For anyone struggling to tear kids away from consoles and phones for dinner, homework and, well, real life, spare a thought for the Chinese youth. China has announced a further crackdown on the time children can play online games, with the new limit set to just three hours per week. Platforms like Tencent can now only offer gaming to kids between 8pm and 9pm on Friday, weekends and public holidays.

Earlier this month, Tencent was forced to cut the time minors could play its hit mobile game Honor of Kings to just an hour on weeknights and two hours on the weekend. 

Further strengthening of the rules won’t come as a surprise. Earlier last month, state-owned news outlets published an editorial calling video games “spiritual opium,” outlining all the negative ways gaming could affect China’s youth.

I can already imagine parents telling their kids about the tough gaming rules in China, and how they should count their blessings. I can also imagine most kids ignoring them.

— Mat Smith

VW customers will soon have a choice for in-car 4G connectivity

Starting next month, you'll be able to choose between Verizon and T-Mobile.

Volkswagen has unveiled a new feature for its Car-Net connected vehicle service that lets you get 4G data from two major US telecoms. It offers Verizon or T-Mobile, making it relatively easy to add your vehicle to an existing mobile plan.

Starting in September, VW owners in the US will be able to access the subscription plans on VW's dedicated website or via its mobile app. From there, they can add an account to their existing mobile wireless provider (assuming it's Verizon or T-Mobile) and pair it with their existing Volkswagen Car-Net subscription.

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Jon Stewart's Apple TV+ show premieres on September 30th

New episodes of 'The Problem With Jon Stewart' will arrive every other week.

Apple TV+

Jon Stewart will soon return to a screen near you to once again dissect some of the big issues of the day. His Apple TV+ series, The Problem With Jon Stewart, will premiere on September 30th. Rather than airing on a nightly basis, like The Daily Show, or even weekly, new episodes will arrive every other week. Stewart will tackle one topic per episode (similar to the much-missed Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj), with a companion podcast — of course — set to run alongside it.

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Apple is building a classical music streaming app after buying Primephonic

The classical-only service will shut down on September 7th.

Apple is expanding its music streaming options after buying classical service Primephonic. Apple Music aims to release a dedicated classical music app next year, which will combine Primephonic’s user interface with some of Apple's own features.

Primephonic wrote in a letter to users on its website saying that “to achieve our mission, we need to partner with a leading streaming service that encompasses all music genres and also shares our love for classical music." Primephonic has closed its doors to new users, and it will shut down on September 7th.

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Cheaper 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' Blu-ray sets are on the way

Welcome news for those who missed out on the fancy Ultimate Edition.

GKids

You’ll soon get to grab the Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu-ray set in the US, without paying through the nose. While a spendy $275 Ultimate Edition has already sold out, you'll still have a chance to buy a copy of the saga on Blu-ray as there are two other options on the way from distributor GKids.

Like the Ultimate Edition, the Collector's Edition package will be released on December 8th. Lock in a pre-order and it'll set you back $175, but it'll cost $220 as of the release date. The Standard Edition arrives a month earlier, lacking the classic dub or subtitles. It costs $60 or $46 if you pre-order.

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Spectrum TV has made major streaming service additions to its digital cable service and live TV app with HBO Max and YouTube, parent Charter has announced. You'll be able to access both apps on channels 2004 for HBO Max and 2003 for YouTube, or on the platform's guide via the search or apps menu. You'll need, of course, a subscription to access HBO Max at $10 per month with ads or $15 ad-free. 

Along with Netflix, HBO Max and YouTube are the first streaming channels available directly through the Spectrum Guide. "As the video landscape continues to change, we are evolving our products and making it easier for our customers to watch what they want by providing access to streaming apps from convenient launch points within the Spectrum TV experience," said Spectrum VP Elena Ritchie.

As Spectrum notes, Warner's HBO Max offers 13,000 hours of premium content from brands HBO, DC, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Studio Ghibli. It also includes all 2021 Warner Bros. films (Dune, Godzilla vs. Kong and more) available the same day the films debut in theaters. That's a boon to movie fans not ready to go to theaters with the pandemic still raging, but a consternation to some of the filmmakers involved.

Apple is expanding its music streaming options after buying classical service Primephonic. Apple Music aims to release a dedicated classical music app next year, which will combine Primephonic’s user interface with some of Apple's own features.

"As a classical-only startup, we can not reach the majority of global classical listeners, especially those that listen to many other music genres as well," Primephonic wrote in a letter to users on its website. "We therefore concluded that in order to achieve our mission, we need to partner with a leading streaming service that encompasses all music genres and also shares our love for classical music."

Primephonic has closed its doors to new users and it will shut down on September 7th. Subscribers will get a prorated refund and six months of Apple Music access for free. They'll be able to listen to hundreds of thousands of classical albums while Apple builds the forthcoming app. Apple says all of those albums are available in lossless and high-res audio. Hundreds of them have spatial audio support as well.

Apple is promising Apple Music subscribers a "significantly improved classical music experience" following the deal, including Primephonic playlists and exclusive audio content. In the coming months, it plans to harness the capabilities of Primephonic to offer classical music fans improved browsing and search functions. You'll be able to look for works by composer and repertoire, and see "detailed displays of classical music metadata."

“We love and have a deep respect for classical music, and Primephonic has become a fan favorite for classical enthusiasts,” Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music and Beats, said. “Together, we’re bringing great new classical features to Apple Music, and in the near future, we’ll deliver a dedicated classical experience that will truly be the best in the world.”

Jon Stewart will soon return to a screen near you to once again dissect some of the big issues of the day. His Apple TV+ series, The Problem With Jon Stewart, will premiere on September 30. Rather than airing on a nightly basis, like The Daily Show, or even weekly, new episodes will arrive every other week.

In the show, Stewart will tackle one topic per episode (similar to the much-missed Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj). He'll speak with people affected by the issue and those who were involved in it impacting others. Stewart and his guests will "discuss a more productive path towards action," Apple says.

The conversation will continue on the companion podcast, which features staff members from the series and activists working on the issue at hand. It's not clear how many episodes the first season will include, but the show is slated to run for multiple seasons.

Here's some good news if you're looking to get your hands on a Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu-ray set without paying through the nose. It emerged this month that the anime will be released on the format in North America for the first time later this year as part of a $275 Ultimate Edition. Although that set sold out quickly, you'll still have the chance to buy a copy of the saga on Blu-ray, as there are two other options on the way from distributor GKids.

The Collector’s Edition set includes 11 discs. You'll be able to watch the the 26-episode series and the Evangelion: Death (True)² and The End of Evangelion movies in the more recent "official" dubbed and subtitled versions, or the classic dubbed or subtitled versions. There's also seven hours of bonus material — including animatics and music videos — eight art cards and a 40-page book.

Like the Ultimate Edition, the Collector's Edition package will be released on December 8th. Lock in a pre-order and it'll set you back $175, as Polygon notes, but it'll cost $220 as of the release date.

If you can't wait quite that long, or aren't willing to pony up at least three figures for a Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu-ray set, the Standard Edition arrives a month earlier. It includes the series and both movies, along with five hours of bonus features. However, you won't get the classic dub or subtitles with this set. It costs $60, or $46 if you pre-order.

That's not all, though. As of November 2nd, you'll be able to buy digital versions of the series, Evangelion: Death (True)² and The End of Evangelion. So, if and when they vanish from Netflix, you'll still be able to find legal versions online. Meanwhile, the four Rebuild of Evangelion movies are available on Amazon Prime Video.

The Islamic State's propaganda arm used Amazon Web Services to host content promoting extremism, according to The Washington Post. Nida-e-Haqq, the group's media arm, posted messages on the website in the Urdu language, including ones celebrating the recent suicide bombing in Kabul that killed 170 people. Since Amazon's policy bars clients from using its services to incite violence and terror, the company pulled the website after The Post alerted it to its existence. 

The website Amazon disabled provided content for the Nida-e-Haqq app, which recently showed an image of the Kabul bomber wrapped in a suicide vest. It's currently password-protected and not viewable, but it's been active since at least April, based on the online domain records The Post saw. Amazon spokesperson Casey McGee told the publication in a statement: "(F)ollowing an investigation, we have disabled a website that was linked to this app as it was in violation of the AWS Acceptable Use Policy." 

Taliban and extremist-related content is the latest issue social networks, and clearly, hosting services like Amazon's, have to grapple with. The organization has been using services like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp to spread its message, and the websites now have to decide if they need to update their policy on how to deal with Taliban content and to make sure their existing rules on violence and terror are properly enforced.

Amazon didn't say how Nida-e-Haqq managed to evade detection for at least four months when it wasn't even trying to hide what kind of content it posted, but it's very much possible that the company simply didn't know the website existed. As The Post said, Amazon may not be proactively policing its clients' content, relying instead on the complaints it gets. 

Back in January, it suspended Parler's AWS hosting services after it found multiple posts on the social network "that clearly encourage and incite violence." Parler sued Amazon, claiming antitrust violations, but the company said it sent the website several warnings about violent posts on its platform before the takedown. Ultimately, a judge shot down Parler's attempt to get AWS to restore its service, citing the dangers posed by "inflammatory rhetoric" found on the social network.

Twitter is finally starting to roll out Ticketed Spaces, a feature that allows creators to charge for access to its live audio chat feature. The company began taking applications for the feature in June, but had yet to flip it on until this week. 

However, it sounds like it could still be awhile until many people gain access to the feature. Twitter said that the initial rollout will be iOS only and limited to just “some” hosts who have previously applied.

Those who do gain access could make a decent amount of cash from the feature, assuming they can find a big enough audience willing to pay. Twitter has said that hosts can keep up to 97 percent of their first $50,000 in earnings and up to 80 percent on anything over $50,000. Hosts are also able to set their own prices for tickets and choose how many tickets to make available.

Ticketed Spaces is just one of several monetization features Twitter is working on as it looks rto shift its platform to be more creator-friendly. The company is also experimenting with Super Follows, in-app tipping and paid newsletters.

Nintendo surprise-announced Metroid Dread, the fifth mainline game in the series, at E3 this year. Part of the surprise was that it was arriving this year, October 8th to be precise. Now, with just over a month before it arrives, Nintendo has released a new trailer for Metroid Dread, which might be our last look at the game before launch. Of course, this trailer isn't as detailed as the 20 minutes of gameplay Nintendo showed off at E3, but it still shows off a lot of what to expect when Metroid Dread arrives on the Switch. 

The video mixes more cinematic shots of Samus Aran battling some pretty huge and intimidating baddies with the 2D gameplay footage that originally defined the series before the first-person Metroid Prime games. The game looks immediately familiar to people who've been waiting for a new 2D Metroid game, but Samus Aran has more abilities to navigate the terrain and battle enemies than ever before. The trailer moves fast, but there's lots of aerial dashing, underwater action, multiple different arm cannon weapons, wall jumping and more. 

Given that this is the first all-new, side-scrolling Metroid game since 2002's Metroid Fusion for the Game Boy Advance (!), Dread has a lot to live up to. But at least from what we've seen so far, Nintendo may have pulled off the feat of bringing one of its oldest franchises into the modern era of gaming. We'll find out in just over a month. 

Streamlabs' new livestreaming tool offers streamers a new way to make money — and it won't even be taking a commission. The Logitech-owned company has launched a monthly tipping service called Streamlabs Creator Subscription, which (as you can probably guess from its name) gives streamers a way to set up a subscription service for viewers. Streamlabs says creators will get 100 percent of the tips fans give them after PayPal takes its usual processing fees. 

As The Verge notes, that makes Streamlabs Creator Subscription a more appealing option than Twitch's built-in service, which takes a 50 percent cut from the subscription fees streamers get. Especially since Streamlabs' new tipping tool can be directly integrated into its popular OBS software suite anyway. The OBS software can be used to stream not just on Twitch, but also on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. 

Streamlabs will let creators decide on what kind of subscription service they want to offer their fans, and they can also set specific price points. If they choose, however, they can allow viewers to choose how much to contribute every month. Fans will get "redeemable alerts" in exchange for their contributions, and they can use those if they want their favorite streamer to thank them on screen. Streamlabs will also be adding leaderboards and badges in the coming weeks to encourage fans to support their favorite creators.

Ashray Urs, Head of Product at Streamlabs, said in a statement: 

"As the live streaming industry has grown, so has the need for a sustainable revenue model. Currently, most major streaming platforms provide viewers with a way to subscribe to a channel; however, they usually split the revenue from the subscription in half between the creators and platform. In addition, platforms require a creator to meet certain qualifications before they can unlock the ability for viewers to subscribe. Streamlabs Creator Subscription is open for anyone with a Streamlabs tip page, regardless of size or how often they stream."

Amazon is adding more titles to the list Prime Gaming subscribers can claim for free starting on September 1st. One of the latest additions is Knockout City, a recent release from Velan and EA. It's a cross-platform dodgeball brawler launched in May that's already available through Xbox Games Pass Ultimate and EA Play. The game is also free to play until level 25, but Prime Gaming users who want to keep playing until after they reach it will now be able to grab the title at no additional cost. 

In addition, subscribers can still claim Lucasfilm Games' Sam & Max: Hit The Road beyond September 1st. The game has been free for subscribers since July, but like the studio's Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, it was supposed to be removed from the list after that date. Sam & Max: Hit The Road is based on a comic featuring an anthropomorphic detective dog and a rabbit-like creature. Completing the list games that will available for free starting on September 1st are Candleman The Complete Journey, Puzzle Agent, Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis, Tools Up! and Unmemory.

Subscribers will also get access to new loot for popular open-world RPG Genshin Impact. Namely: 60x Primogems, 8x Hero's Wit and 5x Calla Lily Seafood Soup. New loot also awaits Madden NFL 22, Fall Guys, Red Dead Online, Brawlhalla, Apex Legends, Grand Theft Auto Online and Rogue Company players. These freebies will be available at different dates throughout the month and will be up for a limited time only. Subscribers can check the official Amazon Prime Gaming website for the offers' start and end dates.