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Technology
GamesBeat Decides 108: Rebooting Star Wars for fun and profit
VentureBeat - Jeff Grubb
The news has calmed down after last week, and the GamesBeat staff is playing a lot of games for review. That means we have a shorter episode of the GamesBeat Decides podcast for you this week. On this
CES
Researchers develop flexible nanobots to deliver drugs inside your body
VentureBeat - Kyle Wiggers
What comes to mind when you hear the word “robot”? Boston Dynamics’ quadrupedal Spot? SoftBank’s humanoid Pepper? Or flexible, practically microscopic devices that can swim through bodily fluids? It probably
Ace Combat
Ace Combat 7’s VR Missions could hit Oculus Rift and Vive PC headsets in 2020
VentureBeat - David Jagneux, UploadVR
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown out for the PlayStation 4, and you can read our full review of the VR content and check out what we thought of playing the game with a Thrustmaster flight stick (spoiler: it’s
Technology
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes review — all love with a flawed heart
VentureBeat - Stephen Kleckner
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes for the Switch is one of those games I wish I could lie to you about. I desperately want to tell you that this incredible ride by Grasshopper Manufacture — that is
Technology (India)
In India, Amazon and Walmart face off against the country’s richest man
VentureBeat - Manish Singh
As Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart scramble for ways to work around the impending new strict ecommerce policy in India, the two companies today stumbled upon a new challenge: India’s richest man. Mukesh
Technology
The Big Eco Game community event: Watch us save the planet
VentureBeat - Jeff Grubb
On January 23, a meteor will appear in the sky. Just 30 days later, it will impact the surface of the planet. Unless we can work together to stop it. That’s the setup for the cooperative survival game
Technology
Tale of a 44-year-old Magic: The Gathering virgin
VentureBeat - Jason Wilson
With the amount of hours I’ve logged into Hearthstone, The Elder Scrolls: Legends, and Solforge, you’d think I would have been a long-time collectible card game player. Someone with shelves full of Magic:
CES
PitchBook: European VC investment rose 4.2% in 2018, but number of deals dropped 25.9%
VentureBeat - Paul Sawers
Europe recorded a bumper year for venture capital (VC) investment in 2018, even though the overall number of deals fell by more than a quarter. The findings were published as part of data and research
CES
Drone company DJI loses $150 million to corruption
VentureBeat - Reuters
(Reuters) — China’s DJI, the world’s largest maker of consumer drones, has discovered several cases of serious corruption at the company and expects 2018 losses of more than 1 billion yuan ($150 million)
CES
AI Weekly: Companies and lawmakers need to agree on facial recognition policies before it’s too late
VentureBeat - Kyle Wiggers
After a summer-long saga of accusations, denials, and blockbuster reporting by the American Civil Liberties Union, the dust appeared to have settled on Amazon’s Rekognition scandal. But a letter from this
Technology
How GoDaddy is increasing cloud security but keeping developers creative (VB Live)
VentureBeat - VB Staff
Companies have been steadily moving to a hybrid cloud infrastructure, but once your data moves beyond private architecture, you face potential attacks that legacy security measures can’t address. To learn
CES
Ford taps Clinc for conversational AI in autos
VentureBeat - Kyle Wiggers
Clinc, a four-year-old conversational AI startup, is teaming up with Ford to power voice recognition in the Detroit automaker’s cars. The two companies announced the collaboration today during the Detroit
Technology
NCSoft trims jobs on unannounced project at Iron Tiger Studios
VentureBeat - Dean Takahashi
NCSoft, the South Korean online game publisher that makes games like Lineage 2 and Guild Wars 2, has laid off an undisclosed number of its staff in San Mateo, California. The team affected is part of Tiger
CES
AI system teaches robots how to navigate wilderness trails
VentureBeat - Kyle Wiggers
Wilderness trail traversal is a useful skill for rescuers and outdoor enthusiasts alike, but one that’s difficult to teach to robots. It’s not that the mechanical beasts aren’t capable of learning to up
Technology
YouTube regains AT&T’s ad dollars after extremist content controversy in 2017
VentureBeat - Paul Sawers
Nearly two years after pulling its ads from YouTube — due to unintentional placement alongside controversial content — AT&T has announced that it is returning to Google’s video-streaming platform. Because
CES
CES 2019 showed us computer vision will go big this year
VentureBeat - Ken Weiner, GumGum
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas I encountered the usual collection of ever-larger flat-screen TVs, voice-activated home appliances, and wearable tech as far as the eye could see.
CES
Microsoft wants to make Cortana available through Google Assistant
VentureBeat - Kyle Wiggers
Cortana might not be the most popular voice assistant around, but Satya Nadella doesn’t have a problem with that. Microsoft’s CEO told media this week that the company’s strategy isn’t to expand its assistant’s
CES
AI project matches brands with relevant Instagram influencers
VentureBeat - Kyle Wiggers
In some circles, the mere mention of the word “influencer” is enough to elicit groans of protest. True, folks like Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Felix Kjellberg (i.e., YouTube’s PewDiePie), and others
Technology
Zipwhip raises $51.5 million to bridge text messaging and phone calls
VentureBeat - Kyle Wiggers
Landlines are ever-so-slowly going the way of the dodo, but a few holdouts remain. Almost 43 percent of U.S. households still pay for telephone service over copper wire, according to the U.S. Center for
Livestreaming
Facebook livestreaming gets easier with Streamlabs OBS support
VentureBeat - Dean Takahashi
Facebook will make game livestreaming easier with its integration of Streamlabs OBS livestreaming software, which enables users to stream their favorite games through Facebook. Streaming video games using
Technology
The DeanBeat: Sorting out the Epic-Unity-Improbable mess
VentureBeat - Dean Takahashi
If I’ve concluded one thing from the spat in the past week between Unity Technologies, Improbable, and Epic Games, it’s that it won’t be easy to build the Metaverse, or the universe of virtual worlds we’ve
Tesla
Tesla will cut 7% of employees while ramping up Model 3 production
VentureBeat - Chris O'Brien
Tesla founder Elon Musk today announced that the company will cut 7 percent of full-time employees even as it comes under pressure to dramatically increase production of its Model 3. In a letter to employees,
Technology
Netflix reports record quarter for new subscribers, but shares fall on earnings miss
VentureBeat - Reuters
(Reuters) — Netflix forecast first-quarter revenue slightly below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, even after a record quarter for new customers, sending shares of the world’s largest streaming service
Western Digital
Western Digital launches SSD storage with a heat sink for gamers
VentureBeat - Dean Takahashi
Now they’re even putting heat sinks on storage cards. Western Digital is announcing its new WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD (solid state drive) for the PC gaming market. The PC-based second-generation SSD has
Black Hat
Gamification is going to get stronger — but for good or evil?
VentureBeat - Alex Hertel, Yu-kai Chou
Imagine a world where every TV commercial, print ad, billboard, and social media campaign is no longer just saturating you with brand logos, messages, and videos like a couch potato. Instead, imagine it
Machine Learning
Machine learning is rescuing old game textures in Zelda and Final Fantasy
VentureBeat - Jeff Grubb
The first generation of 3D video games are ugly. I think they are ugly in a charming way, but many people disagree with even that. The truth is that the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Saturn were like Atari
Engines
Improbable promises long-term support for Unity
VentureBeat - Jeff Grubb
Unity has backed down in its battle with Improbable over the cloud platfrom SpatialOS. And now Improbable is promising to move forward with Unity Technologies and developers that use the Unity game-dev
Power Rangers
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid’s cross-platform brawls hit PS4, Xbox One, and Switch (updated)
VentureBeat - Dean Takahashi
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a cross-platform fighting game that will be available as a digital download for on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in April 2019, and then as a PC
Investing
In the Southeast, female-led investor groups are working together to improve representation
VentureBeat - Holly Beilin, Hypepotamus
A number of reports have highlighted the Southeast as a good place for high-potential female entrepreneurs, thanks to its proximity to high-quality tech education, talent, support organizations, and mentorship.
Ronda Rousey
Mortal Kombat 11 trailers reveal Baraka, Geras, and Ronda Rousey
VentureBeat - Jeff Grubb
NetherRealm revealed more details about the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11. The fighter hits PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 23. And now we know some more fighters that are returning.

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Flips

GamesBeat Decides 108: Rebooting Star Wars for fun and profit

Researchers develop flexible nanobots to deliver drugs inside your body

Ace Combat 7’s VR Missions could hit Oculus Rift and Vive PC headsets in 2020

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes review — all love with a flawed heart

In India, Amazon and Walmart face off against the country’s richest man

The Big Eco Game community event: Watch us save the planet

Tale of a 44-year-old Magic: The Gathering virgin

PitchBook: European VC investment rose 4.2% in 2018, but number of deals dropped 25.9%

Drone company DJI loses $150 million to corruption

AI Weekly: Companies and lawmakers need to agree on facial recognition policies before it’s too late

How GoDaddy is increasing cloud security but keeping developers creative (VB Live)

Ford taps Clinc for conversational AI in autos

NCSoft trims jobs on unannounced project at Iron Tiger Studios

AI system teaches robots how to navigate wilderness trails

YouTube regains AT&T’s ad dollars after extremist content controversy in 2017

CES 2019 showed us computer vision will go big this year

Microsoft wants to make Cortana available through Google Assistant

AI project matches brands with relevant Instagram influencers

Zipwhip raises $51.5 million to bridge text messaging and phone calls

Facebook livestreaming gets easier with Streamlabs OBS support

The DeanBeat: Sorting out the Epic-Unity-Improbable mess

Tesla will cut 7% of employees while ramping up Model 3 production

Netflix reports record quarter for new subscribers, but shares fall on earnings miss

Western Digital launches SSD storage with a heat sink for gamers

Gamification is going to get stronger — but for good or evil?

Machine learning is rescuing old game textures in Zelda and Final Fantasy

Improbable promises long-term support for Unity

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid’s cross-platform brawls hit PS4, Xbox One, and Switch (updated)

In the Southeast, female-led investor groups are working together to improve representation

Mortal Kombat 11 trailers reveal Baraka, Geras, and Ronda Rousey