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TechNews
Top streamer says Twitch revoked her ability to run ads without warning
Twitch has removed the ability for Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa, one of the most popular streamers on its platform, to run ads on her videos — even though it’s unclear that she broke any of the site’s rules. Siragusa said in a tweet that it’s because her streams are “not advertiser friendly.”
Siragusa is known for streaming herself chatting and gaming while wearing swimsuits. She’s hugely popular, with more than 20,000 subscribers — putting her among the site’s top 20, according to TwitchTracker. She’s also been the target of relentless criticism because of her appearance, including sexist attacks from Twitch users who argue that the success of some women on the platform is unearned or illegitimate.
This is an ALARMING precedent and serves as a stark warning that although content may not ostensibly break community guidelines or Terms of service, Twitch has complete discretion to target individual channels & partially or wholly demonetized them for
— Amouranth (@Amouranth) May 18, 2021
The advertising ban comes months into what’s become known as the “hot tub meta” on Twitch. It’s become a trend for creators to stream themselves hanging out or playing games in hot tubs or inflatable pools. Siragusa has been a contributor to that trend, streaming from what appears to be a small plastic pool set up inside her home.
But it’s not known why Twitch revoked Siragusa’s ability to run ads — a punishment the site has never doled out before, according to Kotaku. That’s part of what makes this situation so concerning for streamers: Twitch has an explicit set of rules that streamers need to follow to avoid a ban, but there’s no specific rules around who can and can’t be supported by advertising. Twitch allows streamers to appear in swimwear.
Siragusa said on Twitter that she reached out to Twitch after discovering she had lost advertising revenue and was told yesterday that she had been “indefinitely suspended” from running ads. “This is an ALARMING precedent,” she wrote, saying there were no communicated guidelines for why her ad privileges were revoked. “There is no known policy for what results in a streamer being put on this blacklist,” she said.
The Verge has reached out to Twitch for comment.
Google announces new Wear OS w/ Samsung partnership, revamped design, and Fitbit
At I/O 2021, Wear OS 3.0 was unveiled as a significant revamp — if not revival — of Google’s plans for wearables. There are three tentpoles to this effort and is the company’s best chance in years to be competitive in this market.
This renewed effort comes five years after Android Wear 2.0 was announced as a big leap for the platform. Google reiterated that today with Wear OS 3.0.
By working with Samsung, there is faster performance (up to 30% on “latest chipsets”), longer battery life, and a “thriving developer community.” The unified platform is available for all device makers.
To achieve longer battery life, we’ve worked to optimize the lower layers of the operating system – taking advantage of low-power hardware cores to enable better battery life. That includes handy optimizations like the ability to run the heart rate sensor continuously during the day, track your sleep overnight and still have battery for the next day.
Visually, a new navigation system makes it faster to get things done. A double-press action lets you quickly switch to your last used app, while Tiles are now open to all developers.
On the apps front, there is turn-by-turn navigation in Google Maps, Google Pay, and YouTube Music.
Fitbit is also powering the fitness features on Wear OS, like tracking and on-wrist celebrations
These updates will begin rolling out this fall.
Updating…
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GTA 5 and GTA Online: PS5 and Xbox Series X/S Upgrades Coming in November
Taking the fundamental concepts of open-world freedom, ambient activity and mission-based gameplay of the Grand Theft Auto series and making them available to multiple players in an incredibly dynamic online world, GTA Online offers the freedom to explore alone or work cooperatively with friends to complete missions.
Franchises:GTA – Grand Theft Auto
Genres:Action
Platforms:Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 5
Developers:Rockstar North, Rockstar Games
Publishers:Rockstar Games
Release Date:October 1, 2013
Logitech’s $1,200 Scribe whiteboard camera can hide presenters
As companies like Google prepare to welcome at least part of their workforce back to the office, Logitech is releasing a whiteboard camera to help workers collaborate with their off-site colleagues. Dubbed Scribe, the company’s new gadget uses AI-enhanced software to render presenters transparent so that people watching the presentation can have an easier time seeing the whiteboard. It can also automatically detect post-it notes and tweak the color markers.
At release, Scribe works with Zoom Rooms, with support for Teams Rooms coming later this year. It can also double as a plain web camera with “virtually” any video conferencing app, though using it in that way would mostly be a waste.
The $1,200 price tag of Scribe puts it in the ballpark of other high-end whiteboard cameras like the Huddly Canvas. Each Scribe unit comes with a set of mounting components, allowing you to attach it to a wall, and all the cables you need to get it up and running. Scribe is available today in select markets.
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What are you most excited to see at Google I/O 2021? [Poll]
We’re just hours away from Google I/O 2021’s big keynote and there’s a whole lot to be excited for this year. While most announcements are left in mystery, we can expect announcements for a ton of Google’s consumer-facing products. What are you most excited for?
Up on the schedule for I/O 2021 is everything from Android 12 to Google Assistant and everything in between. One of the big topics we’re expecting to see covered is Android itself, which is likely set to debut a huge new visual redesign. Related to that redesign is the potential of a big update to Google’s Material Design. Android 12’s announcement could also bring some news around Android TV and Google TV, but as we noted during the developer previews, version updates to those platforms don’t generally have much of an impact.
As far as new hardware goes, we’re not expecting much. There’s a greater than slim chance we’ll see the debut of the Pixel Buds A-Series, but the Pixel 5a seems very unlikely at this point. Google could hint at Whitechapel to prepare developers, but they may opt to keep the secret instead. Nest definitely has plans for 2021, but an I/O appearance seems unlikely beyond the possibility of software bits.
Of special interest this year seems to be Wear OS, the smartwatch platform that Google has been heavily neglecting over the past couple of years. There’s been quite an uptick in activity from Google around the platform as of late, with the arrival of Gboard for Wear OS, the opening of the platform’s Tiles feature for third-party apps, and more. Just today, we spotted a teaser from Google regarding a “new version of Wear” which will be talked about more at I/O. This also comes around rumors that Samsung is preparing to ditch its Tizen platform in the upcoming Galaxy Watch 4 series with Wear OS in its place.
Our Abner Li has an excellent breakdown of everything we’re expecting to see at Google I/O 2021 here.
Personally, Wear OS is certainly what’s got me most excited for I/O this year, but it’s far from the only thing we’ll see. What about you? What’s got you most excited to tune into the Google I/O livestream and our live coverage? Vote in the poll and drop a comment!
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Is Gambling With Bitcoin Coming to PlayStation? – IGN Daily Fix – IGN
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Google is teasing a big Wear OS update for smartwatches tomorrow at I/O
A new tweet from the official Wear OS Twitter account is teasing an update tomorrow at I/O 2021 to Google’s frequently forgotten smartwatch operating system. Google has even suggested that the developer conference will feature an entirely new version of Wear OS on the I/O Adventure page, the “virtual sandbox” for trying the products Google will announce at the conference, 9to5Google writes.
Wear OS has been on a long and bumpy journey up until this point — with new features, but not the dramatic rethinking of the platform that it may need. In the last year, Google has added a new keyboard, support for third-party Tiles (Wear OS’s answer to glanceable widget-like information), and improvements to performance. But the last major design change to Wear OS — other than the addition of Tiles — came in 2018. If anything, Google’s tease is a welcome sign of life.
Both Google’s acquisition of Fossil’s smartwatch tech in 2019 and its plans to acquire Fitbit in 2020, reignited the hope that it would also acquire a renewed interest in wearables as a concept. The process of absorbing Fitbit in particular was drawn out for the health data privacy concerns that came with it, but the deal was ultimately approved in 2021.
In the meantime, Google’s other wearable partners kept the platform on life support. Fossil’s watches — like the 2019 Gen 5 and 2021 Gen 5 LTE — were frequently limited by the subpar performance of Qualcomm’s smartwatch processors. Mobvoi took a different approach with its 2021 TicWatch Pro 3, by skinning Wear OS, layering in an extra display, and filling the watch with a suite of custom apps, but still ran into some inherently Wear OS-type issues.
But back to the hope on the horizon: Google is teasing a new Wear OS version, and there are rumors of some hardware to back that up — Samsung is reportedly dropping its Tizen OS in exchange for using Google’s software on its next smartwatches. With a big powerful new partner, a wearable team of its own, and the possibility of Android 12’s rumored new visual design coming to Wear OS, it suddenly seems like Google might have a plan for your wrist. We’ll have to watch this week to see how promising that plan actually is.
Genshin Impact – Official Eula Character Trailer – IGN
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Google I/O 2021: Android 12, Pixel Buds and what else to expect
Google I/O kicks off Tuesday, and even though it’s a developers conference, it’s likely we’ll see some major product announcements, including more details on Android 12 and possibly Pixel hardware. The company skipped I/O last year due to the pandemic, so there’s a lot to catch up on.
How to watch Google I/O
Google I/O is entirely virtual this year and free for everyone to attend, running May 18 through 20. The opening keynote starts at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET on May 18. Google has also published an official schedule for keynotes and breakout sessions. To sign up for Google I/O, you just need to sign in to your Google account and register for the event.
Here’s everything we expect to see at Google I/O.
Android 12 updates
Android 12 could bring the biggest visual change to the operating system in years. Leaked screenshots emerged earlier this year showing a new interface, widgets and privacy features.
While the first developer beta released in February had a lot of changes under the hood, there were a few hints in the Settings app pointing to a complete redesign on the way. Referred to as “Material NEXT” in a leak from XDA Developers, we may see changes to the lock screen, notifications panel and a new theming system.
It’s likely Google will announce the public beta of Android 12 at Google I/O, so we could see the first official look at Android’s new paint job, too. The timing of I/O also roughly lines up with Google’s schedule shown below for Android 12 beta releases.
Read more: Everything else we’re expecting in Android 12.
Pixel Watch, Pixel Buds A-Series, WearOS
We’ve been hearing rumors about a Pixel Watch for years. Could Google I/O finally be the event to showcase Google’s first branded wearable? A leak in April from Jon Prosser showed a circular watch likely powered by a new version of WearOS. The renders show a watch without a bezel around the screen, no physical buttons, interchangeable watch straps and indications the watch will have a heart rate sensor.
This is also the first major Google event since acquiring Fitbit. It seems unlikely that we’ll see new hardware as the Fitbit Luxe was just announced, but Google could announce broader integration of Fitbit within the Google ecosystem, or even in WearOS itself.
Another WearOS rumor from Korean news outlet MT points to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 running Google’s operating system instead of Samsung’s own Tizen, which we might hear more about during I/O.
Google may have already accidentally leaked the newest Pixel Buds in an email to Nest users in April, followed up with an accidental tweet from Google’s own Android account in May. Just like the “A series” of Pixel phones, the Pixel Buds A may cost less than the original Buds that currently sell for $180. The leak also showed a new mint green color, and the tweet said the earbuds will support the new Fast Pair feature for quick Bluetooth device pairing on Android.
It seems highly unlikely we’ll see the Pixel 5a announced at Google I/O, given that there’s currently a global chip shortage and the company also issued an official statement saying the phone would be released later in the year to quash rumors of its cancellation. The Pixel 4a was released in August 2020, so given that timing, it makes sense for Google to save the 5a announcement until later in the year.
The other wildcard could be Google’s rumored mobile processor. Codenamed Whitechapel, it may be developed in conjunction with Samsung and make its debut in the upcoming Pixel 6. Again, it’s unlikely we’ll see that phone announced at I/O, but announcing the chip could give some heads-up for developers.
Google Assistant and smart home products
Google I/O has had some show-stopping demos in the past, like when the Google Duplex AI had a natural phone conversation with a real person to make a hair appointment. While we don’t have any leaks pointing to exact capabilities coming to the Google Assistant, maybe we could hear news of the new Assistant coming to more Android devices, not just Pixel phones.
An official blog post also said to expect new features and new product announcements in smart home. Google just launched the $99 Nest Audio toward the end of 2020, so maybe it could get some new features, or we could see a new version of the Nest Hub Max.
There’s also speculation about an updated Chromecast, thanks to an FCC filing that appeared in March.