The Morning After: Apple may allow third-party app stores on iOS in the future

According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, Apple’s software and services teams are redesigning the platform to “open up key elements.” That could lead to the company giving iPhone and iPad users the option to download third-party apps without going through the App Store. Developers could then avoid the company’s infamous 30- and 15-percent commission on payments.

This could be to prepare for the European Union’s Digital Markets and Services Act. The act calls for interoperability between messaging platforms and equal access for outside developers to core operating system features, as well as allowing for sideloading – the ability to install on a device outside official app stores. Apple maintains this will be a security and privacy risk. US lawmakers are considering similar legislation to the Digital Markets Act, but their version, the Open App Markets Act, has yet to pass.

Messaging, too, could be an uphill struggle. RCS integration in iMessage is currently not on the table. Google has pushed the messaging protocol for years, going so far as to criticize Apple for not adopting it. Apple’s responses in the past have even included telling a reporter to buy their mom an iPhone.

– Mat Smith

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The biggest stories you might have missed

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is the first great high frame rate movie

But the HFR technology remains divisive.

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Fox/Disney

As a sequel to the highest-grossing film ever – the original Avatar was criticized for its formulaic story (and the small impact it had on pop culture) – the new movie is, according to Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar, a genuine surprise. It’s a sweeping epic that avoids the wobbly dialogue of the first film. From a technical perspective, James Cameron has arguably made the best high frame rate (HFR) movie yet. Certain scenes play back at 48 frames per second, giving them a smoother and more realistic sheen compared to the standard 24 fps. That leads to incredibly immersive 3D action scenes in the three hour and twelve minute runtime.

Continue reading.

Scientists achieve fusion ignition, a major milestone in clean energy production

It’s a breakthrough, but the technology is still years from deployment.

A team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has created the first known fusion reaction with a net energy gain – that is, it produced more energy than it consumed and resulted in ignition. On December 5th, the researchers achieved the feat when they used 192 lasers at the National Ignition Facility to blast a cylinder containing frozen hydrogen surrounded by diamond.

The reaction, which generated a flurry of X-rays, struck a fuel pellet of deuterium and tritium with 2.05 megajoules of energy. That led to a wave of neutron particles and 3.15 megajoules of output. The gain was ‘only’ equivalent to about 1.5 pounds of TNT, but it was enough to meet the criteria for fusion ignition.

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Amazon Prime Gaming offers ‘Dishonored 2’ for free this month

There are a few more games, too.

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Arcane

Amazon will offer Prime Gaming members a batch of PC games later this month at no extra cost. Along with a few Metal Slug titles, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection and a few others, you can snap up Arkane Studios’ Dishonored 2 between December 27th and January 3rd.

It’s not yet clear whether Amazon will offer the title through Steam, the Epic Games Store or the Amazon Games app. However, it’s worth noting Steam Deck doesn’t support this game, if that was your plan. And if you’ve got a Netflix sub, the streaming service is also offering a few free games as well.

Continue reading.

Congress introduces bill to ban TikTok over spying fears

Measures in the House and Senate would also block other social apps from China and Russia.

Members of the House and Senate have introduced matching bills to block transactions from any social media company in or influenced by China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea or Venezuela. The ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act (Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party – pithy) wants to shutter access to TikTok and other apps that could theoretically funnel American user data to oppressive governments, censor news or otherwise manipulate the public.

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Sony and Nintendo’s year in reviews reveal your top games of 2022

Just ahead of the holidays, Nintendo and Sony have unveiled their 2022 year in review tools for PlayStation and Switch, letting you see stats, a summary of your favorite games and more. As in previous years, you’ll not only be able to see a resume of your year in gaming, but share highlights with friends and see how you compare with other players around the world. 

On PlayStation, you’ll see trophy totals, the number of games played, total hours across PS4 and PS5 games and the number of PlayStation Plus games downloaded if you’re a member. You’ll also see stats achieved collectively by the global PlayStation community, like total miles driven in Gran Turismo 7 and the number of axes thrown in God of War Ragnarok. At the end of the experience, you’ll receive a summary card (below) that can be shared with other players. 

PlayStation year in review summary card
Sony

Nintendo has a similar tool for the Switch, with a report showing which games you played the most and for how long. You can also see which titles you were playing on a month by month basis, and share images of the report on social media. You’ll also see an overall year in review showing which games were played most and for how long in 2022. 

To access the stats, you’ll need to visit Nintendo and Sony‘s dedicated sites, then log into your account. If you’re like us, though, you may have spent inordinate amounts of time on Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

7 折入手 B&O Beoplay HX 真．無線耳機

B&O 的產品一向有種獨特的高貴感，比如說 Beoplay HX 真．無線耳機，它採用了鋁製外殼，配合記憶泡棉軟墊減壓頭帶加上小羊皮耳墊，輕便的機身讓用家長時間配戴也不會有不適感。現在這款耳機於 Amazon 上就正由原價 US$499 減至 US$349，大減 US$150。…

TikTok is testing full screen horizontal videos

TikToksaid last year that it reached one billion monthly active users worldwide, so whatever it’s doing is clearly working. That hasn’t stopped the ByteDance-owned company from testing and introducing new features, though, including those that put it in direct competition with YouTube. Case in point, its latest experiment that gives select users worldwide access to a horizontal full screen mode for videos they watch on their phones. 

The company has confirmed to TechCrunch that users chosen to be part of this test will see a button on square or rectangle videos in their feed. If they tap on that button, the video will expand horizontally to take up the whole screen. TikToks are famous for being short vertical videos, and creators still have to put a “turn your phone” message at the beginning of theirs if they filmed in landscape mode. If the company does launch this feature, they wouldn’t have to do that anymore, and other creators might be more inclined to film landscape videos. Of course, a wide release depends on testers’ response to the feature, among other factors. 

This is but the latest move the company has made in an effort to capture audiences who might like YouTube’s format better. Earlier this year, for instance, TikTok extended its maximum video length from three minutes to ten minutes. That said, it’s not exactly lagging behind the Google-owned video platform: According to a previous TechCrunch report, kids and teens have been spending more time on TikTok than YouTube since the middle of 2020. 

ARM won’t sell its latest chip designs in China due to US and UK export controls

ARM won’t sell its latest Neoverse V series chips to Chinese tech giant Alibaba after concluding that the US and UK would not approve licenses to export them, according to The Financial Times. The decision follows new US government rules restricting China and Russia exports of powerful chips that could be repurposed for military use. 

Softbank-owned ARM reportedly believes that Neoverse V would fall into the category of high-performance processors affected by the new rules. While it could apply for a license, it would likely be turned down, according to FT‘s sources with knowledge of the sale process. It may be the first time that ARM has decided not to sell it’s most advanced chip designs to China.

ARM designs the advanced RISC architecture for chips used in products ranging from smartwatches to advanced supercomputers. It doesn’t build the processors itself, but sells the designs to manufacturers like TSMC and Samsung. Its latest Neoverse V2 core has the highest performance to date, with a design said to have originated in the US. 

The Biden administration is also reportedly set to put Chinese chip manufacturer YMTC on its entity list as early as next week, according to a separate FT article. The company reportedly violated US export controls by supplying Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei with NAND memory chips. 

The US government had YMTC on an “unverified” entity list, meaning it was unable carry out checks to confirming that domestic technology wasn’t being used illegally. Thirty Chinese companies including YMTC had 60 days to comply to avoid being placed on an entity list that severely restricts exports. The Chinese government now allows such checks, but not all companies are necessarily cooperating. 

The US unveiled sweeping tech export controls in October. “This includes preventing China’s acquisition and use of US technology in the context of its military-civil fusion program to fuel its military modernization efforts, conduct human rights abuses, and enable other malign activities,” it said at the time. When the rules were announced, analysts said that memory chipmakers like YMTC would be most affected.

China filed a dispute with the World Trade Organization earlier this week over those export controls. The US government considers YMTC to be a “national champion” in China, so the latest move is likely to be met with a strong reaction.