technology
Activision Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems
There is no war (harassment) at Ba Sing Se (Activision Blizzard). By Ash Parrish, a reporter who has covered the business, culture, and communities of video games for seven years. Previously, she worked at Kotaku. Share this story
Leap Motion’s gesture control quest continues with the Leap Motion Controller 2
Leap Motion debuted in June 2012 with an impressively polished demo, but after its attention-getting debut, the company’s path to market got quite a bit rockier. It had to woo partners on both the software and hardware side, while navigating an often unpredictable production process and at least one major delay. Despite attracting big-name partners like Best Buy, Asus, and Corel, it wasn’t enough to convince users to sign on for a new way of controlling their computers in significant numbers. However, in 2019 a merger turned the company into Ultraleap, and in 2023 it’s returning with the Leap Motion Controller 2. The Motion Controller 2 is a $139.99 device scheduled to start shipping this summer that’s 30 percent smaller than the original, despite including higher resolution cameras ...
It could get harder to use a Nest Hub for shopping lists soon
/ A key feature of Google Assistant — third-party notes integration — will apparently bite the dust in two weeks. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>Google Assistant will no longer integrate third-party lists and reminder apps starting June 20th.
Amazon’s Ring agrees to pay $5.8 million to settle FTC spying suit
/ The FTC claims Ring workers and hackers unlawfully spied on customers. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Ring Amazon’s Ring unit has agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that its doorbells illegally spied on users. The settlement addresses a lawsuit filed by the FTC Wednesday accusing Ring of unlawfully deceiving its customers over the privacy of their data and the videos collected by its products. According to the agency’s complaint, Ring failed to restrict employees and contractors from accessing customer videos and used them to train ...
A developer says Reddit could charge him $20 million a year to keep his app working
/ ‘I don’t see how this pricing is anything based in reality or remotely reasonable.’ a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apollo, the popular Reddit app for iOS, could face millions of dollars in fees as a result of Reddit’s new paid API model. According to an update posted by developer Christian Selig, Reddit could charge Apollo roughly $20 million per year if it continues operating at its current scale. Reddit announced changes to its API policy in April, which allows the platform to put limits on the number of API requests made by a third-par...
Apple might announce “several” Macs at WWDC
/ Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says we might be seeing some new Macs very soon. a]:text-gray-13″>If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
Here’s how Instagram recommends the content you see
/ Instagram’s ranking algorithm has long been scrutinized by users. The company lays out a few of the ways it chooses what users see. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram users have long theorized about how “the algorithm” works to rank content on the platform and why some users’ posts seem less visible than others. Now, Instagram is opening up the hood on its recommendation system to explain why you see certain posts — at least partially. In a blog post, the company breaks down its ranking system by where a user will encounter content:...
Scientists say they can’t rely on Twitter anymore
/ Twitter was once an indispensable resource for academic research. That’s changed under Elon Musk. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>The twitter’s logo is pictured on screen reflected by mirrors in Mulhouse, eastern France on May 30, 2023.
TMNT: Mutant Mayhem’s new trailer is a monster party
/ The new animated turtles movie hits theaters this summer.
Riot delays competitive League of Legends season after players voted to walk out
/ The LCS’ summer season was set to start on Thursday, but Riot Games pushed it back by two weeks. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Photo by Liu YiCun / Riot Games Riot Games announced Tuesday that it’s delaying the start of the summer season for competitive North American League of Legends after players recently voted “overwhelmingly” for a walkout. The League Championship Series (LCS) summer split was set to kick off on Thursday, but the start of the season is being pushed back by two weeks. The players, who are represented by the LCS Players Association (LCSPA), voted to walk ou...
Nvidia became a $1 trillion company thanks to the AI boom
/ Even as the market for crypto and gaming PC GPUs has cooled, the AI gold rush sees Nvidia selling shovels at just the right time. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>Nvidia’s stock price shown opening at over $400 per share, bringing the company’s overall valuation beyond $1 trillion for the first time.
The Metal Gear Solid 3 remake will reuse the original game’s voice lines — with no changes
/ At least one element of the remake is going to feel very familiar. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Konami Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, the recently announced remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, will reuse the voice lines from the original game with no changes, according to Tommy Williams, Konami’s head of communications for the Americas. Konami revealed the game last week, and its language about how the original voice cast would be featured has been murky. The company’s press release said that the remake will “star the original voice characters,” and a twee...
