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Epic Games has asked the US Supreme Court to review a ruling from 2021 that cleared Apple of violating antitrust laws, according to a Bloomberg report. The Fortnite maker previously claimed that Apple violated California’s Unfair Competition law, stating that the App Store prohibits developers from directing users to other third-party payment systems. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 2021 court’s decision back in April, finding that Apple’s practices had “a substantial anticompetitive effect that harms consumers,” but didn’t meet the bar for an antitrust case.

Should Epic win its appeal, Apple could stand to lose a substantial source of revenue. The company takes a cut of all purchases made through its App Store, which can run as high as 30 percent. Epic Games has been the loudest voice protesting this cut, though other companies like Spotify and Tile are also part of the Coalition for App Fairness, which has been pressuring Apple to change its policies. Outside of the US, Epic and its peers have had more success in changing the status quo: Authorities in both South Korea and the Netherlands have ruled that Apple must allow third-party payments, though Apple is still taking a considerable cut as a “transaction fee.” Apple is also rumored to be preparing support for third-party app stores in response to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.

Bloomberg says the Supreme Court could decide if it will take up the case before the end of the year. In the meantime, Fortnite is still not available on the App Store. It’s been absent since August 2020, when Apple banned the game after Epic added alternative payment methods to bypass the App Store cut.

Epic is also in a legal battle with Google for similar practices. Both Epic and the Match Group, which operates dating apps like Hinge and Tinder, are alleging that Google abuses its control of Android app distribution through the Play Store by establishing unfair fees and requirements for in-app purchases. That trial is supposed to kick off in the next few weeks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epic-games-asks-supreme-court-to-reconsider-apple-antitrust-ruling-221622184.html?src=rss 

Valve launched Counter-Strike 2 today. The long-rumored game, officially announced in March, has replaced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as a free upgrade. It uses Valve’s in-house Source 2 engine, leading to sharper textures, more believable lighting and new geometry.

Valve said it broke down maps into three categories. First, “Touchstone” maps are classic scenes “with solid foundations” left mostly untouched so players can check out fundamental gameplay changes from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Counter-Strike 2. Next, “Upgrade” maps focus on Source 2 lighting for more realistic-looking reflections and materials. Finally, “Overhaul” maps are fully rebuilt from the ground up, showcasing Source 2’s full capabilities.

Smoke grenades should also appear more realistic. Valve says it overhauled how they function, making them more dynamic. “Now not only do all players see the same smoke regardless of position, but the smoke can interact with the environment in interesting ways,” Valve said in a behind-the-scenes video. “It reacts to lighting [and] grows to fill spaces naturally. The shape of the smoke cloud can be pushed and carved by bullets and grenades.”

Valve says Counter-Strike 2 also supports sub-tick updates. That means the server will process player actions in between primary (64Hz) tick updates. The company says this will let servers know the moment you fire a weapon or chuck a grenade, leading (at least in theory) to more responsive sessions.

Counter-Strike 2 is a free upgrade to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam. Any cosmetics collected in CS:GO will automatically transfer to CS2.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/counter-strike-2-is-now-available-as-a-free-upgrade-to-csgo-204755738.html?src=rss 

Ironically, when ChatGPT debuted last November and basically broke the internet for a few days, the AI itself wasn’t informed. In fact, its entire knowledge base stopped abruptly in September, 2021 because that was the most recent data the system was initially trained on. Wednesday, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT will now be able to answer even the most modern of queries as the generative AI assistant can now look up information, in real-time.

The new feature is being called Browse with Bing and appears to work directly within the normal Bing Chat window, notifying the user when it is looking up information from the web and providing citation links with its answers. “Browsing is particularly useful for tasks that require up-to-date information, such as helping you with technical research, trying to choose a bike, or planning a vacation,” the OpenAI team wrote in a subsequent tweet. “Browsing is available to Plus and Enterprise users today, and we’ll expand to all users soon. To enable, choose Browse with Bing in the selector under GPT-4.”

This isn’t the first time that ChatGPT has gone on the internet, mind you. It had a web browsing capability available to Plus subscribers as recently as this past July, though that feature got axed after users kept exploiting it to get around paywalls. This announcement follows another major update from earlier in the week, revealing the chatbot’s new multimodal functions.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chatgpt-is-allowed-to-browse-the-internet-once-again-211332316.html?src=rss 

As of November 1, Disney+ will restrict its Canadian users from sharing their accounts with people outside their households unless they’re willing to pay more. The company sent out an email to subscribers notifying them of the change, which Disney CEO Bob Iger foreshadowed in an earnings call back in August. With this move, the company is following closely in the footsteps of Netflix, which officially began its crackdown on password sharing in the US and other countries in May.

In the updated Subscriber Agreement, Disney specifies that a household includes only “the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence” and used by the people who live there. It also suggests Disney+ will introduce new fee options for users who want to add outside members to their accounts, noting that the upcoming rule applies to everyone “unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier.” The details on that haven’t been released yet, but Netflix has set the precedent with its $8 per extra person, per month charges.

Iger previously said the company was targeting 2024 to begin clamping down on account sharing, so the bans up north are coming ahead of schedule. He also stated that addressing the “significant” level of account sharing could take more than the entire next calendar year to solve. It’s as yet unclear how, if at all, Disney+ will try to enforce the ban on mobile devices, and when it will come to other regions. 

On November 1, Disney+ users in Canada and parts of Europe will also get access to the streaming service’s less costly ad-supported tier, which has been available in the US since 2022. That’s likely little consolation for anyone about to get kicked off their parents’ Disney+ account.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/disney-is-getting-strict-about-password-sharing-starting-in-canada-194038029.html?src=rss 

Meta has just wrapped up its 2023 Connect keynote. As promised, the company had a lot more to share about its Meta Quest 3 headset. It also announced the latest pair of smart glasses it created in collaboration with Ray-Ban. In an astoundingly shocking turn of events, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also had some AI updates to discuss. 

Meta Quest 3 release date

Meta first showed off the Quest 3 back in June to preempt Apple’s announcement of the Vision Pro. However, we had to wait a few months to get all of the details about Meta’s mixed reality headset (which we’ve already had some hands-on time with).

The Meta Quest 3 has full color passthrough and it’s able to blend augmented reality elements into your physical surroundings. It’s the first consumer device that runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip and Meta claims it delivers double the performance of the Quest 2. Expect higher resolution and a larger depth of field, but the refresh rate is staying the same at 90Hz.

The latest model should be more comfortable for those who wear glasses (hi) and there’s a dial for adjusting inter-pupillary distance. Meta has revamped the Quest controllers by adding haptic feedback and ditching the tracking rings — it says new sensors can handle tracking instead. 

Along with a bunch of native VR games and experiences that are on the way, the Quest 3 will gain support for Xbox Cloud Gaming in December. You can use the headset to get some work done, if you’re so inclined. Microsoft 365 apps will be available on Quest by the end of the year, and you’ll soon be able to access Windows on the headsets.

Pre-orders for the Meta Quest 3 are open now. It starts at $500 for a version with 128GB of storage and you’ll need to pony up $650 for a variant with double the storage. The 512GB model comes with a six-month trial of Meta Quest+ and, for a limited time, the company is bundling in Asgard’s Wrath 2 with both versions. The headset will be available on October 10.

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses

Meta had another hardware device to show off at Connect. It teamed up with Ray-Ban to whip up another set of smart glasses. 

The inventively titled Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses offer vastly improved specs compared with the Ray-Ban Stories. There’s a 12MP wide-angle camera that can record 1080p video at 60fps. There’s a 60-second time limit on video capture, but that works out quite nicely for Instagram Stories. The glasses have 32GB of storage as well.

There are five mics that can capture spatial audio. The speakers are louder and leak less noise. Meanwhile, there’s a second frame design option and the charging case looks just like a regular Ray-Ban protective pouch. 

Pre-orders for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses open today. They start at $299 and the device will ship on October 17.

AI updates

There’s no escaping AI in 2023, so of course Meta had some updates on that front. The company is starting to offer a couple dozen AI chatbot personalities voiced by a who’s who (literally, in some cases) of celebrities. Its new generative AI assistant, the on-brand Meta AI, will be available on platforms including WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and the new hardware.

Meanwhile, generative AI image editing is on the way to Instagram. You’ll be able to switch up the looks of images by, for instance, giving them the appearance of a watercolor painting. A generative AI-powered green screen feature similar to the one YouTube just unveiled is coming soon. In addition, AI-generated stickers are coming to Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Facebook Stories.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/everything-announced-at-meta-connect-quest-3-release-date-smart-glasses-and-meta-ai-192757855.html?src=rss