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As Microsoft tries to beef up its in-house Xbox studios, it may want to be more careful about leaving a trail of broken promises when things dont go as planned. A year after the hyped vampire shooter Redfall landed with a thud, a Kotaku report highlights how players are still waiting for the advertised post-launch DLC they already paid for. Redfalls Bite Back Edition is a $100 collectors variant (or $30 add-on) that includes, among other content, a pass for two future heroes to complement the games original four. As you may have guessed, the new playable characters still havent materialized. In addition, Microsoft-owned Bethesda has gone silent on the new protagonists absence since November. Were continuing development of The Hero Pass and were excited to share more about Redfalls new heroes and other updates later next year, developer Arkane Austin wrote late last year. At the very least, it seems customers are owed clear communication or refunds if Bethesda has noped out of further development. Engadget has reached out for comment, and well update this story if we hear back. In the meantime, Kotakus reporting on the maddening saga is worth a read.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/redfalls-two-dlc-heroes-are-still-mia-a-year-later-180838827.html?src=rss
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Instagram just announced some new features coming to Stories, including a suite of interactive stickers. The music one is perhaps the most interesting, as it's an extension of the pre-existing Add Yours feature. The Add Yours Music sticker lets users share their favorite songs, along with a prompt for followers to get in on the fun by sharing their own related tracks. Of course, the song has to already be in Instagrams music library to work. To that end, Instagram has partnered with Dua Lipa to promote her new album, Radical Optimism. Many of the songs from the album are available for use in this way, and the artist herself has been posting Stories with Add Your Music stickers. Instagram Another nifty sticker added today is called Reveal. Opting for this sticker blurs the visuals of a story post and the only way followers can see the content is to DM the person who shared it. Direct messages have become a key factor behind Instagrams continued growth, with site head Adam Mosseri stating that teens actually spend more time in DMs than anywhere else on the platform. He also says that virtually all engagement growth over the past few years has come from DMs and Stories, according to reporting by Business Insider. So, yeah, this will most definitely be used as a hack by savvy creators looking to boost their engagement. The thirst traps will be thirstier and trappier than ever before. Instagram Instagram has also unveiled a sticker called Frames. This tool throws a Polaroid-esque overlay over a photo, turning it into an instant print image. To reveal the contents, followers will have to channel Andre 3000 and shake their phones like a Polaroid picture, though theres also a button. Creators can add captions which are also revealed upon shaking. This feature was originally revealed at this years Coachella festival. Instagram Finally, theres a feature called Cutouts. This tool turns any part of a video or photo in your camera roll into a sticker, which can then be applied to a story or reel. Once a cutout is created, it gets saved into an easily-accessible sticker tray for future uses. This also works with photos posted to Instagram, though the pictures have to be shared by public accounts. This has been a big month of changes for Instagram. In addition to the aforementioned new sticker systems, the social media app recently overhauled its algorithm to boost original content and deemphasize aggregator accounts. The company also changed the way Reels works to give smaller accounts a chance to expand their reach, though it remains unclear how this works. Instagram has also recently made Metas AI chatbot available in DMs, if you want some confident, yet absolutely wrong, answers to questions.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagrams-add-yours-sticker-now-lets-you-share-songs-180730795.html?src=rss
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Apex Legends will soon offer a Solos mode for the first time since 2019, even though developer Respawn Entertainment said earlier this year it had no plans to let players run amok in the battle by themselves again. When the next season starts, Solos will replace the Duos mode for six weeks. The game is designed and tuned for squads of three, but Respawn recently told reporters that it "wanted to acknowledge the growing interest in Solos from our players," many of whom were looking for new ways to play the game. Running the mode for half of season 21 will give the developers a chance to gain plenty of feedback from players. Perhaps that could help them figure out if Solos could become a more permanent fixture. "With growing demand from players and a desire on the team to explore the concept again with everything we've learned since the mode's last appearance in 2019, Upheaval felt like the right time to reintroduce a Solos experience to Apex," events lead Mike Button said. To compensate for the lack of support from teammates, the revived Solos mode will have three unique features. If you're eliminated in the first four rounds, you'll be able to use a one-time respawn token to rejoin the action. Any unused tokens after the fourth circle closes are converted to Evo, which is used for shields and ability upgrades. The idea behind this, according to the developers, is to encourage players to be more engaged in the early going. Respawn has also created a mechanic for Solos called Battle Sense. This gives you an audio and visual cue whenever an enemy is within 50 meters. Last but not least, you'll heal passively when you're out of combat. It'll take a moment for the gradual health regeneration to start, but you can skip that initial timer by securing a kill. You'll still be able to use med kits and such to heal manually. Respawn is making some other tweaks for Solos, including adding fully kitted-out weapons, adjusting circle sizes and reducing the lobby size from 60 to 50 players. Respawn Entertainment/EA Alongside some map, cosmetic, balance and ranked changes, there'll be a new legend for players to check out. Alter hails from another dimension and that plays into her kit. She can create portals through walls, ceilings and floors. The Void Passage ability can be fired from some distance away and it has a maximum depth of 20 meters, so it can't go through mountains. After going through a portal, you'll have a few seconds of safety to assess your surroundings and prepare for a fight if need be. Allies and enemies can use the portals too, so Void Passage can open up all kinds of opportunities for flanking and rotations. With her passive ability, Alter is able to see death boxes through walls and snatch an item from one. Alter's ultimate is called Void Nexus. This drops a device that you and your teammates can interact with remotely, even while knocked down. Doing so will teleport you back to the regroup point. However, enemies have a short window to follow you. Alter's upgrades include the ability to see enemy health bars while moving through a portal. You'll be able to check out the revived Apex Legends Solos mode and play as Alter when the Upheaval season starts on May 7.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apex-legends-is-getting-a-solo-mode-for-the-first-time-in-five-years-170018005.html?src=rss
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We recommend Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag 2 in our Bluetooth tracker buying guide to Galaxy phone owners who want an AirTags-style device that can keep tabs on their keys, luggage and other sensitive items. If that describes you, here's a quick PSA: A four-pack of the little oblong devices is currently $30 off and down to $70 at Amazon. This discount has popped up periodically since Samsung released the tracker last October, but it nevertheless matches the four-pack's lowest price to date. If you'd rather not shop at Amazon, the same bundle is available at B&H for $2 extra. If you don't need quite so many trackers, meanwhile, single SmartTag 2s are also on sale for $21 each. That's a dollar more than the device's all-time low but still $9 off its usual street price. The key thing to note with the Galaxy SmartTag 2 is that it's a Samsung-only affair. You need a Samsung phone or tablet running Android 11 or later for it to fully work, and it uses the company's SmartThings Find crowd-finding network to locate items. The latter is Samsung's alternative to Apple's Find My network and Google's recently-launched Find My Device network. (Yes, the names of these things are way too similar.) It's not as large as either of those, so it'll generally be less precise at pinpointing an item that winds up outside of your tracker's Bluetooth range. Samsung hasn't confirmed any plans for the Galaxy SmartTag 2 to support Google's expanded network, either. If you're an Android user who isn't beholden to Galaxy phones, you should wait and see if it's worth buying upcoming trackers from Chipolo and Pebblebee (among others) that are designed to use the Find My Device network. That said, because there are still a few hundred million Samsung devices that've opted into SmartThings Find out in the wild, we've found the Galaxy SmartTag 2's crowd-sourcing to be effective enough in testing. Its separation alerts i.e., its ability to ping you when you've left a tagged item behind worked about as reliably as any model we tested, and it does well to map out its location history over time. It's capable of tracking up to 120 meters (roughly 394 feet) directly over Bluetooth, which is on the longer side, plus it supports ultrawideband tech, which can help it more accurately direct you towards an item once you're close by. The device itself is simple to set up, and its flat design has a built-in cutout, so it's easy to stash in a wallet or attach to a keychain. It's also IP67-rated, so it can survive a dip underwater. Samsung says the device can lastup to 500 days with typical use, and you can replace the battery once it peters out. There are technically more capable options out there (with more to come), and all Bluetooth trackers carry some level of privacy issues. A device like this isn't ideal for warding off theft, either. But for forgetful Galaxy diehards who are looking to save some cash, this is a decent deal. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-four-pack-of-samsungs-galaxy-smarttag-2-trackers-is-back-on-sale-for-70-165237932.html?src=rss
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New research conducted by the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggests that current carbon removal plans will not be enough to comply with Paris treaty goals to limit global warming to 1.5C, as reported in a study published by Nature. Scientists came to this conclusion by measuring the emissions gap between various national climate protection plans and what is actually needed to reach that goal. This first-of-its-kind study found a gap of up to 3.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) between current global plans to remove carbon from the atmosphere and whats needed by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. These impacts include heatwaves, floods, droughts, melting ice and sea level rise. Since 2010, the United Nations environmental organization UNEP has taken similar measurements of this emissions gap. UEAs research, which focuses primarily on CO2 removal, indicates that climate policy requires a more ambitious scope if we are to, well, survive as a species. This means a more nuanced and robust approach that still keeps current carbon removal practices in place, but with a renewed focus on cutting emissions, renewable energy and minimizing deforestation. There are also novel carbon removal options that many nations have been slow to discuss, let alone implement. These include advanced air filters systems and enhanced rock weathering. The latter is a technique in which carbon is removed from the atmosphere and stored in rocks. These techniques account for the removal of just 0.002 billion tons of C02 per year, compared to 3 billion tons through conventional options. The research indicates that these novel options must become more prevalent in the coming years to help meet that 1.5C threshold. The calculation should certainly be refined, said the studys lead author, Dr. William Lamb, of the MCC Applied Sustainability Science working group. This much is clear: without a rapid reduction in emissions towards zero, across all sectors, the 1.5C limit will not be met under any circumstances. Co-author Dr. Naomi Vaughan, of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at UEA, added that countries need more awareness, ambition and action on scaling up carbon dioxide removal methods together with deep emissions reductions to achieve the aspirations of the Paris Agreement." To that end, even if every country sticks to promises regarding carbon removal targets, the amount of carbon removed would likely increase by a maximum of 0.5 billion tons by 2030 and 1.9 billion tons by 2050. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that it would take a removal increase of 5.1 billion tons to avoid the worst effects of climate change. So, yeah, theres that gap of 3.2 billion tons. We arent doomed, at least not yet anyways. The IPCC suggests an alternative scenario in which the worlds governments work together to reduce global energy demand, hastened by politically initiated behavior. In this scenario, carbon removal would increase by 2.5 billion tons by 2050 and alternative methods would help tighten the emissions gap to just 400 million tons. So we basically have to shift our entire society from one of self interest to one of global cooperation. It never hurts to dream and, hey, maybe AI will swoop in and save us. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/research-indicates-that-carbon-dioxide-removal-plans-will-not-be-enough-to-meet-paris-treaty-goals-161113129.html?src=rss
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