Technology news

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook packed its Connect virtual and augmented reality conference into a single day this year, and it announced a lot of news during its two-hour keynote. That included a new VR headset, the retirement of an old headset, and a long list of upcoming games and apps.As usual, Connect centered on Facebook’s VR division Oculus. But we also learned about Facebook’s plans for Ray-Ban “smart glasses,” as well as a more advanced AR i

Sony revealed the release date and price for its next-gen console, the PlayStation 5, alongside news of its launch titles and upcoming games. According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, games from “our own Worldwide Studios titles will be priced from US$49.99 to US$69.99.”
Although not unexpected, the price point is a jump from the current era of consoles, which typically run about $60 for a new game. Launch day titles such as Bluepoint’s Demon’s Souls remake and Destruc

Working at the intersection of biology and computing may be the most exciting new spot for technologists at the moment.
That’s the word from Daphne Koller,the founder and chief executive officer of Insitro — the biotech company that’s raised more than $243 million in the two short years since it launched.
Speaking at our virtual TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Koller, a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded Courseraand briefly served as the chief computing officer for th

Sony hosted a live showcase for the upcoming PlayStation 5 console on Wednesday, giving us a look at a bunch of exhilarating games coming in the next generation along with some new details about the system including its prices and release date in November.
While some of the trailers gave us deeper looks at games that have already been revealed, like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Resident Evil 8, we also got some spicy new reveals, including Final Fantasy XVI, a new God of War game, and the long-

A week after Microsoft detailed the price and release date for both the Xbox Series X and the Series S, Sony has followed suit with a major PS5 showcase event. On Wednesday, Sony revealed not only how much the PS5 will cost and when it will launch, but also more details on the games coming to the next-gen platform.
If you missed the event live, here are all the major reveals.
See you in November! pic.twitter.com/CjrQ65rJ5a— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 16, 2020The PS5 will cost $49

Sony released the first gameplay from Bluepoint Games’ upcoming remake of Demon’s Souls. The video dropped today as part of the PlayStation 5’s event.Demon’s Souls is a total remake of the original game from the studio that also worked on the PS4 remake of Shadow of The Colossus. The gameplay video features an encounter with the demon Vanguard, one of the first big challenges players will encounter.“It was essential to us that we recreated Demon’s Souls in suc

Image: Sony Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus Collection for PS5. Described as “a new PlayStation Plus benefit for PlayStation 5,” it’s a bundle of “generation-defining” PS4 games that you’ll be able to download at launch on the company’s new console. The games consist of first-party classics like Uncharted 4, God of War, The Last of Us: Remastered, Bloodborne, plus third-party titles like Batman Arkham Night, Fallout 4, Mortal Kombat X, and more.

God of War is coming to the PlayStation 5 in 2021, Sony teased today, with the company announcing a next-gen sequel that’s due out next year.The sequel to the 2018 PlayStation 4 title will once again be developed by Sony’s Santa Monica studio, and presumably will pick up the journey of Kratos and his son, Atreus, following the events of that game. If the end-credit teaser in the last game is anything to go by, the two will continue to battle against various gods and heroes of the Nor

Image: Sony Sony’s PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, its next-generation game console without a Blu-ray disc drive, will cost $399.99, the company announced Wednesday as part of its PS5 price reveal live stream event.That’s $100 less than the standard PS5, which will match Microsoft’s Xbox Series S at a price of $499.99 but cost $100 more than the less performant Xbox Series S. Both devices will ship in the US, Japan, and other territories on November 12th, with a worldwide avail

If in-person events were still a thing in 2020, there’s a pretty good chance we’d know a lot more about the PlayStation 5 by now. With tech companies setting their own event schedules, however, Sonyand Microsoft have offered themselves a more leisurely schedule with which to portion out news. Microsoft struck first, with aggressive pricing, two different launch models and a financing plan.
Now it’s Sony’s time to shine. Today’s big event answered some of the lingeri

Image: Sony Sony has announced that the PlayStation 5 will cost $499.99 when it launches on November 12th, alongside the $399.99 Digital Edition.
The pricing puts Sony squarely up against Microsoft’s next-gen consoles, with the company set to release its entry-level Xbox Series S at $299 and its flagship Xbox Series X for $499 on November 10th.
For comparison, the PlayStation 4 cost $399 at launch, although it currently sells for $299, while the PlayStation 4 Pro originally sold for $399,

“Scandal” and “Little Fires Everywhere” star Kerry Washingtonwon her first Emmy Award yesterday, but when she joined us at TechCrunch Disrupt today, she was much more focused on her work as an investor.
Washington traced much of her interest in technology to the premiere of “Scandal” in 2012. It had, she said, been “almost 40 years since a Black woman was the lead on a network drama,” which meant that the pressure was high — and that “S

Image: Portkey Games Hogwarts Legacy is a new Harry Potter open world game releasing next year across all major platforms, Warner Bros. announced on Wednesday as part of Sony’s PlayStation 5 price reveal live stream event. The game, developed by Disney Infinity developer Avalanche Software, is set in the 1800s at the iconic Hogwarts from the book series, but given its time period it will not involve playing as the series’ titular character. Instead, the trailer gives the impression

Image: Portkey Games Hogwarts Legacy is a new Harry Potter open world game coming to the PlayStation 5 platform, Sony announced on Wednesday during its PS5 price reveal live stream event. The game is set in the 1800s at the iconic Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the book series, but given its time period it will not involve playing as the series’ titular character. Instead, the trailer gives the impression that players will create their own character and engage in all mann

Sony has shown off its first gameplay demo for the upcoming Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The game, set a year after the events of Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man title, will put players into the shoes of Miles Morales as the heroic web-slinger, complete with new abilities and powers.In the footage, Miles faces off against a new villian, the Tinkerer, in footage that seems specifically designed to show off the fancier lighting and particle effects that the PlayStation 5 can offer over the ori

Sony has shown off its first gameplay demo for the upcoming Spider-Man: Miles Morales, along with a release date: it’ll launch alongside the PlayStation 5 on November 12th.
The game, set a year after the events of Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man title, will put players into the shoes of Miles Morales as the heroic web-slinger, complete with new abilities and powers.In the footage, Miles faces off against a new villian, the Tinkerer, in footage that seems specifically designed to show

Despite the surprise release of iOS 14 that left app developers unprepared, an ambitious few have managed to push their way through — or even pull an all-nighter — in order to make their apps available with iOS 14 support on launch day. For the first time in years, the new version of iOS offers a new way for consumers to organize their home screens. Now, your less frequently used apps can be shuffled away to the App Library on the iPhone’s back screen, while those apps offering

Asset management might not be the most exciting talking topic, but it’s often an overlooked area of cyber-defenses. By knowing exactly what assets your company has makes it easier to know where the security weak spots are.
That’s the problem JupiterOneis trying to fix.
“We built JupiterOne because we saw a gap in how organizations manage the security and compliance of their cyber assets day to day,” said Erkang Zheng, the company’s founder and chief executive.
The M

Final Fantasy is heading to the PlayStation 5 with a new entry, Final Fantaxy XVI. The news was announced today during Sony’s console event with a brief teaser.The trailer posted today teases a world in which “The legacy of the crystals has shaped our history for long enough” as part of the upcoming action RPG. Alongside its new fantasy setting, iconic figures from the series, from Chocobos to summons like Shiva, can be seen throughout.
Square Enix’s last entry in the ser

Final Fantasy is heading to the PlayStation 5 with a new entry, Final Fantaxy XVI. The news was announced today during Sony’s console event with a brief teaser.The trailer posted today teases a world in which “The legacy of the crystals has shaped our history for long enough” as part of the upcoming action RPG. Alongside its new fantasy setting, iconic figures from the series, from Chocobos to summons like Shiva, can be seen throughout.
Square Enix’s last entry in the ser

Dieter Bohn / The Verge Apple’s iOS 14, the latest major software update for iPhones, should soon be available to download. Web trackers show it’s already available on Apple’s servers, so we’re just refreshing our phones waiting for it to appear. Some of the key new features in iOS 14 include widgets on the home screen, an “App Library” that organizes all of your apps in one place, a Translate app that works with 11 different languages, and picture-in-picture

Sophie Alcorn ContributorShare on Twitter Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributorDear Sophie: What is a J-1 visa and how can we use it? Dear Sophie: Can we sponsor an H-1B university researcher for an EB-1B green card?
Here

Applehas just released the final version of iOS 14, the next major version of the operating system for the iPhone. It is a free download and it works with the iPhone 6s or later, both generations of iPhone SE and the most recent iPod touch model. If your device runs iOS 13, it supports iOS 14. The update may or may not be immediately available, but keep checking because people are now receiving the update.
The company is also releasing major updates for the iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV today.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook just announced the Oculus Quest 2, a successor to its Quest virtual reality headset from 2019. At $299 for the base model, the new beefed-up and slimmed-down Quest is $100 cheaper than its predecessor. It’s also shipping within a few weeks: preorders opened today, and it will be available for purchase in 22 countries on October 13th. Facebook will retire its Oculus Rift S next year and the original Quest supply is already sold out in ma

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple has released iOS 14 today, and Microsoft is one of the first to support the new default mail app in Apple’s latest update. Apple is introducing the ability to switch default apps for both mail and the browser, and Outlook has been updated today to include the support.
Browser and mail apps will need to be updated to support the ability to switch defaults on iOS 14, and iPhone and iPad users will need to delve into the main settings interfa

Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Roadside Attractions Amazon is expanding its Samuel L. Jackson voice skill for its Alexa digital assistant to include tens of thousands more phrases, including much more of the actor’s iconic expletive-filled delivery. The company is also giving Jackson his own dedicated wake phrase: “Hey, Samuel.” The news follows Amazon’s announcement on Monday that it plans to add its next celebrity voice, Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, for th

The G333 in-ear headphones connected to the Quest 2. | Logited Logitech is launching two new gaming audio products that are built for the just-announced Oculus Quest 2. One of them is called the G333, and they’re Logitech G’s first in-ear headphones pictured above. The other announcement is Logitech’s G Pro wired gaming headset, which is an existing product that will now ship with two 3.5mm cables, one that’s long and another that’s small, suited for when you&rsquo

According to a new report in Bloomberg, Social Capital Hedosophia has filed plans confidentially with the SEC to raise $500 million for its newest blank-check company.
It will be the fourth special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, to be raised by the outfit, which is headed up by Chamath Palihapitiyaand his longtime investment partner, Ian Osborne.
Astonishingly, dozens more may be in the works. On the “All-In Podcast,” co-hosted by Palihapitiya, he revealed recently that has re

Fortnite may not be available in VR (or on iOS), but Oculus Quest users will soon be getting their own Fortnite clone for virtual reality.
Nearly two years after its funding and initial launch announcement, BigBox VR is finally ready to roll out its battle royale game, “POPULATION: ONE” to players on the Quest (and the sunsetting Rift hardware).
Co-founders Chia Chin Lee and Gabe Brown started their game development for virtual reality with a shooter called Smashbox Arena, but &

After six months of sheltering in place (and now weeks of hiding from wildfire smoke) alongside a toddler who never seems to run out of energy, I’m the last person who would try to make anyone feel bad for giving their kid some screen time.
But if a company wants to build a toy that aims to educate and entertain without the need for a screen, they’ve at least got my attention.
That’s the concept behind Kiri, a company competing in the (first all virtual!) TechCrunch Disrupt Sta

Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Over 20 states aren’t including results from a type of rapid COVID-19 test in their overall case numbers, according to a survey by Kaiser Health News (KHN). The federal government is sending millions of these types of tests all around the country in an effort to keep up with the pandemic. If states don’t release the results from those tests through their public health departments, it creates a blind spot in the overall data.