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Over the weekend, Riot Games announced it would respond to calls from its community to provide aid during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Until March 12th, the studio will donate all proceeds from the sale of Valorant, Legends of Runterra, Teamfight Tactics and Wild Rift battle passes, as well as its new Bee skins in League of Legends, to support humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine. Additionally, Riot said it would donate $1 million out of pocket to Doctors Without Borders, the Polish Red Cross and the International Medical Corps.      

"All proceeds from both Riot’s donation and the player fundraiser will directly support humanitarian relief in Ukraine and other affected areas," the company said. The studio joins a growing list of gaming companies that are donating toward humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. On the same day Activision Blizzard said it was halting sales of its games in Russia, the publisher announced it would also match employee donations to relief organizations helping out in the region at a rate of two to one. 

Blizzard is gearing up to reveal what's next for the Warcraft franchise across multiple games. The studio is working on the next World of Warcraft expansion following 2020's Shadowlands and fans will get their first look on April 19th.

Although Activision Blizzard didn't say when the expansion will arrive, the timing of the reveal suggests it's sticking with the cadence of releasing one every couple of years. That's despite the difficulties of developing games during the pandemic and the company finding it difficult to hire and retain staff in the wake of lawsuits and misconduct allegations.

Before the WoW reveal, Hearthstone players will get a look at the first of three expansions coming their way in 2022. Those details will emerge on March 15th. Soon after that, the Hearthstone team will reveal more about what's ahead this year, including core set changes.

Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard recently announced a Warcraft mobile game is coming this year. Expect to learn more about that in May.

When the United Arab Emirates launched the Arab world’s first-ever mission to Mars in the summer of 2020, its desire was that its Hope probe would help provide scientists with a better understanding of the Red Planet’s weather systems. And it’s now done exactly that. According to The National, the probe recently spent two weeks tracking a massive dust storm across the surface of Mars.

Hope began following the weather event on December 29th. The probe entered the orbit of Mars equipped with a high-resolution camera and an infrared spectrometer. It used those tools to track the geographic distribution of dust, water vapor and carbon dioxide ice clouds displaced by the raging storm. Its orbital position allowed Hope to observe any variance in those elements in timescales measured in minutes and days, a feat previous missions to Mars didn’t have the ability to do. 

What it saw was how quickly a storm can spread across the red planet. In the span of a single week, the storm it was tracking grew to stretch across more than 1,550 miles of Martian surface. In the process, it completely obscured geographic landmarks like the Hellas impact crater and sent dust haze as far as 2,485 miles away from the origin point of the storm. In addition to providing a play-by-play of a Martian storm, scientists hope the data Hope collected will allow them to gain a better understanding of how those storms can help water escape the planet's atmosphere.

When it announced the Android 12L beta in October, Google promised the software for larger screens would be ready early this year. Today, the company is officially introducing Android 12L, which it's describing as "an update to Android 12 with features that will make tablets and foldables simpler and easier to use." In a blog post sharing the news, Android's vice president of engineering said 12L is coming later this year, "with planned updates from Samsung, Lenovo and Microsoft." But the company did not get more specific about timing than that.

That could mean devices like the Galaxy Z Fold, Z Flip and Surface Duo would be getting the new interface, which is supposed to bring features like home and lock screens optimized for larger displays. There will also be a two-column notification shade, a new taskbar for easier multitasking and other tweaks that make better use of the greater space on tablets and foldables. 

As senior writer Sam Rutherford pointed out when he tested the Android 12L beta, though some of these additions are compelling, some, like the taskbar, have limitations. It can only contain five apps at once, for example, despite having plenty of room on either side for more icons. Based on a screenshot Google shared with today's news, though, there are six icons on the taskbar, so that might be something the company has changed before 12L's public release. 

Google

Android has long faced criticism for being an unintuitive system for tablets, leading to a dearth in real competition for Apple's iPads. Though we can't say for certain yet whether 12L will make Android tablets substantively better, at least Google is trying to make it better so non-Apple users might have options to consider in future.

While the Pixel 6 had a rocky finish to 2021 after its December software patch was pushed back to January, Google is looking to get back on track with the release of its 10th feature update for the company's line of phones.

Rolling out today on the Pixel 3a to the Pixel 5 followed by another wave of updates for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro later this month, Google's newest feature drop includes new stickers for messaging in Gboard, Live Sharing in Google Duo, expanded support for Live Caption and Live Translation and more. 

Google

For mobile photography enthusiasts, Google is adding support for Night Sight directly in Snapchat. That means you'll no longer need to switch between camera apps when trying to capture pics in low-light environments. 

Meanwhile, Pixel phones are also getting the ability to share their screen with others during video calls in Google Duo similar to Apple's SharePlay in iOS 15. Previously, Live Sharing was an exclusive feature first introduced on Samsung's Galaxy S22 phones, but now Google is opening up that functionality to Pixel devices as well.

Google

For messaging, Gboard has gotten an update allowing it to convert text (English only for now) into custom stickers on the fly, so your chats will look a bit more lively. Alternatively, for those who cannot or prefer not to speak during phone calls, the Pixel's Live Caption feature will let you type a response that will be converted from text to speech for the recipient. 

On the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Live Translate is also getting an upgrade allowing you to activate Interpreter mode in three new languages: French, Spanish, and Italian. Furthermore, Google's latest flagship phone will be able to automatically detect Spanish in videos and other media, allowing you to translate audio into English, French, Italian, German and Japanese (beta).  

Google

Other changes to language support on the Pixel 6 include the ability to transcribe Italian and Spanish in the Recorder app, along with new support for Assistant Quick Phrases in Spanish, French and Italian. 

The Pixel's At a Glance feature is also getting an update thanks to new widgets that will display the battery levels of connected Bluetooth devices like wireless earbuds. Google says the feature will also surface helpful info such as alarm reminders, safety check countdowns, and even earthquake alerts more frequently on the phone's home and lock screens when appropriate.

Finally, Google is adding a new line of curated wallpapers celebrating Internation Women's Day from artist Manjit Thapp, while older Pixel phones (from the 3a and up) are also getting support for Direct My Call and Wait Time.

Google is determined to claim the browser performance crown, and not just on its own platform. The company claims Chrome 99 is significantly faster on macOS and Android, with some particularly large gains on Macs. Thanks to a speed-focused "build optimization technique" and refined graphics processing, Chrome is reportedly 7 percent faster overall than Safari, with 15 percent faster graphics — it even outperforms Safari in Apple's own Speedometer benchmark on an M1 Max-equipped MacBook Pro, according to Google.

The internet pioneer added that Chrome is nearly 43 percent faster than it was when the first M1 Macs arrived in late 2020. One of the largest improvements came in late 2021, when Google introduced a new JavaScript compiler that offered particularly strong benefits for Apple Silicon.

Android users should see a meaningful upgrade, too. Chrome on Google's mobile OS is 15 percent faster (in aggregated real-world data) thanks to optimized navigation that includes prioritizing "critical" interface moments. Performance isn't directly comparable between this and Safari on iOS, of course, but it could still make a noticeable difference if you thrive on the mobile web.

The claimed speed-ups won't always translate to your own experience. We also wouldn't be surprised if Apple has a response before too long. There's a historical back-and-forth as Apple and Google tweak their browser code to beat each other and win users. In that sense, the Chrome speed boost might be useful simply to spur competition.

More major gaming companies are joining the boycott against Russia, with Ubisoft and Take-Two putting business on hold amid the country's invasion of Ukraine. On Monday, Ubisoft updated a blog post in which it expressed support for Ukraine and its team members based there to note it's pausing sales in Russia.

Take-Two, meanwhile, has stopped sales of games and ended marketing support in Russia and Belarus. The publisher also told GamesIndustry.biz it's preventing people in the two countries from installing its games. That includes Grand Theft Auto V, which is believed to be the third most-popular game in Russia behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2, based on monthly active users.

Since the invasion began, many notable gaming companies have withdrawn from Russia, including Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Microsoft, EA and CD Projekt. Sony also removedGran Turismo 7 from its Russian storefront just as the game was released elsewhere, while Nintendo halted Switch eShop payments.

Other major companies have ended or limited services and sales in Russia, including Google, Netflix, TikTok, PayPal, Adobe, internet backbone provider Cogent and Meta. Samsung has stopped shipping products to the country, while Apple has suspended all sales there.

Square Enix has delayed Forspoken. The upcoming action role-playing game from Final Fantasy XV studio Luminous Productions was previously scheduled to release on May 24th. It will instead come out on October 11th, the studio announced on Monday. 

"Our vision for this exciting new IP is to deliver a game world and hero that gamers across the globe will want to experience for years to come, so getting it right is extremely important to us," Luminous Productions said. "To that end, during the next few months we will focus all of our efforts on polishing the game and can't wait for you to experience Frey's journey this fall."

We last saw Forspoken at a hands-off briefing Square Enix held at the end of last year. Forspoken stars Frey, a New York City native who's transported to the fantastical land of Athia. Voiced by actor Ella Balinsk, Frey must save the world from corruption while trying to find a way home. Square will release Forspoken on PlayStation 5 and PC.

Since its launch in 2013, Telegram has grown from a simple messaging app to a broadcast network. Its user base isn’t as vast as WhatsApp’s, and its broadcast platform is a fraction the size of Twitter, but it’s nonetheless showing its use. While Telegram has been embroiled in controversy for much of its life, it has become a vital source of communication during the invasion of Ukraine. But, if all of this is new to you, let us explain, dear friends, what on Earth a Telegram is meant to be, and why you should, or should not, need to care.

What is Telegram?

At its heart, Telegram is little more than a messaging app like WhatsApp or Signal. But it also offers open channels that enable a single user, or a group of users, to communicate with large numbers in a method similar to a Twitter account. This has proven to be both a blessing and a curse for Telegram and its users, since these channels can be used for both good and ill. Right now, as Wired reports, the app is a key way for Ukrainians to receive updates from the government during the invasion.

Who made Telegram?

Telegram was co-founded by Pavel and Nikolai Durov, the brothers who had previously created VKontakte. VK is Russia’s equivalent of Facebook, a social network used for public and private messaging, audio and video sharing as well as online gaming. In January, SimpleWeb reported that VK was Russia’s fourth most-visited website, after Yandex, YouTube and Google’s Russian-language homepage. In 2016, Forbes’ Michael Solomon described Pavel Durov (pictured, below) as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.”

Does VK own Telegram, like Facebook owns WhatsApp?

Oh no. There’s a certain degree of myth-making around what exactly went on, so take everything that follows lightly. Telegram was originally launched as a side project by the Durov brothers, with Nikolai handling the coding and Pavel as CEO, while both were at VK.

In February 2014, the Ukrainian people ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, prompting Russia to invade and annex the Crimean peninsula. By the start of April, Pavel Durov had given his notice, with TechCrunch saying at the time that the CEO had resisted pressure to suppress pages criticizing the Russian government.

The next bit isn’t clear, but Durov reportedly claimed that his resignation, dated March 21st, was an April Fools’ prank. TechCrunch implies that it was a matter of principle, but it’s hard to be clear on the wheres, whos and whys. Similarly, on April 17th, the Moscow Times quoted Durov as saying that he quit the company after being pressured to reveal account details about Ukrainians protesting the then-president Viktor Yanukovych.

Either way, Durov says that he withdrew his resignation but that he was ousted from his company anyway. Subsequently, control of the company was reportedly handed to oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Igor Sechin, both allegedly close associates of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

At this point, however, Durov had already been working on Telegram with his brother, and further planned a mobile-first social network with an explicit focus on anti-censorship. Later in April, he told TechCrunch that he had left Russia and had “no plans to go back,” saying that the nation was currently “incompatible with internet business at the moment.” He added later that he was looking for a country that matched his libertarian ideals to base his next startup.

Manuel Blondeau - Corbis via Getty Images

How does it make money?

On Telegram’s website, it says that Pavel Durov “supports Telegram financially and ideologically while Nikolai (Duvov)’s input is technological.” Currently, the Telegram team is based in Dubai, having moved around from Berlin, London and Singapore after departing Russia. Meanwhile, the company which owns Telegram is registered in the British Virgin Islands.

At the start of 2018, the company attempted to launch an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) which would enable it to enable payments (and earn the cash that comes from doing so). The initial signals were promising, especially given Telegram’s user base is already fairly crypto-savvy. It raised an initial tranche of cash – worth more than a billion dollars – to help develop the coin before opening sales to the public. Unfortunately, third-party sales of coins bought in those initial fundraising rounds raised the ire of the SEC, which brought the hammer down on the whole operation. In 2020, officials ordered Telegram to pay a fine of $18.5 million and hand back much of the cash that it had raised.

On December 23rd, 2020, Pavel Durov posted to his channel that the company would need to start generating revenue. In early 2021, he added that any advertising on the platform would not use user data for targeting, and that it would be focused on “large one-to-many channels.” He pledged that ads would be “non-intrusive” and that most users would simply not notice any change.

So, uh, whenever I hear about Telegram, it’s always in relation to something bad. What gives?

Given the pro-privacy stance of the platform, it’s taken as a given that it’ll be used for a number of reasons, not all of them good. And Telegram has been attached to a fair few scandals related to terrorism, sexual exploitation and crime. Back in 2015, Vox described Telegram as “ISIS’ app of choice,” saying that the platform’s real use is the ability to use channels to distribute material to large groups at once. Telegram has acted to remove public channels affiliated with terrorism, but Pavel Durov reiterated that he had no business snooping on private conversations.

This ability to mix the public and the private, as well as the ability to use bots to engage with users has proved to be problematic. In early 2021, a database selling phone numbers pulled from Facebook was selling numbers for $20 per lookup. Similarly, security researchers found a network of deepfake bots on the platform that were generating images of people submitted by users to create non-consensual imagery, some of which involved children.

Telegram has become more interventionist over time, and has steadily increased its efforts to shut down these accounts. But this has also meant that the company has also engaged with lawmakers more generally, although it maintains that it doesn’t do so willingly. For instance, in September 2021, Telegram reportedly blocked a chat bot in support of (Putin critic) Alexei Navalny during Russia’s most recent parliamentary elections. Pavel Durov was quoted at the time saying that the company was obliged to follow a “legitimate” law of the land. He added that as Apple and Google both follow the law, to violate it would give both platforms a reason to boot the messenger from its stores.

The company maintains that it cannot act against individual or group chats, which are “private amongst their participants,” but it will respond to requests in relation to sticker sets, channels and bots which are publicly available. During the invasion of Ukraine, Pavel Durov has wrestled with this issue a lot more prominently than he has before. Channels like Donbass Insider and Bellum Acta, as reported by Foreign Policy, started pumping out pro-Russian propaganda as the invasion began. So much so that the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council issued a statement labeling which accounts are Russian-backed. Ukrainian officials, in potential violation of the Geneva Convention, have shared imagery of dead and captured Russian soldiers on the platform.

On February 27th, Durov posted that Channels were becoming a source of unverified information and that the company lacks the ability to check on their veracity. He urged users to be mistrustful of the things shared on Channels, and initially threatened to block the feature in the countries involved for the length of the war, saying that he didn’t want Telegram to be used to aggravate conflict or incite ethnic hatred. He did, however, walk back this plan when it became clear that they had also become a vital communications tool for Ukrainian officials and citizens to help coordinate their resistance and evacuations.

I want a secure messaging app, should I use Telegram?

You may recall that, back when Facebook started changing WhatsApp’s terms of service, a number of newsoutlets reported on, and even recommended, switching to Telegram. Pavel Durov even said that users should delete WhatsApp “unless you are cool with all of your photos and messages becoming public one day.” But Telegram can’t be described as a more-secure version of WhatsApp.

Telegram does offer end-to-end encrypted communications through Secret Chats, but this is not the default setting. Standard conversations use the MTProto method, enabling server-client encryption but with them stored on the server for ease-of-access. This makes using Telegram across multiple devices simple, but also means that the regular Telegram chats you’re having with folks are not as secure as you may believe.

If you initiate a Secret Chat, however, then these communications are end-to-end encrypted and are tied to the device you are using. That means it’s less convenient to access them across multiple platforms, but you are at far less risk of snooping. Back in the day, Secret Chats received some praise from the EFF, but the fact that its standard system isn’t as secure earned it some criticism. If you’re looking for something that is considered more reliable by privacy advocates, then Signal is the EFF’s preferred platform, although that too is not without some caveats.

One thing that Telegram now offers to all users is the ability to “disappear” messages or set remote deletion deadlines. That enables users to have much more control over how long people can access what you’re sending them. Given that Russian law enforcement officials are reportedly (via Insider) stopping people in the street and demanding to read their text messages, this could be vital to protect individuals from reprisals.

Apple TV+ has reached one of its last frontiers: the American cable subscriber. As promised, Apple's streaming service is now available across Comcast's Xfinity platforms, including the Xfinity X1 set-top, XClass TVs and the Xfinity Flex streaming service. You can now watch the likes of Ted Lasso or Severance even if you can't use a dedicated streaming device or Apple's own smart TV apps.

Any Xfinity users new to Apple TV+ can get a three-month free trial if they sign up by April 25th. Comcast first revealed plans to support Apple's service in October. Americans are latecomers to some degree — Sky Q and Sky Glass users in Europe and the UK had access to Apple TV+ in December.

The expansion comes long after Apple TV+ was available elsewhere, including many common TV models, media players and game consoles. However, the Xfinity launch might help Apple cover the "last mile" of potential viewers who either won't buy separate hardware or are simply unaware of services that aren't available through their cable hardware.