Light Start: Huawei Mate 40 on its way, Unreal Engine may stay, YouTube shopping one day and Warzone players can’t play

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Huawei will announce the Mate 40 this month

Huawei’s been making it exceptionally hard to remember that its business operations are under fire. The Chinese telecoms company hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down amidst US trade restrictions, and on that note, it’s planning an announcement event for this month that’ll debut its new range of smartphones. 

This weekend, Huawei announced that it will reveal the Mate 40 phone series at a virtual event on 22 October at 2 PM CAT. We don’t know much about the upcoming devices, other than the fact that they won’t have access to GMS (Google Mobile Services) and that they may very well be the last Huawei generation that runs on the company’s powerful Kirin chips. The teaser doesn’t give away much, other than the words “unprecedented power”, which in itself isn’t really a clue. But we know how these tech companies operate by now. Everything’s a secret until it’s not anymore. We do know that Huawei has confirmed that the Mate 40-range will be the last running its Kirin technology, all thanks to the US trade ban that prohibits any company (inside or outside the US) that uses US tech to trade with Huawei.

Nevertheless, if someone can push through the inconvenience of harsh trade restrictions, it’s Huawei. The company made it to the top — making it to the number one smartphone seller spot worldwide during a worldwide pandemic… without Google services on its devices. That in itself is a testament to the company’s durability. Let’s see what the company plans for the Mate 40 and beyond on 22 October. 

Source: Engadget[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Unreal Engine will remain on Apple platforms

While Apple’s App Store woes continue, court cases are being lined up against the company. Many app developers and big corporates have found significant reasons to take on Apple and its sometimes arbitrary App Store regulations following the ban on Fortnite. But now it looks like Apple will have no legal reason to deny access to the Unreal Engine on its platforms. 

Apple’s Fortnite ban made global news as Epic Games, the battle royale title’s developers took on the tech giant due to its App Store regulations. These regulations make it compulsory for app owners to dish out 30% of its app’s earnings directly to Apple. What followed was an intense back-and-forth, mostly regarding app access and Store regulations. As it happens, Epic Games also owns Unreal Engine, a developer platform that’s used for a variety of applications including games, movies, CGI and SFX. “On Friday, Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers refused to grant Epic Games a preliminary injunction against Apple that would force the game developer to reinstate Fortnite on the App Store, while simultaneously granting an injunction that keeps Apple from retaliating against the Unreal Engine, which Epic also owns.” 

What this means, is that developers who make use of the Unreal Engine to develop content specifically for Apple platforms (iOS, Mac, iPad) will continue to have access to the platform and built content for these platforms. Thanks to the US court system. 

Source: The Verge[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Google wants to turn YouTube into an e-commerce video site

Every now and then a tech company announces something that no-one agrees with. This is one of those times. A new report on Bloomberg details that Google is planning to make even more money from its hugely popular video platform, YouTube. How, you ask? Well, to get this, you’ll need to revert back a decade or so…

Remember those Verimark shows, where they would display the product on-screen, fake smiles at the ready, with flashing prices around the borders? ‘And that’s not all’ the commentator announces. ‘If you buy it today, get a free kitten!’ Remember that format? Apparently, Google (which is already a $15 billion business, mind you) wants to turn YouTube into a shopping destination similar to this. Here, viewers will be able to watch things like product unboxings, makeup, or cooking videos and immediately buy featured products directly through YouTube. According to the Bloomberg report, YouTube is actually busy testing these features, which means it may not be as far off as you’d think. Creators will be able to tag shoppable items featured in the video using a new tool built into YouTube. We’re not sure how payments and delivery will be handled, but obviously, YouTube wants to be the new Amazon of the video world. 

None of this is confirmed, however, but the Bloomberg report got a YouTube insider to confirm that the company is working on an e-commerce feature. So there you have it. Verimark ads are coming back in a big way, and none of us are excited. 

Source: Bloomberg[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

There’s a bug in Warzone – you know what that means

Big update incoming! Warzone has become kind of infamous for its ridiculous patch and update download sizes. The game is, by far, one of the largest to keep in your inventory. Now, Infinity Ward (the developers behind the free-to-play title) has announced that it is investigating a bug that makes the game pretty unplayable for many people. 

Call of Duty: Warzone is the first completely free-to-play title in the series, bringing some Call of Duty finesse to the battle royale game mode. A new bug found in the latest patch enables players to reuse normally limited tactical abilities, including stun grenades and stim heals. This has caused some wildly unbalanced games, making it practically impossible to play against these players. “For instance, one player can choose to constantly throw out grenades, while their opponent can sit inside the damage zone, healing themselves in perpetuity,” Engadget explains. “We’re aware of an issue where players are able to use infinite Tactical items in #Warzone. We have a fix that’s currently being tested which we’ll release as soon as we can. We’ll provide another update when we have more information to share. Thank you for your patience,” Infinity Ward announced on Twitter. 

Of course, this means that Warzone players are in for another big patch in the coming days. Anyone want to take bets on how big the patch will be? We reckon at least 50GB. Let’s/  wait and see. 

Source: Engadget[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]