Technology

There’s some good news today for those who prefer to play games on the Nintendo Switch. The Witcher 3, CD Projekt Red’s open-world classic, is headed to the Nintendo Switch. This game was first released back in 2015 and it will finally be released for the Switch later this year.

A handful of older games have recently made their way over to the Nintendo Switch. This includes titles like Dark Souls, Diablo 3, LA Noire, and more. The Witcher 3 joins that list much to the pleasure of gamers on Nintendo’s platform. Its launch for the Switch had been teased recently.

There’s a lot that you may want to blame millennials for and now you can add the return of monochrome film to that list. Fujifilm today announced that it’s going to bring back its black-and-white film due to demand from “millennials and GenZs.” The company had actually stopped production of its monochrome film over a year ago.

Fujifilm says that its new Neopan 100 Acros II film is being developed based on feedback from the aforementioned demographic and that they’re the new “film enthusiasts,” so it’s catering to them by relaunching a monochrome film.

LG V40 users on AT&T have something to be excited about today. The carrier has started rolling out the Android 9 Pie update for the device, finally. The device didn’t ship with Android Pie out of the box when it first arrived. That limitation has finally been addressed today with the release of Android Pie.

LG V40 ThinQ provides flagship-level specs with its Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, and triple camera system at the back. AT&T isn’t actually the first carrier to release Android Pie for the device in the United States. Verizon was the first to do it on its network last month.

Square Enix has a history of making games with other companies, such as with Disney where several Disney characters have made an appearance in Kingdom Heart. A couple of years ago, the company announced that they would be teaming up with Marvel for a video game, a game that they would be unveiling during E3 2019.

For those who have been eagerly anticipating the game, you’ll be pleased to learn that Square Enix has since taken the wraps off their latest game in the form of Marvel’s Avengers. Hot on the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Avengers: Endgame movie, we couldn’t think of a more appropriate time for the company to launch the game.

Just yesterday, Square Enix finally confirmed that its long-awaited remake of Final Fantasy VII will be released in 2020. However, if Final Fantasy VII is not your jam, then you might be interested to learn that in addition to remaking Final Fantasy VII, Square Enix has also announced that they’ll be remaking Final Fantasy VIII.

Now, the entire Final Fantasy franchise has its huge following of fans, although admittedly the seventh installment is probably it’s most popular and most recognizable, even amongst those who might not have played the game before. However, this does not mean that we should be sleeping on the remake of Final Fantasy VIII either.

While games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band might not be as popular as it once was back in the day, it seems that games such as the Just Dance franchise are still going on strong. In fact, if you’d like to groove along to the latest songs and check out new features, you’ll be pleased to learn that Ubisoft has since announced the latest installment in the franchise: Just Dance 2020.

According to Ubisoft, “Just Dance 2020 celebrates a decade of bringing people together with exciting new content! Team up with friends for more fun in our Co-op mode, returning to the Just Dance franchise for Just Dance 2020. Co-op mode brings players together to combine scores and rule the dancefloor! Exercise while having fun with the Sweat Mode! Track your calories burned, time spent dancing, and keep yourself motivated with our dedicated sweat playlists.”

The app has recently been updated where it now comes with a new feature called “Pop Up Shazam”. This seems to be an Android-only feature at the moment, which is a little ironic considering that Apple now owns the company. According to Shazam, “When Pop Up Shazam is switched on, you will see a persistent notification in you notification drawer. This notification will be used to trigger the floating button. Just tap on it and you will see the Shazam button appear. To Shazam tap on the button and we will tell you the result wherever you are.”

This means that if you’re watching a video on YouTube or Instagram and there is a song playing and you want to know who it is, you can just press the floating Shazam button and it will attempt to identify the song for you. As for iOS users, as we said, this is an Android-only feature (for now), but in the meantime there are alternatives to identifying songs on your phone. This includes using a pair of earphones and placing them next to your phone’s microphone.

Malware on our smartphones aren’t new, although for the most part, this can be easily avoided by not downloading from suspicious-looking websites or unofficial sources. However, it seems that being smart about your downloads isn’t good enough because Google has recently confirmed that there have been some Android devices that have actually come preinstalled with malware.

For those who are unfamiliar with what has been going on, earlier this year, there was a Trojan malware called Triada that was discovered on a bunch of budget Android handsets. This confirmation by Google basically acknowledges that some Android handsets were indeed compromised by this malware as part of a supply chain attack.

We expect that eventually, all our cars will become fully electric. This seems like a logical progression given the focus and emphasis placed on sustainability, and many car makers have actually been increasing their efforts at making EVs. Heck, even non-car companies such as Walmart are also doing their part by expanding on the number of charging stations available at their stores.

Oddly enough, Mazda has actually been rather quiet about its EV efforts, but that is expected to change soon because the company has confirmed their plans for their first EV that will debut in 2020. This is according to an interview that Mazda’s CEO Akira Marumoto did with Automotive News Europe where he revealed that the company’s first EV will be launching in 2020.

It has been a few years since Square Enix announced the Final Fantasy VII Remake, but there has not been any word on the game’s release. The good news is that if you have been eagerly anticipating the release of the game, you’ll be pleased to learn that at E3 2019, Square Enix has confirmed that the Final Fantasy VII Remake will be coming out in March 2020.

This is good news because prior to this, there was no word on a release and there were even rumors suggesting that it might come in 2023, but thankfully it appears that those rumors have since been quashed. The game also appears to be an exclusive to the PS4 (which confirms that the PS5 might not be arriving anytime soon), so if you own a different console then you are out of luck.

At E3 2019, Bethesda has revealed their plans to dip their toes into the game streaming market, although not necessarily in the way you might think. The company has announced Orion, which they are calling game streaming technology that is supposed to improve on the overall game streaming experience.

According to Bethesda, “Orion was designed to improve the player experience by mitigating latency and reducing bandwidth requirements. Orion was also created for publishers, streaming providers, and developers to lower their streaming costs and ensure that games perform at the high quality they intended. Orion makes it possible for streamed video games to reach more players in more places without compromising quality.”

Last year, Bethesda announced a new game for mobile devices called The Elder Scrolls: Blades. It is a game designed to be played on mobile, but during E3 2019, the company has since announced and confirmed that in addition to launching on mobile, Blades is also expected to find its way onto the Nintendo Switch later this year.

Details about the game are scarce, but presumably, it will be more or less the same as the mobile version, although judging by the video shared on Twitter, there will be support for motion controls through the Joy-Cons, where you can use it to hack and slash your way through the game.

As part of its new Shadowkeep year three update, Bungie is bringing cross-progression to Destiny 2. Players will be able to benefit from cross-save support for the title on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and Google’s Stadia game streaming service. The announcement comes mere months after Bungie announced its split with publishing partner Activision.

This move will enable Destiny 2 players to share their characters across multiple gaming platforms which include Google’s new Stadia service, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It is certainly going to make life easier for Destiny 2 players who previously had to create separate characters and make do with progress that was tied to each individual gaming platform. This will let them carry their characters and progression across platforms.

Sony Mobile is rolling out the first firmware update for its new flagship, the Xperia 1. The update moves the build number from 55.0.A.2.205 to version 55.0.A.2.278, moving the Android security patches from April 2019 to June 2019 in the process. The update is live on both single SIM and dual SIM variants.