Epic Sidesteps Onerous Apple, Google App Store Fees With Clever Fortnite Direct Payments

Hot Headlines in Technology for today [HotHardware.com]( Here Are Today's Hot Headlines In Tech [Updated: Apple Freaks Out, Kicks Fortnite Out Of App Store For Dodging Fees]( By Brittany Goetting on Aug 13, 2020 03:40 pm [Updated: Apple Freaks Out, Kicks Fortnite Out Of App Store For Dodging Fees]( Updated 8/13/2020 @ 3:40pm Well, that escalated quickly. Apple has gone nuclear, kicking Fortnite out of the App Store after Epic Games decided to circumvent fees with its own payment system. We can't say that we didn't see this coming, but Apple is putting its foot own in a commanding way given that Fortnite is one of the biggest games on [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Rockstar Games Rolls Back Comically Broken Patch for Red Dead Online]( By Nathan Ord on Aug 13, 2020 03:20 pm [Rockstar Games Rolls Back Comically Broken Patch for Red Dead Online]( Previously, we reported on the game-breaking bugs that cropped up when Rockstar Games rolled out a patch for Red Dead Online. Now, it seems Rockstar has taken to walking back their update rather than just taping over the holes with new patches. Earlier this week, a patch for the “naturalist” update on Red Dead Online lead to some rather [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Google Chrome 86 Browser Adds New Feature To Help Users Spot Spoofed URLs]( By Shane McGlaun on Aug 13, 2020 03:13 pm [Google Chrome 86 Browser Adds New Feature To Help Users Spot Spoofed URLs]( Web users rely on the URL as their primary method to determine if a website is authentic, but Google admits that URLs have usability challenges. There are a number of ways attackers can manipulate URLs to confuse users about the authenticity of a website. Users being tricked by spoofed URLs can lead to phishing, social engineering, and other [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Microsoft Commits To Three Years Of Updates For Surface Duo Folding Flagship]( By Brandon Hill on Aug 13, 2020 03:09 pm [Microsoft Commits To Three Years Of Updates For Surface Duo Folding Flagship]( Yesterday, Microsoft officially revealed all of the pertinent details relating to its Surface Duo folding Android flagship. Today, Microsoft is giving us details on future support for the smartphone along with a commitment that will let customers they won't be forgotten once the company moves on to the next best thing. Microsoft is promising [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Mozilla Inks Multi-Year Firefox Search Deal With Google That Drives 90% Of Its Total Revenue]( By Brandon Hill on Aug 13, 2020 02:25 pm [Mozilla Inks Multi-Year Firefox Search Deal With Google That Drives 90% Of Its Total Revenue]( It was reported that earlier this week that Mozilla's current Firefox default search deal with Google is set to expire in November 2020 and that no new agreement had been made. Today, it has been confirmed that Mozilla has inked a three-year deal to retain Google as the default search provider in Firefox. The news of the Google lifeline [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Google's Upcoming Fuchsia OS Just Took A Step Closer To Completion]( By Paul Lilly on Aug 13, 2020 01:30 pm [Google's Upcoming Fuchsia OS Just Took A Step Closer To Completion]( Every so often, we hear an update about Google's open-source Fuchsia operating system, just never anything on when (or if) it will actually release. That has not changed. However, Google's Fuchsia OS did reach an important milestone of sorts—it has been certified and listed with the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Why is this an [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Total War Saga: Troy Is Free To Download For 24 Hours And Here's How To Grab It]( By Nathan Ord on Aug 13, 2020 11:55 am [Total War Saga: Troy Is Free To Download For 24 Hours And Here's How To Grab It]( Similar to when Civilization VI and GTA V were free, the Epic Store continues to be a gift horse with A Total War Saga: Troy. Creative Assembly has graciously offered up this Epic Store exclusive for free today only, so if you act fast and manage to pick up the game, it is yours to keep forever. Epic Games seems to be the driving force [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [HP Omen 15 Comet Lake-H 300Hz GeForce RTX 2060 Gaming Laptop Sizzles With $300 Discount]( By Brandon Hill on Aug 13, 2020 11:42 am [HP Omen 15 Comet Lake-H 300Hz GeForce RTX 2060 Gaming Laptop Sizzles With $300 Discount]( Back in early June, Hewlett-Packard introduced a refreshed Omen 15 which is available both with Intel's potent 10th generation Comet Lake-H processors, or AMD's brawny Ryzen 4000 processors. Here we are two months later, and Best Buy is offering a sweet discount on the 15.6-inch gaming laptop. In this case, the Best Buy deal is on a configuration [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Amazon Fixed A Nasty Alexa Bug That Could Expose Your Voice History, Skills And Private Data]( By Paul Lilly on Aug 13, 2020 11:15 am [Amazon Fixed A Nasty Alexa Bug That Could Expose Your Voice History, Skills And Private Data]( Security researchers recently discovered multiple vulnerabilities within certain Amazon domains that could have allowed an attacker to access sensitive Alexa data, including voice histories and personal data, before they were fixed. A hacker would have also been able to install and remove skills from a targeted Alexa-enabled device, of which [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Apple Rumored To Bundle Gaming, Music, TV Services Into ‘Apple One’ Subscription]( By Paul Lilly on Aug 13, 2020 10:41 am [Apple Rumored To Bundle Gaming, Music, TV Services Into ‘Apple One’ Subscription]( For better or worse, tech companies have increasingly been pushing monthly subscriptions for various services, and it can be both expensive and unwieldy trying to juggle them all. In an effort to make its own services more manageable and attractive, Apple is said to be readying a bunch of "Apple One" bundle offers at reduced prices. There [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Motorola Razr 2 Set For September 9th Debut, Here's What We Know So Far]( By Brandon Hill on Aug 13, 2020 09:53 am [Motorola Razr 2 Set For September 9th Debut, Here's What We Know So Far]( Motorola first announced its new Razr late last year, and officially launched the smartphone in early 2020. Unfortunately for Motorola, Samsung showed up not long after with its Galaxy Z Flip sporting a similar form-factor, faster SoC, better features, and a lower price point. Motorola eventually was relegated to selling the Razr with BOGO [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Playdate Portable Gaming Console Cranks Up The Fun In New Gameplay Videos]( By Paul Lilly on Aug 13, 2020 09:47 am [Playdate Portable Gaming Console Cranks Up The Fun In New Gameplay Videos]( Remember the little yellow handheld console called PlayDate? It is an adorably sized game system with a monochrome display and unique hand crank, and it is still being developed for an eventual release. While we wait, the company behind the PlayDate, Panic (the same company that published the popular Untitled Goose Game), bombarded Twitter [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Apple And Samsung Dominated U.S. Phone Sales For Q2 2020, iPhone Hits Record High]( By Shane McGlaun on Aug 13, 2020 09:10 am [Apple And Samsung Dominated U.S. Phone Sales For Q2 2020, iPhone Hits Record High]( New Canalys data for the smartphone market looking at Q2 of 2020 has been published. Overall during the quarter, smartphone vendors shipped 31.9 million devices in the US. Compared to Q1 2020, the number is an 11% gain, but a 5% decline compared to Q2 of 2019. The increase in quarter-to-quarter shipments comes thanks to the resumption of Chinese [Read in browser »]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Reddit]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [Architecture Day 2020: Intel's Tiger Lake, 10nm SuperFin And Xe GPU Arsenal Exposed]( By Dave Altavilla, Marco Chiappetta on Aug 13, 2020 09:00 am [Architecture Day 2020: Intel's Tiger Lake, 10nm SuperFin And Xe GPU Arsenal Exposed]( Intel held a virtual Architecture Day 2020 event this week, and similar to its late 2018 event, the company disclosed a number of details regarding its Six Pillars of technology innovation -- Process, Architecture, Memory, Interconnect, Security and Software. During the event, Intel’s execs and architects discussed new transistor and... 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