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This week, Daniel Radcliffe is the first celebrity to read a chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with new chapters from new celebs every week, news about Summer Game Fest, EA Play 2020, and Xbox 20/20, Ubisoft announces Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and what makes the Xbox Smart Delivery program so, well, smart. But first, Huawei and Samsung are making it easier for you to get your tech products fixed.

Consumer tech companies offering home delivery to keep their products working

In an effort to make sure that customers can get their tech products serviced while retail and service outlets are closed, Huawei and Samsung are offering free shipping and pick-up services for warranty work.

Huawei’s Spring Service Campaign gives you access to half price on broken screen and mainboard replacements until May 20. The company will send you a waybill to ship your device for free, and it will be returned after the repair at no cost.

Samsung’s door-to-door service will pick up smartphones, tablets, and other wearables, as well as TVs and microwaves, to bring them to a Samsung Service Centre for repair. The company will sanitize the product before sending it back to you, too. Get details and find a Samsung Service Centre.

Celebrities reading chapters from Harry Potter to keep us all entertained

Would you like to hear a story? You can hear the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book read to you by Harry himself, if you like.

Harry Potter at Home is an initiative by Wizarding World, which collects Potter-themed crafts, quizzes, and puzzles to keep your kids’ (and your) imagination running during this time of personal isolation.

Every week a new celebrity will be reading a chapter from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with the video being posted to Wizarding World and the audio being released through Spotify.

After Daniel Radcliffe will be the likes of Stephen Fry, Eddie Redmayne, Dakota Fanning, Noma Dumezweni, and even David Beckham.

E3 isn’t happening, but all that video game news is coming straight at you anyway

The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo has been cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic, which has stripped many video game developers and publishers with the venue where they would make announcements about upcoming titles at splashy media events.

Geoff Keighley is looking to fill the gap with Summer Game Fest, which is being billed as “a multi-month global festival that highlights video games.”

Running across all the expected streaming platforms like Mixer, Twitch, and YouTube, Summer Game Fest aims to be a place where those press briefings can happen, virtually.

Participating publishers include:

  • 2K
  • Activision
  • Bandai Namco
  • Bethesda
  • Blizzard
  • Bungie
  • CD Projekt Red
  • Digital Extremes
  • Electronic Arts
  • Microsoft
  • Sony
  • Square Enix
  • Private Division
  • Riot Games
  • Steam
  • Warner Bros

EA, meanwhile, is moving it’s EA Play event online and will broadcast on Thursday, June 11 at 4 p.m. PT.

And Xbox 20/20 is a new monthly stream that will build to the release of Microsoft’s new game console, the Xbox Series X, which the company says they still plan to launch this holiday.

The first episode of Xbox 20/20 starts on Thursday, May 7.

Assassin’s Creed franchise heads north with Valhalla

Ubisoft Montreal seems to have done it again. The developers there are leading the charge on the next edition of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and they are taking us to Norway so that we can become Vikings.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which is scheduled for release this holiday, is coming to current and next-generation consoles, including the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

And it looks amazing. Just check out this trailer.

Assassins’ Creed Valhalla part of Xbox Smart Delivery program

Not everyone is going to be getting the new consoles when they release later this year. If you don’t, though, you may end up missing out on some of the key new games that are being released. Or you’ll have to buy them twice, once for your existing system and again for the new one.

The Xbox Smart Delivery program means you can have your cake and eat it, too. Games that are participating in that program will give you the software on whatever system you want.

And Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is one of them.

That means that you can get the new game set in the time of the Vikings battling the English when it releases for your Xbox One, and when you get your Xbox Series X – maybe next spring or summer – you can upgrade to that version of the game without having to pay for it.

Cyberpunk 2077 is also a Smart Delivery game, as are all of the games being developed by Xbox Game Studios.

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This week on The Shift with Drex, I talked about understanding COVID-19 through data visualizations, using Twitter lists to manage info overload, OneWeb filing for bankruptcy protection, release dates for The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima, and a warning about spoilers circulating for The Last of Us Part II.

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This week, Sony has provided release dates for PS4 exclusives Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II, Naughty Dog decries leak of cutscene footage of TLOU Part II, satellite internet company OneWeb files for bankruptcy protection, and how you can use Twitter lists to manage the info overload. But first, how Our World in Data is covering COVID-19.

Making sense of COVID-19 data through visualizations

If you want to see the latest information about what’s happening with the pandemic, check out Our World in Data, which is regularly updating a landing page on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19.

The organization was founded and is run by Max Roser as a way to solve “large problems” that occur globally through research and data.

The people there are collecting data from around the world and are sharing it as well as creating visualizations to help us make sense of what’s going on.

What makes the charts and graphs from Our World in Data so valuable, though, is that they come with instructions and analysis on how to interpret what you see. There’s even an article telling people how they can embed the interactive graphics on their own pages. Like this one.

Because, they say, “Our goal is to make sure that good data is readily available for everyone in the world. We do our work so that others can build on it, use it and benefit from it. All of this work is free, open-source and provided as a public good.”

How you can use Twitter lists to manage information overload

If you’re finding that while isolating at home you’re spending more time on the social networks as a way of keeping busy, and it’s all becoming a bit overwhelming, author Warren Ellis has a good suggestion.

He’s used Twitter’s functionality to create a list that only includes local sources: local news outlets, community centres, local government, local shops. As he notes, you don’t have to follow local Twitter accounts to be able to add them to your list.

After you’ve created that list of locals, you can pin it in the Twitter smartphone app, which creates a second tab in addition to the main Twitter feed.

Now when you open Twitter, you can just swipe to the local tab you’ve created and avoid the hellish news from around the world. Focus on what’s going on in your neighbourhood instead.

Thanks, Mr Ellis, for the tip!

Satellite internet company OneWeb files for bankruptcy protection

Two years ago there were at least three companies looking to launch constellations of satellites to provide internet connectivity.

OneWeb is looking to sell itself and the 74 satellites it’s already got orbiting Earth.

In a release from late March the company indicates that financing to continue operations fell through because of COVID-19.

There are still two companies looking to surround the planet with low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite meshes:

  • Elaun Musk’s SpaceX, through its Starlink subsidiary, which has 362 satellites in orbit
  • Canada’s Telesat, which claims to be on schedule to “begin operations in 2022”

The Last of Us Part II arrives on June 19, Ghost of Tsushima July 17

In a post published Monday, Herman Hulst, who heads Sony Interactive’s studio program, confirmed that The Last of Us Part 2 will be available to play on June 19.

The game, from Naughty Dog, is a sequel to the post-apocalyptic, award-winning adventure from 2013, The Last of Us. The new game, exclusive to Sony’s PS4 console, is highly anticipated.

Ghost of Tsushima, from Seattle’s Sucker Punch, will follow a month later on July 17. Think Assassin’s Creed, but set in feudal Japan. This one is also exclusive to PS4.

Naughty Dog asks fans to stop sharing leaked footage of The Last of Us Part II

Over the weekend, material from upcoming game The Last of Us Part II were shared online. Sony and Naughty Dog confirmed that the cutscenes and other screenshots are authentic and in a statement expressed disappointment that “anyone would release unauthorized pre-launch footage”.

Reddit and YouTube have been removing threads and posts where cutscenes have been shared, but as with all things on the interwebs, this effort is like playing whack-a-mole.

On Twitter, the developers specifically ask that people not spoil the game for others.

My recommendation is that you mute your social feeds and avoid having anything about the game and its story spoiled for you.

While you wait patiently for the official release, here’s 10 minutes of gameplay that Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann shared at E3 2018.

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This week on The Shift with Drex, I talked about reasons to be wary about your smartphone being used to track COVID-19 as well as why the joint initiative between Apple and Google isn’t that. I also talked about the cool, communal storytelling effort that’s being led by author Leila Sales with her story about Ada and the Lost Horizon. Also: the sweet limited edition Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X console.

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This week, a look at video streaming service Quibi, extended trial periods for other streaming services, Ada and the Lost Horizon, and the Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X. But first, how smartphones can play a role in tracking COVID-19.

How smartphones may be used to help track COVID-19

On April 10, Apple and Google announced a joint effort to use smartphones to help with contact tracing people who test positive for COVID-19.

This is all opt-in, so if you want to participate, or have the functionality available to you, you’ll need to download an app that will be provided by official public health organizations. These won’t come until later in May.

The plan uses Bluetooth protocols, as opposed to GPS or Wi-fi location data, which helps to make the system more anonymous, because it doesn’t have anything to do with your location, but what devices are in your immediate area.

If you use the app, your phone will transmit and receive Bluetooth signals with other phones near you and keeps track of them for two weeks. If you are diagnosed and agree to share that information, your phone will ping all the devices it was close to.

The partnership between the two tech companies means that this will all work across platforms, regardless of whether your phone is Android or iOS.

Apple and Google have said that a longer-term plan is to have this kind of functionality built in to smartphone settings.

A similar approach has been used in Singapore since late March.

Why you should be wary of a smartphone solution to COVID-19 tracking

The video below shows how individual smartphone users who were on a beach in Fort Lauderdale during spring break could be tracked. Each dot represents a user which can actually be tracked back to an address, which can then be used to identify them.

Quibi is a new mobile video streaming service for shorts

Quibi, for “quick bite”, is a new video streaming service ostensibly designed for modern life. Videos that appear on the service are less than 10 minutes long and you can only watch on a mobile device.

The service was not helped by launching just as COVID-19 changed how we live. While the company reported 1.7 million downloads in its first week, the free app is no longer trending on app stores. (Disney+ grabbed 10 million subscribers in its first day.)

It will have a more difficult time after the 90-day free trial ends, and people are expected to pay for a monthly subscription, which in Canada is $7 with ads, or $10 without.

A number of brands and broadcasters are participating by creating recaps and rundowns of their more traditional shows, and there are some halfway interesting experiments on Quibi, including:

  • Iron Sharpens Iron, where two professional athletes have to undergo the other’s training program.
  • Dummy, from Anna Kendrick, about a woman who makes a friend out of her boyfriend’s sex doll.
  • Memory Hole, featuring Will Arnett exploring pop culture history.
  • Elba vs Block, where actor Idris Elba and professional drier Ken Block channel their inner Top Gears.
  • Punk’d reboot, for better or worse.

But I doubt that any of these experiments are going to be enough to save Quibi.

Crave and other streaming services offer longer free trials

Until the end of April, Crave, which is newly available on Roku streaming devices and the Roku Channel (which aggregates content from other streaming services), has extended the free trial to 30 days.

Shudder, which curates horror and thriller films and TV, has done the same.

Ada and the Lost Horizon asks you to help tell a story

Not everything you and your kids do to pass the time these days has to be digital. Author Leila Sales is telling a story about a young woman named Ada, and anyone can help to create the adventure.

Sales started the story with the character and a premise: “Ada wakes to find herself alone. She was supposed to be here with her younger brother, Teddy. She was supposed to be watching out for him. But Teddy has disappeared in the night. Ada must find him, but her only clue is a ransom note.”

She sourced the content of the ransom note from her social media following. This is the note that she selected as the winner:

Sales used the contribution to further the story.

The instructions lay everything out, but basically Sales puts out a call for contributions every other day and anyone who wants to contribute to the story has a day to submit.

And the things that Sales is asking can be completed by any age and also, according to the rules, “a) alone, b) at home, and c) without use of a computer…. All of the Tasks will be open to interpretation and customization (e.g. ‘make a treasure map’ or ‘turn your bathroom into a beach resort’), so there’s no one ‘right’ answer.”

Get caught up on the story of Ada and the Lost Horizon.

Limited edition Xbox One X looks like it comes from the world of Cyberpunk 2077

Eagerly anticipated open world action video game Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t come out until September 17, but this week CD Projekt Red and Xbox showed off the limited edition console celebrating the game.

The 1 TB console ships with a code for the game, of course, as well as a slick new controller that you can purchase separately now for $85.

Pricing for the Cyberpunk Xbox One X has not been announced, but preorders go live in June.

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