Death Stranding: 29 Crucial Tips To Get You Started - IGN

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2019-11-07 11:01:00Z
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Google open sources Cardboard VR after killing its Daydream project - The Next Web

After killing its ambitious Daydream VR project last month, Google is making the Cardboard VR project open source.

The company said the code repository includes features such as APIs for head tracking, lens distortion rendering, and input handling, for developers to build Android and iOS apps designed for Cardboard VR experiences.

Google Cardboard was released five years ago at the company’s developer conference, Google IO. The search giant claims 15 million units of Cardboard VR –made using its Cardboard Manufacturer Kit – were used worldwide.

Google said use of Cardboard VR declined over time and it’s no longer actively developing its Software Development Kit (SDK):

While we’ve seen overall usage of Cardboard decline over time and we’re no longer actively developing the Google VR SDK, we still see consistent usage around entertainment and education experiences, like YouTube and Expeditions, and want to ensure that Cardboard’s no-frills, accessible-to-everyone approach to VR remains available.

The Cardboard headset was an affordable way for anyone to experience the VR world. But it never took off the way Google envisioned it.

Four years ago, I had plenty of Cardboard-like headsets lying around in my house. I used them as a novelty to show off to friends or watch a VR-based video on YouTube occasionally. But latency, lag, and a lack of compelling VR apps killed my interest in Cardboard over time.

Over time, phone companies have also dialed back their VR efforts and concentrated more on providing solid AR experiences through Google’s ARCore and Apple’s ARKit.

You can check out Cardboard VR’s developer documentation here, and find the GitHub code repository here.

Read next: Google forges new 'app defense alliance' to fix Android malware menace

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2019-11-07 04:27:44Z
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Google Camera 7.2 rolls out to older Pixels with new UI, social sharing, and astrophotography [APK Download] - Android Police

Pixel 4 owners have had Google Camera 7.2 for a couple of weeks, but those of us with older Pixels were left behind, way behind on version 6.3 of the app. Now, users are reporting that both the Pixel 3 and 2 are getting officially updated to Camera 7.2 on the Play Store. If you haven't installed any intermediate APKs, you'll notice a huge interface change, plenty of little additional features, and a couple of drawbacks.

The jump from 6.3 to 7.2 brings with it all the features we saw in the Camera 7.0 leak, and the 7.1 and 7.2 releases for the Pixel 4. First and foremost, you're looking at a new interface with the camera modes carousel below the shutter button and a hidden but swipeable options overlay instead of a top bar. Also new are the social sharing options which let you swipe on the most recent photo in the bottom right to quickly send it to an app like Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram Stories.

Camera 7.2 overlay menu (left), video instead of burst (middle), and social sharing (right).

The ability to take burst photos is gone, even on my Pixel 2 XL. When tapping and holding on the shutter button, a short low-res video is recorded, but since the Pixel 2 doesn't have Top Shot, I can't export slightly higher-res stills from it like on the Pixel 4. If you have a Pixel 3, you might be luckier, but that's a definite regression for Pixel 2 owners.

Another bonus for Pixel 3 devices is astrophotography. Simply switch to Night Sight and make sure your phone is super steady (put it on a table, for example, to test). You'll get a toast message saying "Astrophotography on." When you take a shot while this toast is on, Night Sight will use up to around one minute to capture as much light and detail as possible. It doesn't last as long as the Pixel 4's four minutes, but it should get you decent results. On my Pixel 2 XL, no matter what I do, the toast message doesn't show up and Night Sight only takes a few seconds per shot. (If you're interested in trying out astrophotography on a Pixel 2 or 2 XL, you can always get this modded APK by cstark27, which installs separately from the main camera app.)

Beside the removal of burst photos, video resolution options are completely gone for the front camera. For the back one, you can choose whether to shoot in 4K or not. No FPS settings are available for 4K, but you get to pick between 30 and 60fps for non-4K. It's not clear whether the camera will use 1080p all the time if you disable 4K or if it will "optimize" video resolution as it sees fit. In my brief tests, all videos were 1080p, so I hope that's the only default.

Camera 6.3's video resolution options (left, middle) vs Camera 7.2's single 4K toggle.

The update also includes some minor changes. You now have to tap on the viewfinder to get the zoom and exposure sliders, the camera will alert you if your framing and alignment are off, and there's an option to save selfies like you see them in the viewfinder (i.e. mirrored).

Camera 7.2 is rolling out slowly on the Play Store to older Pixels, but if you still hadn't installed any other APKs after v6.3 and want to jump the line, you can grab this one directly from APK Mirror.

Price: Free

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2019-11-06 13:25:00Z
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Xiaomi announces 108-megapixel Mi Note 10 for outside China - The Verge

Yesterday Xiaomi unveiled the CC9 Pro, the first phone to use the 108-megapixel image sensor the company co-developed with Samsung. The CC9 Pro won’t be sold outside of China, but today Xiaomi is announcing that a near-identical phone called the Mi Note 10 will.

The Mi Note 10 is being revealed in Spain today and will likely make it to the UK, other European countries, and India. There doesn’t appear to be any difference in the hardware, but as you’d expect the Note 10 will run MIUI atop Google-approved Android, with the CC9 Pro using Xiaomi’s own apps and services in China.

Xiaomi often gives its products different names and release schedules around the world — just look at the saga of the excellent but confusing Mi 9T/Redmi K20/Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro lineup. This time the two phones are at least being announced within a day of each other.

Here are the key specs, as a reminder:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor
• 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage
• Five rear cameras: 108-megapixel f/1.69 wide, 12-megapixel f/2 2x telephoto, 5-megapixel f/2 5x telephoto, 20-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide, and 2-megapixel macro
• 32-megapixel selfie camera
• 6.47-inch curved OLED screen with integrated fingerprint sensor
• 5,260mAh battery with 30W fast charger included
• USB-C and headphone jack

The Mi Note 10 won’t be quite as fast as flagships running a Snapdragon 855 — the Redmi K20 Pro included — but otherwise it sounds like a pretty compelling phone, and we’re certainly looking forward to checking out the camera. While the CC9 Pro starts at around $400 in China, the Mi Note 10 will be priced at 549 euros. It’s not clear exactly when and where the Mi Note 10 will be available, though.

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https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/6/20951100/xiaomi-mi-note-10-europe-india-release-cc9-pro-108-mp

2019-11-06 12:00:00Z
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‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ PC launch hasn't had the best start - Engadget

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Red Dead Redemption 2 finally launched on PC this week, but much like the escapades of the game's gunslingers, things haven't quite gone according to plan. Players have reported a raft of problems, including issues with the launcher, freezing and recurring crashes.

The usual go-to fixes for these sort of hiccups -- updating graphics drivers and disabling anti-virus software, for example -- haven't done a whole bunch to remedy matters. As such, Rockstar announced a new update for its games launcher -- but that's not helped either, with scores of players taking to Twitter to complain that they're still unable to play the game, despite following Rockstar's troubleshooting guide to the letter.

An update has been made to Rockstar Games Launcher. For release notes please see: https://t.co/hCyU63iRcc

— Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) November 5, 2019

The company has yet to say anything about the continued problems, although with the game set to launch on Steam next month it's undoubtedly working on a fix. EA and Ubisoft rolled out their own PC games launchers with relative ease, so it's not a good look for Rockstar that it's already struggling.

Source: Twitter [@RockstarSupport]

In this article: av, bug, crash, entertainment, fix, game, gaming, launcher, PC, personal computing, personalcomputing, Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar, services

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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2019-11-06 11:52:51Z
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Fossil’s new hybrid smartwatches: physical watch hands and always-on displays - The Verge

Fossil’s new hybrid smartwatches combine physical watch hands with a circular low-power, always-on display. The $195 (£189) Fossil HR has a monochromatic display, which is capable of showing the kind of information you’d typically expect to see on a smartwatch — including activity tracking, weather information, and app notifications — all while being power-efficient enough that the watch offers a battery life of around two weeks.

Back when news of these smartwatches leaked in September, there was speculation that they used the secret smartwatch tech that Google paid Fossil $40 million for at the beginning of the year. However, Fossil said these watches are unrelated to that deal. “There is no relation between the IP Fossil sold to Google in the beginning of the year and the launch of the Fossil Hybrid HR,” a spokesperson for Fossil told The Verge in an email.

Fossil has a long history of developing hybrid smartwatches alongside its more typical Wear OS smartwatches like this year’s Fossil Carlyle Gen 5. However, the company’s previous hybrid watches, like the Fossil Q Activist, used their watch hands to display notifications rather than including a screen. This prevented them from showing anything more complicated than which app was generating the notification.

Having a screen, however, means that the Fossil HR should be able to give you much more information. It’s not got the capabilities of a full Wear OS smartwatch (Fossil says it’s running on its internally developed Hybrid HR platform), but it can show you the number of steps you’ve walked, your heart rate, weather information, and notification previews. Fossil also says the smartwatch can control music playback, call your phone, and its 55 mAh battery can be charged to 100 percent in 60 minutes. However, there’s no GPS or Google Pay support.

The new Fossil HR smartwatch is available starting today.

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2019-11-06 11:00:00Z
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Red Dead Redemption 2 PC GPU Benchmark - Best Video Cards for RDR2 - Gamers Nexus

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2019-11-06 04:15:47Z
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