There's still several months before Apple planning to reveal their upcoming iPhone 12, or whatever the name might be. The company might have some production issues at hand but rest assured, you'll be getting a new iPhone later this year.
According to some new information acquired by Bloomberg, this year iPhone is going to shift to a new design language. The industrial design of iPhone 12 is said to resemble that of recent iPads.
Essentially this is a move back to a more angular design that we remember well from the iPhone 4/iPhone 5 era. The sharp corners made to the iPad Pro recently, and the same seems to be happening to the iPhone.
Apple has stuck with similar design with rounded corners for a while now. iPhone 6 was the first of its kind and it was released in 2014.
During the pandemic, Apple has had trouble traveling to China to make sure production samples are where they need to be for the mass production to start. This is one major reason some have suggested that iPhone 12 might be the first iPhone in a while not to be released in its original September schedule.
Disney has announced that the company's streaming platform has acquired already more than 50 million paid users.
The subscriber milestone is without a doubt impressive, considering that the platform has been available, and in limited fashion, for less than 5 months.
The figure was reached in the coming weeks after the launch in India as well as in much of Europe. European launch countries in the past three weeks have included UK, Germany, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Austria.
Netflix passed 50 million subscribers only after 15 years, although it's clearly a different sort of timeline. Currently Netflix's subscriber count is likely closing in on 200 million.
It is also worth to note that 8 million of Disney+ subscribers come from Indian service Hotstar which was rebranded Disney+ Hotstar at the launch of the Disney+.
Many would've expected subscriber growth to slow down significantly after the initial 90 days in which Disney managed to lure in nearly 30 million subscribers. However, adding another over 20 million in two months is a mighty feat.
Google has announced that its streaming game service, Stadia, is now free for all. As long as you have, or acquire, a Google account, you can enjoy streamed gaming for free.
Stadia's free tier was announced already last year but only now has it been released to the public. Previously, you'd have to buy the $129 Premiere Edition and play with the paid monthly subscription of the Pro version.
As a new Stadia gamer, you can also get two free months of Stadia Pro to begin with. That will get you nine games for free and better video quality.
Pro version allows up to 4K resolution and 60 frames per second plus HDR while on the free version you'll have to settle for Full HD resolution without HDR.
In the free tier games, which you still have to pay for, can be played on PC as well as select Android and ChromeOS devices.
PlayStation 5 release is still ways off but Sony is slowly come around and has stated revealing things about their next-gen gaming console, and the time has come for the Japanese electronics powerhouse to unveil the PS5 controller.
While we still don't have an official picture of the upcoming console, Sony now has released several renders of the controller, known as the DualSense.
Sony has decided to retire the name DualShock, which came from double vibration-enabled analog sticks. The controller still has the familiar layout but adds some new senses.
It features a new haptic feedback system as well as adaptive triggers (L2 and R2) that can change tension.
Sony seems to have opted for a slightly Xbox-like rounder design, and they say they've worked hard to keep the footprint still smaller and comfortable while maintaining a good battery life without adding too much weight. Design updates include slight changes to the angle of the hand triggers as well as the grip in general.
Speaking of design, the most obvious change is with the color scheme. DualSense gets also a very fresh and futuristic paint job. The flagship white on black stormtrooper design is an eye-catcher, but the internet is already demanding a matte black version.
All sorts of information and social media platforms are currently struggling with misinformation as informing the public about COVID-19 and related issues has become invaluable.
YouTube has announced that it is removing conspiracy content that links 5G cell towers to coronavirus due to people destroying 5G equipment. WhatsApp has now followed suit and come out with some unexpected protocols themselves, The Guardian reports.
The world's leading messaging platform, with more than a billion users around the world, is trying to restrict the sharing of harmful and false information about COVID-19.
While WhatsApp isn't going to ban any type of specific content, like in the case of YouTube, if you receive a message that has been shared over 5 times, you can only forward it to one chat room at a time. Previously WhatsApp allowed messages to be forwarded to up to three chats at a time.
This doesn't exactly disallow you to share false information but it does make mass sharing a little more difficult, and probably dissuades people from spreading fake news – and perhaps other content too.
Microsoft's cloud gaming platform, known as Project xCloud, has been available in beta for some time now. Microsoft started the testing in the US, UK, and Korea last fall, but now it's becoming available much wider.
European countries have been added to the list, and it now includes France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Italia, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
If you hail from any of the aforementioned countries, you can download the Project xCloud Android app on your smartphone and register to be a beta tester. If chosen, you'll be able to play up to 50 different Xbox games with your smartphone.
Microsoft intends to keep a close eye on the traffic it creates in Europe. Streaming video services have lowered their quality previously to help maintain internet connections in Europe, which has been closing in on maximum capacity due to coronavirus quarantine.
For more information about the service and what games are available, visit Project xCloud website. The service is expected to debut in full force later this year, perhaps alongside Xbox Series X.
Project xCloud is competing against Google's Stadia as well as Sony's long-standing PlayStation Now. All of them, however, work a little differently and offer their own game catalogs, perks, and pitfalls.
While some means of entertainment have nearly disappeared amid COVID-19 – yes, it's movie theaters – other are able to profit from the vexatious situation.
Video game industry has been nothing but booming in the past couple of months. According to CNBC, games like Nintendo's new Animal Crossing: New Horizon has managed to sell more than 1.8 million units in the first three days. In the UK, the game sold during the premiere weekend more than the previous installments combined during their first three day period.
Although previously Animal Crossing hasn't been a top triple-A title in terms of sales, the new game seems to have hit a perfect timing.
Another massive success has been id Software's and Bethesda published Doom Eternal, which was released just a couple weeks ago. According to the the developer, Doom Eternal sold twice as much as it's predecessor.
Yet another winner is Activision Blizzard's title Call of Duty: Warzone. Call of Duty has been the best selling game five year in a row except for 2018 when it was eclipsed by Red Dead Redemption 2 and came in second. Now, Call of Duty: Warzone has managed to amass over 30 million players.
World's largest electronics contract manufacturer, Foxconn, has been one of the most carefully followed industry stories in the COVID-19 timeline. The company which manufactures much of our gadgets in China was obviously affected by the novel coronavirus, but how is it doing now?
It is hard to get reliable and trust-worthy information from China in terms of their coronavirus action. However, production facilities inevitably tell us how much has the nation returned to normal, at least in one industry.
The free fall in manufacturing seems to be a thing of the past. According to Reuters, Foxconn reports a 7.7% decline in March year-over-year. The 347.7 billion TWD ($11.55 billion) revenue is fairly comparable to the previous year's 376.6 billion ($12.51 billion).
Considering the circumstances, a lot of industries would take a sub-8 percent hit to their revenue.
The quarterly revenue, January to March, combined to a 12 percent fall from the previous year. The most significant drop was in February, which amounted to -23.7%.
This suggests that China seems to have fought through the worst, at least when it comes to the first wave of COVID-19, but a lot depends now on how electronics companies success in the west.
YouTube has been fighting the good fight against illegal content since its inception – or realistically after Google acquired it. However, much more controversial is the removal of fake news and conspiracy theory content.
Google's video service has been under scrutiny over its demonetization and removal policies, which on occasion hit channels and creators with nearly or entirely squeaky clean image and content, but even in more extreme cases it is controversial.
One of the more recent conspiracy theories gaining steam is combining 5G technology to spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. In the UK, 5G equipment has been terrorized and linked to spreading misinformation.
According to the conspiracy theory, obviously without merit of any kind, 5G is lowering the immune response in people and
making them more susceptible to the virus infection.
YouTube is taking action to mitigate the damage of such theories, which have already resulted in property damage. All conspiracy videos that link 5G and coronavirus are now deleted.
There's a real argument that limiting speech could affect issues that aren't without merit, and others would argue that even nonsense, and conspiracy thinking should be allowed as long as it doesn't turn into criminal activity.
The hotly anticipated sequel to The Last of US has been pushed back due to the ongoing pandemic.
Naughty Dog revealed that the sequel will not make its May 29 release date and has been pushed back indefinitely. The reason for the delay is due to the coronavirus pandemic gripping the globe and the negative consequences it would have for a smooth rollout, and not because of any development delays.
In fact, Naughty Dog said they are in the midst of fixing the final bugs and development is almost complete.
"We were faced with the reality that due to logistics beyond our control, we couldn't launch The Last of Us Part II to our satisfaction," the developer said in a statement.
"We want to make sure everyone gets to play The Last of Us Part II around the same time, ensuring that we're doing everything possible to preserve the best experience for everyone. This meant delaying the game until such a time where we can solve these logistic issues."
Facebook has finally released a Desktop client of its Messenger service for Windows and Mac OS systems.
The release of the Messenger Desktop client comes as Facebook reports a 100% increase in people using their desktop browser for audio and video calling on Messenger. Now, users can break out of the messenger and use the native client instead.
It is available from the Windows Store for Microsoft Windows, and the Mac App Store for Apple Mac devices. Being only available from the Windows Store means only Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 will be compatible with the app.
Key Features of the Messenger Desktop client:
Group video calls on a larger screen. Stay in touch with family and friends, join a workout, or host a virtual happy hour.
Easy to connect. You don't need to know someone's email or phone number since all your Facebook friends have Messenger.
Multitasking. Your chats are easily accessible, and you can pop in and out of the app while doing other things on your computer.
Notifications. You can receive notifications for new messages, so you can quickly find the chat you're looking for. But you're in control -- you can choose to mute and snooze notifications.
Some of HBO's most popular shows, documentaries, and a selection of movies will be available to stream for free without subscription from today.
Full series of several major TV shows including the Sopranos will be available to stream for free during the COVID-19 emergency. he content will be available through HBO NOW and HBO GO, but only for users in the United States at this time.
Viewers will be able to stream the content from April 3.
Zoom has apologized for security and privacy concerns that have arisen as it explodes in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief Executive Eric Yuan wrote a lengthy post on the company's blog apologizing for the lapses in privacy and security that have come to light in the past few weeks. During that time frame, Zoom has seen unanticipated staggering growth as more people rely on video conferencing for work and education during the coronavirus pandemic.
In December, Zoom experienced a maximum of ten million meeting participants. Now with around half of humanity under some kind of social restrictions to slow the COVID-19 spread, that number has exploded to 200 million.
However, Zoom has been plagued by privacy questions and security issues. For starters, Zoom was found to be sending data to Facebook from users, even if they weren't Facebook users. Hosts of meetings were also able to track attendees.
Additionally, it did not offer end-to-end encryption despite saying otherwise. On top of those privacy concerns, there were also some security issues including Zoombombing.
Zoombombing is the practice of uninvited guests joining video conferences and becoming disruptive. They either get into the conferences by gaining access to a link sent to those invited, or they would guess nine-digit ID codes to find live conferences.
WhatsApp is experiencing a major outage with its service as of now. Sending photos doesn't work, whether the user is using Android or iPhone device.
The sending itself seems to "work", but recipient gets only blurred version of the image with an option to download the picture. Once user clicks the download symbol, WhatsApp throws an error about download failing.
Problems started about 21:00 UTC on 1st of April and haven't been fixed as of now (21:30 UTC).
Sprint and T-Mobile have been working on a merger for ages, and now it has finally become reality.
As far back as 2014, T-Mobile and Sprint have been rumored to be in talks about merging the companies. The negotiations have gone back and forth, been called off, and then again resumed.
In June of 2018, the companies finally agreed with the terms of the merger. Now, after nearly two years, the finalization of the deal has indeed happened.
On April 1, 2020, T-Mobile and Sprint have become one. T-Mobile press release says: "T-Mobile US Inc. announced today that it has officially completed its merger with Sprint Corporation to create the New T-Mobile, a supercharged Un-carrier that will deliver a transformative 5G network."
T-Mobile will still be called T-Mobile and stock ticker is still $TMUS. However, CEO is no longer going to be the iconic John Legere, even though he was responsible for T-Mobile's very effective turnaround which included passing Sprint as the number three carrier in the United States.
There's still several months before Apple planning to reveal their upcoming iPhone 12, or whatever the name might be. The company might have some production issues at hand but rest assured, you'll be getting a new iPhone later this year.
Disney has announced that the company's streaming platform has acquired already more than 50 million paid users.
Google has announced that its streaming game service, Stadia, is now free for all. As long as you have, or acquire, a Google account, you can enjoy streamed gaming for free.
