Month: November 2019

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  The Google Pixel 4. [credit: Ron Amadeo ]

There's a growing mountain of evidence that the Pixel 4 was saddled with a battery that's just too small, and Google's road to an acceptable runtime involved slashing the phone's abilities with software limits. The latest discovery comes from XDA Developers' Mishaal Rahman, who found an unused high brightness mode hidden in the Pixel 4's code.

A "high brightness mode" has become a typical feature of smartphone display panels. Rather than a dedicated toggle, manufacturers usually enable a high-brightness mode when the user pegs the brightness slider all the way to the max or when the ambient brightness sensor detects sunlight. This usually negatively affects battery life, but when the choice is between seeing your phone or not seeing your phone in direct sunlight, the runtime tradeoff is a welcome option.

The Pixel 4 display is not that bright, with a full-screen peak brightness of around 450 nits. The Galaxy S10, on the other hand, has a peak full-screen brightness of 800 nits, and a big difference seems to be the lack of this boosted brightness mode. Rahman found the Pixel 4's high brightness mode hidden in the Pixel 4's kernel, but it's not a mode normal users can freely switch into. It doesn't turn on via the slider or with high ambient brightness.

(credit: Aurich Lawson)

Valve seems to be planning to follow the likes of Microsoft and Google into the realm of cloud gaming, if JavaScript code buried on the company's Steamworks Partner site is any indication.

Yesterday, Steam Database noticed an update to the JavaScript file that manages the online form for new partners signing the Steam Distribution Agreement. That update makes repeated reference to a "Steam Cloud Gaming Addendum" that needs to be signed before continuing.

The JavaScript code places the "Steam Cloud Gaming Addendum" on the same level as similar legal agreements for existing Steam programs governing Steam PC Cafes and Steam Wallet Code Resellers. Spot checks by Steam developers who spoke to Ars Technica didn't show any new cloud gaming-related language in the Distribution Agreement text itself, but the JavaScript code does make reference to an InviteID, suggesting Valve might be actively inviting select developers to prepare for the feature at the moment.

Enlarge / Uber self-driving test vehicles. (credit: Uber)

In a Tuesday filing with the Security and Exchange Commission, Uber admitted that an independent expert had determined that Uber's self-driving technology was still infringing Waymo's intellectual property. The revelation comes more than 18 months after Uber settled a high-profile legal battle with Waymo over alleged theft of Waymo secrets by Uber.

As a result, Uber says, it will be forced to either license the relevant technology from Waymo—which could be expensive—or overhaul the affected systems. The filing didn't specify which parts of Uber's technology were infringing, and an Uber spokeswoman declined to comment further to Ars Technica. Uber's disclosure was first reported by Reuters.

Waymo filed a lawsuit against Uber in February 2017 after a former Waymo manager, Anthony Levandowski, left Waymo to found a self-driving truck startup called Otto. Uber bought Otto just a few months after it was founded and incorporated the company into Uber's own fledgling self-driving project. But Waymo accused Levandowski of downloading numerous sensitive documents from Waymo's network before leaving the company and then using them to build the self-driving systems at Otto and Uber.

Our “War Stories” and “Unsolved Mysteries” gaming videos have gotten us some amazing interviews. We’ve talked to folks like Dead Space’s Glen Schofield; the power duo of Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III, who made Star Control and The Ur-Quan Masters; and even Lord British himself. But BioWare was one company that I never expected to actually answer our e-mails—until, one day, they actually did.

So, in early October, we loaded up our film crew and made the flight across the Canadian border to Edmonton, in the northern reaches of Alberta. Our mission: to visit the enigmatic studio behind the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises and to throw a bunch of Mass Effect lore questions at creative director Mac Walters—and to see what interesting information he’d be willing to let us have.

It was a special trip for me, as one of Ars’ two resident Mass Effect crazypants fans (the other being Kate Cox, a true BioWare aficionado). I’ve reviewed the series, talked about the best romance choices, and even snuggled a Garrus body pillow or two—but taking a pilgrimage to the Mecca of Mass Effect was a capstone experience.