Save 60% on the Activeon CX 1080p Action Cam!

Sure, we always have a camera on us in the form of a phone, but if you want to set it up somewhere to capture all the action, then how are you supposed to text and Snapchat everything? Nah, you need something sturdy that can withstand the rough and tumble. You need a camera that can go with you to places you wouldn’t necessarily bring your phone.

The Activeon CX 1080p Wi-Fi Action Camera is a compact camera that lets you get all the action shots and timelapses you want, and on Android Central Digital Offers, it’s only $39.99, 60% off the regular retail price of $99. The Activeon CX records in 1080p at 30FPS, and it’s even waterproof to a depth of 196 feet!

Yeah, almost 200 feet down. And Aqua Mode lets you record underwater, so the next time you’re snorkeling and come across sunken treasure you can document everything. The Activeon app lets you remotely record video right from your phone, and you can then quickly upload it to social media to show everyone how rad doubloons look under water.

The Activeon CX has a built-in 1200mAh battery, an ƒ/2.0 lens for great low-light shots, and LCD display on the back, and built-in Wi-Fi. If you need an action camera that can go everywhere you go, then check out the Activeon CX at Android Central Digital Offers and save 60% off retail.

See at Android Central Digital Offers

Ask Engadget: Where should I put my router?

The support shared between readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we’ve known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community’s knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments.

We truly value the time and detail you all spend in responding to questions from your fellow tech-obsessed commenters, which is why we’ve decided to bring back the much-missed “Ask Engadget” column. This week’s question comes to us from a reader who needs help setting up a home office. Weigh in with your advice in the comments — and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com!

I am considering moving my office from the basement and converting a room on the second floor. I have lots to move, but single strength is a make or break. I did some quick shot tests and found that I am dropping about 45 percent signal in the new office. I plan on stringing new coaxial and Ethernet up to the room so that I can maintain the best signal for my work. Would it be better to leave the cable modem (Thomson) where it is (in basement) and use Ethernet to string the router (D-Link AC3200) to the second floor, or does it not matter? My preference would be to keep the modem and router together just for troubleshooting. You know, when the network goes out and you call your ISP and the first thing that they want you to do is power down the modem and router.

I will be stringing 50-foot lengths for both. I am not sure what type of coaxial I should get. Which one should I select, RG-6/U or The RG-59U? The Ethernet will be Cat7; I’ll use that to hook up a range selector and/or my Apple TV in the basement.

Devindra Hardawar
Senior Editor

As you predicted, it doesn’t matter much if you keep your router and modem together — at least when it comes to getting internet access to your office. Personally, I’d keep them nearby for troubleshooting, like you mentioned. Bringing your router up from the basement could help wireless reception in other areas of the house, though. It might be worth moving it up to your new office temporarily to see if it helps internet access in far-off rooms.

When it comes to coaxial types, RG-6 is best suited for high-bandwidth tasks like TV signals and broadband internet. RG-59 is a less capable cable typically reserved for things like closed-circuit security systems. Cat7 Ethernet is your best bet if you want to completely future-proof your setup, since it supports speeds up to 10Gb/s. Cat6 is cheaper, though, and can get those speeds in short runs.

It’s a good thing you’ve already committed to stringing cables, because otherwise you’d have to look at things like powerline internet to spread network access through your home. I’ve heard good things about those systems, but they also involve buying entirely new equipment. As usual, it’s much easier just to throw a cable into a new room. Wi-Fi is also getting better, but to get the best speeds you’d need to use a 5GHz network, which doesn’t pass through walls and floors easily. A multi-room system like Eero and Google WiFi could help too, but they still cost a lot, and technically won’t be as reliable as a physical cable.

Face ID Appears to Fail at Telling Apart Brothers Who Aren’t Twins in New Video

With the iPhone X now in the hands of thousands of customers around the world, many early adopters are putting Face ID to the test to see if Apple’s facial authentication system is as secure as it advertises.

Apple says the probability that a random person in the population could look at someone else’s iPhone X and unlock it using Face ID is approximately 1 in 1,000,000, compared to 1 in 50,000 for Touch ID, but it notes the probability of a false match is different for twins and siblings who look like you.

We’ve already seen that Face ID can be fooled by identical twins, and now a video shared on Reddit appears to confirm that Face ID can sometimes fail to distinguish between siblings who aren’t twins but have similar appearances.

IPhoneX Face ID fail? from iphone

In the video, the sibling who set up Face ID on his iPhone X was able to unlock the device with his face as expected. Next, he handed the iPhone to his brother. Face ID didn’t authenticate his brother’s face upon first attempt, but once he put on a pair of black rim glasses, his face was able to unlock the iPhone X.

Apple is very transparent that Face ID can be less reliable in these situations, so the video doesn’t come across as a PR disaster in the making for the company. But, it does suggest that Face ID isn’t 100 percent failproof.

For those concerned about the security of their iPhone X in these cases, Apple’s only recommendation is to use a traditional passcode instead of Face ID for authentication. Unfortunately, at least for the time being, that means disabling one of the key new features of a smartphone that costs at least $1,000.

We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, and we’ll update this article if we hear back.

Related Roundup: iPhone XTag: Face IDBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums

Federal report says humans are the cause of climate change

Today, over a dozen federal agencies released the Climate Science Special Report, which is a product of the National Climate Assessment — a congressionally mandated review that takes place every four years. In it, hundreds of scientists from dozens of government agencies and academic institutions present evidence that supports the existence of a human-caused warming planet and all of the consequences that come with it. “This assessment concludes, based on extensive evidence, that it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century,” the report stated. “For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.”

The special report notes that each of the last three years have set temperature highs and that global temperature averages have risen by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 115 years. It also warns that weather disasters like hurricanes and floods that have cost the US $1.1 trillion since 1980 could become more commonplace if action isn’t taken to reduce our emissions. “The frequency and intensity of extreme high temperature events are virtually certain to increase in the future as global temperature increases (high confidence). Extreme precipitation events will very likely continue to increase in frequency and intensity throughout most of the world (high confidence),” said the report.

Also noted, was the importance of reducing emissions for any hope of curtailing the negative outcomes of climate change. “The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades will depend primarily on the amount of greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide) emitted globally. Without major reductions in emissions, the increase in annual average global temperature relative to preindustrial times could reach 9°F (5°C) or more by the end of this century,” the report stated.

The report released today — an exhaustive compilation of research totaling over 600 pages and peer reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences — is just the first of two. A second, longer volume detailing the regional impacts of climate change is not yet finalized, but is open for public comment and will soon undergo peer review. Somewhat surprisingly, today’s report was approved by the White House even though the Trump administration has repeatedly worked against efforts to combat climate change including removing the US from the Paris Accord, placing a climate change denier at the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and nominating one to lead NASA. Under the Trump presidency, the EPA has stopped researchers from speaking about climate change and deleted climate change information from its website while the Department of Agriculture has pressed its staff to not refer to climate change in their communications.

In regards to the report released today, Penn State University geoscientist Richard Alley told NPR, “This is good, solid climate science. This has been reviewed so many times in so many ways, and it’s taking what we know from … a couple of centuries of climate science and applying it to the U.S.” Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University told the New York Times, “This new report simply confirms what we already knew. Human-caused climate change isn’t just a theory, it’s reality. Whether we’re talking about unprecedented heat waves, increasingly destructive hurricanes, epic drought and inundation of our coastal cities, the impacts of climate change are no longer subtle. They are upon us. That’s the consensus of our best scientists, as laid bare by this latest report.”

You can read the full Climate Science Special Report here.

Via: New York Times

Source: Climate Change Special Report

The best Google Chrome extensions to revolutionize your workday

Google’s Chrome is a fine browser on its own — it’s fast, light, and doesn’t get in the way of the content you want to see. But what makes Chrome truly unique — perhaps even powerful — is when you add Chrome extensions and apps to your personal installation. There are tens of thousands to choose from on the Chrome Web Store, most of which (despite the name) are free. Some of the apps in the Web Store will be familiar to those you might find in the Google Play Store or iOS App Store.

Others, however, are completely unique to Chrome. These extensions can be installed on Chrome for Windows, MacOS, Linux, and also Chrome OS-based devices like a Chromebook laptop. However, they won’t work on mobile versions of the Chrome browser for Android or iOS.

Here are the very best Google Chrome extensions that just might revolutionize your workday.

Interface

Gestures for Google Chrome

Chrome Web Store

Most of the more complex functions of Chrome need to be accessed via a button or an entry in the primary or right-click menu. For a quicker alternative, this extension can bind complex actions to mouse gestures: simply hold down the right-click button on your mouse or touchpad and activate the gesture to perform the action. Customized gestures can be bound to almost any advanced function you can think of. We like to assign a simple, three-swipe gesture to close every tab except the one in the foreground.

Add now from:

Chrome Web Store

Hover Zoom+

Chrome Web Store

This tool allows the user to hover over a linked thumbnail image and view it in a simple pop-up window. It’s quite convenient if you often browse sites such as Reddit, which feature very small thumbnails for large images. The tool will display an image in its native resolution — unless that’s larger than your computer screen — and it supports animated formats like GIF and GIFV. It even allows for scrolling through a list of images on Imgur without opening the site.

Add now from:

Chrome Web Store

Momentum

Chrome Web Store

Momentum replaces Chrome’s somewhat stoic “New Tab” page with a more colorful alternative. While there are plenty of similar options on the Chrome Web Store, Momentum’s curated landscape images focus on a big, easy-to-read clock that very aesthetically pleasing. Those who use Chrome’s URL bar for quick access to frequent sites won’t miss the bookmark functions, but if you rely on the default New Tab page links, you should probably skip this one.

Add now from:

Chrome Web Store

Panic Button

Chrome Web Store

A little light web browsing at work never hurt anyone, but your manager might not agree. This extension adds a simple button to Chrome’s toolbar that immediately hides all of your open tabs when clicked, saving them as temporary bookmarks for easy retrieval. The function can be bound to a keyboard shortcut for even faster (and more discrete) activation. Combine it with a hidden button, and you have an instant safety net for not working at work.

Add now from:

Chrome Web Store

Mercury Reader

Chrome Web Store

Mercury Reader combines the functions of a “read it later” bookmark tool with a reading-focused web page reformat. It automatically pulls out the text and key images from a page (ideally news or blog posts) and shows them in big text that’s easy on the eyes. The extension can also send pages to your account, or even to a Kindle for comfy reading later. The tool is configurable for your ideal reading preferences, too, and it automatically syncs across computers and mobile devices. If you find something you need a hard copy for, we can also help you print from Chrome more efficiently.

Add now from:

Chrome Web Store

User-Agent Switcher

Chrome Web Store

Some sites display their format differently for different browsers or operating systems. If you need to access an alternate view of a certain website —to save JPG or PNG images instead of WEBP images on the Google Play Store, for instance — this extension allows you to instantly switch between desktop and mobile versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer, Safari, and the default iOS and Android web browsers. You can even set up rules that automatically load certain websites in a certain browser profile.

Add now from:

Chrome Web Store

Editor’s Recommendations

• Confused by Chrome? This is how to uninstall unused Chrome extensions
• The 20 best news apps that are fast and fluid on your iPhone or Android
• Find your fitness with our favorite health and fitness apps for Android
• Best Halloween apps for the ultimate spooky October 31
• Best wallpaper apps for Android or iOS

Hidden Agenda for PS4 PlayLink review: Choose carefully or suffer the consequences

An innocent man might be put to death for a crime he didn’t commit. Unless you can find the truth.

A convicted serial killer says that he didn’t commit the crimes that he confessed to 5 years ago. First responders are being murdered via booby traps left on bodies. And a corrupted city that has too many secrets to keep. Hidden Agenda is a cinematic adventure game that has you unraveling interconnected mysteries to get to the truth about a serial killer. It’s also one of the first Sony PlayLink titles, which requires a companion smartphone app to play.

Will you make the right choices to find the truth?

See at PlayStation

Gripping story

While you control a variety of different characters during the events of Hidden Agenda, they’re all following clues of the story. Five years ago a serial killer was caught red-handed with a victim and put behind bars. With only 48 hours until his execution though, the convicted murderer is claiming that he didn’t actually do any of what he had confessed to.

Your job is to try and hunt down the truth and figure out what was actually going on five years ago. Hidden Agenda is a cinematic adventure game, which means that your choices in investigation and conversation will set the story on its path. In many games from this genre, not every choice matters so much.

Every choice that you make will affect what comes next.

That isn’t the case here though. Every choice that you make, from whether you are aggressive in conversation to which locales you investigate first, will affect what comes next. Depending on these choices, you may end up skipping entire chunks of the game, or even ending the game early. There are multiple endings, and while I’ve beaten the game in about 90 minutes I know for a fact that I ended it early with a bad choice.

The story is gripping, weaving together a tragic past, human errors, and a corrupt city into a tale that will have you trying to figure out exactly what is going on while you play.

Fun mechanics

While a significant amount of the gameplay in Hidden Agenda is based on conversation choices, there are also two different type of mini-games that you’ll run into. When investigating scenes related to the crimes in the game, there is a hidden object game, and you’ll run into quick time events that require you to react quickly to avoid unpleasant consequences.

Searching for clues in crime scenes is easily one of the most important aspects of the game. When this feature triggers, you’ll see three items at the top of the screen that you ought to be aiming to find. These clues can be photos of characters, pieces of technology, and in one case, the way into a hidden room. These clues are important to uncovering exactly what is going on in the city, and while not finding one doesn’t mean that the game is over, they are handy for picking away at the threads that connect everyone in the story.

There are many ways to play, and to end the game.

The quick time events will trigger on your screen when certain things happen. You might need to avoid a punch from a suspect, vault over a table, or block an attack from an intruder. In all of these cases, you’ll see a box appear on the screen, and need to move your cursor inside of it in order to succeed. You’ll also see this square appear when you are given the chance to shoot as suspects, although shooting isn’t always the correct path to take if you want the truth.

In all of these cases, the controls for the game are located on your phone. This is a Sony PlayLink game, which means that your phone is your controller for all of the action. Thankfully the controls are pretty easy to grasp, and primarily consist of moving your cursor into the appropriate place on the screen in a short amount of time. It makes things a bit more challenging, but still, plenty of fun, making this a game that is easy to pick up whether you are a gamer or not.

Great solo or in a group

While PlayLink games are really made for a group environment, Hidden Agenda was a ton of fun both solo and with other players. In Solo mode, it’s much closer to a movie experience, while playing with your friends makes it much more competitive.

With other players that are added features like knocking the choices of other players out of the running by using a Takedown. You earn these in-game by completing actions such as finding clues during minigame sessions. When there are multiple players each person will also receive a Hidden Agenda which they must try to complete by steering the choices that are undertaken in the game.

Fun and replayable

Hidden Agenda deliver a fun game whether you’re playing solo for the story, or with a group for a more competitive experience. It delivers a great story, beautiful visuals, and gameplay that is easy to control with your phone. If you enjoy cinematic games or choose your own adventure style stories, then this is a game that ought to be right up your alley. Best of all it’s available for just $19.99 which means it’s well worth the price tag.

See at PlayStation

Pros

• Gorgeous realistic graphics
• Easy to understand controls
• Plenty of access to in-game information via the companion

Cons:

• Replay value can get frustrating when trying to reach a specific result.
• Lag on your wi-fi network can cause issues in game
• Get your cursor to smaller quick time events can be frustratingly difficult

Why are we reviewing PlayStation games on Android Central? Let us explain.

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

Amazon

The Morning After: Weekend Edition

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to the weekend. Did you get the iPhone X? Our full review is up if you need help making a decision, but first, we’ll take a look back at some of the week’s biggest stories, including the latest updates on House of Cards.

It will take some getting used to.iPhone X review

Hello new iPhone, goodbye home button and TouchID. The iPhone X ditches some familiar conventions in favor of its nearly all-screen (minus the notch for that TrueDepth camera — check out the teardown here) style. Of course, that adds a bigger screen in an easily-pocketable frame, plus the slick new FaceID features. Take a minute and find out why our Senior Mobile Editor Chris Velazco says “it provides a strong foundation for the iPhones of tomorrow to build on.”

He’s officially ‘suspended.’Netflix cut ties with Kevin Spacey

After several people, including House of Cards crew members, accused Kevin Spacey of sexual harassment and assault, Netflix and HoC producer Media Rights Capital responded late Friday night. Netflix announced it would not be involved in “any further production” of the show that includes him, and said it would not release a movie, Gore, that he starred in and produced. MRC said Spacey is suspended effective immediately, and that it “will continue to evaluate a creative path forward for the program during the hiatus.”

Need healing.‘Overwatch’ gets a new healer hero and another map

Blizzcon 2017 is underway, and we’ve learned that Overwatch will expand soon with a new healer, Moira, and a new theme park-styled map, Blizzard World. Moira’s style blends aspects of Mercy, Zenyatta and Reaper, while her ultimate is a linear beam that simultaneously damages enemies and heals allies if they fall in its path. The Overwatch World Cup continues this afternoon with the final four teams facing off — catch the live stream starting at 12:30 PM ET.

Clear as mud.Twitter clarifies what behavior will get you banned

Twitter’s Safety team published a new version of its rules to explain what can get you banned. Updates include further clarification of what Twitter considers abusive behavior, self-harm, spam and graphic violence/adult content. For example “Twitter allows some forms of graphic violence and/or adult content in Tweets marked as containing sensitive media. However, you may not use such content in your profile or header images.” On November 22nd, it will release new policies around violent groups, hateful imagery, and abusive usernames.

But wait, there’s more…

• Tesla Model 3 in-depth video review answers all your questions
• Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime discusses the first year of Switch
• Amazon’s reportedly eyeing a ‘Lord of the Rings’ TV series with Warner Bros.
• Razer Phone hands-on
• Equifax clears itself of insider trading
• Apple says ‘tears of joy’ face is the most-used emoji
• Samsung Gear Sport review: A versatile fitness-first smartwatch

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t Subscribe.

Craving even more? Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.

Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? Send us a note.

‘Overwatch’ gets a new healer hero and another map

At last year’s Blizzcon, Blizzard introduced a new character for its hero shooter, Overwatch — but community excitement was subdued after the months of teasing, hints and puzzles leading up to the announcement. Perhaps that’s why Blizzard chose to announce a new hero today on the Blizzcon stage — in the midst of its ongoing Overwatch World Cup, check out the final four matches later today starting at 12:30 PM ET — without dropping any hints to the community. Finally, Overwatch players are getting another healer with Moira.

According to Blizzard’s notes, harlequin-styled Moira switches between short-range biotic healing and damage beams. She can deploy an energy ball that can either heal in an area or pinball around, causing damage. She also has an evasive ability that lets her fade out and teleport a short distance away . Her ultimate ability is a linear beam that simultaneously damages enemies and heals allies if they fall in its path.

While the game’s community has enjoyed the four new characters added to the game since its launch in May 2016, they’ve consistently asked for additional healers to give teams more support options. Moira looks to fill this gap with equal offensive and defensive capability, though we’ll know more when Blizzard adds her to the test servers at an undisclosed date.

New cosmetics are coming to Overwatch in early 2018!

Unlock skins, emotes, highlights intros, and more for all 26 heroes. pic.twitter.com/AZVFeSx3nt

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) November 3, 2017

That’s not the only Blizzcon announcement for Overwatch. Along with a slew of new skins, highlight intros and emotes, players will also get a new map — but that undersells this weird, amazing new digital arena that starts as point capture and switches to payload. In true oddball fashion for the studio, the Overwatch team has built a theme park (Blizzard World!) with faux-attractions from across its video game universes. An actual Hearthstone tavern! Snaxxramas! The Lost and Found Vikings! I’m here for this punnery. (And, y’know, whenever Blizzard eventually decides to make this a reality.)

Finally, Blizzard released a cinematic telling the story behind Reinhardt’s early days. Turns out our favorite hammer-wielding German armored teddy bear was a brash youth who had to learn his lesson the hard way. You know, the one about sticking with your team? Yeah, you’ve heard that one.

Source: Blizzard

The CrackBerry Tour is coming (back) to Canada this December — RSVP now!

The CrackBerry tour is going full-on maple.

Canadian? Sad you’re missing out on the super fun CrackBerry Tour of Europe this month? Well, I bon have news for you.

The CrackBerry UNSTOPPABLE (yes, all caps!) Tour is coming to Canada this December, and with it a chance to hang out with like-minded BlackBerry fans and fanatics, meet the CrackBerry team, and play with the KEYone and Motion phones. You’ll even get a chance to buy one if you’ve been on the fence.

The tour brings us into early December, and into five cities:

• Vancouver – Monday, December 4th
• Calgary – Tuesday, December 5th
• Montreal – Wednesday, December 6th
• Toronto – Thursday, December 7th
• Kitchener/Waterloo – Friday, December 8th

RSVP at the addresses above, and we’ll see you there!

Netflix: We won’t make ‘House of Cards’ with Kevin Spacey involved

If House of Cards comes back for its planned sixth and final season, it won’t happen on Netflix with Kevin Spacey attached. After accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced yesterday from crew members working on the show, the streaming video company issued a statement tonight saying “Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey.”

The studio that produces House of Cards for Netflix, Media Rights Capital, quickly followed up with a statement of its own, saying that Spacey “has been suspended, effective immediately.” Based on the two company’s releases, while that puts an end to the actor’s participation, they’re still considering options for the future of the show.

Netflix:

Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey. We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show. ​We have also decided we will not be moving forward with the release of the film Gore, which was in post-production, starring and produced by Kevin Spacey.

Media Rights Capital:

While we continue the ongoing investigation into the serious allegations concerning Kevin Spacey’s behavior on the set of House of Cards, he has been suspended, effective immediately. MRC, in partnership with Netflix, will continue to evaluate a creative path forward for the program during the hiatus.