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- Apple’s next event is March 8 - TechCrunch
- Epic Games begins to show it’s “more than games,” acquires Bandcamp - Ars Technica
- The March 2022 Google System Update is chock-full of changes - Android Central
| Apple’s next event is March 8 - TechCrunch Posted: 02 Mar 2022 09:19 AM PST TechCrunch is part of the Yahoo family of brands. By clicking "Accept all" you agree that Yahoo and our partners will store and/or access information on your device through the use of cookies and similar technologies and process your personal data, to display personalised ads and content, for ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your personal data that may be used
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| Epic Games begins to show it’s “more than games,” acquires Bandcamp - Ars Technica Posted: 02 Mar 2022 12:23 PM PST  Enlarge / Well, we didn't see this one coming. But based on rumors that Ars Technica is familiar with, maybe we should have. Aurich Lawson | Epic + Bandcamp At some point, Epic Games might need to drop the word "Games" from its moniker and admit what kind of company it wants to be. Today the game maker moved to acquire Bandcamp, an online music-streaming service that revolves around DRM-free purchases of MP3s, FLACs, and other audio files. The news emerged via press releases from both Bandcamp and Epic on Wednesday. As of press time, neither side of the deal has clarified its financial terms. The move follows increasingly aggressive steps by Epic to become an entirely new kind of digital media company in the near future. A quicker way to slap SoundCloud rap into Fortnite?Thus far, Epic's growth trajectory has involved acquisitions of gaming studios, software developers, and tool creators, all of which make sense with Epic's Unreal Engine product. The companies in question have brought Epic tools like superior compression or more realistic virtual humans, which all slot into open-ended 3D-creation systems like Unreal Engine 4 and 5. But what exactly does Bandcamp bring to the Unreal Engine table? As of press time, Epic isn't saying. The best hint comes in Epic's Wednesday press release on the matter, which emphasizes Epic's "vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music and more." While this might sound like Epic wants to acquire Bandcamp's backend, web storefront, and iOS/Android apps—which are a user-friendly breath of fresh air compared to the continued clunkiness of Epic Games Store—this wording suggests that Bandcamp could be rolled into the Unreal asset sales ecosystem. Want to license and use music in the Unreal Engine project of your dreams? Perhaps future creators would search for tunes inside of Unreal Engine using Bandcamp's existing tags ("math rock," "SoundCloud rap," "sex jazz") and pay a license accordingly, the same way they currently find textures, assets, or other licensed content. Additionally, Epic is doing a bad job of hiding a story that has been brewing in its home state of North Carolina ever since the company acquired and began developing a new 980,000-square-foot headquarters in early 2021. Sources familiar with Epic Games' dealings have pointed to job listings (not necessarily under the "Epic Games" banner) that blur the line between video game production duties and live-action filming needs. At least some of these positions involve this new, massive physical location, which was previously a mall down the road from Epic's existing offices in Cary, North Carolina. That news follows Unreal Engine's increasingly popular utility in TV and film production throughout Hollywood. Ars Technica has previously covered how beloved film director/producer Jon Favreau favored Unreal Engine as a real-time digital effects system and how UE allowed camera crews and actors alike to frame and preview CGI aspects in the middle of a live-action shoot."Products and services aren't going anywhere"Epic may not be ready to announce any media production aspirations, especially if it wants to stay mum about efforts like live-action casting, script acquisition, and other massive endeavors. But a foothold in an existing music-rights ecosystem could be a baby step toward such aims, and it would additionally help Epic build the media-sales reputation needed to maybe one day remove "Games" from its company name. One active Epic job listing, for a "music services product director," already points to the myriad directions its stake in Bandcamp could go, and it asks applicants to consider the "alignment of strategy among multiple teams at Epic" to drive "the creation of entirely new business and product initiatives." Epic Games representatives did not immediately respond to questions about the company's media-production intentions. In the meantime, Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond insists that his company will remain "a standalone marketplace and music community" and that all existing "products and services aren't going anywhere." Bandcamp Daily editorial director J. Edward Keyes chimed in on Twitter to say that the writing and management staff who run that company vertical will remain on board as well. Diamond's side of the story emphasizes that Epic's acquisition will help Bandcamp expand offerings like vinyl-record production and international sales. Diamond hints at his company's value by suggesting "$890 million" in payouts to musicians since launching in 2008. If you'd like to understand how rapidly Bandcamp has grown, consider that the company's last lifetime payout estimate, from September 2020, was $584 million. That's pretty good growth—especially for a service that favors à la carte full-priced album purchases, as opposed to cheaper, buffet-style music subscription services.Though many digital download storefronts cull as much as 30 percent of sales, Bandcamp famously demands less: a default 15 percent figure for digital media sales, which drops to 10 percent after an artist exceeds $5,000 in annual revenue. And Bandcamp insists it will continue running its "Bandcamp Fridays" promotions, which skip Bandcamp's cut of digital sales on the first Friday of every month (though the company still takes fees on those days from sales of physical items like CDs, records, cassettes, and shirts). Still, Bandcamp's existing staff will need to clear the iffy reputation of Epic Games Store, damaged by its poor communication to its audience about issues like game exclusivity. |
| The March 2022 Google System Update is chock-full of changes - Android Central Posted: 02 Mar 2022 11:32 AM PST What you need to know
As is the case whenever a new month rolls around, Google is pushing a few updates out to Android users. The latest update comes as a bit of a surprise, given that it's not the traditional monthly security patch, as that will likely arrive next week. Instead, the Google System Update for March 2022 is now rolling out to pretty much anyone who owns an Android device. In this update, there are quite a few different bug fixes, including one that fixes "device connectivity". Additionally, the Play Games Services profile has been updated, providing users with a way to "better manage their privacy settings". The bulk of the changes in this System Update comes to the Play Store. Google is bringing improvements to its "play-as-you-download" feature, making it so that you can play games while they download in the background even faster. Google is also adding ways to make it better for you to find some of the best Android apps and games, but we haven't seen any changes to the interface. This likely just means that Google has updated its back-end algorithm to provide better results when browsing through the Play Store. Some of these features have not appeared just yet, such as the improvements to Play Pass and Play Points. However, we expect that to change in the coming days as the update lands on more devices. The best part about the Google System Update is that you don't need to own a Pixel in order to receive it. Google is pushing the update now to all of the best Android phones, including the newly-released Galaxy S22 Ultra. If the update doesn't apply itself in the background, you should see an update available in the Play Store itself so you can manually install it. The full list of changes coming with the latest System Update can be found below. Critical Fixes
Games
Google Play Store
Wallet
System Management
Developer Services
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Samsung Galaxy S22 UltraThe S-Pen is back with the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Samsung may have jet set the Note branding, but it continues to live on in the company's latest and greatest flagship. |
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