An NFL football game is coming to Meta Quest and PlayStation VR

The NFL is making its first-ever VR game. And rather than work with longtime partner Electronic Arts on the project, the league is partnering with StatusPro, a startup that uses real-time player data to “create authentic extended reality experiences.&q…

Apple Studio Display review: For Mac-loving eyes only

Much like the Mac Studio, Apple’s new Studio Display is something its devoted fans have been begging for for years. LG’s Ultrafine 5K display was, well, just fine, but it wasn’t Apple-quality hardware. And while the company’s Pro XDR 6K display has practically every feature you’d want, it also costs an eye-watering $6,000. It sure would be nice if Apple just sold the 5K screen from the 27-inch iMac on its own!

Enter the Studio Display. It’s a bit brighter than the 5K iMac, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same 27-inch screen we’ve seen for years. To make up for the lack of modern features — like the faster ProMotion refresh rate and Mini-LED backlighting we saw on the latest MacBook Pros — Apple stuffed in an A13 Bionic chip to drive its webcam and speaker features. It’s not exactly a smart display as we’d define one, but it’s certainly smarter than most screens. Unfortunately, the Studio Display’s high $1,599 starting price makes it out of reach for everyone but the Apple faithful.

What’s truly maddening, though, is that Apple is seemingly oblivious to the display market in 2022. If you want a height adjustable stand, for example, you’ll have to shell out an additional $400 at the time of purchase. (This is the same company that priced the ProDisplay XDR’s stand at $1,000, don’t forget.) That feature is practically standard today, save for some truly budget offerings. Making height adjustment cost extra on such an expensive monitor is simply inexcusable. There’s also a VESA mount option, but you can only opt for that when you’re buying the screen. Heaven forbid your needs change after the fact.

And if you want Apple’s nano-texture glass option, which helps to reduce reflections in bright environments, be prepared to spend an additional $300. Putting that screen technology along with a height adjustable stand brings the total cost of the Studio Display to $2,299. Sigh. That’s just hard to stomach when I also have Alienware’s QD-OLED 34-inch ultrawide monitor on my desk — it’s pretty much the ultimate gaming screen, with a 175Hz refresh rate, 1,000 nits of peak brightness and actual HDR compatibility. And when compared to the Studio Display, the Alienware QD-OLED is practically a bargain at $1,299.

Apple Studio Display
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

I get it, the Studio Display isn’t made for me. And really, it’s not meant for anyone who’d consider a non-Apple product. It’s a monitor built expressly for the company’s devotees—the sort of user who demands a 5K screen that can accurately render MacOS, and who scoffs at the cheap plastic frames that plague the competition. I’ve talked to several Mac fanatics who are still running the company’s defunct Thunderbolt monitor, and avoided upgrading to the issue-plagued LG UltraFine 5K, who immediately preordered the Studio Display. For them, there just isn’t another option.

Despite my frustrations with so many aspects of the Studio Display, it’s still a very nice looking 5K LED screen. Its wide P3 gamut support allows colors to pop off the screen, which is particularly noticeable when working with high-resolution photos. The Studio Display isn’t technically an HDR screen, but it can still take advantage of the wider color range from HDR streams. Its 600 nits of brightness was also more than enough for my dimly lit office — that’s a good thing if you’re planning to use one right by a sunny window. And even though it’s an aging LED, at least it’s using an IPS panel, so colors still looked great from extreme viewing angles.

Apple Studio Display
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Naturally, the Studio Display also looks and feels like a premium Apple device, with a smooth aluminum case and an attractive design that’s striking from every angle. Around the back, there’s a single Thunderbolt 3 USB-C connection that can charge a MacBook Pro and deliver audio/data at the same time, along with three USB-C ports for accessories. So sure, Mac-heads may be overpaying a ton, but at least they’re getting a very usable monitor that’ll last for years.

Sometimes, though, using the Studio Display sometimes felt like I was trapped in a David Lynch-esque nightmare, where the beautiful veneer was covering subtle horrors. Black levels never looked better than a dim gray, for example, because the screen relies on a single LED backlight. A modern LCD screen in the same price range typically has dozens to hundreds of backlight zones. (The Mini-LED backlights on the new MacBook Pros have thousands of local dimming zones!) OLED displays, meanwhile, don’t even have to deal with backlight since their pixels can turn on and off individually, delivering far better contrast than the Studio Display.

I also couldn’t help but notice that scrolling through text and webpages just never looked as smooth as it does on my iPhone 13 Pro and other Apple ProMotion screens. Once you live with high refresh rates day-to-day, it’s hard to go back to any screen running at a mere 60Hz.

Apple Studio Display
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The Studio Display’s six-speaker sound system is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever heard from a monitor, especially with the faux-surround sound from Dolby Atmos tracks, but it’s also paired with a surprisingly grimy 12-megapixel webcam. Its output consistently looked like it was covered in a layer of Vaseline, no matter if I was using it in a well-lit or dim environment. (And yes, I made sure the lens area wasn’t dirty somehow.) Apple says it’s working on a fix for the Studio Display’s webcam quality, but I’m just shocked they didn’t notice any issues until now.

Having Center Stage built into the Display was useful, especially if I was moving around a lot during a video call, but I can’t fully judge its quality until Apple fixes the camera issues. I’m more intrigued by the potential behind the Studio Display’s A13 chip, though. Twitter user “Khaos Tian” noticed that the monitor actually has 64GB of onboard storage, same as the base model of the A13-equipped iPhone 11.

Apple Studio Display
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

It could just be that it was easier for Apple to throw in the same storage, instead of bundling the A13 with a smaller disk. But a part of me can’t help but wonder what Apple could do with that hardware. Imagine transforming the Studio Display into a true smart screen, with the ability to take FaceTime calls and stream media over AirPlay without being physically connected to a Mac. Apple is far too risk averse to throw in major new features down the line, but I’m interested to see if hardware tinkerers can work some sort of magic on the Studio Display.

I don’t blame Mac fans for being excited about the Studio Display. When you’ve been stuck in a figurative desert for years, you’d be grateful for any kind of salvation. I just wish Apple was as devoted to its loyal followers as they are to the brand. Mac users are used to paying a premium, but they still deserve a screen with modern technology and a stand that can reach eye-level without a pile of books underneath.

Rocksteady delays ‘Suicide Squad’ game to 2023

You’ll have to wait a while longer to slay Superman. Rocksteady Studios has delayedSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League from sometime in 2022 to spring 2023. Company co-founder Sefton Hill didn’t explain the decision, but promised the extra time would be used to “make the best game” possible.

The title has Harley Quinn, King Shark and other Suicide Squad villians fight mind-controlled superheroes like Superman and The Flash as they cause chaos. Rocksteady hasn’t shown gameplay, but Kill the Justice League will be available for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

This isn’t the only DC Comics game in the pipeline. WB Games Montreal’s open-world RPG Gotham Knights is still due in October 2022. All the same, this could prove frustrating for fans of Rocksteady’s work. The developer hasn’t released a new game since 2016’s Batman: Arkham VR, and the last conventional release was 2015’s Arkham Knight. Players have been waiting several years to see what the company will do next, and the months-long delay won’t exactly quell any impatience.

Washington DC Attorney General sues Grubhub over hidden fees

Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine has filed a lawsuit against Grubhub over alleged hidden fees and other “deceptive trade practices.” His office has accused Grubhub of violating the jurisdiction’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act in eight separate ways.

“We’re suing Grubhub for misleading District residents and taking advantage of local restaurants to boost its own profits,” Racine wrote on Twitter. “Grubhub charges hidden fees and uses bait-and-switch tactics, all while pretending to help local businesses during the pandemic. This needs to stop.”

Racine’s office also claims the app charged users higher prices than they’d pay in restaurants and that it misrepresented an offer of “unlimited free delivery” with a Grubhub+ subscription, since customers still need to pay a service fee.

The suit alleges that Grubhub offered deliveries from more than 1,000 eateries in the area without restaurants’ permission. It accused the company of listing phone numbers for restaurants that were actually routed to Grubhub workers and creating websites for restaurants without their consent or clearly disclosing that it operated the sites. Grubhub has ended those practices, as TechCrunch notes.

“In one of Grubhub’s most shameless moves, at the beginning of the pandemic, it ran a discount called ‘Supper for Support,’ ginning up business by claiming to help struggling restaurants, and then stuck restaurants with the bill,” Racine said. “This program cut into struggling restaurants’ profit margins while padding Grubhub’s bottom line.”

The promotion allowed restaurants to offer a $10 discount on orders over $30, but they had to cover the cost. Grubhub later offered them a $250 credit, as the suit notes.

“We are disappointed [the AG’s office has] moved forward with this lawsuit because our practices have always complied with DC law, and in any event, many of the practices at issue have been discontinued,” Grubhub said in a statement. “We will aggressively defend our business in court and look forward to continuing to serve DC restaurants and diners.”

Grubhub says it has worked with Racine and his office over the last year to address concerns. In the wake of the lawsuit, the service is adding disclaimers about service fees for Grubhub+ subscribers and the fact prices may be lower at restaurants than in its app. Grubhub will also make it clearer that users can place orders for free through its app and website as long as they pick up food themselves. These changes will apply to everyone, not only users in DC.

The DC lawsuit is the latest in a number of legal battles over delivery apps’ business practices. Chicago has also sued Grubhub (and DoorDash) over alleged deceptive delivery fees and charging higher prices for menu items than restaurants themselves do. In September, those two services and Uber Eats filed suit against New York City for placing limits on the fees they can charge restaurants.

Android finally lets you delete your recent Google search history

You no longer have to prune your Google app search history by hand if you’re an Android user. Google confirmed to The Verge that it’s rolling out the option to delete the last 15 minutes of search history in its namesake Android app. Tap your profile icon and you should see a “delete last 15 min” if the feature is available.

The option should reach everyone within the “next few weeks,” according to Google representative Ned Adriance. Esper’s Mishaal Rahman and Twitter user Pan Du first noticed the history control last week.

This has been a long time in coming, to put it mildly. Google first announced the 15-minute feature at I/O 2021, and delivered it first to iOS users in July of that year. Android users were supposed to receive the update later that year. It’s not certain what prompted the delay. Still, you’ll likely appreciate the addition if you need to quickly hide a gift shopping expedition or (ahem) risqué searches.

Nothing’s first phone will launch this summer

Nothing will release its first handset, the Phone 1, this summer, the company confirmed on Wednesday ahead of its “The Truth” livestream. In the usual marketing style of its CEO, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, Nothing shared a handful of details about the upcoming device while promising to reveal more over the coming months.

It announced the phone will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and run Nothing OS, a modified version of Android that “captures the best features” of Google’s mobile operating system while distilling it “to just the essentials.” The company promised Nothing OS would offer a fast and smooth experience, with a user interface that features “bespoke” fonts, colors, design elements and sounds. Nothing will offer a preview of its software vision in April through a launcher those with select Android phones will have the chance to download.

In short, it seemingly looks like Nothing hopes to continue where OnePlus left off before Pei departed the company and it merged with Oppo. By that point, many longtime OnePlus fans felt the company had effectively stopped catering to them with its decision to expand into the budget phone market by offering what they saw as rebranded Oppo devices. While most assumed Nothing would eventually announce a phone given Pei’s history, those assumptions became a lot more real at the start of March when a report came out that Nothing had shown off a smartphone in private meetings at Mobile World Congress. Just days later, leaker Evan Blass shared a photo of one such meeting Pei took with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon where you can see Pei holding what looks like an unannounced phone.

Pei positioned the Phone 1 as part of a broader ecosystem that will be open to other brands. He said his hope was to create an ecosystem that would feature Apple-like cohesion between different products and services while at the same time allowing people to use whatever devices they want. “This is the start of an open and diverse product ecosystem that gives people real choice,” he said. “We’re building the most compelling alternative to Apple.” But exactly how Nothing plans to achieve that vision Pei was specific about.  

Snap buys a brain-computer interface startup to power future AR glasses

You might one day control Snap Spectacles glasses with your mind. Snap has bought NextMind, a French startup developing brain-computer interface technology (BCI) to help steer wearables and other devices by focusing on virtual buttons. There’s no mystery about the intentions — NextMind will aid Snap’s augmented reality development, including work on Spectacles.

Snap didn’t disclose the value of the deal or outline its exact plans. NextMind will remain in its hometown of Paris while helping the Snap Lab team, although The Vergelearned the newly-acquired company will discontinue its BCI headband for developers.

The purchase isn’t surprising given Snap’s history. It bought WaveOptics, the company behind Spectacles’ AR displays, in 2021. The social media giant also reportedly bought another display firm, the liquid crystal on silicon company Compound Photonics, in January. Snap is clearly interested in advancing its AR glasses beyond the simple designs of today, which rely on physical buttons to do little more than capture photos and video.

There’s also plenty of competition in the space. Meta bought neural monitoring startup CTRL-labs in late 2019, while Valve is exploring the category through a partnership with OpenBCI. There’s even some indirect competition with the brain implants of Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Snap may need NextMind if it’s going to develop advanced, hands-free AR hardware in time to fend off rivals.

PlayStation Network issues are affecting PS4, PS5 and other Sony consoles

The PlayStation Network is currently having some issues that are impacting PS3, PS4, PS5, PS Vita and web services. Sony said on a status page that it’s working to resolve the issues, but players might “have difficulty launching games, apps or network features” in the meantime. 

The problems are also affecting PlayStation Now (which might inconvenience those who want to stream games at the minute) and all aspects of the PlayStation Store. They started at around 8:30 AM Eastern time.

The issues come in the wake of updates Sony started rolling out for PS4 and PS5 earlier on Wednesday. Some players have noted on Reddit and elsewhere that their console isn’t able to verify a PlayStation Plus subscription or connect to online services.

The updates will (at least once the issues are resolved) allow PS4 and PS5 players to create or join Open and Closed parties. Sony has tweaked the UI of trophy cards on PS5 and added more accessibility options, including mono audio for headphones. Those with US- and UK-registered accounts can also test voice commands on PlayStation 5.

Google Home app updates bring simpler controls and improved privacy

The Google Home app should soon be more convenient — and familiar, if you’re an Android user. Google is rolling out updates to Home for Android and iOS that should provide more powerful controls even as they remove some of the clutter. Most notably, you’ll see simpler, Android 11-inspired smart home controls in the main view over the weeks ahead. You can tap devices to turn them on, use sliders to quickly dim lights or raise a speaker’s volume and long-press if you need more control.

Privacy will also improve. As of this week, you’ll find a settings section that lets you manage privacy controls, Assistant data and home activity within the Google Home app. You won’t have to hop between software to set tighter restrictions.

Another update arriving by the end of March will help you parse what’s happening in your household. The home feed will automatically sort events and group anything that happened within a short space of time. You won’t have to slog through multiple status updates if the neighbor’s dog repeatedly set off your Nest Cam, for example. All told, you might have more reasons to delve into the Home app rather than relying on voice controls and notifications.