Новости за 25.03.2022

Spotify is the latest company to suspend its services there. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Spotify is suspending its services in Russia as the country’s invasion of Ukraine continues into its second month. In a statement, the company appears to reference Russia’s new law that punishes spreading fake news about the military with up to 15 years in prison as the primary reason for why it’s shutting down in the country.

A cute look can’t hide the slow processor

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It seems likely to be a combination of PlayStation Plus and Now. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Sony will reportedly announce its answer to Xbox Game Pass, a service that’s currently known as Spartacus, “as early as” next week, according to Bloomberg. Previous reports say that Spartacus could be a combination of Sony’s two current subscription services, PlayStation Plus, and PlayStation Now. Bloomberg says that the service will launch featuring popular, recent games, but that it may... Читать дальше...

Florida, smartphone extreme threat alert warning. | Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The United Nations wants to make sure every person on Earth can receive early warnings ahead of disastrous weather events. It set a goal of hitting that target within five years in an announcement this week. Early warning systems are needed urgently to save lives as climate change makes extreme weather even worse, UN officials said.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple would be forced to allow users to install apps from outside the App Store under legislation recently unveiled by the EU. This stipulation was included in the initial proposal for the bloc’s sweeping Digital Markets Act, or DMA, which came one step closer to being signed into law this week, and an EU spokesperson confirmed that the provision is still included.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

American government officials told The Washington Post that the Russian military was responsible for a cyberattack on a European satellite internet service that affected Ukrainian military communications in late February.

The first NFT from Ukraine’s “Meta History: Museum of War” collection. | Ivan Ponomarchuk / Ukraine Ministry of Digital Transformation

Ukraine’s government is raising funds by selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on a timeline of Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country. Ukraine Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced the collection’s launch on Twitter, boasting that “while Russia uses tanks to destroy Ukraine, we rely on revolutionary blockchain tech.” All sales... Читать дальше...

The new design changes up the home screen, icons, and more. (And lets you customize the UI’s colors.)

Overcast, a popular podcast player for Apple devices, is getting an update that brings a major design overhaul to its main screen, as well as a new theming system that lets you pick the colors used throughout the app. For Overcast users like me, the update is a fresh coat of paint to a well-made app, and power users will likely find plenty of new tweaks and settings they can use to make the app work even better for their use case. Читать дальше...

From 2D to 3D with the help of AI. | Image: Nvidia

Nvidia’s latest AI demo is pretty impressive: a tool that quickly turns a “few dozen” 2D snapshots into a 3D-rendered scene. In the video below you can see the method in action, with a model dressed like Andy Warhol holding an old-fashioned Polaroid camera. (Don’t overthink the Warhol connection: it’s just a bit of PR scene dressing.)

Ghostwire: Tokyo is a lot of different things. It’s a paranormal buddy cop drama, a high-octane action title, and a spooky exploration game from a studio known primarily for its horror titles. But according to producer Masato Kimura, none of those elements were the starting point for the game. “The entire concept stemmed from the city of Tokyo,” he tells The Verge.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel discusses the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

Image: Titan Books

Legendary artist John Harris is best-known for his almost ethereal paintings of science fiction landscapes — and soon, there will be a new collection of his work for fans to dig into. Titan Books has announced The Art of John Harris II: Into the Blue, a hardcover book curating decades of work from the 73-year-old painter. The new collection will focus on his more futuristic paintings, as well as give readers a behind-the-scenes look at how certain projects went from sketch to completed work. Читать дальше...

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge, Photos Getty Images

‘It’s going on at all levels,’ says former employee. ‘All the executives are aware of it.’

Image: ApeCoin DAO

These silly simians are going to be influential

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple’s upcoming MacBook Air redesign has been extensively reported on, but new information suggests it may come in two sizes. According to Display Supply Chain Consultants’ latest quarterly report (via 9to5Mac and AppleInsider), Apple is working on a 15-inch version of the laptop to sit alongside the 13-inch model, which may itself get a slightly larger screen as well.

The Digital Markets Act is meant to let small players compete with big ones. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The EU’s newly agreed-upon Digital Markets Act could require messaging app developers to make their apps work together if it ends up being passed. In the EU’s press release, it says that lawmakers agreed that the companies behind WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or iMessage would have to make their apps “interoperable” with smaller messaging platforms at the developers’ request. Читать дальше...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Another sexual harassment lawsuit has been filed against Activision Blizzard. The law firm of entertainment lawyer Lisa Bloom filed the suit on behalf of a plaintiff identified as “Jane Doe” against Activision Blizzard. Jane Doe alleges she has been subject to sexual harassment and discrimination while working at the company. The suit names Activision Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, three former Blizzard employees, two current employees, and “Does 1 through 25” as defendants. Читать дальше...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The EU has unveiled its biggest ever legislative effort to balance competition in the tech world. The new Digital Markets Act, or DMA, is intended to rein in the power of the largest tech corporations and allow smaller entities to compete with the mostly US-based firms. So far, the EU has tackled antitrust issues on a case-by-case basis, but the DMA is intended to introduce sweeping reforms that will address systemic issues in the whole market.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix has added another game developer to its ranks. The company announced that it has acquired Boss Fight Entertainment, a mobile studio based in Texas. It’s the third game studio that Netflix has scooped up following Oxenfree developer Night School and Next Games, the team behind a Stranger Things puzzle game. Past games from Boss Fight include a mobile strategy game called Dungeon Boss; the studio was founded following the closure of Zynga’s Dallas studio... Читать дальше...

Sony just got a restock of the PS5 | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Update March 24th, 8:23PM ET: Sony appears to have sold out of both the PlayStation 5 and the PS5 Digital Edition for the time being. However, you can still register with Sony for a chance to buy its next-gen console at a later date.

Nanoleaf’s existing Essentials light bulb and light strip work with Thread, but won’t be updated to support Matter. | Image: Nanoleaf

You shouldn’t be concerned about the delay of Matter, the new smart home interoperability standard, because we’re not. That’s the message from smart home device makers Eve Systems and Nanoleaf, who have been involved with developing the protocol that promises smart home nirvana since its earliest days. “I think the three-month delay might actually be a good thing,” says Gimmy Chu CEO of Nanoleaf. Читать дальше...

A Frosties NFT avatar. | Frosties

US government prosecutors have charged two men with fraud and money laundering over a cryptocurrency “rug pull” scheme. Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna allegedly earned around $1.1 million by selling non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) based on cartoon-like characters called “Frosties.” After selling the NFTs, they shut down the project and transferred its funds to a series of separate crypto wallets, leaving Frosties owners bereft of promised rewards.