Atari’s repeatedly delayed VCS console is nearly ready two years after its announcement. The team has revealed that the first 500 (or so) Atari VCS production models should leave the factory by mid-June. That will still leave the majority of Atari’s 11,597 crowdfunding backers waiting, but the team “cautiously” expects that production for those will get underway this summer now that the parts are available.
Things are still falling into place. Atari has yet to detail the full software lineup for the VCS even with a game subscription deal locked in. Nonetheless, this is good news for backers worried that multiple delays, changing specs and behind-the-scenes drama might prevent the system from shipping.
Whether or not the VCS succeeds is another matter. It’s a relatively powerful device for the money with an embedded Ryzen chip and some PC-like functionality, but there’s no guarantee it’ll be the nostalgia-inducing console of your dreams, particularly if the Atari 2600 doesn’t mean much to you.
Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly suggested to President Donald Trump, in a roundabout fashion, that perhaps the poster-in-chief could tone it down a little. For him? Pretty please?
Axios reports that two sources familiar with a phone call Trump made to the Facebook CEO on Friday said that Zuckerberg did not make any specific requests of the president, but conveyed "concerns" about his "tone and rhetoric," expressed disagreement with recent sentiments, and told the president that his choice of words "put Facebook in a difficult position."
The latter is likely a reference to the fact that Facebook has faced increased pressure to moderate the president's statements on the platform, which regularly contain outright lies, misinformation, and inflammatory rhetoric. Read more...
Never mind a text character crashing your phone — if you’re on Android, your choice of wallpaper could be a larger problem. Users have discovered (via Android Authority and 9to5Google) that an innocuous landscape photo is “soft-bricking” some Android phones when it’s used as a background. Your phone isn’t completely dead if it happens, but it’ll get stuck in a loop that turn the lock screen on and off, even after a reboot. Your recourses are to either use safe mode to delete the photo file or use the bootloader to reset the device entirely.
The issue may come down to the color spaces your phone supports and how they’re handled. Dylan Roussel from 9to5discovered that the source image uses the RGB color space instead of Android’s preferred sRGB, and Android 10 doesn’t convert it where the Android 11 preview does — that causes problems any time an incompatible phone has to display the picture, which is a problem if you’ve just set the photo as your wallpaper. Other images will likely lead to the same issue.
We’ve asked Google for comment. This is easy enough to avoid if you’re aware of it. It could be a serious problem if pranksters trick unsuspecting people, however, especially if they don’t know how to recover. If nothing else, it’s a reminder to get wallpapers only from sources you trust.
... if the current display supports it. If it isn't supported, it will replace the Color Space of the image to SRGB, and it will log its current Color Space.
This is why it doesn't crash on the Pixel 4 XL. However, on the Pixel 3 XL with Android 10...
Amazon just made it much easier to consider the Apple Watch Series 5 if you’re looking for a wearable to track your workouts or keep in touch with others. The internet retailer is selling the 40mm GPS model with a Sport Band for $300, or a solid $100 below the official price. It lists for $384, but a coupon for the full discount will automatically apply at checkout. You can get a 44mm version for $330 ($85 off) at the same link, so you’re covered if you prefer a larger timepiece.
The Series 5’s only major upgrade over its predecessor is the always-on display, but it’s a dramatic one — it fundamentally changes how you use the Apple Watch, making it easy to glimpse the time or your workout progress without flicking your wrist. It gives your watch more character when you’re not using it, too. And apart from that, this is still a highlight capable watch with good fitness tracking (if not as robust as more dedicated watches), brisk performance, a rich app ecosystem and clever features like Apple Pay and noise level detection.
It’s not flawless. The always-on screen doesn’t hurt battery life as much as you might think, but you’ll likely want to charge every day (thankfully, this is very easy). There’s a wide array of highly customizable watch faces built-in, you can’t officially add your own. And of course, you need an iPhone just to use this in the first place — you’ll need to turn elsewhere if you have an Android phone. At $300, though, the Series 5 is an easy sell if you’re firmly in the iPhone camp and want a quality all-purpose wearable.
Follow@EngadgetDealson Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Some 262 miles above Earth, SpaceX's Crew Dragon craft autonomously docked to the International Space Station on Sunday at 10:16 a.m. ET, another successful achievement in the first-ever launch of astronauts into Earth's orbit by a private company. Next, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken will prepare to open up the hatch and enter the station.
The trip from the Florida coast to the space station took just under 19 hours. Now, the space station, Crew Dragon, and its occupants are all orbiting Earth at around 17,150 mph.
Prior to docking, the astronauts took control of the Crew Dragon to test manual piloting of the craft in space, before putting Dragon back into its automatic docking mode. Read more...
We had a mixed bag in terms of gaming news this past week. On one hand, Sony announced an hour-long gameplay showcase for its upcoming PS5 console and the NFL reupped its licensing agreement with EA through the 2026 season. On the other hand, BLizzard had to cancel its popular Blizzcon convention due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Apple appears hell bent on outdoing Netflix by producing an entirely-too-long Martin Scorsese film of its own. Here are this week’s top gaming headlines.
This holiday season likely won’t particularly be a holly or jolly affair what with the [wave broadly at the current state of everything] but at least we’ll see the debuts of not one but two next-generation gaming consoles. Ahead of its release at the end of this year, Sony plans to show off more than an hour’s worth of games from the upcoming PS5. So clear your schedule at 4pm ET on June 4th, grab a bucket of popcorn (or popcorn chicken, even) and hunker down for 60-some-odd minutes of digital escapism.
It’s hard to imagine playing a MAdden NFL game not produced by EA. I mean the company’s been rolling out annual updates to the iconic sports title since 1990! And it looks like they’ll continue doing so for the foreseeable future as EA announced last week that it had yet again renewed its licensing deal with the NFL through the 2026 season... assuming there even is a 2026 season.
Fool me once, Roberto Escobar, shame on me and my reskinned Galaxy Fold. Fool me twice, shame on you and your “gold plated” iPhone 11 Pros. At least throw in a cocaine hippo to sweeten the deal. Just what sort of game are you playing at here?
Epic Games has juked its Fortnite players for a second time, once again delaying the release of Chapter 2 Season 3 until June 11th. But the folks at Epic are a thoughtful bunch and are making up for the lag by holding a one-off event net Saturday (June 6) at 2pm ET.
It’s incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it. Judging by the length of his his last movie, Apple's paying one dollar per minute for Martin Scorcsese’s next film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. Eat your heart out Irishman, 'Killers of the Flower Moon' will still be running long after we’re all dead.
We are living in a new age of widespread remote, online learning.
Whether it’s homeschool parents turning to online resources to help plan lessons, new families looking for activities for their housebound kids over the summer, or high schoolers looking for additional test prep help, the internet is becoming a virtual classroom for a growing number of kids. And the good news is, the quality of online learning platforms has only grown to meet this demand.
Some offer games that teach young children in a fun, engaging way that barely feels like school, while others offer in-depth curriculums in foreign languages for students whose parents only speak one language. Read more...
This no-thrills platform is designed to prep High School students to pass their certification exams with the help of practice questions on 52 different subjects from 875 different exams.
They say the mind is the biggest, most powerful sex organ in the body. But, uh, don't try visualizing that mental image too vividly or literally, unless you're into that sorta thing?
Instead, imagine your favorite fictional crush pressing you up against a wall, or think back to the hottest sex you ever had in your life. Now stop imagining, because this magical place where all your desires are possible and acceptable exists. And literally anyone can tap into it.
While sexual fantasies are by definition not "real," their effects on your sex life (especially when explored during masturbation) are — shall we say — palpably physical. Read more...
SpaceX just completed another milestone in Crew Dragon’s historic journey. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have successfully docked the capsule with the International Space Station just under 19 hours after launch from Cape Canaveral. The largely automated process was uneventful. The crew tested manual operation at one point, which they said behaved much like the simulator.
Don’t expect a hasty return after this. Behnken and Hurley are expected to spend weeks aboard the ISS before returning to Earth. The capsule’s solar arrays are only rated for 119 days in space, so it will have to return by the fall no matter how eager the astronauts might be eager to stay. However long they stay, it’s a historic moment — this is the first time a crewed private spacecraft has docked in orbit. If all goes well, this is an important step toward making space more accessible.
The last couple of months have seen group streaming explode in popularity, and Hulu joined the party this week.
The Disney-owned streaming service launched Watch Party on Thursday, giving users a way to watch Hulu programming together while chatting about it. The good news is Watch Party works. The bad news is it needs a little more time to grow.
What you need
At launch, Hulu Watch Party limits its audience right away by being exclusive to people with an ad-free Hulu account. That costs $11.99 per month, which is twice as much as the ad-supported $5.99 option that we can pretty safely assume more people use. In fact, we don't have to assume at all; Hulu reported that about 70 percent of its users were on the ad-supported plan last year. Read more...
If Samsung was hoping to keep plans for a Galaxy Watch sequel under wraps, it’s probably disappointed. Droid-Life (via 9to5Google) has discovered a series of FCC filings that not-so-subtly reveal the next version of Samsung’s flagship smartwatch. It’s superficially similar, complete with 5ATM water resistance, GPS and LTE models. However, Samsung is backing slightly away from its tendency toward giant smartwatches — the larger model will have a 45mm case instead of the current 46mm, while the more reasonably-sized 42mm model will shrink to 41mm.
What few images are available only show the back of the watch, so it’s unclear if the control scheme will change to the touch-based bezel of the Watch Active 2. SamMobilesources insist that the rotating bezel of the Galaxy Watch will return, though, so fans of direct physical control might get to breathe a sigh of relief.
It’s not certain when the new watch would ship. Samsung has sometimes launched new wristwear alongside Galaxy Note updates in late summer, mind you, so don’t be surprised if this refresh is available by August or earlier.
Amazon’s measures to prevent price gouging have a relatively simple workaround. The Verge has learned that some third-party sellers are marking products as “collectible” to evade Amazon’s automated price controls. The internet retailer reportedly has price ceilings that normally kick in when a product is listed as “new,” but that ceiling apparently doesn’t kick in with collectible items. There also isn’t much transparency regarding those ceilings, either.
The quirk has been around for a while, according to sellers. However, it wasn’t really an issue before the COVID-19 pandemic, when competition kept prices reasonable. Now that there’s high demand and low supply, unscrupulous sellers have more incentives to hike prices.
An Amazon spokesperson talking to The Verge didn’t directly address the anti-gouging measures. Instead, the spokesperson said that sellers set their own prices and that Amazon pulls sales that violate its policies.
This won’t leave many satisfied, though. Customers clearly lose out if they’re trying to get dumbbells or other hot commodities, but the absence of transparency could also make it difficult for more honest sellers who may need to hike prices (say, to offset costs) but don’t want to trip Amazon’s detection systems.
Memorial Day has come and gone, and with coronavirus still affecting our lives, it might've just slipped your mind altogether. But don't worry if you missed out on all the sales.
Here are 30 more deals you can shop this weekend. You can save up to 66% on things like personal protective gear, smart home equipment, beauty and skincare products, and much more, all of which has a high risk of selling out. So get on that!
Activate the LightTouch Mirror and magnify your face up to 10 times to apply a flawless face of makeup, tweeze your eyebrows, or tackle other tasks easier. With a three-stage dimmer and 360-degree swivel, you can customize the soft-white light and tilt it to your liking. Get it on sale for $24.99 (usually $29.99). Read more...
Some people balk at the idea of freelancing, thinking it's stressful and unreliable. But many freelancers actually earn more than 9-to-5 workers. At the very least, most rake in more dollars per hour compared to 70% of workers in the overall U.S. economy. Seriously. Freelancing doesn't sound so bad now, does it?
Either way, now that we live in a time when job security is scarce, you may want to at least look into starting a freelance side hustle to pad your checking account. You don't have to commit to a full-time freelancing role now, but picking up an extra gig or two can earn you an additional stream of income. And while the idea of starting your own freelance business seems daunting, you can get the help you need from the Complete Side Hustle Hacker Bundle, which happens to be on sale for only $29.99. Read more...
The worst part about getting in shape is not knowing how hard to push yourself. If you go too hard, you end up sore and uncomfortable the next day, likely resulting in a lousy workout (or a skipped one altogether). If you don't push yourself hard enough, you won't see results. So what's the trick?
Sadly, there's no magic wand you can wave to give you perfectly-intense workouts every single time. But there is the FIT RELIEF Wearable Smart Device, which is on sale at the time of this writing. Read more...
TL;DR: Switch up your at-home dinner menu with this pizza making course for just $13.99, a 93% savings as of May 31.
It's gooey. It's cheesy. It's saucy. And it also happens to be America's favorite comfort food. With roughly 15% of Americans choosing it as number one, and it receiving twice as many votes as any other food choice, it's clear that pizza is practically perfect in every way. Now, if only you could channel your inner chef and make your own from scratch.
Led by professional chef Tim Cunningham, this one-hour Pizza Making Course will help you whip up your own cheesy, saucy pies in your own kitchen. From scratch. Don't worry; it's designed for anyone with basic kitchen skills. You don't need to be a world-renowned chef to take the course. Read more...
When it comes to shoes, many of us adopt the "style before comfort" philosophy. You know those prized chunky boots you insist on wearing even though they do nothing but kill your feet? Yeah. But anything to look cute, right?
Your poor feet can only endure so much. You don't want to incur more cuts and blisters, and we are willing to bet you don't want to feel any more pain, either.
The next time you slip into less-than-comfortable shoes, get the proper cushioning and support you need with the Custom Feet Insoles. These orthotic insoles are designed to give you more accurate customized arch support. When you place an order, you receive an impression kit to create your footprint, which you will have to send back to have your insoles molded. Read more...
Sometimes shopping can seem frivolous, and other times like a welcome distraction from the world. If it's diversionary tactics you're after, then retail therapy just may be what you need. Us too.
As part of our monthly series, we're talking about all the goodies our staff treated themselves to over the past few weeks. From gardening supplies to face masks to roller blades, we were all about the purchases that will keep us safe and sane during these trying times. If you have the means to do so, we recommend that you treat yourself, too.
Below, what the Mashable staff bought in May. Read more...
As the weather gets nicer, parents everywhere are looking for ways to keep their children entertained and engaged outside of the house. This is especially true for kids who are not able to go off to summer camp or those who are either too young or unable to take on a job this summer. So what can you do to have fun? Well, you can play games, of course! After all, there are lots of ball games, pool games, and classic party games that make for fun summer activities.
If you’re a parent looking for options, there aren’t really any rules. What game your kid — or kids — will enjoy will depend a bit on their personality, as well as their age. But in general, you’re going to want to find games that meet a few key criteria. Read more...
