There’s two pieces of Half-Life related news today. First of all, the Half-Life: Alyx dev team has posted an AMA on Reddit, and they actually give some intriguing answers to what sorts of changes and design rules Valve has followed in developing the game. For example, Half-Life: Alyx doesn’t use jumping much, partly because players don’t tend to like jumping in VR. Instead of relying on jumps, the game has a continuous mantling system and uses jumping rarely. Creatures respond to audio cues more than they used to, and a lot of work was spent on tuning environments to make them more “sonically interesting” to reward player exploration.
Microsoft surprised everyone with a of its upcoming Xbox Series X late last year. We didn’t get much aside from the name and a render of the monolithic case, but now a Twitter user has posted what appear to be , complete with a Microsoft serial number on the rear. On the surface, the device in these images does indeed look like the one Microsoft showed off at the 2019 Game Awards. It’s a black box about twice as tall as it is wide with a slot on the front, presumably for the disc drive. There’s a small button above the slot that ought to eject discs.
Microsoft has begun rolling out a Chrome extension that will force Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus customers to use Bing as a search engine, even if they’ve previously chosen to use Google. The update currently only applies to Office 365 ProPlus customers. Here’s Microsoft on the “benefits” : Starting with Version 2002 of Office 365 ProPlus, an extension for Microsoft Search in Bing will be installed that makes Bing the default search engine for the Google Chrome web browser. This extension will be installed with new installations of Office 365 ProPlus or when existing installations of Office 365 ProPlus are updated.
There’s a new sheriff in town: the Kia Telluride midsize SUV, loaded with standard safety tech and driver assists, room for seven or eight, gifted with a smooth ride and the ability to pull to tow a 5,000-pound trailer. This is an amazing vehicle. The Kia Telluride and its fraternal twin Hyundai Palisade are poised to upend the status quo among the larger midsize mainstream SUVs, as well as challenge the same-size Audi-BMW-Lexus-Lincoln-Mercedes SUVs for cockpit quality and ride comfort, if not handling, for $15,000-$20,000 less. Between the Telluride and Palisade, the front ends look different, and the Telluride includes blind spot detection even on the entry trim line.
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Scientists studying an ancient impact crater in the Australian Outback have finally managed to date the structure, and “ancient” is a bit of an understatement. The Yarrabubba crater was formed by an impact some 2.2 billion years ago, making it the . This date also suggests that the Yarrabubba impact may have helped Earth claw its way out of a global ice age. The Yarrabubba crater is so old that the crater rim has completely eroded, but scientists were able to identify it from the geological composition and the Barlangi rock formations near the center. The 43-mile (70-kilometer) structure is difficult to study thanks to its remote location in western Australia and the accumulation of more modern geological deposits on top of it.
Motorola claims it’s been working on its new foldable Razr smartphone for years, but it wasn’t ready to launch the device in December as originally planned. Verizon now says it’s ready to release the device on February 6th, and pre-orders . However, the phone will cost quite a bit more than your average, non-foldable device. The new Razr builds on the iconic design that made the old flip phone the best selling smartphone for several years in the early 2000s. The device folds in half like an old-fashioned flip phone, but inside it has a single 6.2-inch flexible OLED screen.
iRobot’s Roomba 675 is one of the best selling robot vacs on the market that offers powerful suction and an easy to use smartphone interface. Best of all, you can get it now for $199, which matches the excellent price we saw on this vacuum on Black Friday. The Roomba 675 offers solid performance at a price that won’t break the bank. It utilizes a three-stage cleaning system to thoroughly clean your floors as it navigates your home. It also has a battery that can last up to 90 minutes, after which the robot returns to its charging station automatically.
Tesla is accustomed to bad press — CEO Elon Musk has often fired off snarky responses on Twitter before the end of the news cycle. However, Musk is a bit more controlled these days. Tesla has issued an official response to last week’s , and it’s leaving no question as to its position. Tesla says the petition is . Tesla kicks off its by reminding everyone that the person who submitted the petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is an independent investor. As we previously noted, investor Brian Sparks is shorting Tesla’s stock, so he stands to make money if the company’s share price drops.
