Kalakshar US

Spotify might not be done adding trendy technology to its streaming music service. The company has confirmed that it’s testing a feature which requires owning an NFT (non-fungible token) to unlock certain playlists. The band Kingship is part of a pilot that also includes organizations like Fluf, Moonbirds and Overlord. The experiment appears to be limited to Android users in certain countries, although TechCrunch notes this isn’t surprising when Apple limited NFT uses on iOS in October of last year.

A Spotify spokesperson tells Engadget the company “routinely” conducts tests. Some lead to product improvements while others only amount to “important learnings,” the representative says. The company isn’t commenting on future plans for the NFT pilot. The service is holding its next Stream On event on March 8th, but there’s no guarantee the feature will make an appearance.

The firm is no stranger to the digital tokens. It tested NFT galleries on artist pages last spring, and was hiring people with related technical experience. A move like this would help Spotify form partnerships where it could spur listening (and sales of partners’ NFTs) by putting a tastemaker’s music selections behind a paywall.

The timing is unfortunate, however. Blockchain businesses like FTX and Coinbase are reeling from either fraud accusations or the continued crypto market downturn. Interest in NFTs has also cooled dramatically in the past year, in part because the assets frequently aren’t selling well. Spotify is also cutting costs, and recently said it would lay off six percent of its workforce. The company has less money to invest in experiments, and would be entering a grim market.

 

Sony is set to host its first State of Play showcase of 2023 this afternoon, featuring some new announcements and updates on previously revealed games. The stream starts at 4PM and you can watch it on PlayStation’s Twitch and YouTube channels. Alternatively, you can check out the State of Play via the embedded video below.

We’re expecting to hear about five games that are coming to PS VR2 later this year. It seems like an ideal time for Sony to show off what’s in the pipeline for the new headset, which it released earlier this week. We’ll also get details on some “anticipated” third-party games, as well as an in-depth look at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Given the heavy focus on the followup to Batman: Arkham Knight, it’d be a little surprising if there were any other big announcements that could upstage that game, but you never know. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to find out what’s up Sony’s sleeve.

 

Lordstown Motors’ problems aren’t over just because it’s manufacturing electric pickup trucks. The fledgling brand is pausing production and customer deliveries to help it tackle “performance and quality issues” with some components in its Endurance truck. Accordingly, it’s partnering with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on a voluntary recall to fix a connection problem that could cut motor output while driving.

The recall will affect 19 vehicles already on the road, some of which were in use at Lordstown. The company isn’t offering an estimate as to when production will resume, but claims it’s making “significant progress” on component and subsystem issues holding up manufacturing. More details are expected to come when the firm holds its next earnings call on the morning of March 6th.

The freeze is tiny compared to issues at rivals like Tesla, which has recalled hundreds of thousands of cars (if frequently for software-only problems). However, Lordstown hasn’t made many pickups so far — it only delivered the first trucks from its initial 500-unit wave in November, and said last year that it only expected to sell 3,000 Endurance models through 2023. The halt and recall are proportionately huge.

Lordstown also doesn’t have much breathing room. GM sold its stake in late 2021, just a few months after Lordstown warned it didn’t have enough money to make its signature truck. The startup then raised funds by selling its plant to manufacturing heavyweight Foxconn. It deepened the relationship in November in exchange for two Foxconn-chosen seats on the board of directors. There’s pressure on Lordstown to turn things around, and setbacks like this don’t help.

 

The European Commission, the executive wing of the European Union, has banned TikTok from devices it owns. It also asked its staff to remove the app from personal phones and tablets that are part of its mobile device service — in other words, any devices they use for work.

“This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the corporate environment of the Commission,” the EC said in a statement. “The security developments of other social media platforms will also be kept under constant review.”

The EC has approximately 32,000 permanent and contract employees. It asked them to delete TikTok as soon as possible and by March 15th at the latest, according to the BBC. If the workers don’t comply in time, they’ll lose access to corporate apps, including the EC’s email service and Skype for Business.

“We believe this suspension is misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions,” a TikTok spokesperson told Engadget. “We are surprised that the Commission did not contact us directly nor offer any explanation — we have requested a meeting to set the record straight on how we protect the data of the 125 million people across the EU who come to TikTok every month. We’re continuing to enhance our approach to data security, including by establishing three data centers in Europe to store user data locally; further reducing employee access to data; and minimizing data flows outside of Europe.”

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is based in China. Officials in a number of countries have expressed concern over the Chinese government potentially using the app to access user data, as well as other security issues. 

The US government has banned the app from most of the devices it owns. Officials in manystates have enacted similar bans, while TikTok is prohibited on some college networks. There are also efforts to ban TikTok in the US entirely. In November, the EC said there were multiple ongoing investigations into TikTok’s data practices.

 

Despite raising North American prices a year ago, Netflix is getting cheaper in over 30 countries. Although that seems to be a contradiction at first glance, the company appears to be experimenting with the right balance of global revenue and subscriber growth as viewer habits change post-lockdowns.

The company has cut prices by as much as half in parts of the Middle East (Yemen, Jordan, Libya and Iran), Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya), Europe (Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria), Latin America (Nicaragua, Ecuador and Venezuela) and Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines). Although periodic price increases have become a regular occurrence for Netflix, it also introduced a cheaper ad-supported plan in 12 countries last October.

The subscription price cuts come as several other streaming services (including Disney+, Hulu and Sling TV) have raised prices recently. “It definitely goes against the recent trends not just for Netflix, but for the broader streaming industry,” John Hodulik, media and entertainment analyst at UBS Group AG toldThe Wall Street Journal. “Some of these cuts on a percentage basis are substantial,” he said.

In Netflix’s January earnings call, co-CEO Greg Peters said the company wants to find areas where it can raise prices, helping to fund new content investments. “We think of ourselves as a non-substitutable good,” said Peters. The regional price increases let Netflix add subscribers to global markets where its share could be higher. The fact that rival services, including Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount+, are expanding globally likely weighed in the decision.

Netflix is still rolling out a new monthly fee for people who share their login credentials outside their homes. After trialing the program in Latin America, the company has rolled out paid account sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. The new fee costs $8 in Canada and New Zealand, €4 in Portugal and €6 in Spain. It’s expected to come to the US early this year.

 

One of the game industry’s better-known figures is moving on from the studio he created. Bethesda has confirmed that Tango Gameworks founder and CEO Shinji Mikami is leaving his company in the “coming months.” The designer hasn’t provided reasons for his departure, or said where he’s going next. We’ve asked Bethesda and Tango for comment.

Mikami has been one of the most influential game developers in his 33-year career. He’s best-known for directing and producing early Resident Evil games, but has also played a key role in other Capcom series like Devil May Cry, Dino Crisis and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. He had a brief stint at PlatinumGames, only to found Tango Gameworks in 2010. His studio has enjoyed success with the Evil Within series and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Tango’s most recent project is the surprise-release rhythm brawlerHi-Fi Rush.

Tango wasn’t independent for long. Bethesda had its parent company, ZeniMax, acquire Mikami’s studio in October 2010 after it ran into financial trouble. Microsoft bought ZeniMax in 2021.

This doesn’t necessarily mean Tango is in trouble. Mikami executive produced the company’s three most recent games, and Bethesda notes he’s a “supportive mentor” to younger developers. However, this still amounts to an industry legend leaving the studio that’s supposed to reflect his vision.

 

It’s now going to be harder to land in “Facebook jail.” Meta says it’s reforming its penalty system so that people are less likely to have their accounts restricted for less serious violations of the company’s rules.

“Under the new system, we will focus on helping people understand why we have removed their content, which is shown to be more effective at preventing re-offending, rather than so quickly restricting their ability to post,” Meta explains in a blog post. “We will still apply account restrictions to persistent violators, typically beginning at the seventh violation, after we’ve given sufficient warnings and explanations to help the person understand why we removed their content.”

Previously, users could land in “Facebook jail,” which could prevent them from posting on the platform for 30 days at a time, for relatively minor infractions. Meta says that it sometimes imposed these types of penalties mistakenly due to “missed context.” For example, someone who jokingly told a friend they would “kidnap” them, or posted a friend’s address in order to invite others to an event, may have been wrongly penalized. These punishments were not just unfair for “well-intentioned” users, but in some cases actually made it more difficult for the company to identify actual bad actors.

With the new system, users may still be restricted from certain features, like posting in groups, following a strike, but will still be able to post elsewhere on the service. Longer, thirty-day restrictions will be reserved for a user’s tenth strike, though the company may impose more restrictions for “severe” rule violations. Facebook users will be able to to view their past violations and details about account restrictions in the “Account Status” seduction of the app.

Meta notes that the overhaul comes as a result of feedback from the Oversight Board, which has repeatedly criticized Meta for not providing users with information about why their posts were removed. In a statement following Meta’s new policy, the board said the changes were “a welcome step in the right direction,” but that “room for improvement remains.”

The board notes that the latest changes don’t do anything to address “severe strikes,” which can have an outsize impact on activists and journalists, especially when the company makes a mistake. The Oversight Board also said that Meta should provide users the opportunity to add context to their appeals, and that the information should be available to its moderators.

 

Google is bringing photo features that were once exclusive to recent Pixel phones to more devices. Magic Eraser, a tool that can easily remove unwanted people or objects from an image, debuted in 2021 on the Pixel 6. It also has a feature called camouflage, which you can use to change the color of objects to make them blend in with the rest of the image and help other elements stand out.

Starting today, Google is rolling out Magic Eraser to Pixel 5a and earlier models. The same goes for Google One. In the coming weeks, members on all plans will have access to Magic Eraser through Google Photos, even if they’re on iOS. Editing features are not available on the Google Photos web app, unfortunately.

All Pixel models and Google One subscribers will also gain access to an HDR effect that can be applied to videos to boost the brightness and contrast. The feature was already available for still images. Moreover, those with older Pixel devices and a One membership will gain access to more styles (i.e., designs) in the Google Photos collage editor starting today.

It’s not a massive shock that Google is bringing Magic Eraser and other Photos features to One and older Pixel devices. It often debuts new tools on its latest flagship devices before introducing them elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Google is offering One subscribers in some territories another perk. Those in the US, Canada, European Union and UK can now get free shipping on orders from the print store.

 

Google TV may now be easier to use when you’re sitting down to watch shows with your kids. Google is adding four new pages to the interface that include a Family section, where you’ll find suggested content rated PG or lower. While this isn’t a completely novel concept (Netflix has a dedicated Kids profile, for example), it should help you find titles that are safe for everyone to watch. The expansion also includes an Español page that, as the name implies, recommends Spanish-language content like movies, shows and live TV.

Other changes apply more universally. The Movies and Shows tabs have been turned into pages. You’ll also find a few navigation tweaks that include a quick settings button and more convenient locations for profile and search functions.

The new pages are currently available in the US. The navigation updates are rolling out worldwide as of today. All the changes will be visible on devices that support Google TV, including Google’s own Chromecast hardware as well as TVs from companies like Hisense and Sony.

The revamp doesn’t come as a surprise. Google is competing with other platforms where child-safe content is either already walled off or dominates, such as Disney+ and Netflix. An update like this may make Google TV more compelling to young families, and creates more consistency with Google’s own YouTube Kids.

 

Google is bringing some new features to its Workspace apps in the coming weeks, including a fresh lick of paint. The company is updating the look and feel of Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Chat in the coming weeks, drawing from its Material Design 3 language to do so. Google says the updated designs will streamline the user interface and put more emphasis on the most-loved tools in each app.

There’s another handy update coming to Drive in the next few weeks as part of the Smart Canvas collaboration initiative. Google will introduce a multiselect toolbar that should make it easier to share, download, move and delete more than one file at a time. Google is also adding an option to filter files by type, such as documents, videos, PDFs and .zip files, without having to search for something first. Improved file management in Drive is always welcome.

Several new features are on the way to Docs. Starting today, you’ll be able to access a stopwatch directly in the app, which could come in useful if you’re trying to stay hyper focused for short bursts. In the coming weeks, Docs will gain emoji reactions for comments, which can be used to emphasize or upvote a response. A calendar invite template will be available in the app soon too.

As for Sheets, you’ll be able to preview a Google Maps link directly in the app starting today. Google says that could come in useful for things like logistics tracking and event planning. Something that could be even more helpful on a day-to-day basis are date shortcuts. By typing @today, @yesterday, @tomorrow and @date, you can add quickly add the relevant date to a sheet without having to look at your calendar. That feature will be generally available as of today, as is the option to add stocks, mutual funds and currencies by using the @-mention function and typing in a company’s name, stock ticker or currency.