Latest News - Page 1659

Ubisoft is slowly revealing its new Viking-themed Assassin's Creed game, but we at least know what it'll be called now.

A new domain filing for Assassin's Creed Valhalla.com pretty much confirms the game's finalized name. The domain was filed with Gandi.net, which masks the original registrar's data (in this case it's Ubisoft) to protect privacy, so there's no official confirmation per say. But Ubisoft also used Gandi.net to secure Assassin's Creed Origins.com, which redirects to the main Assassin's Creed website. The Valhalla domain will undoubtedly do the same.

Ubisoft has yet to formally unveil Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. The company is currently hosting an unconventional live stream showing an artist creating concept art from the ground up. There's no flashy gameplay, no sizzle reel, no enigmatic logos. Just really beautiful art that slowly takes shape before your eyes and crystallizes the Viking era.

Any platform where people can share news or their personal beliefs tends to have a problem with viral messages that may or may not be true. Facebook-owned WhatsApp certainly has a problem with viral forwarded messages being sent, and it's currently bragging about a 70% drop in the number of viral forwarded messages. The significant decline in forwarded messages comes three weeks after WhatsApp imposed a limit on shared messages to stop the spread of coronavirus misinformation.

WhatsApp imposed a Highly Forwarded Message Limit on April 7 as a response to what it calls a "significant increase" in the number of forwarded messages since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. With the limit imposed, people are only allowed to forward viral messages to one chat instead of five as previously allowed.

WhatsApp issued a statement that said, "Since putting into place this new limit, globally, there has been a 70% reduction in the number of highly forwarded messages sent on WhatsApp. This change is helping keep WhatsApp a place for personal and private conversations." Like many other social networking, videoconferencing, and chat apps, WhatsApp has partnered with governments, the World Health Organization, and other organizations to create trustworthy information sources for users.

Techland just announced one of the most creative DLCs I've ever seen in the games industry. It's called Hellraid, and it pulls you into a cursed arcade machine straight out of hell.

Dying Light released in 2015, but Techland is still making awesome DLC for the game five years later. Case in point: The new Hellraid DLC, which basically transports you into a supernatural arcade cabinet to play Techland's unreleased Hellraid fantasy slasher. This idea is just plain fun and it had to be a blast for the devs. They got to dust off one of their old IPs and use Dying Light as a kind of bloody canvas to converge the two worlds. The Hellraid arcade machine will consume your soul and transport you to a world of mayhem and destruction.

This idea is pretty interesting and reminds me of the urban legend of Polybius, that infamous arcade machine planted by the government in the 1980s that supposedly turned people insane. There's also some inspiration from an old super obscure 1983 horror anthology film called Nightmares, where a gaming-obsessed Emilio Estevez got trapped inside of an arcade machine.

The Google Project Zero team announced this week that it had discovered significant flaws in Apple's Image I/O that were likely candidates to be targeted by zero-click attack vectors. The bugs were discovered in Apple's Image I/O software, which ships with iOS, MacOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The flaws were present on every major platform that Apple offers.

The Project Zero team withheld any publication of the bugs until they were patched by Apple. The team says that the Image I/O problems Apple had linked to relatively well-known issues surrounding image format parsers. Flaws of this sort are commonly targeted by hackers because they could allow the various multimedia assets to be processed with the ability to run code on a target system without user interaction.

Google's team used a process called "fuzzing" to determine how the Image I/O framework responded to malformed image files. The team chose that particular technique because Apple restricts access to a majority of the tool source code. During the research, the Google team successfully found six vulnerabilities in Image I/O, along with another eight vulnerabilities in OpenEXR, which is a third-party HDR image file format.

The next Assassin's Creed game will center around the bloody carnage of seafaring Vikings, Ubisoft today confirmed.

Ubisoft is doing something different with this year's Assassin's Creed reveal. Instead of revealing AC Vikings with an action-packed teaser or sizzle reel, Ubisoft is using art to slowly uncovering the game's setting in a live stream. The stream follows BossLogic as he crafts some interesting concept art that gives away the game's Viking-themed timeline in bits and pieces. The game's setting, time frame, and overall feel slowly come into focus as BossLogic adds more depth to the art.

The main image shows two scenes with a protagonist in the middle: On the left, there's Viking longships sailing the emerald seas amidst towering, frozen mountains in the back, obviously a nod to the Northern climes of Scandinavia. The longships have the Viking's signature decorated shields.

YouTube has published an official blog post that talks about its expanded fact checks for YouTube in the United States. The video service says that over the last two years, more and more people have begun coming to YouTube for news and information. That information runs the gamut from election coverage to perspectives on different topics and information about breaking news events.

One of the events that have brought more people to YouTube in recent months is the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. YouTube says that it's continuing to improve the news experience on the service, including raising authoritative sources of information across the site. YouTube is now expanding its fact check information panels that were launched in Brazil and India last year to the United States.

The fact check feature will expand on other ways that YouTube is using to connect people with authoritative sources. YouTube says that it started introducing information panels in 2018 with a wide range of contextual information from links to sources like Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia for topics that were prone to misinformation. More recently, that has been expanded to cover coronavirus and includes links to the WHO, CDC, or local health authorities.

A new malicious campaign on the Google Play Store targeting Android devices dubbed PhantomLance has been discovered. According to the security researchers, the campaign has been active since at least 2015 and is ongoing. The campaign features multiple versions of sophisticated spyware that was created to gather the data of victims and targeted devices.

Another hallmark of the campaign is that it used smart distribution tactics such as distribution via dozens of applications on the Google Play store, according to researchers at Kaspersky. The spyware campaign also used alternative Android app stores for distribution such as APKpure and APKCombo. Kaspersky researchers say that the PhantomLance spyware overlapped with other attacks that targeted Windows and MacOS that were attributed toa hacker group known as OceanLotus believed to be based in Vietnam that was also tracked as APT32.

Researchers say that the malware used in this particular campaign is a lot more complicated than the typical malware used by cybercriminals to steal financial information and credentials from Southeast Asian Android users. The majority of users impacted by this campaign are located in Vietnam, with a small number located in China. Information that the malware campaigns are targeting included information about geolocation, call logs, contacts, text messages, lists of installed apps, and device information.

A court filing surfaced earlier this week that shows Apple has settled a class-action lawsuit brought against it by users of older iPhone models. According to the lawsuit, Apple intentionally broke FaceTime on older iPhone devices. Apple has agreed to pay out $18 million to the claimants who argued that Apple had disabled FaceTime on iPhone 4 and 4s smartphones as a cost-saving measure in 2014.

The $18 million common fund covers nearly 30% of the total average damages estimated by expert witnesses the plaintiffs called in the case. Apple is worth such a massive amount of money that $18 million is nothing to the company, and the settlement really means nothing to those involved in the class-action lawsuit either. Each of the class members will receive about $3 from the settlement.

The $3 could increase if other claimants in the suit fail to cash their checks. Honestly, $3 isn't worth a trip to the bank, so a number of participants in the suit may not cash the checks. The two-class representatives in the lawsuit will come out much better than the average iPhone 4 user. Christina Grace and Ken Potter, the class representatives, stand to gain $7500 each for participation in the case.

Google is looking to keep all of its customers on its apps, and with so many people working from home right now and using Zoom, why not release another app that will entice them back onto Google?

Google will soon be rolling out a new free service called Google Meet. Google Meet will be free for anyone who has a Gmail account, and will have a slew of features that will no doubt steal some of Zoom's users back over to Google for the sheer convenience. Meet users will be able to create and host meetings with up to 100 participants by using Meet's website, or iOS and Android apps.

Google users will also be able to schedule meetings on their Google Calendar and go straight to meetings from the Google Calendar app or website. Meet will also be able to use real-time captions and have an expanded tile view layout. At the moment, Google Meet sessions are unlimited, but after September 30th sessions will be limited to 60 minutes each. Google is uncapping the session time to allow for everyone who is required to work from home due to the coronavirus. If you are interested in Google Meet, check out more here.

The sale of RuneScape developer Jagex has been rumored for quite some time now, and now it's finally happened.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Jagex, the developer of the popular MMO RuneScape, has been officially acquired by a US-based global management firm, Macarthur Fortune Holding. Jagex was previously owned by Shanghai Hongtou Network Technology, a subsidiary company of Shanghai Fukong. Macarthur Fortune Holding has now purchased Jagex through one of its funds called Platinum Fortune.

Macarthur plans on investing in the future of Jagex by implementing marketing strategies that will hopefully continue the slow growth of its MMOs. Macarthur plans on increasing the player base of Jagex's MMO's, and will also be keeping Jagex's management team at its Cambridge headquarters the same. If you are interested in checking out RuneScape, head on over to the Old School RuneScape website here.

Google just reported its Q1'20 earnings, and the results see strong growth across the company's key billion-dollar segments.

Google recorded stellar Q1 results driven by earnings spikes in key advertisement and search segments. The company pulled in $4.028 billion from YouTube advertisements in the three-month period ending March 31, 2020, up a significant 33% from last year. This jump is likely caused by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders issued across the globe in late March, leading to a massive influx of viewers watching ads placed over videos.

The titan's main breadwinner is of course monetizing searches across its juggernaut search engine. The company raked in a tremendous $24.5 billion in search revenue in Q1, up 8.67% from last year, and total advertisement revenues across YouTube and search tallied up to $33.7 billion, up 10.38% from Q1'19.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is now available on Google's Stadia streaming platform, and is free for Stadia Pro members.

Today Google confirmed it's not playing around with Stadia. The service is getting some of the biggest games on the market today, and Google secured billion-dollar titans like EA's FIFA, Madden, and Star Wars, along with the massive battle royale sensation PUBG.

Right now PUBG is available for free as a bundle for all Stadia Pro members, which is good news if you haven't signed up. Google is offering a free two-month Stadia Pro trial for all new members, but you have to use a credit card to sign up. If you forget to cancel, Google will charge you $10 a month.

Microsoft has announced that it has issued a patch for a severe flaw in Microsoft Teams that could have allowed a user's account to be taken over simply by viewing a GIF. The security issue stemmed from the way that Teams handles images and could allow data theft and account hijacking. The security flaw was discovered by a security firm called CyberArk over a month ago.

CyberArk worked with Microsoft Security Research Center using the Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure to fix the flaw. Repairing such a sensitive flaw was a priority with the massively increased number of users who are utilizing Teams for education, work, and healthcare during the coronavirus pandemic. CyberArk was able to show Microsoft how it was possible to use a compromise subdomain to host images and steal security tokens by merely getting the user to view an image.

One of the most serious aspects of this particular attack was that it was invisible to the user. CyberArk said that it found that two Microsoft subdomains were vulnerable to takeover, including aadsync-test.teams.microsoft.com and data-dev.teams.microsoft.com.

Battlefront is being retired into maintenance mode and won't receive any new updates after Scarif, DICE today confirmed.

DICE is about to sunset two of its live games: First Battlefield V retires this summer, and then Battlefront II will be retired starting tomorrow.

"This means that we're moving away from delivering regular content updates. As the game lives on with the players and our community, we're looking forward to hearing your stories for years to come," DICE said in a blog post. The studio plans to go full steam ahead on Battlefield 6 for next-gen consoles.

Google isn't messing around with Stadia. Google just secured some of the industry's biggest billion-dollar earners for its fledgling game-streaming service.

Stadia might blow up big time, and in the best way possible. Today Google announced a huge partnership with EA to bring some of the industry's most popular and lucrative games like FIFA, Madden, and Star Wars over to Stadia. This move has tremendous implications for Stadia's long-term earnings and adoption.

EA plans to release five games across its titanic franchises to Stadia. The singleplayer-only Jedi: Fallen Order will arrive in 2020, and both FIFA and Madden will arrive by winter 2020. Whether or not the newer FIFA 21 and Madden 21 will release on Stadia wasn't confirmed. More games will launch in 2021, EA says.

A lot of people out there looking forward to the launch of a new streaming service from HBO called HBO Max. New details on the service and a deal that WarnerMedia has going with Apple have surfaced that some subscribers to HBO Now will appreciate. WarnerMedia has announced that it's teaming up with Apple to launch the HBO Max service and to specifically ensure a seamless experience for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV users.

HBO Max will be available through the Apple TV app at launch on May 27. The best part is that customers who are currently paying for HBO Now through the Apple App Store or Apple TV Channels will be upgraded to HBO Max at no additional charge. Those needing to sign-up will pay $14.99 per month for HBO Max via Apple platforms or other services.

The announcement also confirms that customers who own a second or third-generation Apple TV will be able to stream HBO Max content from their iPhone or iPad directly to their TV via AirPlay. The fourth-generation Apple TV and iPhone and iPad devices will also get an HBO Max application. The older Apple TV devices will need to stream using AirPlay.

How many chapters will gamers need to buy until they own the full Final Fantasy 7 Remake? Square Enix doesn't know just yet.

April's launch of Final Fantasy 7 Remake wasn't the full package, but only the first chapter in a multi-volume roadmap of games. Square Enix plans to release multiple full-sized volumes that are sold as standalone, full-priced games. We originally assumed the series would be a trilogy with 90 hours of content--one full game release for each of FF7's original 3 discs--but now Square Enix says the game could have more than three parts.

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LG has confirmed the specifications for its new flagship smartphone call the LG Velvet. The device set to launch next week, and now fans know what to expect. The smartphone has a 6.8-inch 20.5:9 aspect ratio OLED display and both the screen and the back cover will have curved sides.

Velvet will be 74.1 mm wide with LG promising the width makes the device easy for consumers to handle. Stereo speakers will balance sound with artificial intelligence software designed to control the volume and optimize sound. On its back, Velvet will have a 48-megapixel main primary lens along with an eight-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a five-megapixel depth sensor.

The front selfie camera will be a 16-megapixel unit. LG says that the cameras will support ASMR recording to improve sound quality on recorded videos. Under the hood will be a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 5G SoC. Power will come from a 4300 mAh internal battery. The smartphone will have a headphone jack, which is something that many people appreciate.

WhatsApp has announced a new update for its service meant to cater to people trying to work from home and keep in touch with friends and family during the coronavirus pandemic. WhatsApp says that since the pandemic started to hit the world, it has seen people globally turn to voice and video calling on WhatsApp more than ever before. The service says that group calling has been particularly useful, and users have asked to connect with more people at once.

WhatsApp says that starting today, it is doubling the number of participants that a user can have a WhatsApp video or voice call with from four people to eight people at a time. While talking about doubling the number of people who can participate in a voice or video call, WhatsApp also says that over the last month, people have, on average, spend more than 15 billion minutes talking each day on WhatsApp calls. The company says that number of minutes is "well above a typical day before the pandemic."

WhatsApp points out that just like its written messages, all voice and video calls are protected with end-to-end encryption. The new group calling feature is also built in a way to make it available to as many users as possible, including people using lower-end devices and hose on slow networks. WhatsApp says that it's also available on Portal, and users have said that is a great way to share the living room family during the quarantine.

A new rumor making the rounds that suggests the next-generation Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone, thought to be called the Galaxy Note 20, will receive an updated chipset. The new chipset would be a change from the Exynos 990 chipset that Samsung is using right now. Some Samsung devices use the Exynos 990 chipset, but the Snapdragon 865 is used in the Galaxy S20 series of smartphones in South Korea.

According to the rumor, the chipset used in the Galaxy Note 20 will be the Exynos 992. That chip is expected to bring improved performance and improved power efficiency compared to the current generation Exynos 990. This change would also reportedly see Samsung switch back to Exynos processors in South Korea.

Samsung's new chipset is expected to be based on the Samsung 6nm fabrication process. Chips using that fabrication process are scheduled to go into mass production in the second half of 2020. The current-generation Exynos 990 processor uses the Samsung 7nm EUV process that has been widely criticized for being unable to compare in performance to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865.