Gaming in state California. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

Masimo successfully managed to enact an Apple Watch sales ban in the U.S., and though the healthcare technology firm may have found an enemy in Apple, its CEO, Joe Kiani, is still open to settlement talks with the largest smartwatch maker in the world. According to one report, settling with Masimo would be the best course for Apple, as a different route will mean the latter will have to undertake a ton of responsibility of bringing not just software but hardware modifications to its wearable lineup that support a blood oxygen meter.

Nintendo is reportedly “deep in conversation,” with external studios to work on its first-party IP.

Curious about the? We have all the latest information right here. Created by Robert Munic,Power Book IV: Forceis the fourth entry in Courtney A. Kemp’s Power universe. The plot revolves around Tommy Egan, a convicted drug dealer who used to be the best friend of James “Ghost” St. Patrick, the protagonist of Power (2014-2020). In Power Book IV: Force, as the world believes he is dead, Tommy ends up in Chicago on his way to California from New York and decides to make the Windy City his new stomping ground. Season 1 premiered on February 6, 2022, and season 2 on September 1, 2023.

The Apple Vision Pro will officially release on February 2, with pre-orders of the mixed-reality headset starting on January 19. Between this period, several reviewers will provide their initial thoughts on Apple’s first AR headset, but according to the latest update, the California-based giant will have a tighter grip on the entire process, suggesting that it does not want any negative content or impressions being published online.

The European Union's competition regulator said Tuesday it was looking into Microsoft's investment into ChatGPT developer, the CEO Sam Altman-led OpenAI to see if it merits further investigation under the bloc's merger rules. The European Commission said in a statement it was "checking whether Microsoft's investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under the EU Merger Regulation".

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Do you want to get the latest gaming industry news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our daily and weekly newsletters here .

Do you want to get the latest gaming industry news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our daily and weekly newsletters here .

Activision-Blizzard has been the centre of a lot of controversy over these past few years. After a lawsuit went public, detailing «numerous complaints about unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation» and a «frat boy» culture, plus claims from former CEO Bobby Kotick that the whole thing was just an «aggressive labour movement,»  the company finally settled last year.

An unnamed former Activision executive is taking the Call of Duty publisher to court in California, accusing the company of age discrimination and violating the state's whistleblower protection law. Said executive is a 57-year-old who worked at the company from 2014; apparently, he and six other men aged 47 or older were cut from a team of 200, as part of broader Activision Blizzard restructuring efforts last August.

 A trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies sued Ohio over a pending law that requires children to get parental consent to use social media apps. The law was part of an Ohio's law — which requires social media companies to obtain a parent's permission for children under 16 to sign up for social media and gaming apps — unconstitutionally impedes free speech and is overbroad and vague. The law also requires social media companies to provide parents with their privacy guidelines, so that families can know what content will be censored or moderated on their child's profile.

A former Activision Blizzard executive has filed a discrimination claim with the company, alleging it of discriminating against «old white guys».

A former Activision executive has sued the publisher in California state court accusing the company of age discrimination and violating the state's whistleblower protection law, as reported by Law360.

California-based startup Perplexity AI, just a year into its journey, has secured $73.6 million in a series B funding round, bringing its total funding to $100 million. The investment comes from IVP, NEA, Databricks, Nvidia, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Kindred Ventures, with notable tech figures like Jeff Bezos and Nat Friedman joining as backers. What sets Perplexity AI apart is its ambition to revolutionise knowledge discovery through the Perplexity AI-native search engine, challenging industry giants Google and Microsoft. The startup, valued at over $500 million, plans to utilise the funding to enhance its AI-driven search engine capabilities. Perplexity co-founder and CEO is the Aravind Srinivas.

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AI Roundup: Several notable developments took place in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) today, January 4. Microsoft launched the Copilot key, a key that can summon Microsoft's AI chatbot at just a press of a button. Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday said that AI will be one of the two key issues for Italy during its one-year presidency of the G7. Nearly 58 pct of the researchers think that AI could have catastrophic effects, according to a new survey. All this, and more in today's AI roundup.

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Roku Inc., the maker of TV streaming boxes and software, is debuting its first high-end televisions in a bid to continue sales momentum for the company's devices. 

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Vizio has agreed to pay out $3 million to settle a 2018 California class action lawsuit that accused the company of misleading consumers over the refresh rates of its TVs. Vizio had been claiming that black frame insertion technology increased the «effective refresh rate» of its TVs from 60Hz to 120Hz.

Exciting news for Classroom of the Elite fans! You can catch the exclusive streaming of the episode on Crunchyroll. The series delves into the life of Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, a student enrolled in First Year Class D at Koudo Ikusei Senior High School.

Samsung has sent the invites for the Galaxy Unpacked event 2024 in which the Samsung Galaxy S24 series is expected to be unveiled along with new AI initiatives. The launch event with take place on January 17, 2024, in San Jose, California. Samsung in the invite says that the event will introduce an "all-new mobile experience powered by AI". However, ahead of the launch, a images of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra design have been leaked. It was displayed in a Brazilian store as a poster. Check what will be featured in the new Samsung Galaxy S24 series along with expected prices.

Solo Leveling Season 1 introduces Otaku’s to the world of Shun Mizushino, who is hailed as the world’s weakest hunter.

After weeks of anticipation, Samsung has finally announced its annual event, the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, and it is set to take place later this month. The South Korean tech giant has announced that this event will unveil an “all-new mobile experience powered by AI”. The most anticipated launch from the event is expected to be the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, which is the company's flagship product. This year, Samsung has again shifted the launch venue from its headquarters in South Korea to San Jose, California. Know all about the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX has kicked off 2024 by undertaking yet another endeavour. Aboard the Falcon 9 spacecraft, the first batch of Starlink internet satellites took to the skies on Tuesday, January 2, at 10:44 p.m. EST. These Starlink satellites promise direct-to-cell capabilities, meaning that you could potentially get satellite broadband directly on your smartphone. In theory, this could eliminate the problems caused by geographical features in providing internet facilities.

Bobby Kotick’s last day at renowned gaming megacorporation Activision Blizzard was Friday, December 29th, 2023. He leaves with a $15 million… departure salary? In casual terms, it’s a “golden parachute.” He’s 60 years old. He’ll be fine. 

Samsung has likely laid out its plans for 2024, with its paramount focus being to regain lost global market share to various rivals, including Apple. The Korean giant is expected to initiate its New Year resolution with the Galaxy S24 launch, which is rumored to be held on January 17. However, before the official announcements take place, the company will send out official invites to various media outlets and YouTube personnel to be a part of Galaxy Unpacked 2024, with one rumor claiming that those invites will be sent out on January 2.

The recent Apple Watch sales ban in the U.S. was thanks to the efforts of Masimo, a health technology firm that claims Apple uses stolen technology in its latest smartwatch models. Though Masimo has found some measure of success against the most valuable company in the world, the journey has been harrowing, both mentally and financially, with CEO Joe Kiani stating that around $100 million has already been spent in its legal battle.

American Truck Simulator is heading to Missouri for its next expansion. It'll be the first appearance of the Mississippi river in the beloved simulation game.

Elon Musk's X Corp. lost its effort in court to block a California law that seeks to control toxic posts on social media by requiring companies to disclose their content-moderation polices. In an eight-page ruling Thursday, a federal judge in Sacramento rejected arguments by the company formerly known as Twitter that the measure violates the free-speech rights of social media platforms. The ruling comes after Musk ignited a firestorm in November by endorsing antisemitic posts on his platform. X Corp. Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino scrambled to contain the fallout after major advertisers like Sony, Discovery, Apple and CBS stopped or paused spending on the site.

The cutting-edge 3nm process developed by TSMC only had Apple as the sole customer, but with just a couple of days remaining for 2024 to start, the Taiwanese foundry is expected to secure more orders for the second iteration of its advanced node dubbed ‘N3E.’ This will allow the manufacturer to ramp up production, with the latest report stating that the company’s operational capacity is said to jump to 80 percent in the second half of 2024.

Google has agreed to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages over allegations it tracked the data of users who thought they were browsing the internet privately. The object of the lawsuit was the "incognito" mode on Google's Chrome browser that the plaintiffs said gave users a false sense that what they were surfing online was not being tracked by the Silicon Valley tech firm. But internal Google emails brought forward in the lawsuit demonstrated that users using incognito mode were being followed by the search and advertising behemoth for measuring web traffic and selling ads.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

Apple may have crossed the $3 trillion valuation mark this year, making it the most valuable company in the world, but that does not mean the California-based firm had the most successful run in 2023 because other technology giants outperformed it by quite a fair margin. In fact, according to the latest report, Apple suffered its longest revenue slide in 22 years, with several challenges expected to make attempts at its growth in 2024.

Apple suffered a major blow in its executive headcount, as the technology giant’s chief iPhone designer, Tang Tan, is reported to have joined Jony Ive’s LoveFrom and work with OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman to work on a brand new device focused on AI. Tan was also responsible for being one of the individuals responsible for designing the Apple Watch, and for the time being, no one has been named as his replacement at Apple.

Lawrence Sullivan, also known as the Florida Joker, has issued a "final warning" to Rockstar Games and is demanding $5 million for the parody of him in the GTA 6 reveal trailer.

At about 1 a.m. California time in 2013, a scientist emailed Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook with an irresistible pitch. “I strongly believe that we can develop the new wave of technology that will make Apple the No. 1 brand in the medical, fitness and wellness market,” he wrote in the email, which was later included in legal documents. Some 10 hours after the message was sent, an Apple recruiter was in touch. And just weeks after that, the engineer was working at the tech company on a smartwatch with health sensors.

 More than two decades after J.K. Rowling introduced the world to a universe of magical creatures, forbidden forests and a teenage wizard, Harry Potter is finding renewed relevance in a very different body of literature: AI research. A growing number of researchers are using the best-selling Harry Potter books to experiment with generative artificial intelligence technology, citing the series' enduring influence in popular culture and the wide range of language data and complex wordplay within its pages.  Reviewing a list of studies and academic papers referencing Harry Potter offers a snapshot into cutting-edge AI research — and some of the thorniest questions facing the technology. 

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

Apple’s quest to have as much chip control as possible for a wide range of products is not going as the company anticipated. With its custom SoCs, industry watchers believe that the technology giant’s prowess in this area is unmatched, but when it comes to developing custom 5G modems and Wi-Fi chips, Apple is severely lagging behind its suppliers, Broadcom and Qualcomm. However, one report states that the company is expected to unveil its first Wi-Fi chips in 2025, and irrespective of how difficult this challenge has been, Broadcom would be the first to experience a significant financial blow.

It has hardly been an easy journey for Apple CEO Tim Cook ever since he succeeded Steve Jobs as the head of the now trillion-dollar company, but for all his efforts, the Chief Executive has been rewarded financially for it. According to the latest data, Cook is currently worth $2 billion and has a few million Apple shares to his name, which are equivalent to millions in monetary value.

Even as human-caused climate change threatens the environment, nature continues to inspire our technological advancement. "The solutions that are provided by nature have evolved for billions of years and tested repeatedly every day since the beginning of time," said Evripidis Gkanias, a University of Edinburgh researcher.

A US federal court ruled on Friday that social media company Twitter, now branded X, violated contracts by failing to pay annual performance bonuses it orally promised its workers.

Moonton Games is launching a one-of-a-kind collegiate esports league, Mobile Legends Bang Bang x Alchemy Esports. The league’s group stage promises intense competition among university teams in North America.

Long-time Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick is leaving the company following its acquisition by Microsoft in October. Kotick will depart on 29th December, with Microsoft largely keeping the company’s core leadership intact outside of this.

In a groundbreaking achievement, NASA's Asteroid Psyche mission has set a new milestone in space communication by successfully beaming an ultra-high definition video of a playful cat named Taters from an astounding distance of 31 million kilometers. Executed on December 11, this unprecedented broadcast demonstrates the potential for streaming high-bandwidth data from far off space, signifying a major technological advancement that could reshape future interplanetary missions.

Long-time Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick is leaving the company following its acquisition by Microsoft in October. Kotick will depart on 29th December, with Microsoft largely keeping the company’s leadership intact outside of this.

Apple Inc.'s plan to halt online sales of its smartwatch four days before Christmas to comply with a regulator's order shows that it's in a legal jam.

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It’s official: The Bobby Kotick era at Activision Blizzard will end on December 29. According to The Verge, Instead of appointing a new replacement, the top Activision Blizzard executives will now report to Microsoft’s game content and studios president Matt Booty. Several more higher-level Activision Blizzard employees will also leave the company in the new year with departures planned through March 2024.

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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is officially resigning from the company after the completion of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of the gaming developer and publisher. Kotick’s last day is Dec. 29, when Microsoft studio head Matt Booty will take lead of the Activision Blizzard executive leadership team. Kotick led Activision Blizzard for 32 years.

The Biden administration is “tracking” the impending US ban of nearly all Apple Watch sales due to a patent dispute, with power to veto the decision resting with the US Trade Representative. 

Ex Machina director Alex Garland looks like he will try to do the impossible when his new film Civil War hits theaters in 2024: depict a second civil war in the United States without directly engaging with the politics of why that war is taking place. It’s not hard to see why Garland might want to avoid thorny connections between the movie and the very real politicians and political groups openly calling for succession and open conflict in the United States. Maybe he believes there’s enough value in the arresting visuals of a modern America under siege.

California’s Civil Rights Department reached a settlement with Activision Blizzard late last week two years after the state regulator brought a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination, pay inequities and a culture of sexual harassment at the video game company.

Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay more than $54 million (and an additional $47 million for affected employees) to settle a lawsuit filed by California’s Civil Rights Department in 2021. The lawsuit was filed over accusations of sexual and gender harassment, along with discrimination, including pay disparities.

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

Activision Blizzard will pay over $50 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit filed by the state of California alleging that the video games giant discriminated against women by offering them lower pay and fewer promotion opportunities.

Miklos Daniel Brody, a cloud engineer formerly employed at a bank, has been sentenced to two years in prison for «a network intrusion and for making false statements to a government agency» following a secret service investigation. Seemingly angered by his employer taking disciplinary action against him, Brody kept his work laptop under false pretences after being fired, and used his network access to damage his former employer's internal IT systems.

Following allegations of workplace discrimination at Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant has agreed to pay just under $55 million. The settlement with the California Civil Rights Department is still subject to court approval.

California’s Civil Rights Department has reached a settlement with Activision Blizzard that will see the company pay tens of millions of dollars in damages to women for unfair pay and treatment — but, as part of the settlement, the CRD has dismissed its own allegations of a “frat boy” culture of widespread and systemic sexual harassment at the company.

US publishing giant Activision Blizzard has settled the lawsuit brought against it by a California government body.

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Researchers at the University of California and Intel have developed a complex algorithm that leverages AI and some clever routines to extrapolate new frames, with claims of lower input latency than current frame generation methods, all while retaining good image quality. There's no indication that Intel is planning to implement the system for its Arc GPUs just yet but if the work is continued, we'll probably have some Intel-powered frame generation in the near future.

Activision Blizzard will pay $54 million to settle a gender discrimination and harassment lawsuit brought against the company in 2021. 

Activision Blizzard King is looking to settle its lawsuit under the California Civil Rights Department.

Researchers have discovered the limits to ChatGPT's ability to provide location-specific information about environmental justice issues, which they said possibly hint at the chatbot's geographic biases. The researchers at Virginia Tech University in the US asked ChatGPT to answer a prompt about the environmental justice issues in each of the 3,108 counties across the states of the country. ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool, developed by OpenAI, that is trained extensively on massive amounts of data in natural language. Such AI tools, also called large language models, can process, manipulate and generate textual responses based on users' requests, or "prompts".

First reported by the New York Times, a major chapter in Activision Blizzard's reckoning over an alleged internal culture of misogyny and harassment has ended. The California Civil Rights Department (formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing) has settled with Activision Blizzard for $54 million, dropping its sexual harassment suit.

As reported by VentureBeat, Activision Blizzard has agree to pay a total of roughly $54 million to settle a lawsuit in the state of California. The company was sued by California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) in 2021 after reports emerged with allegations of widespread and systemic sexual harassment and racial discrimination against employees, and unequal pay for women.

Netflix is producing a video game set in the universe of Squid Game.

In the fast-paced world of communication, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been nothing short of revolutionary. As we mark the one-year milestone of AI's pervasive influence, it is imperative to explore the ways in which this technology has reshaped the landscape, from entertainment to enterprise communication.

Videogame giant Activision Blizzard is set to pay around $50 million to settle a lawsuit by a California regulator, a US news report said Friday. In 2021, California's Civil Rights Department sued the company, claiming leaders ignored staff complaints involving sexual harassment and discrimination. The lawsuit had a part in spurring Microsoft's acquisition of the company, noted the Wall Street Journal report.

Activision Blizzard will pay nearly $55 million to resolve its legal fight with the state of California over allegations the gaming company permitted a widespread and systemic workplace harassment. The state's lawsuit had alleged the maker of video games including World of Warcraft and Diablo had a ‘frat boy culture” and subjected women to unequal pay, constant sexual harassment, and retaliation. The video games maker will pay approximately $54,875,000 to cover direct relief to workers and litigation costs, the state's Civil Rights Department said in a statement Friday. About $45,750,000 of that money will go to a settlement fund dedicated to compensating workers.

Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay over £44 million to settle a 2021 sex discrimination lawsuit.

Activision Blizzard will settle allegations that it discriminated against female employees with a payout of over $50 million. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, this will end its lawsuit with the California Civil Rights Department (formally called the Department of Fair Employment and Housing), which launched in 2021.

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By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

As most of our readers probably remember all too well, Activision Blizzard experienced a veritable storm in July 2021 when it was sued by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) for widespread harassment and discrimination against female employees.

Activision Blizzard will pay a $54 million settlement to end a 2021 sex discrimination lawsuit.

All Xbox owners can play two of this year’s biggest games for free this weekend.