Top Lister At Long Last
No flagship killer, a true flagship regardless
It’s often the fate of the rebels to take the place of those they strived to overthrow… and that’s what seems to be happening to OnePlus. Once the company of “flagship killer” smartphones — devices that offered most of the features of expensive models other manufacturers were selling, but at almost half the cost — OnePlus has endorsed high prices too these days, aiming to compete with the very giants it used to slay just a few short years ago.
The OnePlus 9 Pro is proof of that: at €949 for the more affordable model and €1049 for the more…
Memories of Animation
Microsoft takes the final step in wiping out Adobe’s animation tech next month
Sometimes it does not feel like “moving on” without leaving something behind and, as far as the Internet is concerned, 2021 is the year we are all abandoning Flash officially and irrevocably. Flash animation was one of those unique technologies that truly transformed content and interactivity on the Web in the 1995–2005 decade, making boring static pages more interesting and — in time — offering a complete authoring toolset based on which one could put studio-quality presentations and interfaces on pages available to anyone on the planet.
Adobe, after acquiring Macromedia in 2005, made a lot of money with Flash…
State of the OS 2021
On shifting strategies, real priorities and commitment issues… again
Stop me at any time if this reminds you of anything.
There’s this big IT Company that has created some pretty successful Software in the past. A specific piece of said Software was actually what propelled the Company to market dominance… once. But the Company is heading in a different direction these days: the suits want to sell Services now. The Software, though, is being used by hundreds of millions around the world — the Market, in fact, is asking for a new version of that Software. So what do the…
Competing Allies
Microsoft follows Epic’s example in its own Windows Store, the pressure now on Valve
Very few PC gamers are unaware of Epic’s crusade to change the current status quo of digital stores as defined by Valve and the Steam service all the way back in 2003. In the context of that crusade, Epic has made a number of choices many PC gamers did not like but there’s little doubt that if the Americans do succeed in breaking the monopoly currently enjoyed by Steam things will improve for all consumers long-term. …
A Cure For A Symptom
Even though unintentional, it’s also the boldest admission of inadequacy ever voiced online
After spending years in Rumorville and about 9 months or so in limited testing, a Netflix function that promises to “do all the work for you” is available to subscribers worldwide (those that use the Smart TV version of the service’s app for now). …
Cause and Effect and Vice Versa
Best ever financial year for Sony’s gaming division, 2021 might prove to be different
While the COVID-19 pandemic is not anywhere near to be contained yet in most parts of the world, Sony is entering Year Two with some impressive news from Year One: the past 12 months have been, commercially speaking, the best in PlayStation history. The Japanese giant reported a collective 34% increase in sales compared to the previous year based mostly on software (games and add-on content) but in no small part based on the hardware sales the PlayStation5 has managed to score so far.
The April 2020-March 2021 period was all pandemic-stricken, of course, so even though the PS5 surpassed…
Double Booking Antics
After Netflix, Disney Plus and other services will get future releases as well as catalog titles
Mere days after the ink has dried on the Sony Pictures-Netflix deal regarding the former’s movies from 2022 onward, the Japanese company makes a similar — actually even broader — deal with Hollywood behemoth Disney. The latter will gain access to not just future Sony Pictures films but also a number of catalog titles for Disney Plus as well as for other Disney properties such as Hulu, FX, ABC, Disney Channels and Freeform. This US-only content licensing agreement will run from January 1st, 2022 all the way through Sony Pictures’ 2026 theatrical slate, so in practice until March 2027.
The…
100-inch Picture Portable Home Cinema
Small in size, big on features, fair on price
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic did not hit all of the tech industry in the same way: while many segments suffered (and still do) for a variety of reasons, others actually received a boost in sales, device use and general interest. …
Screentime Through The Roof
More screen time than ever for many of us, but will the trend continue post-pandemic?
It’s no secret that the pandemic has affected the tech industry in different ways but, truth be told, so many of those have so far been negative that it makes for a nice change to come across a few positive ones. App developers, for instance, may be going through everything ugly about the COVID-19 as the rest of us but they are at least making a bit more money than they would otherwise: according to analytics firm App Annie, during Q1 of this year global spending on apps for smartphones and tablets was up no less than 40% (!) …
Neither Here Nor There
Sales of physical media in the last couple of years paint an unexpected picture for disc-based content
The Web is rife with stacks upon stacks of articles that herald the death of physical media for years now — maybe more than a decade — especially as far as movies or TV shows are concerned. For dozens of journalists and analysts, it was the “hip” thing to write about during the rise of streaming media as if helping a self-fulfilling prophecy come to pass would somehow prove them right. The truth of the matter, though, is that even after a decade of steady decline the DVD/Blu-ray/UHD Blu-ray market is still sizable and even healthy in many countries, for…
Kostas Farkonas
Veteran journalist, project kickstarter, tech nut, cynical gamer, music addict, movie maniac. Will work for money, fame and bandwidth. More on farkonas.com.
