Technology News for Friday 15th October 2021

40 new stories

Oct 15th 2021

1. Clubhouse has a new Music Mode that could make it the place to play

Domain: theverge.com

If you just want to listen to the performance, however, you won't have to do any of this — just sit back and enjoy stereo audio from your headphones, speakers, ...

2. Cybersecurity Experts Sound Alarm on Apple and EU Phone Scanning Plans

Domain: nytimes.com | Companies: Apple

A group of researchers said the “dangerous technology” was invasive and not effective at detecting images of child sexual abuse.

3. WhatsApp has finally fixed its biggest privacy loophole

Domain: hindustantimes.com | Companies: Apple, Google

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is now letting users encrypt chat backups before they get stored in Google Drive or Apple iCloud. While these services have their own ...

4. Nintendo Dips After New Switch Disappoints in Japan Debut

Domain: bloomberg.com | Companies: Nintendo

The hybrid handheld's OLED edition, released globally on Friday for $350, sold 138,409 units in the domestic market over its launch weekend, sales tracker ...

5. Google warns of surge in activity by state-backed hackers

Domain: theguardian.com | Companies: Google

In one attack in early 2021, APT35 attacked a website affiliated with a UK university using a tried and tested technique: directing users to a compromised webpage where they were encouraged to log in via their email service provider – Gmail, Hotmail or ...

6. Seven reasons to be excited about the new Apple Watch 7

Domain: radiotimes.com | Companies: Apple

Pre-orders for the premium smartwatch started on 8th October after the device was revealed at a product-heavy Apple event in mid-September. It didn't get a release date at the showcase – but it's now hitting retailers' stores after a short wait.

7. How to fast charge Apple Watch 7: Get 80% in 45 minutes

Domain: macworld.co.uk | Companies: Apple

With the necessary equipment the Apple Watch 7 can charge from 0 to 80 percent in just 45 minutes. Here's what you need: By Halyna Kubiv | 20 mins ago. fast charge apple watch 7. Apple has promised a fast charging function for Apple Watch Series 7.

8. Nokia to bring back classic 'brick' phone for 20th anniversary

Domain: manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Nokia has announced its bringing back an updated version of one of its classic phones - the 6310. In celebration of the device's 20th birthday, the company is commemorating the date with a healthy dose of nostalgia. It's time to take a trip back to the ...

9. Animal Crossing New Horizons update: Watch Brewster's debut in Nintendo Direct

Domain: radiotimes.com | Companies: Nintendo

But when exactly should Nintendo Switch fans in the UK tune in for the Animal Crossing Direct, and what else do we know about the upcoming update? Read on to find out all the essential details!

10. Fixing The Diablo II: Resurrected Servers Sounds Like An Absolute Nightmare

Domain: kotaku.com

Diablo 2: Resurrected launched, it's authentic as all hell—but then the D2 servers took an instant trip to the Seventh Circle. For the last week, players have faced constant login issues and outages. And by the sounds of things, the poor server ...

11. November Animal Crossing Update Brings Brewster's Cafe, Kapp'n And More New Shops

Domain: kotaku.com | Companies: Nintendo

The pigeon has come home to roost. Nintendo showed off how Brewster and his café The Roost will come to Animal Crossing: New Horizons along with a load of other features and changes coming November 5. It will also be the last free update to the game, ...

12. Damn, No Wonder Animal Crossing's Big November Patch Took So Long

Domain: kotaku.com | Companies: Nintendo

It's been a long time coming, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons is finally getting a major update, and it's way bigger than anything ACNH has gotten so far. Nintendo detailed forthcoming additions in an ACNH-theme Nintendo Direct today.

13. The HTC Vive Flow is a $499 VR headset that doesn't need a PC

Domain: space.com

When we're thinking about VR headsets, we usually imagine gaming devices — huge headsets and a mess of wires plugged into your PC. Not so with the HTC Flow, which the company is describing as a pair of "immersive glasses" rather than a VR headset.

14. 'Metroid Dread': A revitalization of the old action-exploration formula

Domain: washingtonpost.com

The early Metroid games (like the Zelda titles) introduced players to the pleasure of exploring labyrinthine maps which gradually disclose their secrets as Samus acquires new abilities, granting her access to previously sealed off areas.

15. Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Small refinements to a winning formula

Domain: cnet.com

TV shows and movies available in 4K and/or Dolby Vision played back with no issues on my TCL. Since that TV lacks HDR10+ support, I was unable to test that feature. As we've ...

16. How to Install Windows 11 With Microsoft's Media Creation Tool

Domain: pcmag.com

Looking to upgrade to Windows 11 on your current computer or install it fresh on a different PC? You can now install Microsoft's Windows 11 Media Creation Tool to create an installation file that can be copied to a bootable USB drive or burned onto a DVD.

17. Genshin Impact Tsurumi Island – stone slate puzzle locations guide

Domain: pcgamesn.com

The island is surrounded by dense fog that can only be dispersed by completing the Seirai Stormchasters questline. There are hidden stone slates across the island – these slates can be used to decipher text at the Chirai Shrine, rewarding you with ...

18. Diablo 2: Resurrected server issues caused by popularity and legacy code

Domain: pcgamesn.com

“We mention 'modern player behaviour' because it's an interesting point to think about,” Fletcher says. “In 2001, there wasn't nearly as much content on the internet around how to play Diablo II 'correctly' (Baal runs for XP, Pindleskin/Ancient Sewers/etc ...

19. Nintendo Apologizes For Metroid Dread Bug And Promises An Update

Domain: kotaku.com | Companies: Nintendo

Near the end of the freshly released Samus comeback, Metroid Dread, some players are getting an error message that reads, “The software was closed because an error occurred.” Said error prevents the player from proceeding, because the game goes into a ...

20. Windows 11's new emoji isn't as 3D as Microsoft promised

Domain: theverge.com | Companies: Microsoft

Microsoft originally promised new 3D emoji for Windows 11 and various other products earlier this year. Now the company has gone for a 2D flat look instead, with the new emoji debuting in Dev Channel builds of Windows 11 this week.

21. Here's what's new with the latest Apple Watch Series 7

Domain: ktla.com | Companies: Apple

Follow Rich DeMuro on Instagram for more tech news, tips and tricks. For starters, Apple has increased the case size on the Series 7, giving the device it's biggest display yet. Apple says it's ...

22. Windows 11 update: You can get the download right now, and here's how

Domain: cnet.com | Companies: Microsoft

An August blog post from Microsoft said the company expects "all eligible devices to be offered the free upgrade to Windows 11 by mid-2022." Don't want to wait until next year? Read on to find out how the Windows 11 Installation Assistant is your shortcut ...

23. Qualcomm is salty about Pixel's switch to Tensor but really shouldn't be

Domain: theverge.com | Companies: Qualcomm, Twitter, Google

The Google Pixel 6 phones will ditch Snapdragon chips for an in-house design, and Qualcomm is clearly feeling a little hurt about it. Qualcomm couldn't help but throw some shade at Google — in the form of a red flag meme on Twitter (via 9to5Google).

24. Apple fires leader of #AppleToo as part of leak investigation

Domain: npr.org | Companies: Apple

Apple has fired a lead organizer of the #AppleToo movement, as the company investigates multiple employees suspected of leaking internal documents to the media, according to two people with direct knowledge of the termination.

25. You'll Have To Pay More Than Double For Switch Online If You Want N64 Games

Domain: kotaku.com | Companies: Nintendo

In September, Nintendo announced that it would make N64 games available as part of its Nintendo Switch Online service. At the time, Nintendo withheld the pricing info, leading some to speculate about how steep it could be. Today, we get our answer.

26. Halloween Mischief Part 1 event Pokémon Go guide

Domain: polygon.com

Pokémon Go's yearly Halloween event is Halloween Mischief Part 1: Creepy Companions. It introduces new Halloween hat Pokémon to the game, as well as Galarian Slowking. Our Pokémon Go Halloween Mischief Part 1 guide will show you the increased Pokémon ...

27. WhatsApp to bring in encryption for backup chats after privacy fears

Domain: theguardian.com | Companies: Facebook, Google

Facebook, the messaging app's owner, said from Thursday some users would be able to fully encrypt messages stored on Google Drive or Apple's iCloud. The company said it would be introducing the feature slowly to people with the latest version of WhatsApp.

28. Nintendo Switch Online's N64 and Sega Genesis 'expansion pack' launches October 25th for $49.99 per year

Domain: theverge.com | Companies: Nintendo

Nintendo has announced the price and release for its upcoming Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription tier, which adds Nintendo 64 games, Sega Genesis games, and bundled access to the new paid Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Happy Home ...

29. Total Warhammer 3 devs reveal new Tzeentch Chaos faction, mechanics, and more

Domain: pcgamesn.com

You may have noticed our use of the plural 'factions' – each Chaos god in Warhammer III will launch with a single legendary lord, but the details revealed today concern mechanics that only apply to Tzeentch as a whole.

30. Classic endless runner Tiny Wings now available on Apple Arcade

Domain: cnet.com | Companies: Apple

Tiny Wings casts you as a bird with little wings and big dreams of flying. The bird uses beautiful hills as jumps and slides to help it take to the skies. At least for a little bit, before gravity brings it back down. But another hill is just around the ...

31. Apple Watch 7 shows it's time for more smartwatch changes

Domain: cnet.com | Companies: Apple

There are clear limits on batteries and small devices. Some fitness trackers last up to a week, but make sacrifices when it comes to performance and features. High-powered smartwatches tend to never make it past two days, max. Still, the Apple Watch has ...

32. Good Riddance: Steam Bans Games That Feature Crypto And NFTs

Domain: kotaku.com

Damn. Good Guy Steam is (sort of) back. The developer of an upcoming NFT-based PC game revealed in a tweet that Steam is no longer allowing games built on blockchain technology or that “issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.

33. The Moment That Sold Me On Back 4 Blood, The New Shooter By L4D Devs

Domain: kotaku.com

Confession time: I've never played Left 4 Dead. I'm obviously aware of what Valve's iconic shooter is all about—team up with friends and shoot zombies—and that a ton of players sucked it up like zombies feasting on cerebral miasma.

34. Google Pixel 6 looks like it'll actually be way more exciting than the iPhone 13

Domain: cnet.com | Companies: Google

Google's Pixel 6 phones. Google. As much as I look forward to Apple's big iPhone reveal every year, I'm more excited this year by what I'm seeing about the upcoming Pixel 6. And I've been a happy iPhone owner for years, so this feeling is coming as a ...

35. Nintendo's New Switch Model Is a Big Upgrade

Domain: bloomberg.com | Companies: Nintendo

This week: The first new Metroid game in years and a controversy over its credits. But first: New hardware from Nintendo. A bigger Switch. The first thing you notice about the awkwardly named “Nintendo Switch — OLED Model” is how large the screen is.

36. FIFA says football gaming "must involve more than one party controlling and exploiting all rights"

Domain: eurogamer.net | Companies: EA

Following reports negotiations with EA have stalled. News by Matt Wales, Reporter. Updated on 15 October 2021. FIFA has issued a statement following reports ...

37. Valve bans blockchain games and NFTs on Steam

Domain: theverge.com

In this case, though, it doesn't seem like people are pressing F to pay respects to NFT games — a majority of the replies and quote tweets to SpacePirate's tweets are praising Valve for the move (or mocking those that are upset about it).

38. Review: Apple Watch Series 7

Domain: wsj.com | Companies: Apple

A Slightly Bigger Screen. Apple squeezed more pixels out of the watch's screen by reducing the display border. · Also good: ruggedness. The Series 7's screen is thicker. · The Same Battery Life. The Series 7 is rated for 18 hours—as Apple Watches have been ...

39. Best Apple Arcade games for iPhone and iPad

Domain: ftw.usatoday.com | Companies: Apple

Share this article · Game Dev Story · Mini Motorways · Fantasian · Oceanhorn 2 · NBA 2K21 · What the Golf? · Sayonara Wild Hearts.

40. Twitch says passwords weren't exposed in massive data breach

Domain: theverge.com

“Twitch passwords have not been exposed,” Twitch said in an update to its webpage about the security incident. “We are also confident that systems that store Twitch login credentials, which are hashed with bcrypt, were not accessed, nor were full credit ...