Author: peterjang73

A nerdy father of two, a husband of a beautiful and understanding wife, an engineer who loves anime and tinkering with PCs and games, but most of all, loves God.
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Xbox One Is the First Console to Support Dolby’s 3D Sound Technology, Atmos

After confirming it earlier this year, Microsoft today officially announced that bitstream audio pass-through, including Dolby Atmos, will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs next year.

Dolby Atmos is an audio feature that claims to offer more precise sound. "You can hear where your allies and enemies are in three-dimensional space, Dolby gaming director Spencer Hooks said in a post on the Xbox Wire. "Snipers on the roof? You’ll hear them over your left shoulder and know where to aim to take them out. The same goes for an attacker with a jet pack hovering behind you."

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The Xbox One is the first gaming console to support Dolby Atmos. Hooks said developers are "excited about using the new capabilities to make their games richer and more engaging." You will need a Dolby Atmos-supported speaker system or soundbar to hear the benefits. Alternatively, it will work with "virtually any pair of headphones," Hooks said.

Xbox Insiders can try out Atmos support via the Blu-ray player right now. It will become available for everyone across Xbox One and PC sometime in 2017, possibly as part of the Creators Update.

"At team Xbox, we are all gamers first, and bringing Dolby Atmos support to Xbox One and Windows 10 gaming next year will bring you even further inside the action and sound of your favorite titles," Xbox platform engineering boss Mike Ybarra said. "A big thank you to the team at Dolby for their partnership; we’re excited to share more with the Xbox community next year."

Microsoft also confirmed today that the bespoke bitstream pass-through feature is out now on Xbox One for Insiders. "This feature enables all Xbox consoles to pass Blu-ray audio data untouched to a user’s audio equipment, allowing your audio receiver or other audio device to produce a high quality, immersive sound experience," Microsoft said, adding that this was a top-requested feature.

Detailed instructions for how to enable bitstream pass-through on Xbox One are available here.

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Uber’s Robotic Taxis Are Headed to San Francisco

Uber is expanding its self-driving taxi service to San Francisco.

The ride-hailing company has announced that people hailing an UberX in San Francisco may soon find an autonomous car pulling up to greet them. The venture will be the first outing of the company’s latest autonomous vehicle—Volvo XC90s, bedecked with LIDAR systems and seven cameras to sense the world around them. According to the Wall Street Journal, just five cars will hit the city’s streets initially, with more being added over time.

Autonomous vehicles could transform the taxi industry by removing the need for human drivers. The company’s Pittsburgh trial, which has been underway for almost three months, and now this effort, are both attempts by Uber to widely deploy self-driving vehicles before its rivals. The MIT spin-off nuTonomy is also running small-scale autonomous taxi services in Singapore and Boston.

The cars are far from perfect. When MIT Technology Review’s Will Knight took a ride on one of those vehicles, he said that “the car performed admirably in many difficult situations,” but also noted that “several times the person behind the wheel needed to take control: once so the car didn’t become stuck behind a truck, and once to avoid another vehicle making a sudden turn.”

There’s another sticking point as well. According to California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, as of December 8 Uber did not hold a permit for testing its autonomous cars in the state. In a statement, Uber said that it “understand[s] that there is a debate over whether or not we need a testing permit to launch self-driving Ubers in San Francisco,” adding that it has “looked at this issue carefully” and decided that it doesn’t believe one is required. It remains to be seen if state officials will agree.

The ride-hailing firm may face more self-driving competition before long. Just yesterday, it was announced that the self-driving car technology being developed by Google will now operate as an independent company called Waymo. The news signals intent to commercialize its research, and sources tell Bloomberg that the company plans to deploy a ride-sharing service with Fiat Chrysler, using semi-autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans, as early as 2017.

(Read more: Uber, The Wall Street Journal, “Uber’s Pittsburgh Project Is a Crucial Test for Self-Driving Cars,” “My Self-Driving Uber Needed Human Help,” “What to Know Before You Get In a Self-driving Car”)

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