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It appeared that Romero Games might have shuttered as a consequence of the sweeping job cuts at Microsoft last week, but the studio is still alive and kicking. In to a post on Bluesky, the company clarified that its latest project is currently canceled after its funding was pulled. The post doesn’t name the publisher due to confidentiality agreements, but it sure seems like Microsoft was the purse behind the new game. Losing the money hasn’t also meant that Romero Games is closing its doors, but the next steps will be difficult ones for the team.

“We now have to reassess the entire staffing of our studio,” the post reads.

The canceled project was billed on Romero Games’ website as a first-person shooter with a brand new, original intellectual property. It may eventually find new life with a new backer. “We’ve been contacted by several publishers interested in helping us bring the game across the finish line, and we’re currently evaluating those opportunities,” the company said.

Romero Games was founded in 2014 by storied game designers John and Brenda Romero. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/romero-games-says-reports-of-its-death-are-greatly-exaggerated-210905833.html?src=rss 

Apple is making another attempt to appeal the trade ban that forced it to remove the blood oxygen sensor from its smartwatches, Reuters reports. The company was forced to remove the feature in 2024, following a decision from the International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2023 that banned sales of the Apple Watch for violating health tech startup Masimo’s patents.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard new arguments from Apple and Masimo’s lawyers on Monday over the legality of the original ITC ban. Apple’s argument is that the fact Masimo was developing its own smartwatch when Apple released the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020 — the first of the company’s wearables with a blood oxygen sensor — shouldn’t be enough to justify the ban. Masimo disagrees.

The appeals court has heard the company’s arguments before, and even briefly paused the trade ban in December 2023 while the ITC considered Apple’s request for a longer pause. Ultimately, the ITC ruled in Masimo’s favor and denied Apple’s request. Apple removed the blood oxygen sensor in 2024 so it could restart sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the US.

The companies’ fight goes beyond just the blood oxygen sensor — Masimo’s smartwatches were, ironically, found to infringe on Apple patents — but clearly Apple is hung up on the feature. The company’s blood oxygen sensor was never as accurate as the pulse oximeters used in a doctor’s office, but it was part of a fairly comprehensive suite of heart health features on the smartwatch. It’s entirely possible Apple wants to reintroduce it in its watches as part of an even more ambitious health feature down the road.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/apple-is-still-trying-to-overturn-the-ban-on-the-apple-watch-blood-oxygen-sensor-200135856.html?src=rss 

Jack Dorsey just released a decentralized, peer-to-peer messaging app that functions entirely over Bluetooth networks, as reported by CNBC. It’s called Bitchat and doesn’t need the internet to work, as there are no central servers.

The Twitter co-founder calls it an experiment in “Bluetooth mesh networks, relays and store and forward models, message encryption models and a few other things.” It works by enabling encrypted communication between nearby gadgets. Basically, it sends messages directly from one device to another, but each device is also a node that widens the network a little bit.

Due to the tech at play here, Bitchat also doesn’t require Wi-Fi or cellular service. It’s designed to keep working even when the internet is actively being blocked. Messages are stored only on the device and they disappear by default without ever connecting to centralized infrastructure. This kind of technology was used during Hong Kong’s 2019 protests to keep communication lines open, though similar apps have been floating around for years.

The app allows for group chats that can be named with hashtags and protected with passwords. It can also forward messages to users who are temporarily offline. A future version of the app will support Wi-Fi Direct to increase the speed and size of the network.

Dorsey has long been a proponent of decentralized communication platforms, as Bluesky was built with an open-source framework that emphasizes user control. Bitchat is available as a beta right now via TestFlight, though it’s currently filled up.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/jack-dorsey-just-released-a-bluetooth-messaging-app-that-doesnt-need-the-internet-191023870.html?src=rss 

Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio had some harsh words for Game Pass in a thread on X, calling it an “unstainable model” that’s “damaging the industry.” He also said that Microsoft’s ability to throw “infinite money” at the platform will eventually wane because “reality has to hit.”

Colantonio continued by saying Microsoft will “kill everyone else, or give up” and that gamers only like the service because “the offer is too good to be true.” He also wrote that these same players will turn on the platform when “they realize the effects on the games,” alluding that the Netflix-style approach allows for underwhelming titles.

His remarks follow last week’s major layoffs, in which Microsoft let go of over 9,000 people. Many of the impacted employees were involved with the company’s gaming divisions and first-party developers. Halo Studios lost people, as did the Candy Crush maker King. Some studios were shuttered and a bunch of games were cancelled. It sucked.

However, the general consensus is that Microsoft’s continued investment in AI played a role in these layoffs, and not the existence of Game Pass. Colantonio says that AI’s involvement “might be a BS excuse.”

While there’s no evidence that the subscription-based catalog service contributed to the job cuts, there is some data that suggests Game Pass hurts the sales numbers of titles under its umbrella. This makes a certain amount of sense. AAA games are $70 and Game Pass is $10 to $20 per month. Anecdotally, I picked up a subscription to play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle instead of buying the game directly from Bethesda.

Arkane Studios is the firm behind games like Deathloop, Dishonored and Prey. The company’s currently working on a game based on Marvel’s resident vampire hunter Blade.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/arkane-founder-calls-game-pass-an-unsustainable-model-thats-wrecking-the-industry-175819929.html?src=rss