Category: Technology

Don’t expect to see many Waymo-powered autonomous big rigs in the near future. Waymo now plans to “push back” its driverless trucking efforts and shift its attention toward its One ride-hailing service. The move will help the company concentrate on making these self-driving taxis a “commercial success,” according to co-CEOs Dmitri Dolgov and Tekedra Mawakana.

Waymo justified the decision by pointing to “significant” growth in demand for its robotaxis in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. It also noted rapid upgrades to Driver, the AI system that handles its autonomous cars. There’s “tremendous momentum” in One, the co-chiefs say, and the new strategy will help make the most of this trend.

The Alphabet-owned brand still intends to work with Daimler on self-driving semi trucks. It’s shifting most of its technical development toward Waymo One, but believes work on Driver (particularly for highway driving) will indirectly benefit trucking. There’s no updated timeline for when trucks may reach the roads, but TechCrunchunderstands only a handful of workers will lose jobs as a result of the transition. Most have taken other positions at Waymo.

Waymo started testing autonomous big rig trucks in 2017, with rapid expansions in 2019 and 2020 that included the launch of its Via cargo transportation division. The firm won the attention of major partners, including UPS and former rival Uber Freight. However, there’s no doubt that Waymo One was the star and won the most interest. Uber even expects to offer Waymo rides and deliveries in Phoenix later this year.

The change isn’t guaranteed to pan out. While Waymo is closer to offering paid rides in multiple markets, it’s still facing opposition from officials who are concerned about safety issues. Driverless cars have blocked traffic, interfered with first responder vehicles and otherwise caused problems, and there’s a call for regulators to limit just where and when robotaxis can operate.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/waymo-pushes-back-its-self-driving-truck-efforts-to-focus-on-ride-hailing-211355559.html?src=rss 

Elon Musk’s rebranding of Twitter as X is… not going according to plan. Indonesia has temporarily blocked X.com due to the country’s laws forbidding gambling and porn. Officials don’t think the site is suddenly going downhill, though. Rather, it’s that the web domain’s previous owners broke the country’s content laws. In other words, X didn’t check to see if the the predecessors had done anything leading to national bans.

The impasse likely won’t last long. Information director general Usman Kansong tells the press that X has already been in touch about the issue, and is sending a letter to indicate that Twitter is taking ownership of X.com. This is more a formality than a major legal hurdle.

Still, this is another indicator of just how unplanned the Twitter-to-X transition was. Meta, Microsoft and numerous other companies already own trademarks on X, opening the door to lawsuits. X may have trouble registering and protecting trademarks, too. The company has even had problems changing its signage — a crew pulling down the Twitter sign in San Francisco had to stop over permit issues, leaving the “er” and old bird logo intact.

Musk announced the sudden transition as part of a broader plan to turn Twitter into a “super app” like China’s WeChat. In theory, you could use X for payments, messaging and other tasks that go well beyond social media. The service has also lately tried to steer users toward $8 per month Blue subscriptions by both offering perks (such as much longer posts) and limiting existing features.

The momentary Indonesia ban isn’t a major roadblock. However, it still means that roughly 24 million users can’t even try X.com at the moment. That may be welcome news for competitors that don’t face similar restrictions, including Meta’s recently launched Threads (already available in Indonesia).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/indonesia-is-blocking-elon-musks-x-domain-for-its-gambling-and-porn-history-195551771.html?src=rss 

Amid its rebranding to X, Twitter is reportedly hardballing advertisers in an effort to increase its bottom line. Reports earlier this month suggested that Twitter’s revenue had dropped by a staggering 50 percent. The company’s latest strategy to increase revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal, is asking brands to spend at least $1,000 per month on ads in order to maintain their verified status on the platform.

Responding to a tweet about The Wall Street Journal’s report, Musk says that the “moderately high” cost is a preventative measure to help reduce the number of scammers creating “millions of accounts” on the platform. Musk added that brands could instead choose to pay $1,000 per month for the company’s verified organization badge.

It’s clear that Twitter is looking for ways to reduce its losses, and the company’s main source of revenue is advertising. The Wall Street Journal also reports that Twitter is slashing prices on some of its advertising slots. For example, Twitter is giving all new bookings a 50 percent discount through July 31st. The company claims that the point of these discounts is to allow advertisers to “gain reach during crucial moments” such as sporting events.

While the $1,000 monthly rate is unlikely to be an issue for larger brands, the new change could hurt smaller businesses that don’t want to or don’t have the extra budget to commit. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-tells-advertisers-to-spend-1000-per-month-or-risk-losing-verification-status-201528621.html?src=rss 

Deconstructeam announced today that its upcoming divination-based game, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, arrives on August 16th. The player-choice-driven narrative adventure will be available for PC and Nintendo Switch. In addition, a new launch trailer gives us a closer glimpse at the title’s tarot deck building and weighty decision-making.

In The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, you assume the role of Fortuna, a witch imprisoned for 1,000 years on a remote asteroid after foretelling an unwelcome prediction of doom. (You join her 200 years into her sentence, although the game includes plenty of pre-exile flashbacks.) However, Fortuna’s stay isn’t as lonely as you may expect: She’s accompanied by Ábramar, a god summoned by Fortuna to help her escape and serve cold revenge on the coven. You’ll also receive a surprising number of visitors for someone floating on a space rock in the middle of nowhere.

Following Deconstructeam’s Gods Will Be Watching and The Red Strings Club, its latest entry expands on the studio’s tendencies toward philosophical and narrative experiences in dystopian settings. Much of the gameplay revolves around the narrative forks you choose (primarily through dialog trees) and the building and deployment of tarot decks, presented intricately in vibrant pixel art. You can customize the cards’ backgrounds, symbols and supporting elements, crafting a magical repertoire that feels distinctly yours. (However, you can keep the deck-creation process relatively simple if you prefer a more straightforward playthrough.) “At its core, Cosmic Wheel is a visual novel with narrative paths dictated by the player’s choices,” Jessica Conditt wrote in Engadget’s April preview.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood will cost $18 when it launches on August 16th for Switch and PC. You can pre-order it on Steam and wish-list it on GOG ahead of its arrival. (Nintendo hasn’t yet published its product listing.)

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/witchy-narrative-adventure-the-cosmic-wheel-sisterhood-hits-pc-and-switch-on-august-16th-184513016.html?src=rss 

In a move to prevent public companies from delaying news about cyberattacks, the US Security and Exchange Commission has set a four-day deadline to disclose “material cybersecurity incidents.” A US attorney general could potentially delay that disclosure if doing so would lead to “substantial risk to national security or public safety.” Otherwise, the rules will serve as a stiff new guidepost — albeit, one that’s slightly less restrictive than the EU’s GDPR cyberattack deadline of just three days.

The news comes after Microsoft was criticized by security experts for taking weeks to confirm an attack against Outlook and other online services. “We really have no way to measure the impact [of the attack] if Microsoft doesn’t provide that info,” Jake Williams, a cybersecurity researcher and former NSA hacker, told the AP in June.

While GDPR rules are more about protecting the public, the SEC appears to be more focused on investors: “Currently, many public companies provide cybersecurity disclosure to investors,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. “I think companies and investors alike, however, would benefit if this disclosure were made in a more consistent, comparable, and decision-useful way.”

Technology companies have pushed against the SECs rules since they were initially announced last year, which ultimately led to the inclusion of a delay clause, Bloomberg reports. Additionally, the Information Technology Industry Council argued that the four-day deadline is too short, since companies may not know enough about the cyberattack by then.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sec-public-companies-must-report-cyberattacks-within-four-days-193713534.html?src=rss 

Sony has revealed the PlayStation Plus monthly games lineup for August. There’s no clear headliner here, but a trio of nifty titles are about to drop, including the incredible Zelda-ish adventure Death’s Door and a little-known golf sim called PGA Tour 2K23. Also in the lineup is Media Molecule’s long-running game-making platformDreams.

Dreams is a community-focused app that builds upon the level-creation tools first debuted in the LittleBigPlanet series. Players have used the system to make just about anything you can imagine, from VR experiences to full-fledged CGI movies. Sony even allowed some of the more popular creators to sell their works.

Unfortunately, Sony is winding down Dreams, as the company recently announced it will stop releasing updates later this year. The launch on PS Plus, however, will provide users with one last hurrah, especially given the final game on this month’s list of releases, which is another Media Molecule title. Tren is a train-based adventure game that was entirely built in Dreams and only accessible within the title. Sony calls it a “nostalgic adventure that puts you in the driving seat of a remarkable toy train, and tells a personal tale about growing up – and the transformative power of play.”

These titles are all available on August 1st and you have until the final day of July to scoop up expiring games like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Alan Wake Remastered and Endling – Extinction is Forever.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/augusts-playstation-plus-monthly-games-include-deaths-door-and-dreams-182331045.html?src=rss 

Seven major automakers have banded together to create a new charging network in North America, with an eventual target of 30,000 high-powered charge points near urban and highway locations. The companies involved with the venture include BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes and Stellantis. The venture issued a statement on the move, saying they are trying to “accelerate the transition to electric vehicles” and “make zero-emission driving even more attractive.”

The goal of this venture is 30,000 new charging points, and the companies say they will “leverage public and private funds” to get there. After all, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that the country will need around 182,000 fast chargers to accommodate the massive influx of EVs hitting the roads by 2030. This venture represents a good portion of these needs.

These stations will use the Combined Charging System (CCS) standard and the North American Charging Standard (NACS). It’s worth mentioning that Tesla’s superchargers use the NACS charging type and the company recently opened up the technology to other EV manufacturers.

This new joint program will formally begin operations sometime this year, assuming it clears regulatory approval conditions, and it plans on opening up its first stations next summer. Each site will boast multiple chargers and plenty of amenities, like canopies, restaurants, restrooms and integrated brick-and-mortar retail stores.

EV sales are expected to contribute to more than 50 percent of total automobile sales by 2030, so the more charging stations available, the better. To that end, some of the companies involved in this venture are also striking out on their own to build more charging stations. GM, for instance, promises to build 40,000 charging stations at car dealerships throughout the US and Canada.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/major-automakers-team-up-to-create-new-north-american-ev-charging-network-171532385.html?src=rss 

Microsoft isn’t done refining the interface on your Xbox console. The company is rolling out an updated home screen for Xbox Series/X and One users that theoretically puts games within closer reach while giving you more room to customize the experience. There’s now a quick access menu that helps you jump to your collection, Game Pass, the Microsoft Store and common functions like search and settings. You can pin favorite games and groups, and there are curated lists of games to help discover titles. The update should reach everyone within a few weeks.

At the same time, a simpler layout creates more room for your custom background. An option can change the background to match the game you’ve selected in your recently played list, somewhat like PlayStation’s carousel. A refreshed community row helps show what friends are doing, while media spotlights and lists help you find new content to see or hear.

It’s easier to buy games, too. At the same time, PayPal has revealed that you can “soon” use Venmo to buy games, apps and subscriptions in the Microsoft Store on Xbox in the US. This will help you make use of spare Venmo funds, of course, but it will also give you a way to split payments if you can’t justify an up-front purchase.

The rethink comes eight months after Microsoft began publicly experimenting with a new Xbox interface. The company has a history of frequent UI redesigns and tweaks, particularly in the Xbox One era. Sony, in contrast, is relatively conservative and rarely makes major changes to the PlayStation front end in the middle of a console cycle. Microsoft’s iteration may be frustrating if you’re hoping for a consistent experience, but it does suggest the company is responding to gamers’ feedback and hoping to stand out in the market.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xbox-home-screen-revamp-provides-quicker-access-to-games-173010398.html?src=rss 

The Overture Maps Foundation, a group founded by Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and TomTom, has released an initial open dataset that will help developers build mapping apps and other location-based tools. The “alpha” set includes worldwide info for over 59 million places, 780 million unique buildings, road data from OpenStreetMap and borders.

The map layers are packaged in a recently-launched Overture map format that’s meant to be standardized and interoperable between platforms. The group is mainly sharing the data at this stage to get public feedback, rather than to support complete products.

The foundation was formed in December last year by a range of companies that include geospatial and mapping firms in addition to tech giants. While open map data isn’t a new concept, Overture believes the collective effort is necessary to deliver accurate, up-to-date info that’s no longer practical for any one organization to provide. Ideally, a newcomer won’t have to worry about supplying outdated or incomplete directions.

Overture is quick to warn that there’s still a lot of work left before its material is truly ready. Upcoming releases will include more open data, greater interoperability and the use of a stable ID system that will help map builders consistently add content. You might not see apps relying much (if at all) on the alpha dataset, but it serves as a starting point that gives app creators an idea of what’s possible.

Google has historically dominated the mobile navigation app market, with Google Maps and Waze together claiming a clear majority of use in recent years. Apple Maps, meanwhile, tends to get nearly all the remaining share. There’s not much room for challengers, and they normally need massive resources just to be competitive. Overture’s open data could make it much easier to produce viable alternatives, even if they’re unlikely to unseat Apple or Google any time soon.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-microsoft-led-group-shares-data-for-open-alternative-to-google-maps-160001416.html?src=rss