If you were hoping for a standalone HBO streaming app to finally launch in Australia, think again – Foxtel has announced a multi-year deal with WarnerMedia that will see it remain as the country's home for HBO content for the foreseeable future.
The deal, which retains exclusivity to HBO (including shows from the upcoming HBO Max streaming service, which launches in the US on May 27) also covers content from Warner Bros. and WarnerMedia networks, which would surely include original shows and films from the DC Universe streaming service.
The WarnerMedia deal will extend Foxtel's access to a large catalogue of popular Warner Bros. TV shows, such as Friends and The Big Bang Theory, along with a vast library of movie favourites and channels such as Cartoon Network, Boomerang and CNN.
“We are pleased that after working together for almost 25 years we can announce an expansion of our relationship, not only with Warner Bros. and HBO, but with the extended WarnerMedia family,” said Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany.
Additionally, the partnership is said to involve a commitment on Foxtel's part to produce scripted and non-scripted programming for Warner Bros. International Television Production in Australia.
The deal has arrived in time for the expected launch of Binge, a rumoured upcoming streaming service from Foxtel which is said to offer a huge back catalogue of shows, as reported by the Australian Financial Review.
Never has the gaming industry had it so good. The Covid-19 led lockdown leading to a stuttering economy has left many twiddling their thumbs at home. And, it is into these hands that Microsoft is now getting its acclaimed Forza Street game.
In the history of Microsoft's Forza racing franchise, this is the first time that a free-to-play street racing game has launched on both Android and iOS. By doing so, Microsoft, now has one of its games on a platform that it does not own. The Forza Street, a Miami street racing game, was launched last year for the PCs.
True to form, the Forza Street is more about scoring new cars and giving them as many upgrades as possible than it is about winning the races. The main franchise has two separate series - the Forza Motorsport and the Forza Horizon.
While the Forza Motorsport was developed by Turn 10 Studios as a Gran Turismo type racing sim that takes the player on professional tracks, the Forza Horizon from the Playground Games stable is an open-world driving game where each game takes the gamer into different countries.
The last release from the Forza factor was the Horizon 4 which launched in 2018 while the next title could possibly be released in tandem with the launch of the Xbox Series X.
By making its debut on the smartphone, Microsoft's longest-running Forza franchise could well be testing ground to check how users adapt to what is possibly a scaled -down version of the experience that one gets on a PC or a console. Why would they do that? Just to give a taste of the games so that post-lockdown they upgrade to a console or at least to the PC.
The Forza Street is less about racing and more about timing the pedal press. So, in many ways it is really not what professional gamers seek when they hit the circuit. More than controlling the car, it is about how many times one taps the brake pedal and shifts back to the accelerator pedal, which means it is all about timing.
Having said so, the game is fun to play though it remains to be seen how the controls handle when we get on to the smartphone.
The Huawei Y9s from Huawei’s Y9 series has been spotted on the Chinese smartphone giant’s Indian website apart from Amazon India’s smartphone listing.
At the moment, the pricing and availability is not released. As per the specifications sheet, we gather that the smartphone is powered by the Kirin 710F, Huawei’s home grown system on chip, SoC. Other smartphones with the Kirin 710F include the capable Honor 9x, which has been available as a Flipkart exclusive in India since January this year.
It is similar to the Huawei Y9s international variant which was launched in November 2019. The Y9s rocks a side-mounted fingerprint reader which Huawei says unlocks the device in 0.3 second. The same fingerprint module is present on Honor smartphones like Honor 20 and 20 Pro.
For photography enthusiasts, the smartphone offers a triple camera set-up with a primary 48MP AI enabled sensor, an ultra wide angle 8 MP camera and a 2 MP sensor for depth sensing.
Competitively priced
The dual-SIM smartphone takes nano SIM cards and runs on Android 9 Pie out of the box and 4,000 mAh user non-removable battery and a 16 MP pop-up selfie camera.
Huawei provides its Ultra FullView Display with 91% screen real estate on the 6.59-inch TFT display and about 391 pixels per inch. There’s a pre-installed protective film on the Y9s, while the company does not specify which type of protective glass is used.
It is offered in Midnight Black,Breathing Crystal and Phantom Purple colours and comes with 6GB RAM and 128 internal storage and option to extend it up to 512 GB using a micro SD card.
It is expected to be available in the sub-Rs 20,000 segment competing with early entrants like Realme’s 6 Pro and X2, Xiaomi’s K20 and Samsung’s A50s and M31.
One thing that’s come out of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is the development of a new type of app. These are known as contact-tracing apps, and you’ve likely heard of them.
The name gives you the core idea of what these apps do – essentially allowing users to identify if they may have been in contact with someone infected with the coronavirus.
However, while a number of countries around the world are planning to start using contact-tracing apps (and in some cases already have started), the exact apps and systems vary from place to place.
Below then, we’ll give you an overview of the solutions being worked on for the US, UK, and Australia. But first though, here’s a closer look at what exactly contact-tracing apps do.
What do contact-tracing apps do?
Contact-tracing isn’t a new idea. All it really means is attempting to identify people that may have contracted a specific illness, usually by asking someone who’s known to have it where they’ve been and who they’ve been in contact with.
But with Covid-19 the scale of the challenge is much greater than normal, given how many people already have it and how easily it spreads. So rather than questioning individuals, contact-tracing apps are being designed to automate the legwork.
These would run in the background on your phone, tracking where you’ve been and who you’ve been in contact with. If someone you’ve been in contact with tests positive for Covid-19 (and enters that data into the app), then the app would alert you to this, so you would know to self-isolate or get tested yourself.
It’s a method then of not just tracking who already has Covid-19, but of potentially getting countries safely up and running again while we wait for a vaccine. Though of course how effective it is depends not just on the technology of each specific contact-tracing app, but also on how many people have the relevant app running on their phones.
Contact-tracing in the US
The main contact-tracing app used in the US is likely to be a joint venture from Apple and Google, so of course the same app would work on both iOS and Android. Powered by Bluetooth, the app would exchange anonymous ‘beacon keys’ with everyone you come in contact with (assuming they’re also using the app).
Then, if someone tests positive for Covid-19, they’re able to log this with the contact-tracing app, and it would alert those who the person came in contact with that they’d been exposed to the virus.
The alert may not come until days later, as the infected person may not have initially known they were infected, and the contract tracing app only ‘periodically’ downloads the beacon keys of everyone who has tested positive in a user’s region.
Importantly, these keys are anonymous – so if you get an alert that you’ve been in contact with someone infected, you won’t know who, when or where. But that’s okay, because if most people are running the app then everyone relevant will be alerted anyway. Users would also need to give consent for the app to share the fact that they’ve been diagnosed with Covid-19 (even though it’s kept anonymous).
Its focus on privacy meanwhile could hamper its effectiveness. Aside from requiring people to opt in, the fact that it doesn’t use location data could also limit the ability to identify coronavirus hotspots and map viral transmissions.
As such, there are rival apps in the works. Utah for example is working on a contact-tracing app called Healthy Together, which uses GPS and location data as well as Bluetooth.
Note that the Apple/Google app doesn’t have a name as such yet. In fact, it’s not likely to be a single app. Rather the tech could be integrated into an app for each country that chooses to use it. The actual app could vary from country to country, but the two tech giants have said they will limit the system’s use to one app per country, except where there’s a federated system in place, such as the United States.
So the app you have access to may end up depending on what state you’re in, and in some cases – as with Healthy Together – you might not be using Google and Apple’s system at all.
This decision seems to have been made because the NHS favors a centralized rather than decentralized system, the difference being that whereas a decentralized system carries everything out with users’ smartphones, a centralized one uses a computer server to work out who to send alerts to.
There’s no official name for the app at the time of writing, but it in some ways sounds similar to the Apple/Google model, in that it’s powered by Bluetooth, allowing it to log when you come in contact with anyone else using the app.
The NHS is opting for a centralized database
Then, if someone using the app gets diagnosed with Covid-19 or reports that they have symptoms, you’ll be sent an alert saying you were in contact with a potentially infected person. This alert may come days later, however, if they only got a diagnosis a while after you came in contact.
As with the Apple/Google contact-tracing system, this would all be anonymous – you wouldn’t know who the infected person was, just that someone you crossed paths with was diagnosed or had symptoms.
However, using a centralized system means the data is potentially more vulnerable to being mishandled by authorities, or accessed by hackers. On the other hand, in a conversation with the BBC, the NHS argued that having a centralized system makes it easier to audit the system and adapt it quickly based on the latest scientific evidence.
Another downside to this system is that the NHS’s app will need to wake up every time your phone detects another device running the app, which shouldn’t be required on Apple and Google’s system. It’s a difference which will likely mean the NHS app uses more of your phone’s battery.
Contact-tracing in Australia
Unlike the US and UK, which are still developing and trialing their apps and systems at the time of writing, Australia has fully launched its coronavirus contact-tracing app.
The app is called CovidSafe, and it’s available for those in Australia to download from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Doing so isn’t mandatory, but the more people who use it the more effective it will be.
To set up the CovidSafe app you’ll be asked for your name (or a pseudonym), your phone number, age range, and post code, all of which will be stored on an encrypted government server.
Then, the app will work much like most other contact-tracing apps – it will use Bluetooth to automatically (and anonymously) log other app users that you’re in contact with, the data from which stays on your phone unless you come into contact with someone infected.
If someone is infected with Covid-19, and they consent to share this with the app, it will then send anonymized ID’s of everyone they’ve been in contact with for the last 14 days to the government’s secure server, allowing the relevant health officials to get in touch with affected people.
Having a centralized database like this comes with privacy and security concerns, but the app doesn’t track location, and the Australian government has assured citizens that the data can only be accessed by relevant health officials, and only for contact-tracing.
At just under $600 with free DHL delivery(£488.49/AU$944.36), you will not find a cheaper Intel Core i9 computer than this one, assuming you don’t mind buying a device from mainland China and waiting a few weeks for it to land. In comparison, the cheapest Core i9 CPU we could find retails around $520.
The device, sold by Shenzhen Helor Cloud Computer Store on Aliexpress features the Intel Core i9-9880H. This one-year old processor has eight cores and 16 threads and uses a 14nm lithography. With a base frequency of 2.3GHz and 16MB cache, it has a TDP of 45W and uses an Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU.
This workstation/thin client can take up to 64GB DDR4 memory, supports up to three SSD drives and uses a 90W PSU. There’s also plenty of connectors: two video ports, five USB ports (including a Type-C one), a GB Ethernet connector and an audio port. At 15 x 14.6 x 6.65cm, it is compact enough to be carried around with ease.
Note that despite its size, it does have a massive 100mm fan and plenty of slits to allow air to circulate to cool the CPU but also the 8GB memory and the 128GB M.2 SSD. Remember that, like most PCs coming from mainland China, there’s no original Windows 10 OS bundled.
Activision Blizzard, the gaming company that owns the Call of Duty franchise, would be launching a premium version of the game in 2020, in addition to two more based on its own IP library later this year.
News of the update was broken by Gematsu via a tweet related to Activision's earnings call yesterday. The company revealed that "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" which was released last September had sold more copies than any other title from the franchise till this point.
During the earnings call, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick suggested that Call of Duty 2020 was "still on track" despite the company transitioning all its workforce to a work-from-home mode post the Covid-19 lockdown. However, he gave no details of who was developing it or whether the release would include new generation consoles.
Activision also said that there would be two new titles for consoles and PC-based gaming that would be based on its existing intellectual property, in addition to new mobile games scheduled for release later this year.
Kotick was quoted by CNN Business as saying that the current environment with high levels of unemployment and economic uncertainty would lead towards free games on phones as a big way to grow the audience. Activision Blizzard reported $1.52 billion in sales during the first quarter as compared to $1.26 billion a year ago.
Calling the Call of Duty
News around the new Call of Duty game should boost interest, given how well its predecessor Modern Warfare has done till date. So, while the premium edition was not entirely unexpected, it would be interesting to see what the developers come out with. There have been rumours that a reboot of the Black Ops series could be in the offing.
Moreover, details around the new PC or console titles have been scarce this time, though there is enough to suggest that mobile releases this year could be extensions of existing console and PC franchises. Which is why, Activision wanting a successor to its Call of Duty mobile from last year would not be a big surprise.
The company is suggesting that Warzone may have a major impact on the upcoming Call of Duty premium title for 2020.
This leads to speculation that Warzone could well become the battle royale mode for all future Call of Duty titles in tandem with the traditional multiplayer component, which would be quite similar to its association with Modern Warfare.
Redmi Note 9 Pro will be going on sale in India today at 12pm (noon). The phone was launched in March and boasts impressive specifications, like a quad rear camera setup and octa-core processor.
If you were planning on pawning off your Oculus Quest VR headset to try and score some cash ahead of the launch of the Oculus Quest 2, you might want to reconsider: Facebook’s next VR headset could be delayed until 2021 or later.
That's according to industry experts who spoke to Bloomberg who claim that Facebook originally planned on announcing the Oculus Quest 2 at this year’s Oculus Connect. That conference is usually held in late September or early October, but now, due to shipping delays and logistical issues, it may not take place until 2021.
Facebook's next standalone VR headset, which has been codenamed Del Mar, purportedly offers additional RAM, battery life and a faster processor, as well as some ergonomic improvements like a reduction in size and weight.
AndroidCentral and UploadVR also note that the Quest 2 could feature a redesigned controller that may offer improvements to tracking, haptics and finger sensing, which might help the Quest close the gap to more premium PC-based headsets like the Valve Index.
Oculus Disconnect
The primary reason for the delay, as you’d expect, comes down to issues around the latest coronavirus pandemic – basically, workers aren't all working and supply lines could be messed up for some time to come.
That said, the delay could allow Facebook more time to stockpile units ahead of launch to prevent another inventory issue like the one it had with the original Quest, and the additional time could also give developers more time to work with the hardware – both the headset and the new controllers.
Plus, missing the Holiday 2020 launch window could help the Quest 2 avoid the marketing melee that's likely to manifest around the launch of the Xbox Series X and PS5, arguably the two biggest upcoming gaming hardware releases.
All that said, we love seeing new hardware and are looking forward to Oculus’ next stand-alone headset. The current iteration is one of the best VR headsets of 2020 and only stands to improve once it gets a specs boost in the next generation.
Need something new to play in VR? Don't miss our roundup of the best VR games
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Want to get into sim racing but on a budget? Skip the cross-shopping and check out our recommendations for the three best setups to get you in the action.
