Category: Technology

Amid ongoing unionization efforts at the company, Activision will soon require Blizzard employees to spend the majority of their week working out of the company’s offices. An Activision spokesperson told Engadget employees with the company’s publishing unit will be required to work from the office at least three days per week starting April 10th. On July 10th, the same policy goes into effect for Blizzard Entertainment employees. At the company’s King mobile division, team leaders can set the office schedule for their units.   

“Activision Blizzard has been returning teams to the office over the past year, and on February 13th, we updated our future-of-work plan,” the spokesperson said. “In close partnership with each leadership team, we customize a plan based on what’s best for our business and our teams. We look forward to the increased real-time, in-person collaboration and opportunities this change will foster.”

Information on the company’s return-to-office plan was first shared earlier this week by @LeastMyHairIsOk, a Twitter user who says they work at Blizzard’s customer support department (via Game Developer). In a Twitter thread, they said the “majority” of Activision Blizzard employees “have no interest” in returning to the office. The worker went on to predict Activision will see a workforce drain if it moves forward with the plan. On top of ongoing worries about COVID-19, @LeastMyHairIsOk alleges the company has failed to address employee concerns about the cost of living in many of the cities where Activision has offices and studios. Specifically, they claim leadership has repeatedly denied requests from “lower earning departments” to include yearly cost-of-living adjustments as part of salary negotiations. “Our most recent meetings from last month suggest that there are no plans for this to change this year,” they added.

Activision Blizzard did not immediately respond to Engadget’s questions about its salary policies.

Details on Activision’s return to office plan come amid allegations of union-busting. In January, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) withdrew a petition for a union election at Proletariat, a Blizzard support studio that’s currently working on World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. A CWA spokesperson accused studio head Seth Sivak of holding captive audience meetings that allegedly “demoralized and disempowered” pro-union workers enough that they felt the vote wouldn’t be fair.

Update 1:23PM ET: Added more timely information about King’s return to office arrangement. 

 

PowerWash Simulator developer FuturLab will soon give players more stuff to clean up with their trusty pressure washers, as it’s adding another free crossover expansion. Five levels set in Final Fantasy VII‘s Midgard are coming to the game on March 2nd.

You’ll be able to team up with some friends and blast away muck from Cloud’s Hardy Daytona motorcycle, the interior of Tifa Lockheart’s Seventh Heaven bar and even the Scorpion Sentinel and Airbuster bosses. You’ll get jobs from both Avalanche and Shinra, and learn more about members of each through text messages. There are new types of grime to deal with as well, such as bio-residue.

The Midgar Special Pack follows on from five free levels set around Lara Croft’s Croft Manor that FuturLab and publisher Square Enix rolled out last month as part of the Tomb Raider Special Pack. They’re neat additions to a very enjoyable and relaxing first-person game that lets you clean up disgusting virtual vehicles and environments without having to do ridiculous things like buying a pressure washer or going outside.

 

Sony has revealed the games it’s bringing to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers this month and the latest slate of additions is a doozy. The obvious headliner is Horizon Forbidden West, one of the few major first-party PS5 games to date. The terrific sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn debuted a year ago and it was one of the top 10 best-selling games of 2022 in the US, according to NPD data (not accounting for digital sales on Switch and Xbox). Both the PS4 and PS5 versions will be available for subscribers to snag.

It’s a pretty long game — the main story alone clocks in at around 28 hours. Still, PS Plus Extra and Premium members will have plenty of time to play through Aloy’s latest big adventure before the PS5-only Burning Shores expansion arrives on April 19th.

The rest of the February lineup is nothing to sniff at either. You’ll soon be able to check out PS4 and PS5 versions of The Quarry, Outriders, Bandai Namco’s action RPG Scarlet Nexus, The Forgotten City and Borderlands 3 at no extra cost if you have an Extra or Premium subscription. The PS4 versions of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Tekken 7, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, Earth Defense Force 5, Oninaki, Lost Sphear and I am Setsuna will be available as well.

That’s not all as Premium subscribers will gain access to PlayStation 1 titles The Legend of Dragoon, Wild Arms 2 and Harvest Moon: Back to Nature with extra features such as up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters. The PS4 remake of Destroy All Humans! is on the way to that tier too. All of these games will be available to claim starting on February 21st.

Meanwhile, those on the PS Plus Essential tier can also add a solid batch of games to their library this month. OlliOlli World, Mafia: Definitive Edition, Evil Dead: The Game and Destiny 2: Beyond Light are available to claim until March 6th. On the downside, Sony will ditch the PS Plus Collection, which grants members who have a PS5 access to a whole bunch of PS4 games, on May 9th. Be sure to add those titles to your library before then.

 

Verizon says its Fios 2 Gig plan, its fastest broadband service, is now available across New York City’s five boroughs. However, your mileage may vary since the company hasn’t clarified what portion of the areas are covered. A year ago, it began rolling out the service in “select areas” of NYC.

The Fios 2 Gig plan is part of Verizon’s fiber-optic network, which can be faster and more reliable than cable internet. The plan technically starts at $95 per month, but depending on your setup, your monthly fee could be as high as $120. That’s because the lower price is only available for existing Verizon Wireless customers on specific plans (5G Do More, 5G Play More, 5G Get More or One Unlimited for iPhone plans) who sign up for autopay. (Skipping autopay will add another $10 to your bill.) There’s also a $99 setup fee.

In addition, the company says the advertised pricing is only valid through April 12. However, it does promise a four-year price guarantee if you’re a new customer who hasn’t subscribed to Verizon Home Internet in the last 180 days.

The service’s wired download and upload speeds are symmetrical, and Verizon says you can typically expect between 1.5Gbps and 2.3Gbps for a wired connection. (As always, wireless streaming will be lower.) In addition, the Fios 2 Gig plan includes a router rental with up to three WiFi extenders, although you’ll have to request those — and self-setup customers only get up to two extenders. However, the company will let you rent or purchase additional ones.

In short, there is fine print aplenty, so read carefully before signing up.

 

Extrapolations, a drama series focusing on the near-future impacts of climate change, is coming to Apple TV+ next month. The streaming service has released the first trailer, which shows off a cast stuffed full of big names. Among the stars featured in the show are Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller, Kit Harington, Daveed Diggs, Edward Norton, Yara Shahidi, Matthew Rhys, Gemma Chan, David Schwimmer, Keri Russell, Marion Cotillard, Forest Whitaker, Tobey Maguire and Murray Bartlett (who was most recently seen in The Last of Us).

The eight-episode series showcases “interwoven stories about love, work, faith and family,” Apple says. Extrapolations depicts how people from around the planet are adapting (or perhaps not) to the effects of climate change. It covers a several-decade span in the middle of the 21st century, by which time humans have landed on Mars.

Given the cast and the visual effects-packed trailer, it’s clear Apple has spared little expense on this series. The clip shows a future version of Manhattan protected by sea walls and hints at technology that might allow humans to “thrive” in a world further wracked by climate change.

Contagion writer and An Inconvenient Truth producer Scott Z. Burns created the show. The first three episodes of Extrapolations will premiere on Apple TV+ on March 17th, with the remaining five arriving on a weekly basis.

 

It’s safe to say 5G hasn’t lived up to the hype — while it’s much easier to find than it once was, the sometimes lackluster performance and reliability won’t have you scrambling to upgrade from LTE. Qualcomm may be nudging the technology forward, at least. The company has introduced the Snapdragon X75, billed as the first phone modem ready for 5G Advanced. The new cellular standard promises much-improved throughput, coverage, reliability and traffic juggling. You may see meaningful speed boosts, fewer dropoffs and better performance on busy networks.

Whether or not you need 5G Advanced, the Snapdragon X75 offers some improvements versus earlier chips. Qualcomm claims longer battery life and more consistent performance in tricky locations like elevators and subway trains. The modem can handle 5G/4G dual data on two SIM cards at once. There are also boosts to uploads, including support for Snapdragon Satellite.

Qualcomm is already offering samples of Snapdragon X75 chips to manufacturers, although the first products using the modem aren’t expected to arrive until the second half of the year. It’s likely to become ubiquitous when it does arrive, though. The company’s modems are the de facto choice for Snapdragon-powered Android phones, and are (currently) used in iPhones.

The larger question may be when you’ll see the benefits. The 5G Advanced standard isn’t due to release until 2024, and it may be a while after that before your carrier adopts the technology. Still, the Snapdragon X75 lays the groundwork for adoption. You might already have an Advanced-compatible phone by the time you can take advantage of the service.

 

2023 will be another big year for fans of Riot Games and League of Legends. This morning, the studio announced it will release not one but three games from its Riot Forge publishing label before 2024. The slate opens with The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story, a new action RPG from Digital Sun Games, the studio behind 2018’s Moonlighter. TheMageseeker casts you as Sylas, everyone’s favorite rogue Damacian mage, as he attempts to lead a revolution against the kingdom that imprisoned him. Riot is billing the game as a “2D hi-bit” title, meaning it features a pixel art style that takes advantage of modern rendering techniques. Judging from the trailer Riot shared, TheMageseeker looks like it draws inspiration from games like Hyper Light Drifter and Titan Souls. It will arrive this spring on PC and consoles.

Sometime this summer, Riot will then release Convergence: A League of Legends Story. Double Stallion, a Montreal-based studio that’s best known for its work on Speed Brawl, has been working on the game since at least 2019. It stars Ekko, one of the League champions who makes an appearance in Netflix’s Arcane animated series, in a 2D action platformer. This being a game about Ekko, expect to use time manipulation to solve some of the challenges and puzzles Convergence throws at you.

Lastly, there’s Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story. This spinoff comes courtesy of Rime creator Tequila Works and will arrive sometime in the fall. Of the three games that Riot shared release dates for today, Song of Nunu is probably the one I’m most excited to play since Nunu and Willump are such a loveable pair and Tequila Works has a consistent track record. Both Convergence and Song of Nunu will be available to play on PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store when they arrive later this year.

 

Samsung, in a few short years, became the foldable phone company. For now. Rivals have either been unable to launch their own smartphone origami projects or simply failed to match against the Z Fold (the horizontal folding one) or the Z Flip (vertical folding ‘flip-phone’.)

Oppo has been taking notes, however. It revealed last year that its second generation of foldable phones would compete with the same form factors as Samsung. Now, while the west won’t be getting the bigger Find N2 Fold, in the UK and Europe, we will get the Oppo Find N2 Flip. I prefer the flip-phone iteration of foldables, so I’m glad this is the one heading out of China.

In many ways, the Find N2 Flip attempts to address some of the shortcomings of existing foldables. (And I’ll say it now: I loved the Galaxy Z Flip 4), but there’s always room for improvement. Oppo’s focus appears to be the external display, which at 3.26 inches, is currently the largest cover screen on a flip smartphone. While this more accurately replicates the orientation of a smartphone screen, don’t expect icons or an Android-style interface like the one found on Samsung’s Galaxy Z fold.

You will get a more functional area for previewing shots with the primary cameras, however. The 17:9 ratio makes more sense for framing your photos than on the Galaxy Z Flip, with its horizontal screen. You might think that Samsung’s implementation is better for notifications, but with a bigger outright screen, the Find N2 Flip can display up to six lines of text in your alerts – plenty for text messages and even email previews. There’s more space to peruse notifications, calendar entries and more, too – it can be a finickity task on the Z Flip 4. Oppo offers a handful of pre-programmed replies too, so you can subtly (or lazily) send a response without even opening the Find N2 Flip.

You can quick-launch the camera by double-pressing the volume down button – you just need to make sure the phone is in standby, otherwise, it will just lower the volume. The cover screen also features a cute animated animal mascot – you can pick between a dog, cat, an unidentifiable bird, hamster or rabbit – and they’ll come alive when you activate the front display. It’s a cute addition — it’d be nice if there was some Tamagotchi-style features, though, perhaps tagged to your step-count or even the device’s battery life. 

One of the quirks of a flip smartphone is the fact that the primary cameras are also your selfie cameras. Like the bigger, China-only, Find N2 Fold, the array on the Flip consists of a 50-megapixel f/1.8 main camera, with an 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera. That’s a higher-res main sensor compared to the Z Flip 4. However, while testing it out for the week, the most noticeable difference has been a 2X zoom toggle, which is admittedly a digital crop – but still, it’s a benefit of having such a high-megapixel sensor to begin with.

Another benefit of the more expansive front screen is that you can turn on the preview mode even while someone is taking photos for you, making it easier to ensure that a stranger has managed to fit everyone into your group pic – or ensure they aren’t capturing video instead of a still image. (That has happened to me.) Oppo’s Hasselblad partnership informs its color calibration choices on the cameras again. If you like peppy color filters (I do), you’ll get a handful of these straight from the camera app.

Unfolded, there’s also a 32-megapixel f/2.4 front-facing camera if you’re feeling a little old-fashioned. Like Samsung’s foldables, some apps will adjust to fit if you position the phone with the screen raised at an angle. These include the camera app as well as video call apps and YouTube. The hinge itself isn’t quite as stiff as the Z Flip, so it’s more liable to collapse to flat, but once you figure out the right angle, you’ll be fine. Oppo says the hinge’s range of motion is between 45 and 110 degrees.

The company is also proud of its subtler crease, and that’s down to a more refined hinge. It claims that its second-generation flip phone has a crease that’s 63 percent less visible – which is… specific. It’s easy to scoff because, well, it’s still there, but it’s definitely smoother compared to the flip phones that came before it. Oppo’s new Flexion hinge is also smaller, and its waterdrop design leaves less space between the sides when it’s closed. This is especially notable compared to the Z Flip 4.

Another area where Oppo has made a wise upgrade is when it comes to battery capacity. The Find N2 Flip has a 4,300mAh cell – the biggest we’ve seen so far in this form factor, and closer to the Z Fold 4 than the Z Flip 4 – along with 44W fast charging support. That’s decent, again, for this form factor, but Oppo’s sibling/cousin/frenemy, OnePlus, is already showing off more typical smartphones with support for 100W. Still, it should fully charge in less than an hour, the company claims. (I’ll be updating this story after further battery testing). However, just like OnePlus’ latest phone, there’s no wireless charging.

The device will launch in Astral Black and Moonlit Purple and in the UK, it will be priced at £895 (roughly $1,083), which would put it around the same price as the Galaxy Z Flip 4. For now, there are no plans to bring either Find N2 devices to the US.

 

When Traeger overhauled its Timberline pellet grills last year, the company undertook a complete redesign of its flagship model. It introduced a truckload of new features that made cooking on and cleaning the grills much easier. Today, Traeger revealed a retooled version of its Ironwood series, the WiFi-connected pellet grills that sit in the company’s midrange. While it did bring a lot of the upgrades from the new Timberline to these more affordable options, there are still premium tools reserved for the more expensive model. 

First, the Ironwood is now equipped with a touchscreen controller like the Timberline. This display puts critical information in an easier to read format on the grill. Of course, the company’s WiFire tech is onboard as well, allowing you to control and monitor the Ironwood from anywhere via the Traeger app. This includes adjusting grill temperature, monitoring food temperature, setting alerts/timers and watching pellet supply levels (there’s a dedicated pellet sensor). You can also control Ironwood and other Traeger grills with Alexa or Google Assistant if you’d rather go the hands-free route. The app is a wealth of culinary knowledge with over 1,600 recipes and cooking guidance from the company’s pros. Like previous Traeger pellet grills, the new Ironwood is capable of everything from low-and-slow smoking to high-heat searing, including baking, roasting, braising and grilling. 

Inside, Traeger has taken steps to make the new Ironwood more efficient. The company says its Smart Combustion tech “maintains incredibly precise temperatures” while an EvenFlow heat shield evenly distributes heat over the entire cooking area. There’s also an insulated double wall construction to help prevent unwanted fluctuations in temps. The combination of Traeger’s existing Super Smoke mode and its Downdraft exhaust system keep wood smoke circulating around the cooking chamber. Plus, the company says its FreeFlow firepot now assists with that task of keeping smoke moving during a cook. 

On the bottom, the so-called EZ-Clean grease and ash keg that debuted on the Timberline is here as well, sending both liquid run-off and pellet debris to one place for easy removal and cleaning. Like the Timberline, the pellet hopper is cleaned out from the front on the new Ironwood, making it much easier to swap out pellets between cooks when you need to switch to a different variety. 

You’ll notice the most difference between the Ironwood and Timberline on the outside. Not only do the grill lids have a different look, but the Ironwood keeps the four-leg base Traeger grills traditionally have. The new Timberline sits on more of a cart, with an enclosed cabinet, casters and small exterior shelves. What’s more, the Timberline has an induction burner on the left side where that area on the Ironwood is just a shelf. The Ironwood does offer Traeger’s ModiFire system of accessories though, thanks to a “Pop-And-Lock (PAL)” rail that allows you to snap on an assortment of shelves, storage bins, tool hooks and more — and it allows you to position those items exactly where you need them. The Ironwood only comes with two wired food probes where the Timberline ships with a set of Meater wireless probes. However, you can purchase them separately as the Ironwood does support them. 

The Ironwood and Ironwood XL will be available from Traeger and other retailers in the US and Canada for $1,799 and $1,999 respectively (616 square inches of cooking space vs. 924). While you’ll have to sacrifice some features, that’s much less than the Timberline which clocks in at $3,499 and $3,799. 

 

The original Xbox Elite controller came out way back in 2015, so it’s a wonder why Sony took so long to release its own take on a premium gamepad. But now that the PlayStation 5 is more widely available (kind of), the company is finally ready to show the world what it can do. While the $200 DualSense Edge costs a bit more than its rival, it offers a few nifty features you don’t get on Microsoft’s controller, combined with one potentially major shortcoming.

Design

For the Edge, Sony didn’t stray much from its default template. From the top, the Edge looks almost exactly the same aside from a black D-pad and face buttons and a black touchpad adorned with a subtle pattern featuring the company’s signature ▲ ■ ● and ✖ icons. Where things get interesting is when you notice the two little nubs that stick out below the analog sticks, which are function buttons reserved for changing your controller’s button assignments.

In back, there are two switches on either side next to the shoulder triggers for adjusting their pull length, along with slots to accommodate the gamepad’s removable rear paddles. The controller comes with two sets of rear paddles: longer, more traditional levers and short stubby half-domes, the latter of which ended up being my favorite. You also get a total of three different joystick nubs (standard, short-stemmed convex and long-stemmed convex) that can be swapped out on the fly, and a cable lock which can prevent the included USB-C cord from getting pulled out by accident.

Both the thumbsticks and the rear paddles attach magnetically, which makes it super simple to test out different layouts before finding a combo you like. The long-stemmed domed thumbstick can be helpful for snipers in shooting games, especially if you prefer playing at lower sensitivities. But I was less concerned with trying to get an edge than I was with making the controller as comfortable as possible.

One of the Edge’s highlight features are those fully replaceable analog sticks. By sliding the release toggle in back, the shroud around the analog sticks lifts off, revealing removable modules that attach via USB-A and can be changed out in seconds. This means when you start to experience some controller drift (which you will, given enough wear and tear), you can simply buy replacement thumbstick modules that cost $20 each. For hardcore gamers that put in hundreds or thousands of hours into their consoles, this can represent huge savings over time. If one joystick starts to get a bit wonky, just switch it out, or replace both sticks at the same time and get almost a brand-new gamepad.

Finally, to round everything out, the Edge comes with a hardshell carrying case that looks and feels like an extra-large space egg. It has a lightly padded interior and a small mesh pocket for any additional accessories you might need (like the included charging cable). There’s also a nifty velcro pass-through flap in back that allows you to route a cord inside so you can charge the controller while it remains tucked safely inside the case.

Software and features

Another big advantage the Edge has over rivals (especially third-party offerings like Scuf’s Reflex) is the ability to set custom button configurations. The PS5 supports four quickset options and has the ability to save even more in settings. Switching layouts takes less than a second and is as simple as pressing either one of the function buttons and one face button at the same time. I also appreciate that the PS5 pops up a simple walkthrough on how to set everything the first time you connect the controller. And whenever you want to revisit your button presets, all you have to do is open the console’s settings menu.

Other handy features include the ability to customize your joystick sensitivity, adjust their deadzone and even set the actuation point for the triggers. So depending on your preferences, you can tell the controller to ignore shallow pulls to avoid inadvertent presses. This also works in conjunction with the slider on the back of the controller which can change the physical travel distance of the triggers to three distances (short, medium and long), which is nice when switching from a racing game, where you want the full analog feedback, and an FPS, when you want a real hair trigger setup.

In-game

When you get around to actually using the Edge, gaming with it almost feels like having a Swiss Army Knife. Sure, it looks and feels like a standard DualSense, but when you run into an awkward situation, the gamepad always seems to have a solution. For example: Some of my first console shooters were Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Goldeneye on the N64, so I’ve always preferred what gamers often call a Southpaw joystick setup, which means aiming with the left joystick and moving with the right. Unfortunately, not every shooter supports this layout. But with the DualSense I can use it in whatever game I want.

Additionally, while the DualSense’s deep triggers are great for racing games, that long pull is kind of annoying in fighters or beat ’em ups like Streets of Rage 4. But simply by moving the toggles in back, I can significantly shorten the pull, making things feel snappier and more responsive.

Now I should mention that some other premium controllers like the Xbox Elite Series 2 offer multiple D-pad options, but in my opinion, both of them are worse than Sony’s arrow-shaped version. And while I’ll probably never use the cable lock, I can see it being useful in tournament settings where you want the confidence of a wired connection but don’t want to worry about your USB cable getting yanked out by accident.

My one small complaint is that I wish you could assign custom actions to the little function nubs. Right now they’re dedicated to switching button presets and there’s no way to change that, which seems like a bit of a waste. There are two nubs, at least let me use one of them as an extra button, especially since I feel like they’re in the perfect location for launching grenades in shooters.

Battery Life

The DualSense Edge’s biggest weakness is its battery life, which is somehow worse than the standard PS5 controller. On average I was getting around five to six hours of use on a single charge, compared to six or seven for the regular DualSense. And that’s just frustrating because not only does the Edge cost more than twice as much, the type of people that would pay big money for a premium controller are also quite likely to engage in marathon gaming sessions. And there are few things more annoying than having to scramble for a USB cord when your controller dies in the middle of the firefight. Thankfully, the Edge comes with a lengthy 10-foot USB cable, so even if it runs out of juice, you’ll probably still be able to plug it in and have the cable reach your couch.

Wrap-up

While the idea of paying $200 for a fancy controller might seem like a bit much (and it kind of is), after using the DualSense Edge I can see the appeal. It offers a familiar design with a handful of extra features including easy button remapping, multiple joystick nubs, customizable rear paddles and more. And the Edge is actually a tiny bit cheaper than some third-party options like those from Scuf, which doesn’t have replaceable joystick modules. Its short battery life is definitely a downer and I would have liked to see Sony include support for a second pair of paddles in back, like you get on of other premium gamepads. But if I had to choose just one controller to use with my PS5 until it dies, the DualSense Edge would be it.