Activision Blizzard has been hit with another lawsuit, this time from New York City officials. The suit, which was first obtained by Axios, takes aim at CEO Bobby Kotick. It accuses him of being “unfit” to negotiate his company’s pending sale to Microsoft, citing his “personal responsibility and liability for Activision’s broken workplace.”
The suit was filed by the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and pension funds that represent police, teachers and firefighters. The plaintiffs, who own stock in Activision Blizzard, argue that the Microsoft deal allows “Kotick and his fellow directors a means to escape liability for their egregious breaches of fiduciary duty.”
Since last July, Activision Blizzard has been the target of multiple lawsuits. It has been accused of fostering a “frat boy” culture and some have made allegations of workplace harassment and discrimination. In March, a wrongful death suit was filed against the company. Activision Blizzard also said in a filing yesterday that it’s cooperating with a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation on “disclosures on employment matters and related issues.”
In November, The Wall Street Journal reported that Kotick was aware of many of the alleged instances of harassment and that he may have protected employees who were accused of misconduct. That report, and the alleged workplace problems, are said to have prompted the buyout. The companies announced the sale in January.
New York City claims the $68.7 billion Microsoft deal, which was valued at $95 per share, undervalues a company that was trading at close to that price before the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued it last summer and started a wave of litigation. The NYC plaintiffs are demanding access to various company documents, including those related to the pending takeover and details on the five other possible buyers that Activision mentioned in filings on sale talks.
Activision Blizzard shareholders last week overwhelmingly approved the Microsoft deal. The companies hope to close the merger by the end of June 2023, though they require approval from regulators in the US, UK, China, the European Union and some other markets. Should the sale go through, Kotick stands to make as much as $520 million.
For about as long as Chrome OS has existed, gaming has been one of its most notable Achilles’ heels. Most Chromebooks have lower-power hardware, and the OS is built on web technology, so playing AAA titles found on Windows has simply not been an option. The rise of cloud-based gaming services like Google’s own Stadia have helped the situation, but perhaps the biggest advance in Chromebook gaming came in late March, when Google announced that Valve’s Steam platform was in an early alpha phase on Chrome OS. Just as you can on Windows, Mac and Linux, this lets you download and install games from the vast Steam catalog. As a Chromebook fan who also loves a good game, I had to give this a shot.
So Google provided me with one of the seven Chromebooks that can run Steam, an ASUS Chromebook CX9 with Intel’s 11th-generation Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space. These are hefty specs for a Chromebook, but Google specified that Steam required a device with at least a Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM. While Steam may eventually work with lower-powered devices, it’s clear that many Chromebooks simply won’t be able to cut it. But if you do have the right hardware, the Steam experience is pretty good, so long as you keep your expectations in check.
I didn’t have any problems getting Steam installed, but it’s a lot more complicated than setting it up on a Windows computer. You’ll need to switch your Chromebook to the Dev channel, so don’t do this on a machine you rely on for daily use. After that, you’ll need to enable a specific flag in Chrome and type a few commands into the Chrome OS Crosh terminal. Once that’s done, Steam will download to your machine, at which point you can login and start downloading games.
Right off the bat, any game that is supported in Steam for Linux can be installed without any compatibility issues. As I’m a massive Half-Life fan, the first two games I tried out were Valve’s own Half-Life 2 and Portal 2 — two old games that don’t require powerful hardware. Both, unsurprisingly, played like a charm. There were rare frame rate drops, but the experience felt identical to playing them on Windows or on a Mac.
At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I decided to get crazy and install 2018’s God of War, originally released for the PS4 and ported to Windows in January of this year. It was a totally unplayable slideshow. That’s no surprise, though, as God of War calls for either NVIDIA’s GTX 960 or AMD’s R9 290X graphics cards with 4GB of memory. The Chromebook’s integrated Intel Iris X graphics aren’t in the same league. This is no real knock on the Chromebook, though, because a Windows machine with the same specs wouldn’t be able to run God of War, either. I was mostly surprised that I was able to install it at all.
To install games like God of War, or any other titles that don’t have a native Linux version, you’ll need to turn on the experimental Steam Play compatibility tools. Once I did that, though, I could install just about any game I came across. Obviously, demanding games like God of War aren’t going to work, but there are still tons of titles in the Steam library that are worth checking out. Both Hades and Cuphead ran flawlessly, and Fallout 4 worked pretty well too. It wasn’t as smooth as the other games I tried, but the first few hours were definitely playable.
The main catch is that the first time you run games using compatibility tools, they’re extremely slow to load. Steam has to “process Vulkan shaders” for a lot of titles, and this can take five to ten minutes or more on some games (like Fallout 4). Fortunately, this only happens the first time you launch a particular title.
Most of the games I tried were from Google’s own list of recommended titles that had been tested on Chrome OS, and those experiences were almost all solid. The one game my Chromebook couldn’t quite keep up with was The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Google recommended playing that one with graphics on low, and said that only Chromebooks with an i7 processor would work. Even then, frame rates and control responsiveness was poor enough that I didn’t want to play after a few minutes.
While Google and Valve will certainly improve the Steam experience from this early alpha, it’s fair to say that Chrome OS will never be the place to play cutting-edge games. Chromebooks just aren’t built with that kind of hardware.
But, Steam’s library is vast, and there are thousands of titles across any genre that you can think of. Bringing that catalog to Chrome OS is a huge step forward for those who love games but don’t necessarily need to play Cyberpunk 2077 with settings on high. Whether it’s for replaying older classics like Portal 2 or trying newer releases like Hades, Steam for Chrome OS vastly expands the gaming you can do on a Chromebook. And if you really want to play The Witcher 3 or God of War, a streaming service like NVIDIA’s GeForce Now can plug the gap. So far, the alpha build of Steam for Chrome OS is promising, and I hope that Google and Valve can make it work on more Chromebooks before long.
Microsoft is rolling out an update to the Xbox app for iOS and Android that includes a new social sharing feature. Players will be able to share screenshots, gameplay clips and achievements with their friends and others as Instagram- or Snapchat-style stories. You’ll be able to respond to other people’s stories with a reaction or message too.
You’ll find the stories on the home screen of the app. To share a clip, screenshot or achievement, access the channel, tap the plus sign on your gamertag and choose what you want to post from the gallery. You’ll be able to add a caption before sharing your story.
Although Instagram and Snapchat stories typically disappear after 24 hours, Xbox stories will be available for 72 hours. That means it’s more likely that your friends will see your updates, as long as they can tear themselves away from the new Halo Infinite season for long enough.
There’s another new feature for Xbox consoles as part of the May update. Microsoft calls it Quality of Service (QoS) tagging. It says this is a way of prioritizing “latency-sensitive outbound networking traffic such as party chat, console streaming and multiplayer.” The company says this feature could help to maintain your gaming experience amid connection issues on congested networks.
You can manage QoS tags in the Settings app. After selecting the General option, go to network settings, then advanced settings. You’ll then see the QoS tagging settings. DSCP tagging is enabled at the IPv4 and IPv6 packet level and works on both wired and wireless connections. WMM tagging works on the wireless packed level and is active only on Wi-Fi connections.
These updates are now live in Australia. Microsoft says they’ll arrive in other regions soon.
Bose might not be the unassailable audio giant it once was. Boston Globesources say the company has been implementing “rolling layoffs” in recent years, with public data indicating that its headcount dropped from 9,000 in 2019 to 7,000 in 2021. Recently departed employees told the newspaper that Bose had fallen short of sales targets as new products struggled in the market, including the Frames audio glasses and SoundControl hearing aids. Competition from rivals like Apple and Sony is also believed to have hurt Bose’s bottom line.
The latest layoffs, in March, cut 245 jobs and reportedly wiped out the health division responsible for the hearing aids. The decision came despite scrapping a planned sleep headphone product, according to the insiders. CEO Lila Snyder supposedly axed the group after an outside review suggested Bose needed to drop its hearing aid work.
Spokesperson Joanne Berthiaume confirmed the most recent batch of layoffs to the Globe. She declined comment on staff counts or strategy, but characterized the latest layoffs as a question of focus. They would help Bose concentrate on the products that “matter most” to customers, she said. Berthiaume added that Bose was still hiring in other areas, with 200 available roles.
A shrinking workforce wouldn’t be surprising. While Bose is virtually synonymous with (if not always liked for) headphones and speakers, it’s competing in markets increasingly dominated by true wireless earbuds like AirPods, not to mention smart speakers like those from Amazon and Sonos. Add in the niche nature of experiments like Frames and it’s clear the company doesn’t have as many opportunities to thrive as it once did.
Happy Star Wars Day! Lucasfilm and Disney+ are celebrating May the 4th by offering another look at the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
There’s not a ton of new footage in this trailer compared with the first teaser. There is, however, a snippet of a conversation between Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Owen Lars (Joel Edgerton) about training young Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi. There’s also a look at Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) being pieced together, which is much more than the breathing cameo from the previous trailer.
This clip reinforces one of the show’s main story threads as well. The Empire is desperately trying to hunt down an on-the-run Obi-Wan in an attempt to wipe out the Jedi once and for all. I wonder how that’ll pan out. There’s also a very brief peek of Kumail Nanjiani, whose character is intriguingly wearing Jedi-style robes, along with several shots of the villains.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith and it will fill in some of the narrative gaps between the prequels and the original trilogy. While The Mandalorian, which was the first live-action Star Wars series, has been a hit, Obi-Wan Kenobi should be an easier sell for Disney+ thanks to the familiar characters that are front and center. Because of that, it doesn’t need to give away too much before the series debuts with two episodes on May 27th.
Graduates have spent the past couple of years hustling. Between coursework, jobs, family responsibilities and, of course, the pandemic, they likely haven’t had a ton of time to devote to themselves. Now that they’ve donned their cap and gown, it’s time for them to enjoy some well deserved rest and relaxation. If you want to get the grad in your life a treat that can help them do that, we at Engadget have some ideas based on how we like to treat ourselves when we need a break.
Theragun Mini
Theragun
With many gyms and exercise facilities still closed, you might be dabbling in some workouts from home alongside working from home. You might also have overextended yourself, leading to tender shoulders, thighs and calves. I may have done just that (several times over) but have been able to ease some of the soreness — or at least make myself feel better — with my trusty Theragun Mini.
We’ve already covered Theragun’s flagship percussive therapy “gun,” the Elite, but you might find the Theragun Mini does almost as much for far less. It’s also less bulky. The $200 gun is a solid triangle but is small enough to grasp with a single hand, directing the vibrations to that one part of your hammies that needs some TLC. There are three speed settings, and the Mini benefits from Theragun’s quieter motors so it doesn’t sound like you’re drilling a shelf to anyone nearby. It’s definitely not quiet, but you can still hear the TV or hold a conversation over the massaging.
If you’re looking to upgrade, Theragun also offers a peripheral that doubles the number of heads on any of its massage guns. The Duo Adapter offers a wider spread, meaning it feels like it takes me less time to hammer out the aches. It does reduce the sheer force of a single massage head, but if you have any particularly knotty areas, you can easily take the adapter off to really hammer it out. This all being said, these devices aren’t a panacea to everything that aches after physical exertion. Don’t forget hydration, sleep and nutrition, which are all, sadly, sold separately. — Mat Smith, U.K. Bureau Chief
Weighted blankets have been proven to reduce anxiety-causing cortisol while increasing sleep-friendly serotonin, but most of them are filled with tiny glass beads. Not only did that scare me off, but I’ve also heard that the beads might shift over time, which could lead to uneven weight distribution down the road. Plus, most weighted blankets have a bland design.
The Bearaby weighted blankets are different. Instead of filling a duvet with micropellets or beads, Bearaby blankets are handmade from a gorgeous chunky-knit material that’s more reminiscent of a cozy sweater than a comforter. It also comes in beautifully luscious colors like Cloud White to Evening Rose. After weeks of using one, I’ve found that I’m nodding off faster and staying asleep longer, which is a big deal for someone plagued by chronic insomnia. — Nicole Lee, Commerce Writer
I believe one of the best things anyone can do for themselves on a regular basis is pause. We’re all busier than ever with kids, partners, jobs and more and it’s worth taking a break during the day to do something for yourself — in my case, that’s often making a cup of tea after lunch. Now, I’m no tea connoisseur but I’ve definitely upped my brewing game as I’ve tried more loose leaf teas (my current favorites are from Harney & Sons and Adagio). I bought a Cosori electric kettle last year to help with my tea- and coffee-making routines and it’s become one of the most used items in my kitchen. It heats water to the precise temperature I need for a strong black tea or a subtle green, and it does so in a relatively speedy fashion. The “keep warm” function also helps keep water at the right temperature when I, inevitably, get distracted by Slack messages. — Valentina Palladino, Commerce Editor
You might think that things are going to get easier and less stressful now that you’ve graduated. But, oh boy, are you wrong. Now that you’re out in the so-called “real world,” taking care of your mental health is going to be more important than ever. Headspace can be a great resource for a little self care. It has a ton of guided meditations and mindful exercises that claim to help you relax, build self control and boost your creativity. But there’s also playlists of ambient music and soundscapes to help you focus, including some curated by big name artists like Arcade Fire, St. Vincent and Sudan Archives.
You’ll also quickly learn that there’s plenty of other things to lose sleep over, beyond cramming for a final. And for that, Headspace has Sleepcasts. These combine guided relaxation exercises with soundscapes and soothing narration to help lull you to sleep. Honestly, the Sleepcasts alone are worth the price of an annual subscription. — Terrence O’Brien, Managing Editor
Sometimes upgrading your living environment can be the best form of self care. I’ve learned how true that is since I began working from home most of the time (pre-pandemic). One of the best home improvements I’ve made as of late was investing in a Dyson Hot & Cool fan. The decision ultimately came down to necessity — the heating in our apartment isn’t the greatest, and New York winters can be tough. I picked up the AM09 Hot & Cool Bladeless Fan and Heater when I found it on sale last fall and it made all the difference. It not only cut the chill in our bedroom, a space that often feels 10 degrees colder than other areas of the apartment, but it made the room enjoyable to be in even on the coldest days. And on the weekends when my partner and I parked ourselves in our living room, it was easy to pick up the Dyson and tote it to where we were. The remote control is super handy, too, letting us adjust the temperature, oscillation and timer functions without getting up from the couch. While you can’t find the AM09 now, Dyson has upgraded most of its Hot & Cool fans to also be air purifiers, so you’ll essentially get a 3-in-1 device. — V.P.
As a self-care gift for your grad, consider getting them a MoonPod. It’s especially useful for those who might find themselves working from home, as it provides a break from sitting on a stiff office chair and is a more comfortable alternative to a couch. According to the company, sitting on the MoonPod can help reduce stress and anxiety as it mimics the sensations of flotation therapy.
I’m no flotation expert, but I can definitely attest to the fact that it is extremely comfortable. I also love that the MoonPod is so malleable; you can stand it upright to use as a slouchy armchair or lay it flat so you can lie down on it. Your grad will appreciate that they can use it while working and for when they need a quick nap in between meetings. — N.L.
The New York Times‘ purchase of Wordle appears to have paid off, at least in the near term. The newspaper has revealed that it added “tens of millions” of new users in the first quarter of 2022 thanks to Josh Wardle’s hit word game. That led to the company’s best quarter yet for subscriber additions to games, and “many” of those incoming players have remained to try other games.
The surge came alongside an otherwise strong quarter that included 387,000 new digital subscribers (including those from The Athletic). The Times reported a jump to 9.1 million subscribers, with digital revenue climbing by 26 percent. The buyouts helped slash the company’s net profit to $4.7 million versus $41.1 million a year earlier.
The surge in users isn’t exactly shocking. The paper bought a hugely popular game at the height of its success, and that demand continued throughout the quarter. The question, of course, is whether or not the deal will be worthwhile in the long run. It’s not certain if Wordle will remain the sensation it has been, and it’s no secret that the Times is still better-known for its crossword puzzle than the other games in its repertoire. With that said, the original Wordle has survived an onslaught of clones — it stands a better chance at enduring success than some viral games.
Just how popular is Wordle? The NYT says in its Q1 earnings report that “Wordle brought an unprecedented tens of millions of new users to The Times, many of whom stayed to play other games which drove our best quarter ever for net subscriber additions to Games…”
Uber had a successful first quarter of 2022 by some measures, as it more than doubled its revenue year-over-year to $6.85 billion. Increased demand for rides following the Omicron surge played a role, as did higher ride prices due to a shortage of drivers.
The company reported that riders took 1.71 billion trips last quarter, an increase of 18 percent from the first three months of 2021. Gross bookings (the total amount Uber receives from customers) for rides increased by 58 percent year over year to $10.7 billion. Delivery gross bookings rose by 12 percent to $13.9 billion. Uber’s revenue from rides was $2.52 billion. From deliveries, it earned $2.51 billion in revenue.
However, Uber’s net loss increased from $108 million in Q1 2021 to $5.93 billion last quarter. That’s largely due to its equity investments in Didi, Grab Holdings and Aurora Innovation. Still, Uber believes it will be cash-flow positive on a full-year basis for 2022.
Growth is expected to continue this quarter. Uber claims the value of rides booked in April surpassed 2019 levels, for one thing. The company also noted that rider wait times and surge trips were at their best levels for a year.
Uber says that many drivers have opted to move over to Eats deliveries. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company won’t have to make “significant incremental incentive investments” to keep drivers on the platform and persuade new and lapsed drivers to get behind the wheel. The same can’t be said for rival Lyft.
That company expects it will need to spend more to entice drivers to return or join its platform. It’s taking longer than expected for its driver base to return to pre-pandemic levels, Lyft president John Zimmer told Reuters. Uber has a leg up on Lyft in this regard, since its drivers can choose to deliver food and other items instead of ferrying passengers around. However, Lyft didn’t provide more details of how much it will spend on driver incentives.
Lyft earned revenue of $875.6 million for the first quarter, a year-over-year increase of 44 percent. It had a net loss of $196.9 million, down significantly from the $427.3 million net loss it posted a year earlier. Its active number of riders rose to 17.8 million from 13.5 million in Q1 2021.
More details appear to have emerged for Sonos’ rumored budget soundbar. A briefly posted listing at Colombian store KTronix suggests it will be called the Sonos Ray, and will be smaller than the already compact Beam Gen 2 at just 22 inches long (versus 25.6in), if slightly taller and thinner. Provided the accompanying images are accurate, it’s also clearer as to how Sonos will keep costs down. Pictures of the rear indicate it will only accept optical audio input, drop the built-in voice control microphones and rely on one pair each of tweeters and woofers — there’s no HDMI or Dolby Atmos support here.
The product page still promises a few mainstay Sonos features, such as Trueplay calibration that uses your phone or tablet to adjust the sound tuning to fit your room. You could also expect “crystal-clear dialogue” in your movies and TV shows. You can still connect to your home network through Ethernet if WiFi isn’t an option, and Sonos’ built-in voice assistant support should still let you use another smart speaker to control the Ray.
Sources speaking to The Verge initially obtained the Ray name and provided 3D renders based on photos. The soundbar can reportedly be used for surround sound when linked to other Sonos speakers, and you can use two Rays as rear speakers for an Atmos-capable Arc or Beam setup if you mount them vertically.
There are no new clues as to the release date, but the RAYG1US1BLK model name mentioned at KTronix has been circulating in import data for months. A previous leak hinted Sonos might release it as soon as early June. And while the Colombian price (about $323) likely won’t reflect the exact pricing for the US, it does imply that the rumored $250 sticker is at least close to the mark.
May the 4th is here once again and that means a bunch of retailers have deals on Star Wars gadgets, toys and collectibles. If you’re a Star Wars fan, or know someone who is, now’s the time to stock up on everything from video games to themed Instant Pots while they are deeply discounted. Here are the best May the 4th Star Wars Day deals we could find this year.
Star Wars Instant Pots
Instant Pot
Amazon has a limited-time sale on Star Wars-themed Instant Pots and you can pick up the adorable BB-8 Duo Mini machine for only $60. A number of other schemes, including Darth Vader and Little Bounty, have been discounted as well, and those are full Duo models, so they come with a few more cooking modes and a larger, six-quart capacity.
Yubico has knocked 54 percent off two-packs of its YubiKey 5 NFC series, That brings the pack of two USB-A security keys down to just over $41, the duo of USB-C keys down to just over $50 and the pack with one of each down to $46. This is a solid sale on some of the latest models from Yubico, and these keys give you a physical way to use two-factor authentication to unlock your devices and accounts.
Unsurprisingly, you can find a bunch of discounted Star Wars merch, accessories and more at Amazon today only. You can get knickknacks for your desk, T-shirts with your favorite characters on them, LEGO sets and toy lightsabers for less than usual. Some of our favorite deals include the R2-D2 Tamagotchi for just over $11, the LEGO Star Wars AT-ST Raider set for under $29 and this 2,000-piece The Chosen One puzzle for $15.
Best Buy’s sale today knocks up to 30 percent off Star Wars LEGO sets, up to 20 percent off Star Wars 3D puzzles and up to 40 percent off plush figures. You can also save up to 25 percent on certain Star Wars video games, and $57 off this adorable “galactic snackin'” Grogu doll.
Walmart’s Star Wars Day sale is much like Best Buy’s in that it includes discounts on a hodgepodge of toys, games, collectibles and more. Quite a few Funko Pops are on sale, including this The Child with Canister figurine, plus numerous LEGO sets are cheaper than usual.
While not on sale, Otterbox just launched a new collection of Star Wars-inspired Symmetry cases for iPhone and Galaxy devices. They’re branded with fun illustrations of characters including Darth Vader, Boba Fett and even an Ewok. Since these are Symmetry cases, they have the features that you’d expect from this lineup, including a slim profile, drop protection a raised bumper.
