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Microsoft has set a date for its next gaming showcase. Its second Developer_Direct event will include more details on Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II and strategy title Ara: History Untold. Most intriguingly though, MachineGames will at long last reveal details about its Indiana Jones game, three years after the project was announced.

The Wolfenstein studio will offer up over 10 minutes of game and developer insights. Along with the first gameplay trailer, we’ll learn about the story and setting and find out just how you’ll control the legendary archeologist.

On the Avowed front, Obsidian will take a deep dive into some gameplay from the action RPG, which should hit Xbox and PC this year. We’ll see gameplay from Oxide Games’ Civilization-esque Ara: History Untold too. Last but not least, Ninja Theory will offer a behind the scenes peek at Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. Perhaps we’ll finally get a release date for that title, which is slated to arrive this year.

The first edition of Developer_Direct took place last January. It was then that Microsoft both announced and suddenly released Hi-Fi Rush, one of the most highly rated games of 2023. Perhaps Microsoft will have a similar surprise up its sleeves this year.

One thing’s for certain though: there won’t be any updates on Activision Blizzard games. Xbox says its freshly acquired publisher will have news to share later this year.

The Developer_Direct will start at 3PM ET on January 18, and you’ll be able to watch it on Xbox’s and Bethesda’s social channels. Afterwards, at 4PM ET, Elder Scrolls Online fans can tune in to a global reveal to find out what’s coming to the MMORPG in its next major chapter.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-will-finally-show-off-its-indiana-jones-game-on-january-18-161700133.html?src=rss 

Amazon is the first big company to add support for the Matter open casting standard, it announced at CES 2024. Matter Casting is an open protocol that lets you send videos and related content from an app to a hardware device, just like Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast. The feature just launched for the Prime Video app and will allow casting to various Amazon hardware devices.

For now, you can only cast to the Echo Show 15 smart display, but the company says it’ll soon offer support for Fire TVs, including Panasonic models with Fire TV built in. As for content streaming partners, it’s just Prime Video for now, but the company promises more options later this year, including Plex, Pluto, Sling TV, Starz and many more.

This works just like AirPlay. You open the Prime Video App, tap the cast button and look for an appropriate hardware device. However, Matter cast isn’t tied to a particular smartphone operating system and is available to every app and hardware maker, if they want to implement the feature.

This is part of the open-source Matter smart home protocol, which is backed by Amazon, Apple and Google. However, it’s unlikely Google and Apple will jump onboard this particular feature set, as each company has its own casting standard in place. Google took to CES this week to announce that Chromecast will be built into all new LG TVs, giving no mention of Matter cast.

Amazon would prefer that each of the big tech companies adopt an open casting platform instead of the current glut of competing models. “We believe in open standards,” Chris DeCenzo, a principal engineer at Amazon, told The Verge. “It simplifies things for developers.”

In the meantime, major players have begun adopting other aspects of the Matter smart home standard. Google’s smart home devices integrate with the protocol, and the same goes for Amazon devices like Echo speakers.

We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-wont-support-airplay-or-chromecast-but-will-adopt-matter-casting-instead-161933813.html?src=rss 

Meta is introducing one of its most significant privacy updates yet related to teen user protection, the company announced today. They greatly expand on previous content control measures aiming to lock down teens’ privacy settings, following recent lawsuits by US states and others.

The new measures will hide content related to self-harm, graphic violence, eating disorders and other harmful topics from teens on Instagram and Facebook. Related content will now be restricted from users under 16 in their Feeds and Stories, even if it’s shared by an account they follow. When teens search for those topics, they’ll instead by directed to “expert resources.” The company said it consulted with experts in adolescent development to determine what type of content to block. 

In addition, Meta will be automatically placing existing teen users into the most restrictive control settings, expanding on a previous update that placed only new users into that category. Those users will be unable to opt out of those settings, called “Sensitive Content Control” on Instagram and “Reduce” on Facebook.

The social media giant is also introducing notifications with prompts that direct teens to update their privacy to “turn on recommended settings.” That will automatically restrict who can repost their content and tag or mention them. It’ll also stop non-followers from messaging teen users and hide offensive comments.

It’s the latest in a series of privacy updates designed to protect teens using Meta products. In 2022, the company introduced measures to switch users under 16 to the most restrictive content settings and added a new feature to prevent “suspicious” adults from messaging teens on Facebook and Instagram. More recently, it limited ads targeting teens based on gender.  

Today’s update more significantly limits what youths can access, though, following a series of recent lawsuits against the platform. Those include a complaint filed by 41 states accusing Meta of harming the mental health of its youngest users, another filed by Seattle schools over a youth “mental health crisis” and a recent ruling that social media companies will be forced to defend teen addiction lawsuits. 

Another recently unsealed complaint filed by 33 states alleges that Meta “coveted and pursued” users under the age of 13 and has been dishonest about how it handles underage users’ accounts when they’re discovered. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-will-hide-topics-like-self-harm-and-eating-disorders-from-teens-151012630.html?src=rss 

A Chinese state-backed institute has found a way to identify who sent any material to another person via Apple’s AirDrop, according to Beijing’s government. The institution is said to have cracked the feature to find the email addresses and phone numbers of those who send AirDrop messages as part of an effort to stamp out “undesirable content,” as Bloomberg reports.

Police have used the AirDrop crack to identify several suspects. However, Beijing’s judicial bureau has not said whether there were any arrests as a result. The approach “improves the efficiency and accuracy of case-solving and prevents the spread of inappropriate remarks as well as potential bad influences,” according to the bureau.

Those with a Mac, iPhone or iPad can use AirDrop to easily send the likes of photos, videos, documents, contacts and passwords to another nearby Apple device. Protesters used AirDrop to share pro-democracy slogans during the demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019. As MacRumors notes, Apple touts AirDrop as being secure since it employs Transport Layer Security encryption. But the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice claims an institute has found a way around the encryption.

In 2022, Apple rolled out a new limit for AirDrop in China after protesters used the feature to share anti-government messages. The company restricted the length of time users can receive a file or message via AirDrop from non-contacts to 10-minute spells. Previously, users were able to let anyone AirDrop them material over an indefinite period of time. Apple later expanded this limitation to all iPhone users, purportedly in an effort to cut down on spam in busy locations.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/china-says-it-can-bypass-airdrop-privacy-measures-to-identify-message-senders-151547143.html?src=rss 

Formlabs has rolled up to CES 2024 in Las Vegas with its customary bundle of announcements for its class-leading 3D printers. The company unveiled several new tools and materials at this year’s show, but the most interesting has to be its Premium Teeth Resin, yet another foray into the dentistry world. It’s intended to be used to create 3D-printed dentures as well as for temporary restorations that sit on implants like All-On-X. The company says it’s already been registered with the FDA as a Class II biocompatible material, and has had its longevity validated.

This isn’t the first step the company has made into the dentistry space and already offers the tools to make dentures. It’s a natural venue for 3D-printing, and Formlabs, given the need for customization and its work in building a wide variety of materials for use. Premium Teeth Resin takes this a step further, with the company saying it can be color-matched to existing teeth so it won’t be as noticeable if you’re rocking a falsie. It’s available to order now, although we’d advise against anyone attempting to do their own dentistry. 

We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/formlabs-shows-up-at-ces-2024-with-more-realistic-3d-printed-teeth-140027827.html?src=rss