Posts

Byton's second EV is an autonomous sedan due in 2021

Image
Byton has yet to deliver a single vehicle, but that isn't stopping it from promising more electric cars. As teased in April , the fledgling automaker has unveiled its second EV, the K-Byte Concept sedan. It shares the same platform as the SUV we saw at CES (now called the M-Byte Concept) and, to no one's surprise, is designed with autonomous driving in mind. It'll include a retractable LiDAR system that kicks in during full self-driving scenarios and retracts when space is at a priority, such as wh en you're parking. The company is aiming for Level 4 autonomy where it can drive all by itself without human input, but only in specific situations. There's no mention of the interior, though we'd expect it to be laden with touchscreen tech like the M-Byte. It'll be difficult to escape the technology on the outside, at least. In addition ...

'Friday the 13th' publisher cancels DLC due to movie lawsuit

Image
Last year's Friday the 13th is a fun spin on the Jason Voorhees saga and the struggle of teens at Camp Crystal Lake to survive his onslaught. Fans had been looking forward to new features, but they'll have to remain content with the game's current state indefinitely. That's because publisher Gun Media was left with no choice but to cancel all future DLC and content updates -- all due to a copyright fight over the Friday the 13th movies. Victor Miller, the screenwriter of the original Friday the 13th, is engaged in a lawsuit with representatives for the director, Sean Cunningham (who agreed a licensing deal with Gun and is listed as one of the game's producers ). The parties don't agree over who owns the rights to the franchise. Cunningham says Miller wrote the movie on a work-for-hire deal and doesn't have any rights to the series, but Mi...

Steam finally adds voice chat and flexible friend lists in new beta

Image
Steam's chat hasn't been updated in ages, leaving its embedded communication functionality to lag behind competitors. Today, the platform introduced new features that users can access today in a beta program, which adds sorely-needed options like voice and group chat. The new features basically mirror a lot of Discord's functionality in a blatant attempt to catch up. The new Steam chat revamps how your friends list is organized, with a customizable 'favorites' section up top followed by friends grouped up in a party or by which game they're currently playing. Drag some of them together into a chat window to create a new group chat, which can be refined with settings for text and voice channels as well as member permissions. There are a handful of other new quirks, too, like (finally!) a promised invisible mode and custom friend-request link...

MTV is making a live-action ‘Aeon Flux’ reboot

Image
Aeon Flux is coming back as MTV has moved forward with a plan to air a new live-action reboot of the series. The show premiered in 1991 with a series of animated shorts that aired on MTV's Liquid Television. The network then expanded the series with five short-form episodes in 1992 and 10 half-hour episodes in 1995. The show then went on to be adapted in a graphic novel, a video game and an unsuccessful film starring Charlize Theron. Aeon Flux takes place in the future, at a time when only two cities have survived a global disaster. Aeon, an assassin from the state of Monica, is tasked with infiltrating the rival state of Bregna, which is run by her enemy and sometimes lover Trevor Goodchild. The Hollywood Reporter says the live-action reboot will be written and produced by Teen Wolf showrunner Jeff Davis. Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd, who was als...

'Sekiro' takes the 'Dark Souls' formula to ancient Japan

Image
Woven in with Activision's anticipated E3 lineup of Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 , there's the latest game from the studio behind Dark Souls . Indeed, FromSoftware's knack for creating dark and brooding gamescapes is on display once more in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice , but this time that trademark look is applied to the stunning visuals of 1500s Sengoku Japan. It's not history retold, but instead a reimagined story set in that time. And based on the small piece of gameplay I've seen, FromSoftware has created quite the action-packed work of art. The game isn't expected to be released until early 2019, and Acitivision kept the demo brief at E3. The storyline in Sekiro follows a ninja's quest for revenge after the "young lord" he was sworn to protect is taken and "The Rival" cut off Sekiro's arm. Basically,...

AT&T’s Time Warner merger kicks off a new era of streaming-video monopolies

Image
Today, the US District Court for the District of Columbia cleared the way for the world's largest telecom to buy the world's third-largest entertainment company, kicking off a new era in how content gets distributed online. Pending appeal, AT&T will now be able to purchase Time Warner for $85 billion, bringing subsidiaries like CNN, HBO, and Warner Bros. movie studios along for the ride. Before today, AT&T's holdings were mostly confined to distributing information, either through wireline internet, wireless phone service, or broadcast satellite TV. Now, it will own a major stake in some of the largest companies producing that content, with major implications for anyone trying to stream video online. The ruling will have an immediate... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2LNBWgj ...

'Fortnite' for Switch thankfully includes native voice chat

Image
The newly released Fortnite for Switch includes a pleasant surprise: there's built-in voice chat. Where Splatoon 2 forces you to use Nintendo's not-so-elegant Switch Online mobile app for voice, Epic Games has confirmed that you can plug any old headset into the console's headphone jack to coordinate with your Fortnite squad. The feature isn't active as we write this, but it should turn on as of June 14th. To some extent, Epic didn't have much choice. Where voice chat is mainly nice to have for Splatoon , it's practically essential with Fortnite team games -- and you really don't want to wade through software on another device (or tangle yourself in cables) just to give your squad a fighting chance at a Victory Royale. Switch Online isn't as clunky as it was on launch, but it still can't compete with chatting directly throu...

Amazon offers first details about its 'Lord of the Rings' series

Image
Amazon initially said precious little about its Lord of the Rings series beyond acknowledging its existence, but details are finally starting to trickle out. In an interview with Deadline , Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke provided a few tidbits about the fantasy show despite its early stages. For one, there will be familiar characters. Amazon isn't "remaking the movies," Salke said, but nor is it is "starting from scratch." The Prime Video production will make at l east some effort to shape its own identity , then. The studio head also acknowledged that Amazon was "right in the middle" of conversations with Peter Jackson to gauge his possible involvement in the series. The company might even shoot in New Zealand, and the company has talked to Simon Tolkien "for a couple of hours." While none of this is certain (Amazo...

Dish expands Amazon Alexa voice control of its set-top boxes

Image
Last year, Dish launched an Amazon Alexa skill for its Hopper and Wally set-top boxes that allowed users to change the channel, search for shows or control playback with their voice. Now, the company is expanding its Alexa capabilities with the ability to set recordings, launch apps such as Pandora or Netflix and navigate Home, Guide, DVR, On Demand, Settings and Help menus on Hopper boxes. You can see full list of Alexa integrations over on Dish's website, along with setup instructions to connect your Alexa-capable device to your box. It's always nice to see functionality added to our existing devices, and hands-free voice control is never a thing we're going to complain about. Source: Dish via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2sTlrrG ...

'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' is a refinement of a classic formula

Image
It's December 1999. I'm sitting in my best friend's smoke-filled bedroom, frantically mashing the buttons of an N64 controller and having the time of my life. Six months later, I'm in the same smokey hovel, but now I'm deftly dodging attacks, timing blocks and dancing between the platforms of Planet Zebes. And I'm still having the time of my life. This has been the core appeal of the Super Smash Bros. (SSB) series since day one: No matter your skill level or play style, get together with a bunch of friends, and you're going to have a lot of fun. Put in the time to master the game, though, and you'll find a rewarding and deep fighter. Fast-forward the best part of two decades, and at E3 2018, Nintendo has taken the wraps off its latest SSB game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate . A large portion of Nintendo's Direct presentation, and indeed its ca...