Technology

After launching a little over a year ago, Call of Duty: Warzone is one of the most popular free-to-play titles right now, with 100 million people playing the battle royale shooter. Following a nuclear missile that destroyed the game’s map, the in-game city of Verdansk is back with a new map set in the year 1984, as seen in the announcement trailer above. This mirrors a similar move made by its competitor Fortnite, which destroyed its original map and replaced it with a new one in 2019. Despite the shape and layout remaining the same as its predecessor, players will notice changes to most locations along with a 1980s vibe that fits the game’s new time period. Verdansk ’84, the name of the new map, has some alterations to make it a new location and not a direct reskin, while also becoming mo...

For a series about people getting their spines ripped out, Mortal Kombat has a surprising amount of story. Over three decades the fighting franchise has amassed a large mythos, filled with histories, lore, and motivations for its many combatants, which are mostly used to answer the question of why somebody is having their spine and / or arms removed. You wouldn’t really know that from watching the new movie, though. The film features plenty of callouts to the games — gruesome fatalities, goofy one-liners, and lots of familiar faces — but it never stops long enough to tell you why you should care about anything. It’s also not particularly fun, despite all of the aforementioned ripped-off arms. Mortal Kombat largely follows the same basic premise as the games, where champions from Earth face...

The Federal Communications Commission has decided to look into letting people text the upcoming shortened National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number in a bid to increase accessibility and use of the service by those who need it most (via Politico reporter John Hendel). Last May, the FCC approved the creation of a new short code, 988, that will act as an easier-to-remember phone number for the lifeline. Please note that calling 988 will not connect you to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline until July 16th, 2022. It’s worth noting that today’s approval is just a first step and doesn’t mean that people will, for sure, be able to text the 988 number when it goes live in July 2022. However, it does mean that the FCC will be looking into making it a requirement for phone providers, and it...

Garmin has upgraded its premium Venu smartwatch for 2021 (via DC Rainmaker and Ars Technica). It now comes in two sizes instead of a single 43mm-sized model. The 45mm Venu 2 houses a 1.3-inch 416 x 416 OLED screen. For smaller wrists (or those who just prefer a less wrist-dominating device), the 40mm Venu 2S has a 1.1-inch 360 x 360 OLED screen. Both watches have an optional always-on mode, and they are available now for $399.99, which is the same price as the original Venu. It doubles the battery life in some cases versus the original Other than the differences in case sizes, there isn’t much else distinguishing the Venu 2 lineup visually from the predecessor. They’re slick-looking touchscreen wearables with Gorilla Glass 3-covered touchscreens that feature two buttons. One of the biggest...

Robot cars are back in the spotlight on Capitol Hill after previous efforts failed to pass comprehensive legislation allowing more autonomous vehicles on the road. US Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and John Thune (R-SD) plan to introduce an amendment to a funding bill that would grant federal regulators the power to exempt tens of thousands of vehicles from requirements to have traditional controls for human drivers, according to Reuters. The power to exempt 15,000 vehicles per manufacturer The amendment would give the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) the power to exempt 15,000 vehicles per manufacturer from certain safety standards, with that number increasing to 80,000 in three years. The effect would be to grant more leeway to automakers like Ford and General Motors, as ...

SpaceX is slated to launch its third crew to the International Space Station early Friday morning, ferrying two astronauts from NASA, one from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the first European Space Agency astronaut to fly a private US spacecraft to orbit. The four-person crew will launch atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 5:49AM ET on Friday. The mission, dubbed Crew-2, marks the second operational mission under the Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s public-private initiative to revive its human spaceflight capabilities after a 10-year dependence on Russian rockets. It will mark the first time NASA astronauts fly a reused crew capsule — Crew-2’s ride first flew in May 2020 as SpaceX’s first astronaut mission, carrying Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. The crew includes NASA astronauts ...

Sony will begin rolling out support for 1080p streaming with PlayStation Now beginning this week, upping the streaming quality from the cloud gaming service’s previous 720p cap. “The rollout will occur over the next several weeks across Europe, US, Canada, and Japan, where PlayStation Now is available,” Sony said in a tweet. PlayStation Now will begin rolling out support for streaming 1080p capable games this week. The rollout will occur over the next several weeks across Europe, US, Canada, and Japan, where PlayStation Now is available. pic.twitter.com/OEHWHtMTw8 — PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 22, 2021 In its tweet, Sony says support will roll out for “1080p capable games,” but it hasn’t yet shared a list of games that can hit the higher resolution. We’ve asked the company if it can s...

Microsoft is starting to roll out its biggest change to the Windows taskbar in years. A new weather and news taskbar widget will be available in Windows 10 starting today, offering weather information directly in the Windows taskbar. The widget also expands to include a feed of news, stocks, sports, and weather information. The mini-feed of content only appears when you activate the widget, and it can be fully personalized with the latest sports news, headlines, and weather information. Microsoft is using its Microsoft News network to surface news and content from more than 4,500 sources, and the company will use AI to learn what news is relevant to you when you dismiss or like stories in the feed. The taskbar widget includes a feed of news.Image: Microsoft If you don’t care about this new...

Consumer Reports said Thursday it was “easily” able to trick Tesla’s Autopilot system to operate without anyone in the driver’s seat. The publication’s test came amid questions about the safety of the company’s advanced driver assist system in the aftermath of a fatal crash in Texas in which authorities said there was no one behind the steering wheel. Using a weighted chain attached to the steering wheel to simulate the pressure of the driver’s hands, two Consumer Reports researchers were able to use the steering wheel dial on a Tesla Model Y to accelerate from a full stop, and then “drive” around on a closed-course test track for several miles — all while sitting in the passenger seat and backseat. They stopped the vehicle by again using the dial to bring the speed back down to zero. Tric...

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a lawsuit against the remote testing company Proctorio on behalf of Miami University student Erik Johnson. The lawsuit is intended to “quash a campaign of harassment designed to undermine important concerns” about the company’s remote test-proctoring software, according to the EFF. It’s the latest legal battle for the software company, which has publicly sparred with online critics throughout the last year. The lawsuit intends to address the company’s behavior toward Johnson in September of last year. After Johnson found out that he’d need to use the software for two of his classes, Johnson dug into the source code of Proctorio’s Chrome extension and made a lengthy Twitter thread criticizing its practices — including links to excerpts of t...

The Touch ID sensor in Apple’s new Magic Keyboard, which debuted alongside the updated iMac earlier this week, works with any Mac fitted with Apple’s M1 processor, Rene Ritchie and MacRumors report. However, the sensor won’t work with the new iPad Pro, which also uses the M1 chip. For now, the new keyboard is only sold with the new M1-equipped iMac, which is available to preorder from April 30th. Apple has been shipping MacBooks with built-in Touch ID for a while now, but this is the first time it’s been available in an accessory. The biometric security method can be used for logging into the device, as well as authorizing purchases and signing into some third-party apps. The new Touch ID keyboard is available with a compact layout, as well as a full size keyboard with a numpad. You can on...

Hundreds of foldable electric bikes made by UK firm Brompton have been recalled for repair by the US government. A software fault is causing the bikes’ electric motors to deliver “forward momentum” when the rider is not pedaling. It’s an issue that poses “fall and injury hazards,” according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), but can be remedied by a free software upgrade performed at certain Brompton dealers. The problem affects roughly 600 bikes sold by Brompton’s US dealers between June 2020 and March 2021, with the bicycles themselves retailing for between $3,500 and $3,800. “the risk of an accident occurring is very low,” say brompton Owners can check if their bike is one of those affected by entering the product’s serial number (found on a sticker on the frame) into ...