Link

Roblox Moves to Add Voice Chat With Spatial Audio

Andrew Orr ·

Roblox is preparing to add voice chat with spatial audio to make its virtual worlds mimic the physical world better.

Say you’re hanging out in a virtual skatepark in Roblox with spatial audio enabled: skaters in the half pipe with you would sound loud and clear, just like they would in real life. But you wouldn’t be able to hear someone walking around on the sidewalk across the street, since they’re too far away. To have a private conversation with a nearby friend, you might peel off and walk toward a store down the block.

 

Link

NGO Files Antitrust Complaint Against Apple in India

Charlotte Henry ·

India non-profit group Together We Fight Society has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple, Reuters reported. It once again focuses on the cut of App Store transactions the company takes.

The allegations are similar to a case Apple faces in the European Union, where regulators last year started an investigation into Apple’s imposition of an in-app fee of 30% for distribution of paid digital content and other restrictions. The Indian case was filed by a little-known, non-profit group which argues Apple’s fee of up to 30% hurts competition by raising costs for app developers and customers, while also acting as a barrier to market entry. “The existence of the 30% commission means that some app developers will never make it to the market … This could also result in consumer harm,” said the filing

Link

The Day Richard Branson's Spaceflight Veered Off-Course

Jeff Butts ·

Going into space is no trivial feat. It’s actually so dangerous that 1.4 percent of Russian, Soviet, and American crewed spaceflight missions have resulted in fatalities. Still, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origins wants to turn it commercial, and so does Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Richard Branson’s July 2021 maiden voyage out of the atmosphere veered off course early on. Critics say the pilots should have aborted the mission. They didn’t, and Branson still made it safely into orbit and then back home. Nicholas Smidle might be the most knowledgeable journalist on Branson’s Virgin Galactic efforts. The writer shared his knowledge of and insight on the incident. Even though the crew made it home safe and sound, I’m still worried about the safety of space tourism. At least for now.

The craft was about twenty miles in the air above the White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico, and climbing, travelling more than twice the speed of sound. But it was veering off course, and the light was a warning to the pilots that their flight path was too shallow and the nose of the ship was insufficiently vertical. If they didn’t fix it, they risked a perilous emergency landing in the desert on their descent.

Link

Shedeur Sanders is First College Athlete Signed to be Brand Ambassador For Beats by Dre

Charlotte Henry ·

Shedeur Sanders has become the first college athlete to be signed as a brand ambassador for Apple-owned Beats by Dre. It follows a change in the rules around how such athletes can earn money. The Jackson State University quarterback spoke to People about the move and appears in a new advert for the brand.

The pairing, which Shedeur calls “real” and “organic” as he grew up using the company’s headphone products, comes after the NCAA decided that student-athletes can now — on an interim basis — earn money from their name, image and likeness. “People don’t understand how much work and how much time you put into the game,” says Shedeur. “Stay late at the school just going over film, going over plays, as much time and hard work it is that’s put into this and that we’re able to be rewarded now, it feels amazing.”

‘Ted Lasso’, ‘For All Mankind’, and Other Apple Themed T-Shirts Available to Buy
Cool Stuff Found

'Ted Lasso', 'For All Mankind', and Other Apple Themed T-Shirts Available to Buy

Charlotte Henry ·

As we try anddecipher just who Rebecca is speaking to on Bantr, Giant Squid Productions (run by John Moltz – podcast host and guest over on the Incomparable Network) have made t-shirts branded with the fake dating app from Ted Lasso. The range also includes one with the Jamestown space base from For All Mankind, and another with Tim Cook saying “goooood morning,” which made me chuckle. They come in all shapes and sizes!

Link

Apple Releases AirTags Firmware Update

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has released an update to AirTags firmware – moving from internal build number 1A291c to 1A291a. As MacRumors noted, the release comes just a week after the previous iteration was released.

We don’t know what’s included in the new firmware and no new features were found following the first release, so it likely focuses on bug fixes and other under-the-hood improvements. There is no way to force an AirTag update, as it’s something that’s done over-the-air through a connected iPhone. To make sure the update happens, you can put your AirTag in range of your ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌, but you have to wait for the firmware to roll out to your device.

Link

HBO Max App Now Available on Vizio SmartCast TVs

Charlotte Henry ·

There is now a dedicated HBO Max app available on Vizio SmartCast TVs, The Verge reported. It means users can access the service directly instead of having to find workarounds like AirPlay.

Prior to today’s announcement, Vizio TVs lacked a native app within SmartCast, Vizio’s smart TV interface. Instead, they’d have to cast its content to their televisions using Apple AirPlay or by casting with Google. The addition of the app directly from the apps menu should make accessing HBO Max far more intuitive for SmartCast users. To mark the launch of the app on its sets, Vizio will also introduce a custom homescreen carousel to showcase HBO Max’s new teaser freebies. HBO Max no longer offers free trials, though it recently announced a limited sampling of the pilot episodes of more than a dozen of some of its most popular series, which can be streamed in-app without paying for an HBO Max subscription. Vizio users will be able to access these rotating teasers directly from the Vizio carousel.

Link

AccuWeather Creates Alert System Exclusively for T-Mobile Customers

Andrew Orr ·

AccuWeather announced a new alert system called AccuWeather Alerts. Exclusively for T-Mobile customers, it pushes severe weather alerts for iPhones and Androids.

With this newly developed system, T-Mobile customers can received Up to the Minute alerts that read “Severe Weather Potential,” “Severe Weather Threat,” and “Dangerous Weather Imminent!” on their iOS or Android mobile phones for free. Integrated into AccuWeather’s award-winning app, these alerts provide details on upcoming and developing severe weather events, including notifications for hurricanes, snow, tornadoes, flooding, hail, heatwaves, cold waves and other types of threatening weather.

Link

New Twitter Safety Mode Filters Replies, Blocks Accounts

Andrew Orr ·

Twitter is rolling out a new feature called Safety Mode. When you enable it for your account, it temporarily blocks accounts for seven days for using potentially harmful language or sending repetitive and uninvited replies or mentions.

You can find information about the Tweets flagged through Safety Mode and view the details of temporarily blocked accounts at any time. Before each Safety Mode period ends, you’ll receive a notification recapping this information. We won’t always get this right and may make mistakes, so Safety Mode autoblocks can be seen and undone at any time in your Settings. We’ll also regularly monitor the accuracy of our Safety Mode systems to make improvements to our detection capabilities.

I think a lot of things can be said about Twitter, but at least they’re trying (unlike Facebook).