Technology

100 Thieves, a popular esports organization and lifestyle brand, announced that two of its biggest content creators, Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter and Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, will now be co-owners. “As a streamer and former pro-player myself, I always wanted 100 Thieves to be an organization guided by and built to be a platform for content creators,” Haag said in a statement. “Rae and Jack have been with us since 2018 and 2019, respectively, and are significant contributors to 100 Thieves. They deserve recognition for what they’ve done for the company to date – and we want their strategic input on what we can all do together in the future.” Hofstetter and Dunlop join 100 Thieves founder and CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, rapper Drake, music industry talent manager Scooter Braun, and Cle...

Because the world desperately needed another GPU people can’t actually buy, AMD decided to release a limited-edition “Midnight Black” version of its Radeon RX 6800 XT early Wednesday morning, where it sold out before most people even saw the card was there. You might be thinking: “Why would you release a limited-edition version of something that’s practically a collector’s piece even without a new coat of paint?” (AMD’s recent GPUs are even rarer than Nvidia’s, though both currently command two to three times their retail price on eBay.) Or you might be thinking: “When, exactly, did AMD announce a new GPU? I don’t remember that.” That’s because the company didn’t formally announce it: according to VideoCardz, AMD quietly told its “AMD Red Team community” fanbase by email at around midnight...

Today, you can fire up an Xbox game console and play Halo with a mouse and keyboard. It’s hard to believe I’m writing those words. Five years ago, I asked a small room of first-party Xbox devs how they felt about supporting mouse and keyboard (now that their boss Phil Spencer had confirmed they were on the way), but they were seriously skeptical. It took two more years for the Xbox One to get even a handful of keyboard and mouse titles in a November 2018 update. Even though games like COD: Warzone and Fortnite have paved the way for controller parity, the industry is still understandably wary about mixing console and keyboard players. But now, keyboard and mouse is a native part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection (including Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4) ...

Facebook’s experimental app development division, the NPE Team, has released a new Q&A platform that borrows concepts from buzzy, audio-only social network Clubhouse but with dashes of live-streaming thrown in. The platform is called Hotline, and it featured its first Q&A with investor Nick Huber earlier today, according to a report from TechCrunch. A website for the service is online now and allows sign-ins via Twitter, but it features only a waitlist and a tool for applying to host your own show. TechCrunch says Facebook has created designs for mobile versions of the app, though those do not appear to be live at this moment. News of Facebook building its own version of Clubhouse first surfaced in February, though Hotline is said to be a different product than the ongoing Clubhous...

The first Bluetooth tracker that can work with Apple’s vast Find My Bluetooth network of iPhones, iPads, and Macs is here. But it’s not Apple’s long-anticipated AirTags tracker; it’s the Chipolo One Spot, an updated version of the company’s One tracker that’s designed to exclusively work with Apple’s network. Chipolo calls the One Spot a “special edition” product. While it has the same 12-month battery life (with replaceable battery), 120dB ring, water resistance, and overall design as the regular One tracker, the One Spot only works with Apple’s Find My network. That’s potentially an upgrade for anyone who already uses Apple products, given that a Bluetooth tracking tag is only as effective as the number of users who are on the same network. And while Chipolo has been around for a while, ...

The Amazon Music mobile app is getting a new feature to make it a little bit easier to use while driving. Car Mode is a simplified version of Amazon Music’s interface, featuring larger buttons, suggested playlists and albums, and easy access to Alexa. Once enabled, Car Mode is divided into two sections. The upper part near the top of your phone is devoted to playback controls like play, pause, and skip, while the bottom section features a collection of music suggestions which you can switch between with a swipe or a tap. If a hands-free experience sounds better (and it probably should if you’re trying to drive safely) you can trigger Alexa in the bottom right corner with a tap or by using an Alexa voice command (“Hey Alexa, play Elton John”). Car Mode doesn’t add any new functionality to A...

Jon Stewart is heading back to TV with a new Apple TV Plus show, The Problem with Jon Stewart, which will debut this fall, Apple announced on Wednesday. “‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’ is a multiple season, one-hour, single-issue series which will explore topics that are currently part of the national conversation and his advocacy work,” Apple said in a press release. “Each season of the series will be further explored in a companion podcast to continue the discussion.” Apple didn’t specify how many episodes will be included in each season or how many seasons the show will run. The iPhone maker says this is the first project of a multiyear partnership with the popular political commentator, so it sounds like we could see more shows with Stewart’s involvement on Apple TV Plus in the future....

When I watch CodeMiko, I think a lot about unreality — though not for the obvious reasons. While Miko is a virtual creation, a punkish motion-captured digital avatar with a knack for performing her personality, I find myself more interested in the nature of her performance itself; she’s just magnetic, and I’m not sure I can describe why. I could tell you that her streams are a combination of interviews with big-name streamers, fiddling with motion capture software, and bizarre interactions with chat. I could mention that since her start last March, Miko’s channel has amassed 640,000 followers and that she now streams to more than 7,000 viewers at any given moment she’s live. But I’m not convinced any of that contains the true nature of her gonzo appeal. What I am sure of is that Miko is he...

Google’s I/O developer event is returning this year after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and like many other tech events that have taken place during the pandemic, it will be entirely virtual. The event will take place from May 18th through the 20th and will be free to attend, according to 9to5Google, which revealed the date after solving Google’s cryptic I/O puzzle. Typically, Google uses I/O to show off significant updates to its products, new hardware (in 2019, the company revealed the Pixel 3A and the Nest Hub Max smart display), and occasionally, big initiatives like the AI-powered reservation service Google Duplex. It seems likely that Google will show off more of Android 12 during this year’s conference, but beyond that, we’ll have to wait to see what’s in stor...

Uber and Lyft have a driver shortage problem. With the number of US-based drivers for both apps down around 40 percent, the two companies are pledging to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to lure people back into the driver seat. Uber announced Wednesday that it was launching a $250 million “stimulus” for drivers in the hopes of speeding their return to the platform. “In 2020, many drivers stopped driving because they couldn’t count on getting enough trips to make it worth their time,” Dennis Cinelli, Uber’s vice president for mobility in the US and Canada, wrote in a blog post. “In 2021, there are more riders requesting trips than there are drivers available to give them—making it a great time to be a driver.” “a great time to be a driver” Lyft, meanwhile, is covering the cost of rent...

DJI’s unannounced Air 2S drone has leaked in a series of images posted by TechnikNews and WinFuture’s Roland Quandt. The images come after the drone was listed in an FCC filing last month, suggesting that a launch can’t be far away. The DJI Air 2S is expected to be an upgraded version of last year’s Mavic Air 2, with an improved camera and compatibility with new DJI accessories like its V2 Goggles and Motion Controller. Let’s start with the camera sensor. The new renders, as well as a teaser trailer shared earlier in the week by reliable leaker OsitaLV, show a drone with a 1-inch, 20-megapixel sensor. Although that’s lower resolution than the 48-megapixel 1/2-inch sensor found in the Mavic Air 2, its larger physical size should have big performance benefits, especially in low light. The se...

You may think you’re familiar with The Lord of the Rings, but nothing can quite prepare you for an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy text made in the Soviet Union. The made-for-TV film first aired on Leningrad Television in 1991 and was thought to be lost to time, as first reported by The Guardian. But the station’s successor, 5TV, recently unearthed a copy from its archives, and uploaded the entire work to YouTube in two parts. Low budget special effects and Soviet mood music With a running time of around 1 hour and 50 minutes, this adaptation focuses only on the first book of Tolkein’s trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, and is a riot of low-budget special effects, bizarre camera work, and Soviet mood music. Rather than the epic Hollywood fantasy captured so well by Peter J...