Sam Desatoff
Articles by Sam Desatoff
Snapchat's head of content steps down
Nick Bell, Snapchat's vice president of content, is leaving the company according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bell, who has been with Snapchat for the last five years, posted a memo to staff confirming his departure, but did not offer any specific reasoning behind the announcement. He will be replaced by Jared Grusd who was appointed in October as Snapchat's new chief strategy officer.
Inside Xbox event will showcase updates to ‘Minecraft,’ ‘Sea of Thieves’
Xbox fans have a lot of news and announcements to look forward to this weekend -- and a free copy of Crackdown to play right now -- as Microsoft's X018 event gets underway in Mexico City. Tomorrow at 4:00 PM EST, X018 will host a special two-hour live edition of its monthly Inside Xbox show.
Flying taxi startup Lilium hires former Audi and Airbus executives
Flying taxi startup Lilium has announced some key new hires in the form of a trio of Audi and Airbus employees. Mirko Reuter, who was the head of automated driving at Audi, has been appointed Lilium's new head of autonomous flight, where he'll "further develop all necessary and critical key competencies in regards to the...challenges of autonomous aircraft systems," according to a press release. Reuter's education and background in mechatronics, robotics and automation engineering should make him well-equipped to handle Lilium's technical minuta.
Right-wing haven Gab is back online
Gab is back online following a brief shuttering in the wake of the anti-Semitic shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue late last month. The social network had been banned by its hosting provider Joyent and domain registrar GoDaddy, and blacklisted by other services such as PayPal, Stripe and Shopify. The ban seemed to be in response to Gab moderators' inaction against the shooter's history of racist rants and hate mongering on the platform preceding the shooting.
‘Football Manager 2019’ is out now on PC, Mac and mobile
Here's a bit of good news for those itching for some soccer simulation: Sega and Sports Interactive's Football Manager 2019 is available today for PC and Mac. Also debuting today are Football Manager 2019 Touch and Football Manager 2019 Mobile, marking the first time all three versions of the franchise have launched on the same day.
Lime will reportedly test car-sharing service in Seattle
Bike- and scooter-sharing startup Lime is looking to test car rentals in Seattle, according to a report from The Information. Lime, which launched in early last year and operates in markets across 26 US states, has boasted that its scooters have taken cars off the road in cities where it operates. Now, it's reaching for a piece of the growing car-sharing market with a small host of around 500 cars made by Fiat Chrysler. There's no concrete date set for when Lime will begin offering the new service, but an application submitted to Seattle's car-sharing program in October indicates it could happen very soon.
Google Home can enhance kids' stories with music and sound effects
Google has announced a partnership with Disney that can help bring kids stories to life. Starting today, Google Home can play ambient music and sound effects as you read select Little Golden Books aloud. All you have to do is say "Hey Google, let's read along to Disney," and start reading a compatible story.
PS4 owners can try ‘Tetris Effect’ for free on November 1st
At E3 2018, Sony announced Tetris Effect, a trippy new take on the perennial classic. Developed by Enhance, it's set to be released on November 9th for PlayStation 4 and PSVR. If you're looking to try before you buy, Enhance announced today that a free demo of the game will be available for a limited time beginning on November 1st. The demo will be available through November 5th via the PlayStation Store.
Three ‘Resident Evil’ classics are heading to the Nintendo Switch
Capcom is bringing a trio of classic Resident Evil games to the Nintendo Switch. The company announced via Twitter today that Resident Evil, Resident Evil 0, and Resident Evil 4 will soon shamble onto Nintendo's platform. No concrete release dates have been given, just that they'll arrive sometime in 2019.
Uber's drone-based food delivery could begin in 2021
At this year's Uber Elevate Summit in May, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi discussed the possibility of a drone-based food delivery service. Now, it looks like a job posting has hinted that the company is looking to launch the service by 2021.
Hulu's night mode comes to the web
Hulu has added a night mode to its website. The feature went live today at 12:30 PM EST, and is limited to watching video in their computer's web browser. The night mode update, which changes the background of Hulu's site from white to black, comes on the heels of a wider site redesign; in September, Hulu's user interface saw a significant overhaul.
Just tell Google Assistant to play Netflix on Android TVs
Until now, casting video to an Android TV through a Google Assistant-enabled device such as a Google Home or the new JBL soundbar has been a fairly simple affair. With the exception of playing Netflix, that is. Now, Google is finally changing that by allowing Google Assistant to play Netflix on Android TV devices.