Month: May 2021

Want improved fast travel in Skyward Sword HD? Buy this $25 Amiibo!

Other Switch games also hide some key gameplay features behind figurines.

  • Your gateway to the skies.

The July release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD on the Switch will include an expanded fast-travel system that removes the need for players to trudge to specific save points before taking to the sky. But Nintendo is locking that helpful new feature behind an Amiibo figurine the company plans to sell for $25. Nintendo revealed both the Amiibo and its in-game functionality in an official blog post late Tuesday.

In the 2011 Wii release of Skyward Sword, Link could only transition between the surface areas and the airborne world of Skyloft at specific Bird Statues, which also served as save points. In the upcoming remake, Nintendo says players will be able to tap a new Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo to the controller to hit the sky "from anywhere on the surface world... even within the depths of a dungeon. Scan it again above the clouds to return to the same spot on the surface."

That's bound to be a welcome feature for many players, alleviating what Gamasutra called "boring bits of navigation back-to-back with other boring bits of navigation" upon the game's release. Nintendo itself suggests at least one practical use for the new ability: "If you run out of items while exploring the surface, for example, you can quickly return to the Bazaar in Skyloft to replenish your supplies. Once you’re done shopping, the Amiibo allows you to quickly zip back to the surface and pick up where you left off!"

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Vergabe: Erste deutsche 5G-Betreiber bei 26 GHz erreichen 2 GBit/s

Es gibt fünf erste 5G-Betreiber in Deutschland bei 26 GHz. Golem.de hat zusammengetragen, was zu dem neuen Bereich bisher bekannt ist. Ein Bericht von Achim Sawall (5G, Mobilfunk)

Es gibt fünf erste 5G-Betreiber in Deutschland bei 26 GHz. Golem.de hat zusammengetragen, was zu dem neuen Bereich bisher bekannt ist. Ein Bericht von Achim Sawall (5G, Mobilfunk)

EU Parliament Votes For New Legislation to Remove Pirated Sports Streams in Real-Time

The European Parliament has adopted a report that urges the EU Commission to propose legislation that will combat sports streaming piracy. Specifically, the report calls for new rules that require online services to take down unauthorized live streams within 30 minutes of being notified by a copyright holder or ‘trusted whistleblower’

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

stopwatchIn recent years the European Commission has proposed and adopted various legislative changes to help combat online piracy.

This includes the Copyright Directive which passed last year as well as the Digital Services Act, which was officially unveiled last December.

These changes have been welcomed by major copyright holders but not all of them are entirely pleased. The owners of the rights to major sports events, for example, believe that current solutions are not suited to deal with live streaming piracy.

Swift Takedowns for Live Streaming

For sports groups, timing is of the utmost importance. When pirates publish live streams, it is pointless reporting them when it takes two hours before a takedown notice is processed. By that time, the football match or UFC fight has already ended.

To address this problem, the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament agreed on a draft resolution, proposed by rapporteur Angel Dzhambazki. This effectively proposes a system where online platforms and hosting services are required to remove pirated sports streams soon as possible.

Specifically, the draft calls for current legislation to be updated to “specify that the removal of the illegal content should take place immediately after reception of the notice and no later than 30 minutes after the event started.”

These takedown notices can be sent by the copyright holders or by ‘trusted whistleblowers’ who are certified to police online platforms.

Parliament Adopts ’30-Minute’ Takedown Proposal

After approving the draft it was referred to the European Parliament which approved it with 479 votes in favor, 171 against, and 40 abstentions. This means that it will now be sent to the EU Commission, which has to decide whether it will submit a legislative proposal on the issue, or not.

Rapporteur Angel Dzhambazki is hopeful that the Commission will pick up this issue, which he believes is much needed to protect sports organizers.

“The piracy of the content of live broadcast sporting events is a major challenge for the organizers. The problem with the existing measures is that enforcement comes too late,” Dzhambazki comments today.

“In the report, Parliament calls on the Commission to clarify and adapt the existing legislation, including the possibility of enacting orders to block or remove access to unauthorized live online sports broadcasts in real time,” the rapporteur adds.

Not All MEPs Are Happy With the Vote

Not all Members of Parliament are in favor of these measures. Pirate Party MEP Patrick Breyer actively tried to stop the plan, backed by the Greens/EFA Group. While that didn’t work, Breyer did get an amendment passed to prevent overblocking.

Overall, however, the Pirate Party MEP still believes that the proposed legislation will do more harm than good and he hopes the Commission agrees.

“The commercialized sports lobby prevailed and obtained a vote for radical measures that would be ineffective but harmful to fans and users in general. I hope these draconian measures such as take-downs without court orders will never be implemented,” Breyer tells us.

“The Commission should know better than to counteract its own proposal of a Digital Services Act. At least we won a tight majority for our amendment 10 stressing that illegal content never justifies the overblocking also of legal content on the same server,” he adds.

No Harm to Consumers?

In a press release on today’s vote, the European Parliament is also mindful of potential overblocking, noting that arbitrary or disproportionate blocking of legal content should be avoided.

At the same time, copyright holders have an obligation to ensure that legal options are widely available to consumers. These consumers should not be held liable for illegal streaming either, the Parliament clarifies.

“Liability for the illegal broadcast of sporting events should lie with the providers of sports streams, and not with the fans or consumers.”

That final comment is important. This stresses that if new measures are implemented, these are not intended to back a crackdown against streaming users. Instead, they are solely targeted at hosting platforms and online streaming providers.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Someone has bid more than $2 million for the first New Shepard seat

The bidding will culminate in a live auction on June 12.

Blue Origin's New Shepard launch system takes flight.

Blue Origin's New Shepard launch system takes flight. (credit: Blue Origin)

On Wednesday morning, Blue Origin unsealed the high bid for its auction of a spaceflight seat. The bid of $1.4 million soon rose to $2 million. As of this writing, it is at $2.4 million.

The auction is for one seat on the first flight of Blue Origin's New Shepard launch system. This autonomous vehicle—a rocket and capsule that ascends to an altitude above 100 km—has six seats for passengers. The company plans to fly its first mission on July 20.

Blue Origin has not said who else will be flying onboard this first mission or whether the passengers will include Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.

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Kobo Elipsa is a 10.3 inch E Ink tablet with stylus support (leaks)

Kobo currently sells a line of eBook readers with screen sizes ranging from 6 to 8 inches. Now it looks like the company is preparing to launch its largest model yet. The Kobo Elipsa features a 10.3 inch E Ink touchscreen display and support for pen i…

Kobo currently sells a line of eBook readers with screen sizes ranging from 6 to 8 inches. Now it looks like the company is preparing to launch its largest model yet. The Kobo Elipsa features a 10.3 inch E Ink touchscreen display and support for pen input, which makes it as much an E Ink tablet […]

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Bitcoin bubble bursts overnight, dragging down stocks

After stunning run-up over the past year, cryptocurrencies are tanking.

Bitcoin bubble bursts overnight, dragging down stocks

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)

Overnight, a broad selloff of prominent cryptocurrencies has vaporized billions of dollars in value. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency affected, is off more than 18 percent in the last 24 hours. Currently, it's worth just over half what it was in mid-April. Over the past week, more than $600 billion has been wiped out of a wide range of more than 7,000 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, and meme coins like dogecoin, according to CoinGecko. 

The causes for the selloff are myriad. The first shot across the bow came last week when Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared that his company would no longer be accepting bitcoin for car purchases. The change happened less than two months after he said that Tesla would accept bitcoin, and the about-face came as Musk declared his concerns over the environmental damages being wrought by the energy-intensive cryptocurrency. (His thinking on the matter may have been influenced by an Ars article about a private equity firm that revived a zombie power plant just to mine bitcoin.)

The next jolt to crypto-markets came this past Sunday when Musk suggested that Tesla either had or would be selling its bitcoin holdings, which amounted to $1.5 billion when they were disclosed back in early February. Musk's market-moving tweet was a cryptic “Indeed” posted in reply to @CryptoWhale, who had said, “Bitcoiners are going to slap themselves next quarter when they find out Tesla dumped the rest of their #Bitcoin holdings.” That single word sent bitcoin tumbling. On Monday, Musk clarified that “Tesla has not sold any Bitcoin.” After that, the cryptocurrency regained some of its value.

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Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon modem M.2 card reference designs could bring 5G to more devices

Most modern flagship smartphones and many upper mid-range models are now shipping with support for 5G networks. But Qualcomm wants to make it easier for device makers to bring 5G support to laptops, desktops, virtual reality hardware, professional equ…

Most modern flagship smartphones and many upper mid-range models are now shipping with support for 5G networks. But Qualcomm wants to make it easier for device makers to bring 5G support to laptops, desktops, virtual reality hardware, professional equipment, and other products. So the chip maker is launching a pair of M.2 card reference designs […]

The post Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon modem M.2 card reference designs could bring 5G to more devices appeared first on Liliputing.

Qualcomm launches Snapdragon 778G processor for “high tier” phones coming this quarter

Qualcomm’s newest smartphone processor is a 6nm chip designed for upper mid-range or “high tier” phones. Qualcomm says the new Snapdragon 778G processor brings up to a 40-percent boost in CPU and graphics performance over the previou…

Qualcomm’s newest smartphone processor is a 6nm chip designed for upper mid-range or “high tier” phones. Qualcomm says the new Snapdragon 778G processor brings up to a 40-percent boost in CPU and graphics performance over the previous-gen Snapdragon 768G processor. It also has new imaging and AI capabilities. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor is expected to arrive in […]

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