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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/apple-scan-iphones-child-abuse-neuralmatch-185009882.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Apple reportedly plans to begin scanning iPhones in the US for child abuse images</a><br />');
document.write('Apple is reportedly planning an update that would allow it to scan iPhones for images of child sexual abuse. According to the Financial Times, the company has been briefing security researchers on the “neuralMatch” system, which would “continuously scan photos that are stored on a US user’s iPhone and have also been uploaded to its iCloud back-up system.”The system would “proactively alert a team of human reviewers if it believes illegal imagery is detected” and human reviewers would alert law enforcement if the images were verified. The neuralMatch system, which was trained using a database from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, will be limited to iPhones in the United States to start, the report says.The move would be somewhat of an about face for Apple, which has previously stood up to law enforcement to defend users’ privacy. The company famously clashed with the FBI in 2016 after it refused to unlock an iPhone belonging to the man behind the San Bernardino terror attack. CEO Tim Cook said at the time that the government’s request was “chilling” and would have far-reaching consequences that could effectively create a backdoor for more government surveillance. (The FBI ultimately turned to an outside security firm to unlock the phone.)Now, security researchers are raising similar concerns. Though there’s broad support for increasing efforts to fight child abuse, researchers who spoke to the FT said that it could open the door for authoritarian regimes to spy on their citizens, since a system designed to detect one type of imagery could be expanded to other types of content, like terrorism or other content perceived as “anti-government.”At the same time, Apple and other companies have faced mounting pressure to find ways to cooperate with law enforcement. As the report points out, social media platforms and cloud storage providers like iCloud already have systems to detect child sexual abuse imagery, but extending such efforts to images on a device would be a significant shift for the company.Apple declined to comment to FT, but the company could release more details about its plans “as soon as this week.”');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/amazon-halo-live-heart-rate-tracking-184746587.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Amazon Halo can now share heart rate data with third-party apps and equipment</a><br />');
document.write('As a wearable device, Amazon&#39;s Halo wristband is about as no-frills of a fitness tracker you can buy. It doesn&#39;t include a display, and outside of the two microphones that enable its controversial tone detection feature, it forgoes many of the more advanced sensors we&#39;ve seen make their way into devices like the Apple Watch. But starting today, you can use the Halo band to see an overlay of your heart rate across various third-party apps and fitness equipment.At launch, the integration works with machines from brands like NordicTrack and CLBMR, in addition to software like iFit and Openfit. To enable the feature, open the settings menu in the Amazon Halo app and find the &quot;Heart Rate Sharing&quot; option.While not an exact match for the Apple Watch&#39;s GymKit functionality, the inclusion of heart rate sharing should make the Halo band more versatile, and that&#39;s something the wearable desperately needs. Once you get past its more controversial features, the problem with Halo is it doesn&#39;t stand out. In fact, most of the platform&#39;s best features are found inside the accompanying Halo app.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/oxenfree-ii-carrion-playstation-indie-spotlight-a-short-hike-181202969.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Indie games \'Oxenfree II\' and \'Carrion\' are coming to PlayStation</a><br />');
document.write('While we await the inevitable delay of yet another big-budget game that was on the docket for this year, Sony revealed that several notable indies are coming to PlayStation consoles in the coming months. Among them is Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, which was announced for Nintendo Switch and PC in April. It&#39;s bound for PS4 and PS5. You&#39;ll once again have a radio that can pick up supernatural signals in the sequel to mystery adventure Oxenfree, which will arrive later this year.In Carrion, you play as an amorphous monster who tries to escape from a research facility and devours anyone unfortunate to get in its way. The horror game picked up solid reviews when it was released on Switch, PC and Xbox One in 2020, and it was nominated at The Game Awards. Devolver will bring Carrion to PS4 later this year.The ultra-charming exploration game&nbsp;A Short Hike will also hit PS4 by the end of the year. The pixelated adventure, which is currently available on PC and Switch, is a real gem and it&#39;s well worth checking out.Elsewhere during its indie showcase, Sony revealed more gameplay details for the long-awaited Axiom Verge 2 (arriving later this year) and showed off crafting adventure Wytchwood (coming to PS4 and PS5 this fall). The spotlight also landed on vertical-scrolling shoot-&#39;em-up Sol Cresta, the latest entry in the classic Cresta shoot &#39;em up series, which first came to light as an April Fools&#39; joke last year. It should hit PS4, Switch and PC this year.And then there&#39;s the small matter of Hades, which is widely considered one of the very best games of 2020. As part of the showcase, Supergiant explained the origins of its hit dungeon crawler, which lands on PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on August 13th.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/paramount-plus-14-south-park-movies-171903072.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Paramount+ is getting 14 South Park movies starting with two this year</a><br />');
document.write('Two decades after the release of Bigger, Longer and Uncut, the first and only South Park movie to date, series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone will produce 14 direct-to-streaming films for Paramount+ as part of a new deal the two signed with ViacomCBS to keep the show on Comedy Central through 2027. According to Bloomberg, the agreement is worth more than $900 million over six years, easily eclipsing the approximately $500 million AT&amp;T subsidiary WarnerMedia spent in 2019 to secure exclusive streaming rights to the show for HBO Max.Parker and Stone haven&#39;t made a movie together since 2004&#39;s Team America: World Police. The first two films included in their ViacomCBS deal will debut later this year. Stone told Bloomberg he and Parker plan to expand the world of South Park by using the movies as an opportunity to introduce new characters and concepts.What the deal doesn&#39;t include is streaming rights to the South Park TV series. As mentioned above, Viacom licensed those to WarnerMedia in 2019, and that agreement is still in place. However, the $900 million investment in the brand does suggest the company will attempt to bring the series to Paramount+ eventually.&nbsp;ViacomCBS executive Chris McCarthy hinted as much in the press release announcing today&#39;s news. &quot;Matt and Trey are world-class creatives who brilliantly use their outrageous humor to skewer the absurdities of our culture and we are excited to expand and deepen our long relationship with them to help fuel Paramount+ and Comedy Central,&quot; he said. &quot;Franchising marquee content like South Park and developing new IP with tremendous talent like Matt and Trey, is at the heart of our strategy to continue growing Paramount+.&quot;');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/activision-blizzard-lawsuit-discrimination-abuse-video-163056567.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Inside the sexual harassment lawsuit at Activision Blizzard</a><br />');
document.write('When California’s fair employment agency sued Activision Blizzard, one of the largest video game studios in the world, on July 20th, it wasn&#39;t surprising to hear the allegations of systemic gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the company. It wasn&#39;t a shock to read about male executives groping their female colleagues, or loudly joking about rape in the office, or completely ignoring women for promotions. What was surprising was that California wanted to investigate Activision Blizzard at all, considering these issues have seemingly been present since its founding in 1979.Activision Blizzard is a multibillion-dollar publisher with 9,500 employees and a roster of legendary franchises, including Call of Duty, Overwatch, Diablo and World of Warcraft. On July 20th, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, alleging executives had fostered an environment of misogyny and frat-boy rule for years, violating equal pay laws and labor codes along the way. This is about more than dirty jokes in the break room — the lawsuit highlights clear disparities in hiring, compensation and professional growth between men and women at Activision Blizzard, and it paints a picture of pervasive sexism and outright abuse in the workplace.Here’s a rundown of some of the allegations:Just 20 percent of all Activision Blizzard employees are women.Top leadership roles are filled solely by white men.Across the company, women are paid less, promoted slower and fired faster than men.HR and executives fail to take complaints of harassment seriously.Women of color in particular are micromanaged and overlooked for promotions.A pervasive frat-boy culture encourages behavior like “cube crawls,” where male employees grope and sexually harass female co-workers at their desks.It’s been a few weeks since the lawsuit was filed, and employees, executives and players have all had a chance to respond. Meanwhile, additional reports of longstanding harassment and sexism at Activision Blizzard have continued to roll out, including photos and stories of the “Cosby Suite,” which was specifically named in the filing. According to the lawsuit, this was a hotel room where male employees would gather to harass women at company events, named after the rapist Bill Cosby.&nbsp;Days after the filing, Kotaku published photos of the supposed Cosby Suite, showing male Activision Blizzard developers posing on a bed with a framed photo of Bill Cosby at BlizzCon 2013. Screenshots of conversations among the developers discussed gathering “hot chixx for the Coz” and other insulting, immature things (especially when you remember these are middle-aged men, not middle-schoolers).One of the only executives actually named in the suit was Blizzard head J. Allen Brack, and it alleges he routinely ignored systemic harassment and failed to punish abusers. Brack called the allegations “extremely troubling,” but this line was thrown back in his face on Twitter when independent developer Nels Anderson compared it to a video out of BlizzCon 2010, featuring Brack on the far left.&nbsp;In the video, a young woman asks the panel of World of Warcraft developers, all six of whom are white men, whether they&#39;ll ever create a female character that doesn&#39;t look like she just stepped out of a&nbsp;Victoria&#39;s Secret catalog. The panelists laugh and one responds, &quot;Which catalog would you like them to step out of?&quot; They proceed to essentially dismiss her question. At the end of the exchange, Brack piles on and makes a joke about one of the new characters coming from a sexy cow catalog.On August 3rd, just two weeks after California filed its lawsuit, Brack stepped down from his role as the president of Blizzard. In his place will be GM Mike Ybarra and executive development VP Jen Oneal. Oneal will be the first woman in a president role since Activision’s founding in 1979; the lawsuit notes that there has never been a non-white president or CEO of Activision Blizzard.Activision Blizzard’s initial response to the lawsuit was tragic, with one leader calling the allegations meritless and distorted. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who regularly gets into fights with shareholders over the ridiculous fortune he’s amassed, published his own response to the lawsuit, where he essentially promised to listen better. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t alleviate many employees’ concerns. A petition in support of the lawsuit ended up gathering more than 2,000 employee signatures, and workers organized a walk-out just eight days after the filing, calling for systemic change at the studio.Shareholders weren&#39;t bolstered by Kotick&#39;s response, either. Investors filed an additional class-action lawsuit against Activision Blizzard on August 3rd, alleging the company failed to raise potential regulatory issues stemming from its discriminatory culture. Blizzard&#39;s head of HR, Jesse Meschuk, also left the company in the weeks following the initial lawsuit.Meanwhile, other major game developers have rallied behind the suit, and former Activision Blizzard leaders have shared their support for employees, apologizing for their parts in sustaining a toxic company culture.This is later than it should have been. Here’s my response. pic.twitter.com/0h8iF6a1JR— Chris Metzen (@ChrisMetzen) July 24, 2021None of this is new. As evidenced by the photos, videos, stats and personal stories flowing out of Activision Blizzard, the company has operated on a bro-first basis for decades, and honestly, it’s been sustained by an industry that largely functions the same way.In 2019, a wave of accusations against prominent male developers crashed over the industry, and AAA studios like Ubisoft and Riot Games made headlines for fostering toxic workplace environments. California is currently suing Riot over allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in hiring and pay practices.But even that’s not new. Women, non-binary people and marginalized folks in the video game industry have been speaking up about systemic harassment and discrimination for literal decades. Sexism is apparent in the hiring and pay habits of many major studios, and it’s also clear in the games themselves, which feature an overabundance of straight, white, male protagonists.What is surprising, this time around, is that the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard kind of came out of nowhere. It took a blockbuster media report to make California sue Riot in 2020, but the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard appeared on its own, after years of quiet investigation by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. If sexism is systemic in the video game industry, it feels like the system is finally fighting back.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/paramount-plus-europe-launch-145633779.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Paramount+ will launch in Europe in 2022</a><br />');
document.write('Paramount+ is finally expanding into Europe — with a little help. ViacomCBS has struck a deal with Sky to launch Paramount+ in the UK, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland sometime in 2022. The pact will make the streaming TV service available on Sky platforms in return for Sky extending carriage of ViacomCBS pay TV channels like Comedy Central.You&#39;ll have the option of both a direct subscription to Paramount+ as well as bundles. Sky Cinema subscribers will get Paramount+ at no extra charge, while other Sky customers will have to add it to their accounts.ViacomCBS didn&#39;t provide pricing or local content differences, although it&#39;s notable that the broadcaster already has deals with rivals to carry streaming shows in the area. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have rights to carry Star Trek: Discovery, Picard and Lower Decks in the UK, for instance.Paramount+ is already available in the Americas, Australia, Hungary, Russia and the Middle East. This could be the most significant expansion to date, though. Europe is a major market for streaming, and Sky&#39;s influence in the region could put the service in front of people who wouldn&#39;t otherwise have considered it. This won&#39;t bring Paramount+ to the level of heavyweights like Netflix or Prime Video, but it could help competition against narrowly focused rivals like HBO Max.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/google-wifi-mesh-system-deal-amazon-143831298.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Google\'s latest mesh WiFi system hits an all-time low for a three-pack</a><br />');
document.write('Families who are still largely working and studying at home might find that their WiFi network is feeling the strain, especially if someone&#39;s setup is far away from the router. If you&#39;re on the lookout for an upgrade, it may be worth considering the Google WiFi mesh system. A three-pack of nodes currently costs $149 on Amazon. That&#39;s the lowest price we&#39;ve seen to date on the most recent model, which debuted in October at a price of $199 for the three-pack.Buy Google WiFi (three-pack) at Amazon - $149The idea behind a mesh system is that, after you set up the nodes around your home, they can work together to provide a stronger WiFi network across a larger area than many single routers are capable of. Google WiFi supports speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps, the company says. It claims a single point can support multiple simultaneous 4K video streams, though the size of your home, building materials and layout can impact signal strength.The system uses WPA3 encryption and dual-band connectivity, as well as security updates and parental controls. You can manage the network using the Google Home app.It&#39;s worth noting Google WiFi isn&#39;t quite as fast as the Nest WiFi system. Each node can cover up to 1,500 square feet, compared with 2,200 square feet for the Nest WiFi router and 1,600 square feet for each additional point. The latter also has a built-in Google Assistant smart speaker. A Nest WiFi three-pack costs $350, though. If you&#39;re in the market for a solid mesh system that won&#39;t break the bank, Google WiFi might do the trick.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/president-biden-2030-ev-target-134025373.html?src=rss" target="_blank">President Biden wants half of new vehicles to be zero-emissions by 2030</a><br />');
document.write('President Biden is throwing more of his weight behind electric cars. Biden is signing an Executive Order that sets a target for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to have some form of zero-emissions driving, whether it&#39;s a pure EV, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The move is meant to not only promote clean transportation and limit climate change, but help the US &quot;outcompete&quot; a Chinese car industry that&#39;s quickly shifting toward electrified vehicles.In sync with the order, the EPA and NHTSA will outline how they plan to undo the Trump administration&#39;s rollbacks of emissions and fuel efficiency standards. The two agencies will collaborate using standards built on the &quot;momentum&quot; from an agreement between California and automakers BMW, Ford, Honda, Volvo and VW. The EPA&#39;s proposed rules would take effect in the 2023 model year, while the NHTSA&#39;s would arrive in the 2024 model year. The team-up would have the standards mesh until model year 2026.The Biden administration has rallied support from domestic brands for the effort. Ford, GM and Stellantis have declared a &quot;shared aspiration&quot; to meet the 2030 target and otherwise support Biden&#39;s vehicle electrification policies.It&#39;s a significant goal. EVs have represented about 2 percent of US car sales for the past three years, according to the International Energy Agency and Pew Research. While the pandemic might have played a role in limiting 2020 sales, meeting the 2030 target would fundamentally transform the US car market, not to mention the charging infrastructure needed to support it.However, it might drag behind some states, not to mention car makers. California and Massachusetts will ban all sales of new gas-based cars by 2035. GM also plans to exclusively sell EVs by that year, while Ford will go completely electric in Europe by 2030. Brands like Volvo and Stellantis&#39; Fiat badge have also committed to full electrification by 2030. However ambitious the Biden plan might be, it could seem relatively modest in some respects.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/google-nest-doorbell-camera-battery-powered-floodlight-130016075.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Google\'s new Nest Cam and Doorbell can run on batteries</a><br />');
document.write('Google is refreshing its Nest lineup with three new products and a refresh for the wired indoor Nest Cam. Among the newcomers are Google’s first battery-powered Nest Cam and Doorbell, as a recent leak indicated. You’ll be able to install them just about anywhere around your home, and connect them to a wired power source, if you prefer.The battery life depends on how many recorded events the devices detect and factors like the temperature and settings. Google says the Doorbell’s battery will run for up to six months on a single charge, while the Nest Cam can run for up to seven months before you need to juice it up. You can recharge the Doorbell over USB-C, and the camera using an included USB-A adaptor.GoogleThe Doorbell captures video at a resolution of 989 x 1280 pixels at up to 30 frames per second. It has a 6x digital zoom, 145-degree diagonal field of view and can see up to 10 feet away in the dark thanks to its night vision capabilities. It also has a 3:4 field of view so you can get a full head-to-toe look at whoever shows up at your door.As for the Nest Cam, it can capture video in 1080p at up to 30 fps. The device has a 130-degree diagonal field of view, 6x digital zoom and night vision that can see objects up to 20 feet away. It has an IP54 rating for weather resistance too. As well as mounting it outside, you can set up the camera indoors.GoogleBoth products, which are designed with recycled materials, offer up to three hours of event video history. You can increase that with a Nest Aware subscription. Like some other Nest cameras, the battery-powered Nest Cam offers around-the-clock video recording with a Nest Aware Plus subscription, though you&#39;ll need to hook it up to a continuous power source.In addition, the company is offering a Nest Cam with an integrated floodlight for the first time. One thing that all four devices have in common is that they&#39;re designed to only alert you to important events. They all have on-device machine learning capabilities to recognize and alert you to people, animals and vehicles. The Doorbell can detect and recognize packages placed as close as eight inches to your door. Google says don&#39;t need a subscription to use these features and that it trained the machine learning model on 40 million images to account for a variety of environments and lighting conditions.GoogleThe devices also offer a familiar-face detection feature for Nest Aware subscribers. You can decide who they&#39;re able to recognize.&nbsp;Meanwhile, the on-device processing capabilities allow the Doorbell and cameras to store up to an hour of video events locally if the power or Wi-Fi go out. That&#39;s approximately a week&#39;s worth of events depending on activity levels around your home. When everything&#39;s up and running again, they&#39;ll upload those events to the cloud.&nbsp;As you’d expect, the cameras and Doorbell are work with the Google Home app and other Google products, such as Nest displays. Google also says Nest camera data is encrypted.The battery-powered Nest Cam and Doorbell (which each cost $180) are available to pre-order today in 18 countries, including the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. They&#39;ll be available in those countries on August 24th, in Japan two days later and in Mexico later this year. The Nest Cam with floodlight ($280) and second-gen wired Nest Cam ($100) are coming soon.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-walter-isaacson-biography-122527201.html?src=rss" target="_blank">Elon Musk confirms Walter Isaacson is writing his biography</a><br />');
document.write('Walter Isaacson, the author behind the 2011 Steve Jobs biography published shortly after his death, is currently writing Elon Musk&#39;s life story. Fox Business reported back in June that the famous writer was in talks with Musk about the possibility of writing a book on him. The author was reportedly yet to make a decision back then, but now Musk has confirmed on Twitter than Isaacson is writing his biography covering his work on Tesla, SpaceX and his &quot;general goings on.&quot;If you’re curious about Tesla, SpaceX &amp; my general goings on, @WalterIsaacson is writing a biography— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 5, 2021As CNET notes, there&#39;s already an official published biography on the entrepreneur entitled Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future. It was written by Ashlee Vance and was published in 2015. Since then, though, Tesla has launched the Model 3, which became the world&#39;s best-selling electric car. It was also only later in 2015 that SpaceX first achieved the successful landing and recovery of a rocket&#39;s first stage. In 2017, the private space company made history when it successfully relaunched its reusable Falcon 9 rocket for the first time. Four years later, SpaceX launched four astronauts to the ISS on a Dragon capsule used in a previous mission on top of a reused Falcon 9 booster.Isaacson&#39;s Jobs biography was adapted by Aaron Sorkin into a film starring Michael Fassbender and directed by Danny Boyle. He also wrote biographies on Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and American biochemist Jennifer Doudna, who&#39;s known for her work in CRISPR gene editing. While he didn&#39;t respond to Musk&#39;s announcement, he has been retweeting SpaceX-related content since June.');
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