ESPN’s iOS app adds SharePlay to help you watch sports with friends

You won’t have to invite friends over to share an ESPN sports stream. The network has added SharePlay support to the ESPN app for iOS and iPadOS, letting US viewers watch live and on-demand programming with up to 31 other people. Everyone watching will need either ESPN (via TV Everywhere) or ESPN+ access, but it might be worthwhile to share an exciting shot or questionable referee call in the heat of the moment.

As with SharePlay in other apps, the functionality requires at least iOS 15.1 or iPad OS 15.1. You’ll have to wait until an Apple TV update sometime later in March to use the feature on the big screen in tandem with an iPhone or iPad.

ESPN is relatively late to SharePlay when some services have had the feature since late 2021. Its sibling service Disney+ has had group viewing (albeit using a custom approach) since 2020. This may be one of the more important implementations, however. Live sports are a huge draw for co-viewing features like this, and ESPN’s large audience might introduce SharePlay to many people who otherwise wouldn’t realize it existed.

Chipotle’s experimental tortilla robots know to add a little variety

Kitchen robots are making more than just sliders and pizzas. Chipotle is testing Chippy, a version of Miso Robotics’ arm-based automaton (already in use at White Castle) customized to make tortilla chips. The bot not only knows how to replicate Chipotle’s recipe, but is smart enough to add “subtle variations” to keep things interesting — you might get a little more lime or salt.

The test is currently limited a Chipotle “innovation hub” in Irvine, California. However, the Mexican-themed restaurant chain also plans to use Chippy in a southern California restaurant later this year. Feedback from customers and workers will help shape any potential national rollout.

People will still be involved in making most of your burrito or taco, Chipotle said. Like an earlier rollout of the Pepper chat bot, Chippy will be there to “improve the human experience” rather than replace back-of-house cooks. You might get your meals sooner and with more consistent quality, particularly during busy hours.

It’s easy to be skeptical, though. Zume transitioned from pizza-making robots after technical hurdles made them impractical, while McDonalds’ AI-powered drive-thrus aren’t yet accurate enough to be reliable. There’s also the perpetual concern that companies will eventually automate workers out of their jobs. For now, though, Chipotle appears focused on making life easier for kitchen staff rather than replacing them with machines.

Three ‘known’ Kepler exoplanets are more likely to be stars

The hunt for exoplanets has apparently led to a few near misses. MIT researchers have discovered that three “planets” observed using the Kepler Space Telescope (Kepler-699b, Kepler-840b and Kepler-854b) are more likely to be small stars. They’re simply too big, the scientists found — at two to four times Jupiter’s size, they’re larger than the largest confirmed planets.

A fourth, Kepler-747b, might also be ruled out. It’s small enough (‘just’ 1.8 times Jupiter’s size) to be a planet, but it’s distant enough that it doesn’t receive enough light to be sustainable. It’s “not entirely implausible” that 747b is a planet, according to MIT, but you won’t want to make any bets.

The team found the discrepancies after obtaining improved measurements from the European Space Agency’s Gaia observatory and double-checking the original classifications. Astronomers were only looking for tidal distortion at first, but noticed odd ellipsoidal signals (the ellipsoid shapes that hint at gravitational pull) that were too large for planets.

MIT doesn’t expect many more false planets. This is a “tiny correction,” the school’s Avi Shporer said. As it stands, this refinement is just what the scientists want — it produces more reliable data that should help with other, broader exoplanet studies.

Google says Steam is coming to ‘select’ Chromebooks

The rumors of Steam coming to Chromebooks were true. As 9to5Googlereports, Google mentioned in its Games Developer Summit keynote that a Steam alpha test for Chrome OS will be available for “select” Chromebooks. Details weren’t available as of this writing, but Google pointed would-be players to a (currently unavailable) Chromebook community forum post. We’ve asked the company for more information.

A February leak at 9to5 may have revealed the initially supported hardware. At the time, Steam would only run on a trio of Acer Chromebooks (including the Spin 713), ASUS’ Chromebook CX9 and Flip CX5, HP’s Pro c640 G2 and an unnamed Lenovo model. You might be limited to models with at least an 11th-gen Core i5 and 7GB of RAM, too. This wouldn’t be shocking given the demands of many Steam games, but it might rule out many entry-level laptops and well-known models like the Galaxy Chromebook 2.

This will be an alpha, and there are already hints Google will widen support. The bigger question might surround gaming. Which titles will work? Will Steam developers need to optimize games for Chromebooks? All the same, it might be welcome for gamers who’ve wanted a Chromebook but wanted more to play than Android games and cloud services could offer.

Google’s Immersive Stream lets other companies use Stadia gaming tech

Google is finally sharing more about how it will deliver Stadia game streaming to other companies. The search firm used its Google for Games Developer Summit to detail Immersive Stream for Games, its “expanded” Stadia platform for third parties. The offering lets businesses offer cloud gaming for a wide range of players — not just subscribers.

As with Stadia itself, a “Click to Play Trials” feature will let gamers test full titles without an account. You’ll know if you like a game without having to download it. You can also browse a game store without an account. Accordingly, Google wants to simplify bringing games to the platform through a “Low Change Porting” effort that should reduce the work needed to make games streaming-friendly.

It may take a while for all these features to reach early Immersive Stream adopters. The open storefront model is due in the “coming weeks,” while trials are coming sometime in 2022. Easier porting is still in testing. AT&T already used the rough version of the platform to offer Batman: Arkham Knight for free in October, though, and it’s teasing an upcoming second game that will finally let you stream on mobile, not just on desktop.

The expansion to outside companies was largely expected. It’s no secret that Google has struggled to grow Stadia, and closed its in-house game studios in early 2021. Immersive Stream gives the company a way to profit from Stadia’s technology regardless of how well the core service fares, and might fend off competitors pitching their own cloud gaming toolkits.

Amazon’s latest Echo Show 5 is on sale for $45 right now

Now might be a good moment to buy an Echo Show 5 as a smart alarm clock. Amazon is once more selling the second-gen Echo Show 5 for a record-low $45, or a large 47 percent below the official price. You can also buy the Kids edition for $55 (42 percent off) if the colorful shell and year-long Kids+ subscription prove appealing.

Buy Echo Show 5 at Amazon – $45Buy Echo Show 5 Kids at Amazon – $55

The Echo Show 5 is practically tailor-made for your nightstand between its small size, a sunrise alarm and a tap-to-snooze feature. It sounds surprisingly good for its size and includes a camera (with privacy shutter) for morning video calls. If you just want to check the weather or control your Alexa-powered smart home from your bed, this is all you need.

There are some limitations. The interface isn’t quite as elegant as Google’s Nest Hub, and you’ll want that device if you use other Nest devices or otherwise immerse yourself in the Google Assistant ecosystem. The video calling performance isn’t a huge leap over the first-gen Echo Show 5, and you can’t plug in a better set of speakers. For $45, though, there’s not much room to complain — it costs less than an Echo Dot with clock while offering more overall functionality.

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AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU will be available April 20th for $449

It took a while, but AMD’s first desktop processor with 3D V-Cache is finally on the horizon. AMD will release the eight-core Ryzen 7 5800X3D on April 20th for $449. That’s the same price as the older 5800X cost when new, but the company is clearly betting that the much larger combined cache (100MB versus 36MB) will help justify the outlay. AMD claimed in January that the 5800 X3D could outperform both the Ryzen 9 5900X and Intel’s Core i9 12800K in 1080p gaming, although it’s safe to say real-world results might vary.

There are also some decidedly more affordable CPUs if you’re more interested in value for money than raw speed. AMD has introduced six budget Ryzen chips, including three Zen 3 models. The six-core Ryzen 5 5500 only supports up to PCIe Gen 3, a 4.2GHz boost clock and 19MB of cache, but at $159 (cooler included) should be the most accessible Zen 3 part to date. Step up to the $199 Ryzen 5 5600 and you’ll get PCIe Gen 4 support, a 4.4GHz boost clock and 35MB of cache. The $299 Ryzen 7 5700X, meanwhile, is built for the sweet spot with eight cores, a 4.6GHz boost and 36MB of cache, although you’ll have to bring your own cooler.

Those happy to make do with Zen 2 have lower-priced options. The four-core Ryzen 3 4100 peaks at 4GHz with 6MB of cache for $99 with cooler, while the $129 Ryzen 5 4500 jumps to six cores, a 4.1GHz boost and 11MB of cache. Cost-conscious gamers can buy a $154 Ryzen 5 4600G with Vega-class Radeon graphics, a 4.2GHz peak clock and 11MB of cache.

All six lower-cost CPUs should be available starting April 4th. We wouldn’t be surprised if pricing climbs higher for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D given ongoing chip shortages, but they represent solid values at their official stickers. They might also do the trick if you lean AMD and can’t wait until Zen 4-based hardware arrives late this year.

Fossil’s latest smartwatches now let you choose Alexa over Google Assistant

You don’t have to use Google Assistant if you’re wearing a Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch. As promised in January, Gen 6 smartwatches now officially support the new Alexa watch app. Set it up and you can launch Amazon’s assistant either from the screen (including through a tile) or by configuring one of the pushers. This will be helpful if your smart home revolves around Alexa, of course, but it also provides some choice if you don’t want to be tied to one AI helper.

This is the first Amazon-made Alexa app for a Wear OS device, Fossil said. It’s available for Fossil, Michael Kors and Skagen models, and Fossil promises to improve it over time.

Alexa won’t be quite as convenient as using Google Assistant. You’ll still have to tap the screen to invoke Amazon’s assistant where Google will be available just by holding the home button. This is a start, though, and it may make Fossil Gen 6 alluring if you like Alexa but don’t want to buy a Fitbit smartwatch to put it on your wrist.

Samsung will bring Galaxy S22 features to older phones

You won’t need a Galaxy S22 to use some of Samsung’s latest software tricks. Samsung is promising to bring One UI 4.1 to many of its Galaxy phones and tablets from recent years, including its more advanced camera features. You’ll have access to the Expert RAW editing app, more advanced object removal and simpler photo sharing. You can expect Google Duo live sharing and a Grammarly-equipped keyboard, too.

The One UI 4.1 update will first come to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3. However, it will also come to the Galaxy S21, S20 and S10 families, the Galaxy Note line (from the Note 10+ onward), unnamed Galaxy A handsets and all previous foldable phones. Galaxy Tab S7 FE and further unspecified Tab S models will also receive the new software.

Samsung didn’t provide a specific timeline for the rollout, although that’s likely to vary by device, country and carrier. The plan also suggests you might be out of luck if you use a Galaxy Tab A or other affordable tablets. Nonetheless, it’s welcome news for many users who’d rather not buy new hardware just to catch up on One UI features.

Cyberattack takes down Israeli government websites

Israel appears to be recovering from a large-scale cyberattack. According to Haaretz and Kan‘s Amichai Stein, attackers took down several Israeli government websites on Monday evening, including those for the ministries of health, interior, justice and welfare. The Prime Minister’s Office website was also affected. All of the websites are back online, the country’s National Cyber Directorate said in a statement.

The government hasn’t officially identified a likely perpetrator, but it did say the sites were victims of a denial of service attack that flooded them with traffic. Haaretz sources claimed the cyberattack targeted sites with a gov.il domain, and suspected that either a state actor or a “large organization” was responsible. DWnotes an Iran-linked hacker group supposedly took credit, and that this may have been retaliation for an alleged Israeli operation against an Iranian nuclear facility. Neither has been confirmed, however.

It’s unclear whether or not this is the largest cyberattack against Israel to date, as a defense source told Haaretz. However, the NCF and defense officials were reportedly concerned enough to declare a state of emergency and review the possible damage, including anything that might compromise other key websites and critical infrastructure.

In contrast to the assaults that hobbled Ukrainian government websites ahead of Russia’s invasion, the denial of service attacks here are unlikely to have done much damage. They made it difficult to reach the websites, but there’s no evidence the culprits defaced sites or compromised data. Still, the cyberattack may exacerbate an already tense situation — it comes just a day after Iran fired missiles at the Iraqi city of Erbil in an apparent warning to the US and its allies. Israel was already on guard, and the country is known to respond to cyberattacks with physical force.