Month: January 2022
Digest #3: The largest $69 billion deal in history
War3
Hacker activists said they hacked Belarussian railway software to prevent Russian troops to enter Ukraine. They infected the railway software with ransomware that will provide a decryption key only if A. Lukashenko stops helping Russia. Currently the ransomware is affecting online ticketing and scheduling.
Google lawsuit
Four attorneys general are suing Google for misleading users about how Google tracks their location. Google doesn’t ask for consent, and even if a user refuses, Google continues tracking their location. Attorneys want Google to pay a fine and delete all data they collected from 2014 till 2019.
Cybersport landscape
Savvy Gaming Group purchased ESL – one of the largest organizers of cybersport events, and FACEIT – the largest cybersport platform in the world, for $1.5 billion. This purchase may change the landscape of CS:GO gaming that was dominated by players from former USSR for the past 1.5 years.
New Apple devices
According to rumors, Apple is preparing a huge launch of new devices this autumn. Experts from Bloomberg predict the launch of new VR glasses along with new iPads and iPhone SE with 5G support. There will not be an Apple car however: Joe Bass, who was a head of car department, has left the company.
Google’s VR
Apple isn’t the only company working on VR hardware. Google is building their autonomous VR headset that has its own processor. Users shouldn’t expect the release to happen before 2024, so we’ll need to wait to see this new VR/AR device.
Web3 Opera
The Chinese company Opera (yes, the one that bought the Opera browser), launced the beta of their new browser called Crypto Browser Project. It supports crypto wallets, NFT storage and two systems for working with dApp. The wallet supports Etherium, Celo, Bitcoin and Nervos, and will support Polygon, NEAR and Solana in the nearest future.
The largest deal in history
Activision Blizzard is a gaming empire that created games like “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft,” “Candy Crush,” and others. Last Tuesday, Microsoft purchased Blizzard for mindblowing $69 billion! This is the largest tech deal in history, and after it’s sealed, Blizzard will be under the Microsoft’s Xbox division.
