Andrew Webster46 minutes ago

Deathloop is out on Xbox Game Pass today.

If you subscribe to Xbox’s Game Pass service, you should definitely check out Arkane’s Deathloop, which is out now. It was one of my favorite games of last year when it debuted on the PS5 and PC, mixing extremely satisfying action with an intricate story about time loops. Here’s the full list of the latest Game Pass releases.

Bluetooth speakerphones are an underrated accessory.

Wirecutter has a good roundup of options, which are as good for Zoom calls as advertised, but they’re also just useful in life! I use mine roughly as a desk phone, and also connect it every time we’re doing the “everyone gather around the phone to talk to Grandma” thing. I have the Jabra Speak 510, and love it.

The SPAC-lash is here.

So remember the craze for SPACs, an alternative way to take a company public? The times, they have a-changed: the SPAC King of Silicon Valley, Chamath Palihapitiya, couldn’t find acquisition targets for two of his piles of cash. One of them, Social Capital Hedosophia VI, is the largest-ever SPAC.

Use every (mega) pixel.

Halide is touted as one of the best photography apps on the iPhone, and as usual, it has a new update out to help you get the most out of the best camera available on the platform — that 48-megapixel sensor on the iPhone 14 Pro.

Version 2.9.0 of Halide is live in the App Store, with quick 48MP shooting directly to HEIC or JPG and many other new features.

Speaking of CarPlay.

Dan posted about CarPlay earlier and it reminded me that wireless CarPlay has actually set Apple back in its quest to somehow take over the car market — problems with it disconnecting are the number one complaint from new car owners, according to JD Power. Something to think about as Apple continues its relentless quest to remove all the ports from our phones.

The most frequent problem reported across the industry regardless of powertrain type or brand cachet related to smartphone connectivity. Dropped connections with Apple CarPlay was the number one problem, as Android Auto complaints leveled off from last year. Further, the number of reported problems with wireless Apple CarPlay increased as well, due to the feature being offered in more cars. 

PC gamers showed up for a PlayStation hit.

NPD’s August update for videogame sales has arrived, noting that PS5 was number one in hardware sales for the month and that new-gen hardware sales are up significantly from last year due to improved supply for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S.

But the most astounding leap came from Marvel’s Spider-Man, which jumped from 84th on the chart the month before to number 3, thanks to Sony re-releasing the PlayStation exclusive on PC via Steam (and Steam Deck).

Apple’s CarPlay is still frustratingly basic.

Stephen Hackett at 512 Pixels has blogged about the frustrations he’s had migrating to a new iPhone and not having his CarPlay preferences carry over, despite every other app on his phone copying over correctly.

I’m with him on that, but I’m more annoyed by the second point he highlights: CarPlay still treats every vehicle you connect to as a different thing. Instead of preserving your preferences when you plug in to a different car, it makes you set it all up again for each new vehicle. This is annoying for families with more than one car; it’s downright maddening for frequent users of rental cars. Seems like a simple thing to fix!

Adnan is out.

Yesterday, a Baltimore City Circuit judge overturned the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, setting him free — for the moment — after serving 23 years in a case documented by the podcast Serial. This morning, host Sarah Koenig released Serial’s first new episode in seven years.

It’s Baltimore, 2022. Adnan Syed has spent the last 23 years incarcerated, serving a life sentence for the murder of Hae Min Lee, a crime he says he didn’t commit. He has exhausted every legal avenue for relief, including a petition to the United States Supreme Court. But then, a prosecutor in the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s office stumbled upon two handwritten notes in Adnan’s case file, and that changed everything.