Minecraft’s big wilderness update arrives June 7th

It took several months, but Minecraft’s The Wild Update is nearly here. Mojang and Microsoft are releasing The Wild across all platforms on June 7th, and it remains as expansive as promised. The refresh adds two biomes, a mangrove swamp as well as a “deep dark” that hides vicious mobs (such as the Shrieker and Warden) as well as special resources. You can also sail a boat with a chest, so you won’t need to leave supplies behind if you’re crossing a lake.

The upgrade also adds a mud block (made with dirt and water, naturally), a crowd-voted item collector mob (the allay) and a frog that grows from tadpoles. It even produces “froglights” if it attacks magma.

The debut comes a while after Mojang had to rethink its expansion strategy. The deep dark biome was originally meant to appear in 2021, but was folded into The Wild as the developer grappled with the size of its two-part Caves and Cliffs Update. While it isn’t surprising that the Minecraft team wants to keep its game relevant more than a decade after launch, the schedule suggests it might have been a little too eager to please.

‘Rogue One’ prequel series ‘Andor’ will debut August 31st on Disney+

Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+ tomorrow, but Lucasfilm is already offering peeks at other Star Wars shows that are on the way to the streaming service. One of those is Andor, in which Diego Luna reprises his role as Cassian Andor. The series takes place five years before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Based on the trailer Lucasfilm released today, it looks like Andor leans into the grittier side of the Star Wars universe, given the tone and muted color palette. The show will debut on August 31st with two episodes.

Lucasfilm also released the first trailer for Andor, which takes place five years before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It looks like the series leans into the grittier side of the Star Wars universe, given the tone and muted color palette.

Andor is described as a “tense nail-biting spy thriller,” which isn’t a huge shock given the connection to Rogue One and the fact it was created by Tony Gilroy, the writer of the Bourne movies — he was a co-writer on Rogue One too. Forest Whitaker and Genevieve O’Reilly, who featured in the movie alongside Luna. will return as well.

The first season of Andorwill have 12 episodes — more than the previous live-action Star Wars Disney+ shows. A second season will start filming in November.

Lucasfilm also confirmed at Star Wars Celebration that The Mandalorian will return for its third season next February. Ahsoka, which features the return of Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, will arrive in 2023 too.

There’s yet another live-action Star Wars series coming to Disney+ next year, this time starring Jude Law. It’s called Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and it’s from Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts and writer Christopher Ford.

Skeleton Crew is set around the same time as The Mandalorian. It centers around “a group of kids who are about ten years old who get lost in the Star Wars universe,” according to Watts, who stressed that “it’s not a kids show.”

‘Willow’ TV series comes to Disney+ on November 30th

Disney+ is finally ready to share more details of its Willow revival. The streamer has revealed that the TV series (simply titled Willow) will premiere November 30th. The accompany teaser trailer doesn’t show much, but it has an older Willow Ufgood returning to save a future empress from the clutches of evil. He’ll join an eclectic band of adventurers, but this time he’s clearly more experienced than in the 1988 movie.

The show sees Warwick Davis reprise his role as Willow. At least a few familiar actors are joining the cast, including Ellie Bamber (most recently in Netflix’s The Serpent) and Disney alumnus Erin Kellyman (Solo and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier). Jon Chu was originally slated to direct, but was replaced by multiple directors when he had to step down due to pandemic restrictions. Willow movie director Ron Howard is involved as an executive producer.

The announcement comes just as Disney shared a wave of details about its next Star Wars shows, including Andor and Skeleton Crew. The company isn’t shy about its Disney+ strategy, then. The service is packing its schedule with ever more originals in a bid to keep people watching, and it’s not afraid to mine multiple old franchises in the process.

Twitter investors sue Elon Musk over stock manipulation claims

Elon Musk is facing yet another lawsuit over his planned Twitter acquisition. Reutersreports investors have sued the Tesla CEO for allegedly manipulating stock prices ahead of his $44 billion takeover bid. As in an earlier suit, Musk supposedly saved $156 million by failing to disclose that he’d bought more than a 5 percent stake in Twitter by March 14th, violating SEC rules. The investors said Musk only disclosed his investments in early April, when he revealed that he owned a 9.2 percent slice of the social network.

Musk’s post-announcement statements also amounted to manipulation, the investors said. They were particularly concerned about his claim that the deal was “on hold” until Twitter could prove that bots weren’t a major problem and represented less than 5 percent of accounts.

The plaintiffs in the case are hoping for class action status, and ask for unspecified damages if they’re successful. Twitter has declined comment, and Musk hadn’t responded to Reuters‘ requests for comment.

Musk’s hoped-for purchase has already sparked a flurry of legal action. In addition to the previously mentioned lawsuit from April, a Florida pension fund sued Musk for purportedly violating a Delaware law that would bar the merger until 2025. The SEC, meanwhile, is investigating Musk’s disclosure timing. There’s no certainty any of these actions will succeed, but they still pose serious challenges to Musk’s ambitions.

Sony says PSVR 2 will have at least 20 games at launch

Along with bolstering production of the PlayStation 5, Sony is will bring another next-gen product to market: an upgraded virtual reality headset. PlayStation VR2 (PSVR 2) may not have a release date yet, but Sony clearly has big plans for it. At an investor briefing, the company revealed that there will be at least 20 “major” PSVR 2 games available at the jump.

There will be a blend of first- and third-party titles. The company didn’t reveal more specifics in its slide deck, but it did include key art for Horizon: Call of the Mountain. That’s a VR spinoff of the Horizon games, but it’s not a confirmed PSVR 2 launch title as yet.

It’s not clear whether any of the games in question will be remasters, upgraded versions of existing titles (such as No Man’s Sky and Tetris Effect) or ports from other VR platforms. In any case, here’s hoping that Sony can bring over Half-Life: Alyx from SteamVR.

One third-party game that will definitely be available when PSVR 2 arrives is Among Us VR, according to Schell Games. Other titles that are coming to the platform include Firmament from Myst developer Cyan Worlds, multiple games from Fracked studio nDreams and one by Coatsink, the team behind Jurassic World Aftermath.

Sony revealed the design of the PSVR 2 back in February. The headset will come with new VR2 Sense controllers and have a display resolution of 2000 x 2040 pixels for each eye, a 110-degree field of view, a maximum framerate of 120Hz and 4K HDR support. Pricing hasn’t been announced.

Maryland residents can now add driver’s licenses to Apple Wallet

Residents of Maryland can now add their driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch. Users there will be able to verify their identity digitally, though there are limited use cases for the Maryland Mobile ID program for now.

At present, IDs in Wallet are only really useful at certain Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at some US airports. When asked for ID by a TSA agent, you’ll be able to review the requested information then tap your phone or smartwatch against a reader.

Apple says it designed the feature with a focus on security and privacy, in part because you won’t need to present the physical version of your ID. You’ll need to use Face ID or Touch ID to authorize a verification and your device will only share the necessary information from your stored identification.

As things stand, law enforcement won’t accept driver’s licenses or other ID presented in Wallet, as MacRumors notes. The state’s Motor Vehicle Administration also said residents can’t rely solely on Maryland Mobile ID — they’ll still need to carry their physical license or ID card. Eventually, the agency noted, any business, government entity or law enforcement agency in Maryland will be able to verify someone’s identity with IDs stored in Wallet.

Maryland is only the second state thus far to enable the feature. Arizona became the first in March. Other states and territories have pledged to support the technology, including Georgia, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Connecticut and Utah.

The earliest devices that support digital IDs in Wallet are iPhone 8 and Apple Watch Series 4, which need to be running at least iOS 15.4 or watchOS 8.4. If you’re eligible, you can add an ID by tapping the plus sign in the Wallet app and following the prompts.

Ooni pizza ovens are 20 percent off for Memorial Day

If you’re looking to up your homemade pizza game, investing in an Ooni oven is a good way to do so. We’ve recommended them in numerous outdoor guides and now you can pick one up for 20 percent off. Ooni’s Memorial Day sale has discounted all of its pizza ovens, bringing the most affordable of the bunch, the Ooni Fyra 12, down to $280. The newest version, the Karu 16, is nearly $160 off and down to $640.

Shop Ooni Memorial Day saleBuy Fyra 12 at Ooni – $280Buy Karu 16 at Ooni – $640

Chances are you’ve seen social media posts recently of people removing delicious-looking, bubbling pizzas from one of these Ooni ovens. We’ve found them to be easy to use and pretty consistent in making restaurant-quality pizzas at home. The Ooni Fyra uses wood pellets to heat up to 950 degrees, so you can cook stone-baked pizzas in as little as one minute. The “12” in its name indicates its size, so this one’s best for making smaller, personal pizzas. We also appreciate that the Fyra is fairly portable — it weighs 22 pounds and has foldable legs along with a detachable chimney, so you can store the various parts of the machine inside the oven while you transport it. 

The Karu 16 is best for those that want the latest tech from Ooni, or those that prefer to make larger pies. One of the key features of the Karu 16 is its multiple fuel support, so you can choose to cook with wood or charcoal, or even go the gas route if you buy the appropriate gas burner attachment. Unlike the Fyra, the Karu 16 has a clear glass door so you can keep an eye on your pizza as it cooks. There’s also a mounted digital thermometer to help you better keep track of the machine’s temperature. These ovens are still expensive outdoor machines even during this Memorial Day sale, but pizza lovers will want to grab one now while you can get them for much less then usual.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Sony is bringing ‘Horizon’ and ‘God of War’ TV shows to Netflix and Prime Video

Sony had a lot to discuss during its annual investor briefing, including plans to boost PlayStation 5 production and get the console into the hands of more people who want one. One of the more intriguing nuggets of news came during the Q&A, when the company confirmed it’s adapting three more of its gaming properties into TV shows.

It said a show based on the Horizon games is on the way to Netflix and a God of War series is coming to Prime Video, IGN reports. PlayStation Productions also has a Gran Turismo TV show in development, but it hasn’t been revealed where you’ll be able to watch that. 

Details on the three projects are scant for now. It remains to be seen who will be cast as Aloy, Kratos, Atreus and other characters (I have my fingers crossed for Alan Cumming as Mimir) and just how the heck Sony plans to make a TV show out of Gran Turismo.

Turning some of its biggest games into TV shows and movies has been a major focus for Sony in recent years. After over a decade of trying to make an Uncharted movie, Sony Pictures finally released one this year. A Ghost of Tsushima film is in development too. On the TV front, a Twisted Metal series is on the way to Peacock, while filming on the first season of HBO’s highly anticipated The Last of Us show is expected to wrap in the next few weeks.

Netflix and Amazon have been drawing from the rich well of video game IP too as of late. Netflix has animated shows based on League of Legends, Castlevania and Cuphead, while a live-action Resident Evil series will debut in July. Amazon, on the other hand, has a Fallout show in the pipeline and, if reports are to be believed, a Mass Effect show in the works.