Four years ago, I reviewed the Xbox Elite Controller. I called it the best gamepad that I’ve ever used, and it maintained that title … until now. Microsoft is following up the Elite with the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, and it is taking up the torch from its predecessor.
On November 4, Microsoft will begin shipping the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 for $180. The expensive…
DeepMind AI now keeps up with 'StarCraft II' Grandmasters
October 31, 2019
DeepMind’s StarCraft II AI can already hang with human players, but now it’s ready to handle the best of the best. The team has revealed that its AlphaStar AI can play one-on-one matches in the real-time strategy game at a Grandmaster level for all three…
US Census Bureau to use iOS devices for data collection and management in 2020 census
October 30, 2019
Apple CFO Luca Maestri said today that the US Census Bureau is adopting iOS devices for next year’s census. Maestri explained that the adoption of iOS devices will help the Census Bureau produce “quality results” and lower costs.
By using iOS devices, the US Census…
Steam's redesigned Library is available to everyone
October 30, 2019
Your Steam game collection is about to look decidedly different. Valve has released a Steam update that brings the redesigned Library to everyone, giving you a smarter (and hopefully easier) view of your catalog. There’s now a central hub with game news, friend activity, recent games and the Collections you create either by hand or with search criteria. You’ll also see Events that…
AliveCor and Xiaomi-backed Huami will co-develop ECG wearables
October 30, 2019
After making an early splash with portable ECG accessories for smartphones, AliveCor has fought to remain relevant as smartwatches have grown to include similar heart monitoring tools. Today, the company announced a deal with Huami — the Xiaomi-backed smart wearable maker…
Zynga reported mixed results for the third quarter that ended September 30, beating revenue and bookings expectations but falling short on its profits after adjusting for one-time gains.
It’s a bit complicated to figure out, as Zynga is doing a lot better than it said it…
The latest Windows 10 Insider build gets new PowerToys
October 30, 2019
The latest Microsoft Windows 10 preview build (19013) for Insiders in the Fast Ring includes new kaomoji shortcuts, the latest version of PowerToys and a Linux update that will send unused power back to your Windows machine. There’s also a key change for Samsung phones using the Your Phone app.
Microsoft first added kaomoji shortcuts (Japanese emoticons with especially expressive faces) to…
Microsoft is planning several updates to its Outlook app for iPhone and iPad. As explained byThe Verge, Microsoft will roll out features such as iPad Split View, smart folders, and more to the Outlook app over the coming weeks.
With Split View support, you can run…
Apple TV app arrives on Android TV by way of some Sony models
October 30, 2019
Apple is pushing its way into the streaming TV market and that means debuting apps on other platforms. This week, the Apple TV app has made its way over to Android TV, at least on select Sony Bravia models.
Our colleagues at were first…
RhythmNet uses AI to estimate your heart rate using your face
October 30, 2019
A wearable heart rate monitor is one thing, but what about a system that’s able to estimate a person’s heartbeat from footage of their face alone? That’s what researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences set out to design in a preprint paper published on Arxiv.org. In it, they describe RhythmNet, an end-to-end trainable heart rate estimator that taps AI and photoplethysmography (PPG) —…
