If it’s ever seemed like people are more crotchety on social media when there’s a heatwave or heavy rain, you’re probably not alone in having that perspective. Researchers analyzed more than 7.7 billion geotagged tweets from 190 countries that were posted between 2015 and 2021. They used a language analysis tool to measure the sentiment of tweets against daily weather data.
The researchers found that, compared with days of regular weather, “both local extreme heat and extreme precipitation events worsen online emotional states globally by elevating rates of posts with negative expressions and also reducing the rate of posts with positive words.” They also determined that people were more likely to tweet negatively during downpours and heatwaves than when daylight savings time kicks in and they forego an hour of sleep.
These outcomes might not seem incredibly surprising. However, the researchers suggested that because the findings were so consistent across tweets from more than 43,000 counties, they indicate that we’re finding it hard to adapt to climate change. They carried out the study in the first place to explore the links between climate change and mental health.
“As of right now, we see very little evidence of adaptation in the way that these new extreme events that are emerging globally are impacting human sentiment,” says Kelton Minor, a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University and co-author of the study, told The Verge. “Since climate change is shifting the extreme tails of most regional temperature and heavy precipitation distributions rightwards, the impact of more severe extremes on overt emotional states may far exceed those registered in the recent past, pending further adaptation,” the abstract of the study reads.
Minor and co-author Nick Obradovich, chief scientist at a nonprofit called Project Regeneration, found the biggest shift in sentiment during a record-breaking heatwave in the Pacific Northwest and southwest Canada in 2021. More than a thousand deaths were linked to that heatwave, while negative sentiment in tweets increased tenfold compared with the typical heatwave in the US, the researchers found. Minor and his colleagues plan to keep monitoring social media sentiment in the face of more extreme weather events, which studies suggest are likely to happen more often amid rising global temperatures.
If you’d like help keeping your floors clean, a robot vacuum is a great way to go — but they’re usually pretty pricy. Right now Amazon is discounting many models of Eufy vacs, with deals up to 51 percent off, putting many of them below the discounts we…
HTC has big plans for CES, which include revealing an all-in-one headset with virtual reality and augmented reality support. The company will formally show off the seemingly small and light headset for the first time on January 5th, but it provided The Verge with a render that shows a goggles-style design. The device, for which HTC has yet to announce a name, appears to have front- and side-facing cameras.
Those cameras will be a key part of HTC’s plan to deliver a full-color passthrough video feed. As with the Meta Quest Pro and the Pico 4, you’ll be able to see a colorized version of the physical world around you without having to remove the headset. This should also enable HTC to offer more immersive mixed-reality experiences than you’d get with black-and-white passthrough video. What’s more, the headset may offer a more dynamic range than rival models, which could enable wearers to more easily read text on computer or phone screens (at least without taking the headset off).
HTC says you’ll get two hours of use on a single charge, while the controllers will feature six degrees of freedom and hand tracking. The headset can operate as a standalone device or you can hook it up to a PC for more demanding VR games. You can also use it for exercise, entertainment and productivity, if you’re so inclined.
It’s not yet clear whether there’ll be built-in eye tracking, but there is a depth sensor that may enable more in-depth mapping of a user’s surroundings. HTC also indicated to The Verge that the headset will protect user privacy by storing data on an encrypted local partition. Pricing and availability are as yet unclear. We’ll find out more about the headset — including the name and how it might measure up against the likes of Meta Quest — in a few short weeks.
A VR spinoff and Horizon Forbidden West expansion won’t be the last we see of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon universe. The studio has at least two more games in the works for the PlayStation franchise, including a multiplayer title.
Guerrilla made the announcement in a recruitment tweet. Along with working on more “epic solo adventures for Aloy,” the star of the first two games, the studio has set up a separate team to create an “online project set in Horizon’s universe.” It added that the latter will feature new characters and a “unique stylized look,” as well as the fact friends will be able to play together — which suggests there will be a focus on co-op.
Join Guerrilla in Amsterdam as we work to expand the world of Horizon
I’ve become increasingly infatuated with old video games. Lord knows I still play lots of new stuff, but more and more, the loudest parts of modern gaming – the live services explicitly designed to monopolize your attention, the market-tested blockbusters devoid of any edge, the constant stream of power fantasies – bore me. Being old doesn’t make a game good, but when I go back to my favorite retro games, I find a focus and honesty in their design that I don’t see in many of the more acclaimed games of today.
I took to collecting old games and consoles a couple of years ago – in just one of the many ways the pandemic broke my brain – but actually enjoying those on a modern TV is notoriously annoying. And while I could always emulate the classics on my phone or PC, I liked the idea of keeping my retro library on a distinct machine, something I could fire up when I’m in the mood but just as easily walk away from when I’m not.
So, recently I took my first dip into the world of retro handhelds – portable, often Chinese-made devices designed to house and run emulated games wherever you’d like. I settled on the Retroid Pocket 3, an Android-based model that starts at a relatively affordable $119 and comes from a series that had received mostly positive word of mouth in the past. (It has also been available on Amazon for $160, typically with faster shipping.)
Three months later, I’m still happy with it. The Retroid Pocket 3 is one of those “for the price” situations, but, for the price, it’s a fine piece of hardware. If you’ve ever held a Nintendo Switch Lite, the Retroid Pocket 3 will feel like a slightly smaller version of that. It doesn’t have the ergonomic grips of a Steam Deck, but it’s a smooth slim slab, light and small enough to not feel seriously fatiguing over time, and easily portable.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Its 4.7-inch display is big and sharp (750×1334) enough for something I hold a foot from my face, and it has a 16:9 aspect ratio that plays nice with remote streaming and more recent platforms like PSP. (It does result in some hefty black bars with older games originally designed for 3:2 or 4:3 displays, but I got used to those quickly enough.) The LED panel isn’t as vibrant as the OLED screens on newer smartphones, but it’s never come off as noticeably compromised either. Its color saturation and brightness is excellent for a cheap handheld, and it’s not impossible to see outside. Plus, it’s a touchscreen, which makes getting around Android easier.
All the requisite buttons for modern gaming are here as well. There are trade-offs: The four face buttons are beady and on the clicky side, the start/select buttons are placed weirdly on the side, and the triggers aren’t analog, so they can’t respond to different levels of pressure. But everything is fast to actuate and spaced well enough to avoid accidental inputs. The joysticks work as clickable L3 and R3 buttons, too, which isn’t a given with devices like these. I did have an issue with the R1 button sticking down, but that seemed to resolve itself after a couple of days. I’ll chalk that up to the pains of buying from a little-known company.
If you want the D-pad and face buttons to have a softer feel, Retroid actually includes alternative switches in the box. It sells other replacement parts on its website, too. That’s commendable for a worst-case scenario, but the default should be good enough for most to avoid taking on any DIY risks. One thing that isn’t included, though, is a case; I dug around and bought this old one for the PS Vita instead, and it’s done the job.
Retroid sells the Pocket 3 with either 2GB or 3GB of RAM. The latter only costs $10 more, so there’s little reason not to take the memory boost. The processor in this thing is far from a powerhouse; it’s built to emulate old games that don’t need a ton of processing power and last for 5-6 hours while doing that. Pretty much everything from the 8- and 16-bit eras runs perfectly smooth here, as do lower-power handhelds like the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and even the Nintendo DS. I’ve had few issues with early 3D games from the PlayStation 1 or Sega Dreamcast, too. Getting Nintendo 64 games to work requires a bit of control mapping in your emulator – I mean, look at this thing – but once that’s settled, that one is basically perfect as well.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Things start to get spottier once you get to the most demanding PSP games – think God of War: Chains of Olympus– but even then I was able to play stuff like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories(which isn’t purchasable on any modern platform) at double its native resolution with only the occasional slowdown. The cut-off here is PlayStation 2 and GameCube – those generally require just a bit more resources than the Retroid Pocket 3 can supply. But that still leaves decades of gems. Having Super Mario RPG or the original Metal Gear Solid playable in my hand, with higher-resolution textures and instant save states, is still kind of surreal.
The catch, as with many Android handhelds, is actually getting everything to work. When you first load up the Pocket 3, Retroid helpfully suggests a few recommended emulators you can install right away. If you’re new to this, though, you’ll then have to go through a labyrinthine maze of reading massive tutorials, watching 30-minute YouTube videos, tweaking dozens of settings across multiple apps, customizing hotkeys, cross-checking box art, and actually downloading the proper ROM and BIOS files for your games. And that’s not to mention how owning ROM files exists in a legal gray area. (Engadget does not condone piracy.) I spent more time optimizing RetroArch and organizing Retroid’s (attractive) launcher in my first two days with the Pocket 3 than actually playing games. There’s a reason people like this are mocked.
With the busywork done, though, I’ve found digging into my curated selection of the past refreshing. When I go back to NHL ‘94, I see a sports game that respects my time (and wallet). When I revisit Ridge Racer Type 4, I see a driving game intently focused on one pleasure (cruising around). When I play Link’s Awakening, I see a sequel in a wildly popular series that isn’t afraid to be weird and take risks. When I return to Shenmue, I see a game that revels in patience and refuses to constantly coddle me. It’s not that no modern games do these things, but it’s fascinating to see what some developers valued with far fewer resources. Here, I can get these history lessons on one handheld, in the span of one night.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
My only major complaints have less to do with the Pocket 3 than Retroid itself. Between the time I started writing this article and the time you’re reading it, Retroid launched a new Pocket 3+ handheld just three months after releasing the Pocket 3. There were suggestions that Retroid was using the Pocket 3 to clear out inventory at launch, so to see a follow-up so soon feels scuzzy. The new model has a similar design but 4GB of RAM and a faster processor; it’s still not great for GameCube and PS2 emulation by most accounts, but it can run more of those games, and it’s better with borderline systems like the PSP. At $149, it’s now the superior value, though the Pocket 3 remains a fine option for slightly less cash.
That said, new hardware launches at a breakneck pace in this market, and there’s long been a million different ways to play old games. Among handhelds alone, options like the Steam Deck, Analogue Pocket, Miyoo Mini, Anbernic RG353M and RG505, Ayn Odin Pro and Aya Neo 2 all promise retro gaming goodness at varying price points. But the Retroid Pocket 3 works for me. It required a good chunk of homework at first, but it’s since become a capable emulator and my own personal museum to classic game design.
Fujifilm recently launched the best, albeit most-expensive, APS-C camera yet – the X-H2S. But it wasn’t done. Today, we’re looking at its stablemate, the 40-megapixel X-H2. It’s the highest-resolution APS-C camera ever released and boasts impressive vi…
If you’ve been waiting for deals on Bose’s popular headphones, earbuds, Bluetooth speakers and more, now’s the time to act thanks to a sale at Amazon. You can pick up Bose’s popular QuietComfort 45 wireless ANC headphones at an all-time low price of $2…
We made it, folks! The end of the year is upon us, so Cherlynn, Devindra and UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith have gathered to break down the high and low points for the tech world. And for the first time, we duke it out to decide the first ever Engadget Podcast awards for the best and worst tech of the year. Let’s just hope things look brighter in 2023.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Devindra, Cherlynn and Mat’s personal best / worst of the year – 27:07
Engadget Podcast Official Best / Worst of the Year – 47:36
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas – 1:00:09
Dell’s Concept Luna laptop can be dismantled in seconds – 1:02:41
Google’s smart home devices now support the Matter standard – 1:10:25
Working on – 1:13:22
Pop culture picks – 1:15:00
Livestream
Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar Guest: Mat Smith Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh
Warhammer shows and films may be coming to Prime Video in the next few years. Amazon has secured the global rights to Warhammer 40,000, according to Deadline, and Henry Cavill is set to star in and executive produce the franchise. The company’s confirmation comes after the announcement by Games Workshop, the manufacturer behind the miniature wargame, that it has “reached an agreement in principle” with Amazon. It’s unclear if the two companies have already worked out the details of their partnership, but Games Workshop said it’s giving Amazon the rights to develop films and TV series based on the IP, along with any associated merchandising rights. Deadline lists games and animation as other potential projects.
The tabletop wargame has been around since 1987 and is set in the distant future with a rich lore that encompasses humans, alien races and gods. Based on Deadline’s report, production company Vertigo Entertainment teamed up with Cavill, who once posted a photo of himself painting a Warhammer miniature in the middle of pandemic lockdowns, to secure the Warhammer 40,000 IP before bringing the project to Amazon. Cavill recently left The Witcher, where he played Geralt of Rivia, and was supposed to play Superman in future DC films. However, he was ultimately dropped as the superhero after DC Studios’ new co-chairman James Gunn decided to write a movie for a younger Man of Steel.
In a statement, Cavill said: “I have loved Warhammer since I was a boy, making this moment truly special for me. The opportunity to shepherd this cinematic universe from its inception is quite the honour and the responsibility. I couldn’t be more grateful for all the hard work put in by Vertigo, Amazon Studios and Games Workshop to make this happen. One step closer to making a nigh on lifelong dream come true.”
Update12/16/22 9:35AM ET: Added the official announcement from Warhammer.
With no cables or screws, Dell’s latest Concept Luna device is pretty compelling. It’s a laptop you can take apart in around 30 seconds, using just a push-pin tool. And we’re talking about replacing the entire keyboard, processor or display because it’s entirely modular.
Dell
When it’s all put together, the new Concept Luna looks like a typical Dell laptop (more a Latitude than a slim XPS, to be clear). The new Luna laptop also has room for a CPU fan, to house more powerful processors. Once you’ve replaced a part, it does take longer to boot up, as it, sensibly, has to run through multiple tests to ensure each part works like it should.
We’ve seen modular tech for PCs and even smartphones come and go, but can Dell make this stick? The ability to replace components on, say, an army of enterprise laptops for a company could create huge savings for both the environment and the corporate bottom line.
Musk insinuated they were suspended due to Twitter’s new doxxing rules.
Twitter suspended several journalists from various publications last night. One thing they seem to have in common was covering the social network and Elon Musk, who once described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” and recent stories about the Twitter account @Elonjet, which tracked Elon Musk’s private jet, using publicly available information.
Notable accounts include The Washington Post‘sDrew Harwell and CNN‘s Donie O’Sullivan, the latter whose last tweets included his interview with Jack Sweeney, the college student who ran the @ElonJet account. The New York Times‘ Ryan Mac lost access to his account after talking about Sweeney and Twitter’s policy changes following @ElonJet’s suspension.
Musk subsequently said on Twitter that accounts “engaged in doxxing receive a temporary 7 day suspension” as a response to his tweet insinuating the journalists were banned due to the website’s new doxxing rules. Musk also entered a Twitter Space discussion and was immediately confronted by Harrell, who accused him of lying about posting links to his private information. Musk soon left the Space.
Kojima Productions is working with LA-based Hammerstone Studios to develop a movie adaptation of Death Stranding. The 2019 action game was already an incredibly cinematic experience, with lengthy cutscenes and dramatic expositions, which is probably partly why they aren’t directly adapting its story into film. According to Variety, the movie will introduce new elements and characters into the Death Stranding world – perhaps teeing up some of the characters in the sequel?
The Artemis missions will spend this decade setting up humanity’s first extraterrestrial outpost.
“NASA is building a coalition of partnerships with industry, nations and academia that will help us get to the Moon quickly and sustainably, together,” then-NASA director Jim Bridenstine said in 2020. NASA can put people on the Moon – but it’s the whole keeping them there, alive, that’s the issue. The Moon is generally inhospitable to life, what with its weak gravity, massive temperature swings, razor-sharp, statically charged dust and general lack of liquid water and breathable atmosphere. The first colonists will need power, heat, atmosphere, potable water and more. Andrew Tarantola lays out what the Artemis missions aim to accomplish.
There’s also a smaller Flip phone with a large cover screen.
Oppo
Oppo’s Find N2 shares a similar landscape screen design with its predecessor, yet it weighs as little as 233 grams. That’s 42 grams lighter than before, around 30 grams less than the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4. The Find N2 has a slightly larger 5.54-inch external display, and, while its 7.1-inch flexible screen has kept the same 9:8.4 “golden” aspect ratio (1,792 x 1,920), it apparently has a less visible crease and improved visibility.
As is often the case with Chinese phone companies, however, Western launches aren’t a definite. Both phones are available for pre-order in China today, ahead of the December 23rd launch for the Find N2 and the December 30th launch for the Find N2 Flip. Oppo reps also told Engadget the Flip will launch in international markets, but they are still evaluating whether to do the same with the bigger Find N2.
