The Weekly Authority: 📱 Peek on the Pixel 8

⚡ Welcome to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority e-newsletter that breaks down the highest Android and tech information from the week. The 220th version right here, with Google Pixel 8 leaks, persevering with Twitter drama, incoming Stadia refunds, and extra…

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Social media:

• About flip: After shedding virtually 50% of the corporate, Twitter asks fired workers to please come back.
• Elon Musk has discussed ideas such as putting the entirety of Twitter behind a paywall, or permitting everybody to make use of the positioning for a restricted time every month, after which a subscription can be required. 
• Earlier this week, we reported that Twitter will soon have two checkmarks. Hours after rollout, Elon Musk nixed the brand new function, however some accounts are still showing the checkmark regardless.
• Wow: Some Twitter customers say their blocks on Musk’s account were lifted without their consent.
• The tip of distant work, subscriptions, and extra: Read Musk’s first email to all Twitter employees.
• Meta confirms 11,000 layoffs, amounting to 13% of its workforce.

• HBO has canceled Westworld after four seasons, citing wanting viewership and excessive manufacturing prices.
• November 6 was Stranger Issues day, and Netflix announced the official title for season 5, episode one: The Crawl, sparking hypothesis.
• We’ve bought the best new TV shows to stream this week, together with Amazon Prime’s UK dramedy Mammals.
• And in case you’re pondering of signing as much as Apple TV Plus, we’ve picked the 23 Apple TV Plus shows you should watch first.
• We’ve additionally bought the best new streaming movies, like sci-fi horror Slash/Again and Netflix unique Falling for Christmas.
• Talking of films, in case you’re in search of free titles to look at, try our roundup of the best websites to legally watch free movies online.
• John Wick: Chapter 4 is coming quickly, and the trailer sees Keanu Reeves combating Donnie Yen.
• Disney Plus announces price hikes, ad-supported plan coming subsequent month.
• And 40 percent of US Disney Plus subscribers picked the bundle with ESPN Plus and Hulu.

• Woop! Google has started rolling out refunds for Stadia, although no refunds on Stadia Professional subscription charges or Google’s Energy Assist Claw.
• Microsoft admits Xbox vs PlayStation war is over.
• In the meantime, European Union opens “in-depth” investigation into Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.
• The Xbox Series X could be getting new graphics modes that can save you money: decrease your in-game framerates and resolutions to avoid wasting in your vitality invoice.
• God of Warfare Ragnarok launched Wednesday, and Kotaku’s bought 23 tips before you play. Plus, here’s how the game made accessibility a core part of its design.
• A Gears of War live-action movie and animated series are in the works at Netflix.
• Talking of, Netflix confirms a Stranger Things VR game is coming in late 2023, the place you possibly can play as Season 4’s villain, Vecna.
• Diablo 4 will allegedly launch in April 2023, with pre-orders reportedly opening subsequent month.
• Appears like sci-fi: Oculus creator makes virtual reality headset that intentionally kills people.
• Rogue Legacy 2, Venba, and extra: Here’s everything you missed in Nintendo’s latest Indie World Showcase.

We’re all used to accessibility features on our smartphones and computer systems, such because the Android Accessibility Suite — and there are many accessibility apps for Android too. However a prepare station in Japan has carried out one of the crucial enjoyable accessibility options ever.

• Ueno Station in Tokyo might be, like most stations within the metropolis, a packed, chaotic place. 
• Commuting by way of the station might be daunting, significantly for differently-abled folks corresponding to members of the deaf and hearing-impaired group.
• A crew of AI-experienced builders at Fujitsu got here up with a enjoyable visible approach to assist hearing-impaired and deaf folks navigate the station and really feel safer: Ekimatopeia.
• The phrase comes from the Japanese phrase for station, “Eki,” and syllables from the English language phrase, “onomatopeia,” that means “a phrase that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes.”

This video — in Japanese with English subtitles — explains precisely how Ekimatopeia works.

• A big display screen show is posted on the boarding platform, and manga-style onomatopoeic sounds are displayed.
• These sounds really signify what an AI picks up by way of a mic and are translated in actual time.
• Totally different fonts are used to convey particular feelings. 
• For instance, ambient appears like a prepare approaching the platform and slowing to a cease, a prepare rushing by way of the station, or the sound of an alarm or horn would all be represented visually by phrases on the display screen.
• When a prepare approaches the platform, its clanking “gachan-gachan-gachan” sound can be displayed, together with visuals symbolizing a prepare.
• The concept for the undertaking got here from college students at a faculty for deaf individuals who talked in regards to the difficulties they confronted commuting to high school by prepare, with some commenting that it may very well be scary, as they didn’t at all times discover the prepare approaching.
• Ekimatopeia helps folks to sense these sounds, with totally different fonts and colours making the station chaos a visible expertise for deaf and hearing-impaired commuters.

Tech Calendar

• November 15-17: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit
• November 18: The Darkish Photos: The Satan in Me launches on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Collection S/X, and PC
• November 22: Evil West releases on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Collection S/X, and PC
• November 25-28: Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) gross sales
• November 28-December 2: Amazon Reinvent
• December 2: The Callisto Protocol launches on PS4, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Collection S/X, and PC (not in Japan)
• January 5-8, 2023: CES 2023 (Las Vegas)

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.