LG Electronics is introducing the LG Smart Cam, a Full HD video camera with built-in dual microphones and multi-view function. The LG Smart Cam is a 1080p camera system designed to seamlessly operate with any LG smart TV running webOS 22 or webOS 23, the company’s proprietary platform. Among the features of the model VC23GA Smart Cam are webOS’s multi-view, which displays two apps in a split-screen, and videoconferencing using LG’s web-based RemoteMeeting app. LG is also touting Smart Cam as a next-generation home fitness experience. Continue reading LG Smart Cam Provides HD Interactivity for Users of LG TVs

Meta Platforms is marketing its Quest catalog with the new monthly VR subscription game service Meta Quest+. For a monthly fee of $7.99 or $59.99 annually, Quest 2 and Quest Pro enthusiasts will gain access to two hand-picked VR titles per month that they can download and play through the life of their subscription. The “browse less and play more” approach aims to provide users an easy point of entry to explore the Meta Quest catalog. Available as of this week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the Quest+ pass Monday on Meta’s Instagram channel. Those who sign up through July 31 get their first month for $1. Continue reading Meta Announces Quest+ Subscription Service for VR Games

Twitter is being sued for more than $250 million in damages by a coalition of music publishers alleging copyright violations. More than a dozen plaintiffs — including Universal Music, EMI, Kobalt and Sony — are captioned on the complaint, which was coordinated by the National Music Publishers’ Association and filed last week in federal court in Tennessee listing Elon Musk’s X Corp. and Twitter as defendants. The complaint claims songwriters are owed compensation for music-backed videos posted to the platform. The litigation is the latest financial woe for Twitter, which Musk purchased for $44 billion last year. Continue reading Music Publishers Take On Twitter for Copyright Infringements

The Meta Quest 3 is a thinner, wireless AR/VR headset that will sell for $499 beginning this fall. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the device last week ahead of Apple’s WWDC, taking place today through Friday (during today’s WWDC keynote, Apple announced its visionOS software platform for the company’s much anticipated Vision Pro headset). Powered by a new Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset developed in conjunction with Meta, Zuckerberg describes the Quest 3 as “the first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality” and promises more details at Meta Connect, September 27-28. Continue reading Meta Quest 3 Is Unveiled Just Ahead of Apple’s WWDC 2023

European Union regulators have approved Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion purchase of game company Activision Blizzard. The European Commission accepted Microsoft’s remedies for staving off antitrust concerns in the area of cloud gaming. Microsoft said it would guarantee at least 10 years of access to Activision titles on third party cloud services, which satisfied the 27-nation bloc’s executive body. The EU announced its decision just weeks after UK lawmakers blocked the acquisition, and in the U.S. Microsoft is fending off efforts by the Federal Trade Commission to cancel the deal. Continue reading EU Greenlights Microsoft Offer to Purchase Activision Blizzard

Generative AI is expected to play a big role in video game production, increasing development speed, reducing costs, and helping to come up with new ways for players to interact with characters. Major firms including Epic Games, Unity, Ubisoft and Roblox have all announced generative AI integrations for their development kits. Nonplayable characters — foils that act and speak independently — are soon to be wholly AI-powered rather than preprogrammed options. Publicly available AI tools are already commonly used by players creating user-generated game content. However, use of AI to create commercial games is not without controversy. Continue reading Use of AI to Build Video Games is Popular, But Controversial

On April 1, after students presented their ideas for AI-Assisted Experiences during ETC’s latest student challenge, a group of leading tech executive judges engaged the students in a spirited discussion of possibilities, opportunities and ethics related to artificial intelligence. Interactive Media and Game Design senior Toby Zhao and Universal Pictures’ Sherry Wong discussed the uses and limitations of AI in today’s creative process. Psychology graduate Erik Rollins asked whether the industry is thinking about how AI will influence society. Epic Games CTO Kim Libreri responded that society needs standards that will let us know when something is real versus synthetic or altered. It is already too easy to distribute manipulated or false information and rile people up, he said. Continue reading Executives Evaluate AI Proposals for ETC Student Challenge

Netflix has the largest global audience of any paid streaming service and produces the most original content, optimum position to recommend camera specs and photographic best practices. Netflix requires that at least 90 percent of a program’s content be captured using hardware from its “approved camera list,” which currently includes 51 models from seven manufacturers. There are some exceptions, mainly for documentaries. But the care the company takes in vetting the list — with input from creatives, camera manufacturers and global experts — makes the five-year-old tradition respected guidance for video professionals. Continue reading Netflix-Approved Camera List Has Expanded to 51 Models

Google TV is launching a new TV experience with more than 800 free live TV channels across multiple providers as part of the smart TV operating system for Chromecast devices and various TVs. Included are news channels from NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX, along with stations featuring popular shows like “The Walking Dead,” “Westworld” and “Law & Order: SVU.” New streaming channels Tubi, Plex and Haystack News will be integrated and showcased in a redesigned Live tab programming guide. The new content will be positioned alongside Google TV’s existing channel lineup from free streamer Pluto TV. Continue reading Google TV Expands Free Live Channels and Revamps Guide

Game developers are harnessing the power of generative AI to improve the state of play. With hundreds of computer-controlled characters, many of whom have incidental roles, the goal of giving these bit players the ability to spout some meaningful dialogue, should a player cross their path, is one potential use for chatbot text. Sony’s Haven Studios is using GenAI to quickly mock-up characters, while Roblox is developing an AI system it plans to let users leverage to create digital objects and build-out virtual worlds based on text prompts. Continue reading Game Creators Are Now Testing the Benefits of Generative AI

Microsoft has signed agreements giving Nintendo and Nvidia access to Activision Blizzard titles including from the popular “Call of Duty” franchise in a bid to advance its proposed $75 billion purchase of the game firm. The acquisition is opposed by some regulators in the U.S. and Europe on antitrust grounds. Microsoft’s offer to provide valuable IP to platforms that compete with its Xbox aims to quell such concerns. While Nvidia and Nintendo appear to have capitulated as a result of the new contingency, guaranteed for at least 10 years, Sony Interactive Entertainment remains a holdout. Continue reading Microsoft Elevates Activision Deal with ‘Call of Duty’ Promise

Sony wants to make gaming inviting for all players, including those with limited mobility, and to that end unveiled at CES 2023 a customizable controller kit for PlayStation 5 codenamed Project Leonardo that the company has in development. The configurable controller aims “to help many players with disabilities play games more easily, more comfortably, and for longer periods.” The circular controller lets players create a personalized controller by mapping buttons, swapping hardware and creating personalized profiles. Though specifically designed for the PlayStation 5, it will work in tandem with many third-party accessibility accessories. Continue reading CES: Project Leonardo PS5 Controller Aims for Accessibility

Connection, collaboration, and cooperation are three words that underscore almost everything we saw during four days at CES 2023. We anticipated this would not be a show of breakthrough innovations. Instead, we expected innovative ways to use recent advances. In broad categories, AR, haptics, and AI were much in evidence. Interesting light field displays and curved screens caught our eye. There were fewer cars but way more commercial vehicles and components driving “software-defined mobility.” TVs were secondary to connected ecosystems in Samsung and LG’s displays, while creators took center stage for Sony, Canon, and Nikon. Clear across the show, innovation may come from startups but to scale it takes giants. Continue reading CES: Show Floor Reveals the Ups and Downs of Tech Trends

Razer introduced its latest plug-and-play webcam at CES, the Kiyo Pro Ultra, a $300 4K device that features AI-powered face-tracking and an HDR mode. The company claims its first 4K webcam touts the “largest image sensor ever used in a webcam” and promises “DSLR-like video quality.” The new device — which records 4K at 30 fps or 1080p at 60 fps — has a dust cover similar to that of its predecessor, the Kiyo Pro, but Razer has introduced additional protection with a built-in physical privacy shutter. It has also added an omnidirectional microphone, which should help it compete in the webcam market. Continue reading CES: Razer Updates Kiyo Pro to Launch Its First 4K Webcam

Inspired by the “universal human desire to experience joy, wonder and amazement, moments that move people’s hearts and connect them to one another, what we call Kando,” Sony chairman, president and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida began Sony’s CES media briefing by celebrating creators. Evident was a more unified corporate direction and concrete examples of Sony divisions working together. Movies, television, music, games and sports, and ways for audiences to experience them, were prominent examples. Following an exhilarating clip from the upcoming feature “Gran Turismo,” based on the PlayStation game, the prototype for the first Sony Honda Mobility car rolled out. Continue reading CES: Sony Focuses on Creators and the Power of Technology