Technology Archives - Page 127 of 169

Netflix Might Be Putting Its Video Games on TVs

Netflix has gradually increased the number of video games it offers, but at the moment, only mobile device users can access them. However, it appears that may soon change as a recent leak indicates that users might soon be able to play games on computers and televisions.

Scott Moser, an iOS developer, claims that the Netflix iOS app contains code that indicates the inclusion of a function that will let users use their iPhones as controllers for video games.

Netflix users will have to make do with the current way for the time being, though, as this has not yet been formally announced. Currently, there are about 55 titles in the Netflix library, but 40 more games will be released over the course of 2023.

Also Read: E3 2023 has been canceled. But Why?

In 2021, the dominant streaming service introduced its gameplay platform for Android, iPhones, and iPads. Due to guidelines established by Apple and Google, mobile users need to download games only from the App Store or from Google Play.

However, because the goal of these games is to improve user engagement and retention, they can only be accessed with an active Netflix subscription and can be started via the Netflix app.

These titles are noticeably missing from the app for TV. It’s unclear how the business plans to set up gaming on TVs or whether users will need to download the video games in order to enjoy them.

But according to Netflix’s VP of game development Mike Verdu, the company is “seriously exploring a cloud gaming offering” and plans to release more than just light-hearted games for television.

Expanding the number of platforms on which games are available may increase their appeal to users. A little over one percent of Netflix subscribers, according to a report from last year, regularly play the company’s games.

There are a number of possible explanations for this, one of which is the likelihood that many subscribers are unaware that they can stream games using the service. A significant portion of players also has no interest in engaging in mobile games.

Expanding the number of gadgets that support Netflix games could be extremely beneficial in both cases. Despite these difficulties, Netflix continues to develop its gaming strategy by acquiring in-house companies to produce exclusive titles and by providing new games to play.

Also Read: Netflix founder Reed Hastings stepping down as co-CEO

Lovers of Netflix’s games will currently just have to wait in anticipation to find out if and when this new feature might be released. Right now, Netflix Games serves more as a fun bonus than as an enticing feature for Netflix.

That might change, though, if more people start playing those games. Corporations like Google have had a difficult time converting players to video game streaming, which continues to be in its infancy.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

E3 2023 has been canceled. But Why?

E3 2023 is no longer happening. The biggest gaming event of the summer was scheduled to take place in person in the city of Los Angeles for the very first time since 2019. It has been postponed after major gaming firms like Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Nintendo all announced they wouldn’t be attending the event.

The dates for E3 2023 were June 13–16, with a mix of days devoted to the gaming business and days that were supposed to be open to the general public. But there existed some concerning indications that the resurrection of E3 might be in trouble prior to June.

Also Read: Finally, Arc is coming to iPhone. Will it replace Safari?

E3 2023 “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry,” according to an email sent to employees and confirmed by IGN.

Kyle Marsden-Kish, global VP of gaming at ReedPop, stated in an email to The Verge, “This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3.

We appreciate and understand that interested companies wouldn’t have playable demos ready and that resourcing challenges made being at E3 this summer an obstacle they couldn’t overcome.

For those who did commit to E3 2023, we’re sorry we can’t put on the showcase you deserve and that you’ve come to expect from ReedPop’s event experiences.”

Marsden-Kish wrapped up the email by saying ReedPop and the ESA will collaborate on upcoming E3 events and hinted that the convention might reappear in the future. IGN claimed in January that Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft would all be skipping the event, and Microsoft and Nintendo later verified this.

Also Read: Apple launches ‘buy now, pay later’ service in the US

Although ReedPop told The Verge that E3 was going ahead, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot suggested on a February earnings call that it might not even materialize. Later, Ubisoft made a commitment to attend the event that it later broke. Additionally, IGN claimed in March that neither Sega nor Tencent would attend E3.

Despite this, June is still expected to be a busy month for gaming news. According to IGN, the in-person Play Days element of Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest will return this year on June 8. On June 11, Microsoft will hold both its yearly Xbox preview and its Starfield-focused event. The following day, on June 12, Ubisoft will host Ubisoft Forward Live in person.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Apple launches ‘buy now, pay later’ service in the US

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

Apple became the newest business to join the buy now, pay later trend on Tuesday when it introduced a feature in its digital wallet that enables users to pay for their online purchases in installments.

Customers can now split purchases into four equal payments over the course of six weeks thanks to the new Apple Pay Later feature, with the first payment owing at the time of transaction.

Apple customers can also use the Wallet app to ask for loans that range from $50 to $1,000 with no fees or interest charges in order to carry out online or app-based purchases.

Also Read: Apple announces new classical music app

Based to a company release, the method of payment is currently being made available to a small number of American users, with intentions to make it available to all eligible consumers over the course of the ensuing few months.

The same payment choice is also available through popular services like Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay. However, some economists and pro-consumer activists have expressed worry that these services might lead consumers to incur more debt.

The feature was first hinted at by Apple last year. In the face of high inflation and general economic uncertainty, an increasing number of consumers are turning to buy now, pay later services to extend their budgets. The same payment choice is also available through popular services like Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay.

Also Read: Is Apple working on a secret project to help people with diabetes?

However, some economists and pro-consumer activists have expressed worry that these services might lead consumers to incur more debt.

The latest feature is “designed with users’ financial health in mind,” according to Apple. According to Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, “there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to how people manage their finances. Many people are looking for flexible payment options, which is why we’re excited to provide our users with Apple Pay Later.”

Future loan payments can be monitored and managed in the Wallet app for Apple users. The company claims that any loan registration can be made through the app without having an impact on credit.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Finally, Arc is coming to iPhone. Will it replace Safari?

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By Sandhya Gupta

For many years, all Apple products, including their laptops, iPads, and iPhones, have used Safari as their primary browser instead of Arc. It functions similarly to Android devices’ Google Chrome browser. In January 2003, Mac OS X Panther debuted Safari.

The browser is well-liked for its speed, security features, and compatibility with Apple gadget services. Apple is well-known for its broad and cutting-edge web tools, including HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3.

Because of this, web designers and writers favor Safari over other browsers. On the other hand, Arc is a browser that uses the same technology as Chrome and has easy tools for importing favorites.

Also Read: Why are OPPO and OnePlus exiting the UK and Europe markets?

The Verge claims that Arc’s mobile application will function as an iPhone desktop browser extension. The tabs, user accounts, bookmarks, drawings, and notes made using the desktop edition will all be synced by the app.

Josh Miller, CEO of The Browser Company, stated that the current Arc mobile app does not serve as a substitute for a primary mobile browser. At least not right now, the app edition cannot compete with Safari.

Instead of being a full-fledged mobile browser, it functions more as a companion tool for the desktop browser. The idea of a distinct browsing experience is still there, though.

That said, users who want to test the Arc mobile application should already have the desktop version set up on their computers. The functions of the mobile edition cannot be used until Arc has been installed on Mac, according to Ellis Hamburger, a representative of The Browser Company.

It should be noted that the Arc browser is presently accessible on Mac computers, and anyone interested in downloading Arc for Mac should sign up for a waitlist or request an invitation from an Arc user.

The Verge pointed out that even though Arc will be available as an iOS app, it is only compatible with iPhones. Additionally, since the functions of the desktop edition might be challenging to translate to mobile devices, users who are already acquainted with the Arc on desktop shouldn’t expect exactly the same feeling from the iPhone version.

What users can anticipate from Arc as a mobile application was explained to Inverse by Nate Parrott of The Browser Company. Parrott claims that it ought to resemble “chopping off Arc’s sidebar and then putting it into an app.”

Nevertheless, users can anticipate features like “delightful animations, interactions, and haptics,” adhering to The Browser Company’s mission to make the browsing experience “more alive.”

Also Read: Twitter to Begin Culling Legacy Verified Marks From April 1

The company began sharing sneak peeks of Arc’s mobile application via TikTok in January, ahead of the app’s release on iPhones. According to Inverse, the style of the mobile app ushers in the re-emergence of skeuomorphism on iOS devices.

The word “skeuomorphism” refers to a design of an object that closely resembles its real-world equivalent. When the first iPhone was introduced, Apple utilized skeuomorphism for its software design, but by the time iOS 7 became available, it had been neglected.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Will China’s new policy help to tackle the chip talent shortage?

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By Sandhya Gupta

China is stepping up efforts to cultivate domestic semiconductor ability as it attempts to quickly fill a skills gap that has been exacerbated by American efforts to restrict Beijing’s access to cutting-edge chip technology.

Thanks to increased funding for prestigious universities and a boom in smaller, private schools with an emphasis on shorter-term education, enrollment in undergraduate and graduate programs has increased over the past five years.

While entry-level salaries have doubled, certain graduates with degrees in other fields are being drawn into the expanding sector. A white paper estimates that China will be short 200,000 industry employees this year.

Also Read: Why are OPPO and OnePlus exiting the UK and Europe markets?

Closing this gap is becoming even more crucial since the U.S. wants to cut China out of global supply chains due to concerns that any advanced chips it produces will ultimately be used by China’s military.

Liu Zhongfan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told local media earlier this month that China needs to prioritize developing talent even over finding quick fixes to its supply-chain problems.

Students and experts, however, told Reuters that more modern schools in Taiwan and the US give more practical industry experience than China’s emerging chip curricula. According to a poll conducted in 2022 by the Chinese research company ICWise, more than 60% of students majoring in chip engineering in China graduate without having held a relevant internship.

Professors at Chinese colleges are frequently rewarded for writing papers rather than imparting cutting-edge techniques that are helpful in a company lab or chip manufacturing facility.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), a leading chip manufacturer, has set up research facilities at four universities in Taiwan. In China, there have been some moves in this direction. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), its largest chip foundry, announced in 2021 the establishment of a School of Integrated Circuits at Shenzhen Technology University.

According to Hu Yunwang, founder of a Shanghai-based employment agency for chips, the average yearly salary for an entry-level engineer in the industry has increased since 2018, from approximately 200,000 yuan ($28,722.43) to 400,000 yuan, underscoring the supply-demand imbalance.

Also Read: Accenture to Cut 19000 Jobs as IT Spending Slows

With chip engineering training programs that claim to offer a fast track and primarily target graduates who specialized in a topic tangentially associated with chip engineering, several private schools have popped up to provide a temporary answer.

A former engineer from Arm Ltd. founded EeeKnow in Shanghai in 2015, offering in-person courses on topics like “Cortex-M3 MCU front-end design and verification in 60 days,” costing between 2,000 and 4,000 yuan.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Why is Dark and Darker no longer on Steam?

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By Sandhya Gupta

Renowned hardcore action RPG Dark and Darker, created by Ironmace, is still embroiled in legal issues because Nexon, the distributor from South Korea, issued a cease-and-desist order that caused Steam to remove the game.

The DMCA takedown notification that Nexon has issued is the most recent in a string of legal actions the company has taken against the hapless independent publisher.

It all started with claims that former employees had used stolen assets and codes in Dark and Darker. In Dark and Darker, gameplay that is reminiscent of Escape from Tarkov’s survival extraction is combined with aspects of traditional dungeon crawling.

Also Read: Is it possible to transfer games between PCs and Steam Deck?

Dark and Darker’s gameplay loop immerses players in a hostile dungeon where their objective is to endure until a portal appears and they can escape. Currently, in open beta, the game has experienced a huge increase in popularity and has rapidly risen to the top of the charts on Steam. However, the Korean publisher Nexon has taken note of this achievement.

According to Nexon, the founders of Ironmace were discovered trying to steal code and other resources from the P3 project and then utilizing these assets to make the popular game Dark and Darker.

Although Ironmace has formally refuted these claims, the legal dispute has reached a point where Korean police have recently searched the company’s headquarters. A cease and desist order was issued on March 24 and, apparently overnight, the game was taken down from Steam.

Players first noted that the game’s online functionality, assets, and screenshots had been removed and that the game had vanished entirely from the platform.

The delisting of Dark and Darker from Steam, one of the biggest and possibly the most significant gaming platforms, could deal a fatal setback to the title as it continues to undergo beta testing. Ironmace must submit a Counter-Notice to Steam, agreeing to the authority of a US Federal Court, and describing why Dark and Darker was incorrectly flagged under risk of perjury in order to have the game relisted.

After that, Nexon has 14 days to file a lawsuit against Ironmace in US Federal Court. Steam will relist the game if no suit is launched. To prevent costly litigation, Ironmace and Nexon will probably settle these disputes in a settlement agreement.

Also Read: We may soon get an Xbox mobile gaming store. Is it a good move?

The competitive and well-liked game Dark and Darker is regarded as an independent treasure by many. Nexon has a lot at risk in this conflict as evidenced by its actions, including the removal of the game from Steam and high-profile accusations of theft made by the Ironmace team.

To prove the veracity of its mission and the studio as a whole, Ironmace must succeed. The fate of Dark and Darker and Ironmace as a whole is currently very up in the air, but one thing is for sure: the RPG and the dungeon-delving audience will be eagerly awaiting the outcome of the impending legal dispute

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

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