Geek News

Last week, an Epic Games representative explained Paragon 's uncertain future on the game's subreddit, which worried fans -- especially as it confirmed that developers had been siphoned off to assist with the massively successful Fortnite . It turns out those apocalyptic concerns were correct: Paragon is getting shut down on April 26th. To make up for it, every player, on all platforms, can apply for a refund. Paragon will close down on April 26, 2018. For more information, click here. https://t.co/sd5L7xy33c pic.twitter.com/1JTDAmyifB — Paragon (@Paragon) January 26, 2018 "After careful consideration, and many difficult internal debates, we feel there isn't a clear path for us to grow Paragon into a MOBA that retains enough players to be sustainable," Epic Games' statement read. "We didn't execute well enough to deliver on the promise of Paragon. We have failed you -- despite the team's incredibly hard work -- and we're sorry....

Payment sharing services from Paypal, Square and Venmo are great, but it can take some time to move funds from those accounts to your bank so you can use them in real life. Last year, Paypal introduced $0.25 instant transfer fees to make it much faster to move money to your real-life bank. Now Paypal-owned Venmo is doing the same, offering transfers of funds in less than 30 minutes. Beginning this week, you can transfer your Venmo balance to your Visa or Mastercard debit cards for a flat 25 cent fee. You can still move the funds the old way for free; it will just take longer. The new instant transfer option will roll out to Venmo users over the next few days. Just update your Venmo app to see if you have access, yet. Source: Venmo via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2EdO33y"

Lenovo will soon release its VR Classroom setup, which will let teachers guide their students through virtual field trips. Each kit comes with the first standalone Daydream VR headset, Lenovo's Mirage Solo with Daydream , which arrives preloaded with over 700 Google Expeditions VR field trips as well as three exclusive Jane Goodall "Wild Immersion" videos. The VR field trips allow classrooms to explore the world and in order to help facilitate the learning experience, the videos include stopping points during which teachers can add more information or answer questions as well as talking points for teachers. Additionally, online lesson plans will be available to assist teachers in getting the most from the kit. Along with headsets and software, the kit comes with a Lenovo Tab 4 PLUS 10-inch tablet , a Ruckus R510 commercial router, a cart or case depending on the size of the kit being purchased, training videos, expert consultation and monthly webinars. Google Expediti...

As Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election continues, Wired reports the team interviewed "at least one member of Facebook's team that was associated with President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign." There's no word on what was discussed or implication of what this means, but it comes just a day after the Senate released Facebook's statement that it found "insignificant overlap" between Russian propaganda ads and the Trump campaign. Facebook hs reportedly handed over those Russian ads to investigators, but where things go from here remains to be seen. Source: Wired via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2rG2WJp"

Tiny robots that can move on their own stand to have a variety of uses in fields ranging from medicine to the military. But having to supply them with constant power is a bit of a hindrance, especially when that power poses a safety hazard -- you can't really have robots running around a human body if their batteries are at risk of exploding. However, in a new study, researchers turn to plants in order to get around this problem and the result is a tiny, inchworm-like robot that runs on humidity. What inspired the researchers behind these little robots were plants like Pelargonium carnosum , the seeds of which can screw themselves into the ground, and pine cones that open and close depending on the humidity in order to ensure their seeds spread as far as possible. These plants are able to do this because they have multiple layers of cells, some of which are affected by moisture and some of which aren't. When the plants come in contact with moisture, those layers that are ...

The Roland TR-808 and TR-909 are iconic drum machines that powered a ton of the music from the '80s and '90s. While both hardware units were recently revived as the TR-08 and TR-09 , they haven't been officially emulated in software yet. That changes now as Roland announces VST and AU plugins for both of the iconic rhythm modules (along with a new SRX Orchestra virtual instrument set) as part of the company's Roland Cloud service. The TR-808 and TR-909 virtual instruments are full reproductions of the original hardware, according to Roland. The SRX Orchestra is the first one of the SRX series Expansion Library (from the 2000s) available as a software instrument. Roland Cloud will be a suite of high-resolution software synths and sampled instruments that musicians will be able to pull from while creating their own musical works. It sounds similar to what Adobe has done with its own photo and graphics-based Adobe Cloud . All three new additions are headed as updates...

A number of states are considering right to repair bills , legislation which if passed would make it easier for individuals and repair shops to replace or repair electronics parts. Repair.org reports that 17 states have already introduced bills this year and while most aim to make repair parts and manuals accessible, Washington's proposed legislation would straight up ban electronics that prevent easy repair. "Original manufacturers of digital electronic products sold on or after January 1, 2019, in Washington state are prohibited from designing or manufacturing digital electronic products in such a way as to prevent reasonable diagnostic or repair functions by an independent repair provider," says the bill . "Preventing reasonable diagnostic or repair functions includes permanently affixing a battery in a manner that makes it difficult or impossible to remove." Motherboard reports that the bill is cosponsored by a dozen representatives, a group that includ...

It looks as though it's finally happening. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket may have a launch date, according to Chris G. of NASASpaceflight.com . The rocket will launch no earlier than February 6th, with a window of 1:30 PM ET to 4:30 PM ET. There's a backup window on February 7th, just in case. We've reached out to SpaceX for confirmation. Guys... are you ready!? #FalconHeavy LAUNCH DATE! February 6th, with a backup on the 7th. Launch time is 13:30-16:30 EST (18:30-21:30 UTC) #ItsHappening — Chris G - NSF (@ChrisG_NSF) January 26, 2018 This has been a long road for the Falcon Heavy , but SpaceX appears to be moving swiftly, following the successful static fire test earlier this week. It's worth mentioning that this launch date is not set in stone; there's a Falcon 9 launch that must happen next week to clear the way for the Falcon Heavy. Still, it's exciting to have an actual date after so much waiting. Source: Twitter via Engadget RSS Feed ...

On January 13th, a statewide alert warned Hawaiians about an incoming nuclear attack -- which turned out to be a mistake caused by human error. Whoops! The resulting finger-pointing revealed serious shortcomings about the state government's disaster response, including the governor's difficulty logging in to his Twitter account to tweet out an all-clear. But US senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii doesn't think fixes are enough: He wants to take the responsibility for nuclear warnings away from local and state governments and give it to the feds alone. Any city, county or state can participate in a program that lets them send these alerts, but it doesn't make them experts, Schatz said in Congressional testimony at a hearing about the failure. So he proposed legislation with several other senators that would put the responsibility solely with the federal government. "States are the laboratories for democracy, they should not be the laboratory for missile alerts,...

Last year Facebook launched a Creator app for video hosts to create more video content for the social network. Now it's doubling down on the concept, this time for those who make gaming videos. It's a pretty clear bid to compete with YouTube and Twitch for the attention of gaming fans who love watching other people play video games. Facebook points to the success of gaming creators like StoneMountain64 (above), who has more than 1 million followers watching his Facebook Live streams of PUBG and Fortnite. The social network now allows creators in the program to stream in 1080p at 60 frames per second, the holy grail of gaming resolution. The company also wants to add monetization systems for those in the creators program, likely through payments during live streams. On Saturday the 27th at 5:15 PM Pacific, Facebook will host an event on Daybreak's H1Z1 Facebook page to bring dozens of these creators into the new program. The group includes livestreamers like Misses...

Now that the HomePod is nearly here , Apple is dribbling out details of what its first smart speaker will do... including, apparently, that it's a power miser. The company has posted environmental data showing that the HomePod uses no more than 9.25W of power when playing music at 50 percent volume. As MacRumors noted , that's less than the consumption of a typical LED light bulb (such as the 10W of a Philips Hue A19). You're going to use more power if you crank it up, of course, but you probably won't cringe at your electricity bill if you stream music all day. And importantly, the speaker should consume little power when it's silent. Apple said that the speaker draws a maximum of 1.76W in idle mode, or about 50 percent less than the latest Energy Star specs require. The trick, Apple says, is the combination of "optimized power management features," such as dropping into low-power mode after 8 minutes of inactivity, and a high-efficiency power suppl...

Google has been toying with the idea of hyperlocal news for a while now. It tested Google Now cards back in 2013 that could display information as close as your neighborhood, for example. The company's latest take, Bulletin , is in testing as an app to create and instantly publish those hyperlocal stories from your phone. Currently only in early access in Nashville and Oakland, Bulletin encourages local journalists and everyday folk to capture a video, take a snapshot and build a story around events wherever they happen. Google confirmed the project to Slate on Friday. "This is very much in the testing phase and aimed at hyperlocal stories and events for people to share, and for local media to take advantage of," a Google spokesperson explained to Slate . "People everywhere want to know what is going on in their own backyard at a very local level, ranging from local bookstore readings to high school sporting events to information about local street closures....

Last year, Defcon's Voting Village made headlines for uncovering massive security issues in America's electronic voting machines. Unsurprisingly, voting machine makers are working to prevent a repeat performance at this year's show. According to Voting Village organizers, they're having a tough time getting their hands on machines for white-hat hackers to test at the next Defcon event in Las Vegas (held in August). That's because voting machine makers are scrambling to get the machines off eBay and keep them out of the hands of the "good guy" hackers. Village co-organizer Harri Hursti told attendees at the Shmoocon hacking conference this month they were having a hard time preparing for this year's show, in part because voting machine manufacturers sent threatening letters to eBay resellers. The intimidating missives told auctioneers that selling the machines is illegal -- which is false . Electronic voting machine manufacturers -- and anyone...

ESPN and Disney are about to get a significant influx of eSports content. Through a new multiyear deal announced today, the two networks will broadcast a number of Madden NFL tournaments as well as an episodic series featuring Madden NFL 18 Ultimate League players. "Through this collaboration with ESPN and Disney XD, we'll provide ongoing coverage for fans worldwide across a variety of ESPN and Disney platforms, but also digitally through our own Madden streaming and social channels," Todd Sitrin, EA's competitive gaming division general manager, said in a statement. Competition coverage kicks off tomorrow when ESPNEWS airs the Madden NFL 18 Club Championship quarterfinals. The tournament is taking place at the Pro Bowl and features players repping all 32 NFL teams. The Club Championship finals will then take place at the Super Bowl Experience on February 1st and will air on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. Starting February 2nd, Disney XD and ESPN video on demand will ...

Bungie is still learning lessons about rewarding Destiny 2 players for their commitment, and that's reflected in its January 30th update . To begin with, it's promising much better loot for raids. You're now guaranteed raid-only equipment when you complete an encounter, and you'll always have a chance of scoring exotic gear you can start using right away. Those who go on Prestige raids get normal drops at the same time. Also, you can buy gear if you'd rather not grind the raid hoping to get that last armor piece you need -- so long as you've completed the raid that week, you can buy hardware from a rotating selection at Benedict. When you throw raid-specific mod perks and a drop-enhancing Ghost into the mix, you might be more inclined to come back to the raid without feeling like you have to repeat it ad nauseam . Fans of the competitive Iron Banner mode (which is making its Season 2 debut on the 30th) might also have a reason to come back. You can now buy ...

Toxic players are a big problem for the Overwatch team. As game director Jeff Kaplan explained in a developer update last September, they're actually delaying maps and feature updates by forcing the developers to create measures to stem the tide of crappy player behavior. Those tactics seem to be working. In a new video, Kaplan reported that competitive play has less abuse and players are reporting more often. But the Overwatch team has gone further with at least one new proactive strategy: Find toxic behavior uploaded to 'social media sites like YouTube' and punish the accounts responsible. Via: Polygon Source: 'Overwatch' developer update 1.26.18 via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2DI4ckV"

Google's said before that Chrome OS would be used for tablets, but so far we've only seen whispers of such a device. Now, it seems that Twitter user Alister Payne (@Alister_Payne) got an early look at what appears to be an Acer tablet that operates on Chrome OS. The tweet and picture, taken at BETT 2018, has since been deleted, but Chrome Unboxed preserved it. The device appears to have a screen between 8 and 10 inches, but further details are unavailable. This isn't the first hint at a Chrome tablet that we've seen. Samsung may also prepping a detachable Chrome OS tablet called "Nautilus. " Lenovo's Yoga Book was also available with a Chrome OS, though it's a convertible laptop, rather than a true tablet. This is just another peek to whet our appetites for the what will hopefully be a slew of tablets introduced in the near future. Via: The Verge Source: Chrome Unboxed via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2E8ZTvD"

By Grant Clauser This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter , reviews for the real world. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . Everyone loves watching a great movie on a big screen with a kickass speaker system, but few would complain about losing the sticky floors, uncomfortable seats, and kids with smartphones (unless they're your own kids). Our A/V team spends thousands of hours each year to find the best-looking and -sounding home theater equipment. Whether you have a dedicated theater room planned or are thinking of upgrading your weeknight living room movie night, we have recommendations covering whatever space and budget you have. The best home theater projector If your room is large enough (you can check using this calculator ) and you want the best picture quality, we heartily recommend the Sony VPL-HW40ES . After testing five lead...