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Oculus Rift headsets are offline following a software error
This morning, people around the world couldn't use their Oculus Rift VR headsets. System software couldn't "reach Oculus Runtime Service" according to error messages posted to the Oculus forums, spotted by Polygon. One possible explanation is that an Oculus security certificate expired today. The company took to the bulletin board to offer a bit of an update.
Mac and iOS bug crashes apps with a single character
Apple only recently fixed a bug called "chaiOS" that would cause iMessage on iOS devices and Macs to crash with a simple link, and now it's got another, more widespread issue on its hands. As explained by Mobile World and replicated by The Verge, a lone Indian-language character is capable of crashing a number of messaging apps on iOS. The problem also extends to the Apple Watch and even Macs, all of which struggle to process the character specific to the Telugu language spoken in India.
Tweak Spotify's recommendation tech to create custom playlists
If you're looking for a way to fine-tune your Spotify experience, you might want to check out Nelson, a web-based playback jukebox of sorts on app-maker website Glitch. You choose as many genres as you like before tweaking some of the Spotify API's various parameters, and Nelson will compile a custom set of songs. You can even have it create a playlist right on Spotify for you.
iPhone X owners report trouble answering phone calls
The iPhone X's early teething troubles have largely gone away, but there's a lingering problem for some owners... and it's a fairly serious one. Users have reported that the iPhone X's touchscreen won't turn on for several seconds when there's an incoming call, preventing them from answering or seeing who's on the other line. Complaints started surfacing in December, but the issue has persisted until now.
Google Home Mini is crashing when cranked up to 11
The Google Home Mini is a great, low-cost option for putting Assistant all over your house. Like your smartphone, though, its built-in speaker isn't the type of thing you'd want to use for any sort of critical listening. In a pinch it might be better than nothing, though. If you feel like cranking the volume on its diminutive driver, however, consider the following warning: Depending on what you're listening to via Google Play Music, the smart speaker could crash.
Some iPhone X displays have a nasty green line
The iPhone X's design revolves around its all-encompassing OLED display, so you can imagine the heartbreak when that display is glitchy... and unfortunately, it looks like a handful of owners are going through that pain. People on Apple's forums, Reddit and elsewhere are reporting a glitch where a green line runs down the left or right edge of the display, regardless of what's happening on-screen. This doesn't appear to affect the functionality, but it's clearly annoying.
Google plans software update to fix another Pixel 2 audio issue
Google just announced software updates are incoming to deal with issues Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL owners are reporting with their screens and speakers, and now there's another one on the list. Its audio recordings seem to have an issue that makes them suddenly turn tinny and garbled, as noted in a thread on the support forums. Company representatives tell CNET and Android Police that Google is aware of the issue, and plans to fix it with a software update that will roll out in the next few weeks. That should be quite a patch when it arrives.
Android Wear updates leave glitches with Assistant and reminders
It's... not the best time to have an Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch on your wrist. Owners are reporting bugs with the wearable software that have either persisted through or appear to be caused by recent updates. Most notably, Google Assistant is outright broken for some users -- it won't do more than basic internet searches. If you want to control your smart lights or set a timer, you might be out of luck.
A memory bug made the OnePlus 5 reboot during 911 calls
OnePlus fixed that nasty bug that rebooted your OnePlus 5 when you called an emergency number, but just what caused it, exactly? The company has offered an explanation... and it's a thorny issue. Apparently, there was a cellular modem memory usage problem that kicked in when you made an emergency call while on a voice over LTE network, invoking the OTDOA (Observed Time Difference of Arrival) protocol used for positioning in an emergency. It only occurred on some OnePlus 5 units, but it was tricky enough that the company worked with Qualcomm to eliminate the glitch on devices around the world.
Some OnePlus 5 owners can't dial 911 without the phone rebooting
Making an emergency phone call to 911 on your OnePlus 5 could wind up with your phone rebooting. A handful of owners have taken to Reddit to share videos of the glitch in action, and they suspect that it could have something to do with the phone's GPS system. For its part, OnePlus says it's contacted the customer and is looking into what could be the problem. Should your OnePlus be doing the same, the company asks that you contact its support inbox. It sounds like this might be fixable via firmware update -- unlike that whole "jelly scrolling" thing last month.
'Final Fantasy XV' out-of-bounds glitch reveals an unused open world
The world of Final Fantasy XV feels enormous, stretching out for miles across freeways, plains, lakes and mountains -- but in the game's closing act, that open world becomes incredibly linear. Instead of taking a road trip across a fantastic land, players in the third act can merely look out upon one. A newly discovered out-of-bounds glitch changes that, revealing a surprisingly fleshed out landscape with a frozen tundra, beaches, towns and a vast savannah. There's not much to do in the area, but fans are now wondering if its a hint at what's coming for the game's DLC.
Twitter accidentally killed @ names in replies on iOS today
If you use the official Twitter iOS app, you may have noticed something missing today: @username handles in replies. I wasn't a fan of the reworked style when it popped up on my Android device recently, and neither were many of the people affected by the change today. The one upside however, was that since @names no longer applied to the character count, some users created a massive "Twitter canoe" mentioning everyone they could. Anyway, it has now reverted back to normal for all users, and in a tweet, the company explained: "an experiment around replies accidentally went out to everyone on iOS briefly."
A 'Pokémon' glitch could corrupt your 'Sun' and 'Moon' saves (update)
Enjoying Pokémon Sun and/or Moon? You aren't alone. But as a heads up, for now, it looks like you shouldn't save in the post-game Battle Tree location or pretty much any Pokémon Center in the game, according to Polygon. Folks online are saying that doing so can corrupt your save file, and that means all the work you've done to evolve Litten into an Incineroar will be for naught. We've reached out to The Pokémon Company about a fix for this and will update this post should more information arrive. In the meantime, you'll just have to break the habit of saving after you've healed your party members at a Pokémon Center.
A Facebook bug killed off people before they were dead
Well, this is awkward. Facebook incorrectly flagged some people's profile pages with a message saying that the person was deceased. And it looks like the glitch was pretty widespread: even founder Mark Zuckerberg had apparently ceased to be. A banner at the top of his profile page read, "We hope people who love Mark will find comfort in the thing others share to remember and celebrate his life." A number of Engadget staffers had passed on as well; we weren't just pining.
Yes, 'No Man's Sky' has a few issues
No Man's Sky landed on PlayStation 4 this week, and it wasn't perfect. Cue a rash of backlash on Twitter, a few dozen angry Reddit threads and a handful of YouTube videos calling creator Sean Murray a liar and a fraud. Ah, the internet. Let's break down a few of the high-profile glitches that people have found so far:
SwiftKey leaked user email addresses as text predictions
Autocorrect mistakes are supposed to be funny, but a new SwiftKey glitch turned out to be sort of alarming. For the last week, some SwiftKey users have been offered predictive text for slang they've never used before, words in other foreign languages and, most concerning, email addresses and phone numbers they've never seen.
How to beat 'Super Mario Bros. 3' in two seconds flat
We're actually pretty okay with AI winning at "Go," but when it's beating Super Mario Bros. 3 in mere seconds, it's time to be worried. ais523, an expert on game "speedruns," noticed that pressing a Nintendo NES's controller rapidly could allow him to insert new code. With help from the "tool-assisted speedrun (TAS)" community, he used a Nintendo robot called "TASBot" to virtually mash the button up to 6,000 times a second. With just the right pattern, he got through Super Mario 3 in seconds, to the delight of Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ) 2016 speedrun fans.
Lexus nav systems are acting up nationwide (updated)
As upgraded systems bring cars closer to other connected devices, it's inevitable that they suffer from some similar issues. Today many Lexus owners were afflicted by a problem that saw their head units stuck in some kind of reboot loop. Derik Gutowski posted a video of the sequence on YouTube, showing it start to boot before showing a purple screen and then beginning the cycle again. On a Lexus owner's forum, posters suggest (as apparently directed by dealers) pulling the battery cable for ten minutes, which forces a manual reset and gets things working again.
Everything you love will die, especially in tech
A little over a year ago, Microsoft bought beloved calendar app Sunrise. For the past 14 months or so, things have been more or less business as usual ... at least for customers. But this week, the other shoe finally dropped: Aug. 31st will be the last day Sunrise exists as a standalone app. Sure, you could use Outlook, which by now shares some of the same DNA, but it'll never be the same. Indeed, some of us here at Engadget are pretty heartbroken about it. Which got us thinking about all of the other apps and services we loved and relied on that ended up being unceremoniously shuttered.
'46 years' Facebook glitch is a New Year's gift from Unix
Don't worry, you're not living out a 13 Going on 30 scenario -- you're only "celebrating" 46 years of Facebook friendship with someone right now because of a glitch. A Unix-based glitch, that is. (That said, sorry to burst your bubble if you woke up thinking you've suddenly become younger.) Let's back up a bit and talk about what happened first, because it seems like only really old accounts are experiencing the issue. The largest social network on the planet has sent out messages congratulating users for 46 years of friendship with people in their list. Problem is, even if you have been friends with someone for almost half a century, Facebook itself is only 11 years old.
