Technology - Google News

Why Epic can’t afford to lose the Unreal Engine in its legal fight with Apple - The Verge
Elon Musk announces Neuralink live tech demo of 'working device' - Business Insider - Business Insider
iPhone 12 Pro Max leak suggests it’ll get a 120Hz display and LiDAR-supported autofocus - The Next Web

Why Epic can’t afford to lose the Unreal Engine in its legal fight with Apple - The Verge

Posted: 26 Aug 2020 08:02 AM PDT

Epic's legal fight with Apple over the future of Fortnite has quickly evolved into an existential battle for one of the game studio's most lucrative and important assets: the Unreal Engine platform.

After removing Fortnite from the App Store, Apple targeted Epic's other developer account tied to its game engine, putting at risk the company's licensing business by threatening to cut iOS and macOS support. Epic secured a last-minute temporary restraining order granted late Monday evening to protect the business in the short term, but the fate of the Unreal Engine is still up in the air — endangering an entire ecosystem of third-party tools that rely on the engine.

As Epic warned in a court motion last week, Apple's moves against the Unreal Engine would threaten the software behind "hundreds of video games, the human brain, Baby Yoda, and space flight." Most of those projects have no obvious connection to Epic Games and Fortnite, but they rely on the company and its tools to do their work. And as Epic and Apple settle in for years of legal warfare, those projects are likely to be disrupted too.

Developed in 1998 alongside the first-person shooter Unreal, the Unreal Engine has become a cornerstone of Epic's business and the gaming industry at large. It's currently used by dozens of game makers, Hollywood production and special effects studios, and other firms in the 3D rendering and computer graphics businesses.

The engine is also how Epic builds its own games, including Fortnite and past major hits like Gears of War and Unreal Tournament. Scores of big-budget game makers have also forgone custom, in-house engines for Epic's, like Gearbox Software (Borderlands 3), and Riot Games (Valorant), and Square Enix (Final Fantasy VII Remake). Epic licensed the software to thousands of developers who don't have the resources to build their own engine, in exchange for a five percent royalty on whatever's created. That licensing has turned Epic's Unreal Engine into a popular toolkit even for major, big-budget games, rivaled only by the more mobile-focused Unity.

Now, the engine is at risk of becoming collateral damage in the company's fight over in-app payments in Fortnite. When Apple removed Fortnite by revoking Epic's primary app developer account, it also planned to revoke the developer account Epic uses to maintain the Unreal Engine on iOS, as part of its policy of removing linked accounts after a breach of contract.

The court has restrained Apple from revoking that account for the next few weeks, but it remains to be seen whether it will keep the account protected for the full duration of the trial. (A temporary injunction hearing to settle the matter is scheduled for September 28th.) But if Apple prevails — either in the preliminary injunction or in the broader case — Epic's testing tools for the Unreal Engine will suffer the same fate as Fortnite, cutting the system off from updates and broader development.

If Apple successfully fends off the injunction next month, the effect won't be immediate, and games running on the Unreal Engine will keep working on iOS — at least until a major bug pops up. But the longer-term implications could be disastrous, especially for iOS game developers. Because Apple controls the process by which developers create, test, and then submit iOS apps and any future updates for review, Unreal's inability to support the iOS platform means Epic can't incorporate new features of the operating system or implement updates and bug fixes that a game developer might need to keep the product running and functional.

"If Epic lost access to Apple's developer tools, that wouldn't break any current apps using Unreal in the App Store (or on other platforms)," Riley Testut, a popular game emulation developer who now operates an alternative mobile app store called AltStore, tells The Verge. "The problem is more for developers going forward; if Epic can't use Apple's tools, they can't release bug fixes or new features. This most likely would mean Unreal-based games would break eventually in future versions of iOS and macOS, and Epic would be unable to do anything about it."

Microsoft raised a similar point in court, in a declaration submitted last week. "Developing a game using different game engines for different platforms may be prohibitively expensive and difficult. In any event, it is not as cost-effective as using a game engine that supports different platforms," explained Kevin Gammill, Microsoft's general manager for gaming developer experiences, in a declaration of support for Epic that Microsoft filed. As Gammill paints it, Apple terminating Epic's account would force it to "choose between abandoning its customers and potential customers on the iOS and macOS platforms or choosing a different game engine when preparing to develop new games."

Gammill specifically cited Microsoft's Forza Street, a mobile version of its Turn 10 Studios racing franchise, as an example of a game that relies on iOS support in the Unreal Engine. "Even uncertainty about the Unreal Engine's ability to continue supporting iOS and macOS will make it less likely for Microsoft (and, I believe, other game creators) to select Unreal Engine for their projects," he wrote. "When game creators are planning development projects, which can last for years, it is important to have confidence that the chosen engine will continue to be available on and support all platforms on which the game creators plan to distribute their games."

Unreal Engine is primarily used for the development of console and PC games, but it has a growing mobile business that's become increasingly important as the game industry has shifted toward cross-platform play. Epic specifically touts a developer toolkit that works in tandem with Unreal Engine, called Epic Online Services, that allows games to take advantage of the technology developed initially for Fortnite. The engine's cross-platform nature is a selling point that makes it one of the go-to platforms for building virtual worlds. Without an Apple developer account, Epic can't promise developers interested in iOS any of those benefits, an unwelcome shock as its main competitor Unity prepares to go public.

In Monday's hearing, an Epic lawyer argued that even just the threat of Apple terminating the account associated with the Unreal Engine has sent developers "fleeing" from the platform. "So far as Epic is concerned, the Unreal Engine will be actually destroyed. It will no longer be a usable engine," argued Katherine Forrest of the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which is representing Epic in the case. "If Epic cannot offer that with the Unreal Engine, Unreal Engine will cease to exist. We're receiving information from developers saying they're fleeing the Unreal Engine now."

For companies that are also building smaller, less graphics-intensive projects — like indie games — that can be ported to multiple platforms, the lack of iOS support for Unreal Engine would be a deal-breaker. For a game developer, switching to another engine often means scrapping almost every hour of work on an ongoing project and starting entirely from scratch.

The Unreal Engine is also increasingly important for Hollywood projects using real-time rendering. In particular, Disney and Lucasfilm have turned to Epic's engine as a tool for filmmaking, using it to create virtual sets, characters, and animations for large Star Wars projects, including Solo, Rogue One, and The Mandalorian.

More than half of the first season of The Mandalorian was in fact shot using custom LED walls that displayed virtual sets, all powered by the Unreal Engine to allow the crew to see in real time what the shot was going to look like weeks and months before post-production and special effects teams finished the final product. Disney and Lucasfilm did not respond to a request for comment on how developing Star Wars projects may be affected by the ongoing litigation.

Unreal Engine is also used by automakers like Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen to help design cars using visualization and other software processes. Architectural firms use the engine for similar reasons, allowing those companies to perform real-time visualizations of in-progress projects. Epic also licenses Unreal for broadcasting and live event production, with the engine capable of producing real-time graphics, overlays, and other real-time rendered assets.

One high-profile example is The Weather Channel's now-viral mixed reality segments that blend the effects and visuals of simulated natural disasters around real-world hosts in the studio, all using Unreal Engine.

Many of those projects don't require iOS functionality, but they may run their backend systems on macOS, which will be affected in a more limited way. Without macOS support in Unreal Engine, Epic loses access to macOS testing tools and the ability to issue speedy updates that may contain bug fixes and security patches. Apple also now requires notarization — in other words, Apple approval — of third-party apps even on macOS so long as they have a developer ID. Without that developer ID or notarization, Unreal Engine users would have to effectively seek out updates and click through security warnings Apple imposes upon third-party software it has not reviewed.

"Imagine losing access to your Google account, and everything that comes with it," one iOS developer, who wished not to be named for fear of repercussions from speaking negatively about Apple, tells The Verge. "Apple's very much moving to a Mac that requires software to be signed and notarized with Apple, and Epic would no longer be able to do that. Right now, trying to run unsigned software on the Mac shows scary warnings and can be sidestepped. In the future, not so certain."

The developer says, like with iOS, the effects of losing macOS support won't be felt immediately, but the risk might scare companies away. "Because of that uncertainty, developers would no longer be able to rely on Unreal Engine to support Apple's platforms. For example, Epic would not be able to release their tools to support Apple Silicon, so effectively it would be the end of the line for Unreal Engine on the Mac," they said.

It's too early to tell whether the rhetoric of Epic's legal team — and claims the Unreal Engine would be "absolutely destroyed" — is hyperbole, or whether Apple really does have the power to cut off a multibillion-dollar company at the knees by terminating a single developer account or even just threatening to do so. But Epic has committed to continuing its fight without walking back the Fortnite update that initiated its unprecedented showdown with Apple. And Apple, it's now clear, is willing to do everything in its power to ensure Epic doesn't blaze a trail other developers may be keen on following.

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Elon Musk announces Neuralink live tech demo of 'working device' - Business Insider - Business Insider

Posted: 26 Aug 2020 03:45 AM PDT

Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday that his brain chip company Neuralink will host a live demonstration of a device on Friday.
Neuralink showcased designs last year for two future devices: a microchip that records and stimulates brain activity using electrodes, and a sewing-machine-like device that implants these electrodes into the brain's cortex.
Musk confirmed that an updated implantation device will be shown on Friday, but was not clear about whether the microchip will also be part of the demo.
Musk said in May the company could begin human testing within a year, but experts have questioned Neuralink's timeline in the past.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Elon Musk has announced that his brain chip company Neuralink will give a live demo of its tech on Friday.

Since its founding in 2016 Neuralink has been working on technology that would theoretically be able to implant an AI-enabled microchip into the human brain to both monitor and stimulate brain activity. The aim is to one day use the tech to help treat neurological conditions and diseases.

"Live webcast of working @Neuralink device Friday 3pm Pacific," Musk tweeted late on Tuesday night. Musk has been trailing the demonstration for a while, last month he tweeted "will show neurons firing in real-time on August 28th."

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2020

Neuralink's tech has two main components: The first is the chip, which would be connected to electrodes implanted in someone's brain, and the second is sewing-machine-like insertion device that surgically implants those electrodes. Musk has previously said the device could make the process as quick and easy as LASIK eye surgery.

The company held its first public presentation of its technology in July 2019.

In a follow-up tweet, Musk confirmed an updated version of the insetion robot will be presented on Friday, but that it was still far off being as safe as a LASIK machine. "Could get pretty close in a few years," he added.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2020

It's not yet clear whether there will be any kind of demo of the microchip. Neuralink has said the chip would sit behind the ear, with wires fanning out from it and connecting to electrodes implanted into the brain. These electrodes would be able to both record brain activity and stimulate the brain's neurons.

Neuralink chip — The chip sits behind the ear, while electrodes are threaded into the brain.

On the Joe Rogan Podcast in May, Musk claimed the company could start human trials of its chips within a year. Neuroscientists have questioned Musk's claims about how quickly it could progress to human trials in the past, given the company only started animal testing on primates in 2019.

Musk has also made grand claims about the potential applications of Neuralink's tech. Short-term, the idea is to help treat brain injury and trauma. Longer-term, Musk has claimed the technology could be used to treat complex neurological conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Musk has said he wants the chips to enable a "symbiosis" between the human brain and AI. Speaking to Business Insider in October last year, neuroscientist Dr Andrew Hires said some of these aspirations are more realistic than others.

"To get to the level of integrating with AI, this is where [Musk] sort of is going off into aspirational fantasy land," Hires said.

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iPhone 12 Pro Max leak suggests it’ll get a 120Hz display and LiDAR-supported autofocus - The Next Web

Posted: 25 Aug 2020 11:04 PM PDT

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a delay in Apple's marquee iPhone event held in September every year. However, we are starting to get glimpses of what features Apple's next flagship products might sport.

According to a new leak from tipster Jon Prosser, the iPhone 12 Pro Max will have a display with a 120Hz refresh rate, slimmed-down notch, LiDAR-supported autofocus in its cameras , and support for recording 240fps video at 4K resolution.

Prosser has clarified in his video that all the info is based on a Performance Verification Testing (PVT) unit of the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. So, if Apple finds that any of the features are not working as intended, they might not end up in the final product.

The video also talks about other camera features of the upcoming phone, such as advanced noise reduction and enhanced night mode. Check out the full video below.

A lot of phones including the $400 OnePlus Nord now have screens with 90Hz or higher refresh rates. So, it's not unusual for people to expect Apple to step up their display game on iPhones. After all, everyone's loved the 120Hz display on the newer iPad Pros because animations and other elements in motion look smoother.

Prosser's video shows a setting to enable a high refresh rate or enable an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz. However, he clarifies that his source said that some of the units under testing didn't have high refresh rate support.

A few hours ago, display analyst Ross Young tweeted that Apple couldn't get driver ICs (Integrated Circuits, which interface between the microprocessor and display panel) that support a 120Hz refresh rate. However, they might use 60-96Hz drivers and adjust the refresh rate to make them work up to 120Hz. We'll have to wait and see if that causes any stutters.

So the fix we have heard about is to make 60-96Hz driver ICs and make them work up to 120Hz by adjusting the refresh rate by 25%…Hope it works…

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) August 26, 2020

Another interesting thing mentioned in the video is a slimmed-down notch and faster Face ID that works at different angles, so you might be able to unlock the iPhone without lifting it off the table. Neat!

Prosser mentioned that Apple will start mass production of the unit next month. And that aligns with what the company said last month about units shipping a couple of weeks later than usual.

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Published August 26, 2020 — 06:04 UTC

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