Walmart is reportedly in talks to acquire TV maker Vizio

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Walmart is reportedly in talks to acquire TV maker Vizio
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According to The Wall Street Journal, Walmart wants to acquire TV maker Vizio to battle Roku and Amazon Fire TV. The acquisition would allow Walmart to boost its advertising business and directly pitch its products to potential customers.

The deal is reportedly worth $2 billion. Vizio and Walmart have been close partners for many years. Vizio is currently Walmart’s largest customer and the best-selling TV brand in Walmart stores. Neither Walmart nor Vizio have commented about the deal yet. Of course, in 2022, Comcast was also in talks to acquire Vizio, but it never happened.

Affordable TV maker Vizio is soon to be sold to Walmart for $2 billion

Walmart now sells its streaming devices and affordable Android TVs under the Onn brand. However, by acquiring Vizio, the retailer can better compete with Amazon and Roku in the affordable TV market. Additionally, it can access the data collected by Vizio from millions of customers. Walmart can also tap into the personalized ads business.

Another perk of acquiring Vizio for Walmart could be the company’s streaming service, WatchFree+. The WatchFree+ service comes preinstalled on Vizio TVs and doesn’t require additional devices, fees, or subscriptions.

Walmart has been pursuing the idea of launching a streaming service for almost two years. The company reportedly talked about the deal with major distribution brands like Paramount, Disney, and Comcast. The retailer can now achieve its dream by acquiring Vizio and its streaming service, WatchFree+. The service has over 260 free channels. However, it might not be free anymore after Walmart’s acquisition.

Last year Walmart partnered up with Innovid

Last year, Walmart announced a partnership with advertising company Innovid to show personalized ads on connected TVs (CTV). Innovid’s Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) helps Walmart to create and share more engaging and interactive ads. In 2022, Walmart also partnered with Roku to show shoppable ads on TVs.

The competition in the affordable TV market is heating up with streaming services like Roku and Amazon launching their own lineup of smart TVs. By owning the TV lineup, the streaming services could have full control over the content and ads they show to the customers and gather as much data as possible.


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New book explains why Musk bought Twitter. You’ll never guess what his motivation was

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New book explains why Musk bought Twitter. You’ll never guess what his motivation was
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To say that Elon Musk is having a tough time with his purchase of Twitter would be a gross understatement. Almost from the moment that Musk closed on the $44 billion transaction in October 2022, the multi-billionaire was like a struggling fisherman trying to land that huge fish on his line. Most of the problems that Musk faced were self-inflicted. He fired employees without realizing how important some were to running Twitter daily. He tried various monetization schemes and at one point warned that Twitter could file for bankruptcy.
With all the problems that Musk has had with Twitter, including making statements that ticked off his major advertisers (such as Apple, IBM, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate, and Paramount Global) who then fled the platform, what was his reasoning for making the purchase in the first place? Surely the man who runs Tesla and has amassed one of the largest personal fortunes in the world had a plan to turn Twitter into something besides “X” before buying the company.
According to an upcoming book about the Twitter acquisition called “Battle for the Bird” by Kurt Wagner, which drops on February 20th, Musk’s purchase of Twitter might have been inspired by revenge. A Twitter account titled @ElonJet was tracking Musk’s private jet and the multi-billionaire asked then-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to take down the account. Agrawal refused. 
Musk killed off the Twitter name and the iconic logo - New book explains why Musk bought Twitter. You'll never guess what his motivation was

Musk killed off the Twitter name and the iconic logo

An excerpt from the book says, “Musk had also unsuccessfully petitioned Agrawal to remove a Twitter account that was tracking his private plane; the billionaire started buying Twitter shares shortly after Agrawal denied his request.” Just days after the deal was completed, Musk said that he wouldn’t close the @ElonJet account because of his “commitment to free speech.” A month later, Musk banned the account.

Saying one thing and then quickly changing his mind became a Musk hallmark and it drove Twitter users crazy during the beginning of Musk’s reign over the platform, especially when it came to the blue verification checkmark which Elon was hoping to monetize. Based on equity grants handed out to key employees in March 2023, Musk was valuing Twitter at $20 billion, less than half what he paid for it, just five months after his purchase of the platform.
Not too many high-profile executives could afford to buy a social media icon on a whim. Musk supposedly does have a long-term goal of turning what is now known as “X” into a super app like China’s WeChat that can handle instant messaging, mobile payments, and social media posts. It’s actually not a bad idea. But Musk might not have the temperament to see it through.

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ChatGPT Down? Anonymous Sudan Claims Responsibility for DDoS Attacks

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ChatGPT Down? Anonymous Sudan Claims Responsibility for DDoS Attacks
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Is your ChatGPT down? Or, are you experiencing issues accessing ChatGPT? If so, you’re not alone. ChatGPT has been encountering service disruptions and numerous errors lately. The cause appears to be DDoS attacks, possibly instigated by Anonymous Sudan.

Anonymous Sudan, a now prominent group of hacktivists, has claimed responsibility for targeting ChatGPT and its parent company, OpenAI, with a series of DDoS attacks.

Anonymous Sudan also referenced alleged tweets attributed to Tal Broda, Head of Research Platform at OpenAI. The screenshots of these tweets depict Tal denying the existence of Palestine and criticizing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

According to Anonymous Sudan, they plan to continue their DDoS attacks until OpenAI implements behavioural changes to ChatGPT to prevent the propagation of what they deem as “dehumanizing views of Palestinians.” Additionally, they demand the removal of Tal Broda from his position at OpenAI.

ChatGPT Down? Anonymous Sudan Claims Responsibility for DDoS Attacks
Anonymous Sudan on Telegram (Screenshots: Hackread.com)

On the contrary, ChatGPT’s Status Page confirms service disruptions, including login issues. It also notes an “Elevated error rate impacting ChatGPT,” indicating a higher-than-usual number of errors occurring within the system or process. Such errors could arise from various factors, including faulty hardware, software bugs, network issues, DDoS attacks, or even human error.

Nevertheless, OpenAI is actively monitoring the situation and working to resolve the issue. However, as of now, there has been no official confirmation or acknowledgement from OpenAI regarding the company experiencing cyber attacks or the specific reasons behind the ChatGPT errors that users have been reporting since this afternoon.

Anonymous Sudan vs ChatGPT and OpenAI

This isn’t the first instance where Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility for DDoSing ChatGPT. Last November, the group made similar claims, and OpenAI acknowledged that its infrastructure was indeed targeted by DDoS attacks.

Expert Commentary

For expert commentary, we reached out to Oded Vanunu, Head of Product Vulnerability Research at Check Point Software. Vanunu linked Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS attacks to a strategy aimed at garnering media attention.

“Russian-affiliated groups Anonymous Sudan and SkyNet have claimed responsibility for the latest outages on the OpenAI website and ChatGPT service. This is according to an ‘official spokesperson’ for Anonymous Sudan going by the name of Crush on Telegram,” said Oded.

“Hacktivists often look for high-profile targets to disrupt in order to bring attention to themselves and in this case, Crush claims the groups attacked OpenAI due to the company’s perceived support of Israel.”

Anonymous Sudan’s Recent Activities

Anonymous Sudan has been notably active in recent times. According to a recent report by Hackread.com, the group has conducted DDoS attacks on various targets, including the Israeli BAZAN Group and the United Arab Emirates-based FlyDubai Airline.

Furthermore, the group targeted Thuraya Mobile Satellite Communications Company, an international mobile-satellite service (MSS) provider headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In both attacks on UAE-based infrastructure, Anonymous Sudan claimed that the UAE’s support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was evident through communication channels.

It’s worth noting that the RSF is a paramilitary force previously operated by the Government of Sudan and has been accused by hacktivists of committing war crimes against the Sudanese people.

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5 Ways to Maximize the Impact of IaC Scans

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5 Ways to Maximize the Impact of IaC Scans
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Infrastructure-as-code (IaC) continues to gain traction and is even hailed for having changed software development towards greater efficiency and shared responsibilities between the development and operations teams. It is revolutionizing modern IT, especially given the growing prominence of cloud computing.

Simply switching to IaC, however, does not automatically result in benefits, given the rampancy of security vulnerabilities and cyber attacks designed to exploit IaC issues. That’s why it’s crucial to scan your IaC code for possible security vulnerabilities. Organizations that embrace Infrastructure-as-Code need thorough scanning to ensure that the code works as intended and has no issues that can enable or facilitate cyber attacks.

Here are a few ways to maximize the sought-after benefits of IaC scans and ensure that adopting code-based management and provisioning of infrastructure does not become an additional security challenge.

Integrating Security into CI/CD Pipelines

One of the most important steps in ensuring that whichever IaC scanning solutions you use are optimized to deliver the best outcomes is to integrate them with your continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. As organizations adopt DevOps, it only makes sense to incorporate security mechanisms into CI/CD.

This integration enables the following key benefits: the early detection of vulnerabilities, minimizing lag times in the feedback loop, the consistent enforcement of security policies, and continuous security monitoring. Merging security with your CI/CD pipelines propagates the enforcement of security measures and the impact of security controls on the same areas the CI/CD pipelines reach. This eliminates the need to painstakingly identify the coverage of security solutions and configure tools accordingly.

Additionally, having the policy of integrating security and CI/CD pipelines supports collaboration between DevOps and security teams. This makes it inevitable for security, development, and operations teams to proactively work together to configure infrastructure efficiently and securely and address challenges together.

Continuous Scanning

Cybersecurity pundits often include continuous security validation in their recommendations to ensure protection against cyber threats. This extends to the security of IaC.

Given the growing aggressiveness and sophistication of cyber attacks, it is not enough to rely on periodic or regular checks. Cybercriminals are getting faster at exploiting security vulnerabilities. Leaving any window of opportunity for attacks to happen can lead to disastrous consequences.

It is advisable to employ automated IaC scanning tools to make sure that vulnerabilities are spotted and addressed as promptly as possible. These tools can continuously examine code repositories, configuration files, as well as deployment scripts to detect possible security issues and bring them to light for appropriate action – before cybercriminals discover and take advantage of them.

Adhering to Compliance Requirements

Some might see this advice as hackneyed and ambiguous, but it is important to emphasize the value of best practices and complying with cybersecurity regulations. If the idea of best practices sounds vague, it helps to turn to authoritative cybersecurity information sources like the OWASP IaC security cheat sheet. There are many sources of useful cybersecurity guides and insights to make Infrastructure-as-Code secure and reliable.

When it comes to cybersecurity regulations, none directly target IaC practices. However, IaC management is indirectly covered by existing regulations such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that impose requirements on having security controls over infrastructure components configured and managed via IaC.

IaC scanning tools that do not have features which align with the standards described in best practices and regulatory requirements are not worth using. If these tools have the necessary functions, it is also important to properly configure or activate them in line with what best practices and regulations indicate.

Prioritizing Remediation

Current technologies afford the ability to conduct continuous security scanning and address some issues automatically. However, not all issues can be properly remedied automatically. Human involvement is still required to resolve complex concerns detected in your IaC code. IaC tools can raise an endless deluge of vulnerability alerts or notifications, but it’s up to the humans overseeing the security scanning to keep up.

As such, it is important to come up with a sensible prioritization plan. Some tools provide risk-based scoring systems to make it easier for people to address the most urgent issues. These are highly useful to avoid getting overwhelmed by the problem of information overload that is common in cybersecurity tools.

Take note that it is inadvisable to rely entirely on the IaC testing tools when it comes to identifying critical assets and resources. Proper and purposeful configuration is a must, and it may be necessary to seek the assistance of outside cybersecurity experts when doing this.

Addressing the Human Weakness

People continue to be the biggest weakness when it comes to cybersecurity. Highly sophisticated scanning solutions are essentially useless if those responsible for evaluating and managing IaC security are not well-versed with the appropriate courses of action to take. Also, without proper configuration, the best IaC scanning solutions are unlikely to provide the expected outcomes.

Hence, it is essential to invest in cybersecurity training to empower teams with the right skills and knowledge for effective security management in the context of IaC environments. Infrastructure as code engineers usually have some background in cybersecurity, but not many of them have the expertise needed, especially when it comes to the most recent threats and concerted attacks.

Development and operations teams should work together with security professionals to implement secure coding practices and formulate IaC security guidelines that address the specific needs of an organization. This collaboration helps enable more effective threat detection by fostering a culture of security awareness.

In Summary

Maximizing the impact of IaC scans entails the use of the right tools and people overseeing these tools with the necessary knowledge and insights. IaC scanning tools should be capable of continuous scanning, integration with CI/CD pipelines, and providing risk-based scoring systems for remediation prioritization. They should also align with best practices and regulations.

At the same time, the teams using these tools should take full advantage of their functions and have enough cybersecurity savvy and experience, which can be achieved with cybersecurity training and collaboration among the development, operations, and security teams.

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How To Record The Screen On Your Samsung Phone Or Tablet

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How To Record The Screen On Your Samsung Phone Or Tablet
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If something significant happens on your Galaxy phone or tablet, then you can always take a screenshot. However, what if it’s something that a simple picture can’t capture? This is where screen recording comes in. Ever since Android 5.0 Lollipop, Android users have been able to use screen recorders to capture videos of what’s happening on their screens. Now, the screen record functionality is built into Galaxy phones and tablets. If you want to know how to record the screen on your Galaxy phone or tablet, here’s a handy how-to guide for you.

Make sure you have the right software version to record the screen

Before you start trying to record your screen, you’ll need to make sure that your phone or tablet can even do it. If you have an older device, you might not be able to. Samsung introduced the screen recording feature with its One UI version 2 running on Android 10. This came out in December 2019, and it brought the native screen recording feature.

You can use the native screen recorder if you have a Galaxy S10 or later, Galaxy Note10 or later, Galaxy Tab S6 or later, Galaxy A53 5G, Galaxy A52, Galaxy A32 5G, or any of the Galaxy Z Fold/Flip phones. While One UI 2 did come out to the Galaxy S9 and Note9, you can’t use the feature on those phones.

If you don’t have any of the devices listed above, don’t fret! At the end of the article, we’ll explain an alternative using a 3rd-party app.

Access your screen recorder

If you have an eligible phone, then this is where the fun begins. Accessing your screen recorder is as easy as accessing the notification shade. Just swipe down from the top of the screen to summon your notification shade, then swipe down again to get all of your options. You should see a video camera icon among your quick settings. If not, then you’ll need to place it.

Swipe to the left to get to the next page of quick settings. There’s a chance that you’ll see it there. If you still don’t see it, then press the “+” icon in the circle at the end of the quick settings. There, you’ll see all of the rest of the quick settings that you can place. Search for the camcorder icon. When you find it, hold your finger down on it and drag it to the place you want to drop it.

Adjust the settings

If you’re eager to get recording, you can just tap on the button, but there are some settings you can use to customize the recording experience. Hold down on the screen recorder icon, and you’ll be taken to the settings page. There are two sections of the settings page; go to the bottom section.

Audio source

Here, you’ll be able to select the audio source. The first option is no sound, but the second option says Media sounds. This means that the phone will record the sound of whatever’s happening on your phone. If you’re playing a game, you’ll hear everything that’s going on in the game and nothing else.

Under that, you have an option called Media and mic. This will use the device’s external microphones to record audio along with the media sounds. This means that you’ll be able to hear yourself and your surroundings when playing your video.

Video resolution & selfie camera

Next, you’ll be able to adjust the video resolution. The higher the resolution you record, the larger the file will be, so you might want to make sure you have the storage before you pick the high-resolution option.

You’ll then see the option to adjust the selfie video size. While you’re recording, you have the option to activate the selfie camera and show your face along with the video. In the settings, you’ll be able to pick how big you want the selfie video to be compared to the rest of the video.

Last, but not least, you can toggle the ability to show the taps on the screen. When you have this enabled, every time you tap on the screen while recording, you’ll see a little dot appear where you tapped during the playback.

How to Record record the screen on your Galaxy device

Now that you’ve found the icon and adjusted the settings, you can start recording. When you press the screen record button, you’ll see a popup screen telling you about screen recording. When you record, EVERYTHING on your screen will be recorded, so be careful about what you have on your screen while recording. Also, you’ll be able to pick the audio source and whether or not you want to show the taps.

If you’re good to go, press the Start recording button on the bottom right. You’ll see the popup disappear and a “3…2…1” countdown appear. Under the numbers, there’s a Skip countdown button that will let you start recording immediately.

The toolbar

When you start recording, you’ll see a toolbar appear up top. This provides some extra options while recording. For starters, there’s a pencil icon on the left. This will let you draw on the screen, and those markings will be recorded in real-time. You can use this to emphasize anything particular on the screen.

Next, you’ll see a little person icon. This will activate the selfie camera, and you’ll see your face appear on the video. If you don’t want to see your face, simply tap it again and it’ll disappear.

Last, but not least, you’ll see the pause recording button and the stop recording button on the right side. Pausing the recording will stop it temporarily and let you continue by pressing it again.

After the recording

Now that you’ve finished recording your video, it’s time to figure out what to do with it. Immediately after stopping the recording, you’ll see a notification telling you that the recording has finished. Tapping on the notification will automatically play the video using the default video player.

What if you want to do some work on the video? Well, tap on the downward-facing arrow on the notification, and you’ll see some additional options. Tap on the Edit button on the bottom, and it will take you to a rudimentary video editor. There, you’ll be able to trim and crop the video, add filters, and adjust the exposure and color settings. Also, you’ll be able to add stickers, marks, and text to the video. After that, tap on the Save as copy button to save your work.

If you want to find your finished masterpiece, open up the gallery. Your screen recordings will be in the screen recordings folder.

[Updated February 2024] Sharing your video recording

You’re likely going to want to send your screen recordings to other people or different apps. If that’s the case, it’s easy to do so. After you take a screen recording, you’ll see a notification pop up with some options. If you don’t see the options, swipe down on the notification to reveal them.

Tap on the Share option to see your share sheet. The share sheet will show you several options for sharing your screen recording; there are two rows of options. The top row will show you the sharing methods you most recently used. This will include devices you shared to, text message conversations, people you messaged on social media, ETC.

The second row will show you the apps that you can share to. Swipe left on this row to reveal more apps. At the very end of the row, you’ll see a More button. Tapping this will open a full shelf of apps that you share the screen recording to. If you want to edit it, tap on the video editing software you want to use.

What if your phone doesn’t have native screen recording?

Your Galaxy phone most likely has the ability to screen record, but if you’re rocking an older phone, then you might not have the functionality. Phones older than the Galaxy S10 don’t have native screen recording capabilities, so if you have one, you’re going to need to look to the Google Play Store for an alternative.

One great option you should consider is called XRecorder. This is an app that gives you the same features as your native screen recorder with some added features. You can record up to your phone’s max resolution with the ability to adjust the image quality and frame rate. However, frame rates higher than 60FPS require the premium subscription.

You can also choose options such as recording while the screen is off and shaking your phone to stop recording. These are just a few of the features that you can use.

Getting the subscription will give you more features and functionality. It costs $5.99/month, $16.99/year, and $28.99 for life.

Download XRecord


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Apple’s longest serving designer – Bart Andre

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Apple’s longest serving designer – Bart Andre
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Apple’s longest-serving designer and part of the original Jony Ive team, Bart Andre, has just told colleagues he is about to retire. Bart has been with the company for over three decades and has been part of many iconic Apple designs. Being the last remaining member of the Jony Ive team, Bart’s departure marks a crucial shift at Apple. With all of the original design team having moved on, Apple now relies on fresh talent. There also seems to be “unrest” within the design team due to the threat of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.

Bart Andre had been around since the Jony Ive era

Jony Ive was a big part of helping Apple’s products gain the sleek looks they’re known for today. He led a team of designers that lived and breathed Apple. Jony Ive and his team took Apple in a certain direction and then helped maintain that status. Ive’s departure in 2019 led many people to wonder how much longer Apple’s devices would look like they do today.

Bart Andre has been part of this legendary team for over 30 years. He’s been around to see the company branch out into MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, iPods, and more. The Ive team’s presence throughout this time helped Apple remain consistent with its looks. With Bart’s retirement, Apple’s entire design team is left to its own devices, and the documentation left behind by the Ive team.

Unrest inside the design team

According to the Bloomberg report, there’s been unrest within the design team over recent company decisions. Looming layoffs, cost-cutting measures, and an overall culture of demanding immediate profit don’t sit right with the team. Bloomberg’s sources say this doesn’t let the team experiment like it once could.

“Cost-cutting measures also have added to the unrest, they said. Under Ive, the team embarked on exploratory projects that didn’t necessarily have an immediate payoff – something that’s been reigned in.”

Apple has recently lost many long serving members

Bart and Ive’s departures aren’t the first of their kind in recent years. The company has been losing long-serving members left, right, and center for a few years now. This is understandable, of course, as most of these people have been with the company for decades. Nevertheless, their loss has perhaps irreversibly shifted the course of Apple going forward. Major retirements from Apple include the Chief Product Designer Tang Tan and inventor Steve Hotelling.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has claimed layoffs are a last resort, and the company seems to have avoided major ones. However, how viable this is and how long it lasts remains to be seen as other tech giants continue to lay off thousands with impunity.


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You may soon be able to use Gemini instead of Google Assistant on your headphones

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You may soon be able to use Gemini instead of Google Assistant on your headphones
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Since its launch/rebrand last week, Google’s been steadily adding updates to its newest iteration of its chatbot, Gemini. First came the rebrand from “Bard” to “Gemini,” attempting to keep the branding more in line with the name of the LLM that runs it. Next, a paid subscription version came about as well as a mobile version with a dedicated app on Android that can double as your phone’s assistant.
Now, it appears that Google might be working on an even bigger update to Gemini that changes how we use smart headphones. This was spotted by the folks over at 9to5Google when digging into the code of the latest beta version of the Google app on Android (version 15.6). Right now, invoking the virtual assistant on smart headphones such as the Pixel Buds, still brings up the Google Assistant — even if Gemini is set up as your default assistant on your smartphone.
However, hidden in the code is a strong indication that this may change soon. Although this has not been officially announced or hinted at by Google, the presence of a string described as “Gemini mobile app is working on expanding availability to make it accessible on your headphones” really tells us everything we need to know, except how Google plans to handle the integration.

How will this benefit us?

We can speculate that, with Gemini built into headphones, the listening experience could go next-level. Think hands-free, supercharged control – change tracks, playback controls, getting summaries of articles read to you, and even solving complex formulas while on the go.

It’s still early days, but this could open up a whole new world of AI-powered sound and capabilities, like an EQ specifically suited to your listening habits, or the specific song you are listening to at the time. The possibilities could be endless and very fun to try out. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait very long to find out.


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Overworld secures $10M for cross-platform ARPG development

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Overworld secures $10M for cross-platform ARPG development
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LOS ANGELES – Feb. 14, 2024 – Game studio Overworld, building high-quality, cross-platform multiplayer RPGs, has closed a seed round of $10M, led by Hashed alongside The Spartan Group, Sanctor Capital and Galaxy Interactive, with notable participation from Hashkey, Big Brain Holdings and Foresight Ventures, to accelerate development on a multiplayer role-playing experience enhanced with digital collectables.

Codenamed Overworld, the rich, cross-platform fantasy universe has been in development for nearly a year at its namesake studio. The Xterio ecosystem incubated the project by providing initial funding and tech contributions and is committed to supporting the project through its development, notably as it leverages digital ownership to fuel its growth and expand its community further.

Overworld, a third-person 3D action role-playing game developed with Unreal Engine 5, brings players together in a universe that blends high fantasy lore with anime-inspired characters and designs in a compelling storyline that focuses on mixing epic-scale stakes with day-to-day relatable stories. The team is currently focused on developing an alpha build for current-gen consoles, PCs and mobile devices.  

Overworld aims at delivering an experience that competes with best-in-class RPGs with compelling game design and world-class visual quality while implementing player ownership in a frictionless and optional way that adds to the experience – rather than relying on it as the primary feature to build the game on top of.

Overseeing Overworld’s development is Jeremy Horn, Xterio’s COO, who has an extensive career in games, technology, and entertainment. Formerly Vice President of Strategy at Jam City, Horn is a games industry veteran with deep expertise in developing and sustaining top-grossing social games spanning new and existing IP.  The team comprises proven hit-makers who worked with Epic, EA, Sony, Bioware, Jam City and Ubisoft. 

“At Overworld, we are focused on building an incredible, dynamic game world driven by the player community,” said Horn. “The massive scale of Overworld represents the scale of our ambitions as a game studio. In just one year, we’ve seen our player community embrace our first collection of digital collectables, and we are excited to build out even more of this novel world.” 

Overworld will be published by Xterio, based on the games platform tech of the Xterio Foundation, which is backed by top-grossing mobile developers, including FunPlus. Xterio focuses on infusing F2P and cross-platform games with digital collectables.


Overworld’s recent NFT collection, “Overworld Incarna,” is one of the most successful collections of 2023 in revenue, volume, market value, and marketing reach. Overworld Incarna has been in the top ten traded collections for over five weeks and remains one of the most traded game-themed collections.

“Overworld, the flagship social RPG from the established Xterio platform, is poised to redefine online multiplayer RPGs in the crypto space by targeting the masses. With a strong leader who understands the dynamics of web3 and backed by an experienced team with a strong track record, Overworld is poised for success in the web3 gaming space,” said Ryan Kim, Founding Partner, Hashed. “With a user-driven economy and unparalleled industry expertise at the right time, Overworld is poised for innovation and resilience.”

About Overworld

Overworld is a world-class game development studio building cross-platform free-to-play games built around player ownership. A proven team of free-to-play hit-makers leads the team. To learn more about Overworld, please follow along @OverworldPlay and at overworld.games. 

About Xterio

Xterio Foundation in Switzerland was founded with a Council and a team of technology and entertainment leaders with deep free-to-play games experience, on a mission to provide the platform technology and ecosystem enabling the development, publishing, and distribution of high-quality Web2 and Web3 games and interactive entertainment.

Xterio Labs Limited in Hong Kong has a team of technology and entertainment leaders with deep free-to-play games experience operating the Xterio Platform including various services relating to the publishing and distribution of high-quality Web2 and Web3 games and interactive entertainment.  To learn more, please visit xter.io, and follow along at Discord and @XterioGames.

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Samsung’s Galaxy A35 spotted with 8GB RAM before launch

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Samsung’s Galaxy A35 spotted with 8GB RAM before launch
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Samsung recently indirectly confirmed the nearing launch of the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35. The company put up support pages for the devices on its official website and published their repairability scores. Now, as we wait for the launch date, the latter model has popped up on a couple of listings online. It received regulatory approval from Thailand’s NBTC and made another visit to Geekbench with 8GB of RAM.

Samsung’s Galaxy A35 nears launch with up to 8GB of RAM

The NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission) certified the Galaxy A35 with the model number SM-A356/DS, with “DS” indicating a dual-SIM variant. The listing confirmed 5G cellular connectivity but didn’t reveal anything more. Earlier certifications and leaks have revealed that the phone will run Android 14 out of the box, powered by Samsung’s Exynos 1380 processor.

Samsung Galaxy A35 NBTC certification

A new Geekbench entry has reconfirmed this. Spotted by MySmartPrice, the same variant of the Galaxy A35 (SM-A356E) recently surfaced on the benchmarking platform to reveal its chipset, RAM size, and Android version. It appeared with 8GB of RAM. Previous Geekbench listings showed the phone with 6GB of RAM. Last year’s Galaxy A34 also came in a 4GB variant, so we don’t rule out the possibility of Samsung doing the same this year.

The Galaxy A35 is expected to sport a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED FHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate. We exclusively leaked its official renders early last month to reveal that Samsung has ditched the notched display design in favor of a punch-hole selfie camera, which makes the device look more modern and premium. The phone might also get a better primary camera, upgrading from a 48MP resolution to 50MP.

The FCC has already revealed that the Galaxy A35 will feature Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, and NFC connectivity options. The device will support a wide range of navigation systems and come with a dedicated microSD card slot. Samsung might equip it with a 5,000mAh battery and 25W fast charging. The mid-range phone will be available carrier-locked and unlocked in the US, with support for Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband.

Samsung hasn’t revealed the launch date yet

Samsung has yet to reveal the launch date for the Galaxy A35. It is expected to debut alongside the Gaalxy A55 in March or April. The latter model sports an identical design but comes with a metallic frame. It also packs beefier specs, including a more powerful processor (Exynos 1480). Both phones have already received regulatory approvals in numerous countries. We will keep you posted on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35.

Samsung Galaxy A35 8GB RAM Geekbench


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Netflix with Ads: Everything you need to know

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Netflix with Ads: Everything you need to know
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It’s finally here, ads on Netflix. On November 3, 2022, Netflix officially launched its ad-supported tier of the service. It follows in line with what other streaming services have done, but many stuck with Netflix because there were no ads.

However, it became apparent to Netflix that it was going to need to introduce an ad-supported tier as content prices kept rising. And customers will only put up with constant price increases for so long. Luckily, the ads are limited to just one tier of the service. So you have the choice of saving some cash and getting some ads served up or spending a bit more for no ads.

In this article, we’re going to go over everything you need to know about Netflix’s new ad-supported tier. That includes the price, how it compares to the other plans, how many ads you’ll see, and much more.

How much is ad-supported Netflix?

With the introduction of ads, Netflix actually improved its Basic plan, which was well past time. So now we have Standard with Ads, Standard, and Premium available.

  • Standard with ads: $6.99/month
  • Standard: $15.49/month
  • Premium: $22.99/month

Screenshot 2024 02 14 at 11 14 29 AM

So what’s available in each plan? Well, the Standard and Standard with Ads are essentially the same, minus the ads. However, Standard does allow you to download shows and movies on one device at a time.

Standard ups the quality to Full HD or 1080p versus 720p, which was on basic before it was axed.

Then there’s Premium. This is the plan you’ll want if you want to watch in 4K HDR. It also allows you to watch on up to 4 devices simultaneously. As well as downloading content onto up to 6 devices at a time.

What countries is this plan available in?

At launch, Netflix is making the Ads tier available in 11 countries. It will eventually open up to even more countries. However, so far the only country added since launch has been Spain.

Here are the countries where Netflix is serving up ads:

  • Australia
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

How many ads will I see?

Netflix claims that you will see around four minutes of commercials per hour. That’s enough to not really both people, especially if the commercial break is all at once during an hour-long show. Netflix does caution customers by saying that this might “vary based on the title you’re watching”. But keep in mind, linear TV typically has around 14-18 minutes of ads in an hour-long show, so it’s pretty short with Netflix.

Ads will be about 15 seconds or 30 seconds in length and will appear either before and/or during the title.

So far, Netflix is not showing when ads will appear on the progress bar. Like other streaming services do, which have ads. So it’s hard to tell how the ads will be split up.

Thankfully, if you are picking up a movie or show where you left off, you can scrub through the timeline to pick up where you left off, without having to watch another ad.

All in all, ads aren’t too bad right now. But that might change. In the early days of Hulu, ads were pretty short too, but now they are worse than live TV.

What content is available on Netflix Basic with Ads?

With this new ad-supported plan from Netflix, you might be wondering if the entire catalog is available with this plan. Well, not everything is available. This is due to Netflix licensing agreements with specific studios. Whereas Netflix only has the right to stream content without ads. Because of this, Netflix has reworked some of its agreements with some studios to be able to show ads alongside these titles.

The majority of Netflix’s own original content should be available on the ad-supported plan, with a few exceptions. Like House of Cards is not available. Luckily, when you search through Netflix for a title, it will show a lock icon on it, if you are unable to watch it with the Basic with Ads plan.

Update: In 2024, the majority of the Netflix catalog will be available on its ads plan. There is still a small number of titles unavailable due to licensing terms.

Can I fast-forward or skip ads?

Unfortunately, you can not. Otherwise, what would be the point of adding in ads? As most people would just skip through them. And advertisers wouldn’t be interested in advertising on Netflix in that case.

Most other streamers do not allow skipping through ads either. Some live TV services like YouTube TV will allow you to, but only if you recorded the show or movie on your DVR. If it’s on-demand, you’re still going to get unskippable ads.

Is offline viewing available?

One of the other main benefits of paying for the ad-free plan is downloading content. The Standard with Ads plan from Netflix does not allow for offline viewing. Which means you cannot download anything on this plan. That is likely due to the fact that they would still need to show ads. Remember, ads are said to be personalized, so it would need an internet connection to do that. But if you’re watching offline, then you likely don’t have an internet connection.

Will there be ads on Kids’ profiles?

At this time, Netflix is not showing ads on Kids’ profiles. So that could be a workaround for watching ad-free Netflix at a cheaper price. But there is a caveat. Netflix won’t show ads on any children’s content. It’s likely that anything rated PG or lower (maybe even G) won’t be seen in ads. So even if you’re watching something that’s PG-13 on a kid’s profile, you’re still going to see ads.

The reason for not including ads on kids’ content is the content of the ads. While ads are personalized, Netflix (and other streaming services) can’t necessarily guarantee that kids won’t see anything inappropriate there. So there’s no ads on kids content, the same goes for HBO MAX and Disney+.

Netflix Mobile Games September Lucky Luna

Are there going to be ads on Netflix’s mobile games?

Netflix is currently sticking to keeping their mobile games ad-free. Whether you’re on the Basic with Ads plan or the Premium plan, you’ll get the same gaming experience with its slew of games that it currently has available. Ads are only being shown with movies and shows.

Can I still use Netflix when I travel internationally?

Yes, you can still use Netflix if you have the Basic with Ads plan if you travel internationally. But, if you are in a country that doesn’t have ad-supported Netflix, then you won’t be able to use Netflix. So, it’s important to pay attention to the list of countries that are listed further up in this article, as Netflix is currently rolling out these ads to more and more countries.

Will ads be personalized to me?

Netflix says that ads will be personalized based on how you interact with the platform. That includes the genre of content you watch, where and when you use the app, and more. It will also use information that you have voluntarily provided to Netflix.

When you sign up for or switch to the Basic with Ads plan, you’ll be asked for your birth and gender. Netflix will also use that basic demographic to help personalize ads for you.

Personalizing ads is important because this makes the ads more likely to work. Which means the advertisers are going to pay more to advertise on the platform. Hopefully, that will keep the Basic with Ads plan cheaper.

Should I save money and watch some ads on Netflix?

If you’re fed up with the price increases for Netflix and are okay with a few minutes of ads, then sure, go ahead and switch to the Standard with Ads plan. Now that the Standard and Standard with Ads plans are so far apart in price, compared to when it was Basic and Basic with Ads, it makes a lot more sense to watch a few ads in between shows or movies.


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