A European government study found little evidence that piracy affects sales of anything other than “recently released blockbusters.” Despite being completed in May 2015, it appears not to have been published until now. The study has come to light on the blog of Julia Reda, the only politician from a national Pirate Party to currently […]
Amazon is said to be developing a pair of smart glasses. Unlike the controversial Google Glass, they won’t involve cameras or screens and instead will simply be another way to use the Alexa personal assistant. The idea seems to be to make it easier to use Alexa on a smartphone without needing to dig the […]
YouTube is to expand a program letting game streamers earn money directly from viewers. It comes across as a clear attempt to compete with the success of Twitch. Though the Sponsorships program already existed in beta form, it was largely downplayed in favour of a separate scheme for paid access to view a channel. That’s […]
Genuinely wireless charging could be on the way according to one manufacturer that says its tweaked Qi charging. It would mean an end to having to line up devices on a ‘wireless’ pad. The Pi charger, expected to ship next year for under $200, can reportedly charge up to four or five devices at once. […]
The contents of Terry Pratchett’s office have taken pride of place at a museum in the UK, complete with his writing desk. The Salisbury Museum is hosting “Terry Pratchett: His World” for the next three months and includes a recreation of his study with a range of possessions from spectacles to floppy disks and personal […]
Chrome is to block automatic play of videos with sound unless the user has indicated they are interested in such clips. While many will see such a move as a good thing in itself, Google is also promoting it as a way to make website display more consistent between desktop computers and mobile devices where […]
Much of the marketing for the Nintendo Switch has been around a family-friendly image, but that’s not the case with two new confirmed titles: Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Both are from Bethesda, which is turning into one of the biggest supporters of the console. That said, it doesn’t seem to be treating […]
Apple has announced that the Apple Store is dead: from now on new locations for the retail outlets will officially be dubbed “town squares.” The curious rebranding was announced by the company’s senior vice president Angela Ahrendts at the launch event for new iPhones. The name change is part of an overhaul of the stores […]
Nintendo is bringing back the NES Classic – but not until Summer 2018. It’s also extending supplies of the SNES Classic. After initial batches proved nowhere close to supplying demand, Nintendo originally said it would not be making any more of the NES Classic because its resources were tied up in another project, which turned […]
Tesla has remotely unlocked the ability for Florida drivers fleeing Hurricane Irma to get an extra 30 to 40 miles in an electric car without recharging. It’s a temporary measure that highlighted an usual element to the battery capacity. Early Model S and Model X Tesla cars came with a standard 75 kWh battery pack, […]