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The different strategies of Microsoft and Sony’s next-generation consoles - The Verge
Introducing Engadget’s 2020 holiday gift guide - Engadget
OnePlus 7 and 7T series get new OxygenOS Open Beta with October security patch — Downloads now available - Android Police

The different strategies of Microsoft and Sony’s next-generation consoles - The Verge

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 05:00 AM PST

We're just days away from the next generation of console gaming with the upcoming release of the Xbox Series X / S and the PlayStation 5. And now that we're so close to those launches, we have a pretty good idea of how both companies are approaching this next generation.

Microsoft is building toward a future where the hardware you're playing on almost doesn't matter. If you want to play an Xbox game, Microsoft is trying to make that possible on many different devices. Sony, by contrast, is sticking with a more traditional approach with the PS5, where you can only play exclusive PS5 games on the console itself. But at launch, both companies are leaning heavily on the libraries of older generations to round out the first few months of their lineups.

It should be an exciting new generation. Here's what we know about Microsoft and Sony's strategies.

Microsoft Series X / S

You'll first be able to get your hands on Microsoft's newest consoles, the $499 Xbox Series X and the slightly less powerful $299 Xbox Series S, when they launch on November 10th. There's no marquee launch title — that was supposed to be Halo Infinite until it was delayed to 2021.

But that doesn't mean you won't have a lot to play on day one. The Series X will be backward compatible with a hugeamount of the Xbox back catalog, and you'll also have access to more than 100 titles if you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass. That ability to play a whole lot of Xbox games, whether you already own them or are paying Microsoft a monthly fee for the privilege of doing so, is key to Microsoft's approach with its new Xbox consoles.

Let's talk first about backwards compatibility. If you still own a bunch of Xbox One games, they should work on the new consoles unless they required Kinect. And the Xbox Series X and Series S will also support backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games. That alone gives you a huge potential library of games that you can play, and Microsoft has a list of every backward-compatible game right here.

Backward compatible games will run natively on the new consoles, which means that they can take advantage of their more powerful hardware for faster load times, Microsoft's new Auto HDR feature, and more. In his testing, my colleague Tom Warren found that a preview version of the Series X loaded most games much quicker than his Xbox One X.

And many games are getting patches or updates to take advantage of the new hardware in the upcoming consoles. On launch day, a number of older games will have optimizations for Series X and Series S, including Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, and Sea of Thieves. Meanwhile, Halo: The Master Chief Collection will get an update on November 17th, just one week after the new consoles launch, that adds 120fps in both campaign and multiplayer modes, among other updates.

You'll also be able to play through any of the more than 100 games that are available on Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's game subscription service. And the value of that subscription will only go up over time, as the full versions of all upcoming first-party games will hit the service on their release date. With some developers pushing the price of a game to $69.99 for this next console generation, having access to brand-new games for a $9.99 or $14.99 monthly subscription is a bargain by comparison.

And an Xbox Game Pass subscription will get even sweeter with Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media. The acquisition means that Microsoft now owns huge franchises like Doom, The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout, and any new entry from those franchises will be available to Game Pass subscribers on day one. And current Bethesda games will be added to Game Pass over time, according to Xbox chief Phil Spencer.

A $14.99 per month Game Pass Ultimate subscription also includes access to Microsoft's cloud gaming service, known as xCloud. Right now, xCloud only lets you stream compatible Xbox games to an Android device, meaning that you can essentially play Xbox games wherever you take your Android phone (assuming that you have a Wi-Fi or cellular connection that's capable of handling it). Some games even have touch controls, meaning that you don't need an Xbox controller to play them on the cloud gaming service.

xCloud will be available on Windows PC at some point next year, and a web app for iOS is supposed to launch in early 2021. There's another way to play your Xbox games on your phone, too — Microsoft offers a remote play feature to let you stream games from your own console to your Android or iOS device.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will also include games on EA Play starting on November 10th, which means that you play a number of EA's biggest titles without paying for a separate subscription.

And if you aren't planning to upgrade to Microsoft's next-gen consoles quite yet, some Xbox One titles will support Microsoft's Smart Delivery program, which lets you upgrade an Xbox One version of a cross-gen game to its Xbox Series X version for free.

Sony's PlayStation 5

Sony's PlayStation 5 will be available on November 12th, just two days after the Xbox Series X and Series S. While Microsoft is focused on letting you play games from the entire Xbox family of consoles wherever you want to play them, Sony seems to be focused more on selling you next-gen games to play on its next-gen console.

The company arguably has a stronger launch lineup than Microsoft's new consoles, with the Demon's Souls remake and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales as highlights, not to mention the bundled Astro's Playroom, which serves as an ideal showcase for the new DualSense controller. And we also already know about some promising first-party titles scheduled for 2021, including Horizon Zero Dawn sequel Horizon Forbidden West and a sequel to God of War. (Microsoft has announced some intriguing first-party titles as well, including a new Fable game, but many of those games don't have release windows yet.)

That new DualSense controller is a key part of Sony's strategy, too. It has haptic feedback and adaptive triggers intended to immerse you more in your games, and early signs show that they can change the way games feel. Sony will undoubtedly integrate the controller's new features with its first-party PS5 titles, but third-party games like NBA 2K21 and Fortnite have DualSense-exclusive features as well. The controller helps further that idea of exclusives: if developers support the DualSense, they're offering an experience you can't get on any other console.

Sony's promise to deliver big games from its beloved franchises in the future is similar to how it approached the PS4. You could make the case that the PS4 had a limited set of launch titles — Killzone Shadow Fall was the most notable Sony exclusive — but the day before the PS4 was released, Sony revealed what would become Uncharted 4 and gave a release date for Infamous: Second Son. And over the life span of the PS4, Sony's strategy to continually roll out big exclusive games worked out very well. Uncharted 4 was a huge success, as were titles like Marvel's Spider-Man, Bloodborne, and The Last of Us Part II. All of Sony's big exclusive hits were major reasons why the PS4 was the fastest home console to reach 100 million unit sales.

But Sony isn't completely abandoning the PS4 just yet. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales was announced first for the PS5, but we learned in September that there will be a PS4 version as well. Horizon Forbidden West is coming to PS4, too.

And Sony is putting a bit more focus on cross-gen gaming this generation, as the PS5 is backward-compatible with more than 4,000 PS4 titles. (Certain games "may exhibit errors," according to the company, though only 10 games won't work at all.) "Select" PS4 and PSVR games will also get "faster and smoother frame rates." Ghost of Tsushima, for example, will run at up to 60fps and have faster load times on PS5, according to developer Sucker Punch.

Sony will also offer a new game subscription service for the PS5 called the PlayStation Plus Collection. It allows paying Plus users to play any of the 20 PS4 games that are part of the collection on their PS5, including hits like God of War, Persona 5, and Bloodborne. But that's a far more limited library than Xbox Game Pass, which lets you play games from multiple generations and has first-party games available on day one.

Sony has said that PlayStation Now, its game subscription service with PS4, PS3, and PS2 games, will be coming to PS5 at some point, but we don't have a timeline for when that might happen. And the PS5 won't natively support PS1, PS2, or PS3 games, so you'll need to keep an older PlayStation console around if you want to play those.

If you're not planning to upgrade immediately to the PS5, you'll have some options if you eventually want to get a next-gen experience for games you play first on PS4. Some PS4 games can be upgraded to a digital PS5 version — though that will be at the developers' discretion, and developers can decide whether that upgrade is free, paid, or only available for a limited time.

And similar to Microsoft, Sony also offers remote play functionality for PS5, though your options with Sony allow you to stream PS5 games to a PC and Mac in addition to Android and iOS.

An exciting new generation of console gaming begins soon

Picking between the next Xbox or PlayStation will be less about hardware and more about Microsoft's and Sony's philosophies about this generation of console games. With the Xbox Series X and S, you'll have access to a lot of older games at launch, but we have to wait and see if actual next-gen games will make a convincing case to upgrade. Meanwhile, Sony is betting on an exclusives-focused strategy for the PS5 that worked well with the PS4, but that will only work out if Sony releases exclusives that are worth buying a PS5 to play.

In the past, choosing between a console meant comparing specs and analyzing release calendars. This time, the choice is much more philosophical.

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Introducing Engadget’s 2020 holiday gift guide - Engadget

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 05:54 AM PST

If you're wondering "how is it already November?" but also, "how is it only November?" you're not alone. 2020 has felt never-ending while simultaneously vanishing in a flash. It's safe to say that we're all a little tired (exhausted, even) and because of that extra fatigue, the holiday shopping season may seem even more stressful than usual.

But we at Engadget hope our annual holiday gift guide can help ease a bit of the burden. If you can't even begin to think of gift ideas for the people on your list, we've got you covered with more than 200 product recommendations. You'll find picks for the best laptops and tablets, wearables for all kinds of people, the most popular (and best fitting) headphones and earbuds; plus loads of books, movies and music we've turned to for escape.

Our staffers have been testing, reviewing and living with most of these products for some time, so we're confident that they'll make great gifts for anyone on your list, tech-obsessed or not. We've also included a number of budget-friendly options -- that way you can confidently cross items off your list while sticking to your budget.

And for all you bargain hunters out there, we'll be covering the best discounts we find throughout the holiday shopping season. If you've already purchased most of your gifts, good on you for being ahead of the game -- but for those still waiting, the year's best deals are yet to come. Visit our Deals homepage and follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter to keep up with the latest sales, including the best of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

We hope our buying guides and deals coverage can make the holiday shopping season less stressful. 2020 has been a difficult year for most of us, but we try our best to focus on the positives (even when it's tough to do so). And when you're buying gifts for others over the coming weeks, remember to treat yourself along the way -- you deserve it.

Engadget's 2020 Holiday Gift Guide

The best laptops and tablets to give as gifts

Computer and phone accessories that make great gifts

The best gifts for the PC gamer in your life

The best tech toys for kids

The best smartwatches, fitness trackers and wearables to gift

The best tech gifts to upgrade your home theater

These are the audio gadgets to gift this season

Smart home gadgets and kitchen tech that make great gifts

In this article: holiday shopping, hgg2020, holidays, holiday20, thebuyersguide, tech gifts, giftguide20, news, gear

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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OnePlus 7 and 7T series get new OxygenOS Open Beta with October security patch — Downloads now available - Android Police

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 05:28 AM PST

This story was originally published 2020/10/30
12:19pm PDTon Oct 30, 2020 and last updated 2020/11/04
5:28am PSTon Nov 4, 2020.

OnePlus has become slower and slower at shipping security updates in a timely manner, ranking far behind devices from Samsung, Google, and other companies in our security update tracker. The OnePlus 7 and 7T series took over a month to receive the September security update, and the company is sticking to roughly the same schedule with the October fixes.

OnePlus is now rolling out OxygenOS Open Beta 9 to the 7T and 7T Pro, and Open Beta 19 to the 7 and 7 Pro. The official changelog only mentions two changes: the October security patches are included, and a bug with the front camera has been fixed.

System

Improved system stability and fixed general issues
Updated Android Security Patch to 2020.10

Camera

Fixed the flashback issue when switched to the front camera in particular cases

Assuming no last-minute bugs are discovered, the update should roll out to non-beta users soon. OnePlus also released an update to the 8T today, which included fixes for battery consumption and Bluetooth latency.

You can now grab the firmware file and flash it on your phone from these download links:

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