Activision CEO says gamers would 'revolt' if 'Call of Duty' were made exclusive
By Greg Bensinger and Diane Bartz SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -The chief executive of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard, Bobby
2023-06-29 01:54
Factbox - Financial firms line up spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications
Financial firms are once again lining up to attempt to get their proposed spot bitcoin exchange-traded-funds approved by
2023-06-29 01:46
How to Identify Plants Using Your iPhone Camera
If you have an iPhone, you can identify plants without downloading a third-party app.
2023-06-29 01:46
Oracle Expands Database to Ampere Chips, Dealing a Blow to Intel
Oracle Corp. said its industry-leading database software can be used with a new type of processor for the
2023-06-29 01:18
A lawsuit by TikTok users challenging Montana's ban is being funded by the social media company itself
A high-profile lawsuit brought by TikTok users and creators last month challenging Montana's statewide ban against the short-form video app is being funded by the social media giant itself, the company told CNN on Wednesday.
2023-06-29 00:52
Nvidia sees no material impact from reported AI chip restrictions on China - CNBC
Nvidia expects no immediate material impact from the reported new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to
2023-06-29 00:27
Football Manager 24 will be the last of its kind - with a revolution on the way
The next release of the long-running Football Manager series of games - Football Manager 24 or FM24 - will be the last of its kind. This year's edition, the 20th instalment of Football Manager (where funnily enough, you act as a football manager for one of the world's many football clubs), will bring an end to the current iteration of games - and that's a promise directly from studio manager of Sports Interactive; Miles Jacobsen. With FM23, it seemed like the games change to digitize the behind-the-scenes of a football club had hit an apex - a rather boring apex for consumers. Instead of the growing addition of features that had underlined each new edition, FM23 simply existed as a slightly better FM22. And that was echoed by Jacobsen in a blog post for SI, who in response to FM23's reception has agreed that FM24 will simply bookend the series as the pinnacle of Football Manager. A complete edition. One where you can finally transfer a save from the previous game so your 400 hours of work doesn't go to waste. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "Football Manager 2024 will be the 20th game in Sports Interactive’s Football Manager series, and will be the last of its kind," said Jacobsen in his post. "It’s a love letter to football and the FM series as we know it. It’s the closing of this chapter of our history. You can expect a host of improvements, big and small, both in new features and revamps to existing areas of the game." But is Football Manager ending? No chance. In fact, it might be better than it has ever been by the time FM25 arrives, which will start a new chapter for the series. As part of a set of changes made to the technology powering the games, Sports Interactive's desire to revamp the engines behind FM led to the formation of 'Project Dragonfly' which would deliver a new vision for the game. However, the pandemic and multiple issues led to this being pushed back from FM22, released in 2021, to Autumn 2025. This previously unknown four-year delay will now herald and entirely new Football Manager, in a new Unity-powered engine, promising better graphics across the board and rehauled animations. "In simple terms, FM25 will have a significantly better-looking matchday experience - both on the pitch and the supporting stadium environments, alongside a vastly improved user interface that will dramatically improve how you navigate through screens and access all the information available to you as manager. We’ll also have new technology for Newgens and manager creation which are already looking really promising at this early stage," added Jacobsen. Women's football will also be added - and don't worry, your saves will continue to be transferrable. It's all change for one of the biggest series in the history of gaming. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-06-29 00:27
'Call of Duty' maker to invest in Barcelona after EU approves Microsoft deal
By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) -Activision Blizzard said its studio that developed "Call of Duty" would set up shop in
2023-06-28 22:55
Thomson Reuters to buy digital content management company Imagen
Thomson Reuters will buy Imagen, a digital content asset management company, for an undisclosed price, to expand its
2023-06-28 22:49
Google kills its AR rival to Apple Vision
Google has scrapped its latest augmented reality (AR) headset that was meant to rival headsets from Apple and Meta, according to reports. The search giant’s ‘Project Iris’ was abandoned earlier this year, Insider reported, making it the second major set of smart glasses to be ditched following Google Glass. The latest AR glasses were first teased last year at Google I/O, with a video showing wearers using the device to translate conversations in real-time. “What we’re working on is technology that enables us to break down language barriers,” Max Spear, a product manager at Google, said in the video. “Making access to information just instant and intuitive, and by doing that technology fades into the background.” Since the glasses were teased, Apple has unveiled its Vision Pro headset and Meta has shown off its latest Quest 3 goggles, which will be available later this year. Google’s aborted project comes eight years after the firm discontinued its Glass smart glasses for consumers, and just months after it stopped producing the enterprise version. It follows the departure of Clay Bavor, Google’s chief of augmented and virtual reality, with the company’s focus now switching to AR software rather than hardware. One AR software platform is Android XR, which is being built for a headset under development at Samsung. A Micro XR platform is also rumoured to be in the works, which is expected to run on AR smart glasses rather than larger mixed reality goggles. One unnamed employee told Insider that Google was aiming to created the “Android for AR”, referring to the tech giant’s hugely popular mobile operating system. A spokesperson for Google declined to comment. Samsung announced at its Galaxy Unpacked event in February that it had partnered with Google and Qualcomm to make a mixed reality platform. No details were given about what the product might look like, with the company saying more information would be given later this year. “We are working to create a new era of highly immersive digital experiences that blur the line between our physical and digital worlds,” said Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon. “With our Snapdragon XR tech, Samsung’s amazing products, and Google experiences, we have the foundation to make this opportunity a reality.” Read More ‘I saw the future. It left me in tears’ Apple releases urgent update to iPhone and iPad users Apple starts letting developers make apps for its upcoming headset The Apple Watch is getting some major changes this year – here’s why
2023-06-28 22:25
Four Nasa volunteers are living on 'virtual Mars' for the next 12 months
Would you sign up to live in isolation for a year, all in the name of furthering scientific research? Probably not, we’re guessing, but that’s exactly what four NASA volunteers have agreed to do over the next 12 months. The participants will live in an environment created to simulate conditions on the surface of Mars as part of NASA's Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog for 378 days. The people involved are research scientist Kelly Haston, structural engineer Ross Brockwell, emergency medicine physician Nathan Jones and US Navy microbiologist Anca Selariu. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The simulation has been built at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and will see the four volunteers undertake a series of tasks as part of the exercise. Data collected over the next 12 months will help to inform future missions to send astronauts to Mars. During that time, the guests will take part in activities such as crop growing as well as simulated spacewalks and other operations. The 3D-printed hub they’ll spend their time in contains a kitchen, sleeping areas, two bathrooms as well as work and recreation spaces. The mission will also see the guests faced with simulated obstacles, which are designed to test responses to equipment failure, communication delays and other issues. Speaking at a recent briefing, the mission's principal investigator at NASA Grace Douglas said: “Thank you all for your dedication to exploration. Our best wishes go with you." Haston also spoke, calling her fellow participants an "amazing group of dedicated individuals who feel very passionate about space exploration and science." "The crew has worked so hard this month to get ready for this mission," Haston added. "It has been very special to be a part of such a tremendous group of scientists and specialists from a diverse set of backgrounds working together to bring CHAPEA 1, the first of three missions, to reality." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-06-28 21:59
Microsoft Teams down: Office chat app not working in the middle of the working day
Microsoft Teams, the popular workplace chat app, has gone down in the middle of the working day. Users complained that they were unable to get online or talk to colleagues in what appeared to be a widespread outage. But soon after the problems were identified, many appeared to be able to get back online again. The problems began around lunchtime in the UK, and around the time that many in the US are beginning work, according to tracking website Downdetector. Numerous users complained on that site and elsewhere that they were unable to get online, particularly using their browser. Many of those users were hit by a mysterious message reading: “Operation failed with unexpected error”. Others saw similarly vague messages about not being able to connect to the internet or indistinct error codes. Microsoft confirmed on its official account that it was aware of an issue where “some users may be unable to access Microsoft Teams using web browsers”. But numerous users complained that they were unable to get online through the desktop app, either.
2023-06-28 21:50