Hasta La Gadget!

Are you looking forward to Valve’s Steam Deck? If you are, then you will be interested to learn that Valve has finally confirmed the launch date for their handheld console, which is currently set for the 25th of February. The company previously stated that it is expected in February, but now we have a concrete date to look forward to.

According to Valve, those who had previously registered to reserve a unit will have 3 days when they receive their receipt to complete their purchase, otherwise it will be going to the next person in the queue, so if you don’t hurry up and make payment, you could lose your spot.

“Hello, the day is almost here! On February 25th, we will be sending out the first batch of order emails to reservation holders. Customers will have 3 days (72 hours) from receipt of their order email to make their purchase, before their reservation is released to the next person in the queue. The first units will be on their way to customers starting the 28th, and we plan to release new order email batches on a weekly cadence.”

Valve’s Steam Deck is certainly quite an interesting prospect for PC gamers who want to take their games on the go. However, we have to wonder about how futureproofed such a device is, especially since PC components are constantly being upgraded, but only time will tell.

Steam Deck Will Be Launching On February 25

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Leonard Peltier “meets appropriate criteria” for going home, says the Senate Indian Affairs Committee chair.

Following an investigation into its Sold By Amazon program, Amazon has agreed to pay the office of Washington State’s attorney general office $2.25 million and provide annual updates on its compliance with antitrust laws. Available between 2018 and June 2020, the program set a pricing floor for certain products, which the Attorney General’s office says “constituted unlawful price-fixing.”

Amazon enrolled a small number of third-party sellers into the program while it was available. The retailer promised sellers they would earn a guaranteed minimum on their products, provided they agreed not to compete with the company. What’s more, merchants could earn additional revenue if Amazon’s algorithm determined consumers were willing to pay extra for their product, with the company splitting the difference between them. “For example, if a seller and Amazon agreed to a $20 minimum payment and the item sold for $25, the seller would receive the $20 minimum price and share the $5 additional profit with Amazon, in addition to any fees,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson wrote. 

According to Ferguson, the problem with the system was that it set the minimum price of a product as the floor of what Amazon would offer to consumers. When the price of their goods increased, some sellers saw a “drastic” decrease in sales, in part because some consumers would opt to buy similar but more affordable products from Amazon and its various private labels. The program, according to the AG, was in violation of antitrust laws.

The state opened its probe into Sold By Amazon in March 2020. The program was discontinued in June of that same year but, according to an Amazon spokesperson, for reasons unrelated to the attorney general’s investigation. As part of its agreement with the state, the company won’t offer the Sold By Amazon program again.

“This was a small program to provide another tool to help sellers offer lower prices, much like similar programs common among other retailers, that has since been discontinued,” the company said. “While we strongly believe the program was legal, we’re glad to have this matter resolved.” When pressed, Amazon declined to say why it did not challenge the resolution.

In recent years, Amazon has faced intense scrutiny related to how it operates its online marketplace. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal published a report claiming the company had been using proprietary seller data to help design and price its in-house products. In a Senate hearing, former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said he couldn’t “guarantee” the company had not misused data from third-party merchants on its platform. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, legislation that would prevent companies like Amazon from favoring their own products over that of their rivals. Like Apple and Google, the company has aggressively lobbied to prevent the bill from passing.

Privacy groups are demanding transparency following news that ID.me—the biometric identity verification system used by the IRS and over 27 states—has failed to be entirely transparent in how its facial recognition technology works.

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” data-medium-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/iphone-in-hand-1280×720.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/iphone-in-hand-1280×720.jpg” />iPhones are one of the most popular phones on the market and they support a variety of applications ideal for running a business. You may wonder how to record a call on an iPhone. For example, sometimes it’s beneficial to record personal calls, providing a record that can be referenced at a future date. This can come in handy when … Continue reading