Light Start: Samsung closes factory, Westworld gets sneaky, Google warns against sideloading and we’ll finally see Baldur’s Gate 3
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Samsung had to shut down a factory due to the coronavirus
We all know that (especially) China is having a bad time dealing with one of the harshest viruses in history. The coronavirus recently found in Wuhan, China, is spreading at an alarming rate. Which means that the country has been prompted to stop production in some cases on a variety of products. Now, Samsung has been pushed to close down its factory in Gumi, South Korea after a factory worker was tested positive for the virus. Luckily, it’s not closed for realsies, and this is just a temporary measure to keep everyone as healthy as possible. In a report by Reuters, the company clarifies that it had a confirmed case of coronavirus in its factory, and the factory will be until 25 February. It looks like Samsung is testing all the humans that came into contact with the infected employee for possible infection: “The company has placed colleagues who came in contact with the infected employee in self-quarantine and taken steps to have them tested for possible infection,” a statement reads. We saw Samsung launch four new flagship phones last week, and this may put quite a dent in the production of those devices. It is the number one smartphone company in the world, and it may be defeated by a virus, for now…
HBO hid some Westworld trailers on a dystopian website
Our favourite sentient robots are getting another season. But Westworld’s trailer game has been weak, until now. Okay, to be fair — HBO released an official trailer Thursday, but a sneaky fan found additional trailer content hidden on a seemingly random website. How very dystopian of them… The Reddit user u/MTC_Chickpea, found three more trailers, and they’re just delightful. After the great revelation from Chickpea, the videos are now available on HBO’s YouTube channel, if you’re keen to see them. The trailers were found inside a real website for a company called Incite that does Westworld-universe type tech. By clicking on the “Privacy Act” tab on the front page, Chickpea opened up a video that reveals a reel of fake backend code. It then plays the official season 3 trailer, and according to Chickpea, new videos appear in the suggested videos after you’ve replayed a bunch. This includes the three unlisted Westworld trailers. These trailers are mostly remixes of the official trailer’s footage. But our favourite is the shows Caleb’s (Aaron Paul) budding romance with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) in a fun RomCom-esque trailer. Apparently now with 35 percent more romance. Sounds… romantic.
Google says you shouldn’t sideload its apps on Huawei phones
In a not-so-shocking event, Google has published a blog post discouraging people from sideloading any Google-apps onto Huawei phones that don’t run GMS. As we all know by now (if you don’t, head here), Huawei has been campaigning hard to get replacement apps for its Google counterparts following the US Trade ban and adding Huawei to the Entity List — effectively barring the company from trading with US companies, including Google. Now Huawei wants to launch smartphones into the western market featuring AppGallery, its own Play Store alternative. Now Google is profusely discouraging the sideloading of Google apps onto Huawei phones. Because the phones are now “considered ‘uncertified,” according to Google. Just because they haven’t gone through Google’s certification process. “Sideloaded Google apps will not work reliably because we do not allow these services to run on uncertified devices where security may be compromised. Sideloading Google’s apps also carries a high risk of installing an app that has been altered or tampered with in ways that can compromise user security.” Huawei has implemented its own security process when developing apps for the device and a strict security process loading new apps on the phone.
Sauce: Google Blog via Cnet[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch on steam this year as an early access game
It looks like we may finally get our digital hands on Baldur’s Gate 3. The title was supposed to launch as an early access game with Google Stadia… We guess that didn’t work out though. Now it looks like game developers Larian Studios is nearly ready for a real launch. According to Engadget, “Hasbro (which controls Dungeons & Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast) has confirmed at the New York Toy Fair that the long-anticipated role-playing sequel will arrive on Steam sometime in 2020 as an Early Access title.” We know what you’re thinking, ‘we want gameplay footage!’ Well, you can calm yourself down, young squire. We should see some BG3 gameplay at Larian’s PAX East presentation on 27 February. You know what? We’ve been waiting for more than 20 years since the previous Baldur’s Gate iteration. A few days/months probably won’t make a difference at this point. And you won’t be kept waiting on any other high-fantasy content for the immediate future… Apparently Hasbro has lined up a host of D&D games that should satisfy your hunger for role-playing adventures for quite a while. “On top of this year’s BG3 and a Dark Alliance remake, Hasbro expects to release a game in the role-playing franchise every year until 2025,” Engadget reports.
