Technology

Google Assistant is now available on newer Samsung smart TVs in the US, the companies announced. The AI helper will be available on Samsung 2020 smart TV models, including the 2020 8K and 4K QLED models, the 2020 Crystal UHD TVs, 2020 Frame and Serif sets, and 2020 Sero and Terrace models. The update will be available in the US first and roll out to more countries soon, according to Google. Pressing down on the TV’s remote control mic will activate Assistant, and users will be able to switch channels, open apps, and adjust the TV’s volume with voice commands. The TVs already had voice command settings available that could be controlled with the mic on the remote, but you’ll have to tell it you want to use Google Assistant rather than Samsung’s default Bixby assistant. And you can control o...

We knew that Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red’s highly anticipated sci-fi RPG, would be coming to Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service at some point. But it hasn’t been clear exactly when, beyond that it would arrive sometime this year after the game’s launch on PC and consoles. Stadia players got good news today, though, as CD Projekt Red confirmed in a video presentation that the game will be arriving on Stadia the same day it launches on other platforms: November 19th. Cyberpunk 2077 has been one of Stadia’s marquee releases for some time. Google announced the game was coming to Stadia all the way back in August 2019, but didn’t give a firmer release than “coming soon.” At that time, the game was set to launch on other platforms on April 16th, but it was delayed twice this year, to its cu...

Cruise, the self-driving company owned by General Motors, has been approved to test its driverless cars on public roads in California. The company says it plans to test vehicles without a human safety driver behind the wheel before the end of 2020. Cruise is the fifth to receive a driverless permit from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, the others being Waymo, Nuro, Zoox, and AutoX. Currently, 60 companies have an active permit to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver in California. Dan Ammann, CEO of Cruise, said in a blog post that the company may not have been the first to receive a driverless permit, but it intends to be the first to test fully driverless cars in San Francisco. “Before the end of the year, we’ll be sending cars out onto the streets of SF — without gasol...

The Haunting of Bly Manor, which premiered last week on Netflix, makes me a little sad I’ve never seen a ghost. It’s the second series from The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan. Like American Horror Story, the Haunting shows are anthology dramas, with each series telling a self-contained story. They’re not connected, in other words, other than by cast and aesthetic — each show is a drama first, horror show second, set largely in lush, spooky estates. Like Hill House, Bly Manor is based on a foundational horror text. For this go-round, Flanagan has chosen Henry James’ 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw. The original story is told in flashback by an unnamed narrator who spins a tale of a governess hired to take care of a wealthy man’s niece and nephew in the stately Bly Manor. In...

Apple is taking another try at building a smart home speaker with the new HomePod mini, a smaller, less expensive version of its original HomePod. The original HomePod was a product that focused more on being a great speaker, rather than being a great smart speaker. The HomePod mini takes the opposite approach: it’s not just another avenue for Apple to put Apple Music or Siri into your home. It’s a way for Apple to vastly expand its HomeKit ecosystem to a much wider audience than ever before. The cheapest gateway yet to Apple’s smart home setup Sure, the HomePod mini will probably sound good — given that it’s a $99 speaker going up against the likes of the new Nest Audio and fourth-generation Echo, it has to. And having more avenues to push its subscription services to customers is a nice ...

Sony just revealed one of the final big questions about the upcoming PlayStation 5: what the user interface looks like. A lengthy new walkthrough shows off what it’ll look like to actually use the upcoming console when it launches on November 12th. The new UI is a big change for Sony, offering a complete overhaul of the rather spartan menus that the PlayStation 4 offered. Similar to the PlayStation 4, Sony will offer a row of installed or available games (or streaming apps, in a separate tab) that shows off the various games, each with its own hub. Scrolling down with that game hub will show more specific activities and game modes that can be launched directly from the home screen, along with other news and clips from the title. Sony says that some backwards compatible PS4 games will offer...

Fujifilm has just announced a new camera in its X-series mirrorless lineup, the X-S10. The new model is a bit of a departure from Fujifilm’s other cameras, and features a control scheme that’ll be familiar to shooters of other camera systems. It also has plenty of vlogger-friendly features, including a fully articulating display, in-body image stabilization, and a microphone input. The X-S10 will be available starting in November for $999.95 without a lens. It will also be kitted with a 18-55 f/2.8-4 lens for $1,399.95, or a 16-80 f/4 lens for $1,499.95. Unlike Fujifilm’s other cameras, such as the X-T4, X-T3, or X-T30, the X-S10 does away with the traditional shutter speed, ISO, and exposure compensation dials in favor of a mode dial and front and rear command dials, like many Canon, Niko...

The dust has settled following two days of Amazon Prime Day 2020 sales. Most of the deals are finished, and prices are for the most part back to their normal rates. The next big opportunity to save big will come during Black Friday after Thanksgiving, in just over a month. But, if you didn’t get everything you wanted out of Prime Day 2020, there are still a handful of good deals happening. Some are at Amazon, and some are happening elsewhere at retailers like Walmart and Best Buy. You won’t need a Prime membership to reap the savings of the deals still happening. Consider this the last hurrah of Prime Day 2020. Before we get into yesterday’s deals that are still available, Daily Steals is offering a great deal on the Apple AirPods Pro, matching the best price we saw right before Prime Day ...

The Food and Drug Administration approved a drug tested during the 2018 Ebola epidemic as a treatment for the disease. It’s the first therapy approved by the agency for Ebola, and shows that research done during an emergency can find effective drugs. “Today’s approval highlights the importance of international collaboration in the fight against Ebola virus,” said John Farley, director of the Office of Infectious Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The drug, called Inmazeb, is a mixture of three antibodies that block the Ebola virus. It was developed by Regeneron, which is also testing an antibody treatment for COVID-19. In clinical trials, patients who took Inmazeb were far less likely to die from the disease. Inmazeb was tested in a clinical trial that ran in 20...

The October update for Xbox is arriving this week, bringing with it a taste of the next generation. Microsoft has announced that a new dashboard design is rolling out to Xbox consoles as part of the latest update, and it’ll also run on the Xbox Series X and Series S when they launch next month. This new UX was first shown off back in August. Microsoft says the home screen loads 50 percent faster on boot and 30 percent faster when exiting a game, with 40 percent less memory required on the Series X. It’s not clear if owners of older consoles like the One S should expect performance improvements, though. The layout isn’t hugely different, but there have been tweaks to elements like the Guide and the games library, and visually it’s now a closer match for other Xbox products like the Xbox app...

Chromium-based browser Vivaldi now comes with a built-in game called Vivaldia, a retro side-scroller set in a cyberpunk universe. The game is available with version 3.4 of the browser, and can be played both online and offline across Windows, Max, Linux, and Android. You get to it by visiting “vivaldi://game” using Vivaldi’s address bar, but it can also be accessed via a link on the browser’s start page on desktop and Android. Vivaldia’s gameplay follows a very similar template to Google Chrome’s famous Dinosaur Game, an easter egg which can be accessed whenever the browser can’t connect to the internet. Vivaldia doesn’t automatically appear when you can’t connect to the internet, however, and also features more detailed pixel art graphics as well as enemies that you’re able to shoot at (V...

Microsoft is extending the warranty on its Xbox Elite 2 controller following complaints over hardware issues. “We’ve received claims that a small percentage of our customers are experiencing mechanical issues when using their Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2,” explains a Microsoft support article. “To ensure your satisfaction, we’re extending the warranty coverage period on Elite Series 2 controllers from 90 days to 1 year from the date of purchase.” The warranty extension applies retroactively, meaning anyone who incurred repair costs for the Xbox Elite 2 controller will be issued a refund by Microsoft before October 31st. The extended warranty is a welcome change from the measly 90 days, but it comes after a series of complaints from owners of the new Elite controller have emerged...