Apple Pay Volume Rises 450% In A Year
Overwatch has already made Activision Blizzard over $1 billion in revenue, according to its Q1 2017 earnings report, making it the publisher's fastest-growing franchise. The title has 30 million registered players and most of those are playing at least monthly.
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Oculus No Longer Making In-House VR Films
Oculus is no longer focusing on internal content production to the same degree. Facebook has decided to shut down the company's Story Studio, meaning Oculus is exiting the virtual reality film production business. It'll focus on supporting external production endeavors.
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Apple Becomes The Top Wearable Maker
As of Q1 2017, Apple is the top wearable company in the world. Strategy Analytics reports the first quarter of the year saw around 3.5 million Apple Watch shipments, enabling the company to surpass Fitbit's 2.9 million shipments. That gives it a 15.9% market share.
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US Could Require Social Media Info From Some Visa Applicants
Certain Visa applicants could be forced to hand over their social media handles from the past five years before they'll be granted a Visa. A proposal from the State Department includes that requirement. The extra requirement would only be in place for around 0.5% of applicants.
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Microsoft Bringing Bots To Bing Searches
Bots are being added to the Bing search engine to make the results more useful. Details haven't been released by Microsoft, but a session at its Build conference (May 10 - 12) is titled "Chatbots on Bing.com." Developers will learn about using chatbots during the session.
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Uber Faces Criminal Investigation For Regulator-Evading Software
A piece of software used by Uber to evade regulators in areas where it wasn't welcome has landed the company in hot water with the Justice Department. Uber is facing a criminal probe due to its "Greyball" tool, which helped it hide cars from regulators.
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Amazon Adjusts eBook Deals After EU Investigation
An investigation by the EU has pushed Amazon to change its deals with eBook publishers. Under newly created terms, Amazon is no longer forcing publishers to offer the best price on the Kindle store. The company had been preventing publishers from offering cheaper prices.
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Snapchat Adding On-Demand TV Shows
On-demand TV shows are going to fill up Snapchat in the near future. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Snapchat has signed content deals with NBCUniversal, ESPN, ABC, Turner, NFL, and others. They'll be offering 3-5 minute short episodes in Snapchat Stories.
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Remastered Zombie Maps Are Headed To Black Ops 3
A DLC pack for Black Ops 3 called "Zombies Chronicles" has been confirmed by Treyarch. It's going to include remastered versions of earlier Zombie maps. Eight maps from World at War, Black Ops, and Black Ops 2 will be available. It'll arrive this month.
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Roku Gets Twitter's TV Video App
Twitter's television livestreams are now accessible on Roku devices. A new app for the platform, called Twitter for Roku, lets you stream live content like news, sports, and big events. Twitter's selection of streams is continuing to increase. It recently announced new deals.
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Report Finds American Car Ownership Could Drop 80% In 15 Years
Once autonomous vehicles are widespread and integrated into the transportation system in a public transportation-like manner, most Americans may not have their own vehicle. A report has found private car ownership in the United States is on track to decline 80% by 2030.
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FBI Director Testifies Agency Can't Access 50% Of Devices
The security on consumer-grade devices has reached a level at which 50% of mobile devices can't be accessed, according to FBI director James Comey. During a Senate oversight committee meeting, Comey testified the agency has been unsuccessful in around half of cases.
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Twitter 'Moments' Will Include Ads
Twitter's Moments section is going to become another source of revenue for the social network. Ads in the form of "full-screen vertical videos" will make an appearance in that section of the app. Company representatives discussed the ad format during an event in Dubai.
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Apple CEO Claims Apple Watch Helped Him Lose 30 Lbs
With the help of the Apple Watch's health features, Apple CEO Tim Cook managed to lose 30 pounds, according to a CNBC interview. Cook says the smartwatch can help with staying fit because it provides an extra source of motivation. He's heard similar stories from others.
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Most US Households Now Just Use Wireless Phones
Wireless phones have become more common in US households than landlines. A report from the US Department of Health and Human Services finds that for the first time in history, the majority of households only have cell phones. The wireless-only rate is now 50.8%.
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Google Street View Will Collect Business Data To Improve Maps
Google's Street View system is now going to be used to collect street names, numbers, and other business-related info. Street View cars have been capturing vast swaths of the world for years, but extracting business and street info hasn't been an easy task.
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Gmail For Android Gets Phishing Protection
In the wake of a large phishing scam affecting Google Docs and Gmail users, Google is introducing a new security feature in Gmail for Android. The feature will warn users about potential phishing emails. When you click on a link in one of those emails, a warning will appear.
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Facebook To Improve Indian Internet Connectivity With 20,000 Hotspots
Facebook is going to use a large number of WiFi hotspots to improve connectivity across India. A new internet.org project called Express Wi-Fi will help set up around 20,000 hotspots over the coming months. Those will help a lot of people get online.
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Honor 9 Renders Leak Online, Another Phone Without 3.5mm Headphone Jack
Apple was one of the first companies that ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack on its flagship smartphones, and many other companies, including Xiaomi and HTC, followed the trend. Today, a set of Honor 9 renders leaked online from all angles, revealing the absence of 3.5mm port.
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iPhone Graphics Chips Supplier_Launches Formal Dispute Against Apple
As Apple started working on its own graphics solution, its GPU chip manufacturer Imagination Technologies opens dispute process with the Cupertino company related to intellectual property, after the two companies failed to reach agreement.The company believes that Apple can't
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