When you're traveling to a new country, region, or even an unfamiliar part of your own town, and hailing a ride, you may be suspicious of the driver taking advantage of your cluelessness to charge you more or for more nefarious reasons. That's why I often keep a tab on the drive in Google Maps when riding a cab while traveling, but I have to repeatedly glance at my phone to notice any awkward routing. Maps recognizes this use case and is now offering to do the work in the background and notify you when your driver goes off the logical path.
To get Maps to track your ride, look for navigation directions to your destination, and tap the Stay safer button in the menu at the bottom. You'll find the off-route alerts there. Enable them then start the navigation.
Your current trip will be tracked, with one important change: a banner on the top that says you'll be alerted if your driver diverts by 500 meters (0.31 miles). This should leave enough room for small adjustments, personal driving preferences, and traffic avoidance, but also let you know if the car goes off-course so you can double-check the current drive. Maybe the re-route makes sense and Maps hadn't seen it as a valid alternative, or maybe something is really wrong — which we all hope is never the case. But at least you'll be alerted and you don't need to stare at your phone for the entire drive to know this.
The alert feature is showing up for users in India. We can't replicate it, but it's possible it's also available in other countries. I definitely want it to become a staple worldwide, as it can be handy regardless of country or region.
Lots of details remain unclear: We didn't see what Scarlett looks like or find out how much it will cost, among many other things. Instead, Microsoft talked up Scarlett's incredible specs and hardware capabilities, and it sounds like a big step up from the current of Xbox One systems. The company says it's four times as powerful as the Xbox One X as a point of reference. Scarlett comes equipped with an SSD and components capable of 8K and 120 FPS. Load times should be much faster, on top of the myriad other improvements made possible by this next-gen hardware.
The original story follows.
It's no secret that Microsoft is at work on a next-generation Xbox console. Just when that system will be revealed is the big question, but signs have been pointing to the Xbox E3 2019 press conference as the likely time and place. Microsoft has been known to drop a cheeky message or hint at a big console announcement, and it seems like there's precisely what it's doing in the lead up to E3 2019. Ahead of Sunday's Xbox briefing--the Xbox stream is now live if you want to watch--Microsoft has dropped a subtle but clear hint at a new console showing up.
Within its daily countdown videos for the Xbox press conference are RGB color codes for the specific color scarlet. For some time, rumors have suggested one of the next-gen Xbox systems is codenamed "Scarlet(t)." There are rumors of other Xbox consoles under the codenames "Anaconda" and "Lockhart" as well, which could pave the way for Microsoft to mimic the Xbox One S and X setup of the current generation.
Back to the tease: In the "3 Days To E3" video, the background had the text "R 255," and the next day had "G 36," and Saturday showed "B 0"--this turns out to be 255, 36, 0, or scarlet. You can see screen caps of this in the tweet below.
In the past, there were hidden messages in pre-E3 videos that teased Project Scorpio, which turned out to be the Xbox One X. And in the lead up to Microsoft's press conference this year, we expected news of new console hardware at the show given that head of Xbox Phil Spencer made mention of it last year.
If Microsoft is indeed announcing a next-gen Xbox at E3, it will be doing so during its press conference on Sunday, June 9. It begins at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST (6 AM AET on June 10). You can watch the event live here on GameSpot or follow our Xbox liveblog.
The E3 2019 show floor doesn't open until Tuesday, but things are already in full swing with presentations from Microsoft, EA and Bethesda. We've seen everything in gaming that was announced so far, from high-profile (Project Scarlett, Star Wars, George R.R. Martin) to offbeat (Battletoads) to truly unexpected (Keanu Reeves!). Stay tuned for more news today from the likes of Ubisoft and Square-Enix.
Tonight Square-Enix will reveal more information about Final Fantasy VII Remake during its press conference at 9 PM ET, but for now, we'll settle for a release date and new trailer. The PS4 exclusive will arrive five years after it was announced, ready to rebuild and expand upon the original.
CD Projekt Red's highly anticipated adventure game not only has a release date, (April 16th, 2020), but it also revealed a surprise celebrity appearance: Keanu Reeves. What exactly is he doing in the game? We don't know yet, but we're here for it.
With Sony skipping E3 2019, Microsoft took the stage to show how its next-gen box will stack up to the PlayStation 5. Codenamed Project Scarlett, the system is scheduled to launch late next year, packing SSD storage plus a custom variant of AMD's Zen 2 processor architecture with GDDR6 memory, powerful enough to handle 8K resolution, real-time ray tracing and 120 fps performance.
If Microsoft's true next-gen gaming competitor is Google instead of Sony, then its xCloud game streaming service will be vital. At E3, the company announced streaming will launch this fall, with gamers able to play their titles (whether owned or included in Game Pass) streamed either from one of its datacenters or their own home Xbox One for free with console streaming. There's no word yet on pricing for cloud-powered access, but E3 attendees can try streaming Halo 5 or Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice on tablets and phones this week.
343 revealed that Master Chief will once again return to the battlefield just in time for the holidays in 2020. What's more, the game will be a launch title for the upcoming Project Scarlett Xbox system. If you're not ready to upgrade, you'll still be able to play, since the plan is for it to support "more platforms than we ever have for a single game," across every Xbox One and PC.
Gone are the days of trusty Moleskine 18-month planners, scraps of to-do lists and family calendars hanging on the fridge. Full-time jobs and older kids mean more clubs, more appointments, more social life. Making a move to digital organization can take a load off and breathe new life into the family. Often you have the apps and software on hand -- you just need to rethink how you use them.
As reported by TechCrunch, Maker Media, the company responsible for Maker Faires and Make:, has stopped operations and laid off all its staff. Despite its long-lasting impact on the tech industry, the company's chances had been undermined by the abundance of free online content, CEO Dale Dougherty noted. For now, efforts are under way to keep the online archive and print magazine running.
Customers who pulled the trigger on Tesla's entry-level Model 3 may want to enjoy their car's features to the fullest over the coming days. Those early vehicles shipped with unlocked software that effectively gave owners access to the more expensive Standard Range Plus car. Now, the automaker has started warning customers via email that it's going to limit their vehicle's software and remove their access to the Plus features in the next 10 days.
The 14-minute 'Fallen Order' gameplay clip is a must-see.EA Play @ E3 2019
Looking back on last night’s Xbox E3 2019 Briefing, I can’t help but feel that Microsoft did what they had to, but little else. There were a few surprises, a few steps in a slightly different direction compared to their main competitors, but once again, those not already invested in the Xbox ecosystem will have seen little to encourage them to get involved.
The big problem is that, while Microsoft played host to 60 games on their stage, for PlayStation owners, they know that all of the biggest and most highly anticipated games from third parties will also be coming to their console. Yes, Microsoft had a list of 30 games that would be heading into the increasingly good value Xbox Game Pass and 14 first party and exclusive games, but how many of those would convince the unconvinced to join Xbox this year? Is Ninja Theory’s 4v4 multiplayer combat game really what people expected to come after Hellblade? Is Gears 5 going to draw in the punters when Gears 4 felt slick and polished, but is so rooted as a series in the last generation?
Even the biggest surprise of the night is going to have more people cursing at Microsoft than praising them. Double Fine are a truly cherished independent game developer, sometimes having had to survive in the face of failure, but doing so while producing games big and small with a natural creative spark. Being acquired by Microsoft won’t change anything in the next year or two – Psychonauts 2 will still be coming to PlayStation 4, for example – but what about after then? Gradually their games will surely become Xbox and PC exclusive, and fans will always worry about the possibility of Microsoft interfering and the culture at the studio changing. Those are fears that should be unfounded under the current leadership, but you never know what the future holds.
But showing off loads of games was only one part of what Microsoft needed to accomplish at E3 this year. While not quite as ridiculous as Clint Eastwood telling off an empty chair, they still had to stand up to their absent competitors, and on two fronts. On a certain level, Microsoft believe that streaming is the future of gaming, whether that’s five years from now or ten, and that puts them in direct competition with both Google Stadia’s emerging platform and PlayStation Now’s established one.
This was perhaps the main area where Microsoft failed to really say anything of note. Google have announced Stadia’s launch month, its pricing and its availability, but in response Microsoft simply stated that those in attendance at E3 could try Project xCloud out. One interesting development is that you’ll be able to stream from your Xbox One to other devices, as a part of this infrastructure. You’ve been able to stream from Xbox One to Windows 10 for a few years now, but console streaming will expand this to all the devices that Microsoft intend to bring xCloud to later this year. Sure, Sony did it first with Remote Play, but this certainly doesn’t hurt to let you take your own games on the go.
Of course, the shadow looming over this entire year of console gaming is the fact that we’re coming to the end of this console generation and that everyone is gearing up and getting ready for whatever’s coming next. Here, even though not in attendance, Sony were able to outwit Microsoft and discussed some of the technical details of their console a couple months ago. It made Microsoft’s aspirational introductory video for Project Scarlett feel like an echo of Sony’s own announcement.
AMD Zen 2, Navi graphics, GDDR6, an SSD for super-fast loading, ray-tracing, 8K and 120fps; we’ve heard it all already. Microsoft did step half an inch further than that, stating that Scarlett has four times more raw processing power than the Xbox One X, that the SSD acts as virtual RAM, and, of course, confirmed the widely held expectation that the next generation will start in the run up to Christmas 2020.
As we wind down this generation, they’ve found themselves with no arch rival to be compared with, no competition for third parties to grace their stage, and the entire future of gaming to discuss. In that vacuum, Microsoft delivered a slickly produced show full of games, and yet one that was also largely unsurprising and unexciting.
For more news from Microsoft’s E3 2019 show and all the others at E3 this year, make sure to keep tabs on our E3 hub.
Lots of details remain unclear: We didn't see what Scarlett looks like or find out how much it will cost, among many other things. Instead, Microsoft talked up Scarlett's incredible specs and hardware capabilities, and it sounds like a big step up from the current of Xbox One systems. The company says it's four times as powerful as the Xbox One X as a point of reference. Scarlett comes equipped with an SSD and components capable of 8K and 120 FPS. Load times should be much faster, on top of the myriad other improvements made possible by this next-gen hardware.
The original story follows.
It's no secret that Microsoft is at work on a next-generation Xbox console. Just when that system will be revealed is the big question, but signs have been pointing to the Xbox E3 2019 press conference as the likely time and place. Microsoft has been known to drop a cheeky message or hint at a big console announcement, and it seems like there's precisely what it's doing in the lead up to E3 2019. Ahead of Sunday's Xbox briefing--the Xbox stream is now live if you want to watch--Microsoft has dropped a subtle but clear hint at a new console showing up.
Within its daily countdown videos for the Xbox press conference are RGB color codes for the specific color scarlet. For some time, rumors have suggested one of the next-gen Xbox systems is codenamed "Scarlet(t)." There are rumors of other Xbox consoles under the codenames "Anaconda" and "Lockhart" as well, which could pave the way for Microsoft to mimic the Xbox One S and X setup of the current generation.
Back to the tease: In the "3 Days To E3" video, the background had the text "R 255," and the next day had "G 36," and Saturday showed "B 0"--this turns out to be 255, 36, 0, or scarlet. You can see screen caps of this in the tweet below.
In the past, there were hidden messages in pre-E3 videos that teased Project Scorpio, which turned out to be the Xbox One X. And in the lead up to Microsoft's press conference this year, we expected news of new console hardware at the show given that head of Xbox Phil Spencer made mention of it last year.
If Microsoft is indeed announcing a next-gen Xbox at E3, it will be doing so during its press conference on Sunday, June 9. It begins at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST (6 AM AET on June 10). You can watch the event live here on GameSpot or follow our Xbox liveblog.
It's no secret that Microsoft is at work on a next-generation Xbox console. Just when that system will be revealed is the big question, but signs have been pointing to the Xbox E3 2019 press conference as the likely time and place. Microsoft has been known to drop a cheeky message or hint at a big console announcement, and it seems like there's precisely what it's doing in the lead up to E3 2019. Ahead of Sunday's Xbox briefing--the Xbox stream is now live if you want to watch--Microsoft has dropped a subtle but clear hint at a new console showing up.
Within its daily countdown videos for the Xbox press conference are RGB color codes for the specific color scarlet. For some time, rumors have suggested one of the next-gen Xbox systems is codenamed "Scarlet(t)." There are rumors of other Xbox consoles under the codenames "Anaconda" and "Lockhart" as well, which could pave the way for Microsoft to mimic the Xbox One S and X setup of the current generation.
Back to the tease: In the "3 Days To E3" video, the background had the text "R 255," and the next day had "G 36," and Saturday showed "B 0"--this turns out to be 255, 36, 0, or scarlet. You can see screen caps of this in the tweet below.
In the past, there were hidden messages in pre-E3 videos that teased Project Scorpio, which turned out to be the Xbox One X. And in the lead up to Microsoft's press conference this year, we expected news of new console hardware at the show given that head of Xbox Phil Spencer made mention of it last year.
If Microsoft is indeed announcing a next-gen Xbox at E3, it will be doing so during its press conference on Sunday, June 9. It begins at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST (6 AM AET on June 10). You can watch the event live here on GameSpot or follow our Xbox liveblog.
