Technology

Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of huge franchises like Diablo and Overwatch, has been under intense scrutiny since California sued parent company Activision Blizzard last summer over allegedly fostering a culture of harassment and discrimination. In an attempt to assure employees and fans that the company is making positive changes, Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra published a blog post detailing what it is doing to “rebuild your trust.” At the top of the list is that executive and management teams will be measured “directly against culture improvement,” which means that their compensation will “depend on our overall success in creating a safe, inclusive, and creative work environment at Blizzard,” Ybarra says. He also outlined new full-time roles that have been created to help improve cul...

Twitter Blue, the social media platform’s $2.99 USD per month premium subscription service, has launched NFT profile pictures on iOS. The feature allows users to connect to their crypto wallets and display their NFTs as their profile pictures. Other users can then tap on the profile picture to learn more about the project and view its metadata. Ready to show off your NFT? Follow these simple steps to connect your crypto wallet and let’s see your NFT PFPs! pic.twitter.com/epSL7VXG5o — Twitter Blue (@TwitterBlue) January 20, 2022 NFTs are displayed in a special hexagonal shape, indicating authenticity and proof of ownership. The feature is available for subscribers on iOS via its early access Labs feature. Currently, Twitter only supports static image NFTs in either JPEG or PNG formats minte...

Update January 20th, 3:29PM ET: Best Buy has sold out of its stock of PlayStation 5 consoles for the day. We hope that you scored one. But if not, we’ll try to help you get one next time. While there have been many restocks of Sony’s PlayStation 5 console as it slowly gets a little easier to obtain one, we’re sadly not out of the woods just yet. The PS5 is still hard to come by for a product that is over one year old. Thankfully, there’s another chance to pick one up today, care of Best Buy. Best Buy is opening up orders for the standard disc drive-equipped PlayStation 5 console, costing $499.99 and disc-less Digital Edition for $399.99. Orders from Best Buy are usually based around store pickup orders, so it is very likely that you may need some luck on your side with a nearby location th...

The FAA has announced that an “estimated 78 percent of the U.S. commercial fleet” have been cleared to land at airports with 5G C-band, even under low-visibility conditions. The agency’s statement comes after a week of controversy surrounding the rollout of AT&T and Verizon’s upgraded cellular tech, which saw US airlines warning of “catastrophic disruption” to travel and shipping and some international airlines announcing they’d halt flights to some US airports. At issue are concerns that some radio altimeters won’t properly ignore signals from the new 5G transmitters. While there are precautions that should keep this from happening, including creating buffer zones around airports, an incorrect altimeter reading could cause real problems during a low-visibility landing. Given the high ...

Though the original Fatal Attraction is a seminal classic that’s always worth revisiting, Paramount’s confident that it’s high time the film was remade as a series for the generation who grew up watching Dawson’s Creek and Mean Girls on repeat. In the new Paramount Plus Fatal Attraction, a series written by Alexandra Cunningham (Desperate Housewives, Dirty John), Joshua Jackson stars as Dan Gallagher, a man whose chance sexual encounter with a woman named Alex Forrest (Lizzy Caplan) leads to a torrid affair that quickly turns dark. Like the original, this Alex’s feelings for her beau sour once he begins to rebuff her, and her obsessive feelings for him begin to grow increasingly intense and dangerous. But according to Deadline, the new Fatal Attraction will also put a particular focus on e...

During a mission to discover whether or not Saturn’s moon Mimas was geologically dead, researchers discovered something far more surprising: “compelling evidence” of an underground ocean buried beneath the surface of the Death Star-like moon. Mimas, the researchers say, might be a “‘stealth’ ocean world,” a finding that, if verified, would further expand the number of potentially habitable places in our solar system. Icy moons with evidence of subsurface oceans have garnered a lot of attention from scientists lately. The two best known examples in our solar system, Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa, are considered prime places to search for alien life. Enceladus, in particular, appears to have most of the ingredients needed to sustain life in its seawater, which spews out of geysers ...

Renowned luxury watchmaker and jewelry brand Jacob & Co. has teamed up with BitPay to begin accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Through its new venture with one of the world’s largest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment providers, Jacob & Co. claims to now be the first luxury brand to accept cryptocurrency. With expanding forms of payment, the luxury brand aims to evolve and attract new clientele by entering the rapidly growing cryptocurrency market. “We’re always looking for new ways to push our brand forward and be true disruptors,” says Benjamin Arabov, Jacob & Co. CEO. “This partnership will be a game-changer for years to come for our customers as this makes the purchase process effortless.” BitPay specializes in blockchain payment processing and borderless paymen...

Google is working on an augmented reality (AR) headset, according to two individuals familiar with the project who requested anonymity via The Verge. Internally codenamed Project Iris, the device is currently in development at the company’s San Francisco Bay Area facility with initial prototypes, according to the outlet. The headset, which could ship as soon as 2024, utilizes outward-facing cameras to juxtapose computer graphics with a real-world video feed. The hardware is reportedly still in its early developmental stages, though it will be powered by a custom Google processors, similar to the company’s Google Pixel smartphone, and it will run on Android. It’s unknown whether the headset will be Pixel-branded and there is no “clearly defined go-to-market strategy,” though it is know...

The tech world is booming with new developments every day in the metaverse and realm of NFTs, and sneaker brands have wasted no time in hopping on the bandwagon. Of all the biggest sportswear brands in the industry, it’s adidas that has been making some serious moves in the digital space. After joining hands with the likes of Bored Ape Yacht Club, gmoney and PUNKS comic for an exclusive NFT collection, the Three Stripes family is reconnecting with Prada for a first-of-its-kind user-generated NFT initiative. The new project is titled ‘adidas for Prada Re-Source’ ad will entail user-generated and creator-owned art inspired by the two parties’ recently-dropped physical Re-Nylon collaboration. 3,000 digital images that are crafted by folks within the worlds of fashion, design and crypto will m...

Facebook parent company Meta has launched new activities on its Messenger Kids platform aimed at teaching internet etiquette to children. According to a blog post by Erik Michael Weitzman, director of product management at Messenger Kids, the new gamified activities will “help kids learn how to use the internet safely and practice making healthy decisions online.” Pledge Planets is based on what Weitzman says are the tenets of the Messenger Kids Pledge: be kind, be respectful, be safe and have fun. The first episode titled “Be Kind” includes two games that will help kids “learn and practice how to act with kindness,” the company says: Rough Reviews: Players must help the owner read through the reviews and match the correct online response to each one. This game teaches kids to recognize ki...

Meta may be the loudest company building AR and VR hardware. Microsoft has HoloLens. Apple is working on something, too. But don’t count out Google. The search giant has recently begun ramping up work on an AR headset, internally codenamed Project Iris, that it hopes to ship in 2024, according to two people familiar with the project who requested anonymity to speak without the company’s permission. Like forthcoming headsets from Meta and Apple, Google’s device uses outward-facing cameras to blend computer graphics with a video feed of the real world, creating a more immersive, mixed reality experience than existing AR glasses from the likes of Snap and Magic Leap. Early prototypes being developed at a facility in the San Francisco Bay Area resemble a pair of ski goggles and don’t require a...

NFTs have been a contentious topic in the video game industry as of late. Fans did not respond well to Ubisoft’s NFT plans, and the outcry to NFTs in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl was so vehement that the game’s developers decided to cancel them entirely. But it’s not just video game fans that are skeptical of the new technology; many game developers have similarly strong feelings, according to the Game Developers Conference annual survey, which was released Thursday. “When asked how they felt about the possibility of cryptocurrency or NFTs in games, a few called it ‘the future of gaming,’” the survey said. “However, a vast majority of respondents spoke out against both practices — noting their potential for scams, overall monetization concerns, and the environmental impact.” “How t...