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Fortnite vs Apple: The latest in Epic Games' App Store battle – Tom's Guide

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Fortnite can feel like a game of milliseconds, and Apple booted the popular online game from its App Store in a similarly quick amount of time. And it appears that neither side is going to blink first in this digital war, the natural conclusion of Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney’s long standing fight against Apple’s business practices in the iOS App Store. 

Apple kicked Fortnite out of its App Stores on August 13, hours after Epic Games added a new way to pay for items inside of its iPhone and Android apps. This violated of Apple’s rules because it goes right past Apple’s payment processing, so Epic doesn’t have to share the standard 30% of its sales with the iPhone maker. 

Apple isn’t the only one to take action against Epic and Fortnite. Google removed the game from Google Play as well, citing the same issue with in-app purchases as Apple.

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If you’re wondering why Epic would try to avoid giving 30% of its sales to Apple and Google, a SensorTower report found that Fortnite raked in more than $1 billion USD in the iOS and Google Play stores.

Latest Fortnite vs. Apple news

The latest blow in the Fortnite vs Apple war comes from the latter, as Apple has informed Epic Games that its developer accounts for iOS and macOS will be shut down on August 28. 

Epic announced Apple’s latest move in a tweet, and we’ve got more news below on how this is less about Fortnite and more about Epic’s overall business.

Epic reacts with “Nineteen Eigthy-Fortnite”

It appeared that Epic and Fortnite were already prepared for this reaction, announcing Nineteen Eigthy-Fortnite, a short you can watch below. In the clip (an obvious riff on Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl commercial, which positioned the company as revolutionary) an Apple-headed man on a series of monitors celebrates the “anniversary of the platform unification directives” and proceeds to yell about how “they” (app developers, it seems) have given labor and dreams, and in exchange the company has taken control and profits. 

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When the voice says “we shall prevail,” a rainbow-haired Fortnite character breaks the screen by throwing a unicorn-headed pickaxe into it. It’s almost a shot for shot remake of the old ad. 

It continues to replicate the older ad, saying:

“Epic Games has defied the App Store Monopoly. In retaliation, Apple is blocking Fortnite from a billion devices. Join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming ‘1984.’”

For those too young to remember, here is the original Apple 1984 ad:

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Apple responds

An Apple spokesperson told The Verge that “Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users.”

Epic punches back

Shortly thereafter, Epic announced it would be taking Apple to court, tweeting a link to its legal filing. Here’s a brief taste:

“Rather than tolerate this healthy competition and compete on the merits of its offering, Apple responded by removing Fortnite from sale on the App Store, which means that new users cannot download the app, and users who have already downloaded prior versions of the app from the App Store cannot update it to the latest version. This also means that Fortnite players who downloaded their app from the App Store will not receive updates to Fortnite through the App Store, either automatically or by searching the App Store for the update. Apple’s removal of Fortnite is yet another example of Apple flexing its enormous power in order to impose unreasonable restraints and unlawfully maintain its 100% monopoly over the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market.”

What Google did

As Apple and Epic exchanged accusations, Google took action of its own, removing Fortnite from Google Play. According to a Google statement, “we can no longer make it available on Play because it violates our policies. However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play.”

You’re still able to sideload Fortnite onto your Android phone by installing it directly from Epic’s webiste. (In fact, initially, that was the only way to download the Android version of Fortnite a few years back.) The app remains available from Samsung’s Galaxy Store.

What happens next

On Aug. 17, Epic revealed that Apple will be shuttering Epic’s developer accounts and its iOS/macOS development tools. This would be a huge deal for Epic as a company, as it would negatively impact every iOS and macOS game that uses Epic’s Unreal Engine tools, which could be a huge dent in Epic’s bottom line.

Epic Games filed to stop Apple from terminating the developer accounts, and its filing includes the following note:

“If the Unreal Engine can no longer support Apple platforms, the software developers that use it will be forced to use alternatives. The damage to Epic’s ongoing business and to its reputation and trust with its customers will be unquantifiable and irreparable. Preliminary injunctive relief is necessary to prevent Apple from crushing Epic before this case could ever get to judgment.”

Epic is also rallying users to protest Apple’s decision with its #FreeFortnite campaign, and the company also shared an FAQ about the whole situation to tell its side of the story.

The timing of all of this feels incredibly intentional on Epic’s part, testing how Apple would respond to a breach of its payment rules while it’s under increased scrutiny. This past June, the European Union opened antitrust investigations to analyze how Apple conducts business in the App Store.

Epic isn’t the only team pushing at Apple’s rules, as Basecamp’s Hey email app also tried to break the rules about how you list an app on the App Store. Soon, Hey found a workaround by giving people burner email accounts to test stuff out, and Apple let them back in the App Store.

Apple was also one of the companies under scrutiny from the U.S. Government when Tim Cook (along with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg) was questioned by lawmakers on Capitol Hill at the end of July. 

In an interview with CNBC earlier this year, Sweeney made his criticism for Apple clear, calling the App Store an “absolute monopoly.”

Amazon and Spotify’s exceptions

As reported by The Verge, Apple’s not exactly strict with its 30% rule, cutting Amazon a deal for half that rate, only taking 15% of Amazon purchases made in its iOS and iPad apps. Spotify is also getting a lower rate, as Apple revealed in 2019 that it collects a 15% fee on payments made by Spotify subscribers who signed up between 2014 and 2016.

It’s unclear which steps Apple and Epic will take next, but we’ll be keeping an eye on things to see who budges first. Stay tuned to Tom’s Guide for more about Fortnite’s Epic fight against Apple’s rules.

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Kingston dairy farm over the moon with calf's unique marking – CBC.ca

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An aptly-named calf born near Kingston, Ont., is causing quite a stir due to her unusual markings. 

Eclipse was born with a white crescent moon-shaped mark on her forehead. Not only that, but she was born on Apr. 8, the same day a historic total solar eclipse briefly plunged the region into darkness. 

Laura Carey owns Carey Farm with her husband Michael and his brother Neil. The dairy farm has been in Michael’s family for four generations and has 150 cows, 65 of them used for milking. 

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Carey was milking the cows when she first noticed the newborn calf’s unique marking. 

“I thought it was cool but I didn’t really pay much attention until the next day when I got a better look at her and I thought, oh my gosh, look at the marking, it’s like an eclipse,” Carey told CBC. 

Eclipse is a Holstein, the breed many people picture when they image a dairy cow. They’re often born with remarkable spots and markings, Carey said.

“Over the years we’ve had [markings] that look like hearts and ones that look like question marks,” she said.

Photo took off on social media

On April 9, Carey posted a photo of Eclipse on Facebook. Shortly after, she received a message from a family member alerting her to the post’s growing popularity. 

“Soon enough it had 40 [shares] and then the vet shared it, and it went off from there,” Carey said. 

Eclipse was quite small for a Holstein calf, weighing in at around 32 kilograms. Most calves are closer to 45 kilograms. 

Carey’s post describes Eclipse as “a tiny girl with a big attitude.” 

“Cows are no different from you and I,” she said. “They come in all personality types.”  

Like the celestial event she’s named after, Eclipse attracts attention, Carey said.

“We have another calf right now and she’s laid back, I could do anything to her. But Eclipse has got a little more spice to her.”

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2025 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E PERFORMANCE Pairs V8 Engine And Electric For Record Speed – SlashGear

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The plug-in hybrid system consists of the aforementioned rear motor and a 6.1 kWh battery. Mercedes has not, however, stated the range of said battery, but the AMG GT Coupe allows drivers to augment how aggressive regenerative braking is to let the battery charge and “recuperate” as the driver sees fit. It also features several different AMG “Dynamic Select” drive modes including an “electric” mode.

It comes standard with active aerodynamics, rear axle steering, carbon ceramic brakes, and 20-inch wheels standard. If your hyper-fast AMG GT Coupe isn’t special enough, you can also get it painted in exclusive Mercedes “MANUFAKTUR” signature paint colors for that extra flair. The AMG GT 63 S E Performance is set to burn rubber from sea to shining sea in the United States towards the end of this year. Mercedes has not yet revealed the price, but given the fact that the AMG GT 63 S four-door starts at $170,350, you know the electrified version isn’t going to be inexpensive by any stretch of the word, that is, unless you’re comparing it to a Bugatti.

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Nothing Ear And Nothing Ear (a) Earbuds Are 1st With ChatGPT Integration – Forbes

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London-based Nothing Tech has just launched new earbuds, two pairs, in fact. The Nothing Ear and more affordable Nothing Ear (a) have just gone on sale—you can read Forbes contributor Mark Sparrow’s review of both pairs here. And now, the company has announced a cool new feature: and industry-first integration with ChatGPT. It comes with strings, though.

The new earbuds have just been announced and are available to pre-order from nothing.tech now and go on sale from Monday, April 22. If you’re in London, and you want to be among the very first to get the earbuds, you can snap them up in the Nothing Store Soho a little bit sooner, from Saturday, April 20 (click-and-collect is available).

From launch, the company said, “it will enhance its overall user experience with industry-first ChatGPT integrations in its audio and smartphone products.”

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Nothing goes on that it wants “to advance consumer tech products’ transition to AI, as well as simplify and enhance the user experience.”

It means users will be able to pinch the earbud to directly speak to ChatGPT to ask questions and hear responses in the earbuds. Nothing is also introducing new elements to Nothing phones, such as widgets which make it easy to talk to ChatGPT on the handsets. Other features include being able to send screenshots directly to ChatGPT and a clipboard shortcut for sending text.

So, what are the catches?

Although the Bluetooth new earbuds will work with any iPhone or Android phone, and there are dedicated Nothing apps for each platform, the ChatGPT integration is more limited for now.

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The earbuds must be paired with a Nothing handset. From today, the feature works with the premium model, the Nothing Phone (2), providing it’s running the latest software. The earlier Nothing Phone (1) and more recent, more affordable model, Nothing Phone (2a) will need to wait for a software update, which Nothing says is “coming soon”.

Also coming in the future is compatibility with earlier Nothing earbuds, that is the Ear (1), Ear (2) and Ear (Stick).

The new earbuds are very keenly priced. Ear costs $149 (£129 in the U.K.), while Ear (a) is $99 (£99 in the U.K.). Both pairs have active noise-cancelling, which is not commonplace at this price point. The more expensive Ear has a wireless charging case and a feature to create a personal sound profile. Both pairs come in black and white finishes, with Nothing’s trademark transparent design in the earbuds and charging case. But the Nothing Ear (a) has an eye-catching extra: a tremendous yellow-finish option.

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