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Xbox Is Making Streaming Hardware, Already Working on Next Consoles

(Image credit: Xbox)

Ahead of E3 Microsoft and Xbox are putting a heavy emphasis on cloud gaming and its Game Pass subscription program alongside its existing console ecosystem. This includes new, dedicated streaming hardware for any TV or

monitor

. It is also updating its cloud datacenters to use the

Xbox Series X

, so that gamers who stream are getting the company’s most powerful hardware.

Xbox’s announcement

comes ahead of Xbox’s joint E3 games showcase this Sunday with its recent acquisition, Bethesda, and also comes with a slew of new attempts to push Xbox onto just about any device you might already have. The Xbox division is moving to get its software embedded into internet-connected TVs, which would require no additional hardware other than a controller to play cloud games.

Additionally, the company is looking into new subscription offerings for Game Pass. (though it didn’t get into specifics), and is looking into new purchase options for Xbox All Access, which lets people buy the console and Game Pass for a monthly fee, rather than paying up front. (This is similar to how many pay for smartphones in the U.S.).

Building its own streaming devices, however, is a bigger push to make Xbox an ecosystem outside of consoles and even moves Xbox into competition, to a degree, with Chromecast, Roku and Apple TV for the living room. (Chromecast is scheduled to get

Google Stadia

support later this month).

Still, the company sees its consoles, the Xbox Series X and Series S, as its top-notch offering, even while it expands in mobile, on PC and in streaming. In fact, that’s the other major piece of hardware Xbox is working on: the next console.

(Image credit: Xbox)

“Cloud is key to our hardware and Game Pass roadmaps, but no one should think we’re slowing down on our core console engineering. In fact, we’re accelerating it,” said Liz Hamren, corporate vice president of gaming experiences and platforms.

“We’re already hard at work on new hardware and platforms, some of which won’t come to light for years. But even as we build for the future, we’re focused on extending the Xbox experience to more devices today so we can reach more people.”

This isn’t exactly surprising. Consoles start getting designed years in advance, and these days, the mid-life cycle refresh cycle is common. Microsoft has also positioned the latest consoles as a “series” of devices, so it’s possible there will be new entries in the line that remain compatible with the current options.

Cloud gaming in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is set to launch in Brazil, Japan and Australia later this year. Meanwhile, cloud gaming in a web browser, including support for Chrome, Edge and Safari, will go live to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers “in the next few weeks.” The Xbox app on PC will also get cloud gaming integrated this year.

Hamren said that Game Pass has more than 18 million subscribers, though that wasn’t broken down between the console, PC and ultimate plans, (which include game streaming).

The Series X and S haven’t seen a ton of new titles from Microsoft Studios yet, but it sounds like that will change.

“In terms of the overall lineup, we want to get to a point of releasing a new game every quarter…” said Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios. “We know that a thriving entertainment service needs a consistent and exciting flow of new content. So our portfolio will continue to grow as our service grows.”

Xbox has more than 23 studios and also recently acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Game Studios, as well as id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog and Roundhouse Studios.

Game Pass games are released simultaneously on PC and Xbox, which Xbox Head Phil Spencer used to poke at its competitors, namely Sony and its

PlayStation 5

“So right now, we’re the only platform shipping games on console, PC and cloud simultaneously,” Spencer said. “Others bring console games to PC years later, not only making people buy their hardware up front, but then charging them a second time to play on PC. And, of course, all of our games are in our subscription service day one, full cross-platform included.” (PlayStation brought Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone to PC but long after their PlayStation 4 releases.)

Tim Stuart, the chief financial officer for Xbox, said “we’ll do a lot more in PC for sure.” There have been rumors of big changes to the Microsoft Store on Windows, including making it easier for developers to sell games. That’s another avenue we may see explored soon, as Microsoft explores

what’s next for Windows

later this month, after E3.

The Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase will take place on Sunday, June 13 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET and will stream on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and Twitter.

How to watch the Summer Game Fest’s ‘Kickoff Live’ event

Summer Game Fest 2021, hosted by Geoff Keighley, is getting started with new game announcements two days ahead of E3 2021 with its “Kickoff Live” event. In addition to news, it’s perhaps the only event to feature both an appearance from Jeff Goldblum and a musical performance by Weezer. The list of partners for the preview event includes 2K, Activision, Blizzard, Capcom, InnerSloth, Epic Games, Sony PlayStation, Riot Games, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Microsoft Xbox, and more. Here’s how to watch.

When does Summer Game Fest start?

The kickoff show is happening this Thursday, June 10th at 2PM ET / 11AM PT / 6PM GMT. And like last year’s happenings, it’s all online, so you can just hang out at home and watch all of the announcements from your PC, phone, or TV.

Like last year, there will likely be more Summer Game Fest events throughout the season.

Where can I stream Summer Game Fest?

This game event is being hosted on several platforms, giving you plenty of options. It’s being livestreamed on YouTube (we’ve embedded the video above that’ll go live later), as well as Twitch, Twitter, and Facebook.

iOS 4 has been lovingly recreated as an iPhone app

iOS 4 originally appeared nearly 10 years ago as Apple’s first mobile operating system to drop the iPhone OS naming convention. An 18-year-old developer has now lovingly recreated iOS 4 as an iPhone app, and it’s a beautiful blast from the past. If you never got the chance to use iOS 4, or you’re a fan of the iPhone 3G, OldOS almost flawlessly pulls off the experience of using an iPhone from a decade ago.

OldOS is “designed to be as close to pixel-perfect as possible,” says Zane, the developer behind the app. It’s all built using Apple’s SwiftUI, so it includes buttery smooth animations and even the old iPhone home button that vibrates with haptic feedback to make it feel like a real button.

Apple’s built-in iOS 4 apps have also been recreated here, and it’s a real flashback to the skeuomorphic days of the iPhone whenever they launch. Photos lets you view your existing camera roll as you would have 10 years ago, while Notes transports you back to the yellow post-it notes of yesteryear.

Today is Launch Day

Introducing OldOS — iOS 4 beautifully rebuilt in SwiftUI.

* Designed to be as close to pixel-perfect as possible.

* Fully functional, perhaps even usable as a second OS.

* ️ Fully open source for all to learn, modify, and build on. pic.twitter.com/K0JOE2fEKM

— Zane (@zzanehip) June 9, 2021

The only apps that don’t work as you might expect are Messages and YouTube. Apple used to bundle YouTube directly into its operating system, and the developer behind OldOS says there are “still some major issues with YouTube” and Messages that they’re working to fix.

Everything else is mostly flawless. and you can even browse the web in the old UI of Safari. The App Store also list apps that will redirect you to the modern store to download and install. There are some things that simply don’t work, including folders and no jiggling to rearrange home screen apps.

We’ve seen this type of nostalgic app appear on the iPhone before. Rewound launched in the App Store back in December 2019, turning an iPhone into an iPod. Apple quickly pulled the app a few days later, citing store violations.

This latest OldOS app is available on Apple’s TestFlight service, which is typically used to distribute beta versions of apps. That means it probably won’t last long before Apple takes exception, so grab it while you can. Zane has also published the source code for the entire project on GitHub, so if you’re willing to compile it in Xcode then it will live forever.

Apple may have accidentally confirmed the existence of an M1X MacBook Pro

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote came and went this year without a new MacBook Pro — but it looks like that wasn’t the original intent! Intriguingly, Apple quietly included the phrases “M1X MacBook Pro” and “M1X” as tags on its YouTube video of the live keynote, as spotted by Max Balzer (via 9to5Mac).

Not only does that sound like tacit confirmation of at least one new Arm-powered MacBook Pro, it also corroborates the rumors that it’ll include a new M1 chip, and that Apple will likely market it as an enhanced “X” variant, like it used to do with its high-end iPads, rather than going straight to M2.

Three weeks ago, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that we’d see redesigned 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros “as early as this summer,” ones that would bring back the SD card slot, HDMI port, and some form of the beloved trip-friendly MagSafe charging connector; offer twice as many high-performance CPU and GPU cores; and support up to 64GB of RAM. I really thought announcing them at WWDC would be the perfect way to distract from recent developer turmoil — you know, by announcing a MacBook Pro that’s actually for pros?

Perhaps that was the original idea, but we got an absolutely jam-packed keynote filled with rapid-fire software announcements instead. Check out our supercut below for the condensed video version, or read our list of the 15 biggest WWDC 2021 announcements if you only want the highlights.

Is there any way out of Clearview’s facial recognition database?

In March 2020, two months after The New York Times exposed that Clearview AI had scraped billions of images from the internet to create a facial recognition database, Thomas Smith received a dossier encompassing most of his digital life.

Using the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act, Smith asked Clearview for what they had on him. The company sent him pictures that spanned moments throughout his adult life: a photo from when he got married and started a blog with his wife, another when he was profiled by his college’s alumni magazine, even a profile photo from a Python coding meetup he had attended a few years ago.

“That’s what really threw me: All the things that I had posted to Facebook and figured, ‘Nobody’s going to ever look for that,’ and here it is all laid out in a database,” Smith told The Verge.

Clearview’s massive surveillance apparatus claims to hold 3 billion photos, accessible to any law enforcement agency with a subscription, and it’s likely you or people you know have been scooped up in the company’s dragnet. It’s known to have scraped sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram, and is able to use profile names and associated images to build a trove of identified and scannable facial images.

Little is known about the accuracy of Clearview’s software, but it appears to be powered by a massive trove of scraped and identified images, drawn from social media profiles and other personal photos on the public internet. That scraping is only possible because social media platforms like Facebook have consolidated immense amounts of personal data on their platforms, and then largely ignored the risks of large-scale data analysis projects like Clearview. It took Facebook until 2018 and the Cambridge Analytica scandal to lock down developer tools that could be used to exploit its users’ data. Even after the extent of Clearview’s scraping came to light, Facebook and other tech platforms’ reactions came largely in the form of strongly worded letters asking Clearview to stop scraping their sites.

But with large platforms unable or unwilling to go further, the average person on the internet is left with a difficult choice. Any new pictures that feature you, whether a simple Instagram shot or a photo tagged on a friend’s Facebook page, are potentially grist for the mill of a globe-spanning facial recognition system. But for many people, hiding our faces from the internet doesn’t feel like an option. These platforms are too deeply embedded in public life, and our faces are too central to who we are. The challenge is finding a way to share photos without submitting to the broader scanning systems — and it’s a challenge with no clear answers.

In some ways, this problem is much older than Clearview AI. The internet was built to facilitate the posting of public information, and social media platforms entrenched this idea; Facebook recruited a billion users between 2009 and 2014, when posting publicly on the internet was its default setting. Others like YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn encourage public posting as a way for users to gain influence, contribute to global conversations, and find work.

Historically, one person’s contribution to this unfathomable amount of graduation pics, vacation group shots, and selfies would have meant safety in numbers. You might see a security camera in a convenience store, but it’s unlikely anyone is actually watching the footage. But this kind of thinking is what Clearview thrives on, as automated facial recognition can now pick through this digital glut on the scale of the entire public internet.

“Even when the world involved a lot of surveillance cameras, there wasn’t a great way to analyze the data,” said Catherine Crump, professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Law. “Facial recognition technology and analytics generally have been so revolutionary because they’ve put an end to privacy by obscurity, or it seems they may soon do that.”

This means that you can’t rely on blending in with the crowd. The only way to stop Clearview from gathering your data is by not allowing it on the public internet in the first place. Facebook makes certain information public, without the option to make it private, like your profile picture and cover photo. Private accounts on Instagram also cannot hide profile pictures. If you’re worried about information being scraped from your Facebook or Instagram account, these are the first images to change. LinkedIn, on the other hand, allows you to limit the visibility of your profile picture to only people you’ve connected with.

Outside of Clearview, facial recognition search engines like PimEyes have become popular tools accessible to anyone on the internet, and other enterprise facial recognition apps like FindFace work with oppressive governments across the world.

Another key component to ensuring the privacy of those around you is to make sure you’re not posting pictures of others without consent. Smith, who requested his data from Clearview, was surprised at how many others had been scooped up in the database by just appearing in photos with him, like his friends and his college adviser.

But since some images on the internet, like those on Facebook and Instagram, simply cannot be hidden, some AI researchers are exploring ways to “cloak” images to evade Clearview’s technology, as well as any other facial recognition technology trawling the open web.

In August 2020, a project called Fawkes released by the University of Chicago’s SAND Lab pitched itself as a potential antidote to Clearview’s pervasive scraping. The software works by subtly altering the parts of an image that facial recognition uses to discern one person from another, while trying to preserve how the image looks to humans. This exploit on an AI system is called an “adversarial attack.”

Fawkes highlights the difficulty of designing technology that tries to hide images or limit the accuracy of facial recognition. Clearview draws on hundreds of millions of identities, so while individual users might be able to get some benefit from using the Windows and Mac app developed by the Fawkes team, the database won’t meaningfully suffer from a few hundred thousand fewer profiles.

Ben Zhao, the University of Chicago professor who oversees the Fawkes project, says that Fawkes works only if people are diligent about cloaking all of their images. It’s a big ask, since users would have to juggle multiple versions of every photo they share.

On the other hand, a social media platform like Facebook could tackle the scale of Clearview by integrating a feature like Fawkes into its photo uploading process, though that would simply shift which company has access to your unadulterated images. Users would then have to trust Facebook to not use that access to now-proprietary data for their own ad targeting or other tracking.

Zhao and other privacy experts agree that adversarial tricks like Fawkes aren’t a silver bullet that will be used to defeat coordinated scraping campaigns, even those for facial recognition databases. Evading Clearview will take more than just one technical fix or privacy checkup nudge on Facebook. Instead, platforms will need to rethink how data is uploaded and maintained online, and which data can be publicly accessed at all. This would mean fewer public photos and fewer opportunities for Clearview to add new identities to its database.

Jennifer King, privacy and data policy fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, says one approach is for data to be automatically deleted after a certain amount of time. Part of what makes services like Snapchat more private (when set up properly) than Facebook or Instagram is its dedication to short-lived media posted mainly to small, trusted groups of people.

Laws in some states and countries are also starting to catch up with privacy threats online. These laws circumvent platforms like Facebook and instead demand accountability from the companies actually scraping the data. The California Consumer Privacy Act allows residents to ask for a copy of the data that companies like Clearview have on them, and similar provisions exist in the European Union. Some laws mandate that the data must be deleted at the user’s request.

But King notes that just because the data is deleted once doesn’t mean the company can’t simply grab it again.

“It’s not a permanent opt-out,” she said. “I’m concerned that you execute that ‘delete my data’ request on May 31st, and on June 1st, they can go back to collecting your data.”

So if you’re going to lock down your online presence, make sure to change your privacy settings and remove as many images as possible before asking companies to delete your data.

But ultimately, to prevent bad actors like Clearview from obtaining data in the first place, users are at the mercy of social media platforms’ policies. After all, it’s the current state of privacy settings that has allowed a company like Clearview to exist at all.

“There’s a lot you can do to safeguard your data or claw it back, but ultimately, for there to be change here, it needs to happen collectively, through legislation, through litigation, and through people coming together and deciding what privacy should look like,” Smith said. “Even people coming together and saying to Facebook, ‘I need you to protect my data more.’”

Google TV just got a much cheaper streaming option for its live TV guide

Google TV, which offers one of the cleanest streaming experiences to cord-cutters, just vastly improved its live TV options — which is to say, users actually have options now. While the “Live” tab was previously limited to Google’s own pricey live TV streaming service, YouTube TV, the company has introduced a cheaper alternative with a Sling TV integration.

The companies confirmed to The Verge that the added support for Sling TV marks the first non-Google live TV integration for the platform, and that’s significant. While quite good, YouTube TV costs $65 per month before any additional add-ons or entertainment subscriptions like Starz or HBO Max offered through the service. Sling TV, meanwhile, starts at $35 per month for either of its two base plans: Orange for sports and family content or Blue for news and entertainment.

The Sling TV integration on Google TV.

Image: Sling TV

Now, that’s not to say that Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, or Fubo TV users couldn’t access their live TV services on the platform — you absolutely can by simply navigating to your designated live and linear app. But Google has a special Live tab up on the top that makes navigation a breeze, and this tab was previously only available to subscribers of its YouTube TV service.

Now, however, anyone who wants their live TV baked directly into their Google TV experience has another, more affordable option. While Sling TV’s plans offer around half the channels that YouTube TV does — around 30 to 45 versus YouTube TV’s more than 85 channels — the service also offers dirt cheap package add-ons starting around $6 for decent customization.

Google TV is currently available on Sony’s 2021 Bravia XR TVs and Google’s latest Chromecast device, with the platform soon to launch on TCL TVs. To enable the feature within the Google TV experience, link your Sling TV plan to your Google account in the Google Home app. After Sling TV’s been linked through Google Home, a Live tab should appear up top in the Google TV navigation bar.

Amazon’s new Echo Show 8 is a little faster and has a better camera

Amazon’s midsize Echo Show 8 is the best smart display in its lineup. It is larger and more capable than the diminutive Echo Show 5, while costing far less than the larger Echo Show 10. The Echo Show 8 is handy for watching video, listening to music, getting weather reports, controlling smart home devices, making video calls, and more.

So it’s no surprise that the second-generation model, which sells for $129.99 and is shipping this week, doesn’t rock the boat. It’s largely the same smart display as before but with slightly faster performance and an improved video calling camera. It has the same display, same design, same speaker system, and the same set of features as its predecessor.

Improving the video calling capabilities makes sense, given how much video calling has been done while everyone was (and for large part, still is) stuck at home during the pandemic. The new Echo Show 8 borrows the 13-megapixel camera from the flagship Echo Show 10, replacing the pathetically low-resolution, mediocre 1-megapixel camera that was in the first gen. As before, there’s a mechanical privacy shutter you can slide in front of the camera to both disable it and block its view.

The improvements in video calls are immediately noticeable. You can use the Echo Show for video calls to the Alexa app on phones or other Echo Show devices, or you can join Skype, Zoom, or Amazon’s Chime calls from it. In my testing with Zoom calls, the image is much sharper and more pleasant to look at, with better color and much more detail.

The Echo Show 8 doesn’t have the motorized base on the bigger Echo Show 10, but it still can automatically frame you and follow you around as you move thanks to its high resolution. The autoframing isn’t as good as the new iPad Pro’s Center Stage feature, and it moves much slower and tends to constantly reframe itself, like you’re the star of a Ken Burns documentary. But the Echo Show is a $130 smart display, not an $800 tablet, so it’s hard to complain, so long as you stay relatively still during video calls. If you don’t want the camera to autoframe, you can say “Alexa follow off” to disable it.

You can use the Echo Show 8 for Zoom calls, but it works best for one-on-one calling, not groups

That said, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. The new camera has a much wider-angle lens, which allows it to do those auto-framing tricks. But it can also cause the image to look distorted at times and isn’t always very flattering.

The Echo Show 8’s eight-inch display works fine for one-on-one video calls, but it’s too small to comfortably use for a group call. If you are on a call where someone is sharing a screen, it’s hard to see what’s happening, and while you can view messages posted to a chat, you can’t type any out yourself on the Echo Show’s display. Joining Zoom calls can be done entirely by voice, but it’s much easier to call up the Zoom app on the Echo Show by saying “Alexa, open Zoom” and then typing in a meeting code or starting one yourself from the touchscreen.

I also observed an echo of my own voice in several Zoom calls, both with individuals and group calls, which made it hard to use the Echo Show for anything work related. Other parties on the line also said there was an annoying echo of my voice whenever I unmuted my mic. Amazon says it is looking into this problem and I will update this review if a solution is found.

The new processor in the second-gen Echo Show 8 does make the smart display respond quicker to taps and swipes than its predecessor. It’s not a huge difference, and Amazon’s software still has a long way to go to make it more useful via touch, but when compared side by side, the new one opens menus and screens quicker.

Elsewhere, the changes are either nonexistent or very minor. The wedge-shaped design is exactly the same; you can still get it in the same white or black color options as before. (Annoyingly, both colors come with a white power cord.)

The display has the same 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, but now it can adjust its color and white balance to the lighting in the room. Like the new processor, the difference isn’t huge, but the new model is slightly warmer and more pleasant to look at when the adaptive color setting is enabled. I’m still more impressed by the ability of Google’s Nest Hub to mimic the look of a printed photo by adapting its color to the lighting in the room.

The dual-driver speaker system is unchanged and it’s as loud and full sounding as the first gen. The Echo Show 8 can fill a small room with sound surprisingly well, and its bass response is better than expected. At times, it might even sound too bassy, but you can adjust the EQ in the Alexa app easily enough to compensate for that. Unfortunately, Amazon dropped the 3.5mm output jack on the back of the new model, so it’s not possible to hook it up to a larger speaker system with a wire.

You can watch Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix on the Echo Show, but Disney Plus, Peacock, HBO Max, and many other streaming services aren’t available. YouTube is available through the Echo Show’s Silk browser, but it’s not as seamless of an experience as available on Google’s Nest Hub, and you can’t easily cast videos from your phone to the Show’s screen.

The Echo Show 8’s software is the same as what debuted on the Echo Show 10 earlier this year. Amazon is starting to make better use of the display, with split screens that show weather data alongside news, but it still feels very much like a voice-first device. Though the new Echo Show 8 is faster, it’s still a chore to tap through all of the screens to get to the smart home controls, and managing what shows up in the rotating information screens on the display requires a lot of menu diving and trial and error to get what you want. (And even then, you’ll still probably get nagged about new Alexa Skills or other Amazon promotions you don’t care about.)

There are of course many, many other things you can do with an Echo Show smart display — far too many to cover in the scope of this review. The things that I find it most useful for are weather reports, managing a grocery shopping list, and viewing the video feed from a doorbell or security camera.

The Echo Show 8’s main competition is the second-gen Nest Hub from Google, which has a slightly smaller seven-inch screen and costs $30 less. The Nest Hub supports more video streaming services, has a more useful touch interface, can track your sleep, and works with the Google Assistant instead of Alexa. But it doesn’t have a camera for video calling, its single speaker is blown away by the Echo Show’s dual speakers, and it’s much slower and laggy to use. Ultimately, the choice comes down to how you want to use the smart display and which smart assistant you prefer.

Facebook’s 10-inch Portal is another option if you plan to use a smart display primarily for video calling, but it loses to the Echo Show 8 in effectively every other aspect.

If you do prefer Alexa, the new Echo Show 8 remains the best smart display to get, as it has a big enough screen to read from across the room, doubles as a great speaker, and comes with a host of camera-related features, including the aforementioned video calling and security camera features. It’s also over $100 less than the motorized Echo Show 10, while still providing many of the same features and capabilities. And given Amazon’s frequent discounts, you’ll likely be able to find the new Echo Show 8 for less than its sticker price quite often.

The new Echo Show 8 doesn’t redefine what a smart display can be, but it’s still a very good virtual assistant with a screen for an attractive price.

Photography by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Watch Apple’s WWDC Event Here at 10am PT

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Apple’s WWDC (short for worldwide developers conference, an interesting name for a string of commercials) event is back for its second virtual showing, and its keynote starts today at 10am PT/1pm ET. The event will continue through the week with workshop videos, lab appointments, challenges, etc. We’ve got the lowdown on everything you need to know about the event, including when it starts, where to watch it and what to expect.

When does WWDC start?

WWDC’s keynote starts at 10am PT/12pm CT/1pm ET. Apple’s State of the Union address will follow at 2pm PT/4pm CT/5pm ET. After that, developer sessions will be available free through both the Apple Developer website and the Apple Developer app.

Where to watch WWDC?

We’ve embedded the keynote livestream up top, so you can watch along right from this page. You can also click through to Apple’s YouTube channel to watch the keynote in a separate tab.

What to expect?

A report from Bloomberg has us expecting new redesigns for both the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air, as well as a potential M2 chip reveal. The report says that Apple currently plans to offer two different chips, codenamed Jade C-Chop and Jade C-Die, that would each have 8 high-performance cores and 2 energy-efficient cores. The M1 already boasts impressive power and battery life, so we’re curious to see how Apple’s gamble on in-house chips might continue to pay off.

How to watch Apple’s WWDC 2021 keynote

Apple’s hosting its second all-virtual Worldwide Developers Conference this year, and it seems like the company plans to squeeze in even more hardware announcements alongside its usual software updates. WWDC 2021 will run all week long, but things start off with the traditional Apple keynote on June 7th at 10AM PT / 1PM ET.

Apple is expected to try to win back professional users at WWDC by leaning in with a new more powerful M2 chip and a redesigned MacBook Pro that ditches maligned features like the Touch Bar and brings back the HDMI port and MagSafe. The new M2 is rumored to have double the processor and GPU cores, and it might not even be Apple’s top-of-the-line: the company is rumored to launch a more powerful iMac and Mac Pro sometime later this year.

WWDC 2021 may bring some equally big changes to iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. iPads might finally get an updated homescreen with fully customizable widgets, after years of mostly looking like a blown-up iPhone. Both operating systems are also rumored to get a new privacy menu for viewing the data apps use, notification settings that can be set around a user’s status (like if they’re driving or sleeping), and possibly a big update to iMessage and the Messages app that will make the service more of a social network.

That’s a whole lot to talk about, even ignoring minor changes to macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, but the company will be hosting developer sessions throughout the week to get into all of the details.

WHEN DOES WWDC 2021 START?

It starts at 1PM ET / 10AM PT / 6PM BST. Following the keynote, developer sessions will be available to watch online for free through June 11th via the Apple Developer website or the Apple Developer app.

WHERE CAN I WATCH WWDC 2021?

We’ll embed the keynote livestream up top, so you can watch from here once that’s up. Otherwise, head to these links below for more:

Tune in to The Verge’s Apple WWDC 2021 live blog for commentary and feelings
Apple is streaming the event live on its website and on YouTube
Follow @verge on Twitter
Keep an eye on @verge on Instagram for updates

YouTube’s TikTok competitor Shorts will soon let users sample audio from any YouTube video

Being able to sample audio from other users’ videos is one of TikTok’s greatest strengths. It allows memes to percolate across the platform and lets users discover new content by watching videos with the same sound. Soon, YouTube will expand this feature in its TikTok competitor, Shorts, letting users sample sounds from any content uploaded to YouTube.

YouTube officially announced this feature last month in a community support post, but tells The Verge it should now be available for the first time in new markets as part of the launch of Shorts in the UK, Canada, and a number of Latin American countries (including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela). The YouTube-sampling tool will then roll out to other Shorts markets including the US in the coming weeks.

Shorts users can already sample sounds from other Shorts videos (as well as from a library of licensed music). But this update will greatly expand the audio they have easy access to. The feature will funnel YouTube users into its Shorts feature via a new “Create” button in the mobile app. This will appear underneath videos next to the like and dislike buttons. Clicking it will give users the option to sample the video’s audio in Shorts. Shorts viewers will also be able to tap the audio in any video to head back to the original source in YouTube proper.

Shorts videos sampling audio from YouTube will link back to the original source.

Image: YouTube

This feature will allow longform creators “to benefit by allowing the community to find something interesting in their video,” YouTube’s product lead for Shorts, Todd Sherman, tells The Verge. Shorts users can create something with the sample audio, he says, and the creators of the audio will “get perhaps inbound traffic or exposure from that. From the longform creator perspective I think a lot of folks are excited to have their things remixed.”

Not all creators are happy about this, though. After YouTubers noticed a new check-box in the settings for their video uploads that gives Shorts users access to their audio, many complained that this would let people “steal” their content. Search for “YouTube Shorts permissions” on YouTube itself and you’ll find plenty of videos worrying about exactly this scenario, with thumbnails posing questions like: “YouTube legalized video stealing?”.

The permissions box seems to have been introduced before Shorts users were actually able to sample audio from YouTube videos. Right now it has to be unticked manually for each video, but Sherman tells The Verge the company is working on a bulk opt-out option.

IMPORTANT:

YouTube suddenly automatically checked “Yes” on EVERY YouTube video to allow them to be re-uploaded as Shorts on OTHER channels ???

Please let your YouTuber friends know that they have to go through and uncheck this setting on every video or risk stolen content… pic.twitter.com/b4rjiwmE2c

— Mysticat #Mysty200k (@MysticatLive) April 30, 2021

A YouTube-sampling feature could create other problems, too. A huge array of content has been uploaded to YouTube over the years, much of it sensitive or personal in nature. The uploaders of this content won’t necessarily want their videos to be sampled as this could enable harassment or abuse. Despite this, the sampling feature will be opt-out rather than opt-in. That means all YouTube videos will be sampleable by default, and creators will have to specify which videos they don’t want to be used in Shorts.

Sherman says YouTube is aware of these potential problems, but that the company’s discussions with creators has indicated more excitement. “There is some concern about examples of videos that you might think are personal or sensitive and that’s why creators have asked for the ability to opt out. But they also seem to recognize that it sort of doesn’t work if it’s very selectively an opt-in,” he says.

YouTube originally launched Shorts last September in India before bringing the feature to the US in March. Last month, the company announced plans to pay $100 million to creators to use the app, though exactly how much individual creators can earn isn’t clear.

Twitter may be close to launching Super Follows, as new research shows what it could look like

Twitter announced earlier this year it was working on a Super Follows feature that would allow some users to charge followers and give them access to extra content. On Sunday, app researcher Jane Manchun Wong tweeted screenshots of what she says it will look like.

According to Wong’s research, which is typically very accurate, the Super Follows program will be limited to Twitter users with at least 10,000 followers, who have posted at least 25 tweets within the past 30 days, and are at least 18 years old. As Twitter has referenced, one of the main features of Super Follows will be bonus content, such as exclusive tweets for Super Followers.

Wong also discovered a list of content categories that Super Follows users would choose from to describe their content (such as “sports” or “podcasting”), and notes that “adult content” and “OnlyFans” are listed as “content platforms” along with Facebook, Substack, Patreon, Twitch, and YouTube.

Twitter is working on Super Follows application

Requirements:

– Have at least 10000 followers

– Have posted at least 25 Tweets in past 30 days

– Be at least 18 years old

notably, “Adult content” and “OnlyFans” are mentioned in the category and platform sections https://t.co/qSEjh0ohm8 pic.twitter.com/yvkzx672V2

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) June 6, 2021

Twitter declined to comment about Wong’s latest research on Sunday. But It’s previously described the Patreon-like Super Follows feature as a kind of subscription, providing an example where a Super Follows user charged $4.99 per month for users to get access to “perks.”

It’s the latest direct payments feature Twitter has introduced in recent weeks; in May it began testing Tip Jar, which lets users make one-time payments to creators directly on Twitter by clicking a dollar bill icon on their Twitter profile. Twitter doesn’t take a cut of Tip Jar donations, which supports several payment options including Cash App, PayPal, and Venmo. It’s not clear how payments would be structured for Super Follows, but it seems likely Twitter would take a percentage.

Twitter’s product team has been busy this year, introducing several new features including its Twitter Blue subscription service which is testing in Canada and Australia. It’s also reopened, then closed, then reopened again its verification program, updated its warnings for potentially offensive tweets, improved its photo cropping algorithm to allow “taller” images to fully display in users’ feeds, added the ability for Android users to search their direct messages, and acquired Scroll, the $5-per-month subscription service that removes ads from participating websites.

Future Games Show Powered by WD_BLACK to Air June 13th

(Image credit: Future)

Just in time for E3 2021, the next edition of the Future Games Show is set to air. Run by our sister site, GamesRadar+, with sponsor WD_BLACK, the Future Games Show will feature game announcements, trailers and updates from more than 40 new PC and console titles when it airs on June 13th at 7 pm ET.

Airing on GamesRadar+ and social networks Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, the show will be hosted by Last of Us 2 voice actors Laura Bailey and Troy Baker. Participating game publishers include SEGA, Team17, Private Division and XSEED Games.

“Last year was arguably the most challenging year for games development,” Baker said. “Now we’re starting to see the games that will emerge this year and beyond. I’ve gotten a small peek behind the curtain and I can’t wait to pull that curtain back even further for you on June 13.”

(Image credit: Future)

The three previous Future games shows drew an audience of 45 million viewers combined. An official partner of E3, the show takes place on the same day as the PC Gaming Show, run by our other sister site PC Gamer. Starting at 2 pm ET, the PC Gaming show will feature 39 new game trailers and be hosted by Frankie Ward and Mica Burton.

“GamesRadar is thrilled to bring the Future Games Show to its widest audience yet as an official partner of E3 2021 and The /twitchgaming gathering,” said Daniel Dawkins, Content Director of Games and Film at Future Plc. “Our amazing hosts Troy Baker and Laura Bailey look forward to sharing some of the most exciting, quirky and anticipated games of 2021 and beyond; followed by unrivalled post-show coverage and deep-dives on gamesradar.com.”

Alienware M15 R5 Ryzen Edition review: the right parts at a high price

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The new Alienware M15 R5 Ryzen Edition is a slight undoing of progress, depending on how you look at it. As many gaming laptops are going thinner, this one is heavier and thicker than previous generations. Its design has been tweaked slightly in ways both good and bad, and it has fewer ports than before, too.

Despite all of that, it’s a cause for a small celebration because of the Ryzen processor it uses, marking AMD’s return to Alienware products after a 14-year gap when the brand exclusively used Intel CPUs. And it’s a welcome return, even if this laptop won’t appeal to everyone. AMD’s high-end mobile processors have been a boon to gaming laptops for the last couple of years, bringing long battery life and fast performance that sometimes outpaces and undercuts laptops that have competing Intel processors.

The Ryzen 7 5800H processor brings that magic to the M15 R5 Ryzen Edition, and gaming performance with its RTX 3060 doesn’t struggle to get above 60 FPS in graphically-demanding games — all thanks to being a high-wattage component. This R5 that I tested has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD for a total cost of about $1,616 currently, which isn’t cheap despite being close to the most affordable version that Alienware makes. If money isn’t an issue, it can be upgraded to the more powerful Ryzen 9 5900HX with Nvidia’s RTX 3070 and more storage and RAM for $2,379.

The high price is something that I couldn’t ignore while reviewing this laptop, especially since Dell (Alienware’s parent company) makes a $1,225 G15 Ryzen Edition that has similar GPU specs that should come close to what this pricier M15 R5 can do. And, if you can settle for a slightly lesser processor, there’s a $900 model in the works that has the RTX 3060, but it isn’t available yet.

The value doesn’t fare well outside of Dell’s world either. Asus is currently the go-to brand for excellent AMD-based gaming laptops that are easier to recommend for people who want something more portable and feature-packed, without sacrificing battery life. Compared to a similar M15 R5 configuration, the ROG Zephyrus G15 offers a QHD display, more storage, a better processor and a powerful RTX 3070 (albeit a lower-powered GPU than you’ll find in the M15 R5) for a few hundred dollars less. The new Strix G15 Advantage Edition looks more garish next to Alienware’s laptop, but it also has fast gaming performance and high-end features for a lower price. Neither of these models feature a webcam, but that might be something you can live without.

The M15 R5 is 19.25mm (0.75 inches) thick for most of the machine (thinner at the front, but slightly thicker in the back) and it weighs 5.34 pounds. Some configurations weigh more, going up to 5.93 pounds. Its heft is jarring if you’ve picked up an ultrabook recently, but it’s an asset in helping its high-wattage RTX 3060 graphics chip (125W maximum graphics power, 1,702MHz boost clock) to perform similarly to a low-wattage RTX 3070. Compared to thinner laptops that have a low-powered 3070, like Asus’ TUF Dash 15, Alienware’s laptop makes up for the difference in CUDA cores with sheer power. It will likely be a solid performer well into the future — perhaps longer than some lower-powered 3070s — despite having a technically lesser component. It’ll just be more of a chore to lug around.

The M15 R5 Ryzen Edition fared well while running some demanding games at their highest settings. Red Dead Redemption 2 managed to reach 63 frames per second. Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran at about 80 frames per second with its ray tracing shadows feature and DLSS switched on. Horizon Zero Dawn ran at an average of 68 frames per second. None of them came close to fully taking advantage of the default 1080p display’s 165Hz refresh rate, but most people likely have older games in their library that should be able to display at very fast frame rates on this laptop.

It didn’t take long for this laptop to make a good impression with gaming performance. It took even less time to learn that it gets warm to the touch even while idling with no apps, and that when games (especially graphically-demanding ones) are running, it can get very loud. A fast and quiet gaming laptop is an oxymoron, and the M15 R5 is really just one of many offenders. But I didn’t notice signs of thermal throttling after long periods of gaming, nor did I encounter unexplainable slow-down. You just might want to wear some headphones while gaming. The speakers shoot sound out of the sides of the laptop. It’s serviceable for YouTube videos or video calls, but it doesn’t deliver enough depth or bass for entertainment purposes.

This Ryzen-based gaming laptop can handle any sort of casual browser-based workflow with ease. It shouldn’t have surprised me that the M15 R5 has great battery life, since AMD’s processors have proven to bring efficiency to other gaming laptops, but it still did. This one’s 86Wh battery lasted for about seven hours of mixed use, through sustained use of Microsoft Edge with 10 or so tabs, Spotify, Slack, and some video calls. That’s great for an Alienware laptop. The M15 R3 that I reviewed last year clocked in at just one hour. Though, other AMD-based gaming laptops have the M15 R5 beat. The Strix G15 Advantage Edition lasted over nine hours for my colleague Monica Chin.

One area where the Ryzen Edition got a little hung up is with a video export test in Adobe Premiere Pro. Our video team’s five-minute, thirty-three second 4K file took just over seven minutes to finish exporting. That’s not a bad result, but it’s not going to be fast enough for creators to quickly turn around projects and not nearly as fast as laptops with Intel processors can manage.

The M15 R5’s design is different from earlier models in minor ways. Sometimes, it’s for the better. For instance, this newer model is matte-textured all around, including on its screen bezels, which looks better than the glossy bezels used in previous generations. Some people might like the M15 R3 and R4’s two-toned color design, but the R5 comes in a gunmetal silver color that is striking, and the black plastic covering the keyboard is relatively free of distractions, aside from the backlit keyboard and illuminated Alienware logo. One of my favorite changes is inside of the laptop: Alienware lets you easily upgrade the RAM and storage if you want. Some previous models had RAM soldered onto the motherboard, but this one’s more futureproof.

Alienware shuffled around the keyboard layout, though, and it’s worse off than before. The M15 R5’s keys are still enjoyable to type on, but I make more typing mistakes because the volume keys have been delegated to the right side of the keyboard instead of the top. Also, the arrow keys were previously positioned a little lower than the rest of the keyboard to make them easy to find, but those have been shoved up in this model, resulting in a smaller right shift key. This might not be a problem once you get accustomed to typing on the M15, but it still feels like a step backwards.

The port selection isn’t as generous, either. The Ryzen Edition features three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, an HDMI 2.1 port (capable of 4K output at up to 120Hz), a headphone jack, and a 2.5Gbps ethernet port. It’s not a bad lineup, but it could be better.

Missing from this model, and all other new models that Alienware recently unveiled, is the proprietary amplifier connector for its external GPU enclosure, which has been officially discontinued. Intel-based versions of Alienware’s newest laptops, like the M15 R6, X15, and X17, will support Thunderbolt eGPUs, but the M15 R5 won’t because it lacks a Thunderbolt port. So, you’re just stuck with the GPU that’s inside. Thankfully, the graphics performance is great by default, but there’s a lot of unused space on the R5’s rear where that amplifier port used to be. It would have been nice if Alienware had filled it with an SD card reader and an extra USB-C port.

The M15 R5’s performance didn’t come into question during my testing. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing the great battery life AMD’s processors bring, and it’s great that this GPU can hold its own next to pricier components like the RTX 3070.

But as a whole, Alienware missed the landing when it comes to value. If you want more features for your money, even if it involves swapping some of the M15 R5’s power for a QHD screen and better portability, you should look elsewhere. The M15 R5 isn’t the jaw-dropping value that it needed to be (and that I’d hoped it would be) to steer everyone away from the 2021 gaming laptop frontrunner (so far), the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream: how to watch the boxing from anywhere, full fight

Floyd ‘Money Man’ Mayweather is set for a blockbuster showdown with YouTube ‘personality’ Logan Paul at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Sunday 6th June. Mayweather has called the eight-round exhibition bout “legalised bank robbery”. It’s a $50 pay-per-view in the US but only £17 in the UK. Follow our guide on how to watch a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream from anywhere in the world.

Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream

Date: Sunday 6th June 2021

Venue: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL, USA

Start time: 1am BST / 8pm ET / 10am AEST

Mayweather vs Logan Paul: 4am BST / 11pm ET / 1pm AEST

UK stream: Sky Sports Box Office (£16.95)

Watch anywhere: Try ExpressVPN

US stream: Showtime ($49.99)

AUS stream: Main Event ($49.99)

Rest of world: Fanmio ($49.99)

So, can one of greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all time beat one of social media’s biggest stars? Mayweather vs Logan Paul: Bragging Rights certainly got off to a spicy start this week when Mayweather allegedly punched Logan Paul’s brother at the press conference.

“It’s one thing to sell a fight, and people can say what they want, but one thing no one is going to do, is disrespect me,” Mayweather fumed. “The boxing was the mashed potatoes. I guess these guys now are the gravy.”

Mayweather is undefeated (50-0, 27 KOs) having ended his professional career with a 10th-round stoppage of UFC star Conor McGregor back in August 2017. The Money Man might be a 44-year-old dad of five, but his famous speed and accuracy makes him clear favourite to take this bout.

That said, 26-year-old Logan Paul will be 30lb heavier when he steps into the ring and has a 4-inch reach advantage over his opponent. Paul returns to the ring for the first time after losing to fellow social media star KSI in November by split decision.

It’s an exhibition, so there will be no judges and no official winner. Knock outs will be the referee’s decision. The eight three-minute rounds will be boxed without headgear. The packed undercard features former NFL star wide receiver Chad Johnson making his boxing debut against Brian Maxwell.

Sunday’s unmissable PPV is much cheaper in some countries than in others. Here’s how to find a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream from anywhere in the world…

Watch Mayweather vs Logan Paul for only £16.95

(Image credit: Sky Sports Box Office)

UK boxing fans can catch this weekend’s big fight live on Sky Sports Box Office for £16.95. Some have grumbled at the price but it’s less than half what it costs in other countries. So, in that sense, it’s a bargain.

If you’re a UK citizen trying to watch from the US or Australia, you can always use a VPN to access a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream from anywhere in the world. We recommend ExpressVPN as it comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

You don’t have to be a Sky subscriber. You can watch Mayweather vs Logan Paul online through the Sky Sports Box Office app and website. Simply set up a Box Office account, buy the fight, and you’re good to go.

Mayweather vs Logan Paul: Get the big fight for £16.95

Sky Sports has the rights to the epic Mayweather vs Logan Paul exhibition boxing match. Non-Sky customers can stream the event live for only £16.95 across a range of mobile devices including the iPad. Order in advance and ready for the big fight!

Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream anywhere in the world using a VPN

Even if you have subscribed to the relevant Mayweather vs Logan Paul rights holders, you won’t be able to access these streaming services when outside your own country. The service will know your location based on your IP address, and will automatically block your access.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, such that the servers and services you’re accessing aren’t aware of what you’re doing. All the information passing back and forth is entirely encrypted.

There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we’d suggest a paid-for service such as ExpressVPN.

Try ExpressVPN risk-free for 30 days

ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money back guarantee with its VPN service. You can use it to watch Canelo vs Saunders on your mobile, tablet, laptop, TV, games console and more. There’s 24/7 customer support and three months free when you sign-up.

US: Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream

(Image credit: Showtime)

US boxing fans looking for a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream will need to pay-per-view. Showtime has the exclusive and is charging $49.99. Ouch.

UK boxing fans who find themselves in the States this weekend can use a VPN to watch the boxing via Sky Box Office for only £16.95. We recommend ExpressVPN as it comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

Brian Custer, the veteran sportscaster, will host the Showtime event and will be joined by Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, hosts of the hit late-night Desus & Mero show. The duo will provide their brand of off-the-wall commentary throughout the night.

The Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream will be available through Showtime’s website and apps (iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Android TV, Apple TV 4th Gen+, Xbox One).

Australia: Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream

Aussie boxing fans can order a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream through Main Event. The price? A one-off fee of AU$49.95.

UK boxing fans who find themselves in Oz this weekend can use a VPN to watch the boxing via Sky Box Office for only £16.95. We recommend ExpressVPN as it comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

Rest of the World: Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream

Not in the UK, US or Australia this weekend? Fanmio has you covered. The streaming site is charging $49.99 for pay-per-view access. It’s not cheap but the price does include a limited edition Mayweather vs Logan Paul T-shirt (you have to the pay the shipping, though, so it’s not entirely ‘free’).

Mayweather vs Logan Paul free live stream

Sadly there are no opportunities for get yourself a Mayweather vs Logan Paul free live stream. The cheapest option is Sky Sports Box Office in the UK (£16.95)

Mayweather vs Logan Paul fight card

(Image credit: Sky Sports Box Office)

Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul – Exhibition

Badou Jack vs Dervin Colina – Light Heavyweight

Jarrett Hurd vs Luis Arias – Middleweight

Chad Johnson vs Brian Maxwell – Cruiserweight

Jean Carlos Torres vs Zack Kuhn – Junior Welterweight

Adrian Benton vs Pedro Angel Cruz – Lightweight

Micky Scala vs Adam Ramirez – Junior Middleweight

Dorian Khan vs Jonathan Conde – Featherweight

Jalil Hackett vs Angelo Diaz – Welterweight

Viddal Riley vs Quintell Thompson – Cruiserweight

Mayweather vs Logan Paul tale of the tape

Name: Floyd ‘Money Man’ Mayweather – Logan ‘The Maverick’ Paul

Nationality: American – American

Date of birth: 24th Feb 1977 – 1st April 1995

Height: 5ft 8 inches – 6ft 2 inches

Reach: 72 inches – 76 inches

Total fights: 50 – 1

Record: 50-0, 27 KOs – 0-1, 0 KOs

Floyd Mayweather on Logan Paul

“It’s going to be fun. It’s what I do. There’s a difference between being a YouTube fighter and an elite fighter. I’m a fighter, and I don’t worry about anything. I’ve been a professional for 25 years, and I’ve fought the best and seen every style, and I always came out on top.

“Why not fight Logan Paul? He’s huge on YouTube. He has a huge following. Before I even knew about YouTube, I was huge in boxing. And when you bring his world with my world, man, it’s going to be crazy.

“I never worry about the height or size. It’s all about the skills. That’s one thing about Floyd Mayweather. I’ve got skills.

“The boxing was the mashed potatoes. I guess these guys now are the gravy. I retired from boxing, but I didn’t retire from entertainment or from making money.”

Logan Paul on Floyd Mayweather

“I didn’t choose boxing; boxing chose me. I got challenged to box, and I answered that challenge. I kind of fell perfectly into the sport. Truthfully, boxing is easier on the body than MMA. MMA is hard. I got bad knees. I’m old now. I’m ageing. My upper body is strong, and I have dense bones. My strength is all in my upper body.

“I’m going in there with that energy, and he’s got everything to lose. There’s a lot on the table for him, not a lot on the table for me, and that’s a dangerous man… It’s a fight, so anything can happen.”

Box clever with the best TVs: budget to premium

The tiny Playdate handheld gets a price bump but double the games

Panic is finally sharing some more information about its delayed Playdate, the tiny yellow handheld with a crank. The quirky little gadget is going up in price, launching at $179 instead of $149, but its first “season” of games that will be rolled out to the Playdate over time is being doubled from 12 to 24. The device will also have 4GB of storage instead of 2GB.

The company is also announcing a Playdate Update video set for June 8th at 12PM ET where it will share news, a look at games coming to the device, and information on preorders. The company says that preorders won’t go up immediately following the update, so don’t worry if you can’t catch the show live. You’ll be able to watch the 15-minute Playdate Update on Panic’s YouTube channel.

Panic first announced the Playdate in 2019 with an expected early 2020 ship date, but that date eventually slipped to 2020 and then to 2021. The handheld was designed in collaboration with Swedish hardware company Teenage Engineering, and you can look forward to games from renowned indie developers like Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi and Good Sudoku creator Zach Gage. Personally, I can’t wait to see what developers do with that crank.