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advertisement advertisement advertisement Google is now taking pre-orders for Stadia, the game streaming service that’s supposed to compete with the likes of Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation consoles. The service will launch in a limited capacity this November, followed by a broader rollout in 2020. advertisement advertisement Unlike traditional game consoles and gaming PCs, which come with powerful (and pricey) graphics processors, Stadia will use cloud servers to process the games, and will stream them to all kinds of computing devices, starting with laptops and desktops (via the Chrome browser), Google’s Pixel 3 and 3A phones, and Google’s Chromecast Ultra streaming TV dongle. Still, Google Stadia’s launch games, pricing, and strategy don’t look drastically different from previous cloud gaming efforts, which have either failed or floundered because the experience isn’t really better–or … [Read more...] about If Google’s Stadia streaming service changes gaming, it’ll take a while

advertisement advertisement advertisement It’s now an image forever etched into the history of America: Donald Trump descending the gold escalator of his Fifth Avenue hotel to announce his candidacy for president. The words he delivered after would be just as long-lasting. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he famously spouted, not even two minutes into his 45-minute campaign launch speech . “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” It was evident from the very start that Donald Trump’s presidency was founded on anti-immigrant sentiment. advertisement advertisement It wasn’t mere talk: His changes to immigration law will be one of Trump’s primary legacies. Border wall construction and an outright ban on people from certain Muslim-majority countries lasted throughout his presidency. He instated policies that separated families, and gave ICE … [Read more...] about Can Biden do more than just undoing Trump’s anti-immigration legacy?

advertisement advertisement advertisement Before it released its megahit game Fortnite , Epic was known for creating one of the most popular video game engines in the world, which serves as the backbone of countless games you love: the Unreal Engine. While Fortnite is defined by its cartoony-meme violence, the Unreal Engine has been celebrated for pushing the bounds of visual realism. advertisement advertisement And now, Epic is sharing its latest breakthrough on its engine with a feature called MetaHumans . MetaHumans are highly convincing, completely digital people. The twist? While high-end digital characters can require a month or more to create, an artist using MetaHumans can construct them in mere minutes. In the video above, you can see just how convincing the MetaHumans look. Their skin ranges from porcelain to freckled to wrinkled, sun-weathered leather. When they speak, their lips don’t appear to pop out from the … [Read more...] about The company behind ‘Fortnite’ just made it shockingly easy to create lifelike people

advertisement advertisement advertisement America enters the new year with great hope for defeating the pandemic, but also in desperate need of extra investment to finish the job. advertisement advertisement Although the new year began as last year ended, amid waves of political discord, a tsunami of COVID-19 cases, and overstretched hospitals, we can finally see the end of the pandemic. Now, policymakers, and healthcare workers, and others are grappling with how to quickly get relief and vaccines to communities and people who need them the most—and how to build trust where many people are wary of them. An answer to these challenges is to activate a community-based health workforce: trained people who work door-to-door and face-to-face with their neighbors to connect residents to lifesaving healthcare and information. They are pandemic reinforcements that have barely been tapped, and we cannot wait a moment longer to bring … [Read more...] about How the New Orleans Resilience Corps helped the city fight the pandemic

advertisement advertisement advertisement advertisement advertisement Three of the biggest networks have given the thumbs-down to Google TV. ABC, CBS and NBC have all decided to restrict access to shows such as The Office , CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , and Desperate Housewives , offering only promo episodes for viewing. Google is remaining sanguine about the situation, merely commenting: “Google TV enables access to all the Web content you already get today on your phone and PC, but it is ultimately the content owners’ choice to restrict their fans from accessing their content on the platform.” The row is basically over revenue. The TV giants doubt that Google’s entertainment service will enable their shows to generate the big bucks that they did, say, five years ago. Disney, which owns ABC, is said to be unsatisfied with Google’s plan to keep pirated versions of its shows at bay, although Google points out that it … [Read more...] about Google TV in Minor Skirmish as TV Networks Limit Access to Shows