Новости за 19.07.2022

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

After Netflix reported losing subscribers for the first time in over a decade last quarter, the company’s Q2 earnings report revealed the number of worldwide subscribers dipped by 1 million, including a drop of 1.28 million in the US and Canada alone between the end of March and the end of June. That’s better than its projection of losing 2 million worldwide, but the subscriber shortfall in the US and Canada is double the 600,000 drop it reported for Q1. Читать дальше...

The cast of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. | Image: HBO Max/Warner Bros.

Though there were quite a few real people campaigning for #TheSnyderCut’s release before Warner Bros.’ 2021 announcement, new reporting from Rolling Stone suggests that a sizable amount of the movie’s social media hype was being driven by bots and inauthentic accounts.

Please just tell me where my phone is. | Photo by Jay Peters / The Verge

If you own a Fitbit Charge 5 and are chronically forgetful, there’s good news — according to 9to5Google and Android Police, the fitness tracker’s latest update adds an app that lets you ring your phone from your wrist. This feature has been available on some Fitbit smartwatches for a while, but it’s exciting to see it come to one of the company’s simpler devices, especially as someone who used to ping my phone several times a day back when I had an Apple Watch. Читать дальше...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

New internal documents released Tuesday detail how three of Big Tech’s most prominent companies favored their own products as a means of stamping out competition. Their release comes as lawmakers push to approve stronger antitrust legislation by the end of the year.

The cat from Stray. | Image: Annapurna Interactive

The PlayStation Network experienced some issues on Tuesday. At the time, Sony’s PlayStation status page said that says that things like launching games, buying, downloading, and browsing games, and signing in to your account may have been impacted.

If you had your keyboard repaired, you may be eligible for some money back. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple has agreed to pay out $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit that said the company knew about flaws with the butterfly keyboard switches it built into several MacBook models (via Reuters).

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

When Facebook changed its name to Meta in October, there were a few concerns that the company was planning to dominate the nascent metaverse — but there’s one aggrieved party that’s only now going public.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The QA department at Blizzard Albany, the studio formerly known as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2’s Vicarious Visions, has become the second QA department within Activision Blizzard to organize a union.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitch is launching a new built-in fundraising tool called Twitch Charity to make it easier for streamers to run charity streams.

Buzz Lightyear in Lightyear. | Image: Disney / Pixar

Lightyear, Disney and Pixar’s Buzz Lightyear-focused movie that hit theaters in June, will be available to stream on Disney Plus beginning August 3rd.

Passersby walk towards an LED sign saying “18 -19 July extreme heat only travel if essential.”  | Photo by Sebastian Gollnow / picture alliance via Getty Images

The UK recorded temperatures rising above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time in its 350 years of climate records. The searing heatwave is unprecedented in a country that’s used to much cooler summer weather and is a bellwether of more extremes to come.

Photo by Christoph Dernbach / picture alliance via Getty Images

Panasonic has picked De Soto, Kansas, to build a new EV battery plant, which projects to bring up to $4 billion in investments for the state, the Kansas governor’s office said in a press release. The press release predicts the plant will create up to 4,000 jobs, plus estimates of 4,000 additional jobs with suppliers and community businesses.

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Today, a Delaware court ruled that Twitter’s lawsuit against Elon Musk for attempting to back out of his acquisition of the company will be heard in October. This is a win for Twitter, which asked for a shorter timeframe than Musk.

Screenshot: Qualcomm

While Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear chips power the vast majority of current Wear OS watches, the platform itself has never really delivered. Thus far, Snapdragon Wear chips have been repurposed mobile processor designs built on outdated tech and are a big reason why Wear OS watches have been so lackluster. But today, Qualcomm is launching an overhauled wearables platform called Snapdragon W5 Plus and W5. And this time, it seems like Qualcomm means business.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google will start allowing the developers of non-gaming apps in the European Economic Area (EEA) to offer alternate payment systems. In a blog post, Google outlines its plans to comply with the Digital Markets Act (or DMA), a piece of legislation aimed at regulating big tech.

Maybe it won’t be a dystopia?

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Excel Live inside Microsoft Teams. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is bringing Excel directly into Teams meetings. Excel Live is a new way for Teams meeting participants to edit Excel spreadsheets together in real time. It’s part of a trio of new features coming to Teams that continue Microsoft’s focus on hybrid work. Teams is also getting video clips that can be shared in chats and collaborative annotations that allow colleagues to doodle on top of content during Teams meetings.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Exactly 10 years ago today, Microsoft completed its $1.2 billion purchase of Yammer, an enterprise-focused social networking platform. Despite a big Yammer overhaul in 2019, Microsoft has been increasingly focused on Teams and its new Viva platform as the hubs of communication in workplaces.

The Hisense U6G includes Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, and HDR 10 Plus. | Image: Hisense

Prime Day 2022 may be done and dusted, but there are still plenty of deals worth checking out. For instance, Walmart has discounted the 55-inch configuration of the Hisense U6G ULED TV to $378, the lowest price we’ve seen for this model that usually costs $449.99. While it may lack the higher refresh rates found in pricier models, the low-cost U6G has a few impressive features, like Dolby Vision and HDR10 Plus... Читать дальше...

Image: Chevy

Chevy is bringing the Blazer to its electric car lineup. The midsize crossover SUV is the latest of the GM brand’s gas cars to feature an all-electric version, joining the Chevy Equinox EV, Silverado EV, and GMC Hummer EV.

Nintendo has confirmed that both the Wii U and 3DS digital storefronts will no longer allow new purchases of paid or free content starting March 27th, 2023. Previously, it was broadly targeting March 2023, giving gamers plenty of time to fill out their collections before they no longer have the chance to do so — legally, at least. Now, there’s a final date.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Slack is putting its prices up in September, alongside some big changes to its free plan. It’s the first price increase since Slack launched in 2014, but will only affect users of Slack’s “Pro” plan. On September 1st, monthly Pro subscriptions will increase from $8 to $8.75 per user per month, and annual Pro subscriptions will increase from $6.67 to $7.25 per user per month.

These colors combine to spell out the event’s date. | Image: Samsung

In a trio of images posted to its official Twitter account, Samsung Mobile appears to have confirmed the date of its next Unpacked event as August 10th, 2022.

Image: Vizio

Vizio was once the de facto recommendation for TV shoppers looking to spend under $1,000 on a new set. But over the last several years, companies like TCL and Hisense have made their presence felt in the mid-range price segment that was long Vizio’s specialty — and sometimes with better performance.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon is taking legal action against the admins of over 10,000 Facebook groups that it says facilitate fake reviews for products on its platform by promising money or free products in exchange for positive reviews. The groups are allegedly responsible for fake reviews across Amazon’s sites in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan, the company has announced. Just one such group, called “Amazon Product Review,” reportedly had over 43,000 members. Читать дальше...