's no question of the talent both in front of and behind the camera. The Limit will premiere sometime in mid-2018 on STX's upcoming VR 'channel' Surreal as an app for headsets. The series keeps up a recent trend of big Hollywood names entering the VR space with relatively small but significant projects. Robert Rodriguez is more of an enthusiast than some early entrants (he created Double R Productions with VR in mind), but the theme remains the same: he's experimenting with VR video production while the format is still young, but has g...

This week Winter Olympics action continues on NBC (get ready for more women's skeleton, Super-G and hockey), but you can also watch Justice League on video on-demand. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fans will see the third season's finale episode Friday night, while gamers can dig into a 3D Secret of Mana remake, as well as Bayonetta 1 & 2 on Nintendo Switch. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed). Blu-ray & Games & Streaming Justice League (VOD) Coco (VOD) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (VOD) Pokemon the Movie Wonder (4K) The Deuce (S1) The Thomas Crown Affair (50th Anniversary Edition) Roman J. Israel, Esq. Night of the Living Dead (Criterion) Hell or High Water (4K) Secret of Mana (PS4, PC) Xeodrifter (Switch) Drunkn Bar Fight (PS VR) Bayonetta (Switch) Bayonetta 2 (Switch) TorqueL (Switch) Fe (PS4, Xbox One) Dynasty Warriors 9 (Xbox One, PS4) Mon...

Last month, Dab on 'em Haterz launched on Steam, an indie game that puts the player in charge of a YouTube creator who must sift through comments and presumably stay sane in the process. It's up to our hero to give negative feedback a good dabbing that banishes it from his queue and nets him some money. But it's in his head, of course. Forever scraping away at his self-confidence and belief in humanity. Yes, Dab on 'em Haterz seems a microcosm of living on the internet in 2018. As Julia Alexander of Polygon described it, the game presents players with the unenviable task of ingesting YouTube-style comments and dabbing away the endless stream of hate. You have to purge a certain amount to progress to the next level, but naturally just keeping up with the rate of bilious and often bigoted and racist words is a physical and psychological stress. People don't need a reason to hate you -- they'll find one. Per the historians of internet culture, Dab on ...

By Joel Stocksdale We've had a bit of experience with the Nissan ProPilot Assist system here at Autoblog . I was the first to try it out with a Rogue prototype during a press test drive, and we later got one to test for the 2018 Tech of the Year award. In each instance it managed to impress us with its ease of use and general effectiveness. It did so enough to merit a spot as a Tech of the Year finalist . However, every experience we had with the technology was fairly brief, with only short highway jaunts to demonstrate how it works. Long highway jaunts is really what ProPilot is meant for, so to find out just how helpful it is, I drove a 2018 Rogue equipped with its new ProPilot Assist option to the Chicago Auto Show . Overall, ProPilot Assist really is a boon for long-haul drives. It all comes down to how it takes care of the minute corrections and adjustments that have to be made on highways. There are always some imperfections, wind, changing road markings or minuscule ...

It's now easier to keep up with your Xbox gaming pals when you've ventured beyond the living room. After several weeks of public testing , Microsoft has launched party chat in its Xbox apps for Android and iOS . If you use Xbox Live, you can use this to your fellow party members through voice or text wherever you happen to be. That can be helpful if you want to keep up with an in-game raid while you're rushing home, or if you just want to leave a party channel open as a semi-permanent group chat. This gives Microsoft a slight edge over Sony: you can certainly message fellow PlayStation owners through official apps, but live voice chat isn't an option unless you turn to a third-party service. While this probably won't make or break your choice of console, it's something to consider if you frequently play online with a close-knit group. Via: The Verge Source: App Store , Google Play via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2Bt4utw"

To say Intel was caught flat-footed by the Meltdown and Spectre flaws would be an understatement . However, it has a potential solution: enlist more people for help. It's widening its bug bounty program to both include more researchers and offer more incentives to spot Meltdown- and Spectre-like holes. The program is now open to all security researchers, not just by invitation, and includes sweeter rewards for discovering exploits. You now get up to $100,000 for disclosing general security flaws, and there's a new program dedicated to side channel vulnerabilities (read: issues like Spectre) that offers up to $250,000 through December 31st, 2018. The higher bounty stems in part from the complexity of demonstrating exploits. Unlike most purely software-driven attacks, the speculative execution tricks behind Meltdown and Spectre require extensive know-how. The end date on the side channel bounty sets a firm limit on what the program will achieve, although Intel's promise ...

Two years ago, a trailer dropped at The Game Awards that promised a story about stories. In Where the Water Tastes Like Wine , players would trek across a dusty America, meeting vagabonds and trading tales while folk music trailed in the background. We knew the title was coming early this year even as more exciting news stole headlines, like adding Sting to the voice cast. But we won't have to wait much longer: Where the Water Tastes Like Wine will arrive on February 28th and retail for $20 on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux. Where the Water Tastes Like Wine will be released on February 28! That's... That's not very far away. https://t.co/QqHrQv5eFv — Johnnemann There's also a special 'Wayfarer' edition for $27, which includes digital copies of both an art book for download and the game's soundtrack by Ryan Ike. Which is pretty cool given how central music is in the game -- yes, in setting the tone for your character's peripatetic jaunt across A...

Just one day after MIT revealed that some of its researchers had created a super low-power chip to handle encryption, the institute is back with a neural network chip that reduces power consumption by 95 percent. This feature makes them ideal for battery-powered gadgets like mobile phones and tablets to take advantage of more complex neural networking systems. Neural networks are made up of lots of basic, interconnected information processors that are interconnected. Typically, these networks learn how to perform tasks by analyzing huge sets of data and applying that to novel tasks. They're used for now-typical things like speech recognition, photo manipulation , as well as more novel tasks, like reproducing what your brain actually sees and creating quirky pickup lines and naming craft beers . The problem is that neural nets are big, and the computations they run through are power-intensive. The ones in your phone tend to be tiny for that reason, which limits their ultima...

Telecoms have been handing out free video services like candy in a bid to win you over, and Verizon is finally following suit. The network is offering a year of free Netflix if you sign up online for a FiOS "triple play" (internet, TV and phone) at $80 per month. This includes both new and existing accounts, and Verizon will cover Netflix costs up to $10.99 per month. The move comes right as Verizon is adding direct access to Netflix from FiOS set-top boxes -- you only have to tune into channel 838 and sign in. You probably won't need this when there's a good chance something in your living room already plays Netflix, but it's helpful if you're new to Netflix or just want to cut back on device clutter. Naturally, there are catches. You're only guaranteed that price if you commit to a 2-year contract, and this is just a year of Netflix versus T-Mobile's in-perpetuity deal. And since it's a triple play, you're locking yourself into three s...

The fourth season of Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has a premiere date, or at least the first half of it does. The show is taking a different route than it has before, releasing the first six episodes ahead of the rest of the season, and the first half will be available to stream starting May 30th. Jane Krakowski, who plays Jacqueline on the show, told the Today show , "We're going to shoot them and get them out as quickly as possible so we don't have to make our fans and audiences wait so long." Season three debuted in May last year. 🛑STOP🛑... in the naaaame of Season 4! Part 1 streams May 30th! pic.twitter.com/ey0mHQ5DDM — Kimmy Schmidt (@KimmySchmidt) February 14, 2018 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock and its first three seasons have been consistently nominated for Emmy awards. The show itself has been nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series every year while main cast members like Tituss Burgess, Jane Krak...

So, it's Valentine's Day, and what better time to check on the potential end date of your romantic relationship? It's easy to do over at coach.dating , a fun little web app based on the dating AI, Coach, that manages dating relationships in the Black Mirror episode, "Hang the DJ." Written by show creator Charlie Brooker, the fourth episode of Black Mirror 's current fourth season revolves around a Tinder-like dating app and managing AI that pairs people off into trial romantic relationships, then uses the data collected during this period to find their "ultimate compatible other." The web app, then, plays off this scenario, having you send a link to your partner so they can connect at the same time. Once they load the custom link you send them, the Coach app ask you both to get ready, then click a fingerprint onscreen, ostensibly to measure your reaction time. The app then starts acting like it's gone crazy, cycling through various error mes...

Originally released in October of last year, The Evil Within 2 is a bleak, tense take on the horror genre, where exploration and discovery are just as important as the scares. The game was designed as a third-person experience, much like producer Shinji Mikami's famous Resident Evil series. Now, however, developer Tango Gameworks has launched a free update that will make the entire game playable in first person perspective. Switching from third- to first-person perspective is a simple menu option. You can change back and forth easily at any point in the game, too. Even the free trial has the feature so you can see how it looks even if you haven't purchased the full game. "A lot of players like playing horror games in first-person, so for those who want to see some of the game's situations through Sebastian's eyes, it's a really neat experience," said Tango Gameworks' Shinsaku Ohara in a statement. "I think exploring Union in first-person...

To date, Snapchat hasn't shown any more data to its biggest users than its everyday audience -- DJ Khaled and Chrissy Teigen probably know about as much as their success as you do. That's about to change. The Snap team will offer a wide range of viewer data to the "tens of thousands" of popular users creating official Stories. That includes not only the views themselves (including how many people watched to the end), but demographics like age group, gender, regions and preferred topics. If creators are hip with the teens or have the beauty market cornered, they'll know. It won't shock you at all to hear why they're getting these stats: ad money. The more influencers know about who's watching, the easier it will be for them to land sponsorships. While that doesn't directly improve Snap's bottom line, it gives those users a better reason to stick with Snapchat versus jumping ship to Instagram. And that, in turn, could help Snap grow its audi...

We found Apple's long-awaited HomePod belts out good sound for casual listeners so long as they'd already bought in to the iOS ecosystem (it needs an iPhone or iPad to work. Woof). But on top of sinking deeper into Apple's mobile OS walled garden, new adopters have something else to worry about: HomePod is damaging wooden furniture it sits on. Apple confirmed to Wirecutter that this issue is happening -- but that "the marks can improve over several days after the speaker is removed from the wood surface." And if they don't go away, you can just clean the surface with "the manufacturer's suggested oiling method." In other words, it's on you to refinish any wooden platform that your brand-new $350 domestic speaker has injured. #homepod left rings on my wood furniture in less than 20 minutes of use. Thanks #apple I am glad a paid $400 to make perfect etched circles on my more expensive furniture. Guess I can not move it now to cover ...

With so many flagship phones leaving behind the headphone jack over the past two years, the need for a good pair of Bluetooth earbuds has only intensified. While the first crop of true wireless products had their share of comfort and connection problems, the selection improved dramatically in 2017, with companies like Bose and Bang & Olufsen coming out with sets that gave Apple's AirPods a real run for the money. If you've been holding off on buying a pair because of cost, poor audio or because they just look ridiculous, it might finally be time to make the leap. We consulted reviews from top critics and came up with a list of six solid options that should have something for everyone, whether you're on a budget or prize sound quality above all else. Samsung Gear IconX (2018) The original Gear IconX delivered lots of good features for a first-generation product, including onboard media storage and heart rate tracking. But those positives were outweighed by poor bat...

Facebook's Messenger app for kids launched in December, though only for iOS, and last month, Facebook made it available for Amazon Fire tablets . Now, TechCrunch reports, and Facebook confirmed to us, that Messenger Kids will be available for Android devices starting today. The app gives parents the control over who their kids talk to, allowing them to add or delete contacts, and sends them notifications if their children report or block anyone they've been chatting with. For kids, the app provides them with a way to text or video chat with their friends and family while offering all of the visual fun of GIFs, frames, emojis and masks. And maybe the best part, kids don't need a Facebook account to use it, only their parents do. However, the app has drawn skepticism from those concerned about exposing kids to social media and overuse of digital technology. Messenger Kids for Android will be available today through Google Play . Facebook says the app will also have a sle...

It turns out that high-end graphics cards are fantastic for mining non-bitcoin cryptocurrencies, which has led to a global shortage of GPUs. Gamers are livid at the lack of supply, especially as prices skyrocket on secondary markets. But they're not the only ones with ruined dreams: The shortage has stalled plans to expand the search for alien life. Search For Extraterrestrial Life (SETI) researchers want to build out their operations at two facilities, BBC reported , but they can't find GPUs to buy. "We'd like to use the latest GPUs [graphics processing units]... and we can't get 'em," SETI chief scientist Dan Werthimer told the BBC. "This is a new problem, it's only happened on orders we've been trying to make in the last couple of months." Crudely speaking, cryptocurrency miners harness the great processing power of GPUs to work out complex math problems that, when solved, grant coin portions as a payday. SETI researchers need ...

It's official: Overwatch League has its first female player . The Shanghai Dragons have signed Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon as part of a four-player addition. The South Korean teen rose to prominence thanks to her reputation for playing Zarya (one of Overwatch 's "tank" characters) so well that she was pressed into a livestreamed skill display to prove that she wasn't cheating. She was also the first female player to compete in her home country's Apex league, one of the game's foremost competitive events until Overwatch League showed up. Two of the four new players players (Lee Eui-seok and Chon Gi-hyeon) are fellow South Koreans, while He Junjian is Chinese. Language won't necessarily be an issue, in other words, and the Dragons are providing "language assistance" to all the new players in addition to securing US visas. It's not certain when they'll start competing in earnest. The absence of female players has been something ...

Tinder is taking a page out of Bumble's book and will soon give women the option to control the initiation of conversations, MarketWatch reports today. Bumble , helmed by Tinder co-founder Whitney Holfe Herd, has amassed some 22 million registered users and what sets it apart from other dating apps is that only women who use the app get to decide whether to start a conversation with a man they've matched with. Now, Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match Group -- which owns Match.com, OKCupid and Tinder -- says that Tinder will soon allow its women users to decide whether they want to have control over initiating conversations. Through a future app update, women will be able to opt in to the feature. "Often, women don't really want the pressure of kicking off the conversation, but if they want it, that's great," Ginsberg told MarketWatch . "Giving people the choice versus telling people how to engage is the big difference." Last year, Tinder launched its G...