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Threads is testing letting you sign up with a Facebook account rather than an Instagram account. The new option, spotted by Social Media Today, doesn’t appear to be widely available yet, but is already mentioned in a Meta support article.

Besides making it easier for people who don’t have an Instagram account to quickly create an account on Meta’s X and Bluesky competitor, this new Facebook sign up option should influence the kind of posts and ads that get recommended to you.

“Signing up to Threads with your Facebook account helps unlock features that work across Threads and Facebook, like using the same login info to access both apps,” Meta writes in a support article. “If you create a Threads profile with your Facebook account, we’ll combine your info across Threads and Facebook.”

Encouraging users to build their Threads profile using the information and followers they had on Instagram was one of the ways Meta quickly grew its Threads user base. It hasn’t always led to the best experience on Threads, though. As it turns out, growth-obsessed Instagram users produce fairly shallow text posts. And because most people’s Instagram accounts are associated with their Threads profile, they get served a lot of that subpar engagement bait by default. If you came to Threads looking for the relative wit of X, you’d come away pretty disappointed.

Letting you sign up with Facebook will likely have its own shortcomings (namely, modern Facebook is pretty spammy, too), but it at least acknowledges that what people want from Instagram is different from what they want from Threads. 

Meta has made a concerted effort as of late to establish Threads as more of an independent entity. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram at Meta, shared that the company planned to remove “the Instagram graph import from the onboarding flow” back in November 2024. Threads also started testing using its own separate direct messaging inbox in June, after relying on Instagram DMs since launch.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-is-testing-facebook-account-sign-ups-191214734.html?src=rss 

There’s another big update for Cyberpunk 2077 coming our way. Update 2.3 brings some notable new features to PC and consoles. CD Projekt Red (CDPR) is adding official in-game support for VRR on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. This should help with screen tearing when the frame rate drops and is of particular use when running the game in performance mode.

There’s also an official AutoDrive feature, which is something that has long-existed in the modding community. This is available in all cars and motorcycles and lets players drive from place to place automatically. Just set the destination marker and let the game do the rest. This isn’t teleportation. The vehicle still drives, it does just so automatically.

With AutoDrive enabled, players can turn on a “cinematic camera” to make the journey a bit more visually stimulating. There’s even a new “wandering” mode for aimless joyrides, for those who just want to experience the splendor of Night City and its environs.

Speaking of driving, the update also brings four additional vehicles to the game, and they all look to be attached to new side jobs. More content is always appreciated.

PC players are getting support for AMD FSR 3.1, Intel XeSS 2.0 and HDR 10 Plus. AMD’s FSR 4 is also being added, but it requires a specialized driver that isn’t available yet. CDPR says it’s coming at a “later date.”

The update drops on July 17, which is the same day the Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition comes to Mac computers. It looks like the Mac version will include these new features. Update 2.3 is coming to the Switch 2, but not just yet. Cyberpunk 2077 was a launch title for the recently-released console.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cyberpunk-2077s-latest-update-brings-vrr-to-consoles-and-introduces-an-autodrive-mode-181933646.html?src=rss 

Steam has added a new rule to its guidelines that has resulted in certain games getting banned, according to a report by Automaton. The new clause states that “content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers” is not allowed and could result in removal from the platform.

In other words, if credit card companies get mad about something, they could actually have the power to ban a game. The clause goes on to say that this will affect “certain kinds of adult-only content.”

This has likely already resulted in many games being pulled off the platform. The vast majority of these titles have obvious sexual themes and many have the word “incest” in the title. SteamDB doesn’t give a reason for these removals, but the timing does match up.

This move might sound unusual on its face, but payment processors have consistently fought against being used to purchase adult content. These battles are typically instigated on the notion that adults-only platforms don’t have enough safeguards in place against illegal content.

Mastercard and Visa blocked the use of their cards on Pornhub in 2020. Mastercard went a step further in 2021, adding language to its “Speciality Merchant Registration” requirements that announced “banks that connect merchants to our network will need to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal content.”

I doubt you’ll find too many people upset that games with titles like Sex Adventures – Incest Family were removed from the platform, but it could set a potentially troubling precedent. Some Steam users are upset with this rule change on the grounds that it creates the “quiet normalization of financial censorship.”

In other words, if gigantic financial institutions get to decide what is appropriate and what is not, who is to say it won’t eventually impact regular games? One Steam user notes that “queer content gets flagged as ‘explicit’ even when it’s PG,” which is a sentiment echoed by others. One user says this move “looks innocuous at first glance but it’s a trojan horse.”

On the flipside, Steam has been home to some truly foul content over the years. We’ve reached out to Valve to ask for a comment on this news and will update this post when we hear back.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/steam-now-bans-games-that-violate-the-rules-and-standards-of-payment-processors-and-banks-164222173.html?src=rss 

If you’re all caught up on The Last of Us (the TV version that is) then you’ll know that season two made clear that when the show returns it will focus a lot more on Kaitlyn’s Dever’s Abby. But it sounds like we’re going to have to wait a while to see that side of the story unfold.

Speaking to Variety off the back of The Last of Us netting HBO 16 Emmy nominations this week, the company’s CEO, Casey Bloys, said season three is “definitely planned for 2027.” Bloys didn’t offer any more specific information about the release window, but the next batch of episodes arriving in the first half of 2027 would be consistent with the roughly two-year gap between seasons one and two.

The HBO Max chief also told Variety that a decision has yet to be made on whether the remaining chunk of narrative from The Last of Us Part II will be adapted into more than one additional season. Bloys said that the decision is being left to showrunner Craig Mazin. Mazin’s decision likely won’t involve input from Neil Druckmann, though. The Naughty Dog studio head and co-creator of the eponymous video game series stepped away from his role on the show after season two. But Bloys unsurprisingly doesn’t think (publicly at least) that Druckmann’s departure will affect the development of season three.

“It was fantastic to have Neil involved. A lot of people don’t realize that Neil has a full time job creating video games and running Naughty Dog. It’s a really big job that he’s got. So I understand why he needs to focus on that,” he told Variety. “But I believe he’s given us a good blueprint with the show. And obviously Craig is a pro, so I think we’ll be in excellent shape. I’m not worried at all.”

If you are looking for a way to bridge the gap between now and what could be the final season of The Last of Us, a replay of the game it’s based on might be the way to go. Last week, Naughty Dog introduced a new Chronological Mode to the remastered version of the sequel that ditches the game’s frequent flashback sequences to focus on Ellie and Abby’s respective Seattle plotlines as they unfold.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/hbo-confirms-the-last-of-us-season-3-will-arrive-in-2027-161150871.html?src=rss 

Google will host its next Made by Google event on August 20, the company announced today. In a media invite the search giant shared with Engadget, it promised the event would feature new Pixel phones, watches, buds “and more.” At its annual hardware event last year, Google announced the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. 

Between the company’s invite and what came out of last year’s event, expect a refresh of nearly the entire Pixel line. As for what the “and more” bit could entail, recent rumors suggesting Google is working on a proper response to Apple’s MagSafe tech dubbed Pixelsnap. Android manufactures have been slow to adopt the Qi2 wireless charging standard, but with the upcoming Pixel 10 it appears the company is working on a host of magnetic Qi2 accessories, including a new charging stand. As always, be sure to visit Engadget on the day of the event as we’ll have a liveblog of the entire proceedings.      

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-next-made-by-google-event-is-on-august-20-162832589.html?src=rss 

Google is bringing AI‑generated summaries to Discover, the personalized stream of articles and videos found in the Google app curated based on a user’s interests. The search giant remains undeterred by the imperfect nature of AI Overviews, or what it might mean for publishers whose content largely makes up Google’s search results.

TechCrunch has reported that some Android and iOS users in the US are seeing cards containing AI‑generated summaries on their Discover page. These cards appear with news sites’ logos in the top left of the card, with an accompanying snippet that is presumably generated from the body or headlines of those publishers’ content. When users tap “see more,” the card expands to show all the contributing articles for the summary. Each summary card carries a warning that it was generated by AI, which it notes “can make mistakes.”

A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch that this is a US launch of a new feature, not a test. The feature will first focus on trending lifestyle topics like sports and entertainment. In speaking with TechCrunch, Google claimed the summaries would make it easier for people to decide which pages they want to visit, though publishers are already vocal that Google’s AI tools are tanking clickthrough traffic. Some estimates say as many as 64 percent of search results that include AI Overviews end without a click.

Google has been aggressively rolling out AI‑powered features. Tools like AI Overviews, AI mode in Search and AI‑generated video summary represent, in part, Google’s determination to maintain its user base in the face of would‑be search‑engine replacements like ChatGPT.

The pace of this new rollout was not made clear.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-adds-ai-generated-summaries-to-discover-144341141.html?src=rss 

It’s time to break out that 1980s playlist. The last season of the Netflix hit Stranger Things finally has a trailer. It’s been nearly a decade since the show premiered and it looks like it’s going out with a bang. This trailer is absolutely packed with action, showing many fan favorite characters in mortal peril of one kind or another.

Season four ended with one heck of a cliffhanger so, of course, things pick up from there. The footage depicts all kinds of supernatural chaos impacting the small Indiana town. It’s been three whole years since the last season, so here’s a refresher from Netflix about the upcoming batch of episodes. It’s filled with spoilers from previous seasons, so read at your own risk.

“The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”

Season five of Stranger Things is split into three parts, which is something Netflix loves to do lately. Volume One, which will have four episodes, comes out on November 26, followed a month later by three episodes for Volume Two on December 25 and the final episode on December 31. We don’t know how long each episode will be, but some season four installments reached 90 minutes.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-final-season-of-stranger-things-now-has-an-action-packed-trailer-151355646.html?src=rss