'Sister Wives' star Meri Brown is spending a lot of time with her best friend Blaie M Struble

Are PC first impressions important? It all depends on the PC. For a pre-built desktop

Microsoft will keep Call of Duty on PlayStation after it buys the series’ developer, according to a new deal signed with PlayStation. The Xbox and PlayStation makers have been engaged in a sometimes angry war in recent months, as Microsoft attempts to buy Activision Blizzard, the developer of games including Call of Duty. PlayStation’s objections centre around the fact that the deal would give Microsoft too much control over the gaming market, given the dominance of Call of Duty among players on consoles. Those objections have led to legal hearings, as well as opposition from regulators and competition authorities. At times, those legal objections have looked to derail the deal, which would be the biggest ever gaming acquisition if it is completed. But it now looks to be moving forward, after Microsoft announced that it had signed a “binding agreement” to make the games available on other consoles when the deal is complete. The deal could further ease regulators concerns about what would happen to the game as well as the broader console and gaming market if the deal goes ahead. It is the latest piece of good news for Microsoft, which won a legal case last week against objections from the US Federal Trade Commission, and looks to be moving towards closing the deal. “We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games,” said Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s head of Xbox, in a tweet. And Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a tweet, “Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.” The FTC had argued the deal would hurt consumers whether they played video games on consoles or had subscriptions because Microsoft would have an incentive to shut out rivals like Sony. To address the FTC’s concerns, Microsoft had earlier agreed to license “Call of Duty” to rivals, including a 10-year contract with Nintendo, contingent on the merger closing. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Battery breakthroughs are about to trigger a transport revolution ‘Hostile states using organised crime gangs as proxies in the UK’ Powerful solar flare to disrupt communications, Russians warn

GameStop posted its fourth consecutive fall in quarterly revenue on Wednesday and missed market estimates, as consumers dialed

Twitter is getting a new boss after current CEO Elon Musk announced that he has found a replacement – and reports suggest his successor will be advertising executive Linda Yaccarino. “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” he tweeted on Thursday. “My role will transition to being exec chair and CTO, overseeing product, software and sysops.” Mr Musk has not yet publicly named the new chief executive – potentially because Ms Yaccarino’s current employer NBCUniversal is preparing for its annual Upfront event, in which she is expected to play a key role –but reports from The Washington Post and Puck claim that she is in advanced talks for the position. The Independent has contacted NBCUniversal for comment, and Twitter responded with its customary poop emoji. Last month, Ms Yaccarino interviewed Mr Musk on a panel titled ‘Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships’, giving an insight into how she views both the tech billionaire and her vision for the future of Twitter. While largely amicable, the interaction revealed that she had some significant concerns about his takeover of the company. When discussing his tenure so far as the head of Twitter, Mr Musk said it had been “entertaining”, adding “train wrecks arguably are entertaining.” Ms Yaccarino responded: “Train wrecks happen sometimes if you’re dedicated [but] you’ve got to be dedicated to fixing them.” After noting that he had gone from a “consumer of a product you loved, to now the owner”, she added: “It might be a ‘be careful what you ask for’ type of thing.” She also said she did not always like his tweets and suggested Mr Musk should be “held to a different or higher standard” as both the most-followed account on Twitter and its owner. “A lot of people think you might be too provocative,” she said, adding that he should give up his late night tweeting. “Will you commit to being a little more specific and not tweet after 3am?” she asked. “People in this room would like to see that. It would make them feel more confident.” Twitter is seen by Mr Musk as an accelerant to his goal of creating an “everything app”, which he has called X. This will allow users to conduct businesses on the platform, which will be a big draw for advertisers who can target customers with direct in-app purchases. It is a vision that Ms Yaccarino appeared to favour in her meeting with Mr Musk. In one of her relatively rare tweets, she also recently expressed another shared goal for how “Twitter 2.0” will look: the return of the short-form video-sharing feature Periscope. She also encouraged Mr Musk to reinstate Twitter’s Influence Council of marketers and advertising executives that allowed industry figures to give direct feedback on how they wanted the platform to look. She told Mr Musk: “The people in this room are you accelerated path to profitability. But there’s a decent bit of skeptics in the room... There’s people who cannot separate the man, his opinions, and the microphone that he now owns.” Ms Yaccarino will now potentially take charge of that microphone, offering a way for advertisers who left the platform to credibly distance themselves from the controversial billionaire. Read More Twitter backlash after Elon Musk gives blue tick to users without consent Elon Musk says he has hired new CEO of Twitter Elon Musk warns people not to trust Twitter’s new feature Creepy WhatsApp update sparks fears users are being listened to through their phone

ROME--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 27, 2023--

For over half a decade, Pokimane has been an integral part of OfflineTV, a tight-knit group of content creators and her close friends

US Climate Envoy John Kerry is heading to China for talks on global warming as tensions simmer between

It seems as though everything’s getting the “smart” treatment these days, from phones and TVs

Apple is planning a new version of its AirTags trackers – but they might not arrive for some time, according to a new report. The company launched its AirTags in April 2021. Since then they have attracted some criticism but also proven popular as a simple way for iPhone owners to track the location of objects such as bags and keys. There have been few rumours about a possible new version of the trackers. But Apple is planning one, according to a report from usually reliable Apple analyst Ming-chi Kuo. But those new trackers will not arrive until late next year or even later, he reported. The company is not planning to put the second-generation AirTags into mass production until the fourth quarter of 2024, he reported. It is unclear what features the new version could have. But Mr Kuo suggested that one change would be better integration with Apple’s upcoming augmented reality headset, the Vision Pro. “I believe that spatial computing is a new ecosystem that Apple wants to build, using Vision Pro as the core to integrate other devices, including AirTag 2,” he wrote. That would presumably include ways of allowing the Vision Pro to show the location of AirTags overlaid on top of the real world, for instance. But it might also bring more deep integration. Apple has long been working on ways to allow for its devices to understand where others are in space, which might rely on some of the same technology currently found in the AirTags. Apple’s AirTags have been met with a largely positive reception, and there are few obvious opportunities for improvement in a new generation. But they did receive some heavy criticism for enabling stalkers to track people by placing AirTags on them without their knowledge – which led to a number of changes, including more messages alerting people when a tracker appears to be moving with them. Read More The iPhone 15 is going to help Apple achieve one very big dream New iPhone might have a mysterious button on its side – and this is what it could do iPhone users urged to check their photo library amid fears they could be deleted

BruceDropEmOff's rant about friendship in which he mentioned Kai Cenat had fans saying ‘he could’ve handled it off stream’

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 19, 2023--