Dec 01
Dec 01
Google is quickly joining Apple in recognizing the top apps of the year. The company has announced the Google Play Best of 2022 awards, and this year’s biggest winners clearly reflect the cultural zeitgeist. The best Android app of the year is Wombo’s Dream, an AI art generator — yes, one of the trendiest technologies of the year took top honors. The user’s choice winner, meanwhile, is the social media phenomenon BeReal.
Respawn swept the top game awards. Apex Legends Mobile won both Google’s nod as well as the user’s choice pick. Todoist is Google’s favorite app for Wear OS smartwatches, while Pocket’s reading tool is the top tablet-friendly app. The best software for good was The Stigma App, a community platform dor discussing mental health.
Notably, Google significantly expanded the categories this year — if partly to promote its own platforms. There’s now awards for Chromebook-friendly apps, including best app (the music maker BandLab) and best game (the metaverse-like Roblox). Very Little Nightmares is Google’s favorite Play Pass game. The game list has expanded, too. The Android port of Papers, Please won the best story award, while the gacha game Genshin Impact took the distinction of the best ongoing game.
As with Apple, Google’s year-end list is as much about driving downloads as anything else. The internet giant’s Best of 2022 section on the Play Store is effectively a one-stop shop for Android and Chromebook newcomers looking to expand their app libraries. However, it does give a feel for the cultural pulse of a mobile world where AI, the metaverse and online gaming dominate.
Dec 01
I Had An Abortion In My 40s. I’ll Never Forget The Shocking Thing The Doctor Said To Me.
Posted in: Today's Chili“I laughed involuntarily. His comment was so absurd and insulting that I felt my brain separate from my body, like I wasn’t there.”
Dec 01
It happened in less than 10 seconds, two years ago today: The Arecibo Observatory’s 1,000-foot radio dish collapsed, eliminating one of the world’s most renowned sources of radio observations.
Dec 01
Starting next year, a lot more Netflix viewers will reportedly be able to watch its originals before they become available for streaming. According to The Wall Street Journal, the streaming service is expanding its pool of preview viewers early next year to include as many as tens of thousands of subscribers around the world from its current group of around 2,000 people.
When Variety reported about the company’s focus group earlier this year, the publication said that Netflix has been asking subscribers if they want to join “a community of members to view and give feedback on upcoming movies and series” since at least May 2021. “It’s simple, but an incredibly important part of creating best-in-class content for you and Netflix members all around the world,” the email reportedly said. Apparently, Netflix asks members of the group to watch several unreleased shows and movies over the course of six months. They then have to fill out a survey form to tell the company what they liked and what they didn’t.
In The Journal’s newer report, it said the streaming service calls the group the “Netflix Preview Club” and that the Leonardo DiCaprio/Jennifer Lawrence starrer Don’t Look Up was one of the movies that benefited from its feedback. The movie was initially too serious, the preview group’s members reportedly told Netflix, and the film’s creators chose to listen to them and ratcheted up its comedic elements.
As The Journal notes, Netflix is known for giving creators a lot of creative freedom — even if it doesn’t always lead to great content — so running a preview group has been tricky. The company has apparently been careful when it comes to sharing feedback with creators and has not been forcing changes. It’s still the creators’ decision whether to incorporate changes based on the previewers’ response.
Dec 01
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host let the event branch out into a zinger aimed at the former president.
Dec 01
If you weren’t able to grab Apple’s 2022 iPad on Black Friday, don’t worry: It’s on sale right now for an even cheaper price. You can get the blue and the silver variants of the 64GB WiFi-only iPad right now for only $419 on Amazon, which is $30 less than retail. The yellow version of the tablet isn’t quite that cheap, but you can still get it for the device’s Black Friday price of $426. Those aren’t quite all-time lows for the 10th-gen iPad, but you’re not constricted by a time limit or by the need for a Prime subscription this time.
Buy 2022 Apple 10.9-inch iPad (Wi-Fi, 64GB) at Amazon – $419
Apple gave the 2022 iPad a redesign to set it apart from its previous base tablets and bring its looks closer to the iPad Air and the iPad Pro. The tech giant removed the Home button and moved its Touch ID to the lock button. Its bezels are thinner, its display is bigger and its front-facing camera has been moved to the landscape border. Another big change is that the device now comes with a USB-C charging port instead of a Lightning port like previous models.
The tablet is powered by an A14 Bionic chip, and while it’s a modest upgrade from last year’s A13, it does improve the device’s performance. When we reviewed the device, we also found that its battery life met or exceeded the 10-hour estimate Apple provides for every iPad: It lasted 11 hours and 45 minutes when we used it to play movies purchased from the iTunes Store.
It’s unclear when the tablet’s price will go back to retail, but this is a great chance to purchase one for the coming holiday season either for yourself or as a gift.
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Dec 01
“I find the jurors hopelessly deadlocked,” Judge Charlaine Olmedo declared.
Dec 01
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX and former CEO, spoke with New York Times and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin in a highly anticipated interview on Wednesday that had been booked before FTX imploded. And it was a master class in spin.
Dec 01
“The Late Night” host mocked the ex-president’s damage-control attempts after meeting with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
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