Jan 20

Oculus Quest v37 update adds unexpected Apple support

Posted in: Today's Chili

<img width="1280" height="720" src="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/oculus-1-1280×720.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Oculus keyboard settings on Quest" loading="lazy" style="margin: auto;margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%" data-attachment-id="707966" data-permalink="https://www.slashgear.com/oculus-quest-v37-update-adds-unexpected-apple-support-19707957/oculus-1-5/" data-orig-file="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/oculus-1.jpg" data-orig-size="1440,810" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="oculus-1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="

Meta/Oculus

” data-medium-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/oculus-1-1280×720.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/oculus-1-1280×720.jpg” />The latest Oculus software update for the Quest 2 headset has arrived and it brings several additions to the virtual reality headset. Chief among these additions is official support for the Apple Magic Keyboard. Oculus originally added support for some keyboards back in update v28. Now, though, update v37 will bring support for the Apple Magic Keyboard to the VR … Continue reading

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Jan 20

AT&T and Verizon finally switch on their C-Band 5G networks

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Verizon and AT&T have at last switched on their C-Band 5G services after a six-weekdelay. While the networks won’t be available near many airports for the time being after the companies’ tussle with the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines, people in some areas of the US will have access to the services starting today.

AT&T is taking a relatively cautious approach to its rollout. Its C-Band 5G services are live in “limited parts” of eight metro areas, including Detroit and Chicago as well as Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston in Texas. Folks in three regions in Florida — Jacksonville, Orlando and South Florida — can also use AT&T’s C-Band network.

Verizon (Engadget’s former parent company) says that 100 million more people will gain access to its 5G Ultra Wideband network this month in more than 1,700 cities, including C-Band coverage. So, most metro areas should have at least some C-Band 5G coverage from Verizon in the coming weeks.

The C-Band spectrum has more bandwidth than the low-band spectrum AT&T and Verizon used in their previous 5G rollouts. That should enable faster download and upload speeds than earlier iterations of 5G. Verizon claims its C-Band 5G is up to 10 times faster than 4G LTE, with download speeds that have exceeded 1 Gbps in some areas.

AT&T and Verizon initially planned to switch on C-Band 5G in December, but they pushed back the activation following concerns from the FAA and airlines. The companies said on Tuesday that, even though 40 other countries have enabled C-Band 5G without issue, they are voluntarily delaying the rollout near several airports. Earlier this month, the two said they’d create buffer zones around 50 airports.

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Jan 20

Mophie Launches A 3-In-1 MagSafe Travel Charger

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While it’s not that hard to bring a charger with you when you travel, what if you need to charge multiple items at once? If you are in Apple’s ecosystem, you might already be familiar with the MagSafe Duo Charger that lets you charge an iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time, but what if you needed more?

That’s where Mophie comes in as the company has since debuted an MFi 3-in-1 MagSafe travel charger system that could be worth checking out. Similar to Apple’s design, Mophie’s charger can be folded up for easy storage. It supports iPhone charging via MagSafe and also comes with the puck that charges the Apple Watch.

The main difference is that there is an additional cutout designed for the AirPods, meaning that if you use the AirPods you can charge it wireless here as well, ultimately reducing the number of chargers and cables that you need to bring with you. Mophie is including the necessary cable and adapter, along with a carrying case so that you can put everything inside easily.

It will cost more than Apple’s MagSafe Duo at $150 (the MagSafe Duo is priced at $130), but given that you don’t need to supply your own cable or adapter, plus it comes with a carrying case, makes it quite a compelling alternative to Apple’s own system.

Mophie Launches A 3-In-1 MagSafe Travel Charger

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Jan 20

EFF Asks Apple To Disable 2G On The iPhone

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Right now, 2G around the world has either been phased out or is in the process of being phased out, especially as more carriers around the world are transitioning to 5G. Now it seems that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is asking Apple to follow in Google’s footsteps by including a switch that will allow users to disable 2G on their phones.

But why would anyone turn off 2G if 2G networks, at least in the US, have already been shut down? This is mainly for security purposes, simply because 2G isn’t the most secure of networks and can actually be spoofed by hackers, meaning that devices connected to it or tricked into connecting to it could have their calls and messages intercepted.

Usually when reception in an area isn’t so good, phones may lose 4G/5G signal and could try to hook onto an older network like 2G or 3G. If hackers can exploit this, they could create a fake 2G cell tower so that they can then steal and intercept communications. We’re not sure if these attacks are particularly common, but the fact that they exist means that there is always a chance it could happen, however remote.

Google has already introduced a 2G killswitch in the latest version of Android, which the EFF has praised, which is why they are now calling on Apple to do the same for its iPhones. Whether or not Apple will follow suit remains to be seen.

EFF Asks Apple To Disable 2G On The iPhone

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Jan 20

Activision Blizzard’s CEO Reportedly Wanted To Buyout Popular Gaming Publications

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In 2021, a massive reckoning hit Activision Blizzard after there were countless reports of workplace harassment and discrimination. There were many attempts by the company to try and put out those fires, but after putting out one, another came up.

In fact, it seems that perhaps the coverage of these incidents was too much where Activision Blizzard’s CEO Bobby Kotick decided that maybe the best way to deal with the situation was to buy the publications covering the company’s scandals, namely Kotaku and PC Gamer. This is according to a report from the Wall Street Journal who heard about it from their sources.

According to the report, the idea was that by buying up these publications, it would help the company change the “public narrative” of what was going on. Of course, it doesn’t mean that all coverage would stop, but given that these are some of the biggest publications in the gaming industry, it could have an impact.

We’re not sure if there are still plans to buy either company, but Activision has since denied the report while Kotaku’s owner G/O Media has declined to comment. However, in the meantime Microsoft has announced that they will be acquiring Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68 billion in a deal that is expected to complete by next year, assuming there are no regulatory issues.

Activision Blizzard’s CEO Reportedly Wanted To Buyout Popular Gaming Publications

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Jan 20

Adam Rippon Married Jussi-Pekka Kajaala In Secret New Year’s Eve Ceremony

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The Olympic figure skater surprised fans by revealing that he and Kajaala had tied the knot, with their pit bull Tony as an honored guest at the intimate nuptials.

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Jan 20

The real reason LG’s smartphone brand died off

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<img width="1280" height="720" src="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/LG-smartphone-1280×720.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Man holding LG G4" loading="lazy" style="margin: auto;margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%" data-attachment-id="708001" data-permalink="https://www.slashgear.com/the-real-reason-lgs-smartphone-brand-died-off-19707999/lg-smartphone/" data-orig-file="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/LG-smartphone.jpg" data-orig-size="1440,810" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="LG-smartphone" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="

Natee Meepian/Shutterstock

” data-medium-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/LG-smartphone-1280×720.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/LG-smartphone-1280×720.jpg” />Once a major manufacturer of Android smartphones, LG disappointed fans when it announced it would exit the smartphone business, effective July 31, 2021. The announcement followed months of speculation that LG was looking to sell or offload its smartphone division. While many LG fans were shocked by the announcement, the news did not come as a surprise to industry watchers. … Continue reading

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Jan 20

Instagram starts testing creator subscriptions

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Instagram creators are getting another way to create income from the platform: subscriptions. A very small number of influencers in the US have access to the feature for now as Instagram tests the feature.

At the outset, they’ll be able to put some livestreams and stories behind a paywall. Those stories, which can be saved to subscribers-only highlights, have a purple ring to make them stand out, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said.

As with Twitch and YouTube, subscribers will receive a purple badge next to their usernames. Creators can see the badge in comments, messages and elsewhere. As such, they’ll be able to devote more of their attention to subscribers, if they like.

More subscription features may be added in the future. Mosseri also said his team is working on ways for creators to export their subscriber lists and “bring them off of Instagram to other apps and websites built by other companies.”

Creators will be able to set a monthly price of their choosing and followers can subscribe via a button on their profile. Instagram plans to expand the test to more creators in the coming months and parent company Meta previously said it won’t take a cut of creators’ earnings until at least 2023.

“This will help creators earn more by offering benefits to their most engaged followers like access to exclusive Lives and Stories,” said Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Instagram’s parent company Meta. “I’m excited to keep building tools for creators to make a living doing creative work and to put these tools in more creators’ hands soon.”

Facebook added subscriptions in 2019. It seemed inevitable that, given the platform’s popularity and large number of influencers, the option would come to Instagram as well. Mosseri previously said creators would be one of Instagram’s major areas of focus this year, and subscriptions certainly play into that. It follows Instagram offering creators payouts for hitting certain livestreaming targets and other monetization features.

Last summer, Zuckerberg announced plans to invest $1 billion in creators by the end of 2022. With so many influencers finding big audiences on other platforms (many of which are investing heavily in creators), the company was left with little choice but to try and draw them to Facebook and Instagram with the promise of payouts.

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Jan 20

GM aims to use hydrogen fuel cells for mobile power generators

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Automakers have been pursuing the dream of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for decades — who wouldn’t want a car that runs on renewable hydrogen and only emits water vapor? But many challenges, from designing cars that can easily hold the fuel, to setting up reliable hydrogen distribution, have made it difficult to turn that dream into a reality. But what if you used those fuel cells to set up a remote EV charging station, or to replace a traditional gas or diesel generator for a large camp? That’s what GM is planning to do with its HYDROTEC fuel cell technology, the company announced today.

GM fuel cell mobile power generator
GM

GM’s Mobile Power Generators, or MPGs, are pretty self descriptive: they’d basically let you bring large amounts of electricity anywhere without burning fossil fuels, or expanding a local power grid. It could be useful for concerts, movie sets, or neighborhoods that frequently lose power. (In my town outside of Atlanta, almost everyone owns a gas generator to deal with storm-related outages.) 

The announcement also makes plenty of sense for GM, as it’s already bringing its fuel cell technology to trucking, aerospace and rail partners. The company says the MPGs will be able to spit out 60 to 600 kilowatts without producing much noise or heat.

GM plans to show off an MPG-powered EV charging station in the middle of 2022, a project co-funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the U.S. Army. Additionally, the California Energy Commission is exploring how MPGs could help provide energy during power shutdowns. GM is also working together with Renewable Innovations to build the EMPOWER rapid charger, which could deliver fast EV charging to existing stations without the need for huge infrastructure improvements. Taking things to an even more extreme level, there’s a large MPG implementation that could potentially power large military camps and heavy-duty equipment. (And as a bonus, those camps can actually use the water the MPG emits.)

While it’ll likely be years before MPGs can actually deployed, it’s heartening to see GM explore uses for fuel cells outside of cars. Battery-powered EVs have evolved so quickly that hydrogen-powered cars don’t have much of a future (sorry, Toyota). So it’s about time we start considering other ways fuel cells could help.

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Jan 20

Pentagon Plans to Spend $52 Million in 2022 on U.S Border Spy Blimps

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The Department of Defense will spend tens of millions of dollars this year on a number of “surveillance blimps”—high-tech balloons that will be sent to the U.S. border with Mexico for the purposes of ferreting out drug smugglers.

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