Geek News

One more month, folks. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is due to land in the United States, Europe and elsewhere around the world on April 17th, a one-month delay from its original release date. To soften the blow of this announcement, publisher Sega also revealed the launch date for the Yakuza 6 demo: It'll go live on PlayStation 4 on February 27th, and save data will transfer to the full game. "This will be the first time everyone will have a chance to play the game (a moment we have long been anticipating!) and we can't wait to hear what you think about it," Sega wrote on Twitter. "We have many new plans to reveal over the coming weeks to give you all more insight into the series, so stay tuned!" An important update on Yakuza 6 : The Song of Life pic.twitter.com/8MILlBPI4x — Yakuza Game (@yakuzagame) February 2, 2018 Yakuza 6 came out in Japan in late December, closing up series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu's vengeful storyline in the fictional Jap...

By Rachel Cericola 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 . Imagine walking into your home at night, arms overflowing with groceries. To turn your smart lights on, you'd need to put the bags down, pull out your phone, unlock it, open the app, find the control for the lights you want, and then tap the icon. With an Amazon Echo and Alexa , you simply say, "Alexa, turn on the kitchen lights." And it's not just lights; Alexa is capable of controlling everything from basic smart plugs to garage doors . Smart bulbs Photo: Grant Clauser All models of the Philips Hue smart bulb, our pick as the best smart light bulb , allow you to power multiple lights on and off, dim, change a bulb's color, and even create light groups to enable color schemes throughout th...

Usually an automaker's entry-level vehicle is where features initially dropped into the premium line trickle down. Mercedes has taken a different approach with the introduction of the new A-Class. The entry-level Mercedes will be the launching point for three new features. The voice-centric infotainment system, MBUX we demoed at CES, an extended blind-spot assist that's on for three minutes after a car has been parked to watch for approaching cyclists and the new casual, private car-sharing feature via the Mercedes Me app. It's that last one that's important as automakers figure out how cars will be used and shared in the future. Mercedes CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche noted onstage in Amsterdam at the vehicle's unveiling that the car-sharing feature is for close friends and family. With it, the key can be left in the car for those folks to borrow your vehicle for a set amount of time without actually having to meet up with the owner. Helpful for when you're at wo...

Elon Musk has said that he wants to die on Mars -- after it's been colonized by his company SpaceX. He may not have the precise details yet, but Musk will figure the mission out in style: The SpaceX space suits are sleek and form-fitting, while his cherry red Tesla sports car will be aboard the maiden flight of the interplanetary Falcon Heavy rocket. Meanwhile, on Earth, he'll work on connecting our brains to computers through tiny electrodes, building underground networks of car sleds that function like a personal subway system, firing passenger trains through a vacuum tube at the speed of sound and replacing air travel with his Big Fucking Rocket (BFR) spaceship that gets passengers anywhere on the planet in under an hour. That's without mentioning his efforts to advance electric cars and solar energy. Or the fact that this week, he made $10 million in four days selling promotional flamethrowers. With every outlandish company announcement or tweet, Musk can come acros...

It's become a fairly close race to provide mobile 5G service, with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all announcing plans to roll out the faster network tech within the next couple of years. Sprint already has plans to launch its own 5G network in 2019, which it confirmed today during an earnings call , as reported by VentureBeat . According to FierceWireless , Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure noted during the call that his company is working with Qualcomm to launch the first "truly mobile" 5G network in the US by the first half of 2019. This moves Sprint's original plans up a bit. In comparison, AT&T plans to launch 5G service in 12 cities this year, while Verizon has plans to do so in the second half of 2018. T-Mobile doesn't plan to roll its own 5G service out until 2020. VentureBeat also reports that Sprint will have to increase prices to $70 or $80 for unlimited 5G data, which would bring it more in line with its competitors. Via: VentureBeat Source: Sp...

Health Cultivate some new friends. Imagine, if you will, the locker rooms of Super Bowl LII during and after the big game. They’re supercharged, chaotic, and probably extremely stinky. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2nEhaF9"

Spotify announced today that when listening through the desktop platform, users will now be able to view song credits. Starting now, right-clicking on a track and selecting "Show Credits" from the menu will bring up its performer, writer and producer credits as well as the source from which that info was provided. Spotify says that currently, those details have been compiled from record label-provided metadata and they may be incomplete in some cases, but going forward, the feature will become more functional and will use information from other sources. Spotify hasn't had a very smooth relationship with songwriters and artists in the past. It has agreed to multi-million dollar settlements in lawsuits that alleged it didn't properly pay publishers and songwriters and in attempts to build more trust, it has limited its free streaming option and purchased a company that streamlines information on proprietary rights. Last year, Spotify also launched Secret Genius -...

Chrome OS version 64 has made its way to stable channel, which means it's hitting your device very, very soon if it hasn't yet. It'll add a handful of new features and improvements, including a screenshot shortcut if you have a Chromebook with a 360-degree hinge like the Acer Spin . You only have to press the power and the volume down buttons at the same time, like what you'd do on an Android phone. It also adds a flag to make Split View easier to activate and gives Android apps the ability to run in the background. In addition, the update improves your lockscreen's performance, presumably making it faster, and finally enables the use of VPN for apps downloaded from Google Play. While Google is keeping the list of bug fixes under wraps until most people have installed the update, it has revealed that the version includes "additional browser mitigations" to protect your device against the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. Chrome OS version 64, of c...

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British Airways is meant to be a premium airline, however in one department it's woefully archaic: WiFi. If you choose one of its planes for a long-haul trip, you're typically stuck with its in-flight entertainment or whatever you remembered to download beforehand. Not anymore . At long last, BA is offering "high-speed" WiFi on a grand total of three aircraft. That's right, three. The company promises that the number will rise to 118 planes over the next two years, however. That means you can finally stream Netflix and post photos to Instagram while you're 35,000 feet up. BA is, unsurprisingly, behind schedule with the roll out. Last April, it said customers in all cabins would " shortly " have access to WiFi on long-haul flights. Onboard connectivity would then be added to short-haul flights later that year, the company promised. (The latter will now commence "later this year," a BA spokesperson told Engadget today.) Admittedly, this is...

Gadgets The end-of-week dispatch from PopSci's commerce editor. Vol. 35. Throughout the week I spend hours scouring the web for things that are ingenious or clever or ridiculously cheap. Below, gadgets that are awesome, rad, and random. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2s2x5CO"

Microsoft wants to make it easier to buy into the Surface family . The company has begun offering a lower specced Laptop running Windows 10 S -- Microsoft's take on Chrome OS -- and an Intel Core m3 processor in the US. It'll set you back $799 versus the standard model's $999 asking price, and is only available in the platinum colorway, as spotted by Windows Central . As for storage and memory, you'll get 128GB and 4GB, respectively. If you're thinking that sounds an awful lot like the $799 Surface Pro tablet, you aren't wrong. But, that won't get you a keyboard cover, which The Verge points out is a $130 add-on. In related news, Microsoft has also debuted a new variation of the Surface Book 2 with less storage and a lower price. An entry-level model with 128GB of storage and a 13.5-inch screen, 8GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor costs $1,199. For those keeping track at home, that's $300 cheaper than the previous lowest-cost model, but the ...

YouTube will start labeling videos it identifies as coming from state-funded broadcasters starting today. Under the changes, PBS, for example, would carry a label that states it’s a “publicly funded American broadcaster.” The move will affect a variety of sources and is designed to curb the spread of misinformation. The label will also link to the news publisher’s Wikipedia page. “We’re rolling out this feature to viewers in the US for now, and we don’t expect it to be perfect,” YouTube said in a blog post . Of particular note, the changes will affect RT. YouTube has become a major platform for the Russian state news organization, and under the new policy, RT’s videos would have a clarifying label that states , “RT is funded in whole or in... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2nCzwqd"

While new companies like Zero and Gogoro are establishing themselves as first-rate two-wheeled vehicle builders, the Hondas and Yamahas of the world have taken a more cautious approach to the market. BMW, on the other hand, launched its own electric scooter way back in 2014. Sadly it was only available in Europe -- until now. It's finally in the US, and I took it for a spin in America's parking lot (i.e., Los Angeles). The $13,750 BMW C evolution isn't what the average American thinks of when the word "scooter" is mentioned. Instead of a tiny 50cc bike, the electric maxi-scooter is a 606-pound beast that should comfortably seat two (I didn't have any friends willing to ride with me) and at first glance could be mistaken for a motorcycle. But don't let the large footprint fool you: It's a quick commuting machine that's as comfortable on the freeway as it is on surface streets. If you're a regular scooter rider or even someone who rides a ...

Yesterday, GoPro released its final financial figures for the last quarter of 2017 , giving us a wholesale look at how the company performed across the year, including how it finished during the holiday stretch. The results aren’t as bad as they were during the company’s awful 2016 , but they’re not great either. GoPro had already guessed in November that it was in for an underwhelming fourth quarter, and that was two months before it canceled the Karma drone and laid off hundreds of employees. When the company announced that news in January, GoPro reduced its expectations again. What was supposed to be a quarter with $470 million in revenue was now only supposed to generate about $340 million. Yesterday’s final results show GoPro even... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2E6V8Fz"

Facebook has reportedly removed a group that claimed to have sabotaged the score of The Last Jedi on Rotten Tomatoes, and also planned to review-bomb Disney’s upcoming film Black Panther , according to Marvel Studio News . With Black Panther coming to theaters this month, a member of the group “Down With Disney’s Treatment of Franchises and its Fanboys” created an event to leave low ratings and negative reviews for the film as well as Solo: A Star Wars Story . The group also indicated they would set up additional events for Avengers: Infinity War and the company’s Marvel Netflix shows. Following reports of the plan, Rotten Tomatoes issued a comment saying it welcomes passionate fans who want to debate a film’s merits, but it doesn’t condone... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2BQjFsZ"