There may not be a FIFA 23 game next year

Electronic Arts is considering removing the FIFA name from its football (soccer, for the Americans) video games, the publisher has announced, meaning we may not see a FIFA 23. The move comes as something of a shock considering EA has published FIFA games annually for nearly three decades now.

Hot on the heels of the launch of this year’s title, FIFA 22, which took place on October 1st, EA published a blog post pondering the future of the series. The company says that its goal is to build an authentic experience, and that its licensing partners are important in making that happen. Through these partnerships, real-life competitions like the UEFA Champions League and hundreds of teams are available to play in the game. Cam Weber, General Manager of the EA Sports group, said:

The breadth of our partnerships and our ecosystem of licensed content will enable us to continue to bring unrivaled authenticity in our EA SPORTS football games, now and for many years to come.

However, for some reason, the FIFA name may not be part of the core licenses that EA considers essential to the player experience. As much as it may be a shock, the decision may actually make some sense from EA’s perspective. First off, as the company points out, the FIFA license is separate from all the other licensed content in the game. So, even without the FIFA name, you’d technically be able to play as your favorite teams and with your favorite players.

In fact, dropping the FIFA name could (in theory) mean that EA has more funds available to negotiate licensing for individual leagues, teams, or players. The company talks about investing in the licenses that are “most meaningful” to its players, and truth be told, the name on the title probably makes little difference once you’ve bought the game. However, the FIFA brand is incredibly recognizable, and one has to wonder if removing it from the title would have a negative impact on the games’ sales.

It’s also possible that EA feels a lot less pressure to keep the FIFA brand in the name of its games now, seeing as it’s virtually without competition. The major rival to the FIFA games, Pro Evolution Soccer, has been on the decline for years, and this year, publisher Konami dropped the name in favor of a new eFootball game that instantly became notorious for being the worst-rated video game ever on Steam. Even if it’s not called FIFA 23, EA’s next sports game might still be just fine, as there are other focus areas beyond the mere name to worry about.

It’s still early to say whether the FIFA branding will be dropped from EA’s football games, but the fact that the company is so explicitly looking to make changes is certainly telling. We’ll have to wait until the company shares more information about next year’s iteration of the sports title.

Xbox Series S + FIFA 22

If you fancy yourself a FIFA fan, you can pick up the new FIFA 22 for free alongside the Xbox Series S.

See at Amazon

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Now Playing on Pixels is getting a cloud search feature for songs it can’t recognize

A recent teardown of the Android System Intelligence APK (version S.6) revealed that Google was working on some significant improvements for the Now Playing feature on Pixel devices. Strings spotted in the teardown revealed that it was getting a major UI redesign and a “Now Playing Search” feature to help users send Google a clip of songs it couldn’t recognize. While the UI revamp is yet to make an appearance on Pixel devices, recent reports suggest that Google has started rolling out the search feature on Pixel phones running an Android 12 beta release.

According to 9to5Google, the new feature comes with the latest Android System Intelligence update and adds a new “Show search button on lock screen” toggle in the Now Playing settings. Its description states: “Identify songs playing nearby that aren’t recognized by your device.”

(Screenshots: 9to5Google)

Enabling the feature brings up a pop-up that reads: “If a song isn’t identified using on-device recognition, you can tap the search icon to search for the song. When you search, Google receives relevant audio info needed to identify what’s playing nearby.” Here’s what the search icon looks like:

(Screenshots: 9to5Google)

After you enable the feature, you should see this search icon every time your phone cannot recognize a song. If you tap on it, your phone will capture a short audio clip and send it to Google to identify the song. Once Google recognizes the song, the name will appear in the same location. But if it can’t, you’ll see a “No song found” alert instead. Essentially, it works exactly like Google’s “hum to search” and Google Assistant’s “what’s this song” features.

9to5Google notes that the time this new feature takes to identify a song depends on various factors, including volume, background noise, and connection speed. But, in its testing, the publication got consistently accurate results in under 5 seconds.

The Now Playing Search feature is currently rolling out to a limited number of Pixel devices running an Android 12 beta release. At the moment, we’re not sure if it will be available on all Pixel devices or not. We’ll make sure to let you know as soon as Google starts rolling it out widely.

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iOS 15.1 beta 3 fixes some of the biggest annoyances on the new iPhone 13 Pro cameras

Apple has released the third beta of the upcoming iOS 15.1 to developers and public testers. iOS 15.1 re-enables SharePlay after Apple disabled it before the stable release of iOS 15. It also includes support for adding your COVID-19 vaccine certificates to Apple Wallet and fixes a bug that broke “Unlock with Apple Watch” on the iPhone 13 lineup. The latest beta includes new camera options for iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max users.

iOS 15.1 beta 3: What’s new?

As per a recent report from 9to5Mac, iOS 15.1 beta 3 includes the following new features and changes:

Auto Macro toggle for iPhone 13 Pro models

Screenshot: 9to5Mac

One of the biggest annoyances in the iPhone 13 Pro camera is Auto Macro. This feature automatically switches to Macro mode when you get closer to a subject. A  lot of users found the camera switching animation of this feature quite annoying. As a result, Apple has added a toggle to disable it in the latest iOS 15.1 beta release.

Apple ProRes toggle for iPhone 13 Pro models

Credit: 9to5Mac

This latest beta update also adds an Apple ProRes video capture toggle to the iPhone 13 Pro models. Apple describes the feature as:

Show Camera control for ProRes. ProRes is one of the most popular formats for video professional post-production. A minute of 10-bit HDR ProRes is approximately 1.7 GB for HD and 6 GB for 4K.

ProRes capture is supported for up to 30fps at 4K and up to 60fps at 1080p.

As the description mentions, this feature is mainly aimed at professional videographers. A minute of ProRes footage in 4K can take up approximately 6 GB of space. So average users shouldn’t enable this mode for every video they take. They should save it for particular high-quality projects rather than for capturing everyday moments.

Have you bought an iPhone 13 Pro? If so, are you interested in trying out Apple ProRes for an upcoming project of yours? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Confirmed – the Pixel 6 will support facial recognition and a new Pixel stand

Google recently confirmed that it will unveil the Pixel 6 lineup on October 19. While the company has already teased the upcoming phones a couple of times over the last few weeks, it has managed to keep some information under the covers. However, new leaks about the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro keep popping up almost every day now, giving us more details about its design, specifications, and much more. Recently, a German retailer spilled the beans on a launch offer for the Pixel 6 lineup. And now, noted leaker Evan Blass has shared several images of the devices that give us our first look at the next-gen Pixel Stand.

As you can see in the attached images, the next-gen Pixel Stand looks bulkier compared to the older model, possibly because it includes a built-in fan and offers 23W fast charging support. The images also reveal that the Pixel 6 series will show a new charging interface when placed on the stand.

(Images: @evleaks)

The new interface features a media playback tile at the top, followed by device control tiles and two buttons labeled “Performance mode” and “Quiet mode.” These buttons might help users control the Pixel Stand’s fan/wireless charging speed, but we can’t confirm that at the moment.

(Images: @evleaks)

Other images included in the latest leak give us a new look at the Live Space widget with a flight card and running activity. They also reveal the new Pixel Security app, which is essentially an app that consolidates various security settings for easier access. In addition, the Security image includes mentions of Face Unlock, confirming that the Pixel 6 series will feature facial recognition capabilities.

(Images: @evleaks)

Furthermore, the leak includes images of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with water droplets on them, confirming that the devices will come with a water-resistance certification. It also reveals a rather thick first-party case and the charging brick.

P6 pic.twitter.com/Cc3azLC87g

— E (@evleaks) October 7, 2021

Lastly, the leak includes more high-quality renders of the Pixel 6 duo and various images of the new Android 12 interface on the devices. You can check out the rest of the images by following the tweet linked above.

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Vivaldi’s latest update adds web app support, a bottom tab stack, and much more

The Vivaldi browser for desktop and Android has received several new features in the last few months. Most recently, it received Accordion tabs and Command Chains support on desktop, along with the option to open external links in the browser and new tab settings on Android. With its latest update, the Vivaldi browser is getting even more new features on both platforms.

New features in Vivaldi 4.3 for desktop

Vivaldi 4.3 for desktop has started rolling out to users, and it brings several new features in tow. The browser’s built-in Capture feature has received a UI redesign with the latest update with new icons to help users understand how everything works. It now also offers a resize option that allows users to resize their screenshots easily.

Vivaldi’s Sync feature has also received an updated UI that makes it easier for users to get it up and running. It’s now more intuitive, features new icons and colors that draw attention to important features, and an option to download the backup encryption key that will let users decrypt their synced data if they forget their passwords.

Updated Vivaldi Sync UI

In addition, the update improves the Download Panel to show an informative graph for the download speed over time, new buttons to restart downloads and find downloaded files, and UI changes to highlight key statistics.

The Download Panel now shows more information

Other noteworthy changes include additional language support in Vivaldi Translate, drag-and-drop support on Vivaldi Mail, changes to the OAuth login for Vivaldi Mail and Calendar, and PWA support. Lastly, Vivaldi for desktop now also has the Idle Detection API disabled by default.

Changes in Vivaldi 4.3 for Android

Vivaldi 4.3 for Android brings a new Tab Stack Toolbar, which improves the new tab settings and Tab Stacks that rolled out with a previous update. The toolbar lets users change tabs within a Tab Stack, open/close tabs within a stack, and preview grouped tabs.

New Tab Stack Toolbar

Like the desktop version, Vivaldi Sync on Android has also received a UI refresh. The new UI makes it easier to set up Sync. It has a more intuitive design, along with new icons and colors that improve the account setup and recovery experience. The Android version also gives users the option to download the backup encryption key from the Sync settings to decrypt their synced data if they forget their password.

Updated Sync UI

Vivaldi Translate on Android has also received support for 68 new languages with version 4.3 of the browser, bringing the total to 108 supported languages. Lastly, the Android version also disables the Idle Detection API by default.

Vivaldi 4.3 for desktop and Android is already rolling out to users. If you haven’t received the update yet, you can head over to Vivaldi’s website to download the latest desktop release or the Google Play Store for the Android release.

Vivaldi: Private Browser for Android (Free, Google Play) →

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Here’s a look at Gboard’s Assistant-powered voice typing feature for the Pixel 6

Way back in 2019 at its I/O developer conference, Google unveiled the “new” Google Assistant, a much faster and smarter version of the voice assistant that’s exclusive to Google’s own Pixel phones. While Google did roll out the new Assistant as promised, some of the features they showed off have yet to become available. For instance, the new Assistant still can’t dictate text with your voice, and it also can’t tweak the contents of emails on your behalf. That’s finally set to change, however, as a new Assistant-powered voice typing experience has been spotted within the Gboard app, and it could be one of the new features to launch on the Google Pixel 6 series.

Last year, a handful of users were able to manually enable Google Assistant keyboard dictation in the Gboard app, revealing a brand-new, Assistant-powered dictation interface that lets you quickly enter text with your voice, send a message by saying “send”, delete whatever you’ve typed out by saying “delete”, and end dictation by saying “close.” A few months later, and the feature surprisingly rolled out to some users with a Pixel device, but the rollout was quickly halted and the feature removed from user’s phones. Nearly a year later, I discovered that the setting description for the feature has been updated to read “Assistant voice typing” rather than “Enhanced voice typing”, and I speculated that the feature could launch alongside the Pixel 6 series later this month.

Following my tweet, the folks over at the Google News Telegram group did the legwork to find out if the feature truly will be launching on the Pixel 6. After spoofing their device to be the Pixel 6 Pro, they discovered that the Assistant-powered voice typing feature has seen some major upgrades in the year since we last saw it. Here’s a screen recording of the voice typing feature in action, courtesy of the admins behind said group.

The group also shared some screenshots and a screen recording showing all the possible voice commands, which we used to compile the following list. Here are all the voice commands you can use in Gboard’s new Google Assistant-powered voice typing feature:

• Type and send
  • “Send” – Send your voice-typed text
  • “Stop” – Stop voice typing and close the mic. You can also tap the mic to stop
  • To keep the mic open – Double-tap the mic to continue voice typing until you tap it again, close the keyboard, or say “Stop”
  • “Delete” – Delete the last word or a selected word
  • “Clear” – Remove the last sentence
  • “Clear all” – Remove all text
  • “Undo” – Undo the last “Clear” or “Delete” action
  • To replace or correct a word – Tap to select it, then say or spell out the new word
• Add emojis
  • “Lol emoji” –
  • “Heart emoji” –
  • “Kissing emoji” –
  • “Crying emoji” –
  • “Smiling with teeth emoji” –
  • “Heart eyes emoji” –
  • “Thumbs up emoji” –
  • “Happy face emoji” –
  • “In love face emoji” –
  • “Thank you emoji” –
• Forms and emails
  • “Next” – Move to the next text field
  • “Previous” – Move to the previous text field
  • “Set recipient” – Add a contact you’d like to send your email to
  • “Add Emma to Cc” – Add a contact to Cc on your email
  • “Set subject” – Add a subject to your email
• Start hands-free
  • “Hey Google, type” – Start voice typing. To use this, “Hey Google must be turned on.”

We don’t know for sure if this feature will launch alongside the Pixel 6 series later this month, but it seems like a safe bet, especially since Google already confirmed that the Google Tensor chip has allowed them to make big leaps in voice recognition, translation, captioning, and dictation. We’ve already seen how captioning and translation will be improved on the Pixel 6 series thanks to our exclusive on the Live Translate feature, but we have yet to see exactly how voice recognition and dictation will improve. Gboard’s new voice typing feature could be just that.

Gboard - the Google Keyboard (Free, Google Play) →

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The first games to support Android 12’s Game Mode are rolling out

One of the areas that has seen the most improvement in the Android 12 update is gaming. Gaming has been such a large focus for Google this iteration that the company even dedicated a showcase to new gaming features for Android 12 at the Google for Games Developer Summit. Apart from “play as you download“, a feature that gets you in-game faster by downloading large assets in the background, Android 12 also adds the Game Dashboard. The Game Dashboard provides quick access to a handful of useful tools, as well as widgets for streaming to YouTube Live, showing achievements from Google Play Games, and changing the performance profile. Until recently, it wasn’t possible to change the performance profile for any game, because the game had to add support for Android 12’s Game Mode API. Now, however, the first games to support said API are starting to roll out.

Earlier today, we noticed that select games now support the Game Mode API. We noticed this because it finally became possible to change the performance profile from within Android 12’s game dashboard. We had the option to change the profile from “Standard”, which uses the game’s default settings, to “Performance” or “Battery Saver.” Choosing “Performance” is supposed to maximize the frame rate to improve the fluidity of gameplay, while choosing “Battery Saver” is supposed to lower the frame rate to improve battery life. Changing the performance profile will cause the game to be restarted for the new setting to take effect.

Another way to tell if a game supports performance profiles is to check whether you can open “Game Optimization” settings from the game’s app info page. If “Game Optimization” is grayed out and says “not available for this game”, then the game hasn’t added support for the Game Mode API. In some cases, the game may only support the “Performance” or “Battery Saver” modes but not both, which is currently the case for Minecraft on my device. If you don’t see “Game Optimization” settings at all, then it’s possible that Android doesn’t recognize the game as a game because it hasn’t added the proper Manifest entry.

We’ve seen performance profile settings open up for Minecraft, Sniper 3D, and Temple Run 2, but there are likely other games out there that have added support for the Game Mode API. Heavy hitters like Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, and Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated have yet to add support for the Game Mode API.

When Google first announced the game dashboard feature, they said it won’t be available in Android 12 beta releases. It’s easy to enable the feature, though, by going to Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb > Schedules and hitting the cog icon for the “Gaming” schedule. This gives you access to “Game Settings”, where you can toggle the Game Dashboard shortcut to appear in games as well as choose whether Do Not Disturb mode should be enabled in-game.

Google also said the game dashboard will only be available on “select devices” running Android 12, but we don’t know if phones from other OEMs will support the feature.

For what it’s worth, when we tried changing the performance profile in Sniper 3D, it seemed as if nothing had really changed in-game. The FPS was capped at 60 in both “Performance” and “Battery Saver” modes, and the game’s graphics preset was unchanged. It’s possible that the feature isn’t actually working yet, or that it changes settings I couldn’t notice, so I’ll need to play around with it more.

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