Author: Anna Galvez

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Tech

Google Signed An Agreement With Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi For Direct Android Auto Integration

Google wants to expand Android far beyond mobile phones industry. Accordingly, Google Android emerged in the automotive sector as Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi have just signed an agreement with Google whereby all vehicles belonging to these brands will have Android Auto integrated directly into their infotainment systems starting with 2021.

Android Auto to be directly integrated into infotainment systems by Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi

Fundamentally, the majority of the cars produced by Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi starting with 2021 would enjoy the direct integration of Google applications and services (such as Google Maps, its voice assistant (Google Assistant) or the Google Play Store with which to access the ecosystem of Android apps) into their infotainment systems via Android Auto.

Besides, Android Auto direct integration would also mean that it is no longer necessary to connect the cars’ computers to Android devices since the Google’s OS for automobiles is already integrated into the vehicles’ own system.

And the best part of it is that the new OS will also be compatible with iOS devices.

The integration of Android OS in vehicles’ infotainment system was not received positively by everybody

This news seems an excellent one, but some have a few complaints. Accordingly, some think that directly integrating Android Auto into the infotainment systems would mean an even more significant loss of privacy for drivers, as some of them already complained after the news emerged.

On the other hand, other providers of a similar type of services, such as TomTom, have received a setback in the stock market after the news regarding the new partnership between Google, Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi went live.

Although, there are still some manufacturers who are reluctant to implement Android Auto in their vehicles because of the loss of privacy that such a measure would mean for their customers as the cars would be demanding more and more advanced infotainment systems with more redundant connectivity to the cloud.

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Games News

Sony To Launch PlayStation Classic in December

After Nintendo with its NES Classic and SNES Classic, it is Sony’s turn to appeal to the nostalgia of players by offering a new PlayStation in a mini format which runs some of the most appreciated video games of the first generations of consoles. We’re talking about PlayStation Classic which will become available later this year.

The console will be sold with 20 preloaded games, five of which have so far been announced: Final Fantasy VII, Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3, and Wild Arms.

PlayStation Classic comes with two controllers and internal storage

The new PlayStation Classic console can be connected to a display with an HDMI cable. Also, the new console will be sold with two controllers, while the data, such as in-game profiles, saves, and backups will no longer be made to a memory card, as it was the case with the first generations of Sony consoles, but to internal storage.

However, Sony has not specified whether the games will be preloaded into an internal memory or stored on a memory card, thus allowing it to enrich its game library later on.

In any case, we know that the console cover can be opened as on the original PlayStation and would allow you to change the virtual disk. But will we have other virtual disks launched along with PlayStation Classic? Sony did not give any details in this direction, so we don’t know yet.

PlayStation release date

PlayStation Classic would launch on December 3rd, 2018, and that’s not a randomly selected date. In fact, the first PlayStation was released on December 3rd, 1994, in Japan.

The new PlayStation Classic will, therefore, be available, on December 3rd for $100.

While the upcoming console would be a fascinating journey “back in time” as it allows gamers to play some of the most excellent titles that appeared on the first generations of Sony consoles, some of the PlayStation fans said that the new installment has to provide some very cool titles to worth $100.

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Games News

Pokemon GO: Deoxys To Replace Mewtwo in EX Raids

On the official site of the famous game Pokemon GO, Niantic announced that the Mythical Pokemon Deoxys would replace Mewtwo in EX raids. Also, the developers also informed that Deoxys’ Normal Forme, which is one of the four forms of the character, will only be available via EX Raids, an event that requires an invitation to be played.

With the last Pokemon GO update, gamers can send an EX Raids invitation to one friend in their friend lists but only if he/she achieved Ultra Friend status or higher.

EX Raids in Pokemon GO is a controversial event

EX Raids are elite battles that give those invited gamers the opportunity to catch a powerful Pokemon at a specified moment, at a sponsored Gym location.

Since its emergence in Pokemon GO, EX Raids has been very controversial with some of the game’s fans showing disappointment. EX Raid changed eligibility criteria, and that hasn’t been received well by the players.

Niantic even apologized for any inconveniences, but they did not change much to tackle the gamers’ frustration.

However, those players who participate in raid battles in parks or at the promoted Gyms are more likely to be invited. Also, those who achieved a gold badge in one of the mentioned locations are increasing their chances to get an invitation.

Deoxys to replace Mewtwo in EX Raids in Pokemon GO

“On September 20 at 1:00 P.M. (PDT), Mewtwo will come to Raid Battles for the first time! Mewtwo has previously only been available to Trainers invited to EX Raids, but now all Trainers will be able to challenge the Legendary Psychic-type Pokemon until October 23 at 1:00 P.M. (PDT). So prepare yourself, and don’t miss your opportunity to encounter this powerful Pokemon before it disappears,” reads the official announcement posted by Niantic.

This message is confirming the recent news that Deoxys will replace Mewtwo in EX Raids.

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News Tech

Sony Works On A PlayStation VR Motion Sickness Technology

Virtual reality is indeed a fantastic feat but, for some people, it could be a challenging task to enjoy it. Fortunately, Sony thought about those fans who have a rough time using VR as the Japanese company patented PlayStation VR Motion Sickness technology that helps with the stimulation overload.

The first patent in this regard was filed in 2017. Back then, Sony was working on a technology to ease up the effects of virtual reality such as motion sickness. Since 2017, Sony has been working on the PlayStation VR Motion Sickness technology, and now they’re pretty close to the conclusion.

In fact, Sony is just beginning the real work for implementing the new features to make the gamers experience smoother for everyone.

Sony hopes to enhance the PlayStation VR experience by providing its setup some features for marking a “health threshold value” that would be capable of estimating when the gamer is starting to be over-stimulated.

Sony patented PlayStation VR Motion Sickness technology

Sony decided to look more into the PlayStation VR motion sickness as many users reported a sort of motion sickness when using the VR for a long time, while others even felt dizziness immediately.

Interestingly, the new technology would also pack a microphone with which the console would record negative words that might signal for gamers’ displeasure.

Sony’s patented PlayStation VR Motion Sickness technology is not for preventing motion sickness. Instead, Sony wants to tackle its after-effects as the new technology is designed to control the condition and reduce its side effects in those gamers facing this issue. Another surprising fact the patent reveals is that Sony talks about a wireless headset packed with a battery for a more efficient setup.

It would be exciting to see what’s next for this PlayStation VR Motion Sickness technology, especially from the perspective of the growing virtual reality market.

Categories
Crypto News

Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 Launched Yesterday To Address A DoS Vulnerability in the Previous Version

A new version of the Bitcoin Core client, the software that identifies valid blocks of the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain, went live yesterday night, as the Bitcoin Operations Technology Group (Optech) reported on Twitter.

The version of Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 corrects a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability, introduced in version 0.14.0, which had remained undetected until now, and which caused the fall of the Bitcoin Core client by trying to validate a block containing a transaction that attempted to use the same currencies for two different payments, known as a double-spending attack.

In a newsletter addressed to the Bitcoin (BTC) community, Optech explains that after submitting the update yesterday to be reviewed by prominent members of the community, the binary programs of version 0.16.3 were made available yesterday night. Optech recommends that the update should be done immediately.

The newly launched Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 addresses the DoS vulnerability of the previous version

A block containing a double-spending is not allowed by Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain, but the software error blocked the miner or the group of miners trying to validate the malicious block, instead of discarding the block. This progressive blocking effect would have disabled an essential section of the network, leading to a significant decrease in the Bitcoin (BTC) mining hashrate with all the consequent security risks that this entails.

Although a subdirectory of the Bitcoin section in Github describes in detail the procedure for upgrading to Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 and credits the developers Matt Corallo and Suhas Daftuar as responsible for introducing the code to remove the vulnerability, it is not clear who detected the error that could potentially have led to a few issues on Bitcoin (BTC) network.

Optech also reported this Tuesday that the previous version of Bitcoin Core 0.17 is also being updated to include the correction of the DoS vulnerability described above. The availability of Release Candidate 4 of Bitcoin Core 0.17, 0.17RC4, which contains the respective fixes, will soon be announced, says the Optech newsletter.

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