index
Latest
Valve's Index VR headset will go back on sale March 9th
If you're itching to buy a Valve Index to get the 'official' Half-Life: Alyx experience, you'll soon have another chance... if you move quickly. A Valve spokesperson talking to Engadget has confirmed an earlier report that Index kits will once more be available to buy on March 9th at 1PM Eastern. However, it expects "high demand" to clear out stock of the VR headset that same day. Miss out on this batch and you'll have to settle for inventory on a first-come-first-serve basis, which could leave you waiting a while when the coronavirus outbreak has reduced production.
Google search is showing invitations to private WhatsApp groups
Your private WhatsApp group might not be as private as you'd like. DW journalist Jordan Wildon has noticed that Google is indexing at least some WhatsApp group invitations in its search, making it possible to slip into groups that owners might not want to be public. While many of these are fairly innocuous, some include sensitive data. Motherboard discovered one group apparently aimed at UN-accredited non-governmental organizations where it was possible to see the list of all 48 participants, including their phone numbers.
Valve's Index VR production has been impacted by coronavirus
We're just about a month out from the launch of Half Life: Alyx on March 23rd, and like so many other things, it is seeing some impact from the coronavirus outbreak. According to a statement given to RoadtoVR and UploadVR, Valve still plans to restock its Index VR headsets ahead of the game's release. However, over the next few months the company says "we will have far fewer units for sale during the coming months compared to the volumes we originally planned." You can still sign up for a notification when more headsets are available on the Index's Steam page, which has listed the headsets as out of stock for several weeks.
Valve has made me believe in Half-Life again
Just over two years ago, I left Valve's Half-Life franchise for dead. It had been ten years since Half-Life 2: Episode Two left fans with a massive cliffhanger that it seemed would never be resolved. But three days ago, Valve revealed that the story wasn't over, not quite: Half-Life: Alyx would be a full-fledged new entry into the series, built from the ground up for VR. Perhaps even more surprising was yesterday's reveal that the game is basically done and set to arrive in March of 2020.
HTC's unlimited VR service comes to Valve Index headsets
You'd think that Valve's Index headset would have supported Viveport Infinity from the outset given the premium price and backwards compatibility with HTC gear, but not so -- it's only just arriving now. As of August 29th, the Index has access to the unlimited VR service and its library of games, apps and videos. It costs the same $13 per month ($9 if you commit to a year), but there is a perk for splurging on the headset. Anyone with an Index can claim two months of free Infinity access during a promo lasting through all of September, whether or not you're already an Infinity member.
Valve releases mod-friendly CAD files for its Index VR headset
You knew that Valve was going to support modding for its Index VR headset when it included a "frunk" just for accessories, but now the company is offering some of the tools you need to make those mods. It's releasing CAD files that can help you model accessories for the headset itself, the base station and the controllers. They're not just basic blueprints -- there are "inclusion zone" models to help you avoid interfering with sensors, and sample accessories give you an idea of what's possible.
Google makes mobile-first search indexing the default for new domains
Google started its mobile-first search indexing over a year ago, and now it's ready to make that approach the law of the land. As of July 1st, 2019, Google will index the phone-oriented sites by default for any new web domain it registers. If you're starting a new site, you'll want to be sure its mobile version is polished and full-featured -- that's the version Google will use to parse the site's structure and extract useful snippets.
Valve's Index VR headset will ship June 15th
You won't have to wait until May to learn more about Valve's Index VR headset. Valve briefly posted (and promptly removed) unfinished pages for the Index that offer both a clearer look at the headset and reveal a June 15th ship date (Engadget has confirmed this with Valve). While the company didn't provide vivid detail about the headset proper, it showed that the Index would included its own headphones. It also appears that you'll have the option of buying separate base stations and Knuckles motion controllers (now Valve Index Controllers) on top of any potential bundles.
Valve's 'Index' VR headset is coming in May
While Valve worked closely for years with HTC on Vive VR hardware, it's about to introduce a virtual reality headset of its own. A teaser page on the Steam website shows off this image of the Index, with the tagline "Upgrade your experience" and a May 2019 date. This occurs despite layoffs of some employees on its hardware team, which Valve said would not mean major changes to its plans. The development of Steam VR gives some ideas of what Valve would like to do, but there are no details or specs on the Index itself. Hints of the device have appeared with trademark filings and even a logo, but we don't even know if it will use the "Knuckles" finger tracking controllers we've seen from Valve a few times over the years. Whatever it is, we'll know more about how it competes with Oculus, HTC and the rest very soon.
Google's mobile-first search indexing is live after lengthy testing
After well over a year of testing, Google is ready to shift some of its search engine foundations to focus on mobile. The company has started the rollout for "mobile-first" search indexing, which uses the phone-optimized versions of pages for indexing and ranking whenever possible. Searchers are "primarily mobile," Google noted, and this should give them a better chance of finding what they wanted.
Google tries basing its search index around mobile websites
Google isn't just splitting its search indexes into desktop and mobile versions... it could start prioritizing mobile, too. The internet firm has started experimenting with a "mobile-first" index that primarily ranks sites based on their phone-friendly pages. The company will take the months ahead to refine the experience and make sure that computer users aren't left by the wayside, but your PC will no longer be the absolute center of Google's search universe.
New York Stock Exchange begins monitoring bitcoin value
Bitcoin's march toward legitimacy just took a hop, skip and jump with the news that the New York Stock Exchange is going to start monitoring its value. The NYSE Bitcoin Index (NYBXT) will keep a beady eye on how much the cryptocurrency is worth, relative to the US dollar, with the data being pulled from Coinbase. That way, investment types can get a quick read on how bitcoin is doing at any one time, with the value being updated at 11:00 AM ET each day.
Twitter makes every public tweet searchable
Remember your first tweet? Neither do I, but it was probably something along the lines of "first tweet," or an equally terrible first impression. Twitter has been working on a way to let you sift through every 140-character message sent publicly over its social network, and now the full backlog of short messages is ready for your queries. To make this possible, the company had to scale its tools -- like the real-time index -- during a multi-year project, accommodating not only the existing library, but properly sorting the billions added each week. Of course, this is a gold mine for businesses, sports teams and others who want to see what audiences were discussing at any given time. "We built a search service that efficiently indexes roughly half a trillion documents and serves queries with an average latency of under 100ms," Twitter's Yi Zhuang explains in a blog post. The ability to hunt through the massive index is rolling out to users over the next few days. Inside mobile apps and on the web, the "All" tab of search results will display that full gamut of tweets.
Sega splits Index Corporation, Atlus debuts new logo
In February we reported on a plan by Sega to split its newly acquired Index Corporation into a business wing and a wing focused on developing games. Today, that division is official. As of this morning, the old Index Corporation no longer exists. In its place stand two divisions of Sega: Atlus, which develops the same sort of quirky role-playing games (like Persona) that made its namesake an attractive acquisition for Sega in the first place, and Index, which will handle the minutiae of advertising and business operations for the former division. Former Sega managing director Yukio Sugino has been tapped to lead Atlus, while former Index executive vice president Yasuhiko Hamada will lead that segment of the company. Along with the new structural change, Atlus has adopted a new logo, which can be seen above this text. It's quite similar to the old design, though each letter is now thinner and the overall color scheme is less impactful. [Image: Sega]
Sega: 'No plans to undertake' Index projects, IPs available to Atlus
Sega Sammy's recent acquisition of Atlus' parent company, Index Corporation, left fans concerned that the business transaction would result in fewer Atlus RPGs making it overseas or Sega meddling with their projects. Thankfully, Famitsu magazine's interview with Sega Sammy COO Naoya Tsurumi (translated by Siliconera) suggests that everyone's worrying for nothing. When questioned about the structure of Index's development going forward, Tsurumi stated that Sega has "no plans to undertake any of their work" and that Index will be "working as an independent company." With that said, Tsurumi said he would "love to have them utilize any of Sega's dormant IPs." It's kind of fun to think what Atlus would cook up with the Jet Set Radio or Space Channel 5 franchise, especially with their upcoming venture onto the dance floor. Of course, a new Valkyria Chronicles might make a lot more sense, given the studio's reputation with RPGs. Update: This article originally credited the involved interview to Siliconera. While Siliconera provided a translation, the interview was conducted by Famitsu magazine. We apologize for the mistake.
Report: Sega to purchase Atlus' parent company for 14 billion yen [update: confirmed]
Following reports of Sega bidding on Atlus parent Index Holdings, parent company of Atlus, Japanese media company Nikkei has reported that Sega Sammy will purchase Index Holdings for 14 billion yen ($141.6 million). The deal is to be concluded in November. Sega rattled its cup at the grave of THQ in July, seeking revenue from the publisher that was made through pre-orders for Sega's Company of Heroes 2. We've reached out to Atlus and will update as we learn more. Update: Atlus Japan has confirmed the purchase.
Report: Sega bidding on Atlus parent company
Sega is among about 20 companies bidding on Index, parent company of Atlus (Shin Megami Tensei, Persona), reports Bloomberg (translated by Siliconera). The bidding for Index has reportedly gone as high as 20 billion yen ($203.3 million), and the company could be sold by the end of the month. Index filed for "civil rehabilitation," a form of bankruptcy under Japanese law, in late June. Plans to sell of its operations were announced in mid-July. At the time, an Atlus representative assured Joystiq that its upcoming release plans would be unaffected. The publisher's latest game, Dragon's Crown – which we thoroughly enjoyed – should launch tomorrow. A Sega acquisition would make sense, given that the company already distributes Atlus games in Japan. It would also help expand Sega's growing pool of talent – the company acquired Company of Heroes 2 developer Relic earlier this year.
Dragon's Crown ships 300K across first week in Japan
Dragon's Crown scaled to heights of 300,000 shipments in its first week at retail, a welcome boost for publisher Atlus amid the financial struggles of its parent company. Those figures are restricted to Japanese shipments (including download purchases), and could rise dramatically after Tuesday, August 6, when the PS3 and Vita brawler will be available in North America. At the very least the game proved more than popular with our Danny, who deemed Dragon's Crown to be developer Vanillaware's best effort yet. "While it scales back the complexity that defined Princess Crown and Odin Sphere," said Danny in his four-and-half-stars review, "its focus on deep, varied fighting mechanics make it one of the best beat-em-ups released for any platform in recent years." As for Atlus, it'll wait to see how the situation with parent company Index shakes out. Index is expected to sell its subsidiary options after effectively filing for bankruptcy protection. Atlus has reassured fans that its games, including Dragon's Crown, are "shipping on time."
Atlus parent company selling operations, publishing plans are 'unaffected'
Atlus parent company Index is preparing to sell off its subsidiary operations after recently filing for Japan's equivalent of bankruptcy protection, Bloomberg reports. Atlus USA's day-to-day operations are, for the moment, unaffected by Index's financial woes, so those of you looking forward to Dragon's Crown or Etrian Odyssey Untold can breathe easy. "Our games are still shipping on time," Atlus PR manager John Hardin said. "Dragon's Crown will be releasing as intended on August 6." The report, translated by Mad Man's Cafe, notes that bids for Index's assets will start as soon as next week. Industry analysts expect settlements to reach a total of 15 billion yen ($149.9 million). Index will be delisted from the Japanese stock market on July 28, and operation sales will wrap up in September.
Atlus parent company registers Persona 5 domain
Index Corporation, the parent company of Persona series developer Atlus, registered the domain "persona5.jp" on June 25. Before throwing your hands up in glee, take a breath and look at the big picture: Index doesn't own "persona4.jp," "persona3.jp" or other similar constructions, and snagging a domain for Persona 5 doesn't, on its own, confirm the existence of the game. Index could simply be protecting its brand against potential squatters. Or Team Persona could be close to announcing Persona 5. (OK, now throw your hands up in glee and with full acknowledgement of all the information.) In August 2012, series producer Katsura Hashino said Team Persona was working on "the next numbered Persona game," but it wasn't specified to be Persona 5. After all, a Persona 2 remake is still a numbered Persona game.
