Technologies

How to Play Battlefield 6 Beta: Open Access Resumes This Friday

The Battlefield 6 open beta for all will open back up this weekend, starting on Aug. 14.

EA’s DICE studio has blown the lid off the multiplayer for its upcoming military shooter Battlefield 6, and after an exciting first beta weekend, you can join the fray again in just a few days. Battlefield 6’s first public beta is available to everyone and will resume this weekend. It’s not too late to join in, and here’s how.

The Battlefield 6 open beta is the first chance for players to experience the game’s multiplayer before its full release on Oct. 10. While those with early access got a couple extra days to play and the first open beta weekend was a rousing success, if you didn’t get to play, don’t worry — the second weekend will kick off at 1 a.m. PT on Aug. 14 and run through Aug. 16.

Fans can visit Battlefield’s website to get info for the open beta, which just requires linking your EA account to your platform account. PC players will also have to configure their system to Secure Boot as well (see below).

The beta will be playable on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S.

When does the Battlefield 6 beta end? What are the dates and times?

Aug. 7-8: Early access.
Aug. 9-10: First open beta weekend available to all.
Aug. 14-16: Second open beta weekend available to all, starting at 1 a.m. PT on Aug. 14 and closing Aug. 17 at 1 a.m. PT.

How to access the Battlefield 6 open beta

As this is an open beta, getting access is pretty easy. Simply download the Battlefield 6 beta client from your preferred platform, including the PS5, Xbox Series X and S, Steam, Epic Games Store or the EA app.

Preloading the Battlefield 6 beta started on Aug. 4. Doing a preload means you’ll be able to jump on the beta as soon as it’s available instead of waiting for it to download on the day of access.

Battlefield 6 open beta download links

Here are the BF6 Beta download links for each platform:

Battlefield 6 beta maps

EA revealed the rotation of maps for the Battlefield 6 open beta weekends.

For the first weekend of Aug. 9-10, the maps were:

Liberation Peak: A large mountainous desert.
Siege of Cairo: An urban battlefield in the heart of Egypt.
Iberian Offensive: Tall buildings for fun times.

The second weekend of Aug. 14-17 will include the first weekend maps, plus:

Empire State: A close-quarters NYC map.

Battlefield 6 beta game modes

Just like with the maps, each weekend will also feature certain game modes.

The modes for the first weekend were:

Conquest
Closed Weapon Conquest
Domination
King of the Hill
Breakthrough

Then on the second weekend of the beta, it will be the previous modes along with:

Rush
Squad Deathmatch
And more (DICE did not provide specifics)

PC-specific notice for Battlefield 6 beta

A special note if you haven’t played a Battlefield game on PC recently: Studio DICE and EA recently started requiring players to set their computers to Secure Boot when playing Battlefield games to combat cheaters, and Battlefield 6 is no different. To even play the open beta, you’ll need to delve into your BIOS and switch your PC to Secure Boot. Check EA’s guide for help.

Technologies

Ring’s Latest Feature Lets You Verify Shared Security Videos

With so many fake videos out there, the home-security company is adding a level of protection.

Popular home security brand Ring announced that videos shared from its devices can now be verified, so customers know they’re watching an authentic, unaltered video. Ring says the new verification process is similar to a security seal on a package or medicine bottle, indicating that no one has tampered with it.

The new feature is available starting Thursday, and it doesn’t matter which Ring device recorded the video. All videos downloaded directly from the Ring app are automatically verified and include a security seal for authenticity.

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When someone sends you a Ring video, you can now visit Ring’s verification page, paste the video link, and determine immediately whether the video is verified. The website doesn’t send your video anywhere. It stays locally on your device, and all verification checks happen within your browser. The verification website only accepts MP4 files, the format Ring videos are saved.

Videos downloaded before December 2025 or edited videos cannot be verified. Ring says that even minor adjustments, such as shaving a couple of seconds off the beginning or end of a video, or even adjusting brightness levels, will render it unverifiable.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 23 #691

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 23, No. 691.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be the toughest of the week. Some of the answers are hard to guess and challenging to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: None the wiser.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: I believe you!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RUDE, VINE, VINES, SCAN, SCAR, SCARE, LOST, LOSS, LESS, LESSER, BILL, BILE, GULL, RUED

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

NAIVE, CALLOW, ARTLESS, GULLIBLE, CREDULOUS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BORNYESTERDAY. To find it, start with the B that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up and then down.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 23, #487

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 23, No. 487.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition reminds players that people’s names can look like regular words. Also, did you spot the SpongeBob SquarePants reference when the grid showed both SANDY and CHEEKS? If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What’s your role?

Green group hint: Where teams shoot hoops.

Blue group hint: Iconic baseball players.

Purple group hint: Philadelphia.