Plex, well known as a service for streaming movies, music, and TV shows from your own computer, is now adding another thing you can stream: video games. Plex announced the new service, called Plex Arcade, on its blog and also launched a website for it. The service will cost $3 a month if you’re a […]
YouTube has paid out more than $30 billion to content creators over the past three years
YouTube has paid out more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media organizations over the last three years, according to a new letter published by CEO Susan Wojcicki. In 2019 alone, YouTube contributed an estimated $16 billion to the US gross domestic product (GDP). According to Oxford Economics, that’s roughly equivalent to 345,000 full-time […]
Twitter is making it easier for researchers to study its platform
Twitter on Tuesday announced a significant shift in the type of data it makes available for free to third-party academic researchers interested in studying user behaviors and trends related to online discourse. Now, Twitter says it will no longer require researchers pay for premium or enterprise developer access and will instead make the “full history […]
Apple launches limited-edition ‘Black Unity Collection’ Apple Watch
Apple is launching a limited-edition Apple Watch for Black History Month, with a unique watch band, new watchface, and some of the proceeds going toward civil rights organizations. The watch, part of a new Black Unity Collection of products, comes with a black, green, and red striped band and face, meant to reflect the Pan-African […]
iOS 14.4 rolls out
Apple has started rolling out iOS 14.4 to iPhone and iPad users. While not as a meaty of an update as iOS 14.3, it comes with a handful of small enhancements. There’s a lot to play with in the latest iOS 14.4 build. For HomePod users, there’s new audio, video, and haptic effects related to […]
Sony may resurrect the Xperia Compact line for small phone fans
Sony is reportedly set to bring back its “Compact” line of phones in 2021 with a new Xperia Compact model. Well-known tipster OnLeaks has shared what he says are images and early details of the Xperia Compact, Sony’s revival of a small phone line it dropped after 2018’s XZ2 Compact. The device would have slightly […]
Apple adds walking with celebrities to Fitness Plus’ features
Apple’s subscription-based Fitness Plus service launched towards the end of last year, and it’s already got an update that aims more for meditative walks than intense workouts. Also, it’s Apple Watch-only. Time to Walk is a series of audio experiences voiced by celebrities that are meant to be listened to while walking, like podcasts for […]
Cyberpunk 2077 update introduced a game-breaking bug
Cyberpunk 2077’s big new 1.1 patch has introduced a game-breaking bug. As Eurogamer reports that the “Down on the Street” quest appears to be broken for some players. The quest includes a holocall that’s supposed to trigger progress through the main part of Cyberpunk 2077’s storyline. Unfortunately, some players are reporting that the call remains […]
Spotify dabbles in audiobooks by offering nine public-domain works
Spotify isn’t limiting its audio ambitions to podcasts and music. Today the company announced it’s furthering its audiobook experiments with the release of nine new audiobooks available exclusively in the app. The nine new books are public-domain titles like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Naturally, Spotify has again recruited […]
Italian watchdog tells TikTok to block users whose ages can’t be verified
Italy’s data privacy authority has ordered video sharing app TikTok to temporarily block the accounts of any users whose ages can’t be confirmed, Reuters reported. The order comes after the death of a 10-year-old girl in Palermo, whose parents told authorities their daughter was participating in a “blackout challenge” she saw on the app. The […]
SpaceX launches a record 143 satellites into orbit
SpaceX has smashed a record for sending spacecraft into orbit. The company successfully launched its Transporter-1 mission carrying an unprecedented 143 satellites, including 133 commercial and government customer vehicles and 10 Starlink machines. The Falcon 9 rocket, which supported Crew Dragon Demo-2, landed aboard a drone ship in the Atlantic. This was SpaceX’s first dedicated […]
Cyberpunk 2077’s first major patch launches on all platforms
Cyberpunk Patch 1.1 comes shortly after CD Projekt Red offered a public apology and published a development roadmap for the game. While the anticipated title received positive reviews on PC, the experience of playing Cyberpunk 2077 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was less successful: bugs, quirks, and stability issues meant players struggled to appreciate […]
Microsoft backtracks on Xbox Live Gold price hike
Microsoft has reversed its controversial Xbox Live price increase. Microsoft announced a price hike on Friday that would have doubled the cost of a yearly subscription to the service, which is required to play games online on Xbox consoles, to $120 for many users. Now, though, Microsoft says the price will stay the same. Microsoft […]
Apple’s next MacBook Air said to be thinner and lighter with MagSafe charging
According to Bloomberg’s well-connected Mark Gurman, the new MacBook Air will be thinner and lighter than its predecessor. One possible technique being discussed to make the system smaller is to shrink the bezels around the display. Gurman said Apple was even considering making a 15-inch MacBook Air, but decided against it for the next generation. […]
Alphabet is winding down Loon due to cost concerns
Alphabet is shutting down Loon, its division that provides internet from floating balloons, according to a post on the blog of Alphabet’s X moonshot division. “The road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped,” Astro Teller, who leads X, wrote in the blog. “In the coming months, we’ll begin winding down […]