Twitter has finally turned a profit. It’s more a result of cost-cutting as revenues and user numbers have effectively flatlined. The $91 million profit for the last three months of 2017 was the first profitable quarter in the company’s 12 year history. However, the details suggest this is largely because Twitter has done something other […]
Amazon is ditching lock screen ads that appeared on some of the phones it sold. The handsets will now cost more, but the ads will disappear from handsets people have already bought through the program. The change affects the “Prime Exclusive Phone” range that offers members of Amazon Prime a discount on a range of […]
Mario might be getting a belly button to go along with his nipples, Nintendo has revealed. And no, Toad isn’t wearing a hat. The company has put out a Twitter video (below) where Super Mario Odyssey producer Yoshiaki Koizumi answers questions from fans. It turns out people aren’t interested in framerates or cheat codes as […]
An Amazon patent confirms a theory that commercials for Alexa voice control include a secret message to stop Amazon gadgets being triggered. Amazon also says it can now respond to unexpected high-profile mentions. Because the Echo range of smart speakers aren’t specifically tied to a user’s voice, there’s a risk that any audio of somebody […]
YouTube’s live TV service is now on Apple TV and Roku. It means most streaming TV devices now support the ‘cord cutting’ service, though still with some key exceptions. YouTube TV costs $35 a month and combines live streams of 40 stations, along with a virtual DVR where you can ‘record’ a show and watch […]
Brits no longer need to send a raven to get their Game of Thrones delivery fix. A new range of postage stamps celebrate characters from the show. The United Kingdom stamps are valid to use and act as standard first class postage (that is next-dayish delivery for standard letters). However, they are also designed as […]
The latest Humble Bundle lets you get 12 Rockstar games on PC for $15, going right up to the GTA IV DLC. It’s a special offer raising money for the Rainforest Alliance. The offer lets you pay an amount of your choice (starting at $1) and then lets you get the games through Steam. You […]
Cryptocurrency mining is driving graphic card prices so high that both manufacturers and retailers are looking at ways to make sure gamers can still get them. Polygon’s Samit Sarkar notes that originally the problem was only affecting top-end cards, for example the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 now going for almost double its listed retail price. […]
White House officials are said to be considering having the US government build a 5G network within three years to make it harder for China to intercept US communications. Reports suggest the idea is still in preliminary discussion so wouldn’t be approved any time soon. The claims come from Axios.com, which says it has a […]
A Washington state politician says video game “loot boxes” could be classed as gambling. Kevin Ranker wants to force the state’s gambling commission to investigate the issue. Ranker has introduced a bill in the state Senate that wouldn’t affect loot boxes themselves but rather would force the commission to carry out a formal study and […]