Month: October 2017

The Fall Update for the Xbox One system software is now rolling out. It brings a redesigned and more customizable Home tab, a quicker and more convenient Guide, and new Community features that make keeping tabs on what your friends are up to easier.

Microsoft

The Home tab is built around a new concept called a "block." Each block—which can be a game, friend, Xbox Live Gold, or Xbox Game Pass—gives access to a range of related content. Friend blocks, for example, show recent achievements or Game DVR captures from your friends; Game blocks will give you info about game updates, your GameDVR captures, and so on. Regular pinned games and apps are still there, too, with up to 40 pins.

Enlarge (credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft has big design changes planned for Outlook on both the Windows and Mac platforms—but especially the Mac. In both cases, the new design direction borrows from Outlook for iOS. Microsoft gave a brief look at the coming updates during the Ignite conference a couple of weeks ago, and both The Verge and MSPoweruser dug into the changes.

Microsoft spent the most time talking about the Mac in terms of visual and UX changes, but the biggest change coming to the Windows version (pictured above) is a streamlined ribbon that is now just one line of commands, with a button right on the ribbon for adding or removing buttons and commands. You’ll still be able to use the older, three-line ribbon if you prefer. Compared to some other mail applications, Outlook has a tendency to expose a lot of features right up front, which can make the interface seem cluttered to some sensibilities. Additionally, the Windows version adds an account-switcher sidebar on the far left that's lifted straight out of the iOS Outlook app.

For the Mac, we'll see a significant visual overhaul. While we liked the Office 365 version of Outlook for Mac, Microsoft acknowledged in the Ignite presentation that Mac users have complained that Outlook for Mac doesn't always follow common Mac software design principles. Some of those ideas have been applied here. But mostly, it looks like Outlook for iOS with features added that weren't available on Macs previously.

Enlarge / Privacy comes in black or white, depending on your tastes. (credit: InvizBox)

InvizBox, a small Irish company focused on building Wi-Fi routers with built-in Internet privacy, has successfully crowdfunded the next generation of its eponymous privacy platform. The InvizBox 2 and InvizBox 2 Pro are more than an evolution from the team's original product, which was an open-source modification of the OpenWRT router code focused on use of the Tor anonymizing network. These new devices are more powerful and faster, and they focus more on usable networking that avoids ISPs' prying eyes (and defeating geo-blocking of online content) rather than striving to avoid the long arm of state surveillance.

The InvizBox team is doing a livestream event today, despite the arrival in Ireland of Hurricane Ophelia—which has caused widespread closures of businesses in the country. But the project is already fully funded, which bodes well for delivery based on the team's previous track record. Working with an industrial design team in China, InvizBox has created a much more attractive privacy tool, both aesthetically and practically.

The original InvizBox launched two years ago in response to the somewhat poorly-conceived crowdfunding launch of another product aimed at Internet privacy. Ars tested InvizBox (and its competitor, Anonabox) in 2015. An open-source Wi-Fi router with built-in support for the Tor anonymizing network, InvizBox was a good implementation of an idea with some major roadblocks to wide adoption—the most obvious one being the limitations of Tor itself. Then InvizBox followed up with the InvizBox Go, which shifted the focus away from Tor and toward a more consumer-friendly and mobile-friendly form of privacy. This was a battery-powered Wi-Fi router that could act as a protected bridge to public Wi-Fi networks.

Enlarge / Running is almost certainly better than shooting in a situation like this.

It's oddly fitting that former detective Sebastian Castellanos, protagonist of The Evil Within 2, doesn't seem to remember much about the first game. Tango Gameworks' 2014 horror-action game was awfully unmemorable for players, too. I certainly didn't remember much more than poor ol' Seb when I booted up the sequel, in any case.

What I do remember, albeit vaguely, is that the whole thing took place in some kind of dream world. Yet our hero is absolutely shocked when the same sort of dream-like stuff—monsters popping up all over the place, super-powered sociopaths rewriting reality, etc.—happens all over again in a this similarly survival-horror fueled nightmare. Despite the mountain of exposition The Evil Within 2 drops during its prologue cutscene, this sequel almost immediately develops into a more memorable stab at refining the Resident Evil 4 formula than its predecessor was.

Ex-Resident Evil lead Shinji Mikami stepped down as director after the last game, but this is still another refinement of his past work: a third-person shooter where the tension comes from planting accurate shots on quickly encroaching undead. Boil-covered zombies will go down to a headshot or two from your handy-dandy handgun, but you'll need every ounce of healing items, explosives, and trick crossbow bolts to take them down in droves. That's not to mention the time you need to kill 12-foot golem bound together from tittering corpses and buzzsaws.

Open-air scares

What actually sets Evil Within 2 apart from the last game is that the resource management action is spread across several open zones. I hesitate to call it an "open-world game," exactly, but many of the same hallmarks are there. Your map of the twisting, illusory suburb called Union fills out with pips to explore for more ammo, crafting resources, and skill points.

Enlarge / Is there an emoji to describe frustration if these delays come true?

Reports detailing the first shipment of Apple's $999 iPhone X claim there will be even fewer devices to go around than originally expected. According to a Digitimes' report that references news from the Chinese outlet Xinhuanet.com, Apple's manufacturer Foxconn recently began shipping the first round of iPhone Xs to various countries, but that first batch only includes 46,500 devices.

The iPhone X's initial shipment is much lower than previous iPhone models, and some reports suggest the holdup is due to the new TrueDepth camera. This technology is responsible for new features in the iPhone X including FaceID and animoji. According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the TrueDepth camera's structure is "far more complex" than those on competing devices, making it harder for Foxconn to mass-produce the iPhone X. Nikkei Asian Review speculates the biggest production challenges surround the dot projector, which projects over 30,000 on the user's face to create a depth map to enable FaceID, animoji, and other features.

Foxconn has reportedly increased iPhone X production to 400,000 units per week, a big jump from its previous supply of 100,000 units per week. However, it's unlikely that Foxconn will be able to keep up with demand for the new iPhone. The new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus handsets are already available for purchase and have been selling modestly, but it's likely that many customers willing to pay $999 or more for the unique iPhone X are holding out.