Author: Tim Rogers
A decline in venture capital funding levels is expected to continue into 2024, with PitchBook forecasting levels to be 72% lower than the previous year at $4.3 billion. According to PitchBook, startups and investment sources are undergoing changes, with content developers receiving 56% (294) of closed funding deals in the past year. The largest subsegment has been publishers, developers, and studios, with content dominating in terms of closed deals, while development startups hold an advantage in building enterprise value. PitchBook’s data indicates that the median pre-money valuation of development startups stood at $35 million, followed by access startups at $32.2…
Apple has announced an upgrade to iMessage’s security layer to utilize post-quantum cryptography. This security enhancement will be available in iOS and iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, and watchOS 10.4. The move comes in anticipation of the future capabilities of quantum computers which could potentially compromise today’s cryptography standards. Apple aims to change the end-to-end encryption used in iMessage to counteract this threat without requiring quantum-level processing power. Currently, messaging apps use encryption based on public and private keys. The public key encrypts messages, while the private key decrypts them. The encryption relies on mathematical functions and the strength of the…
The current generation of true console exclusives has been limited so far. Even two years in, games like Halo Infinite and God of War: Ragnarök remain tied to the previous generation of consoles, despite offering better visuals, load times, and enhancements on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. This lack of exclusives has made it challenging for the new console generation to establish its own identity. 2023 will be a crucial year for Microsoft and Sony to address this issue. With a larger number of PS5 and Xbox Series X/S exclusives, especially from first-party studios, games like…
Prepare for the next wave of British influence and join us for the UK Games Showcase, proudly presented in partnership with the UK Department for Business and Trade. The showcase will be held at PG Connects San Francisco on the afternoon of Monday, March 18, from 4pm to 6pm. The UK Department of Business and Trade (DBT) has carefully selected a lineup of top companies to exhibit the pinnacle of British gaming excellence. From well-established favorites to up-and-coming talent, we are bringing the very best of British creativity and innovation to San Francisco. This exclusive event provides a unique opportunity…
If you are experiencing mild-to-moderate hearing loss, the over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid market has expanded since the FDA opened the category in 2022. This allows you to purchase hearing aids at physical and online retailers without first consulting a specialist. These new OTC hearing aids are cost-effective, come in a wider variety of designs, and help with mild to moderate hearing loss, among other benefits. With an increasing number of players in the market, finding the right hearing aid can be challenging. Here are some of the best OTC hearing aids currently available, including hybrid models (for music listening), high-end…
If you own an Apple computer, you have access to a wide ecosystem of amazing Mac apps. Whether you’re looking for productivity tools, entertainment, security, or storage solutions, there is an app available for your needs. Both Apple’s App Store and third-party developer websites offer many of the best Mac apps, and some of them are even free. This is a look at some of the best Mac apps you can get, whether you’re a new Mac user or a longtime Apple customer. Mac apps to change your user interface Alfred Alfred is a popular application launcher that goes beyond…
Despite some challenges in recent years, the mobile games industry continues to show signs of growth and stability according to the latest State of Mobile Gaming report by data.ai. In 2023, seven mobile games reached the $1 billion lifetime earnings milestone, the second-highest number after 2021’s record of nine games reaching this achievement. This ties with 2020 and surpasses the pre-pandemic average. Additionally, 1,511 apps reached $10 million in revenue, beating the 2021 record, with 924 of those apps being mobile games. Consumer spending on mobile games has seen an increase, especially in regions like South Korea. The average spending…
NodeShift is revolutionizing the utilization of excess compute capacity by providing a single API to access compute, storage, and graphics accelerators from independent data center operators, as well as low-cost decentralized web services like Akash and Filecoin. By expanding this concept well beyond the big clouds, NodeShift aims to offer stronger guarantees and more affordable access to excess capacity. Recently, NodeShift secured a $3.2 million seed funding round led by Inovo.vc, with Notion Capital, 10X Founders, Kestrel0x1, and Epic Games participating in the funding. The company was co-founded by Andrey Surkov and Mihai Mărcuță, who met as interns at Cisco…
Threads is poised to receive a significant upgrade from parent company Meta, as it is testing a cross-posting feature that would allow Facebook users to post to both platforms simultaneously. This new feature utilizes the same tool that was originally available for cross-posting from Facebook to Instagram. A limited test of this feature has commenced on iOS, with the exclusion of the EU. According to a Meta representative, the feature will enable users to share both text and link posts from Facebook to Threads. The addition of this feature could streamline the posting process for content creators, freeing them from…
Bethesda Microsoft and Bethesda have officially announced that Hi-Fi Rush will be available on the PS5 next month, marking the game’s expansion to more platforms. Speculation about Hi-Fi Rush going multiplatform started in January, prompting discussions about a shift in Microsoft’s first-party strategy. While Xbox addressed these concerns on a podcast on February 15, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer did not confirm that Hi-Fi Rush was one of the games, teasing only that four games were going multiplatform and that announcements were imminent. During the Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, it was revealed that Obsidian Entertainment’s Pentiment and Grounded would be…