The Morning After: Weekend Edition

Letter from the Editor

December’s here, and that means the holidays have kicked into overdrive as companies everywhere hope that it’s their gear you’ll be giving. Google, however, has made the curious decision to ignore one of its more successful products this season: Chromebooks. Nathan Ingraham speculates on why Chrome OS has been de-prioritized despite its momentum in the marketplace.

While Google was ignoring its Chromebook fanboys, however, this week Netflix was giving the people something they’ve wanted for years: offline playback of video. Devindra Hardawar unpacks the move and explains why it was an inevitability. (Hint: It might have something to do with Amazon having had the feature for years.)

And Tim Seppala spoke to some folks who build VR experiences to find out why dinosaurs were destined to be featured in virtual worlds. Turns out, giving users huge stuff to look at increases their sense of presence in VR, so dinos fill that role well. And c’mon, who doesn’t want to wander amongst a herd of behemoth brachiosaurs or get up close and personal with a (virtual) T. rex?

No moving parts, no emissions and no maintenanceScientists demonstrate a prototype diamond battery powered by nuclear waste

Diamonds are forever and so is nuclear waste, so why not combine the two? Physicists and chemists from the University of Bristol displayed a prototype “diamond battery.” The man-made diamond generates electricity simply by being close to a radioactive source.

Put radioactive waste inside one of the diamonds (which also prevents dangerous short-range radiation from escaping), and you have an energy source. It’s a little low on power output (less than a AA battery), but using 1g of carbon-14, it could run for 5,730 years before dropping to 50 percent.

Point and shoot
DroneGun jammer disables radio controls from over a mile away

This 13 lb jammer claims to disable drones from a safe distance of up to 1.2 miles away. The DroneGun doesn’t destroy unauthorized flying robots, but it does cut off the connection to their operator, which should force the drone to abort its mission and land or return home.

Because dinosaurs are coolWhy are dinosaurs everywhere in VR?

There’s actually another good reason we’re seeing so many dino-related virtual reality experiences. As it turns out, their massive size and “verticality” are perfect for creating the sense of scale that helps users appreciate VR.

DIY ideasHoliday Gift Guide 2016: The Tinkerer

Even if you don’t want to build a gift on your own, you might know someone who does. If they’re looking for a 3D printer, try Makerbot’s Replicator Mini+ on for size, and if that’s too much, there’s always Lego Mindstorms or the Pi Zero computer.

No “icy silence” hereThe House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is retweeting bad science

This week people noticed a particular US government Twitter account has been tweeting questionably-sourced articles about climate change. The one that brought the scorn came from Breitbart, which has also hosted articles written by the committee chairman, Lamar Smith. While scientists have easily refuted the article’s claims with actual data, fellow committee member E.B. Johnson tweeted that “False news & false facts put us all in danger…”

The feds have new rules on fighting cyber crimeChanges to Rule 41 expand the Justice Department’s reach in the digital world

This week a new change to the US’ criminal procedure rules took effect, and its impact could affect your privacy. Now, Rule 41 lets the FBI hack computers in any jurisdiction provided they have a search warrant.

Because of the way it’s written, the EFF and others argue people using Tor, a VPN or simply turning off location data in a smartphone app could be implicated because they have data “concealed through technological means.” It also could let the feds hack IoT devices controlled by the Mirai botnet. Read up — your computer could be considered a crime scene next.

Check the TOS before uploading all of your DVD ripsNow Plex Cloud can connect to Amazon, Google, OneDrive or Dropbox

With its latest update, the Plex Cloud feature has gone from a feature that streamed media from personal storage locations to something more. Instead of pulling from your NAS or media server, now it can access data stored on services from Google, Amazon, Microsoft or Dropbox. The feature is still in beta and you’ll need Plex Pass for access.

But wait, there’s more…

• Why Netflix’s offline viewing mode was inevitable
• Hands-on with Nike’s self-lacing HyperAdapt 1.0 sneakers
• A new theory on plasma could help scientists figure out solar flares and fusion power

The Morning After: Friday, December 2, 2016

Congratulations, it’s Friday!

Before you configure a new Chevy Bolt, check out all the highlights and trailers from last night’s videogame awards show or wax nostalgic about manual transmissions, first make sure you sign up for a chance to win a smart home surveillance kit, courtesy of Synology — the entry window closes tonight at 11:59PM ET.

So long, stick

The slow death of the manual transmission

Cars with a stick shift are already hard to find, but the advent of EVs could put the final nail in the coffin. Like many of you, Roberto Baldwin will miss the satisfaction and control that driving stick offers, even if a “solid, utilitarian” Bolt can drive to your destination stress-free.

XBMC everywherePlex Media Player is free, and Plex has an official plug-in for Kodi

DIY media center fans don’t have to choose between offshoots of the XBMC family tree. Plex is not only releasing its Media Player software for free, it’s releasing an add-on for Kodi (fka XBMC) so that its users can easily access their content from that front end as well. The add-on is available now in beta, for Plex Pass subscribers.

Oregon and California exclusiveChevy puts the Bolt configurator online

Can’t wait for a Model 3? Chevrolet’s all-electric EV is now on sale in a couple of states. You can spec out a Bolt on its website no matter where you live, with options that put the price between $37,495 and $44,950 (before any tax credits).

An “anomaly”Russian ISS resupply mission destroyed during launch

Yesterday morning at 9:51AM ET, ISS Progress 65 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. What happened after that is unclear, but ground control lost contact with the rocket during its third stage, and has confirmed the ship is destroyed. Astronauts aboard the space station are safe, and Japan’s JAXA has a launch scheduled for December 9th.

“We want to tell people it’s not magic”Facebook revealed a series of videos to explain how artificial intelligence works

These days, it’s possible to use AI without even knowing it, and a series of videos released by Facebook are trying to explain its role in our daily lives. Whether it’s a Siri response, automatically tagged image or algorithmically sorted News Feed, computers are making a lot of the behind-the-scenes decisions on their own. Yann LeCun, Facebook’s director of AI research, says “AI is going to affect our lives … It’s very important for people to have some idea on how it works and what it can do.”

One more reason to cut the cordNow you can add HBO or Cinemax to Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime already offered premium options like Showtime and Starz, but now it’s adding HBO and Cinemax to the mix. Coming just in time for you to catch up on “Westworld” or “Insecure,” it won’t beat the price of a cable add-on package (or standalone HBO Now), but if Amazon is how you watch TV, it keeps everything in one place. Branded “Amazon Channels,” the company says it now offers over 80 video subscriptions.

It’s coming in 2020This big rig doesn’t run on gasoline or diesel

Meet the Nikola One, a class 8 hauler that ditches traditional fuel sources for the sweet flavor of hydrogen. Nikola says it’s capable of going 800 to 1,200 miles on a tank, which is good, because hydrogen fuel stations are hard to find in the US and Canada right now. There’s time for that to change before the truck launches in 2020, however, and it plans to break ground on refueling stations starting in 2018.

But wait, there’s more…

• Review: Korg’s Electribe sequencers
• Fitbit is reportedly buying Pebble for between $34 and $40 million
• How the obscure “Rule 41” lets law enforcement search any computer

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.

Former ‘League of Legends’ developers unveil ‘Dauntless’

Jesse Houston, Sean Bender and Robin Mayne founded Phoenix Labs in 2014 after leaving League of Legends studio Riot Games, and they staffed their independent venture with folks from the Mass Effect team and other mainstream franchises. Today, Phoenix Labs revealed its debut game: Dauntless, a cooperative, online action-RPG set to hit PC, for free, in 2017.

In Dauntless, the planet has been ripped apart and is overrun with bloodthirsty Behemoths intent on destroying everything in their path. The “Slayers,” a class of elite warriors, are charged with hunting down these giant monsters across the floating land masses of the Shattered Isles, in order to protect the human race. Defeating a Behemoth gives players rewards, allowing them to craft new weapons and armor.

It’s all a solo or co-op experience, depending on your personal taste: Play Dauntless alone or with up to three other people online. However, Jesse Houston certainly has a preferred gameplay approach.

“At its core, Dauntless is a co-op multiplayer game,” he tells Engadget. “It’s about sharing this fantasy experience with long-time friends and finding new ones along the way.”

Houston says the Phoenix Labs team took inspiration from Dark Souls, Monster Hunter and World of Warcraft for Dauntless. As a former producer at Ubisoft, BioWare and Riot Games, he knows how to build a polished experience, and those skills are still informing his work as an independent developer.

“I don’t see us as having left the AAA industry,” Houston says. “Instead, we believe we have a new, unique approach to crafting AAA experiences. We have nothing but respect for our peers in the industry, but we saw an opportunity to build games differently. We feel smaller, focused teams are able to move quickly, react in real-time, and double down on what they are best at.”

Houston hopes that Dauntless is the beginning of a long journey for Phoenix Labs.

“We believe games are a performance art where quality is in part defined and judged by the audience, and we want to build a deep, meaningful relationship with that audience for years to come,” he says.

Watch The Game Awards right here!

It’s time for The Game Awards and you can watch the show right here on this page! Games like Uncharted 4, Firewatch and Inside are up for some pretty big accolades, but that’s not all that’s on tap. Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima is scheduled to accept the Industry Icon Award live onstage (last year his former employer Konami forbade his attendance), for one. And of course, there will be music. Who, specifically? Run the Jewels, to start. Mick Gordon, the guy who penned the Doom score, has been teasing rehearsal footage of “BFG Division” on Twitter all week too. You might want to start stretching those neck muscles right now to ensure you’re headbanging safely this evening.

The show starts streaming at 9PM ET (6PM PT) and will be watchable from the YouTube embed below, or you can catch it on a multitude of other services — you could even watch in virtual reality thanks to NextVR. No headset? Then Twitch, Twitter, Facebook Live, Xbox Live, PlayStation and Steam all have your back. The only place to peep it in 4K is via Google’s video wing, however. What games do you want to win? Let us know in the comments.

Source: The Game Awards