Monday
Aug032020

Sony's Aug. 6 'State of Play' event won't have 'big' PS5 announcements

Sony has another "State of Play" event coming up on August 6. But the company is eager to downplay what's going to be shown at the event. Happening this Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, the event will have "no big PS5 announcements." But it will still be a 40-minute stream featuring upcoming PlayStation 4 and PS VR games from third-party studios as well as "a few quick check-ins on third-party and indie games from June's PS5 showcase." So, if you plan on tuning in, don't get your hopes up too much. It still might be a substantial one, given the length of the event.

Source: Engadget

Monday
Aug032020

Netflix decides to add playback speed controls to Android

Netflix faced heavy criticism from Hollywood creators last year over plans to add variable playback to its service. The company held off and said they didn't have plans to launch it. But now, the streaming service has changed its mind, and it'll start testing the feature out with Android users first, and then will be coming to iOS and the web soon. (Netflix didn't mention TV or set-top box apps). Once it rolls out, Android users can slow down videos at 0.5x or 0.75x playback speeds or speed them up by 1.25x or 1.5x. 

The feature has been requested by its users for a while and has finally decided to heed these requests. Netflix's Vice President Keela Robison acknowledges concerns from directors like Judd Apatow and others about how this option could distort their art, so the company decided to cap fast-forward speeds at 1.5x. And variable playback settings need to be enabled manually every time you watch a video.

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Sunday
Aug022020

Weather app Dark Sky on Android is no more

If you're an Android user and a fan of the highly localized weather app Dark Sky, we have bad news for you. You may or may not have heard that Apple acquired the company back in March. And now, Apple has shut down its Android and Wear OS apps as promised. The company extended Dark Sky's availability on Android for an extra month, after initial plans of shuttering it on July 1. Those with subscriptions should be cancelled already, and the developers promise a "full refund" to its Android subscribers. 

The website is still live, but we don't know how long that will be. But embedded material doesn't seem to be an option anymore. Any third-party apps that use Dark Sky's data have until the end of 2021 to transition to other services.

Source: Apple Insider + Engadget

Sunday
Aug022020

Apple reportedly buys Montreal-based Mobeewave for US$100m

Apple's rumoured recent acquisition is Montreal-based startup Mobeewave, specializing in developing tech that can turn mobile phones into mobile payment terminals. Mobeewave's technology can let shoppers tap their credit card or smartphone on another phone to process payments. It doesn't require any hardware beyond a Near Field Communications (NFC) chip and the accompanying app. iPhones have had NFC chips since 2014. A demonstration on Mobeewave's site shows a user typing in a transaction amount, and then the customer taps their credit card on the phone to process the payment.

Apple is known to acquire startups to integrate its technology into its devices. We're hoping to see iPhones of the future that can become mobile payment terminals, which can be particularly useful in the COVID-19 age where going digital or cashless is the preferred or safer payment method. Apple supposedly paid around US$100 million for Mobeewave, which has a dozen employees that the tech giant will retain. The Mobeewave team will reportedly continue to work out of Montreal.

Source: Bloomberg