Epic Games exposes Google’s shady Play Store practices in ongoing legal battle
While Epic’s fight with Apple continues, the battle between Epic and Google heats up as newly unredacted documents reveal ways that Google sought to maintain its grasp on the Play Store and app developers.
Court documents from Epic describe various ways that Google has allegedly coaxed developers and OEMs from straying from the Play Store. Many of these practices have been called out in ongoing litigation against Google. However, the documents from Epic Games appear to provide more detail about Google’s activities.
First pointed out by The Verge, “Project Hug” was a program that Google implemented after fears that Epic would influence other top gaming developers to forgo the Play Store for their own distribution channels. The program apparently involved Google spending “hundreds of millions of dollars on secret deals” with top developers that were at risk of competing with the Play Store.
Read More at Android Central
Xiaomi Mi 11T Pro with 120W charging reportedly in the works, Mi 11T with Dimensity chip to follow
It looks like Xiaomi will be launching revamped T-versions of its Mi 11 flagships in September, similar to the Mi 10T last year. According to a source from Vietnam, the Xiaomi Mi 11T Pro will keep the Snapdragon 888 chipset and 120 Hz OLED display, but it will upgrade the charging hardware.
Specifically, the phone’s 5,000 mAh battery will be reworked to support 120W charging, similar to the Mi 10 Ultra. There’s no word on changes to the camera department. As for price, YouTube channel The Pixel claims that the phone will be in the VND 13-15,000,000, which is around $600.
Read More at Gsmarena
This Galaxy S21 FE leak gives us a look from literally every angle
We know almost everything about the Galaxy S21 FE thanks to leaked information. We’ve even seen numerous renders in the last few months, giving us a good idea of what the phone will actually look like.
Now, frequent leaker Evan Blass has posted a 3D render of the Galaxy S21 FE, allowing you to see the upcoming smartphone from any desired angle. Check it out below.
Read More at Android Authority
Realme’s bulky magnetic wireless charger is almost as fast as promised
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Earlier this month Realme launched MagDart, its MagSafe-a-like ecosystem of magnetic wireless charging products. The headline device is a 50W brick that Realme professes to be the fastest magnetic wireless charger in the world — it’s supposed to be able to charge a 4,500mAh battery from 0 to 100 percent in 54 minutes.
Naturally I was interested in trying this for myself. Realme sent me a 50W MagDart charger, a 65W SuperDart wall charger to plug it into, and a Realme Flash “concept phone” with built-in MagDart compatibility. (The only other Realme phone to work with MagDart is the new GT flagship, and even that requires a specialized case.)
Read More at The Verge
Windows 11 is bringing some cool new features to its most basic app…
With applications such as Paint and the Snipping Tool being redesigned for Windows 11, the Clock app has also had the same treatment, but with some surprising features.
Microsoft is focused on making sure that the user experience is unified across the operating system and its applications, but there’s also been some time made to see how new features could be integrated to better help users.
While the Clock app is something that was only really used to tell between different time zones and setting up agendas, it looks as though Microsoft is giving it a big overhaul to make it even more useful.
Read More at Techradar
Galaxy S22 Ultra may not offer any zoom camera upgrades over the S21
With the Galaxy S20 series, Samsung introduced a new Ultra model in the Galaxy S lineup which sits above the regular and Plus models and packs the most advanced hardware that Samsung can fit in a traditional form factor. What sets apart the Galaxy Ultra model from the rest of the Galaxy S lineup is the camera performance. For example, this year’s Galaxy S21 Ultra came with an impressive camera setup comprising a 108MP primary shooter, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 10MP telephoto shooter, and a 10MP periscope lens with 10x optical zoom. While the Galaxy S21 Ultra offered significantly better zoom performance than its predecessor, it looks like we might not see any drastic upgrades in this area on Samsung’s next top model, the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
According to a report from GalaxyClub, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will come equipped with similar zoom cameras as the Galaxy S21 Ultra. As per the publication, the phone will have a 10MP periscope lens with 10x optical zoom and a 10MP telephoto lens. The zoom capability of the second camera is unknown but it could very well be the same (3x optical) as on the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Read More at XDA
iPad mini 6 case mold leak points to a major design overhaul
The iPad mini 6 should be with us before the end of the year, and a new leak showing what is claimed to be a case mold for the compact tablet gives us a few more clues about the major redesign that’s coming to the device.
Images and video shared by Techordo and @xleaks7 show off what could well be the size and shape of the iPad mini 6, and it looks as though the tablet is going to be updated with the more modern look seen on the iPad Air and the iPad Pro.
In other words, the bezels are getting trimmed down, the home button is disappearing, and the Touch ID fingerprint scanner tech is going to be moved to the power button. This new model will be quite a departure from the 2019 iPad mini 5 in terms of its looks.
Read More at Techradar
Elon Musk Just Announced a Humanoid “Tesla Bot”
To build its robot assistant, the company will draw from existing experience with car manufacturing robotics as well as its AI-powered computer chips that enable its fleet of cars to (almost) drive themselves.
It’s a rather odd left turn for Elon Musk, who has repeatedly warned us of the dangers of AI. “I’ve been banging this AI drum for a decade,” Musk told Insider in July 2020. “We should be concerned about where AI is going. The people I see being the most wrong about AI are the ones who are very smart, because they can’t imagine that a computer could be way smarter than them.”
Read More at Futurism
Amazon is planning to open its largest retail stores to date, report
Amazon is planning to dramatically expand its brick-and-mortar footprint with the opening of large sites similar to department stores, a report claimed on Thursday, August 19.
The company that made its name with online shopping has in recent years taken a growing interest in physical outlets, opening bookstores, grocery stores, and premises selling its growing range of electronics, among other items.
But a Wall Street Journal report this week says the e-commerce giant is planning to open multiple “large stores” to “extend its reach in sales of clothing, household items, electronics, and other areas,” with shelves featuring Amazon’s own-label products as well as goods from “top consumer brands,” people with knowledge of the matter said.
Read More at Digital Trends
Hackers steal nearly $100m in Japan crypto heist
Leading Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid has been hit by hackers, with almost $100m (£73m) estimated to have been stolen.
The company announced that some of its digital currency wallets have been “compromised.”
It is the second major theft of cryptocurrencies to take place in recent days.
Last week, digital token platform Poly Network was at the centre of a $600m heist.
“We are sorry to announce that #LiquidGlobal warm wallets were compromised, we are moving assets into the cold wallet,” the company said on Twitter.
So-called ‘warm’ or ‘hot’ digital wallets are usually based online and designed to allow users to access their cryptocurrencies more easily, while ‘cold’ wallets are offline and harder to access and therefore usually more secure.
Read More at BBC
