95ab616d7ed3755e887c0c8abd77dfdd0fef68b0 Tech magic

Part of the team behind Alto’s Adventure is working on a game about sheep herding

Jun 9, 2023

If you’ve played the excellent Alto’s series, you’ll be familiar with U.K.-based Land Sea’s work, which developed Alto’s Odyssey and Alto’s Adventure alongside Toronto-based Snowman. Striking out on its own, Land Sea’s Summerhill resembles the Alto franchise visually. It features herding gameplay and problem-solving with a focus on corralling sheep alongside your trusty dog. The games calming soundtrack was also created by the composer behind Monument Valley 2 . “Summerh ...read more

Reddit won’t budge on the API changes that are shutting down apps like Apollo

Jun 9, 2023

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman hosted a promised AMA on Friday over the platform’s controversial API changes, but based on the tone of his initial message and some replies, it doesn’t seem like Reddit will be budging on potentially expensive API updates that have caused multiple developers to announce they will be shutting down their apps. “On 4/18, we shared that we would update access to the API, including premium access for third parties who require additional capabilities and higher usage ...read more

Spotify testing ‘Your Offline Mix’ playlist for when you’re offline

Jun 9, 2023

Spotify is testing a feature that allows users to easily listen to music when they don’t have an internet connection. The feature, called ‘Your Offline Mix,’ saves “a mix of your recently played songs for when the vibe is high, but your connection is low,” according to a screenshot shared on Twitter by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. We’ve been testing out a new feature called "Your Offline Mix" – a playlist designed for those times when you might not be online ✈️ What do you think? ...read more

Tesla is about to pull the plug on its main EV charging rival

Jun 9, 2023

In the 2000s, there was a media format war between Sony’s Blu-ray and Toshiba’s HD DVD. Sony, which owns a production company, convinced Warner Bros. to drop the rival format. And then Paramount followed suit, putting the last two nails in HD DVD’s coffin. Fast-forward to today’s electric vehicle charging standards war, and it feels like déjà vu. Last month, Ford announced it’s adopting Tesla’s previously proprietary North American Charging Standard (NACS) port for its future vehi ...read more

Nothing OS 2 will feature a minimalist and personal Android experience

Jun 9, 2023

Nothing OS 2.0 is expected to be one of the highlights of the Nothing Phone (2) Carl Pei’s Nothing is working on a major update for its Android-based operating system, Nothing OS 2.0. In an interview with XDA Developers , Mladen M. Hoyss, software creative director at Nothing, revealed some details about the vision and design of Nothing OS 2.0. Hoyss said that the operating system aims to be minimalistic, personal and intuitive, without compromising functionality or performance. He a ...read more

Bing’s chatbot now lets you ask questions with your voice on desktop

Jun 9, 2023

Microsoft is bringing Bing’s voice mode to Edge on desktop. With this latest update, you can now ask Bing’s chatbot questions using your voice — and it will respond in a voice of its own. Just like the feature on the mobile version of Edge, you can select the microphone button on Bing’s chat box and then ask your question aloud. Microsoft says its chatbot currently supports English, Japanese, French, German, and Mandarin but notes that additional languages are “on the way.” ...read more

Telus’ $18.5 billion investment in B.C. to benefit New Westminster, Chilliwack and more

Jun 9, 2023

Telus has provided further details on an $18.5 billion investment it says it will make in B.C. through 2027. The investment includes the following: North Vancouver will receive $21.3 million Vancouver will get $129 million Victoria will see $34.5 million New Westminster has been allocated $14 million Richmond will receive $24 million Kamloops will see $11.6 million Nanaimo has been allocated $11.7 million Abbotsford will get $12 million Saanich will get $7 million Prince George will see $10.4 ...read more

Wildfire smoke is getting worse for everyone, especially disadvantaged groups

Jun 9, 2023

Americans are breathing in a lot more wildfire smoke today than they did 10 years ago, new research confirms. And places with more people of color, immigrant communities, and areas where there’s lower educational attainment and more crowded housing have it the worst. In short, already disadvantaged communities are bearing the brunt of growing health risks from wildfire smoke in the US. That’s something to keep in mind this week after wildfire smoke smashed air pollution records across the ...read more

Whoopi Goldberg takes a stand against Diablo IV’s lack of Apple support

Jun 9, 2023

We wouldn't want to be between Whoopi Goldberg and her favourite game World-famous actress, comedian, and author Whoopi Goldberg took to Instagram to voice a complaint against Activision Blizzard. She expressed her frustration that, after purchasing Diablo IV, she came to find that it wasn’t playable on her Mac. Though Goldberg has been able to play past Diablo games on her Mac, Diablo IV didn’t get an Apple release. “There’s a lot of terrible things happening in the world,” G ...read more

Call of Duty removes streamer’s skin after homophobic comments

Jun 9, 2023

The Nickmercs operator skin has been removed from the Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone shop due to Nickmercs making homophobic comments. Activision Blizzard tweeted about the skin’s removal after a popular Call of Duty updates account remarked on it. “It appears Activision has removed the Nickmercs bundle from the Warzone and MWII store this evening,” tweeted CharlieIntel. The official Call of Duty twitter account responded, “Due to recent events, we have removed the ‘Nic ...read more