‘Monsters Inc’ is the next Pixar world coming to ‘Kingdom Hearts 3’

Pixar’s presence in Kingdom Hearts 3 won’t be limited to the Toy Story crew. Square Enix and Disney have revealed that Monsters Inc will play a role, too. You’ll see Boo, Mike and Sully (minus the famous actors, of course) as well as settings from the classic CG movie, such as the door vault. There’s even the chance to wield weapons themed around the movie… including Mike, apparently.

The addition guarantees KH3 will be even more of a Disney lovefest than before, and it’s good news for those who were hoping Square Enix would embrace Disney’s expanding universe. However, there’s still a glaring omission: a release date. The developer has yet to commit to more than “2018,” so it could be a while before the long-in-development title reaches your PS4 or Xbox One.

Via: Kotaku

Source: Kingdom Hearts (Twitter), (YouTube)

How to Set a Timer on HomePod

HomePod has built-in Siri functionality, which means it can be used to do a lot of the same things that can be done with an iPhone or an iPod, like setting an alarm or a timer.

If your HomePod is in the kitchen, setting a timer while cooking can be useful, and it’s as simple as using a single Siri command.

All you need to say is “Hey Siri, set a timer for [x amount of time].”

You can set a timer for a select number of minutes or hours, with a maximum timer limit of 24 hours. If you ask Siri to set a timer for longer than 24 hours, Siri will suggest you use a Reminder instead.

If you need to know how much time is remaining on the timer, you can ask Siri a question like “Hey Siri, how much time is left on the timer?” and Siri will give you a time update.

When the time is up, the HomePod will play a sound. To stop the timer sound, you can either tap the top of the HomePod or ask Siri to stop it.

Turning Off the Timer

At any point while the timer is running, you can ask Siri to turn it off with a command like “Hey Siri, turn off the timer” or “Hey Siri, pause the timer.”

You can also change the timer countdown with a command like “Hey Siri, change the timer to 10 minutes.”

Timer Limitations

Unfortunately, you can only set one timer at a time. If you attempt to set a second timer while the first timer you set is still running, Siri will say “A timer is already running at [x minutes]. Would you like to replace it?”

There’s also no way to view or manage your HomePod timers on an iOS device like there is with alarms — timers on HomePod all handled via voice with Siri.

Related Roundup: HomePodBuyer’s Guide: HomePod (Buy Now)
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How To Convert PDF To Word or Any Other Format On The Go

Since its introduction in the early 90s, the PDF (Portable Document Format) has become the most popular and commonly used file format in the world. Now it is used in almost every profession, from lawyers and accountants, all the way to professors and students. It gained enormous popularity thanks to its security and ability to look exactly the same regardless the operating system it is viewed on.

The other thing that made PDF popular is a shift in people’s minds about saving the environment and ecology in general. To be more precise, the term paperless office was the one that started all in the business world.

What Is Paperless Office?

The paperless office is a term used for describing business methods that are used for improving the environment by reducing the paper usage. Most big enterprises strive to completely eliminate paper processes and shift to digital ones that are managed through computer software or services. Yes, it is great for the environment, but for the company’s budget, too.

By going paperless, companies can vastly lower their costs and increase efficiency.

How Can You Go Paperless?

First of all, you should completely cut off the usage of paper. That could be accomplished by sending reports, paying bills or doing most processes in your company electronically. The next step should be lowering the paper clutter you have in your company and recycling it. That could be accomplished by digitizing all documents you posses in a paper form.

That is easier said than done. You will need to scan all your documents in order to store them in the centralized digital database. Not only that, but those documents should be in a text editing file format so you can use them when needed. That could be easily accomplished by converting scanned or PDF documents to Word or any other text editing format with the desktop grade PDF conversion software.

But what about small business owners who are constantly on the go and who use their smartphone as a scanner device? Luckily, there are plenty of converter mobile apps available on the market, but most of them provide not so accurate and low-quality results.

One app that has shown excellent results is Cometdocs PDF Converter Ultimate. Some of its most notable features are:

• You can convert PDFs to more than 20 popular formats like MS

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher…

• There is no limit on file size or number of files you can convert.
• You can convert Gmail attachments, as well as files from Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, OneDrive, and iCloud directly from the app.

Although the app has a friendly UI and the process of conversion is pretty straightforward we provided you with a step-by-step guide to walk you through the whole process.

1. Download PDF Converter Ultimate from the App Store

Open the App Store, type “PDF Converter Ultimate” in the search bar and click the download button.

2. Open the app and locate the file you want to convert

When the download is complete, open the app and select the file you want to convert. You can do that directly from your phone, Gmail or listed cloud services.

3. Choose the conversion type

Here you can choose from various file types you can convert your document to, such as Microsoft Office files, Microsoft Publisher (.pub), XPS files and the list goes on. Just select the desired one and continue to the last step.   

4. Wait for the file to upload

Depending on the size of your file, you will need to wait for a few seconds for it to be uploaded to the servers. During this time, your app has to be open and when the upload is completed you can close the app in order to save your battery. Notification will pop up on your screen when the conversion process is finished. And you are done! All it took was 4 easy steps and a few minutes of your time. Now you can open the file in text editing app of your choice and start modifying it.

To Conclude

We hope you enjoyed our little history lesson and that you learned something new today. If you are trying to start your own small paperless revolution or just need to convert some documents on the go PDF Converter Ultimate would be a perfect companion.

MoviePass adds 500,000 subscribers within a month

MoviePass’ $10-per-month subscription service was a hit from the start, enough to crash the company’s website when it was first announced. It looks like demand isn’t slowing down anytime soon either: it has gained 500,000 more subscribers merely a month after it reached 1.5 million users. The fact that MoviePass cut off members’ access to some popular AMC theaters had little effect, if any. It’s easy to see why 2 million would sign up: for 10 bucks a month — an ongoing promo even cuts the price down to $7.95 — they’re entitled to see one 2D film a day, every day, without paying extra.

In 2017, members bought $110 million worth of tickets and generated an additional $146 million in ticket sales by bringing non-members to showings. MoviePass chief Mitch Lowe said in a statement:

“We’re giving people a reason to go back to the movie theaters, and they’re going in droves. With awards season here, we hope we can make Hollywood and exhibitors very happy by filling seats with eager audiences.”

As Bloomberg said, though, all these new users are both a blessing and a curse to the company. Every time a member watches a movie, the service pays for that subscriber’s ticket at full price. It loses money for every member that watches two movies a month, and its accountants apparently already warned the company that its system might not be viable in the long run. AMC shares the same sentiment and once called the business model unsustainable. It’s like turning “lead into gold,” the theater chain said in a statement last year.

So, how does MoviePass plan to make money if subscribers aren’t bringing in the cash? It’s hoping to sell ads, merchandise and data on moviegoers’ habits, as well as to get a cut of theaters’ refreshment sales as they go up from all the viewers it brings to cinemas. The company is also hoping to convince theater chains to sell it tickets for its members at a discounted rate.

It’s unclear if MoviePass is already making headway with those plans, but when it dropped several AMC locations from its list, it said that the theaters it works with is subject to change as it “continue[s] to strive for mutually-beneficial relationships with” them. AMC chief Adam Aron has been quite a vocal critic of the service and already proclaimed that the chain has no intention of sharing its admissions or concessions revenue.

Source: Bloomberg, Variety

Porsche and Audi will share an electric car platform

Porsche and Audi are no stranger to sharing car innards (the Cayenne and Macan use the same basic chassis as the Q7 and Q5, for instance), and that’s holding true in the electric era. Porsche’s Oliver Blume and Audi’s Rupert Stadler told Stuttgarter Zeitung in an interview that the two Volkswagen-owned brands will jointly develop a common EV platform that will find its way into several models from 2021 and beyond. Audi is already expecting two sedans and two SUVs, while Porsche could build its first vehicle on the platform at the same factory as the Macan. This doesn’t mean you’ll see an electric Macan, but that suggests it isn’t an electrified coupe.

Which cars come first and when depends on CO2 emissions requirements, Blume said.

It won’t surprise you to hear why they’re sharing resources: money. Blume said it would cost about 30 percent more for each brand to develop their own EV platforms. It won’t be a trivial expense even then. Stadler estimated that it would require a “low single-digit billion euro sum” to develop the platform by 2025.

This is separate from the Mission E, which remains Porsche’s current focus. And this doesn’t preclude either company from building custom platforms when their goals demand something specific — we’d expect Porsche to go that route for sports cars. However, it does give you a good idea of what to expect when EVs hit the market in earnest. As with some conventional cars, the biggest differences between EVs may revolve around power plant choices and styling rather than their underlying designs.

Via: Reuters

Source: Stuttgart Zeitung (translated)

Pennsylvania requires paper trail on all new voting machines

Pennsylvania has taken a leaf out of Virginia’s book and is now looking to replace its obsolete and vulnerable voting machines with more secure ones. A new directive requires counties planning to replace their voting machines with new ones that have paper backups — problem is, the state doesn’t have the budget for them. Most of the 20,000 machines Pennsylvania has been using the past decade are purely digital, so the state will need around $60 million to replace them with systems that cost $3,000 each.

In early 2017, a Bloomberg report revealed that Russian hackers attacked voting systems in 39 states. While Illinois was the only state that found records of attackers attempting to delete or alter voter data, Pennsylvania was still in the list of targeted locations. Even if the state weren’t attacked, it’s a good idea to upgrade anyway: at last year’s DefCon, security researchers showed just how easy it is to infiltrate voting systems. Acting Secretary of State Robert Torres said the new directive will ensure that residents’ votes are secure and uncompromised, since a paper trail will allow officials to double-check votes in case they suspect that a machine has been tampered with.

Unfortunately, the directive doesn’t actually require the counties to change machines, only that they should get one with a paper backup system when they do. And since there’s no budget to replace them, The Keystone State will likely be using its old ones this upcoming 2018 election season. Pennsylvania won’t be alone if it does, though. New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice told AP that officials in 41 states plan to use older machines this year due to lack of funds.

The situation illustrates how the US knows it has major security issues it needs to address in an increasingly digital world, but that it’s not prepared to deal with them. David Hickton, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security, told AP: “In the world’s leading democracy, we can’t take the position that we can’t afford to do elections correctly. The recent attacks on our election should concern everybody, and a priority has to be placed on doing what is necessary.”

Source: AP

Italian cryptocurrency exchange BitGrail loses $170 million

One of the biggest problems with cryptocurrency exchanges is that they’re a juicy, enticing target for high-tech criminals. Case in point, Italian exchange BitGrail, which lost $170 million worth of Nano tokens, a little-known digital coin previously called RaiBlocks. BitGrail is the second exchange that lost of massive amount of money this year — and it’s only February — following Tokyo-based Coincheck, which lost between $400 and $534 million worth of coins in a cyberattack on its internet-connected wallet back in January.

BitGrail announced on its website that it lost $170 million to fraudulent transactions and that it has already reported them to authorities. It has suspended all withdrawals and deposits “in order to conduct further verifications.” However, unlike Coincheck, which promised to give users their money back, BitGrail founder Francesco “The Bomber” Firano announced on Twitter that there’s no way to refund 100 percent of what users lost.

While BitGrail’s loss is in no way as massive as Mt. Gox’s, it’s still steeped in controversy. The Nano team said that they have no “reason to believe the loss was due to an issue in the Nano protocol” and that the “problems appear to be related to BitGrail’s software.” They also published a copy of their conversation with the exchange’s founder and said that Franceso suggested they modify the ledger to cover his losses.

It doesn’t help that BitGrail recently required users to verify their accounts to be able to withdraw their coins beyond a certain amount, and some people have reportedly been waiting for verification since December. More recently, the exchange announced that it would no longer serve non-EU users due to what it said are legal complications. Team Nano wrote in their latest statement: “We now have sufficient reason to believe that Firano has been misleading the Nano Core Team and the community regarding the solvency of the BitGrail exchange for a significant period of time.”

On Twitter, Francesco said Nano’s claims are nothing but “unfounded allegations.” He added that he told the police that the Nano team published their private convo, which could compromise the investigation.

In the wake of the unfounded accusations made against me by the dev team and of the dissemination of private conversations that compromise police investigations, Bitgrail s.r.l. is forced to contact the police in order to protect its rights and users

— Francesco The Bomber (@bomberfrancy) February 10, 2018

NANO on BitGrail have been stolen.

Unfortunately there is no way to give it back to you at 100% (we only got 4 MLN XRN right now).

The devs, as you have guessed, dont want to collaborate

— Francesco The Bomber (@bomberfrancy) February 9, 2018

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Equifax breach may have exposed more data than first thought

The 2017 Equifax data breach was already extremely serious by itself, but there are hints it was somehow worse. CNN has learned that Equifax told the US Senate Banking Committee that more data may have been exposed than initially determined. The hack may have compromised more driver’s license info, such as the issuing data and host state, as well as tax IDs. In theory, it would be that much easier for intruders to commit fraud.

The breach compromised about 145.5 million people, although their level of exposure varied wildly. About 10.9 million Americans’ driver’s licenses were embroiled in the hack, and just a small fraction of the exposed UK licenses (just under 700,000) had enough info to jeopardize the victims’ privacy.

Equifax stressed to CNN that the initial list of exposed data was never meant to be the final, definitive account of the scope of the problem. And that’s not unheard of — companies frequently deliver rough assessments of the damage in the immediate aftermath and refine the numbers as they learn more.

However, that explanation might not be enough for officials. Senators are already clamoring for a thorough investigation, and want to know the full extent of what happened. This update gives them more of what they want, but it also raises the question of why the company is still determining the scope of the breach nearly half a year after it was made public.

Source: CNN Money

How to Use Your HomePod as a Speaker for Your Apple TV

The HomePod offers great sound, and with AirPlay connectivity, you can set the HomePod up to function as a speaker for your Apple TV, routing Apple TV sound through the HomePod.

You can use Apple TV and HomePod together as long as you have a fourth or fifth-generation Apple TV — it won’t work with earlier models.

Pairing Apple TV and HomePod

Open the Settings app on the Apple TV.
Scroll down to the Video and Audio section and select it.
Choose “Audio Output.”
Select the HomePod icon from the list of available devices.
Once the Apple TV is paired with the HomePod, TV sound will be routed through your HomePod instead of through your TV. You can’t control playback in any way using the HomePod, such as through Siri commands, but it does relay audio.

Using the HomePod’s physical controls, you can change the volume of the Apple TV.

Unpairing Apple TV and HomePod

You’ll presumably want to use your HomePod for purposes beyond playing audio from the Apple TV, and unpairing is done through the same settings you used to pair the HomePod and Apple TV in the first place.

Open the Settings app on the Apple TV.
Scroll down to the Video and Audio section and select it.
Choose “Audio Output.”
Click on the HomePod icon from the list of available devices to deselect it.

Choosing Audio Output Device with the Apple TV Remote

You can also choose your HomePod as your audio output device using your Apple TV Remote, which is a quicker way to swap between devices.

Go to the Home screen of the Apple TV.
Hold down the Play/Pause button on the Apple TV Remote.
In the menu that comes up, select the HomePod option.
To go back to using the Apple TV audio, you can repeat the same steps above, but this time select your Apple TV instead of the HomePod.

In a future update to iOS 11, Apple plans to introduce support for pairing two HomePods together for the equivalent of stereo sound. Once dual HomePod pairing is available, you’ll be able to use two HomePods with the Apple TV for even better sound.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, HomePodBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now), HomePod (Buy Now)
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What we’re watching: ‘Star Wars Rebels’ and Marvel’s ‘Runaways’

Welcome back to IRL, our series dedicated to the things that Engadget writers have been playing, using, watching and listening to. This week is all about what we’re watching and includes an explanation of why you need to give Star Wars Rebels another look and check out Marvel’s new Runaways series. Finally, we’ll take a look back at one of our editors’ first Netflix binge-watching experiences to see if it still holds up.

Star Wars Rebels

Kris Naudus
Senior Editor, Buyer’s Guide

I loved Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This is somehow a controversial statement, but I did. I adore it enough that I’ve seen it three times now, and on every viewing I’ve found that my appreciation of the film grew a bit more as I noticed things I hadn’t before or I better saw how everything fits together. It’s also rekindled my love of Star Wars, which is why I finally sat down and gave Star Wars Rebels another chance.

I liked Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but I found its successor a bit harder to love. The art style doesn’t thrill me, and I wasn’t too happy about retreading familiar ground, especially with the Jedi. I watched the first season, but since then the episodes have been piling up on my DVR. Over the holidays I ended up watching a lot of stuff I’d been putting off, so I looked at those two seasons’ worth of Rebels and thought, Maybe it’s time.

The show really found its stride in its second season, fleshing out the backstories and relationships of Ezra, Kanan, Hera, Sabine, Zeb and even the droid, Chopper. It delves further into Star Wars lore and brings in iconic characters like Darth Vader and Princess Leia, as well as fan favorites from The Clone Wars like Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex. It even has Grand Admiral Thrawn, from the Expanded Universe novels! But I think the greatest thing the show does is teach us about the origins of the Rebellion.

When we first see the Rebel Alliance onscreen in A New Hope, it’s already a full-fledged military force with ships, personnel and a base that needs protecting. The Galactic Empire may vastly outnumber the Rebellion galaxy-wide, but in each individual conflict, it always feels like the Rebels have a chance. The fights never feel lopsided or desperate. When we first meet the Resistance in The Force Awakens, it feels the same: These people have the resources to fight the First Order. But things change by the end of that movie, and by the start of The Last Jedi things have taken a big turn. The Resistance is struggling to hold on to what little it has. It just wants to survive to fight another day. It’s hard to watch. It’s depressing.

By the end of The Last Jedi, we don’t know how the Resistance will bounce back, but Rebels actually holds a big clue. The series revolves around a small group of people struggling in their own small way against the vast Empire. A lot of what they do is about tiny victories and just trying to make it to tomorrow. But as the show progresses, we find out they’re not alone. There are other groups out there that want a better future, one that doesn’t involve the Imperials. So these different forces and crews come together to form something bigger. Now our heroes are going on missions that aren’t just about themselves. They’re serving a higher purpose in building a military organization that we, the viewers, know will someday challenge the Galactic Empire and win.

Marvel’s Runaways

Billy Steele
Senior News Editor

A few of Marvel’s latest TV shows, at least the ones on Netflix, haven’t been nearly as good as the first seasons of Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Sure, The Punisher is solid (and, as expected, superviolent), but Iron Fist was awful, and just having to put up with Danny Rand made The Defenders a chore. Enter Runaways, Hulu’s team-up with Marvel and a welcome breath of fresh air for fans of the comic-based television series.

Let me make a caveat from the jump: The acting on this show is pretty bad in parts. However, the story is good enough to overcome the overacting from a lot of the characters. The writers didn’t waste any time with introductions either. The first episode introduces the main conflict — a group of kids trying to figure out if their parents are a group of murderers — and builds suspense quickly. After the first episode, I was hooked. That’s quite different from some of the other Marvel shows that took a few episodes to get going.

Runaways also manages to create compelling television without a lot of big-name stars. There’s Annie Wersching (24, Bosch), Kevin Weisman (Alias) and Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck, Fantastic Four), but other than those three, I didn’t recognize any of the other actors. Of course, that has little to do with how good a show is, but the ABC and Netflix Marvel series have their fair share of familiar faces.

Unlike Netflix, Hulu is releasing new episodes on a weekly basis, and I’m writing this only five episodes in. Runaways has begun to tell the history of the so-called Pride organization the parents all belong to (through flashbacks, naturally), and the teens are all discovering their abilities. With the season halfway over, things should start escalating quickly, and the show is already slated for a second season. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’ll be eagerly checking out the next five episodes.

Spooks/MI-5

Richard Lawler
Senior News Editor

This week, Netflix decided to push a theme of “What was your first binge watch?” and after checking my viewing history, I found that mine was MI-5 (originally called Spooks). Almost exactly nine years ago, I spent a few cold February days burning through the first four seasons of this BBC One series on my Xbox 360. As a Jack Bauer fan, I figured MI-5 could fill the terrorist-fighting hole for a few seasons, but it did more than that. Looking back, both are embarrassingly soapy renditions of national security and counterterrorism, but where 24 leaned toward the spectacular, MI-5 makes everything personal: surveillance, violence or moral gray areas.

The series was already a few years old when I watched it then, and the technology included is an early-aughts time capsule of candy-bar cellphones and laughable laptops. Its hacking scenes are almost universally hilarious, running at about a CSI: Cyber level of complexity, with people staring at loading screens most of the time. Still, watching now, it’s an interesting look back at the state of surveillance presented in media years before Edward Snowden’s revelations.

Sadly, Spooks/MI-5 followed the path of most American shows by sticking around for a few too many seasons, but I still think the early ones are worth watching. In a sign of the times, they’re not streaming on Netflix in the US at all these days; instead, the easiest way to watch is on Hulu. If you find yourself snowed in and haven’t seen this one before, then take a look — at least you’ll get to see a Motorola RAZR in action again.

“IRL” is a recurring column in which the Engadget staff run down what they’re buying, using, playing and streaming.