NVIDIA’s high-end GeForce Now tier is now available on a monthly plan

NVIDIA is making it easier for folks to try out the highest-end version of its GeForce Now game streaming service. There’s now a month-to-month payment option for GeForce Now RTX 3080. Until now, NVIDIA only offered six months of access for $100. Now, it costs $20 per month to try that tier. That lowers the barrier to entry, though you’ll save more in the long run with the six-month plan.

GeForce Now RTX 3080 supports 1440p gaming with ray-tracing at up to 120 fps on Mac and PC and 4K HDR resolution at 60 fps on NVIDIA Shield. It also runs at up to 120 fps on mobile displays. The $10 per month GeForce Now Priority tier is capped at 1080p at 60 fps.

NVIDIA also announced as part of its GFN Thursday update that six more games from Steam are available to play on the service: Buccaneers!, Distant Worlds 2, Ironsmith Medieval Simulator, Bus Driver Simulator, Martha is Dead and Survival Quiz City.

Red Rocks Amphitheater will no longer use Amazon’s palm-scanning tech

Red Rocks Amphitheater, one of the most recognizable concert venues in the US, no longer plans to use Amazon’s palm scanning technology for ticketless entry. Activists and artists including Fight for the Future, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) and Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) pressured Denver Arts and Venues to refrain from using Amazon One at the venues it manages.

“We haven’t been in contact with Amazon in several months and this isn’t a planned activation at Red Rocks,” Denver Arts and Venues marketing and communications director Brian Kitts wrote in an email cited by Fight for the Future. “I’m not sure what the future of this technology is, but at this point it doesn’t involve our venues.”

Amazon announced in September that it was expanding the tech beyond its stores for the first time at Red Rocks and other venues, including sports stadiums. Hundreds of artists, activists and human rights groups called on Red Rocks, its ticketing provider AXS and AXS parent AEG to drop the technology and to ban all biometric surveillance at their venues.

Those who signed an open letter cited concerns about Amazon sharing palmprint data with government agencies that seek to track marginalized people and activists. They also expressed worry that palm data could be stolen from the cloud by hackers. They’re hoping the letter will convince other live entertainment companies and venues across the US to avoid using systems that collect biometric data.

“Red Rocks’ decision to abandon Amazon palm scanning puts the venue on the right side of history, as a defender of human rights and the privacy of music fans,” Fight for the Future campaigner Leila Nashashibi said. “Other venues should similarly listen to the hundreds of artists, organizations and fans who don’t see this technology as “convenient” but recognize it as a tool of corporate surveillance and super-charged state violence.”

Engadget has contacted Amazon and Denver Arts and Venues for comment.

Judge rules voting machine maker Smartmatic can proceed with its lawsuit against Fox News

A judge has ruled that voting machine manufacturer Smartmatic can proceed with a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and Rudy Giuliani. The company has accused them and others of making false claims that it rigged votes in favor of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Fox News parent Fox Corp, anchor Maria Bartiromo, former anchor Lou Dobbs, The Five host Jeanine Pirro and ex-Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell all tried to have Smartmatic’s claims against them dismissed. Justice David Cohen of New York State Supreme Court dismissed the claims against Pirro and Powell, though rejected the bids from Fox Corp, Bartiromo and Dobbs.

Smartmatic claimed Fox News made up a story about helping Biden to steal the presidency from Trump to boost ratings. A lawyer for the company said Fox News caused “catastrophic damage” to Smartmatic’s business and reputation, according to Reuters.

Cohen ruled that Fox News “turned a blind eye to a litany of outrageous claims about [Smartmatic], unprecedented in the history of American elections, so inherently improbable that it evinced a reckless disregard for the truth.” He also said Giuliani accused Smartmatic of rigging elections in Venezuela and claimed it engaged in “old tricks” in the presidential election, which provided grounds for Smartmatic to proceed with some of its claims against the former Trump lawyer.

Fox News called Smartmatic’s claims “baseless,” adding that it’s “gratified that Judge Cohen dismissed Smartmatic’s claims against Jeanine Pirro.” It plans to appeal Cohen’s ruling “immediately,” and counterclaim for fees and costs to “prevent the full-blown assault on the First Amendment” that it perceives the lawsuit to be.

In December, a judge dismissed an attempt by Fox News to toss out a lawsuit by another voting machine maker. Dominion Voting Systems has accused Fox News of defamation in its $1.6 billion suit.

Update 3/10 11:24AM ET: Added more context regarding Fox News’ statement.

Xbox Series X/S users can now pin games to resume quickly

The March Xbox update is rolling out, and it brings a few useful features to Microsoft’s consoles. Xbox Series X/S players can now pin two games to the Quick Resume group.

That could be useful if you’re the type of person who, say, likes to play a quick round of Halo Infinite multiplayer or enjoy a Forza Horizon 5 race if you need a break from an Elden Ring boss. Pin a couple games to Quick Resume (by pressing the menu button when you highlight a game tile) and it should be easier to hop between them.

Games you pin to the group will stay there unless you remove them manually or they have a required update. If you already have two pinned and want to add another, the console will ask which one you want to replace.

The Xbox dashboard, showing the Groups section. The Quick Resume group includes two tiles with a pin icon.
Xbox

If you don’t tend to use the Share button often, you might get more out of it if you change its function. You can reassign a different action to the button, such as muting the volume, opening your friends list or achievements or bringing up the search menu. Microsoft says there are more actions available for Elite Series 2 Controllers, Xbox Adaptive Controllers and other devices too via the Xbox Accessories app. There’s also a Xbox controller firmware update, which should improve performance on Xbox One controllers with Bluetooth support, among other things.

Elsewhere, there’s a new audio setup wizard for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. You’ll find it under the “volume and audio output” area of the general settings. It should help you find the optimal settings for your speaker setup.

‘Gotham Knights’ is scheduled to arrive on October 25th

Gotham Knights at last has a firm release date. The open-world co-op RPG will hit PC, PlayStation and Xbox on October 25th. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment initially planned to release Gotham Knights in 2021, but announced last March it would be delayed until this year.

Developer WB Games Montreal (which also made Batman: Arkham Origins) offered a first look at Gotham Knights at DC FanDome in August 2020. You can play as Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl or Red Hood as you try to take down the Court of Owls, a group of criminals that pulls the strings on Gotham’s elite from the shadows. You’ll also battle Mr. Freeze and the Penguin following the apparent death of Batman.

Rocksteady, which developed the other games in the Batman: Arkham series, has a Batman-adjacent title of its own in the works. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is also expected to arrive in 2022.

Tinder now lets you background check your matches

Tinder is giving users in the US a way to conduct a background check on a potential match. Through the safety center (you can tap the blue shield icon anywhere in the app to get there), you can visit the website of Garbo, a non-profit background check platform.

Garbo typically only needs a person’s first name and phone number to surface information about them, as TechCrunch notes. It may ask for other details, such as the person’s age, if it can’t find anything about them at first.

The service will look for indicators of a history of violence. It has a database of more than a billion records of violent and harmful behavior, namely public records of arrests and convictions, as well as sex offender registry information. As part of its mission to create a more equitable background check platform, Garbo excludes some non-violent, non-harmful offenses, such as drug possession charges, loitering, curfew violations and minor driving tickets.

If a background check suggests the match has a history of violence, you’ll be encouraged to report them to Tinder. Match Group doesn’t allow anyone reported for violent crimes to use its dating services. Garbo will also offer users mental health resources and a way to contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Tinder users will each be able to conduct up to two background searches for free (up to 500,000 across the entire US userbase). Beyond that, Garbo searches cost $2.50 as well as a processing fee. Tinder won’t take a cut. Garbo’s service is available via its own website for the same price.

The app’s parent company Match Group invested in Garbo last March. It plans to integrate the platform into its other dating apps to bolster user safety.

DOJ asked to investigate Amazon over possible obstruction of Congress

The House Judiciary Committee has asked the Department of Justice to investigate Amazon and some of the company’s leaders over a possible criminal obstruction of Congress. In their letter, which was seen by The Wall Street Journal, committee members from both sides of the aisle say Amazon declined to provide information related to an antitrust investigation. 

The same representatives — Jerrold Nadler, David Cicilline, Ken Buck, Matt Gaetz and Pramila Jayapal — asked Amazon in October to provide evidence to back up testimony about the use of third-party seller data.

Amazon “refused to turn over business documents or communications that would either corroborate its claims or correct the record,” the committee members wrote in their most recent letter. “And it appears to have done so to conceal the truth about its use of third-party sellers’ data to advantage its private-label business and its preferencing of private-label products in search results — subjects of the Committee’s investigation.”

“There’s no factual basis for this, as demonstrated in the huge volume of information we’ve provided over several years of good faith cooperation with this investigation,” an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget.

In 2020, Jeff Bezos, then the company’s CEO, told the committee Amazon doesn’t allow staff to use data from individual sellers to make competing products, but couldn’t guarantee “that policy has never been violated.” Executives also said in testimony that the company doesn’t use seller data to copy products and then promote its versions in search results, despitereportsto the contrary.

The committee opened an antitrust investigation into Amazon, Apple, Meta and Alphabet in 2019. Of the four, the members have only accused Amazon of illegally obstructing the process.

“Amazon repeatedly endeavored to thwart the Committee’s efforts to uncover the truth about Amazon’s business practices,” they wrote. “For this, it must be held accountable.” They informed the DOJ of “potentially criminal conduct by Amazon and certain of its executives.”

“Amazon’s misconduct demonstrates the need for both accountability and change,” Antitrust Subcommittee chair Cicilline wrote on Twitter. “The DOJ needs to determine whether Amazon’s conduct constitutes chargeable obstruction of Congress.”

Update 3/9 11:26AM ET: Added Amazon’s statement.

iOS 15.4 will arrive next week, allowing you to use Face ID with a mask

Apple has confirmed it will roll out iOS 15.4 next week. One especially useful feature that’ll hit iPhones in the coming days is another way to unlock your device with Face ID while wearing a mask. You’ll no longer need an Apple Watch to unlock your phone without removing your mask or punching in your passcode.

Apple has been testing the feature in public betas since January. You’ll need to activate it manually in the Face ID & Passcode section of Settings. There’s one key caveat: it doesn’t work with sunglasses.

Other features expected to arrive as part of iOS 15.4 include an anti-stalking warning for AirTags, a less-gendered voice option for Siri, PS5 DualSense controller adaptive trigger support, a way to add notes to iCloud Keychain passwords and dozens more emoji.

In addition, macOS Monterey 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4 will be released next week. Those updates will include the long-awaited Universal Control feature, which will allow you to control multiple Macs and iPads with one keyboard and trackpad or mouse. Apple announced Universal Control at WWDC in June, but delayed it from the fall until this spring.

ESL Gaming and Qualcomm team up for a $2 million mobile esports league

Esports tournament organizer ESL Gaming has teamed up with Qualcomm to run a mobile gaming league. The Snapdragon Pro Series will have three tiers of competition — Open, Challenge and Masters — and have around $2 million in prize money at stake.

Tournaments will be held in six regions: North America, Europe, the Middle East, China, North Africa and Asia-Pacific. The “multi-genre” competition will come to a head with a live event for Masters-level players. More details about the Snapdragon Pro Series, including which games will be used, will be revealed in the coming months.

ESL formed a mobile esports ecosystem last year with a smaller prize pool of $650,000 and games including Clash of Clans, PUBG Mobile and League of Legends: Wild Rift. With Qualcomm on board and more money on the line, there’s a bigger opportunity for skilled mobile gamers to compete in esports and win potentially life-changing prizes. For Qualcomm, the circuit could prove a valuable showcase by letting esports fans see how well games run on Snapdragon-powered mobile devices.

Watch Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ event here at 1PM ET

Apple is holding its latest hardware event today (March 8th) and you’ll be able to watch it right here. The event gets under way at 1PM ET. The stream is also available on Apple’s website and the Apple TV app 

As for what to expect, it’s highly likely that Apple will reveal a new iPhone SE with the A15 Bionic chip used in iPhone 13 devices as well as 5G support. There are also rumors about a refreshed iPad Air with the same features. Elsewhere, tied into the “Peek Performance” tagline Apple is using for the event, it’s believed the company will update the 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Apple silicon chip after its larger siblings got CPU upgrades late last year.

Although those seem like the surer bets, there are some other devices Apple’s said to be working on that could make an appearance, such as an external 7K monitor, a Mac Studio desktop (i.e. a souped-up Mac mini) or other Macs. In any case, we won’t have to wait long to find out.

After the event, be sure to join deputy editor Cherlynn Low and senior writer Sam Rutherford for Engadget’s post-show livestream. They’ll break down Apple’s announcements and share their thoughts on all the news. You can check out the post-event stream below or on Engadget’s YouTube channel.

Catch up on all of the news from Apple’s Peek Performance event right here!