Weekly Tech Recap - № 253 - DualSense surprise, Tux in Windows, Webcam shortage, Google Meet and Easy Record Maker

DualSense surprise

DualSense. © Sony.

Quite unexpectedly, Sony unveiled the new controller for the future PlayStation 5. The DualSense, with its black and white, sleek design, garners unanimous approval: it is as beautiful as it is really different from its predecessors. Sony says that the new controller will have haptic feedback, a built-in microphone (a first for Sony) and a USB-C port. The Share button is now called “Create”, providing “new ways for players to create epic gameplay content to share with the world.” Sony says it will provide further details on DualSense closer to launch, which should take place around the Holidays. We’re wondering if the design of the DualSense is a good foretaste of the future PlayStation 5?

⇨ PlayStation.Blog, Hideaki Nishino, “Introducing DualSense, the New Wireless Game Controller for PlayStation 5.”

⇨ Circuit Breaker, Chaim Gartenberg, “Sony’s new DualSense controller is its most exciting design since the original PlayStation.”

Webcams nowhere to be seen

C920 HD. © Logitech.

Until now, most of us were using our webcams for personal purposes. Now that we’re “all” teleworking and looking to upgrade our camera, external webcams are impossible to find: builders and traditional retailers are sold out. Due to the lockdowns, NPD Group reported a 179% jump in webcam sales over the first three weeks of March. And human nature being what it is, third-party resellers on Amazon and eBay are asking for ridiculous prices. For example, the excellent Logitech C920 HD camera, usually sold for CAD100 but often available for much less from resellers (sometimes for as little as CAD40), is now being offered for CAD300 or even more on Amazon. A spokesperson for Logitech has said that the company is working to increase production and ease the crunch. In the meantime, most of us will just have to deal with a mediocre laptop camera. Happily, cellphone cameras can be used with most teleconferencing software, and the more recent handsets do come with decent-quality cameras.

⇨ The Verge, Chris Welch, “Webcams have become impossible to find, and prices are skyrocketing.”

Google Meet delivers

Meet. © Google.

At a time when Zoom is serving more than 200 million daily meeting participants and Teams collaboration software has jumped from 32 to 44 million active users, Google will be extending free access to some advanced features in its teleconferencing service, Google Meet, to September 30th (previously July 1st). Meet is seeing a huge surge in usage as families, students, and workers are forced to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Google is letting all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers host meetings via Meet with up to 250 participants, live-stream to up to 100,000 people within a single domain, and save meeting recordings to Google Drive. These features are typically only available to people on the “enterprise” tier of G Suite, which costs $25 per user per month. Javier Soltero, vice president and general manager of G Suite, said that “…as a company we look to helpfulness as a guiding principle.” Google Meet is the rebranded name of Hangouts Meet.

⇨ The Verge, Jay Peters, “Google extends free access to advanced teleconferencing features to September 30th.”

Vinyl is dead; long live vinyl!

Easy Record Maker. © Yuri Suzuki.

While audio cassette recorders and CD burners are going extinct, reports of the death of microgroove disks are greatly exaggerated. In fact, LPs cling so hard to life that Yuri Suzuki, a London-based designer, has created the Easy Record Maker, a small record-player-like device that makes it easy and cheap to cut your own vinyl. By connecting a phone or other digital device through an auxiliary cable to the recorder, you can engrave a 5-inch record in 45 or 33 RPM format in just four minutes. Then, simply swap out the cutting arm for the tone arm to play your record (assuming you don’t have a record player). The Easy Record Maker is currently available from Gakken in Japan for JPY2,778 tax in, or CAD113. It comes with 10 blank disks and two needles. It will come to US markets in a few months. It does, however, have one limitation: it only supports mono engraving.

⇨ Colossal, Grace Ebert, “Cut your own vinyl with this DIY record engraver and player designed by Yuri Suzuki.”

Linux files integration in Windows 10

Tux is in da house. © Microsoft.

To improve Linux files integration in Windows 10, Microsoft will be providing access to your Linux files directly in File Explorer. A new Linux icon (i.e. Tux, our favourite penguin) will be available in the left-hand navigation pane in File Explorer, providing access to the root file system for any distros that are installed in Windows 10. Previously, Windows 10 users would have to manually navigate to a UNC path to get access to Linux files from the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). If you have the Insider Preview Build 19603 and WSL enabled, then Tux should appear in File Explorer. Microsoft is now seeking feedback on the integration from Windows Insider users before it’s finalized as part of a future Windows 10 update. Cool!

⇨ The Verge, Tom Warren, “Windows 10 is getting Linux files integration in File Explorer.”