News written by Petteri Pyyny (April, 2021)

Apple finally released its long anticipated AirTag device yesterday. And to be honest to its reputation, the item tracking device comes in wide variety of styles. And yes, some of those styles are insanely priced.

AirTag is essentially a small Bluetooth-like device that you can hook to your key ring, your laptop, etc and can then find your misplaced item with your phone. Similar solutions have existed before, from wide variety of manufacturers over the past few years.

The basic version of AirTag is quite reasonably priced, at $29 in U.S. But..

A genuine leather luggage tag, including a built-in AirTag and designed by famous French luxury designer Hermès is something else. It is currently available only in the United States, but it costs a whopping $449 on Apple's own store.

screenshot from Apple US website

One of the biggest tech acquisitions ever gets slowed´down. American Nvidia has already agreed to buy UK-based ARM for a whopping $40 billion.

But now British authorities have intervened and have requested a report on impact to its national security. ARM is the chip designer whose chips power basically all the cell phones in the world: Androids, iPhones and more. Furthermore, Apple's new M1 chip is based on ARM technology and Microsoft is keen to push its Windows to run on ARM-based computers, too.

Britain's Digital Secretary said "Following careful consideration of the proposed takeover of ARM, I have today issued an intervention notice on national security grounds. As a next step and to help me gather the relevant information, the UK's independent competition authority will now prepare a report on the implications of the transaction, which will help inform any further decisions."

The deal would merge the leading GPU manufacturer Nvidia with the dominant mobile phone (and increasingly notable computer) chip maker.

Modestly priced, awesome battery life, and from a brand known for its quality products! What could go wrong? This is exactly what many of us thought when OnePlus finally decided to launch its own smartwatch, aptly named OnePlus Watch.

We got the OnePlus Watch for review just before its official launch date and were pretty excited to see it in action.

Unfortunately, this time around, the expectations were not met. For us, the OnePlus Watch is a prime example of a product that doesn't have a focus and was simply launched because everybody else had one.

1. Tech specifications
2. Design
3. Display
4. Battery life
5. OnePlus Watch UI
6. Features
7. OnePlus Watch and running
8. Co-operation with your phone
9. Other features<
10. OnePlus Health app
11. Summary
12. Stars / Verdict

Tech specifications

Design

Logitech, best known for its keyboards and mice, has decidedd to end its once-popular Harmony line of universal remote controls.

Logitechh's Harmony remotes have been praised by many and they had their heyday in first decade of 2000s. About 15 years ago many countries went through digtalization of TVs and there was a need for separate STB in order to get digital TV transmissions to old, analog TV sets. Furthermore, the decade also marked the peak time for DVDs. Thus, many households had several peripherals connected to the TV: STB, DVD player and various others. So, the need for remotes that could command them all was also at its peak.

Since then, things have changed: streaming services have largely replaced DVDs, TVs themselves have the streaming service apps integrated into them and built-in digital TV receivers are commonplace with TV sets. So, the need for universal remotes has also diminished.

Company predicted the trend early on and considered selling its Harmony business back in 2013, but decided to keep it in house instead. But now, Logitech has announced that they have stopped manufacturing Harmony remotes for good.

One of the few major studios that hasn't tried to create its own Netflix competitor is Sony Pictures. Now, Sony Pictures has decided to license all its upcoming movie releases exclusively to Netflix.

Deal includes upcoming sequels to award-winning 2018 Spider-Man animation film, Uncharted movies and more. All Sony's big screen releases from year 2022 onwards will be made available to Netflix shortly after their theatrical release.

Furthermore, the deal includes also all Sony Pictures' direct-to-streaming movies and select past titles from its vast movie catalog. It should be noted that while Marvel is nowadays part of Disney empire, Sony has full film rights to some Marvel's characters - most notably, to those appearing in Spider-Man universe. Thus, while other Marvel movies and series are moving to Disney+, those owned by Sony will be Netflix-exclusive.

Sony's press release doesn't give out much more information about the deal. The length nor the price of the deal are not made public.

Sony's Spider-Mar: Into the Spider-verse won the best animated film Academy Award back in 2019. All its upcoming sequels can be found on Netflix under this deal.

World's largest pure demo party, Revision has been held annually in Germany since 2011. This time around the event was held remotely, due the global COVID-19 pandemic. But during the event, the streaming platform provider Twitch decided to ban the event's stream, without warning.

Twitch has recently expanded to various gaming and demo events, trying to expand its reach beyond game streaming platform. Thus, Revision had chosen Twitch as its streaming provider in order to cater the event, competitions and all things involved to its virtual visitors.

During the Saturday afternoon, however, Twitch hhad decided to block the Revision's stream - without warning and with no reason given why they banned the stream. Revision party relies heavily on volunteers who have poured thousands of hours of work to ensure that the event runs as smoothly as possible. Not to mention all the demo groups that have invested hundreds of hours to their art that was meant to be showcased in Revision competition.

On the very last days of the Soviet Union, a local TV channel in Leningrad released its own movie version of iconic J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings book trilogy. Movie was aired once and was thought to be lost forever, until now.

The TV channel Leningrad Television aired the movie on the very same year the Soviet Union eventually collapsed. As years passed by, many enthusiasts have tried to find the movie - or even bootleg copies of it, to no avail. But just over the Easter weekend, the TV channel's successor, 5TV, added the entire movie to YouTube.

Movie, called Khraniteli, has gathered already over 700'000 views online, despite it being - well, obviously - in Russian language. As the budget wasn't exactly a match to the movies made by Peter Jackson in early 2000s, it is still a notable piece of history.

You can watch the entire movie here, it has been split into two parts:

Korean tech giant LG is reported to end its mobile phone business line completely.

Company's phone business has been a loss-maker for more than 6 years now and company has previously announced that it is seeking for "various options" for its mobile phone business. Now, according to Korean sources it seems that company has made a decision to quit the mobile phone business completely.

According to the reports by The Korean Times, LG will shift its current mobile phone workforce to company's other business segments and to cease the mobile phone business for good.

Meanwhile, LG's shares have soared in Korean stock market, boosted by strong demand for its flat-screen TVs and home appliances. It has also grown to be one of the biggest component providers for electronic vehicles, boosted by its strong presence in battery manufacturing business.

Company hasn't officially confirmed the rumors about its mobile phone business yet, but according to The Korean Times, such announcement is expected on early next week.