Technology - Google News

Fortnite for Android will ditch Google Play Store for Epic's website
Every Galaxy Note 9 rumor was just confirmed by a big new leak
The world's first 5G smartphone just launched and we all missed it

Fortnite for Android will ditch Google Play Store for Epic's website

Posted: 03 Aug 2018 07:00 AM PDT

Epic Games announced today that it will not distribute its massively popular game Fortnite on Android through Google's Play Store marketplace. Instead, the company plans to directly distribute the software to players through the official Fortnite website, where Android users can download a Fortnite Installer program to install the game on compatible devices. The news confirms reports from earlier this week that Epic would bypass Google for the Android launch of the game.

There is no concrete release date yet for the Android version of Fortnite, but rumors circulating suggest the game's release will be tied to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 9 launch. Epic declined to comment on the game's release date or any partnership plans with Samsung.

Regardless, the announcement marks a bold departure from the widespread industry practice of using mobile operating system makers like Apple and Google for app distribution. For Fortnite on iOS, Epic decided to distribute the game on the App Store, most likely because it had no other method of getting iPhone users to easily download the software. (Apple, unlike Google, does not allow iOS users to download apps that are not first approved by its internal review processes and distributed through its proprietary marketplace.) With Google and its more open platform, Epic can get away with distributing the app itself.

CEO Tim Sweeney says the primary motivation here is twofold. Epic wants to maintain its direct relationship with consumers. (The company currently distributes Fortnite on PC through its own Epic Games Launcher, instead of using Valve's popular Steam platform.)

"Epic wants to have a direct relationship with our customers on all platforms where that's possible," Sweeney told The Verge over email. "The great thing about the Internet and the digital revolution is that this is possible, now that physical storefronts and middlemen distributors are no longer required."

The second reason is financial: Epic does not want to pay Google's 30 percent cut, especially considering the entire game is funded through in-app purchases. "The 30 percent store tax is a high cost in a world where game developers' 70 percent must cover all the cost of developing, operating, and supporting their games," Sweeney says. "There's a rationale for this on console where there's enormous investment in hardware, often sold below cost, and marketing campaigns in broad partnership with publishers."

But on mobile platforms that are open, like Android, "30 percent is disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service," he says. Sweeney adds that Epic is "intimately familiar with these costs" from its direct distribution of Fortnite on Mac and PC.

Fortnite on iOS made $15 million in its first three weeks on the market, so it's reasonable to assume the mobile version of the game is a sizable source of revenue for Epic. Last month, the company also reduced the revenue cut it takes from asset makers who sell digital work on its Unreal Engine 4 platform, in part because of the ongoing financial success of Fortnite.

Reasonably, there are some concerns about how exactly this will work, and whether it opens up Android users to any potential security or data privacy risks since running third-party software outside the Play Store involves removing certain protections on Android devices. Sweeney says he doesn't see security as a big issue here. "Gamers have proven able to adopt safe software practices, and gaming has thrived on the open PC platform through many sources." He cites marketplaces like Steam, Activision Blizzard's Battle.net, and Riot Games' League of Legends platform.

"We're confident Android will be similarly successful," Sweeney adds. "Most importantly, mobile operating systems increasingly provide robust, permissions-based security, enabling users to choose what each app is allowed to do: save files; access the microphone; access your contacts. In our view, this is the way all computer and smartphone platforms should provide security, rather than entrusting one monopoly app store as the arbiter of what software users are allowed to obtain."

There are a number of open questions from here onward, principally how Google will respond. (The company was not immediately available for comment.) Furthermore, we don't know how this will eventually impact availability in China. Sweeney says the initial Android launch of Fortnite will be worldwide excluding China, and he says Epic is currently working out a China launch for both iOS and Android.

"Because Google Play doesn't operate in China, the whole China Android market is already served by other direct-to-customer software sources such as Tencent's WeChat and the Xiaomi Store," Sweeney says. He added that the company is "exploring various possibilities" for distributing Fortnite on other third-party app stores, but it has nothing to announce right now.

That said, Epic's move here will surely have a big impact on what app makers decide to do in the future. Fortnite is popular enough — it has more than 125 million registered players as of June — that scores of Android users will likely download the game at launch, even if it requires a little bit more technical know-how than usual. And Epic has the industry clout and technological resources to go it alone in this regard, as it has been doing for years now on the PC platform.

Still, that Epic is making such an audacious move with the Android release of Fortnite, which will arguably be its most popular platform, is an eye-popping turn of events for an already unprecedented gaming narrative.

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Every Galaxy Note 9 rumor was just confirmed by a big new leak

Posted: 03 Aug 2018 08:57 AM PDT

The last domino appears to have fallen in the endless Galaxy Note 9 leak saga, as a photo of what is purported to be the official retail box for the upcoming phone appeared online this week. Shared by Twitter user Dmitriy Ryabinin, the photo shows off the back of the box, which happens to feature a full list of specifications as well.

According to Ryabinin, the Galaxy Note 9 (which won’t be officially unveiled until Samsung’s Unpacked event in New York City on August 9th) is already in stock at some stores in Russia, which is how he was able to snag a photo of the box early. This might look suspect at first glance, but we’ve actually seen multiple similar leaks from Russia in recent weeks, including a hands-on review in late June and an accessory leak just days ago.

As for the retail box, it pretty much confirms what we thought we knew about the Galaxy Note 9. Samsung’s flagship will feature a 6.4-inch QHD+ sAMOLED display, a dual rear camera with two 12-megapixel lenses, an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, 4,000 mAh battery, IP68 dust and water protection, and an iris scanner.

А вот и он. Пока корейцы готовятся к мировой презентации в Нью-Йорке, новенький Samsung Galaxy Note9 уже лежит в российских магазинах. Теперь известны все характеристики до анонса 👌 pic.twitter.com/Dj51ohBUxZ

— Dmitriy Ryabinin (@dryab) August 3, 2018

The retail box for the 128GB model of the Note 9 (translated by SamMobile) also confirms that the S Pen will indeed double as a remote control, as several leaks suggested over the past few weeks. In addition to writing with the S Pen, the tool will also be equipped with Bluetooth functionality, which could potentially allow users to take photos or control media playback without actually having to directly touch their phones.

The Galaxy Note 9 has now been as spoiled as any phone in recent memory, but if there’s anything left to learn, we’ll hear about it at Samsung’s Unpacked event next week, which will be streaming live online.

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The world's first 5G smartphone just launched and we all missed it

Posted: 03 Aug 2018 03:50 AM PDT

The world’s first 5G smartphone just launched and we all missed it mainly because there are no 5G networks to begin with. You’d have no way of actually taking advantage of 5G features just because your device supports the new standard. Also, the new Android phone, as it is now, can’t do 5G for another reason. It doesn’t technically have a 5G modem inside, which will be a problem when 5G launches. But where there’s a modular Motorola phone, there’s a Moto Mod to fix it.

Called the Moto Z3, the new smartphone will be 5G-upgradeable with the help of a new 5G Moto Mod that will be available to buyers later this year. This is an ingenious trick for the phone series. The modularity of the Moto Z line is what allowed Motorola to launch the world’s first “5G-upgradeable” smartphone.

Motorola partnered with Verizon to launch the phone, and the press release notes that Verizon will be the first to deliver 5G residential broadband service later this year, in four markets, including Houston, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and a city that hasn’t been decided. A mobile solution will follow in 2019, which is when that 5G Moto Mod will come in handy.

Other than the 5G support that’s coming at a later date, the Moto Z3 will offer you a 6-inch Super AMOLED screen with 2160 x 1080 resolution, Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, microSD support, dual 12-megapixel rear cameras, 8-megapixel selfie camera, 3,000 mAh battery with TurboPower charging support, fingerprint sensor, USB-C connectivity, and Android 8.1 Oreo.

The Moto Z3 will be available exclusively via Verizon on August 16th for $480, or $20 per month for 24 months. Why so cheap you ask? I’ll say Snapdragon 835 processor once again, which is last year’s high-end processor for Android phones. For some reason, the Moto Z3 won’t get the Snapdragon 845 treatment like any other Android flagship out there.

The price of the 5G Moto Mod was not revealed, but the press release says that, for a limited time, you can purchase any existing Moto Mod over $100 for just $50 if you buy the new Moto Z3.

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