‘NBA 2K18’ gets emergency patch to fix data-wiping Xbox One bug

2K Sports’ latest basketball title, NBA 2K18, had a serious zero day bug that wiped away user progress, items and in-game currency in the online MyCareer mode. While it reportedly only affects players on Xbox One, both console versions are got a patch that supposedly fixed this issue.

A new #NBA2K18 patch is now available for XBOX One & PS4. More info later.

— NBA 2K 2K18 (@NBA2K) September 18, 2017

While most of the playerbase won’t even see the issue as the game officially launches on September 19th, folks who preordered got an early chance to play last weekend. Reports started surfacing on the NBA 2K18 subreddit of players who opened their MyCareer profile to find their progress and items, including virtual clothing and badges, gone.

Today, 2K Sports posted a step-by-step guide today for players to submit reports that would help the team track down their info and clone a new, non-buggy save file with all their progress. Unfortunately, lost preorder-only items will be replaced at a later date. The issue only affected Xbox One users and the team noted in the Reddit post that the patch should’ve fixed it for anyone playing on that console.

Via: Polygon

Source: NBA 2K18 subreddit

Gmail finally turns addresses and phone numbers into links

Next time someone emails you an address, you no longer have to copypaste it on Maps after viewing it on Gmail or Inbox. Google has rolled out an update that gives its mail apps the power to turn addresses, phone numbers and email addresses into hyperlinks. It’s definitely a welcome addition, especially since most other mail apps have been making contact details easier to click for a long time now. Now, you can click addresses to look them up on Google Maps, email addresses to automatically open your default mail app’s compose window and phone numbers to start a call on the default phone app if you’re on mobile.

Addresses and phone numbers will appear as hyperlinks whether you’re using Android and iOS on mobile or the web on your computer. You won’t be able to make calls, but you can launch Google Maps and start a new email on your PC with a single click. We’ve tested the feature and can confirm that it’s now active, but if it doesn’t work for you yet, don’t worry: Google says it could take up to three days to roll it out completely.

Source: Google

Toys ‘R’ Us might declare bankruptcy soon

Toys ‘R’ Us might file for bankruptcy as soon as today, according to Bloomberg. That should help the toy giant restructure the $400 million in debt that comes due for it next year, which it was saddled with after getting bought out a decade ago. While the retail chain has been suffering declining sales for five years, Amazon has continued to grow its own toy sales, taking a bigger share of the industry.

Amazon raked in an estimated $4 billion in toy sales last year, up 24 percent from 2015 according to analytics firm One Click Retail. That amount is over a third of what Toys ‘R’ Us brings in, which has seen five years of decline. Bargain competition and diving prices have hurt the toy giant’s attempts to recover.

Bain Capital, KKR & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust engaged in a $7.5 billion leveraged buyout of Toys ‘R’ Us back in 2005 to take it private. The toy giant has struggled to emerge from under so much debt, which has blunted its expansions in physical and online storefronts. The company spent $100 million over the last few years to launch a new website this summer, but it still lags behind Target, Walmart, and most significantly, Amazon.

Source: Bloomberg

What’s on TV: ‘Star Trek: Discovery,’ ‘Transparent’

This week we’ll finally get a peek at the newest Star Trek series, as Discovery premieres on CBS, before moving exclusively to streaming via CBS All Access. Speaking of streaming, this week Netflix premieres its Jerry Seinfeld comedy special, plus the anime spoof Neo Yokio and a new season of Fuller House, while Amazon Prime rolls out season four of Transparent. Movie buffs have a wide selection to choose from, with the disc release of Wonder Woman, as well as rereleases for Starship Troopers and Close Encounters of the Third Kind — all are available in 4K. Finally, for gamers, NBA 2K18 is now available to everyone, while Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite and Project Cars 2 also arrive this week. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Wonder Woman (4K, 3D)
• Firefly: The Complete Series (15th Anniversary)
• Starship Troopers (4K)
• The Big Sick
• Arrow (S5)
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind 40th Anniversary Edition (4K)
• Bates Motel: The Complete Series
• Friends: Complete Series
• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (PS4, Xbox One)
• Echo (PS4, Xbox One)
• The Coma: Recut (PS4. PC, Xbox One)
• Pankapu (PS4, Xbox One)
• Thimbleweed Park (Switch)
• Project Cars 2 (PS4, PC, Xbox – 9/22)
• Blackguards 2 (Xbox One, PS4)
• Revolve (Xbox One)
• Morphite (Xbox One, PS4)
• End Space (PS VR)

Monday

• Lions/Giants, ESPN, 8:15 PM
• Dancing with the Stars (season premiere), ABC, 8 PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8 PM
• American Ninja Warrior (season finale), NBC, 8 PM
• So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, 8 PM
• The Age of Consequences, Starz, 9 PM
• The State (series premiere), National Geographic, 9 PM
• Hip Hop Honors: The 90s Gamechangers, VH1, 9 PM
• Siesta Key, MTV, 10 PM
• Midnight, Texas, NBC, 10 PM
• Talking Preacher, AMC, 10:15 PM
• People of Earth, TBS, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Tuesday

• Difficult People, Hulu, 3 AM
• The Mindy Project, Hulu, 3 AM
• Jerry Before Seinfeld, Netflix, 3 AM
• America’s Got Talent, NBC, 8 PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8 PM
• Inside the NFL, Showtime, 9 PM
• Fantomworks, Velocity, 9 PM
• Face Off: Game Face, Syfy, 9 PM
• American Horror Story, FX, 10 PM
• A Season with Navy Football, Showtime, 10 PM
• Somewhere Between (season finale), ABC, 10 PM
• Will & Grace Paley Center Special, NBC, 10 PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 10 PM
• Being Mary Jane (season finale), BET, 10 PM
• Tosh.0 (fall premiere), Comedy Central, 10 PM
• The Therapist, Viceland, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Wednesday

• Big Brother, CBS, 8 PM
• Lucha Underground, El Rey, 8 PM
• America’s Got Talent (season finale), NBC, 8 PM
• Are You the One (season premiere), MTV, 10 PM
• Channel Zero (season premiere), Syfy, 10 PM
• Salvation (season finale), CBS, 10 PM
• The Good Place (season premiere), NBC, 10 PM
• You’re the Worst, FXX, 10 PM
• Sinner (season finale), USA, 10 PM
• Garage Squad, Velocity, 10 PM
• South Park, Comedy Central, 10 PM
• Broad City, Comedy Central, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Thursday

• Gotham (season premiere), Fox, 8 PM
• Penn & Teller: Fool Us, CW, 8 PM
• Naked & Afraid, Discovery, 8 PM
• Rams/49ers, NFL Network, 8:30 PM
• The Orville, Fox, 9 PM
• Big Brother, CBS, 9 PM
• Whose Line is it Anyway?, CW, 9 PM
• F*ck That’s Delicious, Viceland, 9:30 PM
• Better Things, FX, 10 PM
• Zoo (season finale), CBS, 10 PM
• The Mist, Spike TV, 10 PM
• Bong Appetit, Viceland, 10:30 PM
• The Guest Book, TBS, 10:30 PM
• The Timeline (season premiere), NFL Network, 11 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Friday

• Neo Yokio (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Transparent (S4), Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Fuller House (S3), Netflix, 3 AM
• Gaga: Five Foot Two, Netflix, 3 AM
• Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father, Netflix, 3 AM
• Masters of Illusion (season finale), CW, 8 PM
• Tackle My Ride, NFL Network, 8 PM
• MTV Unplugged, MTV, 8 PM
• Big Brother, CBS, 8 PM
• Broke and Famous, Reelzchannel, 8 PM
• A Football Life: Emmitt Smith, NFL Network, 9 PM
• Tough Guys, Showtime, 9 PM
• Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tourbus, Cinemax, 10 PM
• Big Black’s Biggest & Best, MTV, 11 PM
• Room 104, HBO, 11:30 PM
• Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents, Comedy Central, 12 AM

Saturday

• Notre Dame/Michigan State college football, Fox, 8 PM
• Penn State/Iowa college football, ABC, 7:30 PM
• UCLA/Stanford college football, ESPN, 9:30 PM
• Halt and Catch Fire, AMC, 9 PM

Sunday

• Outlander, Starz, 8 PM
• Who Shot Biggie & Tupac?, Fox, 8 PM
• Teen Wolf (series finale), MTV, 8 PM
• Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN, 8 PM
• Raiders/Washington, NBC 8:20 PM
• Star Trek: Discovery (series premiere), CBS, 8:30 PM
• The Deuce, HBO, 9 PM
• Fear the Walking Dead, AMC, 9 PM
• Top of the Lake, Sundance, 9 PM
• Star Trek: Discovery, CBS All Access, 9:30 PM
• Get Shorty, Epix, 10 PM
• Unsung Hollywood, TV One, 10 PM
• Ballers (season finale), HBO, 10:30PM
• $100,000 Pyramid (season finale), ABC, 10 PM
• Survivor’s Remorse, Starz, 10 PM
• Vice Principals, HBO, 10:30 PM
• Talking Dead: Fear Edition, AMC, 11 PM
• Rick & Morty, Cartoon Network, 11:30 PM

[All times listed at in ET]

Apple’s ‘TV’ App Showing Up for Canadian and Australian Users Ahead of iOS 11 and tvOS 11 Launch

Ahead of tomorrow’s launch of iOS 11 and tvOS 11, the “TV” app has begun showing up for some Canadian and Australian users on iOS devices and the fourth-generation Apple TV.

While the TV app appears to be rolling to users in Canada and Australia starting tonight, it is not yet available for all users, nor is it functional. MacRumors reader John, who is from Australia, said the TV app has shown up on his fourth-generation Apple TV but isn’t loading content as of yet.

Apple last Tuesday announced that the TV app would expand to Australia and Canada “later this month,” but did not specify exactly when it would be released. Presumably, the app will become functional tomorrow after iOS 11 and tvOS 11 become available to the public.

The TV app, which has been available in the United States since December of 2016, is designed to provide a centralized way to access all of the different television channels and content available through dedicated apps from major networks like HBO, CBS, NBC, FOX, and more.

The TV app allows users to play TV shows and movies with a single click, and it syncs content across devices so it’s always possible to pick up a TV show or movie being watched on one device on another device. Apple has also introduced content recommendations to help users discover new TV shows and movies to watch.

More than 60 services are supported by the TV app, but with the expansion to new countries, Apple plans to add support for additional local content

Later this year, Apple plans to expand the TV app to France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and the UK.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Tags: Australia, Canada
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
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UCLA’s new solid-state fridge tech could make air conditioning obsolete

Why it matters to you

This ultra-thin flexible cooler could chill everything from your running shoes to overheating smartphones.

There are plenty of cool wearables, but there are very few cool wearables, if you catch what we’re saying. That’s a problem that’s now been rectified by engineers from the University of California at Los Angeles and SRI International — courtesy of their new 5-millimeter-thin device, which functions as a solid-state fridge cooler.

If you’re wondering why on Earth you’d want to carry a mini-refrigerator around with you, imagine the possibilities of having your very own personal air conditioner that could be built into a shoe insole, hat, or other piece of clothing. In other situations, you could use the device to help keep smartphones, tablets, or laptops cool to avoid dangerous overheating.

The technology is based on something called the “electrocaloric effect,” in which a material’s temperature changes when an electric field is applied to it. While at present it’s still a proof of concept, it’s definitely a gadget that’s worth getting excited about. The first prototype is capable of delivering 150 times as much cooling per gram of material as the best prior electrocaloric device, designed to perform the same task.

In addition, it’s so far proved capable of undergoing 30,000 cycles of electrification without starting to degrade. In a demonstration, the device was attached to a Samsung Galaxy G4 smartphone battery which had been heated to 52.5 degrees Celsius, thanks to heavy use. Within just five seconds of being applied, the cooling device had chilled the Galaxy’s battery by 8 degrees.

“The development of practical efficient cooling systems that do not use chemical coolants that are potent greenhouse gases is becoming even more important as developing nations increase their use of air conditioning,” said Roy Kornbluh, an SRI research engineer, in a statement.

Going forward, the idea is to develop the technology in new ways. For instance, the team thinks it could be useful as a way of building portable refrigerators for the developing world. While cheap methods of storing heat have been the subject of much work, there haven’t been quite so many projects aimed at building coolers — largely due to the fact that it is difficult to generate enough watts to support them.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Science.

Plan on updating to Apple’s new OS? These are the features you should know about

The official release of iOS 11 is nearly upon us, and with it comes a slew of new features and enhancements designed to work in tandem with both the recently-announced iPhone 8 and iPhone X, as well as iPhone models dating back to the iPhone 5S. The update doesn’t represent a revolutionary step forward for mobile computing — in fact, it’s more of an incremental one than anything else — but there are plenty of iOS 11 features worth checking out when the update officially becomes available on September 19.

The first major change in iOS 11 comes in the form of an interface overhaul to the Control Center. The hub-like feature now sports a bubbly aesthetic and takes of the entirety of your phone’s display when you swipe up from the bottom of your screen, opposed to just a portion of it. In addition to being full-screen, there are now smaller icons that, when combined with the feature’s larger real estate, provide you with quick access to far more settings than before. You can also go to Settings > Control Center if you want to customize which settings appear in the Control Center, or rearrange where they appear. They even work in conjunction with 3D Touch, meaning you’ll be able to access a host of additional settings if you’re using an iPhone 6 or newer.

The other big change to the UI is the combining of the lock screen and the Notification Center. Swiping down on your phone will now bring up the lock screen, which also now displays unread notifications, while swiping up will surface older notifications. Thankfully, these are no longer grouped based on the app, and now show up in chronological order.

With iOS 11, Apple also added something we believe should be on every smartphone: A file manager. It might seem simple, but being able to see all your documents, folders, photos, and other content in a single location is nothing shy of convenient — it also makes your iPhone more computer-like. Furthermore, the latest iOS update allows you to edit Live Photos, meaning you can essentially crop the the photo to show only a portion of the original image. You can also set them to play backwards automatically upon completion, or set them to repeat over and over if you want to save them as a shareable GIF.

Another photo-centric feature, Portrait Mode, has also received a bump in quality with the release of iOS 11. The feature, which allows you to easily blur the background of an image, now features optical stabilization and High Dynamic Range (HDR) on the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X. You’ll also be able to use it with the selfie camera on those devices.

While the iPhone remains the centerpiece on which Apple built its mobile operating system, the latest iOS update does tout a few iPad-centric features, some of which are more subtle than others. First off, the new dock now resembles the normal MacOS dock, in that it can hold a lot more icons — 13, to be exact. Moreover, you can pull it up from any screen by swiping up, giving you quick access from places other than the home screen. It features a section for your most-recent apps, too, which makes it feel more desktop-like and efficient when it comes to multitasking.

Another change that makes an iPad running iOS 11 more akin to a traditional desktop is the new drag-and-drop feature. Basically, if you have multiple apps running at once, you can actually drag items — like a photo, for instance — to a different app and have it seamlessly copied and placed accordingly. It’s a small thing, but it brings the iPad more in line with desktop machines, which Apple needs to do if it plans to keep touting the tablet as a viable replacement for your computer.

Needless to say, there are far more changes in iOS than those mentioned in the video above, though these are probably the biggest. Now, if only iOS sported the same kind of customization as Android…

David Cogen — a regular contributor here at Digital Trends — runs TheUnlockr, a popular tech blog that focuses on tech news, tips and tricks, and the latest tech. You can also find him on Twitter discussing the latest tech trends.

‘Wonder Woman’ goes airborne with giant 300-drone light show

Why it matters to you

Wonder Woman is great. Drones are great. Put them together and you have a glimpse at the future of entertainment.

You only have to look at the fact that Wonder Woman ditched the grim-and-gritty DC Extended Universe and made a DC movie that was *gasp* good fun for evidence that everyone’s favorite Amazonian princess does things differently. Apparently, the same thing goes for its home release promotion as well, since instead of celebrating the recent movie’s success at an event last week with something conventional like a fireworks display, the powers-that-be decided instead to stage an epic drone light show.

Created using Intel Shooting Star drones, aka the first drones designed specifically for the entertainment light shows, the display involved 300 drones taking to the sky over Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to throw up a variety of images. These included spelling out various words related to the movie, forming the DC and Wonder Woman logo, and even creating the shimmering outline of Diana of Themyscira herself. The drones used for the display weigh just 330 grams, are made of foam and plastic, and are capable of emitting more than 4 billion color combinations using their embedded LED lights.

“Drone light shows are a new form of nighttime entertainment,” Natalie Cheung, general manager of Drone Light Shows at Intel, told Digital Trends. “They are like digital fireworks — where you have controlled flying lights synchronized to music and forming shapes, words, and animations in the sky. This is a completely new form of storytelling. Intel is at the forefront of this innovation. What makes this so exciting is that the entire fleet of 300 drones are all controlled by one pilot. Intel is behind all the hardware, software and animation to make this possible.”

Right now, the technology is still fairly new. Long-term, however, Cheung believes drone light shows could conceivably take over from fireworks. “What’s beneficial about these drone light shows is that the drones are reusable and smoke-free,” she said. “We can also control with more precision than fireworks what we create in the sky, so you have a higher resolution show, and even a 3D volumetric show that fireworks today can’t produce. Another advantage is that fireworks are illegal in some countries, and I see this as a potential opportunity to showcase Intel drone light shows.”

Wonder Woman‘s home release on Blu-ray takes place on Tuesday, September 19.

iPhone 8’s A11 Bionic chip demolishes the competition in recent benchmark tests

Why it matters to you

The better a phone performs, the more it can handle — and if you want the best-performing phone, the iPhone 8 — and its A11 Bionic chip – is your best bet.

Apple’s processors have long been top of the line. The Apple A10, after all, obliterated any Android phone in its path, and it wasn’t until Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon 835 that Android phones even began getting close to the iPhone’s benchmark performance. Now, Apple has raised its game even higher with a new chip that’s an absolute doozy.

The A11 Bionic is the chip featured on the new iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, and we finally have some benchmark scores. Suffice it to say, the chip shows off some pretty serious performance. According to the scores on Geekbench, the iPhone 8 hits a massive 9,983 on its multicore score and 4,198 on its single-core score, putting competitors to shame.

For starters, the iPhone 8 performs around 25 percent better in single-core tests than the iPhone 7, and a whopping 80 percent better in multicore tests. Then we move onto Android phones, and things start to get ugly. Compared to the Samsung Galaxy S8, the iPhone 8 performs more than twice as good in single-core tests, and while things aren’t quite so dire in multicore tests, the Samsung Galaxy S8’s 6495 still doesn’t come close to the iPhone 8’s 9983.

Of course, benchmark tests aren’t necessarily the be-all-and-end-all of smartphone performance. For starters, the higher the resolution on the display, the harder a mobile processor has to work, and phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 generally have much higher resolutions than the iPhone — which lost the crown of best mobile display resolution a long time ago. On top of that, benchmarks don’t necessarily offer a great indicator of real-world use — and any flagship phone should offer great performance for at least two years after you buy it.

Still, there is something to be said for these results. Many argue that the iPhone’s performance helps keep an iPhone’s software running smoothly years after it’s originally purchased, and the same can’t necessarily be said for Android phones. Even if most new flagship phones can handle all the mobile apps out there today, that doesn’t necessarily hold true for the future — a phone with better performance will be able to handle more complex apps in the future better than one that underperforms. It will be interesting to see how the likes of Qualcomm and Samsung plan on taking on Apple’s dominance in the mobile chip market, but in the meantime, if you’re looking for the best-performing phone on the market, then the iPhone 8 may be your best bet.

Apple Pay Cash won’t be available in iOS 11 until later this fall

Why it matters to you

For Apple users downloading iOS 11, you won’t see the new Apple Pay Cash Card. The company will release the instant money transferring feature later this fall through an update.

While the iOS 11 developer and public betas have been out since June, each beta has gone through various tweaks throughout the summer. Now, with only one day left before the September 19 release of the final version, Apple confirmed its Apple Pay Cash Card feature won’t be available until later this fall.

Apple’s contactless payment service — Apple Pay — first launched back in 2014, and now works at over 4 million locations. It’s compatible with your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, and has become a faster and more secure way to pay.  With iOS 11, Apple introduced an extension to the mobile payment system known as the Apple Pay Cash card.

Using the credit or debit cards stored in the Wallet app, you’re able to send and receive money through iMessage. The latest feature works within the iMessage app and can be found in the App drawer that appears on the bottom of the screen. When the message window is open you can tap on the Apple Pay icon, enter the dollar amount, and tap Pay or Request. The recipient then accepts and processes the payment via Touch ID. Those with the iPhone X will be able to use the Face ID feature instead.

The money arrives instantly onto the Pay Cash card in your Apple Wallet. You can keep the money on the card or transfer it to your bank account. If you decide to leave it on the card, you can still use it in-store and online. The new feature places Apple in the running with other payment services apps such as PayPal and Square Cash, which can take one business day or more to deposit money into your account.

But Apple might have another competitor to worry about when it comes to receiving money instantaneously. Another payment service app named Zelle — which is already integrated into a variety of mobile banking apps — also deposits money within minutes. Instead of an Apple Cash card, the money is deposited directly to your account by linking your debit card.

Users can also still access payment service apps through iMessage as well. With the App drawer, apps like Venmo are integrated for easy access when sending text messages.