The Morning After: A closer look at the Xbox Series X

With less than a month to go before the Xbox Series X officially launches, Jessica Conditt is ready with a preview to show you what Microsoft’s new console is capable of.

Beyond simply higher resolution, super-fast switching with quick resume and upgrading older games for better performance, one of the features she highlighted is how it all plays nicely with voice control via Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. It’s a feature that’s been around on the Xbox One, but with Microsoft’s latest software experience (that just rolled out on current consoles), it’s easier to use than ever. That also goes for its tie-in with the mobile app, which takes almost all of the hassle out of setting up a new system and should have you playing in record time on November 10th.

But the UI isn’t everything, so there are impressions of next-gen optimized launch titles like Dirt 5 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. We’ll have even more information in our full review later, but for now, it’s time to get your first real taste of the next-gen lifestyle.

— Richard Lawler

P.S. If you’re up early to pre-order an iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro, check out our breakdown of how, when and where to get one as soon as they’re available starting at 8 AM ET today.

You can hum to Google Search and it’ll figure out that song you forgot

Oh, it was Sugababes.

Google announced a set of updates that can make Search easier to use, but the most notable of these is a new Hum to Search feature that’s available today.

It’s like Shazam or Soundhound for song identification, except you don’t need to have the music playing. You can just hum, whistle or sing 10 to 15 seconds of your earworm after tapping the mic icon in the search bar on your phone and saying “what’s this song” or “search a song.” You can also ask the Assistant “what is this song?”
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Here’s the PS5 interface, finally

Don’t get too excited.

Sony has revealed what it’ll be like to boot up the new PS5 and browse all your next-gen games and content. It’s ultimately an iteration on what you know from the PS4. The familiar home carousel is present, with tweaks for 4K, but there’s a new Control Center that provides quick access to many features — including help for the games you’re playing.

Games and apps in the Control Center and home screen will have Activities, such as game milestones and “opportunities,” displayed as cards. You’ll not only see your progress on levels and quests, but will sometimes have the option of (spoiler-free) guides and hints if you have a PlayStation Plus membership. You can even get these tips shown, picture-in-picture, while you play on the new console.
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Sony’s Spatial Reality Display lets you gawk at 3D objects without glasses

And you can have one for $5,000.

This new Spatial Reality Display (or SR Display) uses eye-tracking technology to render believable 3D objects without the need to wear 3D glasses or put on a VR headset. It's made of a 15.6-inch 4K LCD and a high-speed vision sensor that tracks eye movement as well as your position as you walk around the display.

There’s also a micro-optical lens laid over the LCD and divides the screen for your left and right eyes to create a stereoscopic image. The SR Display requires a beefy PC with at least a modern Intel Core i7 CPU and NVIDIA's RTX 2070 Super GPU to process its complex real-time rendering algorithm.
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The iPhone 12 still comes with free EarPods in France

Thanks to radiation laws.

Apple announced on Tuesday it will ship the new iPhone 12 models without EarPods or a power adapter, as a way to prevent the accessories ending up in landfills. In France, however, the new devices will still come with earphones, due to the law.

French law requires that smartphones come bundled with “hands-free kits” or a “headset” to protect children age 14 and younger from electromagnetic radiation. That’s because the government doesn’t believe that health effects of long-term radiation exposure from smartphones is settled science, particularly with children.
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Tell us how August’s newest Smart Lock is working in your home