If you rely on Google Maps to help you navigate while driving, then maybe it’s time to celebrate as Google has finally fixed Android Auto’s annoying dark mode issue.
Before the update dropped, Android smartphone users may have noticed that Android Auto always loads Google Maps in dark mode. Even if your smartphone and personal settings were configured, you were forced to follow a dark map on your travels.
Now all light mode fans can rejoice with Google Maps 11.35.1 update. silently fixed the problem (via self-evolution (opens in new tab)). The same site also notes that an official thread of users discussing the issue has been removed by Google, perhaps indicating that the issue is a thing of the past.
While being forced into dark mode was a fairly minor inconvenience, if you’re relying on the service for a long drive, the design might irritate you if you find it ugly. Also, some users may find the light mode easier to read. So being forced into a different design can make car travel less easy for them.
The update should automatically roll out to all Google Maps users in the next few days if it hasn’t already.
Now that you’re back to driving using Google Maps, check out these awesome features that can save you gas money.
It’s not surprising that a big game like Elden Ring harbors significant cut content, and a modder has just restored a previously deleted questline for a key NPC.
YouTuber Sekiro Dubi is a well-known figure in Elden Ring circles. Having previously discovered removed dialogue for Miriel, a removed questline for Vyke, and more, his latest discovery centers on Merchant Kalé. One of the first NPCs encountered in the game, he was seen in Elleh’s Church, but now we find that he’s already played a much bigger role.
Appearing in a questline cut at the end of the game, we would have seen the nomad Merchant Kalé moving around the map after you fight Godrick. He makes some intriguing suggestions about the Elden Ring lore. You can watch this quest in action by yourself.
Be aware that this video contains significant endgame spoilers for Elden Ring:
Kalé’s quest focuses on finding the Great Caravan, a land linked to the origins of these nomadic merchants. After finding it in several locations, we arrive at the Subterranean Shunning Grounds, which is littered with dead bodies. This would have revealed that this is Kalé’s own people, cruelly hit by the Three Fingers, which leaves him in a furious rage. It’s a depressing tale, one that would have confirmed a previously suggested connection between the two mysterious groups.
A treasure trove of cut content
It’s no secret that content is often cut during video game development. Sometimes this is necessary to reign in scope, or maybe a feature just doesn’t fit the mold anymore. Over the years, dataminers have discovered endless Dark Souls content, so it’s no surprise that it’s happening again with Elden Ring.
In April, modder Lance McDonald researched Elden Ring’s November 2021 network test build, finding that you could originally get NPCs drunk. Once drunk, NPCs would share secrets with you. Also, last month, Twitter user JesterPatches discovered scrapped plans for a potential weapon and armor durability system.
As for what’s to come, FromSoftware has yet to officially confirm any plans for post-launch content. While it’s been secretly changing the Elden Ring map between updates, dataminers may have discovered the first Elden Ring DLC back in March, which appears to provide a coliseum for PvP battles. I hope it doesn’t take too long for us to learn more.
Casio will launch the Pro Trek PRW-3400 outdoor adventure watch in July, a dual LCD watch with navigation tools made from sustainable “biomass plastics”.
First reported by the Casio fan blog G-Central (opens in new tab) and outdoor location adventure (opens in new tab), the watch brings back the dual dual-layer LCD screens seen on previous Pro Trek models. The deeper, embedded layer shows the time like a standard digital clock, but the top layer reveals information for the included altimeter/barometer, compass, and thermometer, as well as sunrise and sunset times.
The compass heading is displayed across the entire round screen, with large heading markers that rotate with the watch bezel. He won’t plan your route for you like some of the best running watches or adventure watches can, but they will help you read a map much more accurately, calculating your position and altitude, as well as temperature and the amount of sunlight left to reach your objective.
The Pro Trek PRW-3400 also comes with solar charging technology with battery extension, ensuring you don’t get stuck in the desert. It also features automatic Multi-Band 6 radio time adjustment, 100 meter water resistance and a full LED light. It is tailor-made for the outdoors.
However, one of the biggest attractions of this watch that we have only covered is the materials it is made of. The watch case, urethane strap and caseback are made from biomass plastic, a renewable material made from oils derived from castor and corn seeds. Other Pro Trek models also use this material instead of petroleum-based plastics, such as the Pro Trek PRW-6611Y-1 and PRW-6621Y-1 released earlier this year.
The watch is slated to launch in Japan-only in July, priced at 44,000 yen (about $320 in the US and £260 in the UK) and coming in black and brown. However, like other Pro Trek models, we expect it to hit other markets later this year.
Analysis: The digital revolution continues
As digital watches become more advanced without relying on smart but potentially invasive fitness metrics, it seems we are on the cusp of another digital watch revolution. The built-in compass, barometer, sunrise and sunset times of this latest Casio Pro Trek offers plenty of specialist tools for adventurers without access to notifications, internet, GPS and all the usual smart functionality.
There’s something to be said for a move towards “dumb” digital watches over smart offerings: after all, you go out into the desert to get away from most of your screens. There is an element of satisfaction in returning to a more analogue way of life, but digital watches allow you to keep some handy tools for outdoor activities or for surfing and running, as was the case with these G-SQUAD and G-LIDE watches we covered last month.
All of this is compounded by the usual sustainability concerns that come with buying electronics. However, this digital clock comes with serious ecological credibility thanks to the use of biomass plastics and a solar-powered battery. While you are in nature, you are also being kind to it.
It’s a great Casio story, built around what is sure to be a popular watch among rugged types as you swim, walk and run to other countries. So all you need is a pair of cheap running shoes and you’re ready to hit the trails.
The financial system of Starfield’s world may play a bigger role in the game than many suspected, as fans have uncovered more hints that Bethesda’s upcoming sci-fi RPG will involve an interstellar banking system.
Excited Starfield fans have been meticulously scouring their footage of the game since they were first shown during the recent Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. While detectives had previously noted that the character creation scheme mentioned a mortgage system and a fictitious company called GalBank, more hidden references to the bank were seen in Starfield’s environment.
On a Reddit post (opens in new tab), u/Reasonabledwarf pointed out that the first letters of the GalBank brand can be seen on the side of a building in New Atlantis, one of Starfield’s four largest cities. Other redditor (opens in new tab)meanwhile, noticed that a GalBank-branded building is briefly shown on the planet Neon (check it out in the video below).
Although small, these appearances give us a small indication of how banks will work in the game. It looks like GalBank will be physically present in the world of Starfield, and visitors can visit the bank at set locations.
This sounds quite similar to the banking system included in Daggerfall – the second game in The Elder Scrolls series. Banks could be found in all major regions of Daggerfall and allowed the player to deposit gold into their personal account, take out loans at an interest rate of 10%, and even buy and sell houses. If you ever default on a loan, your reputation in that bank’s region would drop.
speculative investment
There’s still no confirmation that Starfield’s banking system is as robust as Daggerfall’s, but it’s possible. The idea that players can take out mortgages on character creation and enter a GalBank branch later in the game suggests that a rather complex banking system will be present in Starfield.
It certainly wouldn’t be out of place. Starfield’s NASA-punk world-building was designed to be familiar. Talking about Starfield’s design for Xbox Wire (opens in new tab) earlier this year, lead artist Istvan Pely said that Bethesda “wanted a very realistic vision” of a sci-fi future, and players should be able to “draw a line from current space technology and extrapolate from there to the future.” future, so it’s believable and relatable.” The banking sector is certainly a believable aspect of a distant and spatial future.
There’s a lot more to get excited about too. A keen fan spotted a science easter egg hidden in Starfield’s character creation menu, and the fine print on Xbox Game Pass hinted at when the game might finally be released. TRG’s editor-in-chief isn’t overly impressed, however, and reckons Starfield is already losing the space race.
Accessing PDF files in Microsoft Teams should be much easier soon, thanks to a new update to the video conferencing platform.
Microsoft has announced that it is working to make the PDF experience much smoother for users of the popular Adobe Acrobat tool.
That is, Microsoft Teams admins will soon be able to set Adobe Acrobat as the default PDF editing app, removing the annoying headaches and frustrations currently caused whenever a user needs to open one of the files.
Microsoft notes that the change will allow admins to adjust current PDF preferences in the Teams admin center, allowing users to view and edit files using Adobe Acrobat by default.
The company notes that it expects to have a preview of the update ready this month and will roll out the tool to all Microsoft Teams users on the Mac, web and desktop versions of the platform.
The news is the latest productivity update added to Microsoft Teams as the company looks to ensure it remains a useful hybrid work (opens in new tab) tool.
This includes the recent addition of updates aimed primarily at improving audio quality in Microsoft Teams calls using AI and machine learning.
In what will be good news for many Microsoft Teams users, the new updates, the result of using a machine learning model trained on 30,000 hours of speech samples, include echo cancellation, better audio tuning in poor acoustic environments, and allow users to speak and listen at the same time without interruption.
The company also intends to bring the so-called “Microsoft Teams 2.0 (opens in new tab)” to corporate devices coming soon, previously limiting it to consumer accounts only.
Directly integrated into the new Windows 11 chat app, Microsoft Teams 2.0 supports native Windows calling, messaging, audio controls, meeting management and notifications, and now also allows users to resize windows and quote replies directly. from the conversation tab.
The long-awaited return of affordable mirrorless cameras is likely to continue this year, with the rumored OM System OM-5 getting a possible release date for its potential battle with the Canon EOS R7.
The OM-5 is expected to be the cheaper sibling of the OM System OM-1, which is one of the best mirrorless cameras we’ve seen in 2022. And the generally reliable 43 Rumors (opens in new tab) states that the new camera “will be announced at the end of September and will begin shipping in October”.
The site backed up their claims by saying that it “is now 99.9% sure that OM Digital will announce the new OM-5 at the end of September”, so this is not a wild rumor. The launch would also make sense as the company’s second new camera since it officially bought the Olympus camera division in January 2021.
While the OM-5 is not expected to be a direct successor to the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III, it will likely play a similar role to that camera in the OM System lineup – being a mid-range option for those who can’t afford to. extend to the main model. If so, that would put it on a collision course with the Canon EOS R7, which is the new mid-range model in Canon’s EOS R lineup.
At the moment, we don’t have any rumors about the OM System OM-5 specs, but we can make some assumptions about what we can expect from it in September. It seems likely that the camera will inherit the OM-1’s new 20MP Micro Four Thirds stacked sensor, which we’ve found to have vastly improved AF performance compared to previous Olympus cameras.
This sensor also powers fast burst-mode shooting speeds of up to 50 fps in its silent electronic mode or 120 fps with fixed focus. Where exactly the OM-5 will cut costs to get that lower price is unclear, but in the past the E-M5 series has done so in areas such as EVF (electronic viewfinder), video performance, and the inclusion of just a single video slot. card.
Still, if OM Digital manages to pack photography computational intelligence and OM-1-like autofocus powers into a smaller, more affordable package, it could have another Micro Four Thirds winner on its hands.
Analysis: The fight for the middle ground
The OM System OM-1 (above) brought updated computational modes that can filter down to the OM-5. (Image credit: Future)
In early 2022, we feared there was a permanent hole in the middle of the mirrorless camera market, with manufacturers focusing on full-frame flagships and smartphones continuing to evolve into hobbyist cameras. But this year we were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of new mid-range models – and the OM System OM-5 may be one of the strongest.
During our review of the OM System OM-1, we were convinced that the camera’s phone-like computational tricks – such as Live ND, Focus Stacking and High Res Shot – are the future of mirrorless cameras. The OM-1 still has its flaws, like average subject tracking autofocus, but if the OM-5 can inherit its many good sides, it could be a good new choice for travel or wildlife photographers.
That said, the cheaper Canon EOS R7 and the cheaper EOS R10 are also becoming new options in this space. We haven’t been able to fully test either of these cameras yet, but during our hands-on review of the Canon EOS R7 we were very impressed with its autofocus performance, not to mention the potential value offered by its $1,499 / £1,349 / AU$2,349 body-only price. .
With other rivals like the Fujifilm X-H2 likely to launch in September, it looks like this price point will be the main battleground for mirrorless cameras this year. And if that’s still too expensive in these tough financial times, buying a second-hand DSLR or mirrorless camera is still a good option to consider.
New York audio specialist Master & Dynamic has just released the new MW75 wireless ANC over-ears, and just look at them! On aesthetics alone, they’re bound to give Apple’s AirPods Max (and any of the best headphones currently on the market) a run for their money.— and speaking of money, they come at a price to make Apple make a dramatic turnaround, too.
Let’s cut to the chase: cost-of-living crisis be damned, Master & Dynamic’s new premium headphones are $599 / £549 / €599, which is pretty expensive – and by that we mean they’re as expensive as the launch price of Apple’s premium headphones (which arrived in December 2020 with an order fee of $549 / £549 / AU$899).
On the other hand, the aforementioned AirPods Max and even the new headphones recently teased by Sennheiser are proof that there are still plenty of people willing (and able) to buy high-end headphones.
Opinion: There is still a market for luxury headphones, as long as they are sonically excellent
A premium luxury product from M&D. We hope the sound is just as beautiful. (Image credit: Master & Dynamic)
Master & Dynamic’s MW75 wireless headphones support Bluetooth 5.1 (AirPods Max supports Bluetooth 5.0) and angled 40mm beryllium drivers, plus adaptive noise cancellation serviced by four microphones in total.
M&D says there are three ANC modes to choose from, including an ambient listening mode that you can deploy in the M&D Connect app. Said app is also the place to customize the MW75’s sound using the promised EQ adjustments.
The battery claim is also up to 32 hours, or 28 with ANC turned on – remember, you’ll only get 20 hours from the AirPods Max on a full charge.
A 15-minute quick charge also gives you six hours of playback (quick reference: five minutes of charging gives you about 1.5 hours of listening time with the AirPods Max) and there’s user detection to pause the music when removing them from your head .
This is Master & Dynamic, so we expect premium accessories and extras in general, and the company has not let us down. You get an additional 3.5mm USB-C cable, ¼-inch adapter, a dual-plug overhead line adapter for listening with onboard computers/air services, plus a hard travel case.
And luxury is certainly the name of the game here. The earphones are made of lightweight and durable aluminum; the cushions are a high quality combination of soft leather, memory foam and lambskin.
The Master & Dynamic MW75 comes in a choice of Gunmetal with Black Leather, Silver Metal with Gray Leather, Silver Metal with Brown Leather or Black Metal with Black Leather. Will be available from master and dynamic (opens in new tab) on June 28, 2022, and while we can’t guarantee the sound yet, we hope to be able to report back soon.
Here’s the thing: Apple’s AirPods Max offer easy access to the Cupertino giant’s proprietary and hugely popular Spatial Audio, which is a remarkable party trick to keep in your back pocket – and remember, an upgrade promising custom Spatial Audio is coming with iOS 16.
Can Master & Dynamic compete with this? Yup. Because some of us listen to Tidal streams or Qobuz albums downloaded on our high resolution MP3 players. But the sound has to be really, really good… we’ll find out soon.
Microsoft is well known for putting products like the Edge browser and the Bing search engine under our noses at every opportunity. But some people are just discovering that the software giant is happy to pay users to use its services, for example offering Minecraft ‘Minecoins’ to users who make the switch – a marketing tactic that seems to target a younger audience.
Getting paid to use Edge or Bing isn’t a new thing – Microsoft Rewards has been offered for a few years now and rewards users with points for using the products for an extended period.
Currently, the Microsoft Rewards website (opens in new tab) states that you can earn five points per survey on Bing, and these points can be redeemed for other rewards such as gift cards or vouchers for various retailers such as Starbucks or Amazon.
This isn’t even the first time Microsoft has tried to use games to entice Windows 10 and Windows 11 users to jump ship, as points can be redeemed for Xbox Gift Cards, Game Pass Ultimate, and even other in-game currency, like Roblox’s ‘Roux’, and it’s worth mentioning that Microsoft bounties have been offering Minecraft-related content for some time now.
Reddit User u/TrueTech0 posted a screenshot of a marketing box on the PCMR forum showing that in this case you will be rewarded with 330 Minecoins if you join the rewards program and use the Bing on the Edge browser for five days.
These ‘Minecoins’ are used to purchase custom content on the Minecraft Marketplace, but only if you use the Bedrock version of the game. For Java users, you can modify the game for free with online downloads, something Bedrock users cannot do, but Bedrock does have some advantages – namely, raytracing capabilities and lower system requirements.
This also means that Bedrock’s player base tends to be younger than the Java servers, as the game will run on almost anything. But while marketing software to kids using in-app coins seems like an immediate red flag, there is a gray area in all of this. After all, many adults also play Minecraft and Roblox, but it’s hard to see that this won’t appeal to kids who don’t have access to real-world money to buy in-game currency.
Date is a girls best friend
Microsoft Rewards won’t give you real money, so imagine it’s Vbucks or something. (Image credit: Shutterstock/pathdoc)
Microsoft isn’t trying to market these bounties to kids as a rampant supervillain – marketing is marketing at the end of the day, and that doesn’t stop when it comes to children’s interests, as we can see in other ads in the industry, from cereal and fast food to channels. from YouTube.
However, this begs the question: what does Microsoft gain by claiming market share on a free service? The answer is really simple – it’s information.
Your data is valuable, so it’s not surprising that companies like Google and Microsoft are so intent on retaining users, but this type of marketing is unlikely to be nefarious in any way, even if it seems morally ambiguous. Google Chrome also collects some of your data, as do almost all other web browsers, unless you go to a specialist to prevent this from happening or disable data sync in your settings where available.
Younger children may also lack the technical skills to follow the onscreen instructions to make the switch. But given how quickly they can learn how to use the devices, I wouldn’t say it’s too preemptive – I clearly remember installing using proxies to access flash games on my school computers when I barely hit puberty, and Microsoft easily guides you through making an exchange, you should read some marketing material.
It’s probably nothing to worry about
Edge doesn’t get the love it deserves considering its improvements over the past few months. (Image credit: Shutterstock.com/monticello)
Still, I hesitate to vilify Microsoft for any of this, because they’re not really going beyond what their competitors are doing in regards to data collection – the only difference is that you can get something in return, no doubt for free, if I don’t believe your data has any value.
Microsoft rewards are restricted to US residents (except Puerto Rico), but if you want to install the Edge web browser and set your default search engine to Bing, you can earn a small amount of cash (in voucher form) simply using your device as normal.
If you allow younger children to access your personal devices, make sure you have filters or parental settings in place, as Bing is known as a preferred browser for finding… ahem, adult content and these rewards will be linked to your personal Microsoft account.
There’s the added benefit that Edge really is a fantastic web browser these days, especially if you’re migrating from Chrome – they both run on Chromium, so they support many of the same extensions, and Edge doesn’t take up as much of your memory. .
Just remember that it’s a personal choice which of the best browsers and search engines you install, so don’t let Microsoft’s heavy-handed marketing tactics push you into anything unless you’re interested in making money at some point. .
Github has announced that its AI-powered coding assistant, Copilot, has entered general availability.
Released in private preview last yearGitHub Copilot is now available to all developers for a price of $10/month or $100/year – and at no cost to students and network maintainers. open code projects.
Github says the full-scale release of Copilot marks the “first time in software history” that AI can be widely deployed to assist with code composition.
GitHub Copilot has arrived
GitHub Copilot made an impact when it was first announced in 2021, promising a significant increase in productivity courtesy of dynamic coding suggestions for developers.
“When you enter code or comments, GitHub Copilot suggests the next line of code. But it’s not just a single word or line of code. GitHub Copilot can suggest complete methods, boilerplate code, complete unit tests, and even complex algorithms.
The tool also integrates with a wide range of development environmentsfrom Neovim to Visual Studio and JetBrains IDEs.
Some people have registered concerns about the potential for Copilot code to introduce costly inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities into projects; after all, the code generated by the service is imperfect. Meanwhile, others have raised questions about code ownership and legal responsibilities.
In general, however, the tool seems to have been well received by the developer community. Since its initial launch, more than 1.2 million people have tried Copilot, a third of whom remain regular users. According to Github, nearly 40% of newly written code is now suggested by Copilot in projects supported by the service.
“Just like the rise of compilers and open source, we believe that AI-assisted coding will fundamentally change the nature of software development, giving developers a new tool to write code easier and faster so they can be happier. in their lives,” said GitHub.
Now that Copilot has been made available to individual developers, the next step will be for Github to bring the service to large development teams. The company says it will allow enterprise customers to buy large licenses from multiple places through the end of the year.
Anker is releasing a new pair of wireless athletic headphones under its Soundcore brand, which feature a unique hook design to fit snugly in your ears.
They’re called the Sport X10 headphones and were, the company says, made with comfort in mind. in a statement (opens in new tab), Anker claims that people have complained about how the athletic headphones have a “bulky design” and often fall off during a sweaty workout. Anker’s solution was to add ear hooks that can rotate 210 degrees so people can adjust the buttons until they find the sweet spot.
To combat sweat, the Sport X10 has a water resistance rating of IPX7 (opens in new tab) which means they can be submerged up to one meter (about three feet) underwater. The devices also feature Soundcore’s SweatGuard technology to protect “against the corrosive properties of sweat”. Anker is so confident about the X10’s water resistance that it claims you can rinse the headphones under a tap after an intense workout and they’ll still work.
drums and sound
In addition to sweat protection and hooks, the Sport X10 buttons have a very long battery life and a variety of features for optimal audio. On a single charge, they can last up to eight hours or 32 hours when used together with the charging case. Anker has also added a fast charging feature to allow for “two hours of playtime” after a 10-minute charge.
Under the hood, the Sport X10 features 10mm dynamic drivers with Soundcore’s BassUp feature that adjusts the bass level of a song in real-time. You can also control the sound of the headphones by connecting them to the Soundcore app (available on iOS and Android) and selecting one of 22 EQ presets. For people who want even more control, the app has a custom 9-band EQ setting to fine-tune the finest details.
Other notable features include a six-microphone system for making calls and hybrid noise cancellation to block out ambient noise. On a windy day, you can enable Wind Noise Reduction in the app to further improve call quality. On the other hand, the headphones have a Transparency mode so you can hear the outside world and pay attention to what’s going on.
And the last important feature for the Sport X10 headphones is stereo mode (opens in new tab) to control the songs. For example, pressing the right earphone twice plays or pauses a song while pressing the left button twice skips a track.
While not as impressive as the Sony WF-1000XM4 wireless headphones, the Sport X10 is still a decent package. The headphones are available in the US ($79), Europe (€99), UK (£89) and Canada ($119 CAD). You can get the black or white pair of oats at Soundcore website (opens in new tab) or amazon (opens in new tab). A red model is planned to be released between late July and early August; no exact date.
If you’re looking for a good pair of sports headphones, has a list of the best for 2002.
