Spotify is the cream of the crop when it comes to music streaming services, while it might not be first in music quality it certainly is first when it comes to user counts.

Spotify has released the their quarterly earnings for the second quarter of 2019, revealing that the company now has a solid paying userbase of 108 million users compared to the same time last year of 83 million users. While this might sound like a staggering amount of users, Spotify's estimation for the by the end of June was to add 8.5 million more users, which unfortunately fell short. One year-over-year scale, Spotify is actually up 31% growth wise.

The quarterly report also reveals an accurate amount of monthly active users the music streaming platform has. According to the report, Spotify now has 232 million monthly active users, in comparison to the same time last year where they had 180 million. To shine a light on some competing music streaming platforms, Apple has a userbase of about 60 million users and Amazon is currently trying to squeeze into the market with Amazon Music which is getting a straight upwards trend of users. could certainly disrupt things.

NASA has announced that they have partnered up with Elon Musk's space exploration company SpaceX, and Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos' aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin to advance Moon landing technology.

According to the announcement, NASA has identified areas in which private and public companies can assist them in developing further advancements in space technology. SpaceX and Blue Origin will be working with NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama to develop and evaluate materials that could be used on future lunar rovers.

Other technological advancements that are in the pipeline are a navigation and guidance system for more precise and accurate Moon landings. A SpaceX spokesperson gave a statement regarding the new deals between the company and NASA, saying "We believe SpaceX's fleet of advanced rockets and spacecraft, including Falcon Heavy and Starship, are integral to accelerating NASA's lunar and Mars plans." Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) also gave a statement, saying "NASA's proven experience and unique facilities are helping commercial companies mature their technologies at a competitive pace."

Scientists have just captured the first-ever image of the naturally occurring and extremely interesting phenomenon called 'Quantum Entanglement'.

Quantum Entanglement has perplexed scientists for quite some time, even going back to the creator of the general theory of relativity, Albert Einstein. Einstein called Quantum Entanglement "spooky action at a distance" as particles can remain connected to each other such that their physical properties will influence one another no matter the distance between them.

Scientists at the University of Glasgow recently conducted an experiment with an array of lasers and crystals that allowed for them to entangle photons, or light particles. The scientists hit the crystals with the ultraviolet (UV) laser that caused some of the photons to break off, resulting in some of the photons entangling and giving the scientists an opportunity to capture the entanglement in action. Miles Padgett, the professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Glasgow commented on the experiment, saying this is "the pivotal test of quantum entanglement" and that "this is the first time anyone has used a camera to confirm [it]."

Nintendo has released the newest version of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, version 4.0.0 is now currently live so lets go through the official patch notes and see what has changed.

Firstly, there has been numerous changes to a tonne of different characters in the game. While this might freak you out as your main character could have been tampered with, I can tell you that there isn't that many 'huge' changes, and is more so just fixes for characters. Balancing has concentrated on the following characters: Mewtwo, Corrin, Pokemon Trainer (Ivysaur, Charizard), Pit, Lucas, Ridley and Isabelle.

There is many more changes to some other cherry picked characters, so please feel free to check out the official patch notes here on the Nintendo website. If you don't want to visit the website, I have provided a screenshot of the official patch notes in the entirety of this article. If you didn't know, Nintendo didn't just balance characters in version 4.0.0 they also added the newest DLC character 'The Hero'. More on that here. If you want to compare this patch to the previous one, check out this article here.

Nintendo has just released the next DLC character to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, introducing 'The Hero' in the new version 4.0.0 update that has released.

Nintendo conducted their livestream reveal a couple of days ago about their newest DLC character to join the fight in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, 'The Hero'. The gameplay showcase was quite shocking as the character seemed to have everything that a Super Smash Bros. fighter needs: a good recovery, hard hitting attacks, nice range attacks, mobility, sweet sword arcs, lowish frame-data and speed. On top of all of that 'The Hero' has a chance of critically striking his opponent with an attack, this strike causes a massive impact of damage and is random.

While I won't be breaking down the moves of the fighter (a full video can be found above of that), many Smash Bros. players have taken to social media's to express their concern that the newest DLC character is much to strong and should be banned from tournaments. Keep in mind the character has been out for just 24 hours, is that truly enough time to determine whether a character is too strong? Another question that should be raised is that other characters that have RNG (random number generator) abilities - such as Game & Watch's possible one shot 9 - should these characters be banned as well?

We are only around a year away from what will arguably be the most exciting time for gamers, ever -- the release of next-gen consoles and a bunch of next-gen games. EA is ready for it all.

In its Q1 2020 financial results earnings calls with investorts, EA talked about its plans for next-gen consoles and next-gen games. Blake Jorgensen, Chief Financial Officer at EA said: "We're working hard on moving, building games for next year on Gen 5. I think it's obvious. I think everybody in the industry is doing that".

He continued: "As has happened in the past, not all games come out on Gen 5 immediately. And obviously, with games like Madden, you'd probably bring the Gen 5 game out when the Gen 5 console ships, not when Madden itself ships, but we'll be ready on Gen 5. We're very excited about it and we've been working on it for some time".

Lenovo looks like it could be the first with a 5G-powered laptop with the latest rumor from 91mobiles teasing a Lenovo rep that wanted to stay anonymous, that 5G laptops are coming later this year.

The source said that the company is working on multiple 5G-ready products for a big launch in Q4 2019, just in time for another big reveal by Qualcomm at its annual Snapdragon Tech Summit. We should expect the next big chip from Qualcomm that will succeed the Snapdragon 855 and Snapdragon 855+ and what should resemble a proper line up of 5G devices, of which Lenovo will have plenty of.

Keep in mind that 5G isn't an instant standard, so don't go expecting these things to drop into the market and be dominant. But slowly over time, 5G will make its way into the mainstream like every other big push with 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, and so on.

One of the hottest rumors in the GPU world has just dropped, with TechPowerUp writing up an article that explores the lid on Pandora's Box for the Turing GPU architecture... flashing NVIDIA graphics cards might have just become a possibility.

In its efforts adding support into GPU-Z for NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX SUPER graphics cards, W1zzard from TPU said he "noticed something curious". He continued:

Mavericks: Proving Grounds will never get to prove itself, with the game cancelled in the aftermath of its UK-based developer Automaton Games going out of business.

The game was meant to show off the abilities and power of the new cloud tech called SpatialOS, which was meant to see the game running on multiple dedicated servers, all at once. But nope, we won't see that now -- nor will we see the larger 1000-player MMO shooter 'Project X' in a single world. Gone.

The official Automaton Games website has a post, which reads:

LG teased and then pulled its UltraFine 5K display from the market over issues, but the newly-released and now-updated 5K monitor also includes a new feature: it'll work with the new iPad Pros thanks to their new USB-C output.

Apart from acting like a huge secondary display for your iPad Pro, the new LG UltraFine 5K monitor rocks its native 5120x2880 resolution and P3 wide color gamut. It has a single Thunderbolt 3 cable that will connect to your MacBook Pro, as well as three USB-C connections (each with 5Gbps) that will power various devices like smartphones.

The 27-inch 5K monitor has 500 nits of brightness, and with its native 5120x2880 resolution it has 77% more pixels than a 4K monitor. The difference between 4K and 5K and 4K and 8K (and even 5K and 8K) gets more and more incredible as you scale resolutions. 5K is perfect for content creators, especially thanks to its ease-of-use with a single Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C cable.

Samsung will be removing the 3.5mm headphone jack from its upcoming Galaxy Note 10, the first flagship handset that Samsung is making the move with -- but it won't be completely screwing new Note 10 customers, though.

According to new reports we should expect Samsung to launch the new Galaxy Note 10 with a set of wireless Galaxy Buds earphones, a move the company did with the Galaxy S10 earlier this year. Samsung will be launching different accessories for the Note 10 includign the Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Watch, and a new wireless charger.

We can expect some of those to be bundled with the Galaxy Note 10 depending on the region, and in some regions the choice between two or three of them. Speaking of the new Galxay Buds, the above image is from the new Buds that have been listed on Samsung's own website that have the same gradient coloring that the purported Note 10 has.

AMD has just unleashed a plethora of products on the new 7nm node including its new Zen 2 architecture (Steve's reviews on Ryzen 3000 CPUs) and the Ryzen 3000 series of CPUs, launching alongside the new Navi-based Radeon RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 graphics cards (my review on those here).

In a recent Q&A session AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su was asked about the existence of high-end 7nm Navi GPUs and mobile 7nm CPUs, to which she replied: "I would say they are coming. You should expect that our execution on those are on track and we have a rich 7-nanometer portfolio beyond the products that we have currently announced in the upcoming quarters".

This means we can expect a competitor to NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (my review here) and the higher-end RTX 2080 Ti in the near future, which should arrive as the Navi 20 (although I'm seeing Navi 12 online). I've heard from some industry sources that 'Navi 20' is a 'beast' and really where 4K and high FPS gamers are wanting, a competitor to the RTX 2080 Ti.

ASUS is reportedly preparing two new motherboards based on AMD's unannounced and so far unofficial X590 chipset.

The new rumor is from VideoCardz and their exclusive sources, which said the "PRIME X590-PRO and ROG STRIX X590-E are being mentioned in confidential documents that we have seen".

We don't know what to expect with the new X590 chipset, with previous rumors pegging it to have more PCIe 4.0 lanes than the current X570 boards. Another thing to remember is that AMD is soon launching its Ryzen 9 3950X, a beasty 16C/32T chip that would launch perfectly with the new X590 chipset.

At a recent press event in Japan, Sony's corporate executives warn that console prices will rise to offset incoming trade tariffs.

A bit ago I predicted the PlayStation 5 could end up being pretty expensive. It's specs alone speak of a premium system. The new PlayStation will have an AMD SoC with next-gen Navi GPU and Zen 2 CPU architectures for 4K gaming, 120Hz playback, and 8K output. Sony says it'll target enthusiast gamers, and that it won't replace the existing PS4 lineup.

The U.S.-China trade war could inflate prices even more. Sony previously delivered a joint letter with Nintendo and Microsoft who all warned the tariffs would massively disrupt the complex supply lines of the games industry. As a result, the Big Three said, games console hardware would likely rise in price.

Thanks to the mega-popular Apex Legends, EA sure is getting its money's worth with Respawn. The publisher is returning the favor in kind by giving the team as many resources as they need--including help from its varied stable of studios.

Shortly after being acquired by EA for $315 million, Respawn launched its titanic battle royale sensation Apex Legends. The Titanfall spin-off is so potent that it's now one of EA's core franchises. The company says Apex has anywhere from 8-10 million players every month and its engagement levels are off the charts. It's so important to EA that the publisher plans to invest in Apex Legends for the next 10 years. But there's just one issue here: how can Respawn keep the content flowing? With the assistance of a myriad of other studios of course.

In a recent first quarter FY2020 earnings call, EA confirmed that Respawn has three teams dedicated to separate projects. Respawn isn't one entity developing multiple games at once, but instead is segregated off into different groups focused on one set game. Right now Respawn has three teams: one working on Apex Legends, one developing Jedi: Fallen Order, and the other is making "some new things" (the new AAA VR game).

EA's big breadwinners are annualized live service games with lots of time- and money-spending hooks. Series like Madden, FIFA, The Sims, and even Battlefield are all billion-dollar earners designed to keep you playing (and paying) over long periods of time. But that's not all EA is about, and the company pledges to return to older franchises in the future.

EA might have some surprises in store for this fiscal year, namely a revival of dormant franchises like Skate, Command and Conquer (that terrible mobile game doesn't count), and even a fourth Mass Effect game (remember, BioWare is working on it). In a recent Fiscal Year Q1'2020 earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson affirmed the company has a diversified games pipeline that isn't just online-based sports or action games. After all, Jedi: Fallen Order is a purely singleplayer-only Star Wars game, offering a sharp contrast to the lootbox furor of Battlefront II.

"Our pipeline is full of innovative new projects for our current franchises, new IP and plans to revisit some of our fan favorite brands as we continually work to bring more high-quality games to our players across a growing number of platforms and devices," Wilson said in the call.

EA plans to mine Respawn's free-to-play battle royale sensation for all it's worth, and wants to support the game for the next decade or so.

In its recent FY Q1'2020 earnings call, key EA executives outlined the future of the company's focus. Live services are massively important (they made EA $504 million in the quarter, and $2.46 billion in the last 12 months) so games like Apex Legends are huge opportunities for long-term monetization. It's all about building engagement, and that means roadmaps. Lots of roadmaps with lots of updates and new content. Apex is already set up for recurring revenues with its huge battle royale focus and innovative FPS mechanics, and EA will use these features as a vehicle for microtransactions. It's the EA way, after all.

But how long will EA carry Apex Legends? Season 2 was somewhat soft in reception. There's some big things in the pipeline for season 3, EA says, and this precedent could reinvigorate the shooter now and into the future. According to EA Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen, the company is invested into Apex Legends for the long haul. EA is treating the popular Titanfall spin-off kind of like a yearly title, but instead of selling a retail copy every year, they'll roll out a smorgasbord of updates and content.

While watching a recent Doom Eternal gameplay demo from Quakecon, I noticed two major things: the sequel is kind of like an RPG, and id Software is really pushing the engagement hook.

Doom Eternal is shaping up to be a grindy experience that's meant to be played for a long, long while. Eternal sports runes, upgrades and perks, and creative director Hugo Martin confirms we'll be farming enemies quite a bit in the game. The levels are open-ended sort of like an RPG with lots of secrets to uncover, and the enemies take some careful planning an execution to kill. Everything's designed to last longer than it normally would in a shooter. Sure it's linear and story-based, but there's lots of things to do along the way.

In a way Doom Eternal is a kind of FPS hybrid that fits perfectly into Bethesda's recent focus on long-winded experiences capitalizing on engagement. In fact, engagement was a huge keyword in the demo. Both Marty Stratton and Hugo Martin tossed it around quite a bit in the footage.

NASA's Apollo 11 mission was not only a pivotal point in human history, but also a gift that keeps on giving as the work the astronauts did aboard the massive space rock still is helping us out today.

In 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin blasted off to the surface of the Moon, after a successful landing and an adventure out onto the wasteland-like surface, science needed to be conducted. One of the experiements the two astronauts did was the installation of glass prism arrays on the Moon's surface. These prisms were placed there so scientists back on Earth could fire lasers at them and measure the distance between Earth and the Moon.

While those prisms were placed there back in 1969, they are still being used today and have delivered an extraordinary amount of valuable information. Observatories on Earth have fired lasers at these prisms and waited for the light to return back to Earth to measure the distance between the two floating objects. It was discovered that the Moon is actually moving 1.5 inches away from Earth each year, and that at the moment the Moon is currently 384,400km away from Earth.

Gearbox Software has released a new character trailer video for Zane, an extremely seasoned espionage trained solider who is also a semi-retired corporate hitman.

Right off the bat we discover that Zane is Irish, and has had plenty experience with numerous different occupations in his time. One thing has stayed consistent through all of that though - Zane has been alone for most of his life. Halfway through the trailer we see Zane use one of his gadgets to block a bunch of bullets from some advancing enemies.

Then at the end we see him chatting to a clone of himself which can be assumed will be used to deceive enemies in combat. Gearbox will be releasing more of these character trailer videos to get that hype train chugging along towards the September release. Borderlands 3 will be releasing on Xbox One, PS4 and PC on September 13th. More information on Zane can be found here.