Technology - Kalakshar US

DoorDashers are getting paid to close Waymo’s self-driving car doors

A few days ago, a Redditor posted in the community for DoorDash drivers that they received an offer to close a Waymo vehicle’s door. The job paid a guaranteed fee of $6.25 with a $5 extra on top of it after the DoorDasher verifies that it has been completed. Waymo has confirmed to 404Media and TechCrunch that, yes, it is indeed paying Dashers to shut the doors of its self-driving cars. And it makes sense because, well, there’s nobody to do it otherwise if a passenger accidentally leaves it open.

The Alphabet subsidiary and DoorDash told the publications that it’s currently running a pilot program in Atlanta, wherein if one of its vehicle’s doors is left ajar, nearby Dashers are notified. Waymo’s self-driving vehicles can’t leave if one of its doors remains open, so the company is framing the program as a way to enhance its fleet’s efficiency. Waymo told 404Media that the program started earlier this year and that payments are structured to ensure “competitive and fair compensation for Dashers.”

To note, this isn’t the first time the two companies have teamed up. In October 2025, Waymo’s self-driving cars became a delivery option for DoorDash customers in Phoenix, Arizona. To get a Waymo delivery, customers will have to choose “opt in to autonomous delivery” during checkout and to physically retrieve their order from the car’s trunk when it arrives.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/doordashers-are-getting-paid-to-close-waymos-self-driving-car-doors-122711640.html?src=rss

There’s a new John Wick game on the way

There’s a new AAA John Wick game coming with Keanu Reaves portraying the main character both in voice and likeness, Lionsgate and Saber Interactive announced. Currently untitled, it’s in development for PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, and will be a single-player third-person experience designed for “mature” audiences. So far, there’s no release date.

“The new single-player third-person action game will combine John Wick’s unparalleled, adrenaline-fueled ‘gun-fu’ fighting style with Saber’s proven reputation for creating thrilling gaming experiences that leave players craving more,” the companies said in an announcement post. They added that franchise director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves are both involved in the game’s production, with Reeves reprising his character’s look, voice and more.

The story is original and “addresses a significant time in John Wick’s life,” according to the game’s director Jesus Iglesias. It will include both familiar film characters and new ones created for the game. As for gameplay, it will offer “a hard-hitting gun-fu combat system, jaw-dropping camerawork, intense driving experiences, cinematic storytelling, and a bold range of atmospherically immersive environments,” the team said.

Saber Interactive is the developer behind Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and is also developing the upcoming titles Jurassic Park: Survival and John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. It will be the first John Wick game since John Wick Hex, which came out in 2019 but was recently delisted.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/theres-a-new-john-wick-game-on-the-way-103900064.html?src=rss

Death Stranding 2 for PC arrives on March 19

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach will be available on PC starting on March 19, Kojima Productions has announced at State of Play. The studio worked with Dutch video game developer Nixxes Software, which Sony acquired in 2021 to help bring PlayStation games to PCs. The sequel to the first Death Stranding is set in Australia almost a year after the events of the original game. It still features a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by strange creatures, and you’ll still control Sam Porter Bridges to connect survivors in the continent to the chiral network communications system.

Kojima Production says the PC version of the game will come with a bunch of improvements, will work with NVIDIA, AMD and Intel Upscaler and FrameGen, and will have uncapped framerates. It will support 4K gaming and will come with support for ultrawide monitors with 21:9 aspect ratio, as well as for super ultrawidescreen monitors with 32:9 aspect ratio for PC. When it comes to audio, the PC version of the game supports 3D audio via Dolby Access and DTS Sound Unbound, as well as Windows Sonic for headphones. You can play using a mouse and a keyboard if you wish, but you can also play with a DualSense controller.

You’ll be able to pre-purchase Death Stranding 2: On the Beach starting today for $70 on Steam or Epic Games and receive extra in-game items. The Digital Deluxe edition, which comes with more in-game extras, will set you back $10 more.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/death-stranding-2-for-pc-arrives-on-march-19-095157946.html?src=rss

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls lands on PS5 and PC August 6 with X-Men in tow

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls was first announced last year as a tag fighting game feature superheroes including Captain America, Ms Marvel and Spider-Man, with a launch sometime in 2026. We expected more details to be revealed at Sony’s State of Play yesterday and indeed they were. The game will arrive August 6 on PS5 and PC and include the Unbreakable X-Men’s Storm, Magik, Wolverine, and Danger.

The trailer teases each character’s fighting style, with Magik and Wolverine using a more in-your-face melee fighting style. Storm and Danger, meanwhile, offer more diverse attack abilities, with Storm manipulating wind and lightning and Magik deploying sorcery skills. We also saw a team-based finisher attack with all four characters joining forces to unleash a flurry of attacks. The trailer also revealed that Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls will offer an Episode Mode with a “new form of storytelling adapted for a modern video game format” that marries Manga with American comics.

MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls launches on August 6, 2026 for PS5 and PC. Pre-orders open February 19, 2026 at the PlayStation Store and PC storefronts. It will be sold in three versions: the $60 Standard Edition, $85 Digital Deluxe Edition (includes the full game, all pre-order incentives, a Year 1 Characters and Stage Pass) and Howard the Duck and Cosmo. Finally, the $100 Ultimate Edition includes all the preceding, plus costumes for Storm, Captain America, Doctor Doom, Iron Man, and Spider-Man, along with an Animated Chromatic color unlock for all 20 launch characters.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-lands-on-ps5-and-pc-august-6-with-x-men-in-tow-095235773.html?src=rss

A Neva prequel is arriving next week

At Sony’s State of Play yesterday, developer Nomada Studio revealed a DLC prequel to its gorgeous and award-winning puzzle platformer Neva. Entitled simply Neva: Prologue, it tells the story of how Alba and her wolf companion Neva met, while introducing new gameplay mechanics, locales and challenges.

“In Neva: Prologue, players follow Alba as she chases a trail of white butterflies deep into the corrupted swamps, only to discover a frightened wolf cub, lost and alone,” Nomada writes. “To survive, Alba must earn the cub’s trust and guide them both through the blighted wetlands and the dark forces that stalk them.”

The developer adds that Neva: Prologue is designed to be experienced after completing the main game. It adds three new locations, “each featuring unique gameplay mechanics, alongside new enemies and intense boss encounters.” Completionists will also get five hidden challenge flowers.

In her review of the original game, Engadget’s Jessica Conditt found Neva “faultless” thanks to the exquisite swordplay and intuitive platforming action, along with the “stunning” world composed of “lush forests, sun-drenched valleys, soaring mountains and twisting cave systems.” Neva: Prologue will released as a standalone DLC on February 19.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-neva-prequel-is-arriving-next-week-081239628.html?src=rss

A Neva prequel is arriving next week

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-neva-prequel-is-arriving-next-week-081239628.html?src=rss

A Neva prequel is arriving next week

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-neva-prequel-is-arriving-next-week-081239628.html?src=rss

Ring calls off partnership with police surveillance provider Flock Safety

Ring has canceled its partnership with Flock Safety, after receiving backlash for running a Super Bowl ad touting its Search Party feature. If you’ll recall, Ring revealed back in October 2025 that it was entering a partnership with the surveillance company, which would make it possible for law enforcement to ask smart doorbell owners for videos captured by their devices. In its announcement, the company said that the “planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated.” The decision to call off the partnership was mutual, Ring added, and Flock Safety’s integration was never launched. Apparently, no Ring customer footage was ever sent to Flock.

Under the partnership, law enforcement agencies using Flock’s Nova platform or FlockOS would have been able to use Ring’s Community Requests to ask for doorbell videos from users. They would have been asked to specify the location and timeframe of the incident, as well as provide a unique investigation code and the details about what is being investigated. Their requests would then be forwarded to relevant users, who could choose to share footage from their doorbell. Ring said the whole process would have been anonymous and optional.

Ring was known to have shared security cam videos to law enforcement without a court order or the device owner’s consent at least 11 times in the past. In 2024, however, it seemed to have walked back its police-friendly stance and said that it would stop sharing videos with the police without a warrant. This alliance with Flock would have marked a return to police collaboration after the company distanced itself from law enforcement. Flock is known for its automatic license plate readers and for centralizing the information it collects into a database that police can search without a warrant. While law enforcement says the system can help them solve crimes like kidnapping. 404Media reported last year that ICE has been using the database, citing immigration-related reasons.

While Ring’s official reason was that the Flock partnership would need more resources than expected, it’s worth noting that the company recently got flak for its Super Bowl Search Party ad. Ring touted it as a way to find lost dogs by using its cameras’ AI to identify pets running across their field of vision and then pooling feeds together to identify missing pets. While Search Party isn’t new and was announced last year, the ad sparked concerns about surveillance and how the tech could be misused, leading users to disable the feature for their cameras altogether.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/ring-calls-off-partnership-with-police-surveillance-provider-flock-safety-031717605.html?src=rss

God of War is getting a remake trilogy, and a new retro-inspired action game is out today

Last year marked 20 years since God of War hit the PlayStation 2 and kicked off one of gaming biggest franchises. Now, at the tail end of that 20th anniversary celebration, Sony’s Santa Monica Studio has announced two new project. First, and most significantly, the original God of War trilogy from the PS2 and PS3 is being remade for the modern era.

There’s no footage of it yet — the developer says that they’re “very early in development,” so we likely won’t see or hear much about this for a while. But given renewed interest in God of War thanks to the excellent two Norse games from 2018 and 2022 (not to mention the upcoming Amazon series), it makes sense to revisit these classics.

God of War and God of War II were released for Playstation 2 in 2005 and 2007, respectively, while the third of the Greek trilogy hit PlayStation 3 in 2010. The third game was also remastered for the PS4. But it’s safe to say that while the first two games are classics for their era, they also really show their age in some gameplay spots. Hopefully the remake will smooth out those rough edges. (Who else has nightmares in the Hades level near the end of the first game? Not just me, right?)

While we won’t see the remakes for a while, there is a new God of War-inspired game out right now: God of War Sons of Sparta. It was developed by Mega Cat Studios, a developer known for its love of retro games — it even still releases games for the SNES and Genesis.

Given their pedigree, it’s no surprise that Sons of Sparta has vibes of classic 2D action/platformer games. It’s apparently canon for the series and takes place in Kratos’ youth while he trains with his brother. It obviously looks nothing like the other God of War games — but the combat and monsters shown off in the trailer definitely feel right at home in the series.

Perhaps the most fun part of all this is that it’s available today for $30. While Sons of Sparta looks like a fun curio for God of War fans, it’ll only go so far towards whetting our appetite for that remake series. Might I suggest binging some Valhalla in the meantime?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/god-of-war-is-getting-a-remake-trilogy-and-a-new-retro-inspired-action-game-is-out-today-234056618.html?src=rss

The first Control Resonant gameplay trailer shows Dylan defying physics in a sideways NYC

It’s been less than three months since we got our first look at Control Resonant, the sequel to Remedy’s mind-bending, third-person adventure that introduced us to Jesse Faden and the Federal Bureau of Control. At today’s State of Play event, we got to see the first extended bit of gameplay from Control Resonant — and the combat looks as inspired as ever, though the setting is completely new.

As we learned in December, the next Control games doesn’t focus on Jesse Faden; instead, you’ll primarily play as her brother Dylan who Jesse was trying to find for much of the first game. Dylan’s out in a warped version of New York City trying to track the game’s Resonant creatures that are responsible for whatever calamity has taken place. We knew this already, but the change of setting from the Bureau of Control building into the more open city setting should go a long way towards making this game feel fresh.

Dylan’s capabilities are also completely different than what we saw from Jesse in the original. There’s a much bigger emphasis on melee combat, as Dylan has a shapeshifting weapon called the Aberrant. You can switch from hammer to blades to other various forms, much in the way that Jesse’s firearm in the first game could morph between different types of guns.

But the thing that stood out the most to me in the brief preview was the way that NYC completely disobeyed the laws of physics. Buildings and streets would just head into the sky at 90-degree angles — and Dylan’s powers let him completely which surface is the “ground” for him.

There’s still no firm release date for Control Resonant, but that’s not unreasonable — the game was only announced a few months ago. Remedy says they’re still on target to launch in 2026. And, at the end of today’s PlayStation blog post, they promise that “things are going to get weirder.” Just what I was hoping for!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-first-control-resonant-gameplay-trailer-shows-dylan-defying-physics-in-a-sideways-nyc-224746545.html?src=rss