Evernote, the leading note-taking app, has been acquired
Evernote, the leading note-taking app, announced on November 16 that Evernote has been acquired by mobile developer Bending Spoons in a deal that will take place in early 2023. Bending Spoons’ apps include video editing app Splice and artificial intelligence image enhancement app Remini, with a total of 100 million users.
NetEase and Blizzard plan to end their partnership in January next year
Blizzard Entertainment released a statement on Nov. 16 announcing that it will suspend most Blizzard games in mainland China starting Jan. 23, 2023, due to a failure to reach an agreement with NetEase on extending the existing license agreement, including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone Legend, Overwatch, StarCraft, Warcraft III: Remastered, Diablo III and Heroes of the Storm.
The handheld game “Diablo: Immortal” is not included in this suspension of service games because it involves other separate agreements; Blizzard Entertainment said it will suspend sales of new games in the near future. NetEase said: the company has been doing its best to negotiate with Blizzard, hoping to advance the renewal of the contract. After long negotiations, NetEase still could not agree with Activision Blizzard on some key terms of cooperation. Therefore, we have to accept this decision, NetEase will continue to fulfill its responsibilities and serve players until the last moment. Bloomberg said: In addition to financial issues, NetEase and Blizzard ended their partnership because they could not agree on two points: ownership of some intellectual property and player data.
Qualcomm announces new Snapdragon chip brand Oryon
Qualcomm announced Oryon, a sub-brand of the Snapdragon family, on November 16. Oryon will feature new custom cores and will be prioritised for use in notebook products, with Oryon to follow in mobile devices such as tablets and phones. The brand’s SoCs are expected to be released in 2023, and Qualcomm has not announced any more details on performance.
1Password is expected to support passkeys in early 2023
On November 18, 1Password announced that it will support passkeys in early 2023, allowing users to securely log into applications and websites without a password. Passkeys are passwordless login technologies developed by FIDO that allow users to authenticate using their own devices and replace traditional passwords to provide the greatest level of security and protection. Pass-through key technology is expected to arrive in browser extensions and desktop applications in early 2023, followed by mobile support for this feature.
Bluetooth to support 6Ghz band communication
On November 17, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the development specifications for a new project that will allow Bluetooth Low Power (LE) to operate in unlicensed bands, including 6Ghz. The new expanded band will allow Bluetooth to support higher data throughput, lower latency and greater positioning accuracy, while the Wi-Fi Alliance has said it looks forward to working with the Bluetooth SIG to coexist in the 6Ghz band.