Richard Lawler
Engadget
Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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Recent articles by Richard:
NBA reportedly plans 'players-only' 2K tournament that will air on ESPN
The NBA already has an official esports league with various teams represented, but with the live basketball season on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, it's reportedly about to put real NBA players on the sticks. Yahoo Sports reporter Chris Haynes cites league sources indicating that a 16-player NBA 2K tournament lasting 10 days will begin on Friday, with ESPN set to broadcast it. With… → Read More
The Morning After: Powerbeats (2020) review
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. As many of us close out another week in isolation, the urge for social contact is growing. Karissa Bell has some advice on hosting movie and game night from a safe distance thanks to the internet and tools like Netflix Party. If you need to shake up your situation this weekend, then take a look right here. -- Richard → Read More
Google pulls Infowars from the Play Store over coronavirus misinformation
In 2018, several internet services decided to pull channels from Alex Jones and his Infowars setup, including YouTube and Apple's App Store, but until now the company's app remained available via the Google Play Store. While conspiracy theories and lawsuits from parents who said he'd lied about them and their children weren't enough to earn Jones the boot, Wired reports that the final straw came… → Read More
The Morning After: Reviewing the iPad Pro (2020)
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. I spent the last few days talking with Huawei, listening to Huawei and (briefly) playing with its new flagship P40 Pro phone. If you've been following the company's progress over recent years, you'll know it really hit its groove making aggressively high-specced smartphones with incredible cameras and imaging tricks. But hopes of becoming the de facto… → Read More
'Flight Simulator' developers explain its 'shared world' multiplayer
Last year we got some hands-on time with a pre-alpha build of the next Flight Simulator game in Microsoft's long-running series. While that gave a peek at the game's photorealistic environment and inclusion of information like piped-in live flight traffic and weather data, Windows Central points out a seven-minute video the developers just posted that goes into the game's multiplayer features.… → Read More
Watch Huawei's P40 unveiling in just 12 minutes
Earlier today Huawei showed off its new P40 family of phones, which come packed with enough new tech that they're still interesting without a path to market in the US or Google's apps. The P40 Pro+ packs in a ridiculous 10x optical zoom capability with its super periscope telephoto lens. There's also a new smart speaker with some impressive audio capabilities to take advantage of the Celia voice… → Read More
The Morning After: iPadOS 13.4 brings mouse and trackpad support
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Years after Apple's tablet first debuted, the iPad is finally like other computers in one important way: You can easily use it with a mouse or a trackpad. The 13.4 update that rolled out yesterday for iOS and iPadOS added that and a number of other new features, like support for third-party navigation apps in the CarPlay dashboard and revamped iCloud file… → Read More
The first 'Half-Life: Alyx' update makes it easier to turn
Now that people -- who have the proper VR-ready gaming setup -- can actually play Half-Life: Alyx, it's inevitably time to ask for more features and tweaks. While our reviewer Devindra Hardawar preferred using teleportation-style movement through the game to avoid motion sickness, players who used its immersive "smooth locomotion" mode that lets you glide the world guided by the analog stick… → Read More
The Morning After: 'Half-Life: Alyx' is exactly what we've been waiting for
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Greetings from the corner of my apartment. Like a lot of you, the four corners around me are going to be my world for the foreseeable future. It's not great, but some companies are making it a little less bad: Many phone carriers have tacked on additional data (or increased speeds) at a time when we're streaming and consuming the web more than ever.… → Read More
Chrome's new release schedule will skip version 82 entirely
Last week Google announced it will pause Chrome and Chrome OS releases to deal with its adjusted work schedules as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, the company said that it would work to ensure current releases are as stable as possible, and that for now, it will not promote Chrome 81 from beta to stable. As Chrome Unboxed points out, a post a few days ago explains that the new… → Read More
What's on TV this week: 'Ozark' season three
Another week at home, and at least there are a few worthy options to watch. After a lengthy gap, Netflix's Ozark will pick up season three with the plot advanced six months from where we last visited the characters. On CBS All Access things are wrapping up for season one of Star Trek: Picard, and this week is also the season finale of Terriers 2, aka Stumptown. One thing to keep an eye on for… → Read More
The Morning After: First impressions of the new MacBook Air
After initially shifting its annual developer event to an online-only affair, Google announced Friday afternoon that "we sadly will not be holding an I/O event in any capacity this year." For the time being, Google plans to share details about upcoming Android updates in blog and community forum posts. On non-race weekends, fans will go head-to-head with drivers.Real F1 drivers will compete in… → Read More
The Morning After: NASCAR's using esports to fill in for canceled races
Can telehealth save us?The Engadget Podcast This week, many of us found out exactly which meetings could've been emails. On the podcast, Cherlynn and Devindra explore the rise of telehealth during the global coronavirus pandemic. It's not all serious conversation; our hosts also dive into the gaming hardware news from this week, as well as a few fun recommendations to help you hold it together.… → Read More
Uber's former self-driving lead pleads guilty to stealing from Google
After about three years of legal wrangling between Uber and Waymo over self-driving car tech, the engineer at the center of it has agreed to plead guilty to one count of stealing materials from Google. Anthony Levandowski was a lead engineer on the self-driving car project that's now known as Waymo, until he left to from his own company, Otto, which Uber then acquired. Reuters reports that the… → Read More
The Morning After: PS5 specs plus MacBook Air and iPad Pro updates
Sony lags behind Microsoft when it comes to raw specs -- but that's not the whole story.PlayStation 5 will feature a 10.2-teraflop GPU and a speedy custom SSD Sony's in-depth look at the PS5 wasn't exactly a thrilling presentation (watch the ten-minute version instead), but the company did, finally, get specific about things. The next-generation console will be powered by AMD's third-generation… → Read More
Elon Musk: Tesla 'will make ventilators if there is a shortage'
Elon Musk simply refuses to stop tweeting (because "Twitter is fun") but his most recent conversation could be about more than fun. While facing widespread criticism over his response to the coronavirus pandemic and decision to continue operating the Tesla plant in Fremont despite a county-wide "shelter in place" order, someone asked if he would use it to manufacture ventilators. Many people… → Read More
Watch Sony's PS5 deep dive in under 10 minutes
Today Sony revealed a ton of information and specs about the upcoming PlayStation 5. Everything from its speedy SSD, details on the clock speed of its CPU and GPU and plans for 3D audio are now revealed. If you tuned in for the hour-long livestream then you've probably heard everything, but if you'd prefer to cut out any filler or just get a quick replay then we have the solution. Besides a… → Read More
The Morning After: 'Westworld' remembers that TV can be fun
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Now that Movies Anywhere has supplanted Ultraviolet as the digital video locker of choice, it's apparently time to start adding some features. The formerly Disney branded setup is much smoother to operate than the old locker system, and it now has announced a closed beta for Screen Pass. That's a feature that enables you to share up to three films per month… → Read More
'Overwatch' will finally address some old problems with Quick Play
While we'll have to wait for Overwatch 2 before Blizzard delivers new characters or big new missions, that doesn't mean developers are done with the first game. Dexerto points out forum posts by lead developer Jeff Kaplan that mention the team will finally deal with a few problems that have been around since the game launched that are tied to matchmaking for its more casual Quick Play game mode.… → Read More
The Morning After: What's inside the Xbox Series X?
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Monday morning brought a flood of new information about the Xbox Series X. No, Microsoft's reps did not reveal a price or any details on why we should still expect new consoles to launch as planned later this year, but they did toss around a lot of technical terms for us to bury ourselves in as an alternative to dealing with other problems. Whether you're a… → Read More