STATES CHRONICLE – THQ Nordic has recently announced the release of a new breathtaking horror game called Black Mirror. The game is not related to the well-known Netflix series, but rather a reimagining to an obscure horror game produced by Future Games in 2003, called The Black Mirror. The new title will feature a gothic and eerie atmosphere which will take the player into a dark and exciting world.

A reimagining of the 2003 The Black Mirror

The 2003 game also featured several sequels, which came out in 2009 and 2011 respectively. At the time, the horror game had created a fanbase, but it never got that popular so that it would become a landmark. Now, THQ Nordic, together with KING Art Games, own the rights for Black Mirror, and wanted to bring a new take on the horror universe.

The new Black Mirror will definitely contain the necessary references to the previous games. However, the developers wanted to assure players they would bring a whole new story, which is more or less independent from the first titles.

An exciting new game mechanic in the latest title

This means that Black Mirror is not only meant for the hardcore fans of the series. New players can enjoy the gameplay just as much as those who are familiar with the elements present in the prequels. However, the new game will add something new, which should immediately capture your attention.

As it is a modern game, the new Black Mirror will, of course, feature more modern graphics. However, the exciting novelty is related to the gameplay mechanics. Now, players will be able to interact with the ghostly apparitions in the game. These apparitions will help players learn more about the family of the protagonist, all in a classic horror atmosphere reminding of H.P. Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe.

There is not much other information regarding the upcoming game. However, THQ Nordic revealed the official release date – November 28^th, 2017. Also, it will be available on all platforms, namely PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

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STATES CHRONICLE – PlayerUnknown has just released the fourth monthly patch for Battlegrounds. Although patches should fix things, this one seems to have made everything worse, as players reported experiencing a huge lag which makes the game almost impossible to play. Unfortunately, it won’t be gone too soon.

How does the lag manifest itself?

The patch measures 1.7GB and it might take a while until the game performs the update, but it admittedly brings some nice additions. These include car horns, a refined crate system, or new guns. This is a great strategy, as constantly bringing new content, although the game is relatively new, increases the number of players day by day.

However, these awesome items are not the only thing the update brought. Players complained of experiencing an extremely annoying lag which prevents them from enjoying their gaming experience. In fact, it almost prevents them from playing.

This lag is expressed as slow movement or by displaying errors when players are trying to gather items, even if they press F or use the Tab menu. Also, the lag prevents them from hitting almost any target, as it burdens them with dozens of errors. In other words, it was almost impossible to hold a match until the end.

The developers are aware of it and are planning to fix it

Fortunately for players, Bluehole the developers know about it and have already responded. However, they didn’t bring really good news, as they admitted there’s a lot of work until they can fix everything. They have already launched a small patch which dealt with several sound issues, but there’s a long way until everything is back to normal.

Other players who were patient enough to bear with the game reported that the lag went away by itself in about ten minutes. This might be given to the fact that many players left the game after getting annoyed, but the issue still needs fixing.
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STATES CHRONICLE – Many software producers, including Adobe itself, admitted the end was near for Flash. Now, the company has finally given a sentence on the software’s life. It will continue receiving support until 2020. Then, they will no longer produce neither distribute Flash.

Flash gradually became outdated

Many years ago, having Flash installed was a must if you wanted to enjoy graphical interfaces which were too much for JavaScript and basic HTML. However, technology evolved, and many other tools and improvements have gradually taken its place in our browsers. Recently, the last piece has been added (namely DRM-protected video support into HTML5), rendering the classic plug-in useless.

Therefore, Adobe and several other companies decided to gradually eliminate from browsers. They decided to offer patches and support for Flash up until the end of 2020. However, in certain areas, Adobe will end support more quickly.

There are still some gaps which need to be filled before ending support

The plug-in might have become outdated some time ago, but ending its support is a bit drastic. The plug-in helped with the development of complex graphics and interactive content, and there are still some features which haven’t been taken over by other tools.

This time, Adobe has been working on bringing some of Flash’s capabilities to HTML5. Also, other features are now no longer just tools used by Flash, and are more accessible and dedicated to improve the interactive experience. However, those tools strictly related to coding didn’t find a replacement yet, and such a loss might be crucial.

More importantly, Flash granted access to many games and animations which risk remaining inaccessible after 2020. Adobe didn’t find a way to let us access the huge legacy left by the plug-in. By 2020, the company might find a way to get rid of this huge gap. If not, we might suffer quite a big loss which will be difficult to fill.
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STATES CHRONICLE – A brand new Nokia device has long been rumored, but no official release date has been offered so far. However, Nokia’s official website from China left out by accident several promotional shots with the upcoming Nokia 8. This might be a hint that the release is just around the corner.

Nokia 8 images accidentally posted online

The Chinese Nokia Mobile website, owned by HMD Global, offered us a glimpse of how the new Nokia 8 will look like. However, this was not meant to happen yet. As soon as the company realized the images had leaked, it took down the announcement immediately. However, some fans were quicker, and managed to take screenshots of Nokia 8’s front panel.

These images show how Nokia 8 resembles Nokia 5 quite a lot. It has the same curved glass typical of Nokia 5, the camera placed in the top left corner, with the speaker and sensor placed right below. The right side displays the Nokia logo. At the bottom, there are the three buttons classic buttons: Home in the middle, the triangle-shaped Back on the left, and the square-shaped Recents on the right.

The images attracted all the media attention

Were these photos posted accidentally, after all? Many mobile manufacturers “accidentally” let out photos of their upcoming devices just to make customers curious and more interested in the products. Older rumors suggested Nokia 8 would be launched at the end of this month. Now, the company managed to attract all the attention towards it.

This device will definitely be a hit on the market, as it already promises strong specs and features. Rumors say it will cost around $675, and will come first for the lucky inhabitants of the Scandinavian countries. Then, it will start rolling out all over the world, starting with the end of this month.
Image Source: Pixabay

STATES CHRONICLE – After so many phishing scams targeted users via emails, and many of them were directed even towards Gmail users, Google decided to take extreme measures and improve its security features. They should help people stay safe online, and warn them when they stumble upon a questionable app.

Google will now warn you of unverified apps

Some apps might be designed to look legitimate and trick users into accessing them, and then go on and steal private information. Now, Google will add interstitial screens which detect these unverified apps, and then warn users right before using them. Also, they perform a new screening on their scripts.

This warning will apply to all unverified apps which require access to a Google account. If you want to open those apps in Chrome, a screen will automatically pop up and tell you that app is unverified. It will encourage you to access it only if you know for sure that the developer is trustworthy. Then, you can either close the app and remain safe, or open an additional menu informing you on the dangers of unverified apps.

This is an effective way to learn which apps you can trust

You can still opt to use the app despite the warning, but there is quite an ample process before you are allowed to do so. Google will ask you to type the word “continue” in a box, making sure it did its job and warned you of the risks you are exposing yourself to.

This ample process unverified apps have to go through is great for users, as they can learn what they can and cannot trust. Also, all new apps have to undergo the same verification. It might become tiring at some point, but you can make sure you stay protected and avoid questionable apps which can steal your personal info.
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STATES CHRONICLE – This Monday, Twitter took new measures to combat trolling and abusive behavior on the platform. The social media service has always been struggling with such issues, so it decided to update the filters and allow users to block certain comments.

New filter settings on Twitter

Twitter’s filter settings are now more advanced, and help users avoid unpleasant comments. Now, they can choose to block those notifications coming from users they didn’t follow, as well as those from users who are not following them. This already sounds good, but there’s more.

Some notifications might have poor quality, while others might not. This is why Twitter now allows you to filter the content and get rid of the bad things, or of Tweets coming from bots. Also, you can choose certain words or phrases you don’t want to see and keep away those comments and Tweets which contain them.

Trolling has always been a problem for Twitter users, since they are often bombarded with malicious comments and are constantly harassed with messages full of hate. If you have been one of the victims, you can now do something about it. Go to the Notifications tab, where you should select Settings. Then, choose the Advanced Filters section, and benefit from the mute options or apply any other filters you like.

The new options don’t actually solve the trolling problem

These changes follow a series of March updates, which also tried to handle the trolling issue. These updates allowed users to block accounts without a profile picture, a valid email address, or a phone number. Also, some time before that, new messages were directed to a folder of requests instead of coming directly to the inbox.

Twitter has always been criticized for its lack of action against trolling and harassment, so it finally decided to help users see less disturbing content. However, this doesn’t actually solve the problem, and is only a temporary measure to hide its results.
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STATES CHRONICLE – After more than ten years since its release, Google will finally kill off Google Talk in favor of Hangouts. This slow transition from one service to the other started in 2013, but its culmination came only now, when the tech giant decided to keep only one of the messaging platforms.

Google gives up on Google Talk

Google Talk was created as an instant messaging platform for Gmail users, and was often nicknamed Gchat. However, it started losing popularity when Hangouts was released, since the latter comes with modern features and is more user-friendly. Even so, active Google Talk users are still around, and they will have to switch to the other Google-owned messaging service.

There’s no need to worry, since there won’t be any dramatic disruption occurring after the switch. Hangouts is a good replacement for Google Talk, meaning that all your contacts will be transferred to the new account, and you will still be able to chat with other Gmail users.

The new platform comes with new features and improvements

What is different is the appearance of the platform which, as mentioned before, looks more modern. Also, it brings some new features, such as GIF support. Some users might not find this impressive but, if you are up-to-date to all the tech and social media novelties, you will enjoy all these extras on Hangouts.

Among other special features offered by the new platform, there’s the possibility of making group video calls, which might be incredibly helpful for companies. Also, many other Google products are integrated. Also, organizing meetings will be easier, with the help of Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet.

Google will disable Google Talk not only from web, but its Android version will also go. Therefore, if you used the service on your mobile, you will have to download Hangouts. Also, if you are not satisfied with the new platform, Google comes with other alternatives, such as Duo, Allo, Google Voice, or Android Messages.
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STATES CHRONICLE – After fourteen years of waiting, Beyond Good and Evil fans will finally be able to enjoy the sequel to their favorite game. During the E3 conference, Ubisoft brought this surprise for them, when nobody was expecting any follow-up to the original game.

The game gets released 14 years after the first title

At the time of its release, Beyond Good and Evil charmed gamers all over the world with a captivating mystery which took them at the end of the galaxy. Since then, they kept waiting for more titles in the series and, in 2008, Ubisoft launched a teaser trailer for the second game. However, they offered no other news regarding the release, and players started thinking this game will never see the light of day.

In the end, Ubisoft decided to no longer keep fans in suspense, and released an announcement trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2. The trailer shows how the sequel will follow a whole new direction, by presenting the protagonist as a new character, namely Knox, a monkey hybrid.

The exciting trailer gets fans ready for the launch

We can see how Knox performs an exchange with gangster Zhou Yuzhu, a pig hybrid. This exchange turns out to be a scam on the part of Knox, who gives Zhou a fake statue and runs for his escape. Then, he finally stumbles upon his partner who’s been waiting for him, but police are following them.

They manage to escape from the police and reach their home ship, where Knox gives captain Dakini the disk he managed to get from Zhou in exchange of the fake gold statue. This is where all the action begins, as the disk contains the map to a mysterious place called Moksha.

At the end of the trailer, the developers, visibly moved by the fans’ support which lasted for so many years, revealed that Beyond Good and Evil 2 would be, in fact, a prequel. It would present the story of the crew and how their world ended up like it was presented in the first title.

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