Tech Bites

It’s finally here, kids: the PlayStation 5 has finally launched, and it’s got a plethora of games to play on it. Here are our takes on each one. As with the Xboxes, there are two versions of the new console on offer — the regular edition, and the digital edition. The only major difference between the two appears to be that the standard version has a disc drive, allowing you to play physical copies of your games. You can read our full review of the console here. The next generation of play is lighting up around the globe. #PS5 pic.twitter.com/hqP6FxI3OH… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Playstation from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3kp7auU

It was just last week that Facebook introduced ephemeral messages in WhatsApp that disappear in seven days. Now the company is going a step further by introducing “Vanish Mode” for Messenger and Instagram, which will automatically delete text messages and media as soon as they are viewed and you leave the chat. If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because it’s yet another feature Facebook is borrowing from Snapchat, which has offered similar functionality for years. To activate the feature, you need only swipe up within a chat thread. You’ll then see a little loading circle and your interface will turn dark… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Instagram from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2GVIJYi

Disney+ is finally getting another big tentpole release, as WandaVision is set to arrive on the service next January — delaying its original December release, but not enough to really be angry about. Maybe now Baby Yoda can finally stop carrying everything on his tiny, green shoulders. A new era arrives. @MarvelStudios’ #WandaVision, an Original Series, is streaming Jan. 15 on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/MiENOoSBK0 — Disney+ (@disneyplus) November 12, 2020 To catch you up, the surrealist sitcom will star Wanda Maximoff and the Vision in a pastiche of every TV show made between I Love Lucy and now — most notably The Dick Van Dyke… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/36qp6jS

Google did it again. It is shutting down one of the most popular features across its product universe: Google Photo’s free unlimited storage. The company said that it’s ending this service from June 1, 2021. After that date, all photos uploaded will count against your free data limit of 15GB. However, all photos uploaded before June 1 next year will still be available under the free unlimited storage option. Google Photos, which has more than 1 billion users, has offered free unlimited storage for high-quality photos (read: compressed) for users across platforms. So it was easy to just turn on… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Google from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2IwT39r

Let me cut right to the chase: if you have any interest in the Spider-Man games, then get this game. Not only is it a delightful retread of its predecessor’s gameplay, it’s got a much more interesting, personable protagonist. Considering the previous protagonist was Peter Parker, that’s quite a feat. Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the spin-off/sequel to the PS4 classic Spider-Man, debuting as a launch title for the PlayStation 5. Sony sent me a copy when I got my PS5 and this was the first thing I played on that big frosty beast. Just to be clear, I would recommend it anyway, because… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2Ij3gXD

The Xbox Series X is a stunning console that will only get more useful the longer you own it. Its hardware and software are solid, and it will no doubt show off 2021’s games in all their glory. But by the gods, it needs at least one game that properly shows it off, which it does not currently have. Today we celebrate the power of play together. A message from @XboxP3 on Xbox Series X|S Launch Day: pic.twitter.com/EtD8H5HAJq — Xbox (@Xbox) November 10, 2020 I received an Xbox Series X from Microsoft and have been playing with it for a… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Xbox from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3eOzV2N

Apple today revealed its long-awaited ARM-powered Macs, including a new MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro. All of them use the new M1 chip, which promises massive gains in performance and decreased power consumption — or at least when running apps optimized for the new hardware. In fact, the company claims its new 13-inch MacBook Pro has “the longest battery life ever on a Mac,” and “up to twice the battery life of the previous generation.” Performance-wise, the gains are similar to those the company is touting with the MacBook Air. Here are Apple’s claims: Up to 2.8x CPU… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: MacBook , MacBook Pro , Apple , Intel from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2UexLAb

In an unusual year, Apple is holding its fourth special event later today. The centerpiece of this “one more thing” event, will be the first Macs with Apple’s own chip — named Apple Silicon — based on ARM architecture. Here’s what we can expect from the keynote: Macs based on Apple Silicon It’s a Mac event, so we’ll see…new Macs. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Apple‘s set to unveil three MacBooks powered by indigenous chips: two MacBook Pros and a MacBook Air. The report noted that the MacBook Pros will come in 13-inch and 16-inch sizes, while the new MacBook… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Apple from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2IcesoV

After the success of Burger King’s Impossible Whopper, McDonald’s today revealed it will be widely rolling out its own plant-based option next year: say hello to the McPlant. Yes, that’s the actual name they’re going with. McDonald’s announced it would begin testing its new plant-based burger in select markets starting in 2021, before potentially expanding to other regions. The company trialed a plant-based burger using Beyond Meat patties last year in Canada, and indeed Beyond told CNBC it co-created the new burger with McDonald’s. It’s not clear, however, to what extent Beyond will be involved with the McPlant as a final… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3eJeT5H

The 2020 United States Presidential election has been a trip, hasn’t it? From the prolonged endeavor of waiting for the final states to President Donald Trump‘s hastily-censored tweetstorms, it’s been an unusual week. But in the aftermath, something so wonderfully weird and funny has happened that I hope goes down in the history books: someone turned an already unusual press conference into a furry hangout through the medium of VR. Ha ha ha OMG! The grand debut of Four Seasons Total Landscaping was AMAZING! Thank you to everyone who showed up! pic.twitter.com/2c5KQKQwgC — coopertom (@thecoopertom) November 9, 2020 In case you… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/32whgUy

Subscribe to this bi-weekly newsletter here! Welcome to the latest edition of Pardon The Intrusion, TNW’s bi-weekly newsletter in which we explore the wild world of security. During the first wave of COVID-19, contact tracing apps were touted as THE BIG SOLUTION to tackling the pandemic. Most countries rolled out their own versions, and later Apple and Google together built a unified exposure notification API that works across Android and iOS. This is all well and good, but there’s been no actual evidence yet they’re helping to stop COVID-19. Then there are the privacy and security worries. Contact tracing apps… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3eLUkpl

This article was originally published by Michael Coates on Clean Fleet Report, a publication that gives its readers the information they need to move to cars and trucks with best fuel economy, including electric cars, fuel cells, plug-in hybrids, hybrids and advanced diesel and gasoline engines. A little theater has always been a part of new model reveals at auto shows. So what does the industry do if there are no auto shows? Buy advertising spots on the World Series and promote a remote reveal that consisted of a combo of Mad Max and a monster truck rally where the truck bounds… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2IdKcJZ

With so many books on Python machine learning, making a choice is becoming increasingly difficult. You’re investing both your time and money to learn something that can open new career paths for you. It would a disappointment to get halfway through a 700-page machine learning book to realize it’s not for you. Having read and reviewed many books on Python machine learning, I can attest that every volume is unique in its own right. And with so many books having similar titles, the choice can be confusing, especially if you’re at the beginning of your machine learning journey. Here are three… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3l8ZoGE

The news about artificial intelligence is mostly dominated by sensational stories such as the ominous threat of deepfakes, deep learning algorithms that create fake blogs, AI bots that create their own language, and generative adversarial networks that create realistic portraits of non-existent people. But the practical use of AI algorithms is much farther behind than the hype caused by the media. From peer-reviewed breakthrough research presented at mainstream AI conferences to PR-style videos created by large tech companies and well-funded research labs, only a trickle of the innovation we see in the field makes it into real business processes and applications. And the organizations… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/32p5vzs

If you ask me, Google Photos is Mountain View’s best piece of software since Gmail. It offers offers useful organization and editing features that tend to be easier and more effective than those on other apps. But according to a report by XDA, which dug into the code of the app’s latest update, Google is planning on keeping some of its best upcoming features behind a paywall — namely, a Google One subscription. XDA‘s report shows that Photos v5.18 includes four strings of code pointing to the change: “As a Google One member, you get access to extra editing features”… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Google from The Next Web https://ift.tt/36iNRP4

After serving 1 million users for over two years in test mode, WhatsApp Pay is finally launching in India. The company first launched the payment service in the country in 2018, but faced regulatory hurdles in getting approval for a full-fledged launch. WhatsApp‘s payment system is based on a standard called Unified Payment Interface (UPI), defined by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The company uses the same methods as other incumbent apps such as Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe, and India‘s Paytm.  Initially, WhatsApp is partnering with five banks in the country to facilitate payments: We’re delighted to be working… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: WhatsApp from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3ewdVJX

Stadia, Google’s budding game-streaming service, is announcing a major new feature today: you can now share your games with family. Family members will first need to set up a Google family group and a payment method; these are the same family groups Google already uses for Google Play apps and the like. Once they set up a Stadia account, they’ll be able to play shared games, even if they haven’t claimed the game on their account. You’ll also be able to share games included with a Stadia Pro subscription, though these titles will of course no longer be available once… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Google from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2JHB159

DJI today announced the Mini 2, a small but significant upgrade to the company’s littlest drone model. (You read that right, by the way. The new model is called the Mini 2, not the Mavic Mini 2). As with the original Mavic Mini, the Mavic 2 is light enough that it doesn’t need to be registered with the FAA in the US — it’s 249 grams, just 1 gram under the requirement. The biggest improvement this time around is that rather than connecting via Wi-Fi, which could lead to unstable connections over large distances, the drone uses DJI’s much more… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/368LNcf

Earlier this week, popular streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys announced she’d put a $5 donation cap on her stream donations. In an on-site economy that frequently sees massive donations thrown around, it’s a bold move — and it’s likely to have a knock-on effect for other streamers. worked with @streamlabs to create a donation cap of $5 for my channel! Thank you for supporting me to the point where I consider anything more than that unnecessary. To anyone that was more generous- please support growing channels, charities, and treat yourselves.❤️😊 pic.twitter.com/QhrusbDFxD — pokimane (@pokimanelol) November 2, 2020 Twitch streamers have several… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Twitch from The Next Web https://ift.tt/34ZYvuC

Spotify is finally rolling out an update to its Apple Watch app that’ll allow you to stream songs directly from the device. Previously, the app acted like a remote to the iPhone app, and you could only control the music. Now, if your Apple Watch is connected to a cellular data network or wifi, you’ll be able to stream songs and podcasts directly to your wrist. This allows you to leave your iPhone behind if you’re going on a run, or exercising, and listen to content via Bluetooth earphones. [Read: 4 ridiculously easy ways you can be more eco-friendly] In… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Apple Watch , Apple , Spotify from The Next Web https://ift.tt/36hxJxh