Roblox doubles down on metaverse experiences for young gamers

San Francisco, Sep 10 (IANS) Gaming platform Roblox has detailed its vision to foray into the metaverse, with revealing more plans towards social gaming to top 3D artists, programmers, builders and content creators.

Knowing that advertising will naturally exist in the metaverse just as it does in other parts of people's lives, Roblox plan to launch Immersive Ads next year.

"Brands and developers alike will be able to build never-before-seen ad experiences on Roblox, including portals that can seamlessly transport users back and forth between experiences," the company said during the Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) in San Francisco.

This will create new opportunities for developers to generate revenue and enable brands to reach their communities more effectively, said the company.

Roblox currently has 58.5 million daily active users in more than 180 countries.

It announced to make Chat on Roblox more dynamic so it functions similarly to how we connect in the physical world.

"People aged 13 and older can now speak with one another in voice-enabled experiences," said Roblox.

The feature is built to mimic in-person conversations, and so is based on avatars' proximity to each other.

"It means you might whisper to a friend nearby or raise your voice to carry across a room. Since rolling out this feature, close to one million experiences have enabled voice communications," the gaming platform revealed.

Next year, people also will be able to use their webcam to express themselves in real-time through their avatars. "Your camera will automatically map your facial movements as you speak, so your avatar can express how you're feeling, adding a new layer of immersion and connection," said Roblox.

In the coming weeks, Roblox will be releasing Facial Animations in the Marketplace, allowing users to create avatars to convey a wide range of expressions that best fit your mood and better capture emotions and gestures.

The company has also added several new features to Cloud including Place Publishing, Data Stores, and Cross-Server Messaging.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

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Disney’s D23 Expo: The Little Mermaid, Inside Out 2, Mufasa: The Lion King, and More

D23 Expo, Disney’s annual event for showcasing all future projects, unveiled some new trailers and announcements. Key highlights include The Little Mermaid teaser, the Amy Adams-led disenchanted, and a title reveal for Barry Jenkins’ The Lion King prequel. The event is scheduled to run for three days — September 9 to September 11.

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Apple delays iCloud shared photo library launch with iOS 16

San Francisco, Sep 10 (IANS) Apple is delaying the launch of iCloud Shared Photo Library feature for a later iOS 16 release.

Apple webpage now lists the feature as "coming later this year."

Furthermore, it has also removed it from the latest iOS 16 betas, reports AppleInsider.

Apple announced iCloud Shared Photo Library as part of iOS 16 to release on September 12.

When it is launched, the feature will let you and up to five other people automatically share a collection of photos.

The feature is different from Shared Albums in iCloud which is still available. Shared Albums works with or without iCloud Photos.

According to the report, the feature may likely be launched with new iPads later this fall.

With the currently available Shared Albums in the Photos app, you can share photos and videos with just the people you pick.

They can also add their own photos, videos, and comments. Shared Albums works with or without iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream, according to Apple.

iOS 15 was also launched without SharePlay, Universal Control, and better Find My support for AirPods and those features were rolled out over the next few months.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

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China sees heavy early demand for iPhone 14 despite Covid measures

Hong Kong, Sep 10 (IANS) Despite Covid-10 control measures in place in several cities, Chinese vendors are witnessing heavy demand for new Apple iPhone 14 series.

According to South China Morning Post, one Apple vendor in the Shenzhen district said he has seen heavy early demand for the iPhone 14.

"Vendors in Huaqiangbei market in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen are gearing up for strong sales of the iPhone 14, with price mark-ups of up to 2,000 yuan ($255) expected," the report mentioned.

Huaqiangbei is shut temporarily owing to the city's rigid Covid-19 control measures.

The official pre-orders for the iPhone 14 series began on September 9, with official sales starting on September 16.

The mark ups on other models are expected to range from 500 yuan to 1,000 yuan, according to the report, citing vendors.

"It will be hotter than last year's iPhone 13," one of the vendors said.

Apple has launched the new iPhone 14 series with four models -- iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max -- that starts from Rs 79,900.

The Pro models feature the Always-On display, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS via satellite, and an innovative new way to receive notifications and activities with Dynamic Island.

Powered by A16 Bionic, the fastest chip ever in a smartphone, iPhone 14 Pro introduces a new class of pro camera system, with the first-ever 48MP Main camera on iPhone featuring a quad-pixel sensor, and Photonic Engine, an enhanced image pipeline that dramatically improves low-light photos.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

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Elon Musk sends another notice to Twitter to kill 44 billion deal

San Francisco, Sep 10 (IANS) Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shot off a third notice to Parag Agrawal-led Twitter, aimed at terminating the $44 billion takeover deal.

In the latest letter submitted with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk's legal team cited Twitter's multi-million dollar severance payment to former security chief and whistleblower Peiter "Mudge" Zatko.

According to The Verge, the notice was sent to Twitter's chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde.

"On June 28, 2022, Twitter entered into a separation agreement with Peiter Zatko under which Twitter made severance payments to Zatko and his counsel totaling $7.75 million," the notice said.

Musk's lawyers cited this as yet another reason to terminate the deal.

The Tesla CEO is also trying to buy more time from the court to kick off the Twitter trial, set for October 17, citing the upcoming testimony by Zatko.

Musk's legal team has proposed a new timeline that would push the week-long trial to late November.

Zatko is set to testify at the US Congress on September 13 about allegations he levelled against the micro-blogging platform.

The former Twitter security head alleged that Twitter misled regulators about its security practices and actual number of bot accounts.

Zatko also received a subpoena from Musk's legal team to appear for a deposition on September 9 in the ongoing lawsuit between Twitter and Musk.

Musk has said that the testimony of the Twitter whistleblower justifies his termination of the $44 billion deal to buy the micro-blogging platform.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

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Android 13s new feature will give you the option to cut background noises during calls

New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) Google has released a new "clear calling" feature in the first beta for the Android 13 quarterly release that reduces background noises during calls.

The "clear calling" feature works on most mobile networks but is "not available for Wi-Fi calling.

According to a Twitter user Mishaal Rahman who first spotted the feature, "content from your call is not sent to Google" in the new feature.

Tech giant Google last month started rolling out Android 13 with many new features, including improved privacy controls, language settings and more, starting with Pixel devices.

Google said Android 13 will roll out to Samsung Galaxy, ASUS, HMD (Nokia phones), iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, Xiaomi and more later this year.

The company is also likely to start rolling out Android 14 Beta for its Pixel devices in April 2023, as the quarterly platform release (QPR1) beta for Android 13 starts this month.

Google originally stated the Android 13 QPR betas would run until June 2023.

The company now says that the "Android 13 Beta has concluded with the stable public release of Android 13 in August 2022", stressing that the QPR1 beta starts next month.

The beta releases are scheduled to "continue through March 2023," and there will likely just be two QPRs: T1B (stable in December) and T2B, reports 9to5Google.

Afterwards, Android 14 beta releases start, presumably in April with UPB builds for the Pixel.

Android 13 Beta 1 was released a month before the annual Google I/O developer conference this year.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

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Instagram to soon test new repost feature with select users

San Francisco, Sep 9 (IANS) Meta-owned photo and video-sharing platform Instagram has confirmed that it will soon give users the ability to repost other users' posts.

Although the company has not yet released the repost feature publicly, however, it plans to begin testing it with select users soon, reports TechCrunch.

"We're exploring the ability to reshare posts in Feed - similar to how you can reshare in Stories - so people can share what resonates with them, and so original creators are credited for their work," a Meta spokesperson was quoted as saying in an email.

"We plan to test this soon with a small number of people," the spokesperson added.

The new feature was first spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra, who posted a screenshot that showcases a Reposts tab. The tab will likely be home to all the posts that users have reshared on their accounts.

As per the screenshot, the Repost tab will appear on users' profiles alongside the posts, reels and tagged photos tabs.

Instagram users who want to repost posts occasionally do so using third-party apps because there isn't a direct way to do so right now.

Last month, the platform announced that it will limit sensitive content for new teen users by default on the platform.

Instagram said that the Sensitive Content Control has only two options for teens -- "Standard" and "Less".

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

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