Month: October 2024

The second episode of The Penguin on Max confirms the success of the Batman series

The universe of The Batman continues to expand successfully, and its latest spin-off, The Penguin, has proven to be a resounding success. With Colin Farrell reprising his role as Oswald Cobblepot, the series has captured the audience’s attention since its debut, and now, with the release of the second episode, it is solidifying itself as one of the standout shows of 2024. The first episode, titled After Hours, premiered on September 19, 2024, and garnered 10.4 million views in just 12 days. This achievement makes it the third-largest debut on the platform […]

The Batman universe continues to expand successfully, and its latest spin-off, The Penguin, has proven to be a resounding success. With Colin Farrell reprising his role as Oswald Cobblepot, the series has captured the audience’s attention since its debut, and now, with the premiere of the second episode, it is solidifying itself as one of the standout series of 2024.

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The first episode, titled After Hours, premiered on September 19, 2024, and garnered 10.4 million views in just 12 days. This achievement makes it the third biggest premiere on the Max platform, only surpassed by House of the Dragon and The Last of Us. The second episode, The Infiltrated Man, aired on September 29, has managed to accumulate 1.6 million views on its first day, a clear indication that interest in the series continues to grow.

A series that keeps adding up

The plot of The Penguin centers on the chaotic days following the death of Carmine Falcone and follows the rise of Oswald Cobblepot in the dangerous criminal underworld of Gotham City. Throughout the episodes, Farrell’s character faces new alliances and betrayals as he seeks to consolidate his reign in the city.

The combination of the gripping script, Farrell’s standout performance, and the dark and dangerous atmosphere of Gotham City have captivated fans of the DC universe. The second episode has kept up the pace, indicating that the series has not only managed to generate anticipation but has also succeeded in maintaining a loyal viewer base.

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With a constantly growing audience and a plot that promises to intensify with each new chapter, The Penguin has positioned itself as one of the great successes of Max in 2024. The third episode, titled Bliss, will premiere on October 6, and fans are already counting the days to see how Oswald Cobblepot’s rise to power continues to evolve.

The second season of Squid Game gains momentum with a new teaser trailer

Netflix is a factory that frequently releases a new big hit to the market. However, it has rarely played its cards as well as it did with Squid Game, a series from South Korea that captivated millions of viewers in 2021. Now, three years later, the streaming platform will release the second season, and it couldn’t be more anticipated. The continuation of Squid Game will be available on Netflix on December 26, 2024, and in it, we will see how Gi-hun’s story continues after winning the games and deciding […]

Netflix is a factory that every so often releases a new big hit to the market. However, it has rarely played out as well as with Squid Game, a series from South Korea that captivated millions of viewers in 2021. Now, three years later, the streaming platform will release the second season, and it couldn’t be more anticipated.

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The continuation of Squid Game will be available on Netflix on December 26, 2024, and in it, we will see how Gi-hun’s story continues after winning the games and deciding on his own to show the world what happens in this place. Its new teaser trailer already warns that this new story will be even bigger than the first part:

What will happen in the second season of Squid Game?

“Humanity will be tested through the games once again,” explains Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of the series, about its return. “I want to pose the question: ‘Is true solidarity among humans possible?’” It is clear that this time the concept of solidarity will surpass that of competition from the previous episodes.

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Like a Dragon: Yakuza receives a new trailer and we can finally see all its characters

A few years ago, it was unthinkable to conceive the dimensions that the Yakuza saga has acquired. Although it has always been popular among certain segments of the audience, particularly in Asia, it had never managed to break out beyond a certain niche sector. But its latest installments, with their shift towards RPG, an evident entry point to the franchise, and excellent remakes of the early installments, have brought a wave of new fans. This has even made a television series possible. Because we have received a new trailer for Like A Dragon: Yakuza and, unlike all the previous ones, in this […]

A few years ago, it was unthinkable to conceive the dimensions that the Yakuza saga has acquired. While it has always been popular among certain sectors of the public, particularly in Asia, it has never managed to break out beyond a certain niche sector. But its latest installments, with their shift towards RPG, an evident gateway to the franchise, and excellent remakes of the early installments, have brought a wave of new fans. This has even made a television series possible.

We have received a new trailer for Like a Dragon: Yakuza, and, unlike all the previous ones, this one finally has all the details we might need. Seeing all the characters, the atmosphere, and the tone they seek for the series becomes evident. Perhaps less of its humorous side, but maintaining its dramatic roots, sarcastic tone, and emphasis on using violence and heightened emotions to parodic exaggeration.

In turn, we have confirmed that the series will occur simultaneously in two timelines. One part will take place in 1995, where the protagonist, Kiryu, along with his friends, Nishiki, Yumi, and Miho, end up getting involved in the yakuza world after assaulting a gallery controlled by the Domija family. The other part will take place in 2005, with Kiryu getting out of prison and discovering that his friends are in danger, deciding to return to Kamurocho to defend them and uncover the existing tensions between the Tojo Clan, to which the Domija family belongs, and the Omi Alliance.

Not strictly following the story of any particular game, it seems to mix elements from several of the early games, in addition to adding some aspects of its own creation. It is an excellent way to approach such an extensive and storied franchise, where simply retelling the story once more might have left the most die-hard fans unsatisfied, even if it had been enough to reach the general audience.

Like a Dragon: Yakuza will be released on October 24 on Amazon Prime Video. At the same time, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the studio in charge of the franchise, recently announced an action-adventure spinoff called Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii, which will follow an amnesiac Majima in Hawaii trying to discover how he ended up in that situation. It will be released on February 28 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PC.

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Gemini Live is now available for everyone—and for free

As we announced a few days ago, Google’s Gemini Live is now available for free to everyone using the Google Gemini app (in English), as the company announced this week. Originally, Gemini Live was launched at the Pixel 9 event, but it was only available for Pixel 9 devices and required an advanced Gemini subscription, which costs more than $100 a year. In September, the company began rolling it out to a subset of Android users, and it should now be available to all users. What Gemini Live consists of […]

As we announced a few days ago, Google’s Gemini Live is now available for free to everyone using the Google Gemini app (in English), as the company announced this week.

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Originally, Gemini Live was launched at the Pixel 9 event, but it was only available for Pixel 9 devices and required an advanced Gemini subscription, which costs more than 100 dollars a year.

In September, the company began rolling it out to a subset of Android users, and it should now be available to all users.

What Gemini Live is and how you can take advantage of it

Gemini Live is a voice conversation feature for Gemini, Google’s intelligent assistant, that allows users to chat with Gemini for as long as they want. It offers different voice options and better manages the characteristics of real conversations, such as pauses and interruptions.

It also has context retention, which means it will remember previous interactions, making subsequent conversations more meaningful.

For now, Google’s Gemini app is only available for Android. However, it is not inconceivable that it may someday come to Apple’s iOS as well. Apple’s Craig Federighi mentioned the possibility in June, saying that Gemini “might” come to iOS in the future, along with other AI models.

Google wants to conquer all possible users with its artificial intelligence, a challenge that Microsoft, Apple, and OpenAI, the major AI players alongside Google, are also aiming for. Whoever manages to offer the most useful, affordable, and practical AI will win the $200 billion battle.

Epic’s lawsuit “in favor of all developers” raises doubts: does the lawsuit against Samsung and Google make sense?

In a new twist in its battles, Epic Games has once again filed a lawsuit, this time against Google and Samsung. The accusation revolves around alleged anti-competitive behavior that, according to Epic, discourages Android users from downloading apps outside of the Google Play Store. This time, the center of the controversy is Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature, which prevents the installation of apps from unauthorized sources on Galaxy devices. Although Samsung argues that this feature has a security purpose, Epic labels it as a tool designed to consolidate the monopoly […]

In a new twist in its battles, Epic Games has once again filed a lawsuit, this time directed against Google and Samsung. The accusation revolves around alleged anticompetitive behavior that, according to Epic, discourages Android users from downloading apps outside of the Google Play Store. On this occasion, the center of the controversy is Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature, which prevents the installation of apps from unauthorized sources on Galaxy devices. Although Samsung defends that this feature has a security purpose, Epic labels it as a tool designed to consolidate Google’s monopoly on app distribution.

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Epic admits it has no evidence

The Auto Blocker was introduced by Samsung in October 2023 as a protective measure to prevent users from installing dangerous applications from unknown sources. This mechanism is enabled by default on Galaxy devices and blocks the installation of unauthorized applications unless the user manually disables it. There is the option to disable the feature during the initial device setup and also to disable it temporarily, but Epic argues that its existence prevents fair competition in app distribution.

The lawsuit filed by Epic alleges that both Samsung and Google have intentionally collaborated to ensure that the Auto Blocker strengthens the monopoly of the Google Play Store. According to Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, he has told The Verge, this measure “cements Google Play Store as the only viable method to obtain applications on Samsung devices,” excluding other app stores. However, Sweeney admits that he has no evidence of collaboration between the two companies, but hopes to discover more information during the judicial investigation process.

Although Epic claims it is fighting for all developers and not just for its own benefit or in search of special treatment, the reality is different. During Epic’s trial against Apple in 2020, it was revealed that Sweeney had requested special treatment for Fortnite, its flagship game, which would have allowed the use of third-party payment gateways without going through the App Store commissions. In the trial, when asked if he would have accepted that exclusive deal, Sweeney responded affirmatively, admitting that he wouldn’t have minded if Apple didn’t offer the same deal to other developers.

While Sweeney claims that his fight against Google and Samsung is for the good of the entire developer ecosystem, the company’s actions paint a different picture.

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Samsung, for its part, has firmly defended the Auto Blocker, emphasizing that it is a security tool that users can disable if they wish. Both Google and Samsung have labeled Epic’s lawsuit as unfounded. Meanwhile, the outcome of this new legal battle between Epic and the tech giants remains to be seen, but Epic’s track record and the contradictory statements of its CEO suggest that the company’s own interests may be playing a more significant role than is publicly admitted.

Fortunately, the ads within the PS5 menu were just a bug

Did you turn on your PS5 and see how your menu filled up with “strange” ads and promotions? You probably thought it was some annoying “innovation” from Sony, but fortunately, that’s not the case. The culprit was a bug that replaced the artistic backgrounds of the games with somewhat outdated promotional messages. Earlier this week, many players took to social media to complain that the art that appeared when selecting a game had completely disappeared. The panels that normally appeared in sections like the news were now showing up after selecting specific games, like Final Fantasy […]

Did you turn on your PS5 and see how your menu filled up with “strange” ads and promotions? You probably thought it was some annoying “novelty” from Sony, but fortunately, that’s not the case. The culprit was a bug that replaced the artistic backgrounds of the games with somewhat outdated promotional messages.

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At the beginning of the week, many players took to social media to complain that the art that appeared when selecting a game had completely disappeared. The panels that normally appeared in sections like the news were now shown after selecting specific games, such as Final Fantasy VII Remake or Hi-Fi Rush. In the case of Spain, the issue occurred with games belonging to Call of Duty.

For example, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales displayed an ad with the “upcoming” release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in theaters. The truth is that it wasn’t very “upcoming,” as the movie was released in June 2023. In the case of NBA 2K25, we could see how early access to the game was advertised, which was released almost a month ago.

In a now-deleted post, Daniel Hiatt, product leader at Game Hub and Activity Suggestions within PlayStation, wrote this past Monday that the change was due to “a (new) bug with an already existing feature.”

Not long after, the ads were removed from the menu and the panels with the video game art returned to their rightful place. From the Ask PlayStation account, they clarified that it was “a technical error with the Official News feature on the PS5 console” and that fortunately, it has already “been resolved.”

Sony has also confirmed in the same post that “there have been no changes in the way video game news is displayed on PS5.”

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This is how they recovered a stolen half-million Ferrari thanks to some AirPods

Apple devices have once again proven their effectiveness in the recovery of stolen goods, and this time the protagonist was a Ferrari valued at over half a million dollars. The incident, which occurred in Waterbury, Connecticut, highlights how seemingly insignificant devices in these contexts, such as simple AirPods, can play a leading role in certain plots. The theft took place on September 16, 2023, when a 2023 Ferrari, valued at $575,000, was stolen in Greenwich. The theft of such luxury cars is not common, but when it happens, the […]

Apple devices have once again proven their effectiveness in recovering stolen goods, and this time the protagonist was a Ferrari valued at over half a million dollars. The incident, which occurred in Waterbury, Connecticut, highlights how seemingly insignificant devices in these contexts, such as simple AirPods, can play a leading role in certain scenarios.

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The theft took place on September 16, 2023, when a 2023 Ferrari, valued at $575,000, was stolen in Greenwich. The theft of such luxury cars is not common, but when it happens, the chances of recovering them are not always high. However, in this case, the story took an unexpected turn thanks to a pair of AirPods that the car owner had forgotten inside the vehicle.

A $119 device returns half a million to its owner

It is possible that thieves are familiar with AirTag. These small object-tracking devices have already brought several joys to their owners. What they might not know is that all Apple devices come with tracking technology through the Find My app. This technology allows the device to be tracked in real-time if it gets lost.

The owner of the Ferrari in question, upon realizing the theft, alerted the authorities, but what really facilitated the recovery of the car was the fact that he had left his AirPods inside. As reported by a local media outlet (via 9to5mac), through the Find My app, the Waterbury police were able to track the location of the earbuds and, therefore, the car.

The search led authorities to a gas station on South Main Street, where the vehicle was finally located and recovered.

This incident leaves us with some lessons. Placing a tracking device, preferably an AirTag, in a vehicle is an excellent idea. With a one-year battery life, this simple step can make all the difference when it comes to recovering a vehicle. Or, in less dramatic situations, it can help us remember where we parked.

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The same is interesting to do with luggage, suitcases, briefcases, or bags and other everyday objects that are likely to be forgotten in certain environments. It doesn’t have to be a half-million-dollar car for a quick visit to the Find My app to get us out of trouble.

It’s not you: PlayStation Network has completely gone down worldwide

Millions of players around the world, surely you too, are trying to play online on your PS4 or PS5 and are unable to. You have restarted the console and turned off the router, but even that doesn’t work. The issue is there, and you don’t know how to fix it. Well, stop searching, because you have just found the reason for the error: the PSN is completely down. The PlayStation Network (PSN for its acronym) is the network that maintains the entire online infrastructure of PlayStation since the PlayStation 3. With it, we can buy and download games from the PlayStation store, play […]

Millions of players around the world—perhaps you too—are trying to play online on your PS4 or PS5 and are unable to. You have restarted the console and turned off the router, but even that doesn’t work. The issue is there, and you don’t know how to fix it.

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Well, stop searching, because here’s the reason for the error: the PlayStation Network (PSN) is completely down. The PSN maintains the entire online infrastructure of PlayStation since PlayStation 3.

With it, we can buy and download games from the PlayStation store, play online games like Fortnite or Call of Duty, and talk with friends in voice groups. All of that has been down since 3 AM European time.

An error that PlayStation needs to fix

Unfortunately, this global issue will not fix itself, nor can we do anything to resolve it. This problem is PlayStation’s responsibility, and they will have to be the ones to fix it.

Currently, there is no information about what might have happened, only that it is a failure in the internal network and that they are working to fix it. Our advice is to you another console at home, if you have one, because this is going to take awhile. You can try a PC, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch to pass the time with other games.