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‘World of Warcraft’ battle heats up as NetEase rejects Blizzard offer

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'World of Warcraft' battle heats up as NetEase rejects Blizzard offer

Chinese games publisher NetEase Inc NTES.O (9999.HK) said on Wednesday it has rejected a proposal from Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O) to extend their long-time partnership for six months, as the U.S. game developer looks for a new partner.

NetEase said the proposal was “commercially illogical” and accused the U.S. firm of “seeking a divorce but still remaining attached,” in a rare public display of acrimony between the two gaming giants.

Blizzard said in November it would end its 14-year partnership with NetEase – sending shockwaves across the industry as the partnership was widely seen as one of the most lucrative in video games.

The companies had been unable to agree on key terms of cooperation and hits such as  World of Warcraft  will not be available in China, the world’s largest gaming market, from Jan. 23.

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NetEase said Blizzard reached out last week with an offer to extend the partnership for six months but also made it clear that it would not stop negotiating with other potential partners.

“Considering the non-reciprocity, unfairness and other strict conditions attached to the cooperation, the parties could not reach an agreement in the end,” China s second-largest gaming company said in a statement.

The exact sticking points that soured the deal, which started in 2008 and was renewed in 2019, remain unclear.
A person close to Blizzard said the dispute that scuttled the renewal revolved around commercial terms rather than data issues as some media had reported.

The person, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, said NetEase had proposed to make structural changes to the partnership that would affect Blizzard’s control over its intellectual property (IP).

In its statement late on Tuesday, NetEase said it had never requested control over IP from Blizzard or any other partners as a publishing company over the past 14 years.

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“Any usage and licensing of Blizzard’s IP were done in accordance with contract terms and with Blizzard’s consent and approval,” it said.

Activision Blizzard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
With the demise of their partnership, Blizzard is currently without a Chinese publisher. Unlike other countries, foreign gaming companies typically need a Chinese publisher before they can release games in China.

NetEase rose to become a gaming giant partly by publishing Blizzard s games in China. It has since accelerated its own game development capability, with in-house games now accounting for more than 60% of revenue.

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WhatsApp to launch file sharing feature without internet

WhatsApp to launch file sharing feature without internet

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WhatsApp to launch file sharing feature without internet

The messaging app WhatsApp, owned by Meta, is working on a cool new feature to make it easier to share files even when you’re not connected to the internet.

Recent leaks say that pretty soon, you’ll be able to share photos, videos, music, and documents offline.

This new feature is all about letting you share different kinds of files without needing Wi-Fi or data. And don’t worry about security – the files you share will be encrypted, which means they’ll be safe from anyone trying to mess with them.

Screenshots that got leaked from the latest test version of WhatsApp for Android show us what kind of permissions this feature will need. One important thing is that it’ll be able to find other phones nearby that also have this offline file-sharing thing.

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For this to work on Android phones, WhatsApp needs a permission that lets it look for other devices using Bluetooth. But if you’re not comfortable with that, you can always turn it off.

Before this, WhatsApp added a feature that lets you pin notes to keep them handy. So, looks like WhatsApp is always coming up with cool stuff to make chatting even better!

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Flame-throwing robotic dog unleashed for sale in US

Flame-throwing robotic dog unleashed for sale in US

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Flame-throwing robotic dog unleashed for sale in US

A flame-throwing robotic dog is now available for sale in the US, thanks to an Ohio-based company.

Throwflame first released the contraption last year but recently announced it was back in stock, asking for $9,420 a piece.

The company released a promotional video showing the ARC Flamethrower and saying it can “send streams of fire up to 30 feet with the push of a button.”

The flamethrower is attached to a Go2 Robot Dog manufactured by the China-based Unitree.

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Throwflame said on its website the flamethrowers are legal to own and are “federally unregulated,” but are “not even considered a firearm (ironic) by the federal authorities.”

The company released its first flamethrowers in 2015, called the X15, which could send “a stream of flaming fuel or napalm up to 50 feet.”

That prompted a huge media response, questioning its legality. But Throwflame said the device remains “completely unrestricted in 48 states.”

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US military stage world’s first ever AI controlled warplane

US military stage world’s first ever AI controlled warplane

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US military stage world's first ever AI controlled warplane

The United States has finally started to seek answers to one of the most asked questions on the planet – who wins between man and machine?

Incredible details have emerged of the world’s first ever AI controlled warplane taking on a human piloted jet in a historic dogfight that saw both aircraft blasting through the sky at speeds of 1,200mph.

The insane test saw an AI powered modified F-16 – dubbed the X-62A – take on the same jet but with a human in the cockpit.

Both powerful jets went “nose-to-nose” as they battled 2,000ft up in the air, say officials.

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The tests were conducted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) alongside the US Air Force to learn about just how advanced artificial intelligence really is.

Results of the intense air battles have been kept tightly under wraps but they were done to show how safe and effective autonomous fighter jets could be.

Officials were also intrigued to see how close AI powered military jets are to operating safely in a complex war environment.

In the end, 21 test flights were done for the project taking place between December 2022 and September 2023.

Lt. Col. Maryann Karlen, deputy commandant of the test pilot school, explained how it all worked in a fascinating video on the historic dogfight.

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They said: “In September we actually took the X-62 and flew it against a live manned F-16.

“We built up in safety using the manoeuvres – first defensive, then offensive, then high aspect nose-to-nose engagements where we got as close as 2,000 feet at 1,200 miles per hour.”

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