Month: March 2024

Enlarge / Chopping Yuzu into three parts was not a proposed legal remedy in the proposed settlement... (credit: Yuzu)

The makers of Switch emulator Yuzu say they will "consent to judgment in favor of Nintendo" to settle a major lawsuit filed by the console maker last week.

In a series of filings posted by the court Monday, the Yuzu developers agreed to pay $2.4 million in "monetary relief" and to cease "offering to the public, providing, marketing, advertising, promoting, selling, testing, hosting, cloning, distributing, or otherwise trafficking in Yuzu or any source code or features of Yuzu."

In a statement posted Monday afternoon on the Yuzu Discord, the developers wrote that support for the emulator was ending "effective immediately."

Enlarge / Android Auto can have giant screens like this, but limited software means you'll often still need your phone.

Android Auto and its big brother, the Android Automotive OS (AAOS), are getting a bit better at being a real computer. As spotted by SmartDroid.de, the home screen interface will now start labeling apps that only work in parked mode. They get a little "P" badge on top of the icon. Previously, this would show an error message only after you opened it.

Android Auto and Android Automotive OS are both Google's in-car interface and mostly share the same apps. Android Auto is powered by your phone, which plugs into the car and takes over the dashboard screen, replacing (for a time) the built-in infotainment system. The Android Automotive OS takes Google's "infotainment replacement" interface and builds it right into the car as the only infotainment system. With Android Automotive OS (AAOS) car companies can ship Android as the car OS, just as phone manufacturers ship Android as the phone OS. The OS is skinnable, so it often ends up looking different, but that was the idea it started with.

Google's GameSnacks icon, with a "P" badge indicating it only works while parked. (credit: SmartDroid.de)

One of the more frustrating things about both versions of Android Auto is that you have this big, powerful car screen in front of you that could be more useful than a phone but never is. Android Auto and its apps all assume you are blasting down the road at 60 mph while using them and rarely consider the possibility that you might be stopped at a red light or in park or that the touch screen is being used by a passenger. This means for most apps, the safety lockouts are always on, so you're only allowed to view nine Google Maps results, and you can never see your entire music library, among other limitations.

Enlarge (credit: Bloomberg / Contributor | Bloomberg)

The European Commission (EC) has sided with Spotify, fining Apple nearly $2 billion for abusive App Store restrictions on developers that it found violated antitrust laws by degrading music streaming apps (other than Apple Music) and spiking prices.

"Apple applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app (‘anti-steering provisions')," the EC found.

"This is illegal under EU antitrust rules" and harms consumers "who cannot make informed and effective decisions on where and how to purchase music streaming subscriptions for use on their device," the EC said.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

Formula 1's 2024 season burst into action this past weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The 10 teams had just spent three days conducting preseason testing at the Sakhir circuit, but Friday's qualifying session was the first time everyone left the sandbags in the garage. On Saturday, we got a true reflection of just how much of a gap there is between Max Verstappen in the Red Bull and the other 19 drivers.

The prospect of a third runaway championship for the Dutch driver will be too much for some fans to stomach, and social media is full of complaints from people who want to cancel their F1 subscriptions. Not everyone can find the excitement in a race for second place, after all. Luckily, F1 isn't the only game in town.

Check out Formula 2

Take this year's Formula 2 season, for example. As the name suggests, it's the feeder series for F1, a place for younger drivers to cut their teeth before (hopefully) moving up to the main attraction. Everyone uses the same car in F2, and for 2024, it's all-new. The car is built by Dallara, which also makes IndyCar's chassis, the Japanese Super Formula car, the Formula 3 car, and sports prototypes for Ferrari, Cadillac, and BMW. It's powered by a 3.4 L turbocharged V6 with around 620 hp (462 kW).