Charlotte Henry

Microsoft updated its Xbox app to allow iPhone and iPad users to stream games. However, Sky News reported Apple still won’t allow Microsoft’s xCloud or Google’s equivalent cloud gaming platform, Stadia, into the App Store. It means iPhone users can still only stream games that are playing on their own console.

Apple currently does not allow users to use their devices to play games using cloud computing – having the games run on hardware the phones are connecting to remotely – which would give gamers the ability to play higher-quality games on their mobile devices. Microsoft has criticised Apple for not allowing its users access to the xCloud games streaming platform, as well as Google’s cloud gaming service Stadia. Microsoft said Apple “stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass”. “[Apple] consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content,” Microsoft added.

The U.S. government on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, Reuters reported. It alleges that the search giant used its market power to repel advances by rivals.

More lawsuits could be in the offing since probes by state attorneys general into Google’s broader businesses are under way, as well as an investigation of its broader digital advertising businesses. A group of attorneys general led by Texas is expected to file a separate lawsuit focused on digital advertising as soon as November, while a group led by Colorado is contemplating a more expansive lawsuit against Google. The lawsuit comes more than a year after the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission began antitrust investigations into four big tech companies: Amazon.com Inc , Apple Inc, Facebook Inc and Google. Seven years ago, the FTC settled an antitrust probe into Google over alleged bias in its search function to favor its products, among other issues. The settlement came over the objections of some FTC staff attorneys. Google has faced similar legal challenges overseas.

I’ve opted for the iPhone 12 Pro. However, Luke  Dormehl is going for mini. He explained why he finds the device so compelling over at Cult of Mac.

It’s a blend of classic iPhone and modern iPhone: the handset I’ve wanted since Apple devices started growing progressively bigger around the time CEO Tim Cook took the reins at Apple. Here’s what makes the iPhone 12 mini so compelling. There was something old-school about the iPhone 12 mini from the moment Apple announced it. The company’s slick, socially distanced virtual keynotes aren’t short of impressive visuals, but they’ve not exactly been overflowing with levity. However, the gag with the Russian doll suitcases — the latches on a large one being flipped open to reveal a smaller one inside, which is opened to reveal a smaller one, which is opened to reveal an even tinier one and, finally, the iPhone 12 mini — was just plain fun. It reminded me of the lightheartedness of a Steve Jobs-era keynote.

Apple made great play of the iPhone 12 Pro’s camera and 5G capabilities. The Hollywood Reporter spoke to those in the film industry who think some of the features, particularly the cameras, could help revolutionize filmmaking.

“The new iPhone with Lidar, HDR, and the other camera improvements is a visual effects artist’s dream,” says Academy Award-winning VFX pro Ben Grossmann, who is CEO of Magnopus, an L.A. tech developer that worked with Jon Favreau to create the virtual production pipeline used to make The Lion King. “We used to go on movie sets to do all those things with separate pieces of hardware that could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and would take weeks to process into something useable. The notion that you have them all combined in your pocket, with the onboard processing power like that, and a connection to cloud compute over a connection speed that used to cost us tens of thousands of dollars in our machine rooms? It’s a bit more futuristic than I’d thought possible in 2020.”