Google has announced new features in its Maps app designed to help electric car drivers find a charge.
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News You Might've Missed on 8/13/20: Epic Games Sues Apple, New Hitman 3 VR Details, & More – The Escapist
It’s almost the weekend, folks, and we’ve got lots of video game news to hold us over until then. The biggest story involves Apple removing Fortnite from the App Store — and Epic Games subsequently filing suit. We also got a new look at Hitman 3‘s VR mode and more. Here’s the video game news you might’ve missed on Aug. 13, 2020.
Fortnite Has Been Removed from the App Store, and Epic Games Is Suing Fortnite
Apple has removed Fortnite from the App Store due to Epic Games implementing its own in-app purchase system. Epic did this to bypass Apple’s own system, which takes a 30% cut of all purchases.
Epic’s new system featured permanent price drops of up to 20% to incentivize players to use it instead of Apple’s system, though the consequence is that players on iOS are now unable to download Fortnite. Apple committed to working on resolving the issue with Epic but noted that a “special arrangement” would not be made. Epic has referred to the App Store as a “monopoly” and defends its decision.
In fact, in a move that was clearly orchestrated far in advance, Epic Games has filed a lawsuit against Apple over the discrepancy and released a video (below), “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite,” parodying the iconic “1984” Apple commercial and mocking the company’s current business practices. This is surely only the beginning.
Epic Games has defied the App Store Monopoly. In retaliation, Apple is blocking Fortnite from a billion devices.
Visit https://t.co/K3S07w5uEk and join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming “1984” https://t.co/tpsiCW4gqK
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 13, 2020
Read More: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
Nintendo eShop Sale Has Discounts on Mortal Kombat 11, Aladdin and The Lion King, and Jackbox Games
In lighter news, you can hop on your Nintendo Switch right now to take advantage of some sweet deals, including discounts on numerous Jackbox Party Pack games, as well as Mortal Kombat 11, which is available for $19.99. You’ll also find a discount on Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King, available for $17.99. Many of the eShop’s current sales are good for a couple weeks, so you’ve got some time if you want to save.
Read More: Sales & Deals
Mortal Shell Will Get a Physical Edition Due to “the Number of Requests”
Upcoming action RPG Mortal Shell has garnered a lot of hype — so much so that it will be coming out in physical format after the game’s initial release on digital storefronts. This game closely mirrors the Souls series, focusing on combat and fantasy themes. The plan had originally been to release digitally only, but due to “the number of requests for a physical release,” publisher Playstack will be releasing hard copies on Oct. 2, 2020. If you can’t wait, you can download it digitally on Aug. 18 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
We’ve been stunned by the number of requests for a physical release of Mortal Shell. Today we’re delighted to answer those requests.
👉 Mortal Shell physical edition is coming October 2, shortly after the digital release on August 18.
More info: https://t.co/p9qvetsX6N pic.twitter.com/qRIatLJmZA
— Mortal Shell (@MortalShellGame) August 13, 2020
Microsoft Considered Launching Halo Infinite in Multiple Parts Prior to Its Delay
While on Gary Whitta’s Animal Talking show, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer discussed some intriguing points about what could have happened with Halo Infinite. Spencer revealed that Microsoft considered releasing Infinite in multiple parts, but that it ultimately “didn’t feel, to all of us, like the Halo release that we would want.”
The decision to delay it was not taken lightly, and as Spencer explained, the team was “disappointed” by the delay but is committed to delivering a “great game” in 2021. Spencer dove into more on the future of Xbox and other interesting tidbits. And can we just stop for a second to appreciate that the head of Xbox was interviewed from within Animal Crossing: New Horizons? What a time to be alive. The full interview can be seen below.
Read More: Halo Infinite could have been split up into separate parts, Phil Spencer reveals
Hitman 3 Developer Insights Video Dives Deep into VR Features
Today, IO Interactive released a video (below) that detailed some of the new features you can expect with Hitman 3‘s VR integration. In it, we got to see more footage of the game running in VR and it’s still a mind-boggling sight. Agent 47 sneaks up on an unsuspecting victim and taps them on the shoulder, before taking them out — all in first-person VR.
Enemies will apparently react to your movements in a much more realistic way this time around. The benefits of being in VR will be depicted in its immersion, but the change from third- to first-person will also alter the way you play. Hitman 3 is due out on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and Stadia in January 2021.
Tech
Aaron Sluchinski adds Kyle Doering to lineup for next season – The Grand Slam of Curling
Aaron Sluchinski’s team announced Wednesday on social media that Kyle Doering has joined the club for next season.
Sluchinski was searching for a new player after second Kerr Drummond stepped back from competitive curling late last month. The Airdrie, Alta., team also includes third Jeremy Harty and lead Dylan Webster.
Sluchinski had a breakout season, winning the Boston Pizza Cup to represent Alberta at the Montana’s Brier for the first time and also competed in three Grand Slam of Curling events. The team finished 16th in the world rankings and seventh among Canadian clubs.
Doering has spent the past two years playing with Edmonton’s Karsten Sturmay and was also on the lookout for a new squad after his skip announced his departure from competitive curling.
Winnipegger Doering earned a silver medal at the world men’s curling championship earlier this month as the alternate on Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue.
Doering captured the Canadian junior title and a world junior bronze medal in 2016 playing with skip Matt Dunstone.
The Canadian men’s curling landscape has seen several shifts in recent days. Brendan Bottcher’s teammates announced Tuesday they were looking for a new skip and Reid Carruthers’ team revealed Wednesday it has parted ways with skip Brad Jacobs.
Skip Glenn Howard also announced his retirement Tuesday.
Meanwhile, skip John Epping unveiled his new team last week, featuring third Tanner Horgan, second Jacob Horgan and lead Ian McMillan.
Tech
New EV features for Google Maps have arrived. Here’s how to use them. – The Washington Post
The updates include a tool to help drivers find nearby chargers with real-time information about availability and charging speed, the ability to find charging stops on longer road trips and more detailed instructions about how to find chargers within parking lots and garages.
Google expects to start rolling out these features “in the coming months,” according to a blog post. Some will come first to people who drive a car that comes with “Google Built-in,” the company’s driver-assistance software. Google updated its other route-finding app, Waze, with information on EV chargers last month.
The update addresses one of Americans’ top concerns about owning an electric vehicle: finding a place to charge. Range anxiety remains a significant barrier for EV sales — especially for drivers who don’t own a house. Among people who don’t drive an EV, roughly half say they think finding a place to charge would be “extremely” or “very” difficult, according to a 2023 Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.
EVs make up roughly 7 percent of new U.S. car sales, which some experts believe is a tipping point at which electric cars will quickly become popular and take over the market. But lately, the EV market appears to be cooling off. Sales slowed in the first quarter of this year.
In addition to building more charging stations, companies can make driving an EV easier by building apps that help drivers find chargers, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. “That could be really helpful with mitigating some of those concerns about charging anxiety,” she said.
Find available EV charging stations
For electric-car drivers who need a last-minute charge, Google is developing a feature that can find nearby chargers with updated information about how many ports are available and their charging speed. The company says this feature will eventually be available to all drivers but will be available first for drivers with Google Built-in.
Plan a road trip with EV charging stops
The Maps update will allow EV owners with Google Built-in to plan where they can power up when taking long trips with multiple stops, such as a cross-country road trip. The feature will access information about your car’s battery life to suggest the best places to charge up.
The company also announced a search feature that allows travelers to look for hotels with electric car chargers.
Locate hard-to-find EV charging stations
Some EV chargers are tucked in hard-to-find corners of parking garages. The Maps update will crowdsource information from Google reviewers to generate more detailed instructions about how to get to a charger. According to the company’s blog post, the instructions might read something like, “Enter the underground parking lot and follow the signs toward the exit. Just before exiting, turn right.”
Tech
Cytiva Showcases Single-Use Mixing System at INTERPHEX 2024 – BioPharm International
The Xcellerex magnetic mixer, single-use mixing system was designed to address challenges in large-scale mAb, vaccine, and genomic medicine manufacturing processes.
Cytiva unveiled the Xcellerex single-use magnetic mixer at INTERPHEX 2024 in New York City on April 16, 2024. The single-use mixing system was designed to combat challenges in large-scale monoclonal antibody (mAb), vaccine, and genomic medicine manufacturing processes. The mixer is offered in 2000 L and 3000 L capacities and can be configured in several ways to accommodate diverse mixing processes. Its compact size benefits facilities with space constraints or complicated installation of large-scale consumables.
According to the company, minor leaks may cause significant delays and losses. “When dealing with a 3000 L batch of cell culture media, the estimated financial loss can cost between $60k to upwards of $100k” (1). The system helps prevent expensive leaks with a novel mixer biocontainer that incorporates user-centered design elements to improve durability and ease of use. The design provides enhanced safeguards and added protection from leaks that may occur during shipping, storage, and operation.
Time taken to mix batches can inhibit product development times, specifically the challenge of mixing floating powders such as cell culture media. Current systems have underpowered impellers with circular or cubical shapes that make producing large volumes challenging, according to Cytiva. This new single-use system “has a powerful impeller that when combined with the mixer’s hexagonal shape creates a vortex, enhancing the interaction at the liquid surface. This vortex effectively pulls down the floating powders into the main body of the liquid to allow for a more efficient and shorter mixing process,” the company stated in a press release.
“We’re tapping into our differentiated portfolio to solve a wide range of challenges for our customers. Our new magnetic mixing system is flexible and capable of meeting the many demands and constraints during buffer and cell culture media preparation,” said Amanda Halford, president, Bioprocess at Cytiva in the release. “By reimagining the design, we’ve tackled some of the biggest obstacles to downtime.”
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Cytiva is also working to advance messenger RNA (mRNA) manufacturing. In an interview with Pharmaceutical Technology EuropeTM , Scott Ripley, general manager, Nucleic Acid Therapeutics and Precision Nanosystems at Cytiva, discussed technology that enables the “democratization” of mRNA manufacturing (2). Many mRNA therapies and other types of genetic medicines in clinical development are designed to be delivered with the help of lipid nanoparticles. One such platform is Cytiva’s Precision Nanosystems NanoAssemblr microfluidic-based nanoparticle manufacturing platform, which enables the development of genetic medicines with potentially increased stability, efficacy, yield, and quality of non-viral genetic medicines, according to Ripley.
Ripley was enthusiastic about this platform’s ability to “democratize” the good manufacturing practice (GMP) manufacturing aspects for advanced therapies, while managing to cope with the increased molecular diversity of the molecules being handled.
“For example,” Ripley says, “the mRNA platform is unique in that, on one end of the spectrum, it is vaccinating the planet, on the other end, it’s personalized cancer vaccines.”
Reference
1. Cytiva. Cytiva Unveils Latest Innovation for Large Scale Mab, Vaccine, and Advanced Therapy Manufacturing Processes–The Xcellerex Compact Single-Use Magnetic Mixing System. Press Release. April 16, 2024.
2. Spivey, C. Democratizing GMP Manufacturing for the New Therapeutic Pipeline. PharmTech.com. Nov. 21, 2023.
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