Payment - Page 9 of 19

The ultimatum of WhatsApp: share data with Facebook or say goodbye to the app

WhatsApp is proposing new terms to users of service and privacy that must be accepted by February 8, under penalty of inability to use the app. There is no possibility to choose whether or not to share the information of your WhatsApp account with Facebook.

by Manolo De Agostini published 07 January 2021 , at 10: 01 in the Telephony channel

WhatsApp Facebook

Take or leave. WhatsApp gave an aut to the billions of users of their app, who will have to agree to share their data with Facebook (and the companies of the group), otherwise they will no longer be able to use the app . This does not mean that you will need to have a Facebook account to use the app, but that the data collected via WhatsApp will be shared between different entities in the group led by Mark Zuckerberg.

Actually, before going into the explanation of what is happening, a clarification must be made : in Europe the situation is slightly different compared to the rest of the world due to much more restrictive laws on privacy and data sharing. Just compare the message sent to Italian and foreign users, outside the EU borders, to see that there is a point where we talk about “how we collaborate with Facebook to offer integrations in the entire Facebook company “.

In any case, this is an update of the privacy policies to which WhatsApp and Facebook (owner of the app ) had been thinking for a long time, but their imposition had been postponed. From 2016 WhatsApp allowed users to decide (within 30 days) whether or not they wish to share their data with Facebook , but this possibility will disappear from next month. Among the data that WhatsApp collects we find the telephone numbers of the users, the numbers of the contacts in the address book, the profile names, profile pictures, transaction and payment data, statuses (including last online presence) and diagnostic data collected from logs.

“As part of companies of Facebook, WhatsApp receives information from these companies and shares it with other Facebook companies. We may use the information that we receive from them, and vice versa they may use the information we share with them, to make available, provide, improve, understand, personalize, support and market our Services and their offerings, including products from Facebook companies “.

“ Currently, WhatsApp only shares certain types of information with Facebook companies The information we share with other companies d Facebooks include account registration information (such as phone number), transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with other users (including businesses) when using our Services, information about your mobile device and your IP address “.

That said, the merger between Facebook and WhatsApp after the acquisition of the 2014 is destined to become more and more (but on the other hand we must certainly not be surprised) as evidenced by the notice in the app in which you are invited to sign the changes to the WhatsApp terms of service by February 8 . WhatsApp users now have three options : accept the new terms (and thus become aware of the fact that WhatsApp is from Facebook), stop using the app (switching to Telegram, Signal or other alternatives) or delete your account.

Epic Games buys mall as headquarters

About 91. 000 square meter large Cary Towne Center in Cary (North Carolina) including 350. 000 square meters of land is to be the new headquarters of the Epic development studio Games become. The planning for the design should begin this year. The move to the building, which is only 4 kilometers away from the previous headquarters, is to take place in 2024.

Epic Games was founded 1991 by Tim Sweeney. The studio develops the Unreal Engine, which has become one of the most widely used 3D engines in PC and console games. Epic also operates its own online game distribution platform, the Epic Games Store. This attracts users especially with the battle royale shooter Fortnite, offers many free games and games that are only available on this platform. In addition to its headquarters, the studio 50 has offices worldwide. The game developer is now valued at 17, $ 4 billion, with Fortnite bringing much of the profits. The purchase of the mall now announced by Epic could offer the possibility to accommodate up to 2000 new employees.

Epic Games recently attracted attention because the studio bypassed the payment modalities in Apple’s App Store: The game studio integrated its own payment interface for in-app purchases in Fortnite in order to avoid payments from 30 Avoid percentage of income sharing in Apple. As a result, Apple removed the game Fortnite from its app store and sued the Fortnite creators for damages – a lawsuit that was most recently dismissed.

(tdi)

Billion dollar business for iPhone games between the years

Apple posted new record sales of apps around the turn of the year: In the days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, iOS users spent 1.8 billion US dollars (the equivalent of 1.4 billion euros) for “digital goods and services” issued, as the company announced on Wednesday; the money was mainly used for games.

On January 1st 2021 there was also a new daily record with total sales in apps of 540 million US dollars.

Apple earns with Since digital content in apps must be sold via Apple’s payment interface, the group automatically earns with it – up to 30 Percentage commission will be retained by Apple. Many small developers have joined the new App Store Small Business Program, emphasized Apple, and thereby pay a commission reduced on 15 percent to the group. Apple did not give any new figures for sales and user numbers for its own subscription services Music, TV +, Arcade and iCloud.

Google Play vs. App Store According to an estimate, for the full year 2020 Apple’s App Store 72, $ 3 billion turnover. This is an increase of good 15 percent compared to the previous year, explained the sensor tower, a market research service specializing in mobile apps. In Apple’s App Store, almost twice as much sales are achieved as in Google Play (38, 6 billion US dollars in app sales ), according to the market researchers. Sales with and in apps on Google Play have also increased by 15 percent, but the gap to the App Store has not narrowed .

Google Play, however, lacks the app sales of the huge Chinese market, in which the App Store is present. The best-selling iOS app (games excluded) was 2020 according to the market researchers, TikTok followed by YouTube and the dating app Tinder. The top-selling iOS apps also include several Chinese streaming services and the Japanese comics app Line Manga.

(lbe)

Bitkom survey: More and more people are paying contactless

The majority of Germans have paid at least once in the past three months using a contactless debit / credit card, smartphone or smartwatch. Consumers who make contactless payments on a daily basis use smartwatches and smartphones more often at the checkout. This is the result of a survey, the results of which the industry association Bitkom has published.

Of the 79 Percent of respondents who paid contactless between September and November said 20 percent to use the service once a week. 28 Percent of customers pay contactless several times a week, while 11 percent several times a day and 7 percent even use it several times a day. Participated in the Bitkom survey were 1002 people from 16 years by phone. The 79 percent are another 5 percent more than in May 2020

Bank and credit cards continue to be the means of choice Consumers most often use contactless You can still pay with the classic bank or credit card. However, smartwatches and smartphones have recently become increasingly important. 4 of 10 respondents (39 percent) stated that they had reached for a smartwatch or smartphone at the checkout in the past three months. Among customers who make contactless payments every day or several times a day, smartphones and smartwatches rank just behind the debit / credit card.

(Image: Bitkom)

Bitkom Managing Director Bernhard Rohleben concludes: “Those who shop frequently, apparently learn to appreciate the advantages of smartphones and smartwatches. This also includes the high level of security, since the device must first be unlocked by the user and biometric features such as the fingerprint can be used “.

Contactless numbers in the discussion The The security of contactless payment processes via near field communication (NFC) is constantly discussed. Secret debits by unauthorized persons are in principle possible – assuming physical proximity – but are unlikely according to the BSI. During the Corona crisis, several banks and credit institutions increased the amount that can be debited for contactless payments without entering a PIN from 25 Euro to 50 Euro. Most recently, the European Court of Justice stood on the side of consumers and declared that banks cannot claim that it is technically impossible to block bank cards for contactless payments via NFC.

(ndi) 2020

Bitcoin price rises to over $ 28,000

The price growth of the crypto currency Bitcoin, which has continued since October, has led to new record values. Only a few days after the Bitcoin rate first rose to above 10. 000 US dollars rose, the cryptocurrency is approaching the mark of 30. 000 U.S. dollar. During the course already on 27. December briefly at 28. 000 US dollar, it already reached temporarily 28 just three days later on the Bitstamp trading platform. 500 US dollars – despite taking profits in the meantime and the corresponding price drops.

This means that the value of Bitcoin is almost four times as high as at the beginning of the year: On January 1st 2020 the rate at Bitstamp was around 7200 US dollars. On other trading venues, of which there are numerous, the record levels can deviate as there is no central Bitcoin trading.

In December alone, the value rose by around 45 percent, since mid-October – the start of the strong price growth – by more than 140 percent. According to The Guardian, this is due to the weak US dollar. Investors are increasingly fleeing to the best-known cryptocurrency to avoid a feared increase in inflation, writes the British daily. The exchange rate between the US dollar on the one hand and the British pound and the euro on the other hand is as low at the end of December 2020 as it was last in April 2018.

According to the Guardian report, the main drivers of inflation are the corona aid packages planned by the US government and the fear that the future US President Joe Biden could increase this further after taking office in January 2021.

However, Bitcoin is becoming more and more common accepted as a means of payment and viewed by investors as an alternative to gold. Accordingly, the price of the precious metal has fallen by around since the beginning of August 2020 Percent. Market observers assume that Bitcoin could develop into a kind of digital gold.

(pbe)

Koei Tecmo European forums targeted in cyber attack

Matthew Wilson
2 days ago
Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming

Koei Tecmo, the publisher behind series like Dead or Alive, Dynasty Warriors and a number of popular licensed anime games, has suffered a security breach this month. The publisher suffered a cyberattack that forced it to take down both its US and European websites.

As reported by PCGamer, over 65,000 registered accounts for Koei Tecmo’s Europe-based forums have been compromised. This includes account names, encrypted passwords and email addresses. However, critical information like user payment details were not obtained in the breach.

Apparently the hack took place over Christmas and due to the data obtained, those with accounts on the European Koei Tecmo forums should change their login details.

This follows a string of recent attacks on publishers. In the later months of 2020, Ubisoft, Crytek and Capcom were also affected by security breaches.

KitGuru Says: Given that personal information has leaked here, Koei Tecmo forum users will want to keep an eye out for potential phishing scams in their email inboxes. Outside of that though, it doesn’t sound like anything else is going to come out of this particular breach.

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Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been missing for months after criticizing the Chinese authorities

With the Alibaba founder Jack Ma, one of the most famous entrepreneurs in China has apparently disappeared from the public for weeks. This was reported by several media outlets after the Financial Times drew attention to the fact that Ma was removed from the TV show Africa’s Business Heroes. The final of the show was recorded in November without Ma, after he had personally assessed the participants’ business ideas. He is now no longer even listed as a jury member on the show he himself created. Ma drew the wrath of the leadership in Beijing in the fall.

Prevented record IPO The beginning of November was the planned record IPO of the Ant Group. The group is the financial offshoot of the world’s largest online trading platform Alibaba and was about to have what is probably the largest IPO of all time. The Shanghai Stock Exchange had announced the unusual move with significant changes in the “regulatory environment”, Jack Ma and several managers had been summoned by China’s central bank and other regulators. Ma had previously expressed sharp criticism of local and global regulators and accused them of holding back innovation. Since then, it has been speculated that he has not only drawn the wrath of China’s financiers. Alibabas shares lost almost 30 percent of their value in early November.

As reported by Yahoo News , the Chinese billionaire has not made a public appearance since this conflict. That feeds the speculation about the Chinese action against the world-famous entrepreneur. At the end of December, it became known that China’s antitrust authorities had initiated investigations against Alibaba and were investigating alleged monopoly offenses. The country’s central bank had then asked the Ant Group to concentrate on its core business with payment services and to overhaul parts of its business areas. Among other things, the group is behind the popular payment service Alipay with its more than one billion users.

(mho)

Bitcoin soaring continues – price approaches $ 35,000 mark

The digital currency Bitcoin continued to soar at the beginning of the year. On Sunday, the Bitcoin rate on the Luxembourg trading platform Bitstamp rose to 34. 800 U.S. dollar. Bitcoin could not quite maintain the level, but was last at 30. 900 Dollars around five percent above the level from late Saturday night trading. The exchange rate gains add up to around 5000 dollars or 17 percent. On other trading venues, of which there are numerous, the record levels may differ, as there is no central Bitcoin trading.

Market Capitalization 600 Billion Dollars Started at the beginning of the year 2020 with about 8000 dollars, the exchange rate fell during the first Corona wave in spring to less than 4000 dollars. Then began a slow increase that accelerated sharply in the fall. Since the end of September the price has climbed by more than 23. 000 dollars or around 220 percent.

Bitcoin is the oldest and best-known digital currency. Experts had recently estimated the market capitalization to be around 600 billion dollars. There is no suitable reason for the rise in Bitcoin to the current record high shortly after the turn of the year. On the market, however, it is repeatedly stated that the digital currency has recently moved more into the focus of large financial investors and is in greater demand.

Warning of extreme exchange rate fluctuations Above all, the announcement by the payment service PayPal that it would allow its customers in the USA to pay with Bitcoins resulted in an enormous surge in demand. Interest in digital currencies is also being increased by the corona pandemic and the associated sharp rise in national debt. Because of this, some investors fear rising inflation in the medium to long term, which they want to hedge against with alternative investments.

However, experts warn of the extreme fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin. Three years ago, for example, the rate of the digital currency collapsed by around 34 percent. However, there is currently hardly any sign of this skepticism. On Saturday alone, the Bitcoin jumped four thousand marks, whereby, according to the expert Tilo Emden, mainly the 30. 000 he limit was responsible for the rapid rise in prices.

“No thought wasted on risks” “Mastering the mental mark of 30. 000 The dollar is likely to have additionally fueled the rally, “he wrote in a short study. “Rising price levels are attracting private investors who have waited behind the sidelines for a long time and flirted with engagements. Market participants do not waste any thought on the risks and side effects of the highly volatile asset class.” Investors are in a rush of heights and are longing for new records.

“In view of the coronavirus pandemic that is still rampant on both sides of the Atlantic, investors are looking for investment ports that are supposed to promise stability,” said Emden. This obviously also includes Bitcoin. “For the majority of investors, the crypto thaler remains the answer to the ultra-loose monetary policy of the world’s most important central banks. The dollar risks are increasing worldwide – the flight to alternative asset classes could accelerate again in the new year.”

(tiw)

Cash: Euro states want to produce new coins worth billions

Despite the increased use of cashless payment options during the corona pandemic, the euro countries also want to put 2021 euro coins into circulation on a large scale. The European Central Bank (ECB) approved the production of coins with a total volume of just under two billion euros, including collector coins.

That is less than one Year before. The central bank guaranteed the states with the common currency the issue of new euro coins for the year 2020 in the amount of over 2.1 billion euros.

Germany’s largest coin producer A volume of 658, 9 million euros of the coin production planned for next year (PDF file) is intended for daily use, plus collector coins of 499, 3 million euros. Most of the coins will also 2021 Germany produce. The volume of Europe’s largest economy amounts to 658 million euros, of which 241 Million euros on collector’s coins.

With a total volume of 321, 5 million euros comes Spain has the second highest value of new coins, France ranks third among the euro countries with a volume of 241 million euros. The ECB sets an upper limit for the total volume of coins annually based on the requirements reported by the euro countries. In this context, the countries can then have the coins minted.

Discussion about the use of ‘small coins’ One and two cent coins are the most controversial. Many consumers find them annoying. Some campaign for their abolition. “The EU Commission is currently hearing about 1 and 2 cents. Our position that small coins should not be abolished is the same as that of the Federal Minister of Finance,” said Bundesbank board member Johannes Beermann of the German press agency. “I am of the opinion: As long as there are prices like 1, 19 or 0, 99 Euros, the small coins are needed. And you shouldn’t forget: There are people who are dependent on every penny. ”

The Corona crisis has given cashless payments a boost. In an ECB survey of the euro countries in July 2020 four out of ten respondents said they had used cash less often since the beginning of the pandemic. In the year before the crisis, notes and coins had already lost their importance for consumers. They are therefore still the most popular means of payment for smaller amounts at the checkout. The use of cards, however, is increasing.

“Especially directly at the till, the predominance of cash is large with around three quarters of all transactions, like the latest study of the ECB’s payment behavior also shows, “said Beermann. “I don’t think there’s going to be a massive shift.”

(tiw)

c't reveals: security gaps in the Dedoles shop

In the run-up to Christmas, online shops were booming and the corona lockdown just before Christmas should have given the virtual shops more popularity. But even those who stayed away from the city centers and shopped on the couch at home may have been exposed to a risk: the clothing shop Dedoles has not plugged security gaps on its website for months.

Dedoles mainly sells funny socks, Panties and boxer shorts. And very successfully, if you believe the company information: According to this, over a million customers have already ordered from Dedoles, the Slovak company is in 19 European countries active, also in Germany. The security expert Daniel Ruf was not interested in the colorful socks, but in the IT security of the shop.

Cross Site Scripting again Ruf promptly discovered several “Cross Site Scripting” (XSS) vulnerabilities in the shop system. He didn’t have to search long for it: He found the first one right away on the homepage, in a central function of the shop.

Funny socks, holey shop: Dedoles has been around for months Problems with XSS holes.

XSS vulnerabilities are one of the most common security problems for websites. If a server fails to check user input, for example if search terms have been typed in, an attacker has the chance to smuggle his own code into the website. This is then executed by the victim’s browser in the context of the site. The attacker can, for example, divert payment data or distribute malware.

Such gaps are dangerous, but also easy to fix. Only small changes to the source code are necessary in order to filter out potentially dangerous characters from user input and effectively prevent the infiltration of harmful content.

None Reaction Daniel Ruf dutifully informed Dedoles of his findings in the hope that the loopholes would be closed before they were discovered by cyber villains. But nothing happened: “So far there has been no response or reaction from Dedoles to my messages,” he told c’t. He therefore asked us to take over the case.

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We then looked for a suitable contact person at the sock shop and contacted them on 20. October the company’s press office. Our email not only contained all of the information required to remedy the vulnerabilities, but also some standard questions: How long have the security vulnerabilities existed, have they been used by cyber villains, and so on.

The company did not respond to our mail either. About a month later, on 16. November, we contacted Dedoles again. This time, too, we waited a month for an answer – in vain. Our questions remained unanswered, the gaps unpatched.

2 / 2021 In c’t 2 / 2021 take a look into the crystal ball and shed light on the IT trends of the coming years. You will learn how you can surf privately and securely, and which browser supports this particularly well. In the IT salary report, we examine whether the pandemic is a good job engine. We test multifunctional printers for the home office, show you how to protect your NAS from hacker attacks and introduce a universal Windows boot stick. You can read this and much more in c’t 2 / 2021. The issue will be available from January 1st 2021 in the Heise shop and at the well-stocked newspaper kiosk.

(rei)

Ticketmaster fines $ 10 million for corporate espionage

The US online concert ticket shop Ticketmaster agreed to a fine of 10 million US dollars after the company admitted the smaller one Spying on rival CrowdSurge. This is reported by the online magazine The Verge.

According to the court documents, the company hired in the year 2013 Stephen Mead, a former employee of the competitor. Soon afterwards, a senior executive named Zeeshan Zaidi and other members of the management team urged him to use Mead’s known usernames and passwords to break into the CrowdSurge system and obtain information about customers and internal processes and analyzes. The insights also included which artists CrowdSurge used for ticket sales, so that Ticketmaster could target and poach them.

Conditions for Ticketmaster Only 2015 Ticketmaster lost its unauthorized access when CrowdSurge merged with competitor Songkick. Songkick then sued Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation for antitrust violations, but not long afterwards ceased its services. 2018 an out-of-court settlement was agreed in the form of a payment of 110 million US dollars by Live Nation . In addition, Mead and Zaidi have already been 2017 released, as a Ticketmaster spokesman told The Verge.

With the penalty that has now been imposed, the proceedings are not Completely ended, but suspended for the time being. In the meantime, Ticketmaster is subject to some conditions. Among other things, the company must not only submit an annual report to the public prosecutor for the next three years, but also demonstrate that it has developed and implemented internal guidelines against other similar violations.

In the year 2018 Ticketmaster was also the target of a malware attack in which unauthorized persons had access to payment data and other personal information from customers of the online shop. This also included addresses, e-mail addresses, log-in data, names, and telephone numbers. However, only customers from Great Britain are said to have been affected.

(bkr)

Apple will let Amphetamine app stay in the App Store after wrongly telling developer it violated App Store rules

The developer of Amphetamine, an app that prevents Macs from going into sleep mode, says Apple told him it violated App Store guidelines, even though it’s been in the App Store since 2014, and has nothing to do with drug use. Not long after The Verge reached out to Apple for comment on Saturday however, the company reversed its decision, and the app will be able to stay up with its current name and logo.

William C. Gustafson said in January 1st posts on Reddit and Github that Apple had informed him he had two weeks to “remove all references to the word ‘amphetamine’ and remove the pill from the icon.” If he failed to do so, Gustafson wrote, Apple said it would remove the app from the App Store on January 12th. The logo features a cartoon image of a pill.

Gustafson told The Verge he got a call Saturday from Apple granting his appeal— but he didn’t have insight into how the app was flagged in the first place. “I specifically asked Apple on the phone if this was a result of customer complaints and Apple’s response was ‘I don’t think so,’” he said. “I found it odd that this issue came up out of nowhere. I wasn’t in the middle of trying to update Amphetamine or anything. Just sitting at home with my kids enjoying our holiday and got the violation/rejection email from Apple.”

Just got off a call with @Apple. Appeal accepted and Amphetamine will remain on the @AppStore. Thank you all for your comments, opinions, and action. We may not all agree, but I am happy we all still have the freedom to express ourselves today. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/PV7eB9aUfn

— William C. Gustafson (@x74353) January 2, 2021

Gustafson says Apple contacted him on December 29th and told him Amphetamine “appears to promote inappropriate use of controlled substances. Specifically, your app name and icon include references to controlled substances, pills.”

The free macOS app has been downloaded more than 432,000 times, with a 4.8 rating, Gustafson said, noting that Apple even featured Amphetamine in an Mac App Store story. He said he had numerous interactions with Apple employees for updates to the app since its launch, with no one objecting to the name or logo until now.

The specific App Store guideline Gustafson was accused of violating is this one, which states “Apps that encourage consumption of tobacco or vape products, illegal drugs, or excessive amounts of alcohol are not permitted on the App Store. Apps that encourage minors to consume any of these substances will be rejected. Facilitating the sale of marijuana, tobacco, or controlled substances (except for licensed pharmacies) isn’t allowed.”

Gustafson says Amphetamine does none of these things, and said changing the name of the app would have wrecked its brand recognition and potentially made it harder for users to find future updates.

Gustafson initially said he didn’t expect his appeal to be successful, and indeed, Apple typically hews pretty closely to its App Store rules in most cases. The company has faced pushback from developers on several fronts in recent months, with big industry companies including Spotify, Tile, and Epic Games forming a group called the Coalition for App Fairness. It says Apple’s rules create an uneven playing field in its App Stores.

Basecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson battled with Apple last summer over the mobile app design of his company’s email client, Hey. And Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple in August after the iOS version of its battle royale game Fortnite was removed from the App Store. Epic had implemented its own payment processing system into the iOS version of Fortnite, which goes against App Store rules.

Apple didn’t immediately comment on Saturday.

China: Financial services provider Ant to focus on payment services

The Chinese central bank People’s Bank of China has asked the fintech company Ant Group to concentrate on its core business with payment services and to overhaul parts of its business areas such as lending and other financial services.

As reported by Reuters news agency, the Chinese supervisory authorities criticized violations of financial regulation and warned the company, among other things, to improve its lending criteria in order to protect personal data. Accordingly, the central bank did not demand the break-up of Ant, but at least indicated the need for significant operational restructuring.

According to the Financial Times, Ant reacted immediately and announced that it would revise its lines of business and better comply with regulations. They immediately started working on plans to meet the requirements.

Alipay: Over 1 billion users The dated Chinese billionaire Jack Ma founded offshoot of the e-commerce platform Alibaba operates the mobile payment service Alipay, which is popular in Asia, and now also offers insurance, loans and other financial services. According to its own information, over a billion people use Alipay worldwide. In Chinese shops, payments are now almost exclusively made by mobile phone, either via Alipay or the competitor Wechat Pay.

The criticism from Beijing comes two months after the The supervisory bodies of the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges had stopped the IPO of the Ant Group. This could have gone down in history with 34, 5 billion US dollars as the largest IPO of all time, had surprisingly failed two days earlier. Jack Ma had accused the regulatory authorities of slowing down innovations in the past.

(acb)

Ashes of Creation aims to be the WoW killer in MMORPGs and prepares to start its Alpha 1

by Pablo López 25 / 13 / 2020 10

Ashes of Creation shows the first battle against a boss at open world, preparing to enter the open phase Alpha 1.

From time to time it is convenient to talk about other video games apart from the typical ones such as Fortnite or Minecraft have been for a while. Video games of genre MMORPG still have a great community behind that supports them, especially on the PC platform. Surely most of you have heard of World of Warcraft (WoW), the game of this genre that continues to support its community of players since it came out, no less than 16 years. The germ of this type of games has been the arrival of the microtransactions to get benefits , method known as Pay To Win ( P2W).

Ashes of Creation was born from the private financing of an Archeage player (another MMORPG game), frustrated by this method of play. Steven Sharif invested 30 million to begin game development a few years ago. Now the game is gearing up for its first Open Alpha, which will take place in March 2021.

One of the greatest incentives of Ashes of Creation is the impossibility of paying to obtain advantages

This game uses the graphics engine Unreal Engine 4 and looks a cozy graphic look, very immersive in lighting. If we carefully analyze the aspirations of the game, we see that aims to bring together the best of each MMORPG so far in history. But he stands out in one thing, Steve never tires of mentioning that in the game there will be absolutely no type of payment to obtain profit and that to play it will be necessary to pay monthly some 13 Euros.

Just a few days ago the first closed Alpha took place with a duration of only 3 days, in which various aspects of the game were tested and that, thanks to it, we can already see the first Fight against a boss to open world .

Dungeons with adaptable difficulty, trade by any means and trips “by foot”

The game, at the beginning, will not have cities or NPCs of any kind. It will be the players who have to build the cities , gathering alliances and clans for it. These cities can be leveled down through sieges, and leveled up through quests and numerous actions. There will be a powerful minion system between large and small cities within range of the main city node (the highest level). Above all, the immersion in the game is premium since there will be

very few instantaneous trips , having to do the vast majority on foot or with land mount (the flying ones will be very limited by server).

He trading system Ashes of Creation also promises be one of its strengths, existing trade routes by land, water and air . The dungeons will have adaptive difficulty , so if we kill the first boss of the same very soon, the next one will acquire more difficulty and you will have better loot. There will be underwater dungeons as well.

At the moment you can access the development of the game by paying for cosmetics (they are quite expensive packs), opting to start at the earliest in Alpha 2, with date not announced yet.

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heise + | Apple and Google's App Store: How Developers Can Make Money With Apps

We asked successful developers whether in-app sales, subscriptions or advertising work better and which tips future developers should heed.

(Image: Thorsten Hübner)

Apple and Google’s App Store: This is how developers can make money with apps iOS or Android Four payment models App Stores: Help and Obstacle Epic as a champion Conclusion Article in c ‘t 21 / 2020 read Big money for small developers: As Apple 2008 introduced its App Store and Google launched the Android Market, which is now called Google Play, resonated with nothing less than the promise of a revolution. One-man developer booths could suddenly fall back on the same distribution channels as multi-million dollar software companies. There was virtually no pre-selection, only the rules of the app stores had to be observed. For 30 Percent of the sales of each app, Apple and Google also took most of the ballast of marketing and sales from the developers. This way the developers should be able to concentrate fully on their core activities. In the years that followed, Apple and Google displayed huge checks with billions in their keynotes in order to underpin the success of the app stores. The good news was: Look here, dear developers, this money is for you!

In the year 2020 the glory and glory of the pioneering days have given way to increasing disillusionment among developers. Experience shows that the software market has been democratized on paper, but the obstacles to advancement still exist. It is not without reason that the new big names are often old friends. While the game company Epic is arguing with Apple and Google about the amount of the commission on the millions in sales, many small developers would be happy if they even achieved four-digit income. We talked to several developers of small, successful apps about it.

iOS and Android do not speak the same (programming) language. Some tools like Xamarin, Unity or Flutter help with cross-platform development, but the second operating system still eats up resources and training time – something that small developers in particular cannot afford. So a decision has to be made: iOS or Android?

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Sign in and read Register now and read the article immediately More information about heise + Apple and Google’s App Store: This is how developers can make money with apps iOS or Android Four payment models App Stores: Help and Obstacle Epic as a champion Conclusion Article in c ‘t 21 / 2020 read