Astro Bot has been crowned Game of the Year at the 2025 New York Game Awards.Sony and Team Asobi's platforming menagerie also took home the awards for Best Music in a Game and Best Kids Game.Other notable winners on the night included UFO 50, which nabbed the Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game, and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, which was honored with the Statue of Liberty Award for Best World and NYC GWB Award for Best DLC.The A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game went to Zenless Zone Zero, while Silent Hill 2 received the Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake.Mouthwashing was also recognized with the Chumleys Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem.Journalists Simone De Rochefort & Clayton Ashley received the Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism.You can find the full list of winners below:Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year: Astro BotOff Broadway Award for Best Indie Game: UFO 50Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game: Metaphor: ReFantazioStatue of Liberty Award for Best World: Elden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeTin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game: Astro BotGreat White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game: Troy Baker as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great CircleConey Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game: Batman: Arkham ShadowCentral Park Childrens Zoo Award for Best Kids Game: Astro BotA-Train Award for Best Mobile Game: Zenless Zone ZeroFreedom Tower Award for Best Remake: Silent Hill 2Chumleys Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem: MouthwashingNYC GWB Award for Best DLC: Elden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeKnickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism: Simone De Rochefort & Clayton AshleyAndrew Yoon Legend Award Recipient: Sam Lake

Search in Premiere Pro has been updated with AI-powered visual recognition, allowing users to find videos by describing the contents of the footage. Its just one of several quality-of-life features Adobe is adding to Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Frame.io that aim to save video editors time on their projects.Users can enter search terms like a person skating with a lens flare to find corresponding clips within their media library. Adobe says the media intelligence AI can automatically recognize objects, locations, camera angles, and more, alongside spoken words providing theres a transcript attached to the video. The feature doesnt detect audio or identify specific people, but it can scrub through any metadata attached to video files, which allows it to fetch clips based on shoot dates, locations, and camera types. The media analysis runs on-device, so doesnt require an internet connection, and Adobe reiterates that users video content isnt used to train any AI models.This is launching alongside a translation feature for video captions that supports 17 languages. Multiple caption tracks can be opened simultaneously in Premiere Pro to make it easier to view and edit several translations at once. The media intelligence-empowered Search panel and caption translations are available starting today in the beta version of Premiere Pro, which is available to anyone with an active Creative Cloud or Premiere Pro subscription.After Effects now supports HDR monitoring and has been overhauled with a new caching system that makes it faster to preview or playback large project files. The app is no longer limited to storing all the rendered frames in your system memory instead, both RAM and the disk cache of your computer storage are used to improve performance. Adobe says this will allow older desktops and laptops to play back entire compositions without having to pause for caching or rendering. Both HDR support and the updated caching system are available in the After Effects Beta.Finally, Canons C80 and C400 cameras can now be used with Frame.ios Camera to Cloud integration, which allows you to automatically upload files to the Frame.io app directly from the camera. Support for this was rolled out in a Canon firmware update in December, which users will need to install before using the feature.

Lights that turn on when you walk into a room and turn off when you leave are one of the most desirable smart home features. But you need to buy additional hardware like motion sensors to make this magic happen. A new ambient sensing technology called Sensify could make this easier by turning your light bulbs into motion sensors. And it might be landing on a Philips Hue bridge near you very soon.There are tens of millions of devices with the base firmware already out there; were just working on the final touches to lightup the full experience. Sensify is a wireless network sensing (WNS) technology developed by Ivanithat can turn mains-powered Zigbee devices into motion sensors for controlling your lights with justa firmware update no additional hardware needed. The best part is that it can work on devices already in most homes. There are tens of millions of devices with the base firmware already out there; were just working on the final touches to lightup the full experience, Ivani cofounder Justin McKinney tells The Verge. An obvious use case for this is a Zigbee-based smart lighting system such as Philips Hue. Theres been speculation that Hue isworking on a Zigbee sensing technologysince its sister company Wiz debuted a similar tech called SpaceSense in 2022, which uses WNS over Wi-Fi. The well-informed hueblog.com reports that Zigbee wireless network sensing is the technology Hue will most likely use. The Verge reached out to Signify, which owns Hue, but hasnt yet received a response. This engineering video demonstrates how Sensifys Zigbee ambient sensing can turn lights on and off based on occupancy. Video: IvaniMcKinney wouldnt say which companies are using Ivanis Sensify, which has been in development since 2016, but he did share that the company is working with some large household names poised to deploy the technology very soon. He also said its the only company offering this capability over Zigbee networks. Ivani is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which runs the Zigbee protocol, but Sensify is a proprietary solution that leverages the Zigbee network. Despite reports indicating this sensing tech is coming to all Zigbee devices, the CSA confirmed to The Verge that this is not a new feature within Zigbee itself.WNS works by detecting disturbances in radio frequencies and can also be applied to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread technologies. McKinney says Sensify requires three or more devices positioned around a detection area to detect motion and occupancy in the space. The tech also allows for precise detection zones based on where the devices are situated. The devices send messages to each other, look at underlying network diagnostic information, and process it to provide occupancy sensing decisions, says McKinney.Wireless network sensing requires three or more devices to work. This diagram from Ivani illustrates typical topologies. Image: IvaniPerformance-wise, McKinney says Sensify is equivalent or superior to passive infrared sensing (PIR) tech, which is traditionally used for motion sensing. It also doesnt need line of sight, as PIR does. However, its not as precise as technologies like mmWave sensing, which can determine if someone is in a room through as slight a movement as breathing. The lights will still likely turn off if youre still, even if youre in the space, he says. The good news is that Sensify can run on Zigbee networks with a range of chipsets working together, meaning it can be deployed as a software update to existing systems. McKinney also confirmed Sensify runs locally on your Zigbee network, theres no Sensify cloud, and any sensing data is only accessible to the manufacturer deploying the technology. This video, published by the CSA, illustrates how Ivanis wireless network sensing works over a Zigbee network.Motion sensing in the smart home has several use cases, from lighting control and security to energy management and elder care. Two big advantages of WNS here are cost and scale. Theres no need to buy additional hardware to get the capability, and many homes already have devices that can use it. Ivani is currently the only company with a Zigbee solution, but there are WNS solutions out there that use Wi-Fi. Origin Wirelessand its partner company,Nami, were the first to develop Wi-Fi sensing, and they are leading Matters efforts around bringing ambient RF sensing technologies to the smart home standard. It really is the promise of what home automation was supposed to beOrigins technology powered Linksys Aware, a feature the router company launched in 2019 that turned its routers into motion sensors, and last year, Threshold launched a smart plugusing Origins Wi-Fi sensing to allow caregivers to monitor a loved ones activity remotely. In 2021, I tested Hex Home, a proof-of-concept security system from Origin that used Wi-Fi sensing instead of motion sensors. But false positives made it virtually unusable. I also tried Wizs Wi-Fi-based SpaceSense when it first launched. It was more reliable but still fairly inconsistent. However, according to McKinney, advances in machine learning and AI have brought significant improvements to WNS technology.He says Ivanis Sensify tech is ready for deployment over Zigbee, and theyre just waiting for their partners to fine-tune how best to introduce the feature within their productlines. He expects they will update existing products in the next few months. We have the pleasure of experiencing our partners products and their beta tests in our homes, and it really is the promise of what home automation was supposed to be.There have been a lot of promises around home automation over the years, with very few being fulfilled. But the idea of, say, every Philips Hue light bulb in your home turning into a motion sensor overnight, making it simple to automate control of your lights without sticking white plastic sensors everywhere, is a fairly exciting one.

Mortal Kombat 1 development chief Ed Boon has taken to social media to reveal a glimpse at upcoming guest character T-1000 Terminators Fatality, and tease "future DLC."To mark the release of guest character Conan the Barbarian, Boon tweeted to say Mortal Kombat 1 has now sold over five million copies, up from the four million previously reported. Boon then tweeted a short clip showing one of the T-1000s Fatalities, which Terminator 2 fans are sure to get a kick out of.We see the T-1000 drive a smashed up truck straight into his hapless opponent, rekindling memories of the iconic chase scene in Terminator 2 where the T-1000 drives the same truck in pursuit of Arnold Schwarzeneggers Terminator and Edward Furlongs John Connor.But its Boons comment accompanying the clip that set tongues wagging within the Mortal Kombat community: With Conan getting into players hands, we are excited to keep trucking forward with future DLC!While the line keep trucking forward with future DLC may relate to the upcoming release of the T-1000, some are hoping its a tease that more DLC characters are set to hit the game once the current set is rounded out.T-1000 Terminator is the final DLC character set to be added to the gory fighting game as part of the Khaos Reigns expansion, and follows playable fighters Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot, Ghostface, and Conan the Barbarian. Fans have wondered for some time now whether developer NetherRealm plans a third set of DLC characters, or a Kombat Pack 3, amid questions about Mortal Kombat 1s sales success.Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has indicated, however, that it still believes in the Mortal Kombat franchise. In November, CEO David Zaslav said that on the games side of things, the company plans to double down on just four titles, one of which is Mortal Kombat.In September, Boon said NetherRealm had decided on its next game three years prior, but promised to support Mortal Kombat 1 for a long time to come.Most fans of the studios work expect it to release a third game in its DC fighting game franchise, Injustice, although neither NetherRealm nor Warner Bros. has yet to confirm that. The first game in the series, Injustice: Gods Among Us, launched in 2013, with its sequel, Injustice 2, coming out in 2017. NetherRealm released Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019 and for a time it seemed like the studio would alternate between Mortal Kombat and Injustice games, but it went on to release another Mortal Kombat, the soft reboot that is Mortal Kombat 1, in 2023 instead.In an interview with IGN in June 2023, Boon spoke in vague terms about this decision. "There were a number of factors, some of which I can talk about, some of which I probably shouldn't," Boon said.Two reasons Boon was willing to discuss were the unfortunate onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the team's choice to switch to a newer version of the Unreal game engine (Mortal Kombat 11 runs on Unreal Engine 3, whereas Mortal Kombat 1 runs on Unreal Engine 4)."But we did go to a new graphics engine, Unreal," Boon said. "We really wanted to be careful with COVID and all that stuff and everybody staying safe. So there were a bunch of variables involved that eventually we realized, 'Okay, let's do another Mortal Kombat game and hopefully we'll get back to the Injustice games.' "Just to be sure, we wanted to confirm with him directly that the door was not closed on the Injustice franchise."Not at all," Boon answered.Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

We at House Beautiful have been celebrating up-and-coming designers as part of the Next Wave program for decades. Each year, we choose a brand-new group of talented creatives we think will be tomorrows design stars. Were Americas design brand, from coast to coast and every state in between. This is our opportunity to predict the next big names in design.The best part? Theyre nominated by you. Nows your chance to tell us about the tastemakers whose work is exciting and inspiring you. Next Wave 2025 nominations are open through February 4.Next Wave 2025 Designer NominationsTo put yourself or an interior designer you know and love on our list for Next Wave 2025, email us at nextwavenominations@hearst.com with the following details:NameIG HandleLocationWhy Them? Being honored as a Next Waver elevates a designers profile and gives them a new platform to share their work. It comes with some definite star power too: Next Wave alumni include Nate Berkus and Mikel Welch. Want to join their ranks? Be sure to get your nominations in before the deadline. Thank you for helping us shine a spotlight on the talent in our community.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

The line between messy clutter and intentional clutter is not one you want to cross. The messy kind is what you usually think of when hear the word clutterit is, in essence, the accumulation and overflow of stuff. Picture what happens to your kitchen counter after a busy day that ends with cooking dinner while doing homework, unpacking deliveries, and sorting mail.Intentional clutter, in contrast, is the curation of beloved objects and collectionsit's a lived-in aesthetic that shows off who you are and what you love. And this year, designers and homeowners alike are embracing this new take on maximalism. A recent Pinterest report picked "mix and maximalist" as one of 2025's biggest trends, noting that searches for eclectic maximalism increased 215% year over year, and vintage maximalism was bolstered by 260% during the same time period. Related StoriesIf you're worried the look will feel overwhelming, don't. A layered, complex densely textured room can actually be quite peaceful, relaxing, says New York City interior designer Darren Henault. Being surrounded by dozens of your favorite things is wonderful. Thea Bloch-Neal, the Durham, North Carolina-based founder and lead designer of Curated by Thea, agrees. Rooms [that] are filled with meaningful items are so inviting because they give us permission to exhale. Spaces are meant to be lived in, and its unrealistic to expect them to look pristine all the time.A note of caution: This particular look may seem easy to pull offjust let the stuff pile up, dusting occasionallybut it requires real confidence and a keen. So we asked designers for their best advice on how to achieve the look without veering into hoarder territory. The test? If it looks like clutter, its all wrong, Henault says. Start by ExperimentingNo need to dive into this type of maximalism by pulling out all the attic boxes. Ease into it by starting with discrete sections of your home, such as a mantlepiece. Start with a leaning mirror as the centerpiece and then layer vintage picture frames across the mantle, suggests Los Angeles designer Francesca Grace. Throw in a couple candlesticks, a vase with flowers, and any other tchotchkes. Since its a small spot, you can try out different combinations of objects to find a display that chimes with your character.Carefully curating items that you truly love and displaying them simply and effortlessly is what this is all about, adds Christine Carney, director of design at Blackberry Brands. Once you think you have added enough, one more layer never hurts.Rachael SmithFormer British Vogue Editor Lucinda Chamberss London home is a masterclass in intentional layering. Feast Your Eyes on Every RoomCreate Layers A room without layers often feels rigid and unwelcoming, says Catherine Olasky, whose eponymous design firm is based in Houston and New York. A room with too many layers can feel claustrophobic or prompt a diagnosis of hoarderism. The sweet spot? Add proper lighting at varying levels, fabrics with prints of varying scales, a stack of books, a well-considered collection of objects. The space should be cozy enough to have room for breaking out a jigsaw puzzle.Claudia Casbarian"I think of layering as a continuum," says designer Catherine Olasky, who created this personality-driven workspace.Focus on Variety Successful curation comes from balancing forms, sizes, and textures. Henault recommends placing something elegantly curvilinear sitting next to a silver box to create contrast. Patterns work well when you change the scale piece to pieceotherwise you risk design ennui. Employ this with texture, too. If its all slick its cold, he explains. And, if its all chunky, its too brutal. Kerry Kirk Photography"We love a layered look because it not only gives your eyes plenty to feast on but also makes a space feel dynamic, inviting, and full of personality," says Emily June Spanos, who designed this room. Emily June Spanos of Emily June Designs in Houston, Texas, favors a look that not only gives your eyes plenty to feast on but also makes a space feel dynamic. Visual contrast is what drives this design, especially if you can blend antiques with newer pieces. Curate Collections A cluster of tchotchkes is one thing, but rounding up similar objects, like Murano boxes or single-colored pottery, gives a vignette coherence. Layer the collection by playing with various textures and heights, advises Tate Casper, co-founder of Oxford Design in Tampa, Florida. Try alternate groupings to find the right depth and authenticity in your design, says Austin, Texas-based Avery Cox, who has played around with China plates, glassware and a collection of jugs to keep them from looking less retail shelf and more of an expression of self. Just dont get too carried awaynot every single piece needs to be included. Don't Crowd Every SurfaceOverflowing bookshelves are a hallmark of intentional clutter, but when done well, not every shelf is equally busy. The key is balance, notes Bloch-Neal. If your lower shelves are packed with items, keep the upper ones more open and aligned. If one shelf is full of books and smaller objects, balance it out with a bold vase or a piece of art to add visual breathing room.Even smaller touches like vintage family photos tucked into mirror frames can look intentional, adds Jessica Davis, founder of interior design studio Atelier Davis with offices in Atlanta and New York. This Should Be Highly Personal Surround yourself with objects that remind of your travels, hobbies, or other great memories. You also want to think about how you're going to use all the things on display: Stack books near comfy chairs so you can page through them on a whim, or leave out a chess set on a coffee table for an impromptu game. A collection of matchbooks from favorite restaurants could be artfully displayed in a beautiful bowl, suggests Courtnay Tartt Elias of Houston, Texas-based Creative Tonic Design. A gallery wall might feature postcards and artwork from favorite places; and, framed ticket stubs from memorable concerts or even your honeymoon will always bring a smile.Lawrence Elizabeth KnoxA layered bookshelf by Courtnay Tartt Elias of Creative Tonic Design.Play It Up with Bold ColorsDont shy away from a quirky vignette or bright colors that serve as conversation starters. Alexis Warren, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based interior designer recently executed this look in a nook that spiced up a gallery wall with sculptural fly art over an eclectic table setup with a cerulean bust, a mushroom lamp and other accoutrements, all against retro-style wallpaper. "I rarely shy away from a quirky vignette filled with personal objects think art, pictures, items collected from travels," says Warren.Anna Routh Barzin"In every picture of this room, you pick up on another element and discover something new," says Warren.Books Are the Secret SauceOne of the easiest ways to give your space that lived-in look is with books. Even if you don't have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, books in artful stacks and piles around the room, under the furniture, on top of the mantle, add an air of sophistication, warmth, and joie-de-vivre that other stacks of clutter (think newspapers) simply cannot muster, says Louisville, Kentucky-based interior designer Bethany Adams. Once your bibliophile tendencies are fulfilled, sprinkle in favorite bits-and-pieces and smaller artworks to infuse the space with antique-dealer or English-professor vibes.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram.

An Icelandic scaleup has sparked hopes of a breakthrough in dementia treatment after raising 26.5mn for groundbreaking research.Arctic Therapeutics (ATx) attracted the investment after pioneering a new approach to drug development. Founded in 2015, the company first analyses genomic data with bioinformatics a blend of computer science and biology.After identifying disease-associated genes and proteins, ATx targets the root causes of a given condition.According to the scaleup, the process cuts the risks, costs, and time involved in developing treatments.Limited tickets available - Book NowThe new financing could push the benefits closer towards patients. ATx said the Series A funds will advance two frontrunner drugs: AT-001 and AT-004.AT-001 has proven particularly promising. The treatment focuses on dementia caused by harmful accumulations of protein. Its primary target is amyloid-induced angiopathy, a condition characterised by proteins amassing in the walls of the brains arteries.Taken orally, AT-001 disrupts and dissolves these harmful protein clusters. Consequently, the treatment could reduce the risks of dementia.ATx is confident of stalling the conditions progression. The company also believes the drug could delay dementias onset and even reverse its course.var Hkonarson, the CEO and co-founder of ATx, said the treatment has transformative potential.AT-001 offers hope for earlier intervention and even preventive use in individuals at high risk of developing dementia based on our biomarker signals, he told TNW.Credit: ATxHkonarson co-founded ATxin 2015 as a spin-off from the US-based Center for Applied Genomics (CAG). Credit: ATxChanging the trajectory of dementiaTests on AT-001 are progressing rapidly. Last year, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved a new clinical trial that will probe the drugs effects on HCCAA a rare form of familial dementia.ATx also plans to launch a clinical trial for AT-004. The study aims to show the treatment is effective and safe for acne, before expanding into other inflammatory skin diseases.ATx expects the new funds to accelerate the research.A syndicate of international investors participated in the round. Among them is the European Commissions EIC Fund, which supports companies developing disruptive tech.Svetoslava Georgieva, the chair of the EIC Fund Board, described the ATx financing as both an opportunity and a responsibility.In Europe alone, dementia affects over 10 million people placing immense strain on families, healthcare systems, and economies, she said in a statement.By providing an equity investment in Arctic Therapeutics, the EIC Fund is supporting groundbreaking preventive treatments that have the potential to change the trajectory of this crisis, improve quality of life, and alleviate the burden on healthcare infrastructure worldwide.

Dutch scaleup Mosa Meat, the maker of the worlds kindest burger, has submitted its first request to sell cultivated meat in the EU.Cultivated or lab-grown meat is made by harvesting animal cells and growing them in a high-tech bioreactor filled with a nutrient-packed broth. The result? Real meat minus the slaughterhouses and climate-heating emissions.Singapore, the US, and most recently Israel are the only countries that have approved sales of cultivated meat for human consumption. The UK has also rubber-stamped one lab-grown treat but thats onlyfor pets. While the Netherlands approved tastings in 2023, selling lab-grown remains illegal across the EU.In a bid to open its home market, Mosa Meat has submitted a novel foods application to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). It is the second cultivated meat company ever to do so. The first was French startup Gourmey last year for its lab-grown foie gras.Limited tickets available - Book NowMosa will now patiently await the verdict very patiently. The approval process will take at least one and a half years.To add insult to injury, the EUs regulatory process requires ingredients to be submitted individually. This forced Mosa to deconstruct its burger. It decided to start with cultivated fat the juiciest bit. After that, the company will work on getting the green light for the muscle component.In the meantime, Mosa plans to blend the cultivated fat with plant-based ingredients to create beefy foods like hamburgers, meatballs, empanadas, or bolognese. Its a departure from the 100% lab-grown meat the company first promised us. Nevertheless, its a quicker route to market.By starting with cultivated fat, were paving the way to introduce our first burgers to consumers while staying true to our long-term vision, said Maarten Bosch, CEO of Mosa Meat. Our initial products will combine cultivated and plant-based ingredients, leveraging our in-house expertise in both areas.Mosa held the first tastings of its cultivated burgers in the Netherlands last year, just months after competitor Meatable hosted the first legally approved tasting of cultivated meat in Europe. In April, Mosa secured 40mn in funding, bringing its total raised to $147mn. Despite strong backing, the company, and others like it, still face a long road ahead.Unlike plant-based meats, pioneered by brands like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, cultivated meat has struggled to get off the ground after an initial wave of enthusiasm. It is still expensive to produce and regulatory roadblocks have cooled investment.Cultivated meat is still a relatively new field, so its natural to see early challenges, whether thats regulatory complexity, high initial production costs, or securing long-term investment, Bosch told TNW.We believe the best way to overcome these hurdles is through a combination of scientific rigour, strategic partnerships and a focus on scaling up production efficiently.Despite the challenges, startups like Mosa are pushing through, convinced that cultivated meat offers consumers an attractive alternative to plant-based meat or regular animal-sourced steak, ribs, or wings.We dont see our cultivated burgers as just competing with plant-based alternatives, said Bosch. We see cultivated meat as an additional option for consumers who appreciate the culinary experience of meat and want to make a meaningful change without giving up what they love. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Plex, the popular media server and streaming app, has a handful of announcements today. The service is adding new discovery and community features for all users and upgraded video streaming quality for Plex Pass users. Perhaps most notable for Apple users, however, is that Plex is expanding its preview of the all-new Plex experience to Apple TV. Plex outlined its announcements in a blog post today. The company says that one of its focuses in 2025 is improving discovery and the community among its users. As part of this, you can now write reviews that are visible to other users on Plex. You can also comment on reviews posted by other Plex users. To us, discovery isnt just about finding what to watch, but also about finding more friends and fans like you in the process. For that reason you can now access your Plex profile onwatch.plex.tv, and make it visible to ANYONE! By default all Plex users arefindable by other Plex users in the app via search (unless youve already changed this setting). By making your profile publicly accessible onwatch.plex.tvyou can easily share a link to your profile with others so that they can see what youve been watching,whats on your Watchlist, and more!There are, of course, privacy aspects to this. Plex says that by default, all Plex users are findable by other Plex users in the app via search. However, the company emphasizes that your privacy settings have not changed. If youve opted out of this behavior in the past, you will not be automatically opted back in. In the settings menu of the Plex app, youll find a new option to Share My Ratings and Reviews. You can choose between five different options: AnyoneAnyone signed in to PlexFriends of FriendsFriends only PrivateNew Apple TV app previewLast November, Plex unveiled a dramatic redesign for its iPhone app that is completely rewritten from the ground up. At the time, Plex released a preview version of the app via TestFlight for iPhone users. Now, the company is expanding that preview experience to Apple TV users. The focus of the new Plex design is a revamped navigation system. There are also some big visual changes, including larger and more immersive artwork. In addition to the cosmetic changes and new features, Plex says this is also a major under-the-hood overhaul. The app has been rewritten from the ground up and unifies its platforms across a single codebase. This should enable faster development of updates and new features going forward.You can sign up to try the new app by heading to the Plex forumsand joining the beta. A page on the Plex website also details features still missing from the new app, including casting, select download and offline features, and more. Plex emphasizes that the new app is nowhere close to perfect, but we want to get feedback from the community as early as we can. You can learn more about the new Plex experience in our original coverage from November. Finally, Plex Pass subscribers now have access to HEVC hardware encoding. Plex says that this will offer higher-quality video over the same bandwidth: HEVC encoding offers a better visual quality at the same bit rate, allowing for a higher-quality video over the same (or lower!) bandwidth usage for streaming from your Plex Media Server. Additionally, this encoding has the ability to preserve HDR metadata,which means no tone mapping is required!Check out Plexs blog post for more details on todays announcements. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Philips Hue and other smart bulbs based on the Zigbee standard could soon act as motion sensors without the need for any additional hardware. This would mean they could automatically switch on when someone enters a room without using a separate motion sensor.Even better, the new functionality looks set to be added to existing Hue bulbs through an update to the Hue Bridge Like many of you, I currently use motion sensors to automatically switch on some Philips Hue bulbs and light strips, or to activate scenes. My kitchen and bathroom lights both come on automatically when someone walks into the room, for example, and switch off again if no movement is detected for two minutes.But a new approach to motion sensing could render the additional hardware unnecessary. The bulbs themselves look set to gain the necessary smarts to sense motion on their own.The secret is technology which can detect the interference in radio signals created by someone walking into a room. This interference can then be used as a trigger to control the light bulbs in the same way as existing motion sensors.One version of this, known as Sensify, was developed by wireless networking company Ivani. Another was developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance the industry group responsible for Zigbee which it calls Ambient Sensing.Because it relies on interference in the radio signals between devices, you do need multiple Zigbee devices in a room for it to work.For Sensify on Zigbee, these detection areas consist of the area contained within a group of 3-4 devices. These detection areas effectively create virtual sensors within the network, providing occupancy data that can be used for a wide range of functionalities.For instance, several Zigbee devices grouped in one room can provide room-level data granularity for occupancy data.Ivani says its partner companies can also use this type of motion sensing for smart security products.Convenience triggers are suitable for a quick response application such as turning lights on when entering a room. These have a typical average response time of less than 500ms, with 90% of triggers occurring within 1 second of entering a detection area.Security triggers are suitable for a high confidence application such as home security. These have an average typical response time in the range of a few seconds; however, an extremely low false positive rate of less than 1 false positive every 6 months is typical. Both outputs can operate simultaneously on the same underlying data, providing customers with occupancy data for multiple use cases (e.g. turning on their lights and protecting their property) at the same time from the same device.Any Zigbee devices can be upgraded to add the tech, which includes Philips Hue lights.Ivani hasnt confirmed the names of any of its partners, but did tell The Verge that there are tens of millions of devices ready to be activated.The best part is that it can work on devices already in most homes. There are tens of millions of devices with the base firmware already out there; were just working on the final touches to light up the full experience, Ivani cofounder Justin McKinney tells The Verge.An obvious use case for this is a Zigbee-based smart lighting system such as Philips Hue. Theres been speculation that Hue is working on a Zigbee sensing technology since its sister company Wiz debuted a similar tech called SpaceSense in 2022, which uses WNS over Wi-Fi. The well-informed hueblog.com reports that Zigbee wireless network sensing is the technology Hue will most likely use.According to HueBlog which first got wind of this more than a year ago Philips may be going with Zigbee Ambient Sensing.Now there seems to be movement in the story, as Zigbee Ambient Sensing is precisely the building block on which the new function is likely to be based.According to the information available to me, the Philips Hue function requires at least three light sources in a room, which must be placed at a certain distance and in a suitable shape. A permanent power supply to the light sources is of course essential. It should also be possible to set the intensity of the motion detection.No timings are yet known, but it does sound like we may not have too long to wait.Image: CSAAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel