PS5 beta update finally adds Discord voice chat

After lightly integrating Discord features on PlayStation 5 consoles in early 2022, voice chat has finally arrived in its latest beta update, Sony has announced. PS5 Testers in the US, Canada and Japan will be able to join Discord calls, some months after Microsoft introduced the feature on Xbox. The PS5 is also gaining Variable Refresh Rate support for 1440p, along with dashboard UX improvements and more. 

Discord integration is a bit clunky, much like it was on Xbox at first. Here’s how to set it up and use it, according to Discord’s blog. First, you need to link your PlayStation Network (PSN) account to Discord, then select Discord under “Linked Services.” After that, you can complete the integration using either a QR code or the PS5’s integrated browser. 

Each time you want to use Discord chat on console, though, you’ll need to use your mobile device to transfer your conversation, which isn’t ideal. Back in November, Microsoft made it possible to join Discord chats directly from the console, so hopefully Sony will eventually do the same. 

PS5's latest beta finally introduces Discord voice chat
Sony

Other new social features include a new way to share screens, party chats in the dashboard and “friends who play” that shows which of your friends are playing a game right now. Sony also introduced Variable Refresh Rate support for 1440p gaming, so HDMI 2.1 displays should exhibit smoother performance at that resolution with less tearing. Sony launched PS5 VRR in April last year and 1440p support shortly afterwards, but the two features have yet to work together. 

Gamers will also find new tools to access PS4 saved data on a PS5, along with the ability to move games from one PS5 console to another over WiFi or ethernet. The new beta is rolling out to certified testers today, and should be available to everyone else over the next few months.

Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite now comes in two new colors

Kindle’s Paperwhite 5 launched in 2021, but Amazon has just spruced up the models a bit with a couple of new colors and put them on sale for good measure. You can now grab them in Agave Green and Denim, with the regular 16GB variant priced at $110 (27 percent/$40 off) and the Signature version on sale at $140 ($50 or 26 percent off). Oddly, the black version doesn’t carry any discount and is still priced at $190, so the new color versions are currently the way to go.

Amazon also did this for the Paperwhite 4, introducing new colors well after the original launch date, as The eBook Reader pointed out. Amazon used the same Denim Blue color on the 11th generation 2022 Kindle as well. Even if you’re not crazy about the new colors, you’ll see the same black bezels when viewing it from the front. 

We gave the Paperwhite 5 Signature Edition one of our highest Engadget scores ever (97) calling it “the best e-reader, period.” It has a bigger and more responsive screen than ever, tiny bezels, both USB-C and wireless charging, a waterproof body, 32GB of storage, automatic brightness and warm light options. The standard model drops storage to 16GB and lacks wireless charging, but is otherwise the same. 

As mentioned, the Signature Paperwhite is $50 off in Agave and Denim, while the standard version offers a $40 savings in the green and blue shades — near the lowest prices we’ve seen. 

Sony has now shipped over 32.1 million PS5s following blockbuster holiday sales

Sony’s gaming business had a blockbuster holiday quarter as it sold 7.1 million PS5s from October to December compared to 3.9 million in the same quarter last year. That’s a whopping 82 percent increase, so the company’s supply issues appear to be largely solved — much as the company has said as of late. In other words, you should be able to buy a PS5 now with little to no delay. 

All of that resulted in a giant boost in revenue, as its Game & Network Services segment took in 1.25 trillion yen ($9.7 billion), up 53 percent year on year. That includes over double the revenue for hardware and healthy boosts in software (30 percent), network services (20 percent) and others including PSVR and first-party software sales on other platforms (73 percent). 

To grasp the significance of all this, Sony has now sold 32.1 million PS5s compared to 25 million in November 2022, so total unit sales increased 28 percent in just a single quarter. It also means that Sony may hit its fiscal year 2022 PS5 sales forecast (18 million units from March 2022 to March 2023) if it can ship 5.2 million consoles next quarter, something that previously seemed wildly optimistic. If it does reach that goal, it’ll reach 37 million in total PS5 sales by the end of its fiscal year.

Sony has fought Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, though Microsoft itself recently pointed out that Sony has five times more exclusive games than Xbox. In terms of first-party titles, God of War Ragnarök and Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut were standouts on PS5 this quarter. 

Sony’s gaming business dwarfed its other segments, though its imaging sensor business continues to rise as well, with sales up 63 percent year on year to 417 billion yen ($3.24 billion). Sony supplies the lion’s share of camera sensors to both smartphone and mirrorless camera manufacturers.  

Jony Ive designed a ‘perfect’ Red Nose for the Comic Relief charity

Jony Ive once designed a limited edition Leica camera for charity, but he worked on a far lower-tech product for the UK charity Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day. In fact, the famed ex-Apple designer came up with a new version of the Red Nose itself, designing a model that transforms from a flat “C” shape into a honeycomb paper sphere. It’s a key part of Comic Relief’s annual charity broadcast March 17th on several BBC channels. 

In a short video (below), comedian Diane Morgan jokingly describes it as “the most perfect nose in history.” It has a few typical Ive touches, like plant-based materials and a small case for storage when it’s folded flat. In a press release, Comic Relief called it “the most dramatic makeover since [the Red Nose] debut in 1988.”

“We’ve grown up with Comic Relief and are proud to support their remarkable work,” said Ive. “This new and seemingly simple Red Nose has been a fabulously complex little object to design and make and has involved our entire team. We hope it brings a little moment of joy to everyone who wears one.” 

The £2.50 ($3) product is being sold directly by Comic Relief and also on Amazon for the first time with a limit of eight per customer. Money raised from the March 17th telethon and Red Nose sales goes toward people battling issues like homelessness, mental health issues and food insecurity. Ive left Apple in 2019 and now co-leads his own firm LoveFrom with designer Marc Newson. 

UK government reveals ‘robust’ plans to regulate crypto

The UK government has detailed “ambitious” plans to regulate the crypto industry, with proposals on stronger rules for trading platforms, crypto lending, new token issues and more. The goal, it says, is to protect consumers and businesses, while enabling “a new and exciting sector to safely flourish and grow,” it wrote in a press release. 

Last year saw the fall of FTX, Celsius and other crypto exchanges, along with wildly fluctuating prices for Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. As a result, critics in the UK have been calling for new rules that protect consumers from the “crypto wild-west,” as the opposition Labour party’s Tulip Siddiq put it.  

The UK government plans to strengthen rules around the operation of crypto trading firms like FTX, along with other financial intermediaries. The primary aim, it wrote, is to enhance consumer protection and the ability of exchanges to weather storms. As part of that, it’s proposing what it calls a “crypto market abuse regime” that would create rules around money laundering and other illegal schemes. It also plans to strengthen laws around cryptocurrency lending. 

At the same time, the treasury department is introducing a time-limited exemption that would allow designated crypto firms to issue new tokens. Companies registered with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for anti-money laundering purposes would be allowed to issue coins while the new regulations are written. 

In January 2022, the UK government promised a crackdown on misleading crypto ads, but that now seems quaint given the tumultuous year that followed. At the time, the government figured that around 2.3 million people in the country owned a cryptoasset.

Today’s proposal “delivers on the original policy intention of the measure to promote innovation, enhance consumer protection and ensure that cryptoasset promotions can be held to equivalent standards as promotions of financial services products with similar risk profiles,” the government said. The consultation will close on April 30th, 2023, at which point regulators will review feedback and formulate a response. 

YouTube TV drops MLB Network after failing to renew deal

YouTube TV has dropped the MLB Network from its service after failing to renew its agreement, according to a statement from YouTube given to The Streamable. “You will also lose access to any previous Library recordings from this channel,” the streamer wrote. “Members will be able to continue watching select national MLB games via coverage on FOX, ESPN, and TBS through our Base Plan.”

The dispute appears to be over compensation, according to a statement from MLB Network. “YouTube TV has been unwilling to negotiate a fair carriage agreement… consistent with what close to 300 other US providers have agreed to for distribution.” MLB Network was part of YouTube’s $65 Base Plan and one of the few that carried 4K content as part of YouTube TV’s 4K Plus add-on. 

The news isn’t too tragic yet, as baseball season is still a couple of months away. YouTube TV has previously lost access to other channels including Disney’s ESPN and ABC, but in the case of the latter, they were restored just a day later. That lends some hope that the streaming company can reach an agreement with MLB Network ahead of any disruption to games next season. 

In the meantime, “MLB Network remains widely available throughout the US, including on Altice USA (Optimum), AT&T U-verse, Charter Communications (Spectrum), Comcast, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, DIRECTV Stream, DISH, fuboTV, Sling TV, Verizon Fios and many others,” MLB Network wrote. 

Amazon once again broke labor laws during New York unionization drive, judge rules

Last month, Amazon failed to overturn a Staten Island warehouse’s vote to unionize and now it has taken another loss. A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge has ruled that the the company broke federal labor laws in an effort to push back a unionization drive at that facility and another that voted against the union, The New York Times has reported. Amazon can still appeal the ruling to the NLRB’s Washington board.

Federal administrative judge Benjamin Green ruled that Amazon supervisors unlawfully threatened wage increases and benefits if workers formed a union. The company also violated the law by removing a worker’s post on a digital message board inviting co-workers to sign an Amazon Labor Union petition to make Juneteenth a paid holiday, the judge said. 

Several other complaints by the union were dismissed, however. Those include accusations that Amazon said take-home pay would fall in the case of unionization, and that it promised improvements in an educational subsidy program if workers voted against the union. The union also protested Amazon saying workers would be fired if they formed a union but failed to pay union dues. The latter was not illegal, the judge ruled, and the other complaints were overstated.

Amazon took all that as a positive. “We’re glad that the judge dismissed 19 — nearly all — of the allegations in this case,” said spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis in a statement to the NYT. “The facts continue to show that the teams in our buildings work hard to do the right thing.”

The judge set aside one decision brought by the labor board as to whether employers can force workers to attend anti-union meetings. That puts the ball in the court of the NLRB, which can overturn a 75-year old ruling. “I believe that the NLRB case precedent, which has tolerated such meetings, is at odds with fundamental labor-law principles,” the labor board’s lawyer Jennifer Abruzzo wrote in a memo last year. 

Spotify reaches 205 million Premium subscribers as losses mount

Spotify just released its Q4 earnings and announced that it now has 205 million premium subscribers, up 10 million from last quarter. It also made €3.17 billion ($3.43 billion) in revenue, so it exceeded expectations in both subscriber count and sales. It now counts nearly 500 million monthly active users including ad-supported and paid subscriber tiers. 

However, its losses continued with €270 million ($292 million) in red ink compared to €39 million in the same period last year, due to moves that chief executive Daniel Ek called “too ambitious.” For all of 2022, the company reported a net €430 million loss ($466 million) on revenue of €11.7 billion ($12.7 billion). 

Spotify said that the losses were due to “higher personnel costs primarily due to headcount growth and higher advertising costs,” along with currency fluctuations. That helps explain the company’s actions last week, when it announced that it was laying off 6 percent of its workforce as part of a company-wide restructuring. 

As part of that, chief content officer Dawn Ostroff stepped down and Ek said that the company would “fundamentally change how we operate at the top,” including his own role. At the time, Ek said that “in hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth.” Looking ahead to the next quarter, Spotify forecasts that it’ll hit a half-billion monthly active users and see a modest boost to 207 million premium subscribers.