The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned operators of cryptocurrency ATMs in the UK to shut down their machines or else face enforcement action. In its announcement, the financial watchdog said that it hasn’t granted any of the crypto firms registered with it the permission to operate ATM services. That means all crypto ATMs in the UK are illegal.
“Crypto ATMs offering cryptoasset exchange services in the UK must be registered with us and comply with UK Money Laundering Regulations,” the regulator wrote. As The Telegraph reports, there are around 81 functional crypto ATMs in Britain based on data from the Coin ATM Radar tracker, located mostly inside supermarkets and convenience stores.
These ATMs allow users to deposit cash in exchange for cryptocurrency, which they can then transfer to their digital wallets. The regulator previously raised concerns that the machines could be used for money laundering, because they require minimal background checks, especially for small deposits.
Gidiplus, a Bitcoin ATM operator, tried to overturn the FCA’s refusal to grant it a license. The regulator argued that bad actors could take advantage of its machines’ weak identity checks on people depositing less than £250. Money launderers and illegal businesses could potentially use multiple “mules” to do small transactions in order to avoid getting noticed by authorities. The UK’s Upper Tribunal ruled against Gidiplus, which has since sold its ATMs to an Eastern European buyer.
The regulator ended its announcement with a warning that cryptocurrency is high-risk and that people could lost their money if something goes wrong:
“We regularly warn consumers that cryptoassets are unregulated and high-risk which means people are very unlikely to have any protection if things go wrong, so people should be prepared to lose all their money if they choose to invest in them.”
The Nintendo theme park experience is headed to the US. Universal Studios Hollywood announced Super Nintendo World — a ride and interactive area in the style of the Super Mario game series — will debut at the California theme park in 2023.
Nintendo’s debut park in Osaka was delayed by nearly a year due to the pandemic, opening to limited numbers in March 2021.
For the US spin, fans can expect an interactive area, a special themed ride and themed shopping and dining — because the park has to make money, right? Like the Osaka iteration, Super Nintendo World will be an expansion of the current Universal Studios Hollywood, marking the first major expansion of the Hollywood park since the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was added in 2016. If your heart is still set on seeing the Japanese original, it will be getting a Donkey Kong expansion in 2024.
Activision is currently hiring for new roles to build the game.
Call of Duty: Warzone, the free-to-play battle royale, will soon have a mobile version. In a tweet, the game’s publisher, Activision, announced it was hiring for a slate of new mobile roles. It’s not the first CoDtitle adapted for mobile — Activision released the kinda-OK Call of Duty: Mobile in 2019.
The only problem is that EVs are pricey. So why not embrace a hybrid that also happens to be a small truck with a very impressive starting price? The 2022 Ford Maverick starts at $20,000 and ships with a hybrid powertrain that delivers up to 42 MPG. In addition to being a truck, it has a bed built for customization. Plus, thanks to makers like Robert Trapp, the FITS (Ford Integrated Tether System) already has 3D designs for printing or manipulation. It’s relatively cheap, customizable and a hybrid. Roberto Baldwin gives it a test drive.
There’s finally a month-to-month payment option for GeForce Now RTX 3080. Before, NVIDIA only offered six months of access for $100. Now, it costs $20 per month to try that tier. That lowers the barrier to entry, though you’ll save more in the long run with the six-month plan. Expect 1440p resolution gaming with ray-tracing at up to 120 fps on Mac and PC and 4K HDR resolution at 60 fps on NVIDIA Shield.
Activists and artists pressured Denver Arts and Venues to stop using the system.
Red Rocks Amphitheater, one of the most recognizable concert venues in the US, no longer plans to use Amazon’s palm scanning technology for ticketless entry. Activists and artists including Fight for the Future, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) and Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) pressured Denver Arts and Venues to refrain from using Amazon One at the venues it manages.
Those who signed an open letter cited concerns about Amazon sharing palmprint data with government agencies that seek to track marginalized people and activists.
Users on Samsung’s Korean community forums are receiving an update for the Galaxy S22 series that adds a “Game Performance Management Mode” to Game Booster. The release should let users override the throttling feature and wring more speed out of the flagship phones, at least so long as they’re willing to accept reduced battery life.
The founder said he is “sickened” by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The search engine DuckDuckGo will down-rank sites that spread Russian propaganda and disinformation. Founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg tweeted that the privacy-focused search engine would be releasing updates to ensure Russian disinformation sites rank further down in search results. Earlier this month, DuckDuckGo announced it would pause its relationship with Russian-state-owned search engine Yandex.
Razer’s Seiren Bluetooth lapel microphone packs an omnidirectional mic and AI-based noise suppression. The lapel mic includes a 3.5mm jack for monitoring through headphones, and you can customize it through the Razer Streaming App to tweak the noise suppression level, making for a pretty compelling mobile mic experience, at least on paper.
The Seiren Bluetooth is available for $100 and should work with “all” phones as well as common streaming apps like Streamlabs, Twitch and YouTube.
The European Commission and UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have launched an antitrust investigation into the advertising deal between Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) codenamed “Jedi Blue.” In particular, the organizations are looking into whether the tech giants colluded to hinder competition “in markets for online display advertising.” The US Justice Department, backed by several states, is also investigating the deal between the two companies.
As the commission explains, Google provides an ad technology service that auctions off online display advertising space on websites and apps as part of its Open Bidding program. Meanwhile, Meta’s Audience Network participates in those kinds of auctions for ad spaces facilitated by Google and rival services. CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said the organization is “concerned that Google may have teamed up with Meta to put obstacles in the way of competitors who provide important online display advertising services to publishers.”
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, told The Financial Times that the commission suspects there may have been an agreement between the companies to “only to use Google services and not competing services.” Vestager also told the publication, however, that the commission is investigating the possibility that Meta was unaware of the agreement’s repercussions and that Google acted alone. “We have not concluded yet if it’s a Google thing alone or if they were in it together. It’s not a given that Meta was conscious of the effects of the deal and that’s what we have to investigate,” the commissioner said.
In addition to opening a probe into the Jedi Blue deal, the CMA is also scrutinizing Google’s conduct as a whole in relation to ad bidding. The watchdog is investigating whether the tech giant abused its dominant position to gain an advantage over competitors offering bidding services.
Google previously denied that it colluded with Meta in a court filing, and a spokesperson echoed that in a statement sent to Engadget:
“The allegations made about this agreement are false. This is a publicly documented, procompetitive agreement that enables Facebook Audience Network (FAN) to participate in our Open Bidding program, along with dozens of other companies. FAN’s involvement is not exclusive and they don’t receive advantages that help them win auctions. The goal of this program is to work with a range of ad networks and exchanges to increase demand for publishers’ ad space, which helps those publishers earn more revenue. Facebook’s participation helps that. We’re happy to answer any questions the Commission or the CMA have.”
A Meta spokesperson also told us that the deal with Google is non-exclusive:
“Meta’s non-exclusive bidding agreement with Google and the similar agreements we have with other bidding platforms, have helped to increase competition for ad placements. These business relationships enable Meta to deliver more value to advertisers and publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all. We will cooperate with both inquiries.”
If the CMA finds that the companies had violated competition law, they could be slapped with fines equivalent to 10 percent of their global revenues. As The Financial Times notes, though, the process could take years to complete.
Users in Russia won’t be able to buy apps and games or pay for subscriptions and in-app purchases at the moment. Google has suspended the Play store billing system as of March 10th due to “payment system disruption,” most likely caused by sanctions imposed against the country’s banks. The tech giant has announced the suspension in a support page, where it also said that Russian users can still download free apps and games.
Ongoing subscriptions won’t be cut off right away, but they can’t be renewed after they’re done. Google advised developers in Russia to make their apps free and to switch off subscription services for now if they want to continue making them available for download.
According to Reuters, YouTube is also pausing all paid services for viewers in Russia, including YouTube Premium, Channel Memberships, Super Chat and merchandise sales. Creators in the country can still generate revenue from viewers outside the country, who’ll still be able to send them Super Chats and buy their merch.
In addition, Google is pausing ads for all advertisers based in Russia across all its properties around the world, expanding the other ad-related bans it implemented since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. YouTube previously barred Russia Today (RT) and other state-owned media channels from being able to generate revenue. It also blocked access to them across Europe following the EU’s orders to ban their broadcast. Google blocked Russian state media from being able to monetize their content across its products, as well, and eventually stopped selling ads in Russia.
Frontier Developments has cancelled further development of Elite Dangerous on Xbox and PlayStation and will no longer release a console version of its Odyssey expansion. “We have been wrestling with the best way to move forward, and it is with a heavy heart we have decided to cancel all console development,” said Frontier chief David Braben.
The $40 Odyssey expansion finally gave players the opportunity to explore planets on foot and visit space stations, settlements and more — rather than just hanging out on spaceships and landing vehicles. However, the launch on PC was a disaster with performance, server and other issues, and the company has been struggling to fix them ever since. So far the expansion has received 10 major updates, but there’s apparently still work to be done, according to Braben.
“It’s no secret that Odyssey’s launch was less than ideal, including the need to split the PC/console player base to focus on a PC-only launch,” Braben wrote. “Since Odyssey’s release in May 2021, we have worked tirelessly to improve the Odyssey experience on PC, and whilst we have made great progress there is still more to be done.”
It was expected that the company would focus on releasing Odyssey on console once it licked the PC bugs. Now, however, Frontier is not only cancelling Odyssey but any future Elite Dangerous updates on Xbox or PlayStation. Instead, it will focus development on PC, which has the largest share of players by far.
“We need to be able to move forward with the story of the game, and in order for us to do this we need to focus on a single codebase,” said Braben. “Elite Dangerous will continue on console as it is now together with critical updates, but we will focus on new content updates on PC on the post-Odyssey codebase. This was not an easy decision to make, but it was made with the long-term future of Elite Dangerous in mind.” Frontier will share more information on future PC development “in due course,” he added.
