Samsung officially announces August 10th Unpacked event

It looks like our slow gadget summer is about to end, with Samsung ready to launch its next slate of products soon. The company today sent out invites to its next Unpacked event (after sharing a teaser puzzle this morning), which is set for August 10th at 9am ET. The keynote will be streamed online via Samsung’s website, and there will be no in-person component. If you are dying to get ahead of other shoppers, you can already sign up to reserve the upcoming products, too.

Like it’s done in previous years, Samsung is giving early birds special offers via its Reserve program. This time, you have till August 10th to register. According to Samsung, this is a “no-commitment offer” and you’ll only need to provide your name and email address. Those who sign up can get:

  • $200 credit towards Galaxy phone, watch and buds bundle

  • $150 credit towards Galaxy phone and watch bundle

  • $130 credit towards Galaxy phone and buds bundle

  • $80 credit towards Galaxy watch and buds bundle

  • $100 credit to use on Samsung.com towards eligible products when you reserve a Galaxy phone, which is doublethe credit of the Galaxy S22!

  • $50 credit to use on Samsung.com towards eligible products when you reserve a Galaxy watch

  • $30 credit to use on Samsung.com towards eligible products when you reserve Galaxy buds

The company is widely expected to launch the next generation of its Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip foldable phones, alongside a pair of new smartwatches and a set of wireless earbuds. We don’t know much yet about the upcoming products, although reports suggest Samsung might be selling the foldable devices for a lower price than before. 

We’ll be hosting a livestream of Unpacked, along with a live Q&A session after Samsung wraps. Join us at about 8:40am ET on August 10th on the Engadget YouTube channel, so we can all react together in real time. Chances are, we’ll have answers for your questions about the new products, so come through to get all the details! 

Netflix lost nearly 1 million subscribers last quarter

Netflix warned it might lose more subscribers in the second quarter of this year than it did in the first, and that prediction has come true — though it wasn’t as bad as feared. The streaming service said it lost nearly 1 million subscribers (970,000 to be exact) in Q2. That’s far more than the 200,000-member decline from Q1, but not as bleak as the 2 million Netflix was prepared to part with.

The company attributed the slightly rosier outcome to “better-than-expected” subscriber growth, particularly in areas like Asia-Pacific. The company still turned a $1.44 billion net profit despite the shrinking customer base and unfavorable foreign exchange values for the US dollar. Unfriendly exchange rates are a particularly difficult problem when nearly 60 percent of revenue comes from outside the country, Netflix said.

The media giant is expecting a turnaround for the third quarter, if a slow one. It’s now predicting that it will add a net 1 million subscribers. While that’s a far cry from the 4.4 million Netflix added a year earlier, it’s a decided improvement over the past six months. The strong start for Stranger Things 4 could help — the nostalgic show is now Netflix’s most watched season of English TV to date with over 1.3 billion hours of viewing.

Netflix’s recovery plan will sound familiar. The company is still pinning its hopes on a lower-priced ad-supported tier due in early 2023, and expects to launch it in a “handful of markets” where there’s already strong ad spending. The service also plans to fight account sharing, and is experimenting with ideas that include charging for additional homes. The finished sharing system could also roll out in 2023.

Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ will hit Disney+ on August 3rd

Lightyear didn’t hit the box office heights Disney hoped for, despite it being the first Pixar movie to debut exclusively in theaters in over two years. You won’t have to wait too much longer to stream the movie at home, though. It’s coming to Disney+ on August 3rd, 47 days after it landed in theaters.

While it’s technically a Toy Story spinoff, it has a meta element to it. The action figure in the Toy Story movies is supposedly based on Lightyear, an in-universe film characters like Andy seemingly watched (making this a quasi-prequel). This time around, Buzz is in human form and is voiced by Chris Evans. He’s an astronaut who, along with his crew and commander, gets stuck on a strange planet and needs to find a way home. The cast also includes Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin and Uzo Aduba.

‘Doom’ co-creator John Romero is making a new first-person shooter

John Romero, one of the brains behind Doom, is working on another first-person shooter, Romero Games announced today. In a tweet, the independent studio founded by Romero and his wife Brenda Romero said it will be teaming up with a major publisher to develop the game and will be using an “original, new IP.” 

Few other details were revealed about the upcoming title, which will be the first title from Romero Games since Brenda’s 2020 strategy game Empire of Sin. We do know that it will be powered by Unreal Engine 5. The studio mentioned that it is recruiting staff at all levels to help build the game, particularly people with UE5 experience.

The Galway-based studio isn’t revealing much else about the game. In the FAQ section of its website, the question “What can you tell us about the new shooter?” appears first. “We can confirm that it’s new, that it’s a shooter and that we’re making it with a major publisher. Otherwise, it’s way too early to share any other information on it. We’re grateful for your interest, though,” the studio writes in response.

It’s only been a few months since Epic Games released UE5 to developers, and we’ve already seen a number of new, promising game announcements — though we won’t see most of them until later on in 2022 or 2023. Fans of Romero’s work will likely have to remain patient for this latest title, and it’s unclear where whether it will take precedence over Sigil 2, which Romero Games announced last year but which still lacks a release date.

Correction 7/19/22 5:51pm:Empire of Sin has now been appropriately attributed to Brenda Romero.

Microsoft helps speed up work on AI for autonomous drones and flying taxis

If autonomous drones and flying taxis are going to thrive, they’ll need AI that can handle a wide range of conditions — and Microsoft thinks it can help build that AI. The company has unveiled a Project AirSim platform that helps manufacturers create, train and test the algorithms guiding autonomous aircraft. The Azure-based technology has virtual vehicles fly millions of flights through detailed simulations in a matter of seconds, gauging their ability to handle different obstacles and weather conditions. A drone maker can quickly find out if their machine will avoid birds, or use too much battery power countering strong winds.

Developers can use trained AI “building blocks” to get started, so they won’t need vast amounts of technical know-how. Users can create custom 3D environments using Bing Maps, but they’ll also have access to a ready-made library of cities (such as New York City and London) and generic locations.

Project AirSim is currently available as a “limited” preview already in use at Airtonomy and Bell. Microsoft plans to expand the simulation with physics, weather and digital sensor replicas, including the option to bring custom physics models through a team-up with MathWorks. The team is also “actively engaged” with governments and standards groups, and envisions a day where AirSim could help certify autonomous aircraft by putting them through rigorous digital tests.

The initiative won’t address some of the biggest challenges of autonomous flying, including aircraft design and real-world testing. However, Microsoft is keen to note that its technology is flexible — it can help shape everything from delivery drones through to eVTOL taxis navigating dense cities. If all goes well, companies will spend more time deploying aircraft and less time working on basic features.

Google will start field testing its next-gen AR glasses this August

Back at I/O 2022 in May, Google teased the return of its augmented reality glasses by showing an early prototype of its next-gen glasses. Now, the company is just about ready to start real-world testing. You might spot a Googler wearing the glasses in the wild as soon as August.

“The real-world tests will allow us to better understand how these devices can help people in their everyday lives,” Juston Payne, a group product manager at Google’s AR and VR division, wrote in a blog post. “And as we develop experiences like AR navigation, it will help us take factors such as weather and busy intersections into account — which can be difficult, sometimes impossible, to fully recreate indoors.”

The testing will be limited to a few dozen people (Google employees and trusted testers). The prototype models will be equipped with cameras, microphones and in-lens displays. Google is assessing audio and visual sensing for functions such as translation, transcription and navigation.

However, the features will be limited. The glasses won’t capture photos or videos, though Google will use image data to translate text and display directions. Data will be deleted “after the experience is completed” unless it’s going to be used for debugging and analysis. In that case, Google will remove sensitive information, such as faces and license plates. The company will delete image data used for research purposes after 30 days.

Google Glass wasn’t quite the success the company hoped it would be — it’s an enterprise product these days. The company wants to get things right with its next-gen AR glasses, so it’s taking things slow. Payne noted that it’s early days for the project. There’s no release timeline for the glasses as yet.

The new Instagram map is like Google Maps but with more selfies

The map function on Instagram got a lot more useful today, in a Google-inspired kind of way. The new Instagram map supports searches and filters, allowing users to look up restaurants, attractions and other hot spots directly in the app, rather than simply viewing where a photo was posted. The updated map also features posts, stories and guides tagged by users, offering a glimpse into the local scene wherever you search.

The map supports hashtag searches and offers the ability to explore by tapping tagged locations in the feed or Stories. You can also type the name of an establishment, city or neighborhood directly into the Explore page and see results on the map. The new map allows users to save their searches in a collection and share locations with other Instagrammers, as well.

Using location stickers on posts and Stories will add that content to the search results on the new map, as long as your profile is public. Visually, the map features Instagram icons where the attractions are, allowing searchers to tap and see Stories or visit the profile pages of businesses they find interesting.

This is yet another step in Instagram’s plan to become a one-stop shop for social networking, commerce, traveling and, like, life in general. For instance, earlier in July, Instagram rolled out the ability to buy things directly in chat. Moves like these make it easier for users to simply stay on Instagram, rather than opening up Google Maps or Venmo and taking their ad-supported eyeballs elsewhere.