Friday 23 March 2018

The Morning After: 'Monty Python' on Netflix and blurring lines between CGI and reality

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Friday, March 23, 2018.

Hey, good morning!

Welcome to the end of the week! This morning: The reality of women in the video-game industry, creepy-realistic real-time CGI and the Instagram update you’ve been waiting for.

They gave what to who?

Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook spoke too slowly about Cambridge Analytica

The Guardian reports that Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan's relationship with Facebook wasn't limited to his now infamous thisisyourdigitallife app. While it was anonymized, the data included "every friendship made on Facebook in 2011 in every country in the world at the national aggregate level," which totalled over 57 billion friendships. Plus, it was COO Sheryl Sandberg’s turn to apologize in front of the cameras.

It’s a man’s world.

GDC 2018: The video-game industry is finally asking where the women are

Images of all-male leadership teams are all-too common in the video-game industry. Questions about them, however, are not.

Creepy or cool?

With 'Siren,' Unreal Engine blurs the line between CGI and reality

Siren comes to life using live mocap tech that captures and live-streams her body and finger movements into an Unreal Engine project. This has larger implications not just for games but for other industries, like film, marketing and advertising, too. Imagine if actors didn't have to come in to do their work, it just had to be someone who looked remotely like them.

You’re in control (a little).

Instagram lets users decide when to refresh their feed

No, the chronological feed isn’t coming back. But Instagram says that two changes for its app are incoming, with one killing its annoying tendency to refresh mid-scroll, and an increased focus on putting recently posted items near the top.

It’s falling apart as you play.

GDC 2018: 'Clunker Junker' brings the danger of space battles into reality.

Clunker Junker is a cooperative space shooter for two players. Each crew member has a handheld, gun-like controller that stretches from palm to elbow; it's made to be held in the left hand, with a crank on the right side, a navigation cube on the base and an LED spout on the front. Since it’s meant to be a physical experience, when your on-screen ship takes damage, flaps on actual crates that need to be repaired will fly open.

Prepare a wafer-thin mint for an April binge.

‘Monty Python’ is silly-walking on to Netflix

A big chunk of Monty Python's catalog is coming to Netflix UK in April and the US later in the year. The slate includes the iconic films Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Monty Python's Life of Brian, along with TV series Monty Python's Flying Circus and several live specials. While UK viewers can start on April 15th, US users will have to wait, and "not all titles will be available at the same time in all territories." We’ve got a rundown of all things Monty Python coming to the service.

Chicken dinner for 8.

‘PUBG’ Event Mode offers limited-time custom games

The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developers describe Event Mode "as a periodically changing preset Custom Game where we will be trying new things and experimenting with different game parameters."

But wait, there's more...

1. 'What The Golf?' is the perfect game for people who don't care about golf

2. Raytheon's laser and microwave buggy test brought down 45 drones

3. The best Roku features you might not be aware of

4. GDC 2018: 'Children of Morta' and the power of modern pixel art

5. Huawei may be developing a 'blockchain smartphone'

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Thursday 22 March 2018

E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Thursday -- March 22, 2018

The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
Squandering Customer Loyalty Is Risky Business
Accent Launches CRM Supercharger Application
5 Steps to a Painless Checkout Process

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Today's Story Highlights

Squandering Customer Loyalty Is Risky Business

Customers often make investments in their relationships with the
businesses they choose to patronize. There is plenty of competition, so
companies must pay attention. It's only when a company respects and
wants a customer as much as the customer wants the company that things
will go well, and a long-term brand relationship will be created.
However, too many companies focus only on themselves.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85216.html

Accent Launches CRM Supercharger Application

Accent Technologies has announced the release of its new CRM
Supercharger application, which guides selling and sales performance by
applying intelligent data analytics to sales and buyer engagement data.
Like all of Accent's products, the Supercharger application is based on
the Software as a Service model. It targets mid-sized to large business-
to-business companies.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85217.html

5 Steps to a Painless Checkout Process

Checking out is the heart and soul of the e-commerce experience. When it
goes well, you've got happy customers who are likely to return.
"Checkout is not only key to driving revenue -- it's key to user
satisfaction, order size and retention," said Zephrin Lasker, head of
ecommerce at Viber. "A good process can allow for optimal conversion,
data collection and speed."
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85213.html

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The Morning After: Zuckerberg's apology and Netflix's new typeface

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Thursday, March 22, 2018.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to Thursday. We touch on why deleting Facebook is hard for some of us, squeeze a sorry out of Mark Zuckerberg and test out the comfortable future of Oculus VR.

The Facebook CEO said he's 'not sure we shouldn't be regulated.'

Mark Zuckerberg says sorry, eventually

Many have been waiting for Facebook’s leaders to speak up about the whole Cambridge Analytics debacle, and Mark Zuckerberg finally did. Following up on his Facebook post and rollout of some new rules and policy initiatives, the CEO appeared in a handful of interviews.

In the interviews, the first difference that jumps out is the presence of an actual apology for... something. Perhaps more interesting was Zuckerberg’s response to a CNN question about whether or not Facebook should be regulated. Zuckerberg said, "I actually am not sure we shouldn't be regulated."

It's not that simple.

Deleting Facebook is easier said than done

While you can Google around for a bunch of guides to delete your presence on Facebook, that’s not actually the hard part. It’s about that social disconnect.

Coming soon.

Hands-on with Oculus Go: comfy, wireless VR

Surprise! Facebook’s VR arm brought its upcoming $200 headset to GDC, and we took it for a spin. The Oculus Go is lightweight and comfortable, and the games Jessica Conditt tried out make great use of its untethered nature.

The police are continuing to investigate.

Tempe Police release in-car video from fatal self-driving Uber crash

Based on the video, it appears the victim had already walked across one lane on that side of the street with her bike but was in the shadows until the car reached her. Inside, the human safety driver looks down toward her lap and looks up just before the crash, appearing to be surprised. An Uber spokesperson said, "The video is disturbing and heartbreaking to watch, and our thoughts continue to be with Elaine's loved ones. Our cars remain grounded, and we're assisting local, state and federal authorities in any way we can."

It’s not a font.

Netflix’s latest original: Its very own typeface

Thank goodness.

With the science coming together, the biggest challenge is getting people on board.

Lab-grown meat is inevitable. Will we eat it?

Cultured meat, grown, is really weird. Whether cultured meat becomes a commercial reality this year or a decade down the road, it's likely on its way, so the new challenge is getting people to trust it and, ultimately, how to sell it to them.

Games that go wherever you are.

Tim Sweeney wants Unreal to power the cross-platform revolution

"I think what we are seeing is now these AAA games from traditional PC and console developers going mobile, and they are among the most popular mobile games that exist," Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney says. Think Fortnite, Ark: Survival Evolved, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Rocket League. All of these games, and countless others, run on Unreal.

Q vs. O.

Samsung puts price tags on its 2018 QLED TVs

Samsung released pricing details on its 2018 QLED line. The smallest base model, Q6F, at 55 inches, retails for $1,500, while the flagship Q9F 75-inch model inches is $6,000.

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