Enako is not only Japan’s most famous cosplayer, she is also perhaps the country’s most successful. As Kotaku previously posted, she has said she making up to $90,000 monthly from cosplaying, streaming, and promotional activities. Today, news broke that she is dating pro gamer Kenki, causing “プロゲーマー” (pro-gamer) to…
Commencing countdown… Further fuel has been added to the Dead Space comeback rumors after the official YouTube channel for the...
The post Dead Space updates official YouTube channel for the first time in years appeared first on Destructoid.
In three weeks' time, you'll be able to start playing the pixel remaster versions of the first three Final Fantasy games. Square Enix has revealed that the Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III remasters are coming out on July 28th for PC via Steam and on July 29th for Android and iOS. You can now also pre-purchase the games individually for prices between $12 and $18, or buy the bundle with all six games for around $96. You'll get three soundtracks and two unique wallpapers for each title you pre-purchase. The gaming giant doesn't have a specific release date for the fourth to sixth installments in the franchise yet, but they're also scheduled to come out sometime this year.
The games that inspired a generation come to life once more.
— FINAL FANTASY (@FinalFantasy) July 1, 2021
The first three #FinalFantasy pixel remaster titles are now available to pre-purchase on Steam individually or as a bundle, and launch on July 28th.
Save 20% off by pre-purchasing: https://t.co/mwWu0y7uk8pic.twitter.com/fqpHZ7PX8y
Square Enix first announced that it's giving the first six games in the Final Fantasy franchise the pixel remaster treatment during its E3 presentation back in mid-June, though it barely shared any details about them. In the description box of the first installment on Steam, it says the game will feature completely new graphics, as well as "improved ease of play" with a modernized UI and auto-battle options. Its soundtrack has been rearranged, but the process was overseen by original composer Nobuo Uematsu. In addition, it will come with extra features, such as a bestiary, an illustration gallery and a music player.
While the other three games getting a remaster don't have a release date yet, Square Enix recently announced it's pulling the current versions of the fifth and sixth installments from Steam on July 27th. The developer received a lot of flak for reducing the quality of the art on the games it originally released on Steam, so it makes sense for the remasters to completely replace them.
All three major US carriers have met the deadline to implement the FCC's new anti-spoofing protocol designed to protect users from scam caller impersonation. Both Verizon and T-Mobile announced yesterday that all calls originating on their networks are 100 percent compliant with the FCC's "STIR/SHAKEN" technology designed to show a caller's true phone number. AT&T, meanwhile, confirmed with The Verge that it's also in compliance with the new rules.
The FCC had set a deadline of June 30th for the major carrier's to implement the STIR/SHAKEN protocol developed under the Ajit Pai regime. For now, smaller carriers have until June 30th, 2023 unless the FCC decides to shorten that timespan, something that's currently under consideration.
The STIR/SHAKEN standards serve as a common digital language used by phone networks, allowing valid information to pass from provider to provider which, among other things, informs blocking tools of possible suspicious calls.
So what does the new protocol do? Without it, scam or spam callers can spoof their phone numbers to show up as local numbers, making it more likely that you'll pick up. STIR/SHAKEN deals with that by using public key encryption digital certificates sent by the originating telephone service provider, with the keys verified by the terminating service provider. If everything matches, then the calling number hasn't been spoofed.
The FCC is hoping that carrier implementation will reduce the volume of spam, scam and robocalls that have made answering your phone a game of whack-a-mole. The commission said that over 1,500 voice providers have filed to be in its robocall mitigation database with over 200 of those being fully certified. "Beginning on September 28, 2021, if a voice service provider’s certification does not appear in the database, intermediate and voice service providers will be prohibited from directly accepting the provider’s traffic," the FCC stated.
The protocol will help reduce but not totally eliminate scams or robocalls. Legacy phone systems that don't use IP protocols are exempt from the rules, and the system won't work with international calls. Still, if a local pops up on your phone going forward, you can have more confidence that it's not a fake number coming from a scammer.
Slack just became the latest company to embrace real-time audio. The messaging app is launching a new, Discord-like chat feature called Huddles. The feature, along with new collaboration tools for sharing pre-recorded audio and video are, according to the company, meant to provide an alternative to the “endless stream of meetings” that have dominated many office workers’ calendars during the pandemic.
Huddles allows Slack users to create impromptu meetups either in direct messages or an existing channel. When a participant starts a Huddle, other members can quickly join and chat in real time, much like you would in Discord. Though it’s meant to be “camera-free,” Huddles does support screen-sharing for an extra layer of collaboration.
Slack says the feature is a good alternative to voice or video calls because it’s a more low-pressure way for workers to quickly chat without the need to schedule a meeting. Tamar Yehoshua, the company’s chief product officer, compared Huddles to the kinds of impromptu conversations that happen in offices but don’t often occur with remote work. “It’s as if you see people congregating in a conference room and you just stick your head in and then leave when you’re ready,” she said during a briefing with reporters.
While Slack is the latest in a long list of companies embracing the audio trend kickstarted by Clubhouse, the company says it’s responding to the way that work has changed during the pandemic. After more than a year working from home, Zoom fatigue is real. At the same time, many workers may never go back to the office — at least, not full-time. So it’s not surprising Slack would respond to these shifts.
Similarly, the company is also addressing the need to collaborate when everyone isn’t online at the same time. The “schedule send” feature it recently previewed will now be rolling out. And the app is introducing new tools to share videos, voice and screen recordings within Slack.
While the app already allows users to swap video files within chats, the new tools go a step further. Users can record and share natively within a channel, and other team members can respond with a video or voice recording of their own. They also include live captioning, and both the recording and the accompanying transcription are searchable after the fact.
Finally, Slack also showed off a new directory tool for its business users called Slack Atlas. The feature adds more information to Slack’s existing profiles, such as org charts and employee start dates. It can also integrate with existing tools like Workday to automatically pull in relevant details to workers’ Slack profiles.
Renault has been sending signals that it wants to accelerate its EV plans, and it's now clear just how aggressive the firm will be. The French automaker now expects 65 percent of its lineup to be electrified by 2025 — potentially the "greenest" car mix in Europe, according to the company, and much better than an earlier 30 percent target. Its plans revolve around a lineup with 10 new electric cars, including the reborn 5, the 4ever (a modern Renault 4) and a Mégane EV.
Up to 90 percent of cars in Renault's brand stable (which includes Alpine and Dacia) should be electric by 2030.
The strategy hinges in part on making EVs more accessible. Renault is prepping a new platform (CMF-BEV) that should reduce costs by a third compared to the Zoe through an interchangeable battery, a "right-sized" 100kW powertrain and borrowed components from conventional cars. Renault is also focusing on more capable and affordable components, including more efficient nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries (with 20 percent more range versus alternatives) and an all-in-one powertrain that's roughly half as large as before while costing 30 percent less.
Renault is also hoping to cut the cost of recycling EV batteries to a third of its current levels by 2030, and have its Mobilize brand reuse batteries as stationary energy storage.
You'll have to wait a while for some of these cars. The Mégane arrives in 2022, and Alpine's "dream garage" will have to wait until 2024. Still, It's evident Renault wants to earn an eco-friendly reputation much sooner than originally expected.
Whether or not Renault will lead the pack is another matter. Volkswagen, for instance, hopes to be the worldwide leader in electric vehicles by 2025 "at the latest," and wants an all-electric European lineup by 2030. There's no guarantee rivals will meet their own goals, but Renault may have to tweak its plans again if it's going to stay ahead in a rapidly changing market.
Soccer fans around the world will be able to watch the UEFA Women's Champions League for free over the next two seasons. YouTube will stream every game from the competition in 2021-23. It struck a deal with UEFA and sports streaming service DAZN, which snapped up the broadcast rights to the UWCL for the next four years.
With the exception of the Middle East, North Africa and China and its territories, fans everywhere can watch all 61 games (not including qualifying rounds) live and on demand on DAZN's YouTube channel during the upcoming two seasons. In the following two seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25), DAZN will stream every game live on its own platform, which is now available in more than 200 countries. You'll still be able to catch 19 matches per season on YouTube.
The broadcasting deal will get into gear amid a new format for the UWCL. UEFA is introducing a 16-game group stage this season, similar to the format of the men's Champions League. Previously, it was a two-legged knockout competition with a one-off final. The group stage for the 2021-22 edition starts on October 5th.
This is a chance for soccer enthusiasts in most parts of the world to catch some of the best players on the planet in action without having to pay an extra penny (as long as they have a decent internet connection and device on which to watch YouTube). The deal should give the UWCL more exposure than in the past, and it could perhaps inspire more kids to take up the sport.
Streaming services have been duking it out over soccer rights for years. This is a significant deal for DAZN, as well as whatever sports ambitions YouTube has. CBS and Paramount+ hold English-language broadcast rights to the men's version of the competition in the US. Univision's TUDN airs games in Spanish.
