'Call of Duty' is getting made into a blockbuster movie

Source: Activision Blizzard

Paramount and Microsoft-owned video game publisher Activision signed an agreement to bring the Call of Duty video game franchise to the big screen. As part of the deal, Paramount will develop, produce, and distribute a live-action film based on the massive Call of Duty universe. The franchise has had over 30 mainline games since the original CoD came out in 2003.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. While the agreement is focused on one blockbuster movie, sources told Variety there is potential for Paramount to expand into more films and shows based on the game.

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US court won't force Google to sell Chrome, Android

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A US court ruled that Google won't be required to sell its Chrome browser and Android operating system, but will need to share information with competitors. US District Judge Amit Mehta rejected the Department of Justice's request to break up Google through the sale of Chrome and Android. However, the decision bars the tech giant from having exclusive deals, positioning itself as the default search engine on its products, including Android and Chrome, along with third parties like Apple.

Before the ruling, it was revealed that Google paid companies billions of dollars to exclusively pre-load and promote its products. While they can't enter exclusive contracts, Google can still pay other companies to pre-load their products on different devices, noting it would cause "downstream harm" to cut off payments completely. Revenue-sharing deals will be limited to one-year periods.

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Instagram adds more DM management features

If you're an Instagram user with 100,000 followers or more, the Meta-owned app is adding more features to your direct messages to make them easier to manage. These options made their way to creator and verified accounts last November, but they are rolling out to more users now (including both professional and personal accounts).

Some of the features include additional filters to help you sort through your DMs. The app also allows you to create shortcuts by letting you rearrange the filters you know you'll want to access quickly. You can also create folders to better manage the messages that come in.

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TikTok rolls out voice memo, picture support for DMs

Source: The Verge

TikTok is boosting its direct messaging capabilities by adding support for voice messages and photos. According to The Verge, you can send up to nine photos at a time or a voice memo up to a minute long. Direct messages on the platform still support video messages, which are also up to a minute long.

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