Matthew Wilson 2 days ago Featured Tech News, General Tech
There is good news and bad news from TSMC this week. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has seen a rise in revenue and profits in Q1, but unfortunately, we are no closer to the current chip shortage being over.
TSMC revealed this week that it saw a 19.4 percent rise in first-quarter profits, beating forecasts and market expectations largely due to continued demand for chips. For Q1, a chunk of this rise was “supported by HPC (High-Performance Computing) demand”, according to TSMC CFO, Wendell Huang. There is also some good news for the automobile industry, as TSMC expects to see chip shortages for cars begin to subside in Q2.
Unfortunately, it is not all good news. As reported by Reuters, TSMC has also stated that the current global chip shortage will likely continue into 2022, which will impact PC components, smartphones, laptops, smarthome products and other consumer goods.
Recently, both TSMC and Intel announced multi-billion dollar expansions to manufacturing facilities to meet current market demand and curb the chip shortage. However, these things take a lot of time to set up. In the case of TSMC, there is a three year roadmap to spend $100 billion expanding chip making capacity as well as furthering R&D efforts.
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KitGuru Says: Late last year there was optimisim that chip shortages would be resolved in the second half of 2021 but that optimism appears to have gone away over the last couple of months. Still, there should be at least some improvement as the year goes on, so hopefully we’ll have a clearer outlook in the months to come.
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Home/Software & Gaming/Days Gone PC features and improvements announced, releasing on May 18th
Matthew Wilson 2 days ago Software & Gaming
We’ve known for a while now that Days Gone is the next major PS4 console exclusive to be coming to PC. Now, we have a date and our first look at the PC version in action ahead of launch next month.
Days Gone is coming to PC on the 18th of May on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Similarly to last year’s Horizon Zero Dawn release, Days Gone will support 21:9 ultrawide displays, third-party controllers like the Xbox gamepad, as well as keyboard/mouse with remapping functions.
In the trailer above, we can see the PC version in action, running at 4K and 60 frames per second. The PC version will also include improved graphics over the PS4 version and unlocked frame rates, so you can run it well above 60 frames per second as long as you have the hardware for it. Speaking of hardware, below you will find the minimum and recommended PC specifications for the game:
Minimum:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core [email protected] or AMD FX [email protected]
The PC version includes increased level of detail, field of view and foliage draw distance, as well as the usual graphical customisation options we expect to balance fidelity and performance. The Photo Mode is also included for those who enjoy taking impressive screenshots.
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KitGuru Says: I skipped Days Gone on the PS4 but I’m really looking forward to picking up this PC version. Are any of you planning on grabbing this next month?
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Mustafa Mahmoud 2 days ago Featured Tech News, Online, Software & Gaming
In the past few years, Twitch has been unmatched when it comes to live streaming platforms, with many competitors coming and going, none of which have been able to compete with the sheer size of Twitch’s audience. This continues to be the case in 2021, with the service’s biggest competitors trailing far behind.
As reported by Gamesindustry.biz, during Q1 of 2021, Twitch accounted for 72% of all watched hours when it comes to streaming platforms. The service’s biggest competitors, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming are still lagging far behind.
During Q1 of 2021, Twitch managed to generate 6.3 billion hours watched, which represents a year-on-year growth of 97%. YouTube Gaming also saw growth, though much less so, going from 1.1 Billion hours watched in Q1 2020, to 1.4 Billion hours this most recent Quarter. While Facebook Gaming continues to be in third place, the streaming service has seen a significant amount of growth, increasing by 119% year-on-year to 1.1 Billion hours watched. Furthermore, Facebook’s service grew by 34.5% over the previous Quarter, highlighting the fact that the service is not slowing down any time soon, and may in fact shortly overtake YouTube Gaming for second place.
Regardless of all this, it is clear that neither platform can compete on sheer numbers when compared to Twitch. On the publishers front, Riot Games’ titles remain the most watched, with games such as League of Legends and Valorant being watched for 834.2 million hours over the past Quarter. Second place meanwhile goes to Rockstar Games. With GTA V being as popular as ever, the publisher’s titles were watched for 536.4 million hours.
Though it would seem that not much has changed on the streaming front in recent years, it will be interesting nonetheless to see how these platforms evolve, and what might happen to viewership figures as the world slowly recovers from the global pandemic.
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KitGuru says: Do you watch live streams of games? What is your platform of choice? How many hours of gaming content do you watch a week? Let us know down below.
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Mustafa Mahmoud 2 days ago Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming
The ESA, who is responsible for the annual E3 gaming convention, recently confirmed that after skipping 2020, E3 would be coming back later this year. With the event being digital this year, and in order to “extend its reach to video game fans worldwide,” the ESA announced that it has teamed up with IGN, Polygon, GamesRadar and more.
Making the announcement, the ESA revealed that it “has joined forces with IGN, Future Games (PC Gamer and GamesRadar), GameSpot, Polygon, IGN China and Game Bonfire” in order to expand the reach of 2021’s digital E3 event as far and as wide as possible.
This has reportedly been done with the intention of providing “an unmatched experience with new levels of access for fans around the globe with major publisher showcases, press conferences, thrilling reveals, extended livestreams and special guest appearances, available free online for all attendees.”
These media outlets have been brought in to “integrate and cross promote programming and coverage within the E3 experience. This includes coordinated broadcasts, wide coverage, media talent participation and original programming, among other features.”
E3 historically has relied on its in-person events as well as the spectacle of the games showcases (many of which featured live performances, stage props and more) in order to draw in as big a crowd as possible. With this not being the case this year, it is understandable that the ESA has pursued this audience reach via other methods. It will be interesting to see how E3 pans out this year.
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KitGuru says: Are you excited for E3 2021? What do you want to see from it? Is E3 still relevant in your opinion? Let us know down below.
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Matthew Wilson 2 days ago Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming
Last month, Ubisoft announced Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s first major expansion, “Wrath of the Druids”. While the expansion was originally due to release later this month, the development team needs an extra couple of weeks, pushing the expansion back into May.
In a tweet last night, the Assassin’s Creed Twitter account confirmed that Wrath of the Druids will now release on the 13th of May. The team is currently working on a developer update article which will further explain the work that has gone into this expansion:
To deliver a more refined experience, we’re sharing that:
⛰️Wrath of the Druids will now release on May 13 📝We’re working on an article to provide transparency and share insights on our dev process
Thanks for your patience. Keep an eye on our social channels for future news! pic.twitter.com/aQUPR8cWNV
— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) April 14, 2021
During this expansion, players will take on a mysterious cult from Ireland residing in the forests. The expansion is part one of Valhalla’s two-part season pass, so there will be another expansion later in the year in lieu of a new Assassin’s Creed, which will reportedly be coming in 2022 instead.
This all follows the latest major free update for Valhalla, which brings the game up to version 1.2 and adds The Ostara Festival event, transmog for additional character customisation, new skills and other improvements.
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KitGuru Says: Are many of you still playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla? Are you looking forward to the first major expansion?
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Mustafa Mahmoud 2 days ago Featured Tech News, Online, Software & Gaming, Tech News
Since its surprise launch in February 2019, Apex Legends has become one of the major players in the free-to-play Battle Royale genre of games. Though growth has slowed down substantially, EA reported that Apex Legends has now officially surpassed 100 million players.
Making the announcement on Twitter, the Apex Legends team said “100 million strong, and we’re just getting started. Thank you, Legends!” revealing that the free-to-play title now boasts over 100 million players just over 2 years after its launch.
Apex Legends launched on the 4th of February 2019 to rapid success, amassing over 25 million players within its first week. By October of that same year, Apex Legends boasted over 70 million players. While 100 million is a major milestone, it is interesting to see only 30 million more players added in the past year and a half – especially with the game coming to new platforms during this time.
100 million strong, and we’re just getting started. Thank you, Legends! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FlINru0lx5
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) April 14, 2021
For comparison’s sake, Fortnite, which was released in September of 2017, currently sits at 350 million players – though the game is available on many more platforms than Apex Legends. One of the other major competitors is Call of Duty: Warzone, which only launched in March of last year. Despite this, the game already has 85 million players while being on fewer platforms than both Fortnite and Apex Legends.
Apex Legends is currently on its 8th season, and with the team “just getting started” it will be interesting to see what they have planned for the future of Apex Legends.
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KitGuru says: Do you play Apex Legends? Are you still excited by Battle Royale games? Which is your favourite? Let us know down below.
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Matthew Wilson 2 days ago Featured Tech News, Security, Software & Gaming
In November 2020, Capcom confirmed it had suffered a huge data breach, with attackers stealing hundreds of thousands of confidential records and other data, including personal information of employees and plans for future games. In an update this week, Capcom confirms that it has completed its investigation into the attack.
The fourth update confirms that Capcom’s internal systems are “near to completely restored” and the company has established an “IT Security Oversight Committee”, which will help maintain security moving forward. With solutions now in place, Capcom can now be a bit more transparent with what exactly went wrong in late 2020.
According to their investigation, the attackers gained unauthorised access to servers in October 2020 by exploiting an old backup VPN device that was being used at Capcom’s US offices. At the time, Capcom had introduced a new VPN but one of the old VPN devices remained active and was not shut down. This device has now been removed from the network.
After gaining access through the VPN, the attackers were then able to compromise systems both at Capcom USA and Capcom Japan, leading to over 1TB of files being stolen. In total, the information of 15,649 people was compromised – initially the number was much larger but during the course of the investigation, Capcom was able to narrow the leak down. Capcom is contacting those who were impacted and has set up support lines for those affected to ask questions.
Following the cyberattack, there was a message left behind demanding a ransom but no specific monetary amount was specified. Additionally, Capcom confirms it “took no steps to make contact”. While this concludes Capcom’s internal investigation, the publisher continues to work with “relevant authorities” to pursue legal options against the attackers.
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KitGuru Says: While we often see a lot of companies failing to offer transparency when it comes to cyberattacks, Capcom has taken the opposite approach. We’ve had regular updates and a lot of transparency over what happened and the solutions now in place, which is excellent. More companies should look at this and handle things in a similar way.
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A judge in Australia found Google misled users about personal location data the company collected via Android devices, a violation of Australian law, the Associated Press reported.
According to Federal Court Judge Thomas Thawley, the violations occurred between January 2017 and December 2018. Users creating a new Google account while setting up a new Android device were led to believe that the “Location History” setting was the only Google account setting that would determine if the company collected identifiable data about the user’s location. In fact, another Google account setting that was turned on by default — the “Web & App Activity” setting— allowed Google to collect and store personally identifiable location information when it was active.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the company’s consumer watchdog organization, said it is seeking penalties against Google, but did not specify an amount.
“This is an important victory for consumers, especially anyone concerned about their privacy online, as the Court’s decision sends a strong message to Google and others that big businesses must not mislead their customers,” ACCC chair Rod Sims said in a statement.
Google did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Saturday. But a spokesperson told the Associated Press that the company disagreed with the judge’s findings and was considering an appeal.
The company has been involved in legal action in Australia over the past several months. In February, the Australian government passed a law requiring Google and Facebook to pay media companies for news content distributed on their platforms.
The current Patriot Viper Elite (Image credit: Patriot)
Patriot will release a new DDR4 kit next month to compete with the best RAM in the budget category. During The Tom’s Hardware Show yesterday, Roger Shinmoto, Patriot VP of product, revealed the DDR4-4000 Viper Elite 2.
The brand already has DDR4-4000 kits available in its other Viper-branded products, such as the Patriot Viper Steel, but the Viper Elite lineup currently maxes out at DDR4-2400. The Viper Elite 2 will kick things up to DDR4-4000, while keeping with the more wallet-friendly pricing of the Elite series.
4,000 MHz is a sweet spot for AMD platforms, but Shinmoto told us that the kits target both AMD and Intel builders.
But it’s not just about keeping your bank account happy. After 6 years of the Viper Elite being in the market, the new Viper Elite 2 is supposed to bring some new style too.
“Engineering team decided it was time to give it a facelift, so they went out and designed a brand new heat spreader from the ground up,” Shintomo said on The Tom’s Hardware Show. “It’s a really nice red and black design. Very aggressive styling.”
The exec pointed to the DDR4-4000 RAM as being a good fit for overclocking, as well as enthusiasts building a PC for the first time or builders simply seeking an upgrade that doesn’t cost a fortune.
We still don’t know the Viper Elite 2’s pricing, partially due to the memory market’s volatility.
“Just like NAND, DRAM pricing is so volatile,” Shinmoto explained. “We can quote a price today and it might change by May. So they’ll be competitive, but these aren’t the highest-end solutions we have. They’re geared more for the entry-level and price-minded sector.”
But although memory prices have been “going up for a couple months now” and “allocations have been tight,” according to Les Henry, Patriot’s VP of North America and South America sales, Shinmoto assured the Viper Elite 2’s pricing will be “very affordable.”
We currently see Patriot’s high-end Viper Steel DDR4-4000 (2x 8GB) going for about $145, so we hope the Viper Elite 2 is cheaper upon release.
The Tom’s Hardware Show livestream is every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET on YouTube, Facebook and Twitch, and is also available as a podcast.
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As Vergecast listeners know, I am a sucker for car phone mounts and chargers. They are a perfect gadget for the modern age — a design problem with no perfect solution, price points that usually land at the higher end of the impulse-buy zone, and completely well-suited for targeted Instagram ads. “People who have bought a Qi-based car mount in the last year,” the marketing director of a tiny accessory company sternly instructs the Facebook ad-targeting system. “Find them and relentlessly pressure them into buying our product which is at best marginally better than the one they have.”
Reader, it works.
All of this means I was very excited when Apple added MagSafe charging to the new iPhone 12 line. A series of magnets aligns a wireless charger to the back of the phone, and has enough attachment strength to — yes — hold the phone on a car mount. A dream: you get in the car, seamlessly dink! your phone onto the mount, and drive away, laughing at the suckers fumbling with their cradles and motorized friction arms and other unwieldy ideas. Magnets, baby. How do they work.
The MagSafe attachment plate can pivot independently from the mountNilay Patel
Note the lack of a USB cable plugged in here, because there isn’t a charger in there.Nilay Patel
Unfortunately it has been six months since the iPhone 12 was announced, and there is a pitiful shortage of MagSafe car chargers. In fact, there are no officially-sanctioned MagSafe car chargers. Instead, there is this Belkin Car Vent Mount PRO with MagSafe, which, as the name suggests, allows you to mount a phone to your vents with MagSafe, in, um, a professional way. However, it does not charge your phone.
I have been using a review unit of the Belkin Car Vent Mount PRO with MagSafe, or BCVMPwM, for a couple months now. It is at once supremely satisfying — dink! — and also tremendously frustrating. Like all vent mounts, the weight of the phone is enough to pull the vent louvers down over time, especially if you have a large phone like my iPhone 12 Pro Max. The magnets are indeed strong enough to hold even that phone in place, but if you go over any particularly huge bumps, something will fall down — the phone off the mount, or the mount off the vent.
“Dammit, BCVMPwM,” you will yell, using the full name of this $40 promise to yourself. “Why aren’t you everything I hoped and dreamed of when I looked at the marketing photos on social media?” Then you will put everything back into place at the next stop light, sheepishly glance at your partner, and slowly realize they have completely stopped paying attention to these sorts of antics anymore. You need new antics. You need to add Linux to your smart home.
It’s a clean look, but note that this phone is not charging. Because it’s not a charger.Nilay Patel
Stop it. Have I mentioned that the BCVMPwM does not have C? No, this is not a charger. For that, you still have to plug in a Lightning cable, which sort-of-maybe makes sense if your car does not have wireless CarPlay and you need to plug it in anyway — but there you are, plugging a cable into your phone, which is the complete opposite of the dink! Magnet Experience. Your old car mount, with the horrible friction arms, had a built-in Qi charger. There are hacky wireless CarPlay adapters! People say they are kinda slow and have audio latency issues, but c’mon — a single dink! to mount your phone, charge it, and instantly connect to CarPlay? Now that’s the good shit.
Why isn’t there an approved MagSafe car mount with built-in wireless charging after six months? Why do Apple accessory ecosystems always seem so petrified, in every sense of the word? This is the easiest win of all time, but instead, there is the BCVMPwM. It offers you a glimpse of a dream. Then it falls down. There are better unlicensed ones that might burn your car to the ground that you can buy on Amazon. It is the paradigmatic Apple accessory.
Apple has officially announced its “Spring Loaded” event for April 20th, its first major product announcement of 2021.
Unlike a lot of Apple’s events, its spring events tend to be a bit more scattershot: one year might see high-end iPads, another a more education-focused event, or a launch of a comprehensive service strategy. This year, rumors are pointing to a refreshed iPad Pro lineup, potentially with Apple’s first Mini LED panels — which would bring a big jump forward for the company’s tablet displays. But we could also see new AirPods, the company’s long-rumored AirTag trackers, a new iPad Mini, and more.
The proceeding should kick off at 1PM ET on Tuesday, but if you’re looking for an early preview, here’s what you can probably expect to show up.
iPad Pro
It’s been over a year since Apple’s last refresh of the iPad Pro, and the 2020 model — a fairly iterative update to the 2019 version — is starting to get a little long in the tooth, especially compared to the beefed-up specs on Apple’s latest iPhones and M1 Macs.
Like last year, Apple is expected to launch both 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models; but the larger iPad Pro is expected to make a big switch in screen technology to debut Apple’s first Mini LED display. Additional rumors indicate that supply of the Mini LED panels might be hard to come by, that stock of the larger model may be limited at launch, or that Apple might delay the release of the 12.9-inch version until availability is better.
Photo by Brennan King / The Verge
A report from Bloomberg sheds more light on what to expect, too: while the overall design of the two tablets is expected to stay largely the same as last year’s model, Apple is expected to swap out the A12Z chip for a newer processor that’s said to be on par with its more recent M1 chipset. The new iPads are also said to upgrade to a Thunderbolt port (with faster data speeds and a wider peripheral selection than the standard USB-C port) and feature upgraded cameras.
Apple could also potentially have a new Apple Pencil accessory in the works to go with the new iPad Pros. Images of a new, glossy version of the stylus have been circulating on Twitter, and the “spring forward” teaser could imply that Apple might offer a spring-loaded tip, similar to what Wacom offers on its pens.
AirTags
Image by Guilherme Rambo / 9to5Mac
One of Apple’s worst-kept secrets in years, Apple’s Tile-like AirTags have been rumored to make an appearance at nearly every Apple event and announcement since early 2019. Said to be small, circular tags with Bluetooth and ultra-wideband radio chips, AirTags would rely on Apple’s existing Find My app and network of iPhones, iPads, and Macs to allow users to track and find missing objects (similar to how users can currently track lost phones).
AirTags would also potentially work with recent iPhone models’ U1 chip to allow for AR-based ultra-wideband tracking in local areas — something that Samsung has recently also began to offer with its Galaxy SmartTag Plus.
There have been references to AirTags (or Apple Tags) in iOS code leaks, endless rumors, and even in an official support video that explicitly revealed the “AirTags” name as part of its offline finding feature last year. The only thing left is for Apple to officially announce them.
iPad Mini
Also long overdue for an update is Apple’s oft-neglected iPad Mini, which was last refreshed over two years ago in March 2019. (Given that that update came after a four-year drought for the iPad Mini, a refresh this year would actually be beating par.) The current model features the exact outdated design that Apple’s been using for nearly a decade, with an older A12 processor to boot, so there’s plenty of room for Apple to improve things, too.
Adding fuel to the fire is that both Bloomberg and noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo have pointed at a larger iPad Mini (potentially with an 8.5-inch display, which could come from eliminating some of the chunky 2012-era bezels) for 2021.
AirPods 3
A third-generation version of Apple’s AirPods has been rumored for months, set to feature shorter stems and replaceable ear tips, similar to the current AirPods Pro design. The updated AirPods are also said to feature better battery life than their predecessors. Apple has also been rumored to be working on a refreshed AirPods Pro design that would eliminate the earbud stem entirely, but as Bloomberg’s report notes, that redesign is further out — so they’re unlikely to make an appearance here.
Apple TV
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The Apple TV 4K sits at a strange place in Apple’s lineup. Released in 2017, it’s one of the oldest Apple products still being sold. At $180, its price has since been lapped by Roku, Amazon, and Google, all of which offer comparable 4K streaming boxes at a fraction of the price.
Apple is rumored to be working on a refreshed model for 2021, which would add a faster processor and a new remote to replace the infamous Siri Remote. Support for HDMI 2.1 and 120Hz refresh rates could also be in the cards. But more than new features, the Apple TV 4K is in dire need of a price cut — something that Apple is historically more reticent to provide.
iOS 14.5
Given the pace of both developer and public betas, it’s all but certain that Apple will officially release iOS 14.5 either at or immediately following the event (especially if it has new iPad hardware). The new software promises to add the ability to more easily unlock an iPhone while wearing a mask through an Apple Watch, new emoji, and Apple’s highly debated App Tracking Transparency feature that has drawn particular ire from Facebook.
MacBooks and iMacs and Mac Pros (oh my!)
After the shockingly great debut of Apple’s first wave of Apple Silicon-powered computers last fall with the M1 MacBook Air, Pro, and Mac Mini, all eyes are on Apple’s next steps in its ARM transition. The company is rumored to be working on plenty of new Macs as it looks to achieve its ambitious goal of switching fully from Intel’s chips within two years. That includes more powerful MacBook Pros that would ditch the Touch Bar, bring back MagSafe and additional ports, and feature an improved M-series chip. A new iMac and a smaller Mac Pro (also featuring M-series chips) are said to be in the works as well.
With WWDC around the corner, though, it’s likely that we won’t hear more about new Mac hardware until then, especially if Apple is planning on debuting more developer and professional-friendly Apple Silicon-powered laptops and desktops.
Something surprising
Of course, with Apple, you never quite know what to expect — which means that there’s always room for a surprise announcement or two at the Spring Loaded event that not even we saw coming. Could Apple tease its long-rumored VR headset? A refreshed iPhone SE? A first look at the Apple Car? Whatever happens, stay tuned to The Verge for all the details.
I’m really serious about quitting Twitter this time, I promise. I deactivated my account on March 15th and declared the event to my friends in Slack. They earnestly congratulated me. They’re all still on Twitter, but they all know how exhausting and distressing it can be. Now that I’m gone, their new joke on Twitter is that I “don’t exist.”
It’s not the first time I haven’t existed, and sure as death and taxes, it won’t be the last. But my nonexistence on Twitter didn’t stick right away. When I first quit on the 15th, I came back three days later because I decided that I wanted to tweet about a new project.
Then I got owned by my friends, and I deserved it:
welcome back to twitter btw
— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) March 18, 2021
It doesn’t feel good to quit something over and over again — especially when everyone knows you’re coming back. When I deactivated my account again for real on March 25th, my friend Casey Newton wasn’t buying it: “writing about people deleting Twitter should be like reporting a missing person to police. You have to wait at least a day.”
And so I returned to Slack to declare, once again, that I had quit Twitter. But now I’m subject to a real financial penalty. I’ve agreed to pay Casey $1,000 if I reactivate my Twitter account, and I really don’t want to cut that check. It’s an absurd amount of money. Fortunately, I can’t think of a single tweet that would be worth it.
I know this sounds like a stunt or a joke, but it’s not. Hours after I deactivated my account and put a bounty on it, Chrissy Teigen announced she, too, would be leaving Twitter. When I saw her goodbye letter it felt like it was in my own handwriting. “This no longer serves me as positively as it serves me negatively, and I think that’s the right time to call something,” she wrote. “…one thing I haven’t learned is how to block out the negativity.”
That’s not to say my experience on Twitter was anything like Chrissy’s. Twitter works differently when you have millions of followers and an endless eruption of mentions and replies. (Even rarer: her tweets often generated coverage from reporters and created entire news cycles.) And like other women on the internet, she received years of public abuse simply for being herself — except at a scale few people will ever experience.
But everyone is exposed to the online abuse of others at scale, even if they are not targeted by it. And that means Twitter is a horror show for people who feel real anxiety just from witnessing anger and cruelty. I’ve directly received plenty of abuse and threats through Twitter over the years because of my work, but the stuff that actually sticks with me is what I see happening to others. Whether it’s learning too much about the sacrificial character of the day, or falling down a thread of abusive replies to a random tweet, it’s difficult to avoid “negativity” on a platform that seems designed to reward it. Even the intermittent rewards that Twitter does provide — Llamas on the loose! Small boulder the size of a big boulder! — are at risk of becoming their own nightmares.
Making a change when you’ve been worn down for so long can feel more like something that’s already happened instead of a clear moment in time that separates past and future. I’m worn down, and that makes quitting Twitter feel a lot easier. (Well, that, and theoretically owing Casey a thousand bucks.) But the stress from Twitter’s toxicity is not the only reason I’m leaving.
There’s a deeper problem that comes with using a tool for more than a decade — the way it shapes how you experience the world. How it makes you form words and sentences to fit certain kinds of boxes. How it makes you feel compelled to fill those boxes, and why. How these things alter the rhythm of your life.
I’ve never liked the moral panic around “internet addiction,” but there is something resonant about the metaphor. (Let’s just leave aside stuff like the New York Postcalling screens “digital heroin”.) The little voice I once had in my head telling me to smoke cigarettes actually never sounded much different from the little voice telling me to tweet. I will let other people figure out the mechanisms behind that — all I need to know is that, for a time, I heard and I listened.
When those little voices go away, you find how much room there is for other kinds of thinking — in different shapes of time and color and texture. In 2014 I permanently quit Facebook after a few failed attempts. It didn’t take long to stop seeing things in my head that were Facebook-shaped. I found other places on the internet to enjoy and other ways to communicate with people. Just because Facebook and Twitter are free doesn’t mean you have to let them live rent-free in your head.
This past weekend, a thought passed through my mind in the shape of a tweet, and I felt the urge to tweet it. But I couldn’t, so I didn’t. And as the thought drifted away from me, I felt lighter. It wasn’t put on a permanent record. I didn’t stop to watch my phone and see if anyone else would acknowledge it. I let it go, closed my eyes, and felt the sun on my face.
Resident Evil 4 will be rereleased in virtual reality on the Oculus Quest 2 headset. Resident Evil 4’s VR remake will be a collaboration between series publisher Capcom, Oculus parent company Facebook, and the independent studio Armature. While Capcom didn’t offer much detail, some early footage shows a first-person adaptation of the classic third-person shooter.
Capcom announced its news during a Resident Evil showcase that also included a new trailer for the non-VR Resident Evil Village. Oculus and Facebook Reality Labs will reveal more about the game on April 21st, when Facebook is holding its own VR showcase for the Quest.
The Resident Evil series has tried VR before. The 2017 first-person game Resident Evil 7 let you play through the entire game with a PlayStation VR headset, which made the game arguably scarier but also more difficult to play. Capcom also released a VR-only demo for that game. But this is the first full Resident Evil game that seems specifically designed for VR — and specifically for Facebook’s standalone Oculus Quest 2. (While it’s not clear whether Resident Evil 4 will also support the original Quest, Oculus has pushed to make Quest games compatible with both headsets in the past.)
This isn’t quite the Resident Evil 4 remake that fans have called for, and non-VR users may still want to focus on a fan-funded remaster of the original game. But it looks like the series’ first foray into making games specifically for VR — something that could provide a very different experience than adding headset support to a non-VR game.
You’ve probably been caught off guard by videos that play automatically on Facebook, Twitter, or just across the internet in general. They begin playing as soon as you load a page or (if they’re more deviously implemented) when you start scrolling through a page.
Automatic video play is a feature that, while nice to have when it’s surfacing content that’s related to your interests, can be pretty annoying. Autoplay videos can be harmful, too, exposing you to violent, offensive, or otherwise unwanted content that you shouldn’t have to see by default.
Whether you just want to put an end to autoplay videos on social media platforms or are looking for a more comprehensive fix, we’ve got some tips. Keep in mind that you’ll need to adjust these settings for every device that you use, since your preferences on, say, your phone do not automatically push to your PC.
Illustration by James Bareham / The Verge
Facebook
If you’re using Facebook on your browser, you can turn off autoplay videos this way:
Go to the drop-down menu at the top right of the page.
Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
Look for the “Videos” listing on the left-hand menu. Inside of that option is a toggle where you can turn off autoplaying videos.
Facebook has similar options available for its iOS and Android apps:
Using the iOS app
Click the menu button on the bottom of your screen.
Once you’re there, tap “Settings & Privacy,” then “Settings.”
Scroll down until you find “Media and Contacts,” then tap “Videos and Photos.”
Finally, once you find “Autoplay,” you can turn off the feature.
Using the Android app
Click the menu button at the top right of your screen.
Once you’re there, scroll down and tap “Settings & Privacy,” then “Settings.”
Scroll down until you find “Media and Contacts” and tap on it.
Tap on “Autoplay” and set it to “Never Autoplay Videos.”
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter
Click on “More” in the left-hand menu, and then on “Settings and privacy.”
Select “Accessibility, display, and languages” > “Data usage”
Click on the “Autoplay” setting. You can then switch off the autoplaying of videos on your feed.
Using the iOS and Android apps
Click the profile picture at the top of your phone screen.
Select “Settings and privacy” in the menu.
Navigate to “Data usage,” tap on “Video autoplay” and set it to “Never.”
Instagram
Instagram doesn’t allow for autoplay videos to be turned off, so you’ll have to tread carefully here. Videos won’t autoplay with sound if you use Instagram on your browser. Stopping autoplay on mobile devices is possible, but a little roundabout.
Using a mobile app
Go to your profile page and tap on the three lines in the upper right corner
Go to “Settings” > “Account” > “Cellular Data Use”
For Android: toggle the “Data Saver” on and tap on “High Resolution Media.” If you then select “Never,” then media such as videos won’t load in advance.
For iOS: toggle on “Use Less Data”
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Reddit
Reddit, like most sites that host video, autoplays videos by default. However, it’s pretty easy to turn it off.
Using the newest design
Click your username in the upper-right corner and select “User settings” in the menu.
Select the “Feed settings” tab at the top of the page, and toggle off the “Autoplay media” switch.
Using the legacy version
Click “Preferences” next to your username in the top right of the window.
Under “Media,” look for and uncheck “Autoplay Reddit videos on the desktop comments page.”
You’ll need to hit “save options” at the bottom of the screen to put the changes through.
Using the mobile app
Tap the icon next to the search bar, then hit “Settings.”
You’ll see “Autoplay” near the top of the page, and you can easily choose to turn it off.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Desktop browsers
There are a variety of desktop browsers out there — some of which let you turn off video autoplay and some of which don’t.
Using Google Chrome
If you use Google Chrome and want to turn off video autoplay — you can’t. There used to be an experimental command-line flag that allowed you to turn them off (you can find the flags by typing chrome://flags/ into Chrome’s address field), but it’s disappeared.
You can turn the sound off (which might help a bit):
Tap on the three dots in the upper right corner
Select “Settings” > “Site settings” > “Sound”
Toggle sound off. You can add exceptions for specific sites here.
Using Microsoft Edge
Interestingly, Microsoft’s Edge browser, which is also based on the Chromium open-source design, does let you turn off — well, at least, limit — video autoplay:
Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select “Settings.”
In the left-hand column, click on “Site Permissions,” and then scroll down to and select “Media autoplay.”
You can either allow audio and video to play automatically or limit it. According to the instructions, whether autoplay will work or not will depend on “how you’ve visited the page and whether you interacted with media in the past.”
Using Firefox
Firefox has a similar feature that lets you turn off autoplay, for the most part.
Click on the three lines in the upper right corner of the browser and select “Preferences.”
In the left-hand column, click on “Privacy & Security.”
Scroll down to the section headed “Permissions” and look for “Autoplay.” Click on the button marked “Settings.”
A drop-down menu will let you allow audio and video, block audio, or block audio and video. You can also specify sites that you want to differ from your defaults — for example, if you block audio and video as a default, but you want to allow it for, say, The Verge.
Using Safari
Safari makes it simple to disable autoplay. In fact, it assumes that you want the feature disabled to begin with. However, if it hasn’t been disabled — or if you want to make some exceptions to the rule — here’s what you do:
While in the app, go to Safari > Preferences in the top menu.
Click on “Websites” in the top menu.
Look for and select “Auto-Play” in the side menu.
Look for the drop-down menu at the bottom right of the window and select “Never Auto-Play.”
As with Firefox, you can whitelist any sites that you want to be an exception to the rule.
Update September 4th, 2020 5:11PM ET: This article was originally published on March 15th, 2019. Most of the entries have been updated.
Update April 15, 2021 5:30PM ET: Additional entries have been updated.
As online publishers grapple with how to replace dwindling ad revenue and find new ways to bring in money, Reuters, one of the largest news organizations in the world, is using a strategy that’s been around for years and putting its online content behind a paywall.
Reuters.com draws 41 million unique visitors monthly, according to the company, but it has not charged for access like other news sites in its business-centric niche have done for some time. It will let users read five stories a month for free and plans to charge $34.99 a month for a subscription. That’s a bit pricier than a sub to TheNew York Times ($18.42 / month) but closer to similar news organizations of its type, including The Wall Street Journal ($38.99 / month), which put its paywall up in 1996, and Bloomberg.com ($34.99 / month), which added a paywall in 2018.
Reuters said it generates half of its revenue from its largest client, the financial data firm Refinitiv, and also makes money from online advertising. The company says it has redesigned its website with a “professional audience” in mind and plans investment in segments like legal news and live streams of its events.
How online news is paid for has been the topic of discussion among publishers for years; online advertising doesn’t bring in the level of revenue that print ads used to for newspapers, and publishers often have to rely on platforms like Facebook and Google to push their content to readers. Google has battled with lawmakers in Australia who want the search giant to pay publishers for their content. And amid renewed scrutiny of social media platforms and how they siphon ad revenue from news publishers, a bill introduced last month in Congress aims to give more leverage to publishers when negotiating with platforms for a share of ad revenue.
While both Facebook and Google have initiatives that pay some publishers to license their content, for many news outlets online subscriptions are a major part of their revenue streams.
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