In an exclusive interview with WIRED, celebrated intellectual property lawyer Mark Lemley elaborates on why he quit and what he makes of the AI copyright battlefield.

The nominees for the 97th Academy Awards have been announced and Apple TV+ is not going to take home another Best Picture Oscar, or anything else because it didn't try."Blitz" was the only Apple production to even make it as far as the Oscars shortlistNobody can ever take away from Apple that it was the first-ever streamer to win a Best Picture Oscar for "CODA." It's not going to repeat that in 2025, but unlike Netflix, Apple truly didn't try very hard this time.That's clear not from the lack of nominations, but from the Oscars shortlist and before that, from Apple's own PR attempts. Every year studios mount campaigns known as "For Your Consideration," trying to get the Academy's voters to at least watch key films, and Apple pushed four titles. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

It might not be "new year, new me" for the iPhone yet, as scattered reports across social media show that the iPhone is, yet again, failing to wake people up.The iPhone seems to be sleeping on the job once moreNothing starts the day off on the wrong foot like missing your alarm when you've got somewhere to be or something to do. Unfortunately for some iPhone owners, that seems to be the exact situation they've found themselves in.Stop us if you've heard this before. A quick check on X shows plenty of iPhone owners reporting that their alarms are not going off or are going off silently. A smaller subset of people are reporting that their alarms are going off at the incorrect time. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has responded to President Donald Trumps reinstated executive order demanding, among other things, that the General Service Administration (GSA) report to him within 60 days with a plan to reinstate the primacy of classically-inspired architecture in all new federal buildings.One of more than two dozen new orders signed by Trump in his first days in office, his Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture remand, which offers a slightly toned-down version of an original 2020 signed order, promotes the notion of a restored American preeminence by advancing "regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage."The AIA letter says: "AIA is extremely concerned about any revisions that remove control from local communities; mandate official federal design preferences, or otherwise hinder design freedom; and add bureaucratic hurdles for federal buildings. AIA supports the GSAs Guiding Principles, and we support freedom in design.""...

After almost a year of waiting, Square Enixs Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is finally available on other platforms. No, not Xbox Series X/S (at least, not yet), but PC. Check out the launch trailer below.Available at a 30 percent discount until February 5th, the critically acclaimed RPG is the follow-up to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. It follows Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith and Red XIII outside Midgar and into the wider world, exploring locations like Junon, Costa Del Sol, and The Forgotten Capital. Alongside larger environments and new activities, it sports improvements to combat, including new Synergy skills.The PC version packs several graphical options, like three presets and supports resolutions up to 4K and 120 frames per second. The lighting has also been revamped, and players can adjust the number of displayed characters alongside their shadow distance.Head here for our graphical analysis and how it compares to the PS5 version. You can also read our review of the PC version here.

With Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth having just come to PC (check out our review), series producer Yoshinori Kitase and game director Naoki Hamaguchi have started talking about the much-anticipated third part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. In an interview with Famitsu, Kitase confirmed that the story for the third part is complete, and that development on the title is moving ahead without any delays.Im very satisfied with it, so Im sure the fans will be satisfied with the final chapter, said Kitase when asked about progress on the story for Final Fantasy 7 Remake part 3. The duo havent revealed any more details about the third title, however, and with development still underway, we likely wont get to see the game for quite some time.Hamaguchi, on the other hand, spoke to Automaton in another interview about the new features in the PC release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and how PS5 players have also been asking for some of these features. He specifically points to the ability to speed up through cutscenes.Nowadays, many people watch videos and movies at double speed. I myself have little time, so I often use the speed-up function, Hamaguchi said. I think we are in an age where we should let the user decide what kind of experience they have. Rather than letting (long cutscenes) become an obstacle that prevents people playing the game, I think we should incorporate such (time-saving) functions more and more.Ultimately, however, Hamaguchi did not elaborate on when we would see these features in the games PS5 release.For those not in the know, the PC version of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth comes with quite a few features, including more technical ones like support for Nvidias DLSS, as well as support for mouse and keyboard. The PC version also supports features of the DualSense controller. These features were revealed with a trailer released earlier this month.If you are interested in picking up the title on PC, Square Enix had revealed the specs that would be required to run the game back in December. On the low-end side of things, players will need at least an AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or Intel Core 14-8100 CPU, a Radeon RX 6600, Intel Arc 580 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 2060 GPU, and 16GB of RAM.Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a sequel to 7 Remake, and picks up right where the first game left off. The party, consisting of Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Barrett and Red-XIII must now set out to stop Sephiroth from completing his plan that might potentially pose a threat to the entire world.In a change from the original, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has much larger wide-open spaces where players can explore, hunt fiends, and even complete sidequests. The title also has plenty of minigames, each of which even has its own story-based sidequest to complete for special rewards.Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was originally released on PS5 back in February 2024. For more details, check out our review of the original PS5 release.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has launched a short game, Art Links, that invites players to identify common threads among works of art.Read More

Infinite Reality, an "immersive technology" company (previously known as the metaverse) has acquired virtual shopping firm Obsess.Read More

Warner Bros. Games president David Haddad to step downCEO says Haddad's departure "brings a chance for healthy new perspectives, and the ability to create the next incredible chapter" News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 23, 2025 Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president, David Haddad, is leaving the company.After 12 years leading Warner Bros' games division, Haddad will exit his role in April after the board has found a replacement.In a message to staff reported by Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Games CEO and president JB Perrette, said: "David has thoughtfully and purposefully chosen a time when our release schedule is lighter which will help minimise disruption to our ongoing projects and strategic plans and allow this team to smoothly prepare for its next record-breaking title."I fully appreciate that particularly after 12 years with the same leader and boss, change can be hard and uncomfortable (in our industry and at WBD we have certainly had our fair share). But it also brings opportunity, a chance for healthy new perspectives, and the ability to create the next incredible chapter for our fans and business and Im excited to embark on that with you."Although he stopped short of confirming his next steps, Haddad said: "I am so proud of everything we've accomplished together at Warner Bros. Games during my time with the company."It has been an absolute pleasure working on and building our iconic gaming franchises, and I will continue to be an enthusiastic supporter of this talented teams future endeavours."I look forward to working on the next chapter of my career and will always be grateful for my time with Warner Bros. Games."

Team17 Group rebrands to Everplay"The new name will enable us to simplify the overarching group," says CEO Steve BellImage credit: Everplay News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 23, 2025 Team17 Group has rebranded as Everplay Group, with its indie developer and publishing label Team17 Digital remaining unchanged.Astragon Entertainment and StoryToys, acquired by Everplay in 2022 and 2021 respectively, will also retain their names."All three divisions will continue focusing on maximizing operational synergies and strategic opportunities across the wider group as well as avoiding any confusion between Everplay and the Team17 division," it said.The rebrand of Team17 Group to Everplay is expected to take place in early February."This rebrand not only creates an ideal backdrop to foster greater cross-collaboration internally, but it also reflects our aspirations to expand our reach across complementary sectors within the broader indie market," said Everplay CEO Steve Bell.In a separate video posted to the investors section of its website, Bell said the rebrand will provide "an opportunity for us to further refine how we work together to create value and grow the group beyond what it is today."He added: "The new name will enable us to simplify the overarching group, enable us to leverage our collective powers, nurture our superb talent and skills, and better reflect our desire to grow and become a global indie powerhouse."