F5 Live: Refreshing Technology (Audio)

This week, TikTok wants your mobile clipboard, Nintendo doesn't want your mobile gaming, and Microsoft wants you to use Facebook.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

One of the new features of iOS 14 is a more honed control over the live permissions that apps receive. Among the new notifications is an alert when an app accesses your clipboard data. This has created an uproar in the Apple user community as more and more apps are discovered to be accessing the clipboard, seemingly without need. Some apps have a legitimate use for accessing the clipboard, some do it for convenience purposes, and others do it for no real reason at all. So far, 54 high profile apps are in question.

A few years ago, Nintendo made an announcement that shocked the industry: they were bringing their intellectual property to mobile devices. Nintendo has allowed games based on its characters and world on other platforms in the past but has been resistant to the idea in recent years because of the negative experiences they've had. Despite their concerns, games featuring Mario, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon have all found their way to iOS and Android devices. That era might be coming to an end if a report from Bloomberg is accurate.

Social media companies have been making strange moves in the past few weeks. Decisions seem arbitrary and inconsistent at the vest of times. Some posts from government officials advocating violence have been marked as dangerous, while others are promoted as honorable. One of the newest instances of this has been with Twitter. The company recently suspended the account of DDoSecrets, a government transparency hacker group that was making private documents available.

Since Microsoft bought Beam and rebranded it Mixer, they have fought to compete with the more established services, like Twitch. While they have worked to attract users, such as signing Ninja to the platform, their moves have not been as effective as they had hoped. In that time, even Facebook has gotten in on the game and surpassed Mixer for active users. Unfortunately for those who are full-time content creators on Mixer, the road is coming to an end.

This week, Zoom's plans are out of focus, Epic Games is shining a light on mobile stores, and Google users are in the dark.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

When it comes to privacy and security, Zoome has not been a success story. A year ago, an issue in the software allowed anyone to turn on a Mac's webcam without the owner's permission or knowledge and uninstalling Zoom didn't remove the exploit. This year, we have seen Zoom bombing become the norm, with people joining meetings that they are not invited to. To combat its image, the company has announced that it intends to encrypt meetings from end-to-end, but that new feature comes with a caveat: not everyone gets it.

It is no secret that Epic Games has a dislike for the status quo. The company recently changed the licensing for Unreal Engine to make it free until a game has made a million dollars. They also recently launched a low-cost publishing service, bucking the industry norm. Even the Epic Games Store has taken an altered approach to the concept, taking a far smaller percentage. However, their biggest fight has been against the walled gardens of the mobile operating systems.

If the internet is good at anything, it is distributing information, whether or not it makes any sense. seen everything from people believing articles from The Onion to purposeful disinformation campaigns. However, the most common scenario is people simply misunderstanding how things work. That is the basis behind a new class-action lawsuit alleging that Google has violated the US Federal Wiretap Act. This law protects people from the interception of private communications. Originally intended to protect wireline phone conversations, it has been expanded over the years to include other communications. The suit is asking for $5 billion in damages.

The journey for Netflix is a fascinating one. The company started by mailing physical DVDs to subscribers and pivoted to streaming. They were so ready to be done with physical media that they intended to spin the DVD business into Qwikster, a plan that was abandoned. Over the last year or so, the company has had to pivot back towards physical movies to be eligible for academy awards. That pivot has led to the company purchasing a physical movie theater.

This week, cops can't see your screen, Facebook can sell your products, and Netflix cancels inactive subscriptions.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

Since the rise in popularity of biometric security features on mobile devices, whether fingerprint or facial recognition, the legal ramifications have been front and center. While forcing someone to reveal a password or PIN was legally identified as revealing personal and proprietary information, what about looking at a camera? That is not an extraordinary action, similar to walking a line during a traffic stop. Luckily, last year, that issue was laid to rest, with a court decision saying that it required a warrant.

When Fortnite first hit the scene, it was widely viewed as a casual game for kids. Over time, the popularity of the title has grown immensely, to the point where it is a household name. The average age of the players has increased as adults latch onto the game in every growing number. With the current global state of staying at home and desperately looking for something to do, the game has grown again in popularity.

While Google managed to constantly attract the eye of governments across the globe, the company that seems determined to build a single portal for all internet activities is Facebook. The platform, which started as a way for college students to get to know their classmates, has grown to offer a large variety of services. Whether you are looking to find a date (Facebook Dating) or a used videogame (Facebook Marketplace), you can likely accomplish it on the platform. But, if you are a small business trying to sell products, it's not that easy on Facebook.

A lot of industries have embraced the idea of recurring revenue rather than traditional sales. Even companies like Microsoft, which has been known for software sales, has moved to a more lease-based model. But, this model also makes customers uneasy because of the likelihood of forgetting about your subscription. We've all done it - signed up for a service and entirely forgotten that we have it. But, at least we know we will continue paying for it forever.

This week, Microsoft is seeing double, Epic Games' licensing is getting Unreal, and Google is in the crosshairs.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

2019 began the era of the folding phone. Samsung took a side by side approach to the concept, while Motorola took a top to bottom approach. While both were different, they were variations on the same theme: one piece of bendable screen. Microsoft also announced an entry in the folding phone category, but they took a very different approach to the concept. Rather than trying to bend glass and LCD panels, Microsoft's Surface Duo decided to take a page from the Kyocera Echo's book and simply have two distinct screens.

Over the past year or so, Epic Games has been adjusting the way it does business. Much of the company's new focus has been based around a philosophy of helping developers to keep more of the money they make. First was the Epic Games Store, which broke from the traditional 30 percent revenue sharing model in favor of only a 12 percent fee. Earlier this year, the company launched Epic Games Publishing, which followed the same model. Full ownership of intellectual property, possible full funding, and a smaller than normal licensing fee.

Over the past few years, two technology terms referring to tax have become popular. While the term Apple Tax refers to the 30 percent commission Apple taxes on transactions made through services that developers don't want to use, Google Tax is very different. In the case of Google, it refers to taxes and fees designed specifically to target the company. That's because Google has become a target of investigation in nearly every western nation.

If you have a YouTube channel, you're about to read something that will likely upset you: "wanna be friends?" This comment has been absolutely rampant across the site, appearing on almost every video posted for months. Many creators have noticed that the comment can appear before a video is even made public, suggesting that there is something unsavory going on. Well, that fear is completely justified, as the result of the comment is far worse than just being obnoxious.

This week, Steam is leaving the orchard, Bezos is headed to Congress, and Universal is not invited to the AMC party.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

Since the concept of contact tracing was first announced, it has faced privacy and accuracy concerns. While Apple and Google addressed concerns, other firms who have been tapped for additional technologies are still under fire. One of the most recent to draw attention is a company that is used to the negative spotlight - Clearview AI. Many people around the world have been worried about the privacy and accuracy of the technology. These are definitely two topics that should stay as far apart as possible.

This past year has seen a lot of changes to the landscape of the virtual reality market. We saw the end and then open sourcing of Google Daydream. This was followed closely by Gear VR closing shop. This week, another big hit is coming to the landscape, with SteamVR support likely coming to an end for Apple computers. This would include older and current OSX and macOS implementations.

Last year, as part of its inquiry into the way big tech companies use their market positions to compete with those who rely on these companies, Amazon representatives were asked about their use of data. In particular, Nate Sutton, Amazon's Associate General Counsel was asked about the company's use of seller data on its platform to determine its own product offerings. Mr. Sutton said that Amazon does not use information about its sellers to compete against them. Those words are at the center of a new controversy for the company.

With movie theaters closed thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown, movie studios have had to make big decisions about the future of their films. Many studios have moved the release dates for their blockbusters into the far future, altering their timelines. Most notable has been the Marvel studios releases, some films being pushed over a year past their release dates. Other studios have adjusted their release styles instead. The biggest alteration was for Trolls World Tour.

This week, Nintendo's giving up the details, Messenger is giving new ways to connect, and AT&T is giving away customers.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

As the fear over the Coronavirus threat grows and the need for the world to begin spinning again, in one fashion or another, becomes more important, solutions are being developed around the world. One of the most publicized tools being developed has been the Apple and Google partnership for contact tracing.

This week, Nintendo users started complaining on social media about unauthorized logins to their accounts. There was mounting evidence that a lot of Nintendo accounts were being accessed around the world. After a short silence, Nintendo confirmed (Japanese) that their system had been accessed and as many as 160,000 Nintendo Network ID accounts had been accessed. The company announced that emails, nicknames, date of birth, and region data had been accessed, but that no credit card information had been accessed.

One of the biggest things to come out of this quarantine has been the need to communicate. While there are already a lot of useful communication platforms, it seems that people always want to be the ones using the new thing. That new thing, in this case, happens to be Zoom. Unfortunately for users, Zoom has had a history of security issues which has sent people looking for alternatives.

AT&T hosted its quarterly earnings call, during which the company announced the company's premium television subscriber numbers, which include AT&T TV, DirectTV, and U-verse. The brand suffered a net subscriber loss of 897,000, leaving the service with 18.6 million subscribers. This drop represents nearly 5 percent of the total subscribers leaving in only 90 days. As an explanation for the significant turnover, the company said,

This week, Big Tech wants to know who you see, Libra is trying to stay alive, and Bad Robot is coming back to television.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

One of the biggest stories to come out of the COVID-19 outbreak has been the announced partnership between Apple and Google. The two companies, which represent the vast majority of the mobile phone market, have come to whether to develop an app intended to help track the spread of the virus. This is accomplished through mobile Bluetooth beacon technology, which was originally intended for advertising. But, with a little change to the concept, it is going to used to determine whether you have come in contact with someone who has been exposed to the virus.

For many years, the unofficial test of a gaming PC's power was its ability to play the game Crysis. For a while, it was simply whether the game could be run on the system at all, but over time it became a test of what settings the game could be run on, and what framerate the game would then play at. That statistic quickly became a badge of honor among the gaming community. All of this was because of the incredible graphics - something that was far ahead of its time. It was almost as if the game was a time traveler, showing what the future of gaming might look like.

It's been almost a year since Facebook first announced its intentions to release a cryptocurrency called Libra. Almost immediately, the plan was met with concern from nearly everyone. Governments around the world saw the stable coin as a threat to their own control over the value of currencies. This was caused by the intent of the project - to tie the value of the stable coin to a bucket of investments, such as the US dollar, the Euro, as well as treasuries and securities. The move could reduce some of the control that central banks exert over their population through the controlled value of money, which might have been part of the plan.

Last September, WarnerMedia inked a deal with JJ Abrams and his production company Bad Robot to produce a wide variety of content, including TV, movies, and videogames through 2024. The full details of the deal were not revealed, but the beginning of the company's plans have been revealed this week, with three original programs being announced. The shows will be produced by Bad Robot, with Abrams acting as Executive Producer. The three new shows will all be distributed by Warner Bros. International Television Distribution and released under the HBO Max streaming service, which recently announced a partnership with Charter. The three announced shows are DC Justice League Dark, Overlook, and Duster.

This week, Sprint is gone for good, Humvees are here to stay, and the Apple Tax has been temporarily suspended.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

It's been three years since the initial rumors of a Sprint/T-Mobile merger surfaced. Over six months ago, the companies received Department of Justice approval for the merger, having already secured FCC approval. It was not a done deal, however, as Attorneys General from fourteen states filed a suit to stop the merger, but all states except California have now approved it. As such, the companies have officially completed the merger, marking the end of the Sprint brand.

The Humvee is an iconic vehicle, especially regarding wartime imagery. Because of this, Activision has featured the vehicle in many of its Call of Duty titles over the years. Since the intention of the company's popular games is to replicate the environments and experiences of the battles that they represent, it is a logical move to include these vehicles. Unfortunately for Activision, AMG, who holds the trademark on the design, did not believe that including the vehicles in the games was in compliance with the law.

Teleconferencing platform Zoom has been around for a few years, but it has gained popularity care of the current work from home scenario. While there's a lot of excitement around the app, there isn't anything particularly special about it. That is assuming you don't consider the constant and massive security issue in the platform.

One of the biggest limiting factors for media services on Apple is the Apple Tax. The company requires that all subscriptions made available through apps on the platform be run through its App Store. While this may make the process a little easier for users signing up on Apple devices, it is not ideal for the companies themselves. Apple charges a 30 percent fee on all App Store transactions, commonly referred to as the Apple Tax. This means that a company like Spotify or Netflix must give 30 percent of their revenue, not profit, to Apple for providing a service that neither company wants nor needs.

This week, there's an Epic new publisher, a prankless online April Fools' Day, and some ad-friendly Google movies.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

While virtual reality has gained some traction over the past few years, it has still struggled to gain significant consumer adoption. There have been several attempts made to find a sweet spot, but thus far, nothing has quite gotten the job done. From phone-based headsets to flagship products, no device has quite captured the imagination of consumers.

Epic Games has made it clear that they want to grow to be a true competitor for the big boys. While the company has long produced the popular Unreal Engine, it wasn't until Fortnite that the brand became a household name. They have used that position, and the unreal income from the game, to grow their offerings. The Epic Games Store, launched just over a year ago, was the company's first major push. But, there is one aspect of the industry the company has been lacking: publishing.

One of the longest-running traditions on the internet is the embrace of April Fools' Day. Internet companies the world over play fun pranks on April 1st every year, keeping their customers and fans on their toes. The most infamous supporter of April Fools' Day online has definitely been Google. The company's embrace of the tradition has led to some truly epic laughs, as well as some high profile product launches. That is because Google has often used the day to announce products that, in the moment, seem like they might be pranks. Most notably, in an age where free email accounts offered 25 MB of storage, Google announced Gmail with 1 GB of storage.

The business to get your viewership time is a crowded one, and seemingly getting more crowded every day. Movies and television are the focus, but short-form services have also been gaining popularity. But, while Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix proved that a paid subscription service could produce great original content, the focus of licensed content has been shifting. Services like Crackle, IMDb TV, Pluto, and Tubi have shown that a free and ad-supported model works for licensed content.

This week, Instagram is trying to disappear, GameStop is trying to stay around, and entertainment companies are trying to help.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

Facebook has been in the middle of reimagining the way that messaging works across and between the company's platforms. In addition to introducing encrypted messaging across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the company has been looking to introduce other features to the company's offerings. One of those new features, which is available in other messaging platforms, might be disappearing messages for Instagram.

Companies across the globe have been changing the way they do business during this global viral outbreak. Many have shut down offices, allowing their employees to work from home (unless you're a Comcast employee). Many retailers have shut down entirely, while others have shut their doors to the public, allowing only curbside pickups. Even restaurants, who depend on on-site business, have shut their doors across the world. In this environment, only essential businesses, such as grocery and pharmacy, are still open to the public, and even they are looking for new ways to do business.

A year ago, at Facebook's F8 developer conference, the company announced a major redesign of its desktop web experience. The new version of the application is the largest change since the update that moved the Facebook logo on the header and introduced the righthand panel years ago. A quick glance will make it clear that the new web experience is based on the mobile experience, with the site's content being broken into top-level content categories, each with its own tab across the top. These include the Feed, Videos (Watch), Marketplace, Groups, etc.

Over the past few weeks, the world has definitely changed. As the global outbreak of COVID-19 continues to worsen, more and more people are staying home, not just during their off-hours but during work hours as well. Non-essential businesses are closed worldwide, including all entertainment companies, such as movie theaters, venues, and bars. As the scenario worsens, the entertainment industry has made changes to the way it works in order to make the experience of living and working at home a little better.