First season of ‘Battlefield 2042’ debuts June 9th with a new map

After a months-long delay, DICE and EA are finally ready to premiere the first season of Battlefield 2042. The two have announced that Season 1: Zero Hour premieres on June 9th with a large batch of fresh content. There’s a new map set in the Canadian Rockies (Exposure) for the All-Out Warfare and Portal modes. A new character, Ewalina Lis, is well-suited to anti-vehicle combat. You’ll need her, too, as there are new stealth helicopters (the Huron and Hannibal) that could provide an unwelcome surprise.

The new season includes a wider range of gear, including a crossbow with multiple round options (including explosive), a mid-range rifle and a smoke grenade launcher. To no one’s surprise, EA is also promising more skins and melee takedown animations for Premium Battle Pass buyers.

Zero Hour also builds on the many bug fixes and needed feature additions since launch. You can expect greater stability, better balancing and improved handling for guns and vehicles, among other tweaks. Custom game mode creators can expect a more powerful editor and a new preset, while Portal brings back some vehicles and “experiences.”

Season 1 is free for all BF2042 players, and you’ll only really want the Premium pass if you insist on having the latest cosmetics. The question is whether or not the update will bring gamers back. While active player counts have levelled out, according to Steam Charts, there’s no doubt that interest in the shooter tumbled soon after its November 2021 debut. A rough launch and other frustrations prompted much of the target audience to drift toward other titles. The major content update might encourage users to give the game a second chance, but it’s not certain that they’ll stick around.

Google adds auto-transcription and simplified grading to its education tools

Many students have returned to in-person classes, but that isn’t stopping Google from making online education more viable. The company has updated Classroom and Workspace for Education with a host of features that improve life for teachers and students alike. In Workspace, for instance, you can now auto-transcribe Meet calls directly into Google Docs — helpful if you want to quickly produce lesson material or help students catch up when they miss lectures. You can also host polls and Q&A sessions in Meet sessions, livestream public events (think school assemblies) to YouTube and use picture-in-picture to manage class presentations without losing sight of your pupils.

Teachers using Classroom, meanwhile, now have access to previously beta-only add-on support that extends functionality beyond what Google can offer. You can get an EdPuzzle add-on to automatically integrate and grade assignments, while a Pear Deck extension can create assignments using lessons from the Pear Deck library. The Classroom updates also make it easier to add YouTube videos to lessons, export grades and get updates through email notifications. An update later in 2022 will let teachers reply directly to students from Gmail notifications.

Google is expanding access to its Read Along app, too. It’s rolling out a beta for a new web version over the next month, so students might not need to lean on their phones as they improve their literacy skills.

The announcements come alongside Chrome OS updates that include improved casting and optimizing educational apps like Figma. Although these updates might not matter much as the pandemic (hopefully) winds down, they could still be useful as schools increasingly rely on internet-based lessons and coursework.

Google’s Screencast app for Chrome OS lets teachers record video lessons

In its ongoing push to corner the education market, Google is introducing new classroom-specific features to Chrome OS. The first of those is Screencast, a new built-in app that allows teachers to build a video library of lessons and demos students can…

Summer Game Fest’s Geoff Keighley says to temper expectations for this week’s showcase

This year’s Summer Game Fest showcase takes place on Thursday. It’s an industry-wide event that will include reveals from a bunch of publishers and studios, but host and producer Geoff Keighley has urged fans not to set their hopes too high in terms of new game announcements.

“What I would say is that a lot of the games we’re going to show you are going to be [already] announced… games are going to show new content to you, like some of the ones I’ve mentioned,” Keighley said in a Twitter Spaces chat, according to VGC. “We’ve got a couple of new game announcements in the show and hopefully some surprises if everything holds. But it definitely is a show that’s primarily focused on stuff that is announced.” Keighley added that it might be best for fans to “definitely manage your expectations in terms of the megaton shocks that you’re expecting.”

Still, there’s a lot to look forward to. Keighley noted some of the games that will be featured. The stream will include the first full level playthrough of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and a gameplay demo for The Callisto Protocol (a survival horror game from Dead Space creator Glen Schofield’s new studio). There will also be news on Gotham Knights and new footage from Cuphead expansion The Delicious Last Course.

Keighley said there will be looks at Xbox and Nintendo exclusives as well. However, he pointed out that Microsoft is likely hanging on to the biggest news for its own showcase, which takes place on Sunday. Nintendo, meanwhile, hasn’t confirmed whether its next Direct will take place anytime soon.

The Summer Game Fest showcase will include some guests too, such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who recently started playing a character in Fortnite. Perhaps we’ll learn more about the next video game movie he’s working on. The event, meanwhile, is set to run for between 90 minutes and two hours.

Trying to manage expectations is a smart move on Keighley’s part. Sony has been doing a similarly good job of keeping conjecture in check ahead of its State of Play streams. While there are always going to be some people who are disappointed by events like this, it’s better to have lower expectations and be surprised than get too amped up and get deflated if you don’t see a game that excites you.

That’s not to say there won’t be major reveals. It was at last year’s edition of Summer Game Fest that fans got their first look at Elden Ring in two years, along with a release date (which was, inevitably, delayed by a few weeks).

Even if you feel like this year’s Summer Game Fest showcase is a bust, there are more than a dozen other gaming events over the next week or so, even without E3 taking place. You’re bound to find some games that interest you if you dig a little deeper.

Volocopter’s longer-range drone taxi completes its first test flights

Volocopter’s drone taxi is one step closer to entering service. The German firm has revealed that its four-seat electric VTOL aircraft, the VoloConnect, completed its first flight in May. The machine’s initial trip was brief at two minutes and 14 seconds, but the maneuvers proved that the production-level aerodynamics and performance held up in real world conditions. There have been three flights so far.

The 60-mile range and 155MPH flight speed might not sound like much. However, they promise autonomous commuter flights beyond major urban centers — you could fly to a business meeting from the suburbs. The VoloConnect is effectively a companion to the VoloCity, a shorter-ranged eVTOL flier meant strictly for urban jaunts.

The VoloConnect is expected to serve customers starting in 2026, two years after the VoloCity’s projected 2024 rollout. While that’s a relatively long way off, Volocopter is unique in having multiple air taxis conducting real-world flight tests. The company is closer to actual commuter trips than competitors, many of whom have one model or an indefinite timeline for service.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 is just $179 at Amazon

This might be your moment to buy a smartwatch for tracking your outdoor runs and hikes. Amazon has the 40mm Bluetooth variant of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 on sale for $179 in black and white colors. That’s a substantial 28 percent off, and nearly as good as the all-time low price. There are modest discounts for 44mm and LTE versions, too, if you either prefer a larger dial or crave independence from your phone.

Buy Galaxy Watch 4 (black) at Amazon – $179Buy Galaxy Watch 4 (white) at Amazon – $179

Whichever color you choose, you’re getting a lot of smartwatch for the money. The Galaxy Watch 4 is the best Android-friendly wristwear we’ve seen with a vivid display, good physical controls and extensive health tracking. The interface will seem familiar if you’ve used previous Samsung watches, but the move to Wear OS has improved the app selection while taking advantage of Google’s ecosystem.

There aren’t many catches beyond the Android requirement and relatively short battery life. The biggest concern may simply be timing. There are signs a Galaxy Watch 5 is just around the corner, and you might want to wait a while if you insist on having the latest timepiece. It’s unclear just when the Watch 5 will launch, though, and it’s safe to say you’ll pay considerably more than $179 for the privilege. This is a fine deal if you want a smartwatch right now.

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Surface Laptop Go 2 hands-on: An upgrade that’s worth the extra money

The Surface Laptop Go line holds an interesting position in Microsoft’s notebook lineup. It’s not quite as cheap or portable as the Surface Go 3 and it’s not as powerful or flexible as the Surface Studio. But a recent component refresh has added new li…