The Google Pixel Tablet is set to launch later this year, and we’re all looking forward to it. So far, we know a little bit about how it’s going to look, but we don’t know too much about how it’s going to function. Well, thanks to a leak from 9To5Google, we know a little bit about the Hub Mode for the Pixel Tablet.
Rumor has it that there will be two docks available when the Pixel Tablet launches. One of them will only power the device while the other one will act as a speaker as well. Both of them will put the tablet into Hub Mode. This is when you’ll be using the tablet as a smart display.
Thanks to Snoopy Tech, we have some leaked images of the dock. We’re not sure which variant of the dock we’re seeing, but there’s a chance that it’s the one only for powering it. It looks just like what we’ve seen in the promotional images. It’s predominantly pill-shaped with a fabric material on the outside. On the front of the dock, we see the four connector pins that will hold the tablet.
On the back, we see the Google logo along with the power port. There’s also a Google logo on the bottom. If this model only powers the tablet, then the one with the built-in speaker might be a bit bigger. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Here’s how Hub Mode could look on the Pixel Tablet
This was discovered from an APK deep dive by 9T05Google, so you’ll want to take this with a grain of salt. There are some strings hidden in the Google Home app right now that hint at some of the possible functionality of the Hub Mode. For starters, one string states that when docked, the voice match feature will only apply to the admin. All of the other people will be treated as guests.
The other strings in the app read:
<string name=”tky_device_toggle_subtitle_filters”>On Pixel Tablets, filters only apply in Hub Mode. %1$s</string>
<string name=”tky_filters_subtitle_calls”>The calls setting doesn\u2019t apply to Pixel Tablets. %1$s</string> <string name=”tky_filters_subtitle_news”>The news setting doesn\u2019t apply to Pixel Tablets. %1$s</string> <string name=”tky_filters_subtitle_podcasts”>The podcasts setting doesn\u2019t apply to Pixel Tablets. %1$s</string> <string name=”tky_filters_subtitle_websites”>The websites setting doesn\u2019t apply to Pixel Tablets. %1$s</string>
Amazon’s Spring Cleaning Sale is a great time to stock up on all the cleaning supplies you need to get your home ready for spring. With a wide variety of products on sale, you’re sure to find everything you need at a great price.
In this sale, you can save on all sorts of everyday essentials, including paper towels, trash bags, freezer bags, dish soap, adult toilet wipes, scrub sponges and so much more. And the majority of these are 20% or more off of their regular price. So definitely a good time to stock up.
These are mostly Amazon Basics and other Amazon Brands that are on sale. But you can get a 50-pack of 30-gallon trash bags for just $10.30. As far as tall kitchen trash bags go, there are a few options, including a pack of 90 for just $14.16.
If you’re in need of some toilet paper, the Presto mega rolls are here. You’ll get 24 rolls for just $23.76. It’s basically four packs of 6 here. Which is going to give you 96 rolls of regular toilet paper. Definitely a steal here.
When it comes to dish soap, the Amazon Basics Dish Soap is available for $11.98. This price increase four 30 fl oz bottles of dish soap. Speaking of dish soap, Presto also has dishwasher pacs on sale for $13.89. You’ll get 70 pacs for that price, and this is the triple-action detergent pacs. So you don’t even need to rinse your dishes before you put them into the dishwasher. Which is really good.
These are just a few of the very many everyday essentials that are currently on sale over at Amazon. Head on over using the link below and stock up your pantry and cabinets with these everyday essentials. You’re going to need them anyways, so might as well buy them now while they are cheap.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before Congress on Thursday amid growing concerns over the app‘s future in the US. Lawmakers grilled Chew for more than five hours but the concerns largely remained unanswered. The TikTok executive repeated statements from his written testimony saying that the video-based social media platform or its Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn’t have any backdoors for China’s CCP (Chinese Communist Party) led government, and it did little to satisfy the lawmakers.
TikTok CEO failed to satisfy the US lawmakers at his first Congressional hearing
Calling for a nationwide ban on TikTok, House Energy and Commerce Committee chair and representative Cathy Rodgers said that “ByteDance is beholden to the CCP, and ByteDance and TikTok are one and the same”. She made the remarks in her opening statements during the Congressional hearing yesterday. She suggested that CCP could gain access to the personal data of American TikTok users through ByteDance. In response, TikTok CEO, who stated in his written testimony that “ByteDance is not an agent of China,” pointed to Project Texas.
Project Texas is TikTok’s plan to keep data of US users within the US. It has teamed up with Texas-based software company Oracle to safeguard the data in the latter’s servers. The data would be inaccessible to anyone outside the US. Expected to be completed later this year, TikTok officials say this would do more to protect American users than an outright ban for the app. However, the plan has been in the works for over a year now and nothing has materialized. Unsurprisingly, lawmakers are losing patience and trust in the company.
During the hearing, committee members were all skeptical of TikTok’s plan to address America’s national security concerns. Rodgers branded it a “marketing scheme,” while Representative Frank Pallone said, “Project Texas is simply not acceptable”. Representative Angie Craig also echoed these sentiments saying that the plan “doesn’t pass the smell test”. These disagreements continued throughout the nearly six-hour showdown. Chew also frustrated lawmakers by declining to answer several “rapid-fire” questions with a Yes or No.
When asked whether ByteDance was a Chinese company, he said that it’s a “global” firm with a Chinese founder. Similarly, he refused to directly answer whether ByteDance employees had spied on American journalists, something the company admitted doing a few months back. “I don’t think ‘spying’ is the right way to describe it,” Chew said. “This is ultimately an internal investigation”. Of course, this statement sparked sharp criticism. TikTok quickly took to Twitter to point out that Chew firmly said “no” when asked if it spied on behalf of the CCP.
Chew pointed to recent updates when asked about teen safety
The TikTok CEO similarly dodged many other complex questions from Congress members, including one about the inner workings of ByteDance and its China-based employees, Engadget reports. He was also pressed with questions about teen safety. He was asked about the platform’s moderation practices and potentially harmful “challenges” that go viral on the platform.
Chew pointed to various changes and updates TikTok has pushed recently. He talked about the dedicated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) feed, screen time limit, and more. The TikTok CEO also mentioned the platform’s newly-added algorithm reset button. Users can make the app forget everything it has learned about them and start afresh, should they feel unsafe with the content they currently see in the algorithmic feed.
However, none of this was enough to address the lawmakers’ national security concerns. Some have called for a sale of TikTok in the US, though Chinese officials have opposed the idea. Chew, meanwhile, said: “We will need to look at this because Project Texas is designed to move forward here in the United States and we are not discussing this”. As things stand, TikTok’s future is uncertain even after the hours-long grilling of its CEO by lawmakers. We’ll have to wait and see what’s next.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra Moon photo controversy is still fresh in people’s minds and another Samsung camera feature is in the headlines for the wrong reasons. A Galaxy user recently discovered that Samsung’s photo remaster feature is adding teeth to pictures of a seven-month-old baby. The device in question here is, unfortunately, the Galaxy S23 Ultra once again. But the remaster feature may give you similarly unsettling results on other Galaxy models as well.
Photo remastering is a Galaxy feature available in Samsung‘s Gallery app. It lets you “remaster” photos to remove shadows, reflections, and other unwanted artifacts to give you a better picture. It’s an optional feature that uses AI (artificial intelligence) to enhance the photo. You can find it in the More menu when viewing a photo in the Gallery app. Samsung offers a “Before/After” slider to quickly check what has been removed or enhanced so you can decide whether to keep the remastered photo or discard it.
Overall, it’s a nice feature to have. But Twitter user @earcity has had a nightmarish experience with Samsung’s photo remaster feature. They tried to fix a photo of their seven-month-old daughter using the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Sure, it erased snot from the baby’s face. But the AI decided to replace the baby’s tongue with a row of fully-grown teeth. It even changed the eyes. As you can see in the embedded tweet below, the overall result is quite unsettling.
Samsung probably needs to look into its photo remaster AI
While there haven’t been any other reports of Samsung’s photo remaster feature giving such unsettling results, it wasn’t a one-off case for this user. They reached out to The Verge telling that the Galaxy S23 Ultra did the same with another of their daughter. They found the AI unnecessarily “remastering” the teeth of a three-year-old boy as well, though the final image isn’t that bad this time around.
But the bottom line is that Samsung’s AI tech powering this feature may need some reworking. Sure, the publication couldn’t replicate the disturbing results even after applying the feature to “half a dozen photos of babies” on a Galaxy S22. But that doesn’t mean the feature isn’t glitchy. It can’t be an excuse that photo remastering is optional and isn’t enabled by default. The technology behind it is turning pictures of babies into disturbing images and that isn’t okay. It remains to be seen what Samsung has to say about this.
Exploring further and wow! Sammy’s remaster “tool” really has a very intense love/hate relationship with childrens teeth or lack thereof. In this case my 3yr old sons teeth weren’t good enough ⚒️🧨💥 This AI is obsessed with funky smiles 🤣#Remastering@SamsungMobilepic.twitter.com/SiME6XKYom
Buyers of Samsung‘s brand-new premium mid-range smartphone Galaxy A54 5G will have a major software update waiting for them out of the box. The company is pushing camera improvements to the phone even before it reaches consumers globally. The device is slated to arrive in the US in April.
Galaxy A54 5G gets its first update days after the official launch
Samsung launched the Galaxy A54 5G in several markets in Europe and Asia last week. The device arrived alongside the Galaxy A34 5G as the company’s best two mid-range options this year, in that order. Now, as early buyers start receiving their orders, the Korean firm has released an update for the new handset.
As of this writing, the update is rolling out in Europe with the firmware build number A546BXXU1AWC4. First reported by GalaxyClub, the OTA package weighs around 228MB. The official changelog mentions improvements for the camera but doesn’t go into detail. It’s unclear what improvements Samsung is pushing to a phone that has been impressing reviewers with its factory-built camera performance. The Galaxy A54 5G boasts a 50MP primary camera with Optical Image Stabilization, Video Digital Image Stabilization, Nightography, and 4K video recording.
Apart from the undetailed camera improvements, this update doesn’t bring anything notable to the Galaxy A54 5G. Not even a new security patch. The device remains on the February Security Maintenance Release, which it shipped out of the box. Since it’s eligible for monthly security updates, Samsung will likely push regular patches starting in April. The Galaxy A54 5G will get four major Android OS upgrades (until Android 17) and five years of security patches. As usual, we will keep you in the loop with those releases.
Samsung’s new mid-range hero debuts in the US next week
As said earlier, the Galaxy A54 5G will arrive in the US in April. Samsung will start taking pre-orders for the phone stateside on March 30. General sales will commence on April 6. The handset is priced at $449.99 for the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant. It’s unclear if the company will release the 8GB+256GB variant in the US. We will let you know as soon as we have more information.
Meanwhile, Galaxy A54 5G buyers in the US will likely get an update out of the box too. If you pick up this phone, you can check for new updates from the Settings app. Go to the Software update menu and tap on Download and install to check for updates manually.
In this article, we’ll compare the Xiaomi 13 Pro vs OPPO Find X6 Pro, two powerhouse smartphones from China. The global variant of the Xiaomi 13 Pro launched not so long ago, while the OPPO Find X6 Pro launched only in China thus far, quite recently. Having that in mind, do note that we’ve tested the Find X6 Pro with software made for the Chinese market. We’re not sure if the global variant will become available. It was a good experience once we placed Google services on it, so… comparing these two phones surely does make sense.
The two phones do have some similarities in the spec department, and even in the design department, at least from the front. There are a lot of differences here too, so… comparing them ought to be interesting. We’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to compare the devices across a number of categories. Those categories include design, display, performance, battery, cameras, and audio. So, let’s get started!
The global version of the Xiaomi 13 Pro combines a ceramic backplate with an aluminum frame. The OPPO Find X6 Pro comes in a variant with both glass on the back, and glass combined with vegan leather (vegan leather bottom, glass top). It also has a frame made out of aluminum. In fact, holding the ceramic Xiaomi 13 Pro and a glass-made Find X6 Pro in the hand feels somewhat similar, even though the Xiaomi 13 Pro feels smaller in the hand. Both of these phones are large, though, don’t get me wrong. The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a bit narrower, shorter, and thinner, so… the feeling is different.
Despite the fact it is smaller overall, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is heavier than the Find X6 Pro, due to the ceramic on its back. It weighs 229 grams, compared to 216-218 grams of the OPPO Find X6 Pro. The two phones look quite similar from the front. They both include curved displays with thin bezels, and a centered display camera hole. On top of that, they have curved corners, and the curvature is similar.
Once we flip the two phones around, well, that’s when you’ll see major differences. The Xiaomi 13 Pro has a squarish camera island in the top-left corner. The OPPO Find X6 Pro, on the other hand, has a circular camera island that is centered at the top. OPPO’s camera island is definitely larger, and it also protrudes more on the back. Both devices feel immensely premium in the hand, though both are also quite slippery, with the exception of the vegan leather Find X6 Pro model, which offers a bit more grip.
Xiaomi 13 Pro vs OPPO Find X6 Pro: Display
The Xiaomi 13 Pro features a 6.73-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1440) LTPO AMOLED display. That display has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and supports Dolby Vision. HDR10+ content is also supported, and the display goes up to 1,900 nits at its peak. This panel is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus, and it’s curved.
The OPPO Find X6 Pro, on the flip side, has a 6.82-inch QHD+ (3168 x 1440) LTPO3 AMOLED panel. That display can project up to 1 billion colors, and it has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Dolby Vision is supported, and so is HDR10+ content. This display gets immensely bright at 2,500 nits of peak brightness, and is currently the brightest in the market. It is curved, and protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
Both of these displays are phenomenal, some of the best in the market. They are vivid, sharp, and have excellent viewing angles. They’re very smooth, and have good touch response. The Find X6 Pro’s panel does have an advantage in the brightness department, which will certainly help out in the sun. But the Xiaomi 13 Pro’s display is also immensely bright, one of the brightest out there. In fact, it has the third brightest display in any smartphone. So, you really can’t go wrong here, both phones have phenomenal displays.
Xiaomi 13 Pro vs OPPO Find X6 Pro: Performance
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is the processor of choice for both companies, for a good reason. This is currently the best processor available to smartphone OEMs, basically. Both phones utilize LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage, except the 128GB Xiaomi 13 Pro. The Xiaomi 13 Pro has up to 12GB of RAM, while the OPPO Find X6 Pro comes with up to 16GB of RAM on the inside.
Does this translate to great performance on both phones? Well, yes, it does. They both complete regular, everyday tasks with ease. Even gaming is not an issue for either device, not even when we’re talking about the most demanding games out there. Do note that the Find X6 Pro comes with a software build made for China, though, at least at the moment. So if you decide to import it, be ready to sideload Google services (which is easy to do), and deal with some differences in that software implementation. Let’s hope OPPO will push out a variant for the global market.
During our usage, we really didn’t spot anything alarming when it comes to performance. Neither phone got too hot, nor did the heat cause any issues during gaming. Both phones have been running as smoothly as possible, in line with the most powerful smartphones available in the market.
Xiaomi 13 Pro vs OPPO Find X6 Pro: Battery
The Xiaomi 13 Pro comes with a 4,820mAh battery, while the OPPO Find X6 Pro includes a 5,000mAh battery on the inside. You’ll be glad to know that both phones do offer really, really good battery life. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is really good when it comes to power consumption, and both phones are well-optimized, it seems. The battery life on the two phones is actually comparable, at least it was for us.
We were able to reach the 8-hour screen-on-time mark rather consistently on both phones, with a bit of juice left in the tank. That was actually not light usage by any means, but gaming was not included, except for testing purposes. Your mileage may vary, though, of course. Each of us use phones in different ways, with different apps, and with different signal strengths, so… the results could be entirely different for you.
When charging is concerned, both phones are outstanding. The Xiaomi 13 Pro supports 120W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. The OPPO Find X6 Pro supports 100W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. Both smartphones do come with charging adapters which can provide the fastest charging possible.
Xiaomi 13 Pro vs OPPO Find X6 Pro: Cameras
The Xiaomi 13 Pro comes with a 50-megapixel main camera (1-inch sensor), a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (115-degree FoV), and a 50-megapixel telephoto camera (3.2x optical zoom). The OPPO Find X6 Pro includes a 50-megapixel main camera (1-inch camera sensor), a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (110-degree FoV), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (2.8x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom). The Xiaomi 13 Pro includes Leica lenses, while the OPPO Find X6 Pro has Hasselblad’s color tuning and expertise.
Both of these phones have outstanding camera hardware, needless to say. Both phones also prefer to take a bit moodier shots with a stronger contrast, which is especially apparent in low light. Results from both smartphones are outstanding, and the only issue we’ve noticed on both during the review has to do with HDR balancing. That can be easily solved via an update, to allow both phones to be more consistent in HDR conditions.
Images from both end up looking really detailed, and the colors are excellent on both, it’s all a matter of preference. Both also have different shooting modes you can choose from. The results from the Xiaomi 13 Pro will have that Leica style on them, and Leica filters are included. Hasselblad included some of its own styles on the OPPO Find X6 Pro, in addition to the XPAN mode.
Both ultrawide cameras do a great job and keep up with the main camera in terms of color science, to the best of their abilities, though it’s not a perfect blend, of course. The portrait shots on the Xiaomi 13 Pro look outstanding, and the OPPO Find X6 Pro is not far behind in that regard. What the Xiaomi 13 Pro lacks is a periscope camera, which the Find X6 Pro has, and it’s great for zoomed-in shots. It’s even usable in low light to a certain degree. The video recording is good on both phones, but both of them are more oriented towards image-taking. These two are great smartphone cameras, simply great.
Audio
Both smartphones include stereo speakers, which are actually quite good. They’re more than loud enough, and quite detailed at the same time. The balancing is a bit different, but I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, they’re just a bit different when it comes to bass output, and overall balancing across the spectrum.
Neither phone includes an audio jack. There is a Type-C port at the bottom of each phone, so you can use it for wired connections. If you prefer to use wireless headphones, you’ll be glad to know that both phones offer Bluetooth 5.3 support.
Microsoft is reaping the fruits of its early bet on OpenAI’s conversational AI tech ChatGPT. Since the launch of the ChatGPT-powered “new Bing” in early February, the company’s search engine has reportedly seen a 15.8 percent boost in page visits. Google Search page visits declined by one percent during the same period (February 7 to March 20), Reuters reports citing data from analytics firm Similarweb.
App downloads for Bing also jumped eight times globally during this period. According to the latest data from research firm Data.ai, the Bing app was downloaded more than 810,000 between February 5 and march 11. The figure for January 1 to February 4 period was just about 100,000. On the other hand, Google Search downloads dropped two percent from 2.98 million to 2.91 million in the same period.
As the data shows, Google has a massive lead in the search market. The internet giant has a share of more than 80 percent in a market that is valued at over $120 billion. However, Microsoft is emerging as a strong competitor to it, with the ChatGPT craze boosting the latter’s usage globally. Google is also preparing to bring its in-house generative AI tech Bard to its products, including Search. But the company is taking longer to do that, allowing Bing space to make further inroads. It publicly released its conversational chatbot earlier this week.
Market analysts expect Bing to eat more into Google’s search market in the coming days. The more Google delays Bard’s integration with Search, the more Bing will benefit. “Bing has less than a tenth of Google’s market share, so even if it converts one percent or two percent of users it will be materially beneficial to Bing and Microsoft,” said Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co.
Google will fight back against this Bing resurgence
Microsoft’s “new Bing” may have gained a sudden push in the lucrative search market following the ChatGPT integration last month and left Google behind the curve, but the latter certainly isn’t throwing in the towel. Analysts expect it to fight back strongly against this Bing resurgence. The company has a massive lead in this industry, and it will overcome these setbacks soon to maintain its lead. After all, no one can forget how Google dethroned Yahoo from the top in the early 2000s.
Google’s dominance in the mobile search industry is difficult for other players to break. Most smartphones (both Android and iPhones) have Google as their default search engine. Bing or other rivals certainly can’t replace Google in mobiles, not in the foreseeable future. “Google’s ranking algorithm can have a competitive edge over that of competitors,” Yongjei Jeong, an analyst at South Korean firm Mirae Asset Securities.
Earlier, a ChatGPT bug exposed conversation histories to other users, but now reports indicate that the bug also exposed the payment details of paid users (ChatGPT Plus subscribers).
OpenAI has confirmed that a software bug on Monday caused ChatGPT to expose conversation histories from random users and payment details for some paid users. As a result, the company has reached out to affected users and implemented measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The glitch was first reported on Monday when users attempting to subscribe to the paid ChatGPT Plus service noticed email addresses from random users appearing in the payment form.
Upon further investigation, OpenAI discovered that the glitch also exposed payment-related information of 1.2% of the ChatGPT Plus subscribers who were active during a specific nine-hour window.
The exposed payment details included the first and last name, email address, payment address, last four digits of a credit card number, and credit card expiration date of another active user. However, OpenAI has emphasized that full credit card numbers were not exposed at any time.
OpenAI believes that the chances of a stranger viewing this payment information are extremely low because the exposed details partly arrived through emails confirming the subscription of new ChatGPT Plus users on Monday morning between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). Certain subscription confirmation emails created within that time frame were delivered to incorrect recipients as a result of the glitch.
If a user accessed the “My Account” function on ChatGPT’s website and clicked on the “Manage my subscription” feature between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m., other payment details would have been visible to them.
In a blog post, OpenAI apologized to its users and reached out to affected users about the potential data breach. The company has also identified the cause of the leak, blaming it on a bug in an open-source library used to run a Redis database.
To prevent similar incidents from occurring, OpenAI has patched the ChatGPT bug and added safeguards to ensure requests to the Redis caches match the requesting user. OpenAI is confident that there is no ongoing risk to users’ data. In addition, the chat history sidebar appears to be restored on ChatGPT.
If you are currently a paid subscriber and believe that your payment information has been exposed, it is recommended that you monitor your account for any unauthorized activity and contact your bank if you suspect any fraudulent charges.
The March 2023 Android security patch is now rolling out to Samsung‘s Galaxy A52 5G in the US. The update is live for the carrier-locked variants of the 2021 premium mid-range smartphone. Users with a factory-unlocked unit should get this update in the coming days. The Korean firm has already seeded the latest security update to the phone in most international markets.
Galaxy A52 5G gets the March security update in the US
As of this writing, Samsung is pushing the March SMR (Security Maintenance Release) to the carrier-locked Galaxy A52 5G on Comcast’s network. The new firmware build number for the phone is A526USQS7EWC1 (via SamMobile). The rollout should soon reach units on other networks as the company brings it to unlocked variants. Everyone will get the same update though the build number may vary for some.
Don’t expect anything major here, though. Samsung is only pushing the latest security patch to your phone. The Galaxy A52 5G is coming fresh from the One UI 5.1 update, which was a major one. It brought a host of new features and improvements. One UI 5.1 itself came just a few months after One UI 5.0, which brought Android 13 and even more new features. The latest release is all about vulnerability fixes.
Samsung has already revealed that the March SMR patches more than 60 vulnerabilities in Galaxy devices. As usual, that’s a cumulative number for the entire Galaxy family. Not every vulnerability is present in every Galaxy model. The company says 23 of those are Galaxy-specific issues. The remaining patches are for Android OS issues and come from Google and other Android partners. At least five Android OS vulnerabilities patched this month were critical ones, potentially allowing remote code execution.
If you’re using the Galaxy A52 5G in the US, all of these vulnerability fixes will be available to you soon. You should get a notification once the OTA (over the air) release becomes available for your unit. You can also manually check for updates from the Settings app. Go to the Software update menu and tap on Download and install. If you don’t see any updates today, wait a few days and try again.
Galaxy A52 5G will get Android 14
Samsung launched the Galaxy A52 5G in March 2021. The device arrived running Android 11 out of the box. It has since received updates to Android 12 and Android 13. The company’s software support policy makes it eligible for one more major Android OS upgrade. That means it will get Android 14 as well. But that update is still months away. The handset will pick up a few more security updates before Android 14 is here. We will keep you posted on those updates.
More than a year ago, Microsoft moved to buy Activision Blizzard, and that drama is still going on to this day. Many organizations see this as a huge anti-competitive move on the company’s part. Well, according to Engadget, the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) seems to have changed its stance on whether Microsoft should buy Activision Blizzard.
This is one of the biggest video game purchases to date, and it could have a ton of implications as far as the gaming industry is concerned. This is why this case didn’t only attract the attention of the American government. In the UK, the CMA started looking into this deal last year to see if it was going to negatively affect the gaming market.
The CMA doesn’t believe that Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard is a bad thing
The CMA started looking into this deal back in July of last year, and it wanted to see if this purchase would negatively impact the gaming industry. Buying this company would mean that Microsoft would hold the reins on Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and many many more franchises.
Many people fear that these franchises would eventually be Xbox exclusives. While that most likely won’t be the case, it’s still a scary thought that such a large chunk of the gaming market would be under one roof.
However, it seems that the CMA doesn’t see anything wrong with the merger. The organization believes that any damage done by the deal will be minimal. A major component of the deal (and the controversy) is Call of Duty. This is the biggest franchise owned by Activision Blizzard.
A lot of the conversation circles around whether Microsoft will yank Call of Duty off of the PlayStation storefront. But, the CMA acknowledged that, while a move like that could hurt the PlayStation’s appeal, it won’t sufficiently harm Sony’s consoles. Sony has a notable lead in the console gaming market with its PS5 selling in high volume.
The US still has some reservations
So, Microsoft has a little bit of the weight off of its back. The CMA isn’t looking to block the deal, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any more obstacles. The United States Federal Trade Commission is still suing Microsoft so that the deal doesn’t go through. This lawsuit has been going on for some time, and we don’t know when we’re going to see the end of it.
