PlayBrain has raised $6 million in funding to create content and manage tournaments for esports competition in Japan. To date, it has raised $8 million. https://bit.ly/2VxgenU
As Britain's COVID-19 infections soared in the spring, the government promised a game-changing contact tracing app -- but it wasn't to be. https://bit.ly/3gbqQR9
In a paper, Amazon researchers describe X-Transformer, a machine learning model that tackles the problem of 'extreme' multi-label text classification. https://bit.ly/2AgdJyZ
Groundbreaking advancements in quantum dots are enabling LCDs and OLEDs to break new barriers in image quality and screen efficiency. https://bit.ly/3igEd4n
Organizers of a Facebook advertising boycott campaign are taking the battle global as they pressure the social media company to remove hate speech. https://bit.ly/3dPFZX3
Magic: The Gathering has had a checkered past when it comes to video games, from stop-and-starts to Magic Online to today's Arena. https://bit.ly/2AgwimI
Flipside Studio is a new virtual production tool that enables actors and directors to capture and create animated content entirely in VR. https://bit.ly/2NDB68M
Tom Hall has made games from 30 years, working on titles from Doom to Wolfenstein 3-D and Diner Dash. Now he is joining VR game maker Resolution Games. https://bit.ly/31A0l47
Bigscreen's latest update adds the capability to play local video files stored on a device when watching in VR, even when offline. https://bit.ly/3dB12MF
Torchlight III is getting a major patch as part of its push through Early Access on Steam. This is bringing in new content, but it also addresses feedback. https://bit.ly/2BiAVNx
Only 1% of venture-funded startups have Black founders. Joe Bayen beat those odds, and he hopes to inspire more Black entrepreneurs. https://bit.ly/3eDWqqy
Enko Chem, a startup employing AI and machine learning to develop crop protection products, has raised a $45 million funding round. https://bit.ly/3dEvHbU
Verizon is pausing advertising on Facebook in support of a campaign that called out the social network for not doing enough to stop hate speech. https://bit.ly/2VoFX1U
MWM Interactive announced today that it will publish the next title from indie studio Night School Studio, the team behind notable indie game Oxenfree. https://bit.ly/31heV01
Facial recognition vendor Rank One Computing said on Wednesday it would “add legal means” and research other ways to thwart misuse. https://bit.ly/2Bbvik1
The game industry reached a new boiling point this week as scores of people in the game industry made allegations of sexual assault, rape, and harassment. https://bit.ly/31hiL9h
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Brazil’s central bank suspended a newly-launched payments system allowing WhatsApp users to send money to friends and businesses via chats. https://bit.ly/2VbRt0i
It's the end of the line for the $149 standalone VR headset, which paved the way for Oculus Quest but didn't have enough reason to stick around. https://bit.ly/3hZrLpQ
U.S. gamers and movie watchers are binging on entertainment during the pandemic, and game companies and streaming movie services are vying with each other to get consumers to sign up for their services, according to Deloitte‘s 14th annual Digital Media Trends report. The data from the world’s biggest accounting and financial services firm is a […] https://bit.ly/2Ct0dbP
A senior Trump administration official said Monday the president will suspend H-1B immigration visas used by major tech companies and consultancy firms. https://bit.ly/3fNxltm
During its 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced improvements to HomeKit, including a new face classification feature. https://bit.ly/314MnXo
Computer makers are launching 50 servers with Nvidia's A100 GPUs to power AI, data science, and scientific computing applications. https://bit.ly/2YUNOVT
At CVPR 2020, Waymo and Uber researchers presented new techniques to improve the reliability -- and safety -- of their self-driving systems. https://bit.ly/2Brpy5y
Would your company be out of business without federal SBIR funds? If so, and you've been at it for 10 years already, it's time to step aside. https://bit.ly/3143EjA
Whatever business model you had at the beginning of the year may now be obsolete. Here's a great tool for discovering new markets. https://bit.ly/3emdeSM
The video game industry saw a 22.26% decline in total ad impressions from mid-May to mid-June vs. mid-April to mid-May; PlayStation overtook Nintendo. https://bit.ly/2CrallA
Jak & Daxter is not the most ambitious game in Naughty Dog's history, but it still offers a fun 3D platforming challenge in that Banjo-Kazooie style. https://bit.ly/30Zeuat
Black roboticists on creating better AI, accountability, addressing bias, and how to make a more diverse world in acadamia, tech, and STEM education. https://bit.ly/3hJYBe0
A maker of the Battlefield games is leading Spin Master into digital fun. It might sound like overkill for a kid's toy maker, but games are the future. https://bit.ly/2UYgNGU
New York City Council today passed the POST Act -- a law requiring the NYPD to disclose all surveillance technologies in active use. https://bit.ly/2UV4uv6
U.S. civil rights groups called on companies to pause advertising on Facebook, saying the social network is not doing enough to stop hate speech. https://bit.ly/2ARJJtk
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Frank Gibeau, CEO of Zynga, said the company is creating a $25 million to donate money or invest in diversity-related educational and charitable causes. https://bit.ly/3dc4wFj
Roundguard is a brilliant, fun mix of Peggle and roguelite dungeon-crawl RPGs. Here's how indie game studio Wonderbelly created it. https://bit.ly/3dhMGko
Outreach, a startup developing a semiautomated engagement platform, raised $50 million in venture capital at a $1.33 billion valuation. https://bit.ly/3hE0Wac
The march to 5G ubiquity continues with Qualcomm's first 6-series 5G chipset, which is expected to make the latest standard affordable to 2 billion users. https://bit.ly/30U5Tpx
Boston Dynamics has opened commercial sales of Spot, its quadruped robot priced at $74,500, to businesses in the U.S. It ships in six to eight weeks. https://bit.ly/2N4Fk8Z
Some shareholders of Fortnite maker Epic Games are selling their shares for $750 million, but the amount being raised will go to existing shareholders. https://bit.ly/3fnBOTg
A new report published by LinkedIn found that AI and machine learning jobs hiring slowed down in the weeks following the COVID-19 outbreak. https://bit.ly/30NyoFy
Star Wars: Squadrons has a release date of October 2 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. That's when fans will get into the space-combat action. https://bit.ly/3hrF7ed
U.S. auto safety regulators will unveil a voluntary effort to collect and make available nationwide data on existing autonomous vehicle testing. https://bit.ly/2C93H3f
Universal Quantum raised $4.5 million to build a practical quantum computer that will potentially be far more powerful than those developed by competitors. https://bit.ly/2MVz6Z0
When lockdowns ease, we will see more variability in when and how offices are used along with increased employee expectations of the workplace. https://bit.ly/2UZn7OL
Businesses invest in data science because it promises to be transformative. But quick wins don't transform; they reinforce the status quo. https://bit.ly/2Yy0t0z