It’s already been established that a pocket of toxic Star Wars fandom is rooting for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s movie exploring the New Jedi Order to fail. But the star of the first Star Wars feature to be directed by a woman—Rey Skywalker herself, Daisy Ridley—is here to remind fans to keep culture wars out of Star Wars.
As new European tech regulations are set to take effect in the coming weeks, Apple is preparing for a future where it will be required to allow users to download apps from sources outside of its App Store. The company hasn’t shared details about how the process, called sideloading, will work, but it seems it may not allow developers to circumvent the company’s fees and app review rules after all.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the App Store owner “plans to collect fees from developers that offer downloads outside of the App Store” and that it will require some kind of review for downloads that don’t go through its storefront. Sideloading would only be offered to iOS users in the European Union in order to comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
While the report notes Apple’s plan hasn’t been finalized, the strategy would be in line with another significant change the company just made to its US App Store policies. Last week, the company officially changed its rules for US developers to enable in-app purchases that bypass the App Store’s billing system.
However, the new rules, which came after a lengthy court battle with Fortnite developer Epic Games, stipulate that developers must still pay a hefty 27 percent commission on purchases made outside of the App Store (some smaller developers will only be charged 12 percent). The new rules also give Apple the right to audit developers’ records to ensure compliance. That’s already led to much criticism from Epic, Spotify and other developers who have long been critical of the App Store’s restrictive rules and fees.
If Apple were to charge developers for sideloading, that could lead to similar criticism from app makers. The Digital Markets Act is set to go into effect March 7, and even though Apple has yet to share its plan to comply with the regulation, companies that have previously butted heads with Cupertino over its rules are already preparing. Spotify, a longtime opponent of the App Store’s commission, just previewed what the European version of its app will look like once users can pay for subscriptions and audiobooks inside of its app.
The Wall Street Journal also reports that Meta, another vocal Apple critic, is working on its own project that would allow it to distribute developers’ apps via Facebook ads. The effort, reportedly called “Project Neon” internally, could allow the Facebook owner to compete with the App Store more directly, at least in Europe.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-reportedly-plans-to-charge-developers-if-they-offer-sideloaded-apps-202345977.html?src=rss
Oscar winner Halle Berry may have at one time played Catwoman, but this week she got Batgirl’d. In a move reminiscent of what Warner Bros. did to the DC film a few years back, Netflix has decided to pull the plug on Berry’s upcoming sci-fi film The Mothership before the film was finished.
Last year Aviate Audio launched the Developer Edition of its Multiverse pedal — basically a plug-in host in guitar pedal format. Now, just in time for NAMM 2024, the company has announced the Player Edition of the Multiverse. The pedal is, for all intents and purposes, unchanged. Same basic design, same processor under the hood (a 600MHz Cortex M7), it’s just cheaper now at $349, and presumably won’t have access to some of the developer focused tools.
The pedal itself has a small 1.3-inch OLED screen to navigate the UI. There are four programable push encoders, plus two programable foot switches. There’s stereo 1/4-inch TRS ins and outs, an 1/8-inch TRS midi input on the side, two expression jacks and a USB-C port. While the Multiverse can be used with a standard AC adapter, it can also be powered over USB-C, which is pretty handy when loading new effects or testing out a patch.
To celebrate the launch of the Player Edition Multiverse, Aviate Audio is also announcing version 1.3 of its Multiverse Designer software, which will add support for impulse responses (IR) for speaker emulation. If you shell out the $349 to grab one of these customizable multi-effects pedals, you’ll have access to a small, but growing library of effect plugins through the Multiverse shop (21 of them by my count).
They cover most of the basic effects you’d need on a pedal board, fuzz, delay, reverb, et cetera. There’s even an emulation of a Klon Centaur, that’s cheekily marked as being on sale for $0 with an original price of $7,999. Most of the effects currently in the Aviate shop are free, but there are a few that ask you to pay $5 or $10 for them. The set up isn’t terribly different from what Mod Devices tried to do with its Duo line. Clearly Aviate Audio feels it can succeed where Mod struggled.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/aviate-audio-multiverse-player-edition-is-a-349-pedal-store-in-a-stomp-box-212133895.html?src=rss
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in the UK is trying a new plan to contain its growing group of foul-mouthed African grey parrots. The zoo will introduce the expletive-loving birds to a larger flock in hopes that the other parrots will pass along their good manners. But there is a chance that the experiment will only…
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in the UK is trying a new plan to contain its growing group of foul-mouthed African grey parrots. The zoo will introduce the expletive-loving birds to a larger flock in hopes that the other parrots will pass along their good manners. But there is a chance that the experiment will only…
Like many major tech companies, Amazon is looking to cut costs. Its Twitch division recently laid off 35 percent of its head count (just over 500 employees) and now it’s reducing how much streamers make from each Twitch Prime subscription.
Every Amazon Prime member can toss a Prime subscription in the direction of their favorite Twitch streamer at no extra cost. Since that program debuted in 2016, streamers have received the same amount from Twitch Prime subs as they do from a base paid subscription. That’s changing, though.
Starting on June 3, Twitch is moving to a fixed-rate model that bases Prime payouts based on the location of a Prime subscriber (and how much they pay for Amazon Prime).”We believe this is the right structure for the program going forward and are making this change to ensure that the monthly Twitch subscription available to Prime members is a long-term, sustainable benefit for the Twitch community,” CEO Dan Clancy wrote in a blog post.
Clancy says that for most countries, the payout rate is dropping by less than five percent, but there are steeper drops elsewhere. For instance, a Prime sub from a viewer in the US will soon be worth $2.25 to a streamer, down from $2.50. That’s a drop of 10 percent. A Prime sub from someone in the UK will soon be worth $1.80, while one from a viewer based in Turkey will pay a streamer just nine cents.
As Clancy points out, Prime subscriptions are just one of the ways that streamers can earn money on the platform, alongside tips and regular paid subscriptions. He also announced some changes to the Partner Plus program, which is designed to give smaller creators a bigger slice of the pie.
Twitch is making it much easier for creators to benefit from improved revenue sharing. Until now, they’ve had to maintain at least 350 paid subscriptions for at least three months. That would qualify them for a 70 percent cut of subs for the next 12 months, up from 50 percent.
Starting on May 1, the platform is changing Partner Plus to a two-tier Plus Program that’s based on a points system. A base $5 subscription is worth one point, a $10 Tier 2 sub is worth two points and a $25 Tier 3 sub three points. Gift and Prime subs don’t count toward points, but qualifying streamers will get a better cut of revenue from gifted subscriptions.
When a streamer earns at least 100 Plus points for three consecutive months (points reset on the first of each month), they’ll receive a 60 percent split of subscription revenue from the next 12 months. If they maintain 350 Plus points, that revenue share jumps up to 70 percent in their favor. Clancy says these changes will enable three times as many streamers to qualify for improved revenue sharing. It should result in a solid increase in earnings for many of them, while giving those who hover around 300-350 points a bit more of a cushion instead of dropping back to a 50 percent revenue share
Twitch announced one more change to its revenue-sharing model. It’s getting rid of the $100,000 cap on the 70-30 revenue split for high-earning creators. A change implemented last year saw that split drop to 50 percent after a streamer hit $100,000 in subscription revenue. This won’t change anything for the vast majority of creators, but it could help Twitch convince high-profile streamers to stay on its platform instead of jumping to the likes of YouTube or Kick.
In the wake of the layoffs, Clancy said Twitch is still unprofitable (streaming live video to millions of people simultaneously isn’t cheap!), so something had to give. While the Twitch Prime changes will be hard to swallow for some streamers, the perk wasn’t really sustainable as is. Reducing payouts is better for creators than the program going away entirely. Twitch will also be hoping that improved revenue sharing will push creators to convince their viewers to shell out for a paid subscription instead.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitch-is-cutting-how-much-streamers-earn-from-prime-subscriptions-214053412.html?src=rss
The new era of spaceflight is all about reaching orbit in the fastest and cheapest way possible, and reusable rockets have defined the future of the industry. That’s why so many companies are trying to get in on the action, including a Chinese startup that recently pulled off the first flight test of a reusable first…
Ring, Amazon’s home surveillance company, will stop letting police departments request video footage directly from users in its app, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday. However, that doesn’t change the massive amount of footage the company, itself, shares with law enforcement. Ring has historically shared…
New Yorkers will finally be able to grow their own thanks to new ordinances set for a vote by the state’s Cannabis Control Board. If the proposed regulations are finalized, state residents will be allowed to cultivate up to 12 cannabis plants and keep 5 pounds of self-produced cannabis flower in their shoebox…
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