Posts Tagged: impact
If you like Genshin Impact, you’ll love this new OnePlus phone
OnePlus has taken the OnePlus 12R to new heights with this gorgeous limited edition inspired by Genshin Impact.
Digital Trends
Apple’s 2022 App Store Awards put the focus on ‘cultural impact’
BeReal, the new social media app that exploded in popularity over the past few months, is one of the biggest winners for this year’s Apple’s App Store Awards. It won iPhone App of the Year for giving people an authentic glimpse into their friend’s and family’s every day lives, the tech giant said in its announcement. In all, Apple highlighted 16 apps and games for 2022 that delivered “exceptional experiences and [made] a profound cultural impact.”
In BeReal’s case, the fact that other social media apps had introduced or are testing features similar to what it does is a clear testament to the “impact” it’s had on the space. BeReal users can share a selfie of themselves with a photo of their environment during a two-minute window that the app randomly selects for them every day. A reverse engineer found an experimental feature that’s basically identical to that within Instagram back in August, while TikTok unveiled its own take on the format in September.
Another big winner is GoodNotes 5, which was named the iPad App of the Year for taking digital notes “to the next level with best-in-class Apple Pencil support.” Users can treat their iPads like any book or notebook with the app, since it allows them to jot down notes on the margin and highlight important text, among other things.
MacFamilyTree 10 won Mac App of the year for its ability to create virtually stunning family trees and giving users the capability to collaborate with relatives around the world, while ViX, the Spanish-language streaming service by TelevisaUnivision, won Apple TV App of the Year. Yet another winner is fitness tracker Gentler Streak, which took home the Apple Watch App of the Year award.
For games, Apex Legends Mobile bested all the other titles for the iPhone, while puzzle game Moncage and card battler Inscryption won best games for the iPad and the Mac, respectively. The Wild West stealth game El Hijo won best game for Apple TV for looking exceptional on a big screen. Wylde Flowers, a life sim that combines farming with magic, was named as the best Apple Arcade game. Finally, esports simulator League of Legends Esports Manager won the first China Game of the Year award.
In addition to the main winners, Apple also highlighted five apps for impacting people’s lives and influencing culture. Those apps include How We Feel, which encourages users to record their emotional well-being to help them better vocalize it, and Dot’s Home, a time-traveling story that puts a spotlight on systemic housing injustices. Locket Widget can help forge connections between people by letting users send live photos to their friend’s and family’s home screen, while Waterllama makes keeping hydrated fun. There’s also Inua – A Story in Ice and Time, which takes users on an adventure rich in Inuit folklore and traditions.
NASA’s DART asteroid impact test left a trail over 6,000 miles long
NASA's successful asteroid impact test created a beautiful mess, apparently. As the Associated Press reports, astronomers using the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope in Chile have captured an image revealing that DART's collision with Dimorphos left a trail of dust and other debris measuring over 6,000 miles long. The spacecraft wasn't solely responsible — rather, the Sun's radiation pressure pushed the material away like it would with a comet's tail.
The trail is only likely to get larger, according to the researchers. It should eventually stretch to the point where the dust stream is virtually unrecognizable from the usual particles floating in the Solar System. NASA didn't create headaches for future probes and explorers. The space agency chose Dimorphos (a moonlet of the asteroid Didymos) as the deliberate crash wouldn't pose a threat to Earth.
The capture was about more than obtaining a dramatic snapshot, of course. Scientists will use data collected using SOAR, the Astronomical Event Observatory Network and other observers to understand more about the collision and Dimorphos itself. They'll determine the amount and speed of material ejected from the asteroid, and whether or not DART produced large debris chunks or 'merely' fine dust. Those will help understand how spacecraft can alter an asteroid's orbit, and potentially improve Earth's defenses against wayward cosmic rocks.
‘Zenless Zone Zero’ is a new action RPG from the studio behind ‘Genshin Impact’
Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse is working on a new project. On Friday, the studio shared the first trailer for Zenless Zone Zero, an action RPG set in a modern urban setting. Reminiscent of titles like The World Ends With You and Scarlett Nexus, the game pits players against Ethereal, monstrous creatures borne from another dimension. In a nod to Neon Genesis Evangelion, the action takes place in New Eridu, one of the few cities to survive the devastation wrought by the Ethereal.
As a “Proxy,” you’ll need to organize a disparate party of characters to battle the monsters. Hoyoverse hasn’t explicitly said how it plans to monetize Zenless Zone Zero, but it sounds like the game will employ a similar system to the one found in Genshin Impact. In other words, expect to use real-world money to improve your chances at obtaining some of the game’s most powerful party members. Zenless Zone Zero does not have a release date yet, but you can sign up to take part in the game’s closed iOS and PC beta by visiting its official website.
Every View Can Create Change: Introducing the 50+ new Creators for Change Impact Films
In anticipation of the International Day for Tolerance on November 16th, we are proud to celebrate the creators who are using the power of one view to open minds, inspire understanding, celebrate culture, and make a difference. From a beauty vlogger in California to a rapper in Sudan, a painter in Germany to a comedy collective in India, YouTube’s Creators for Change program brings together storytellers from around the world to share moments of hope, humanity, and acceptance. At YouTube, we believe that the world is a better place when we listen, share and build community through our stories. YouTube Creators for Change is a critical part of this mission and we are incredibly proud of the continued momentum of the creators from around the world who are using their voices to overcome divisiveness and hate.
Today, YouTube’s Creators for Change Ambassadors came together to release over 50 new films that aim to promote tolerance, encourage empathy, and spark dialogue, locally and globally.
In May we announced that 47 Global Ambassadors joined the Creators for Change program, a global initiative dedicated to amplifying and multiplying the voices of YouTube creators who are using their platforms to spread messages of positivity, hope and acceptance. Since the announcement, they’ve been working with mentors like award-winning filmmaker Eliot Rausch, the Founder of The Nzinga Effect, Eliza Anyangwe, and Anthony Robinson, the Director of Training & Public Engagement at the Truman National Security Project on persuasive storytelling and bridge-building to create inspiring Impact Films. Some highlights from this year’s films include:
- US-based singer-songwriter MILCK composed “A Little Peace” in response to violence globally. As part of her project she created a music video where multiple singers harmonized with one another in the name of peace.
- Australian-based YouTube Creator and rapper, L-FRESH the LION created a project that follows his work with Manbir SIngh (Akaal Fauj – kirtan teacher) trying to preserve Sikh culture through hip-hop and traditional music.
- UK-based skin-positivity Creator Em Ford created a follow-up video to her 2015 viral video “You Look disgusting” called “Redefine Pretty;” a short film detailing how beauty standards psychologically affect young women.
- India’s biggest female comedy YouTube creator, MostlySane’s video “No Offence” is a funny yet timely follow-up rap video to “Shameless”, focused on dealing with various kinds of hate speech – both online and in real life.
- Dentist by day, YouTube creator by night, Maha AJ created the “Salimmik” music video as a way to pay homage to her home country of Sudan. This love-letter to Sudan aims to show a side of Sudan that is not typically portrayed in media
Driving impact locally
In addition to the global program, creators around the world are using their voices to stand for positivity through our local chapter efforts in 9 countries. Through a combination of creator-led videos that opens minds to educational workshops that inspire critical though, local initiatives span 9 markets and continue to inspire local communities. For example:
- in Asia, Creators for Change joined forces with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and social change agency Love Frankie to support emerging YouTube creators committed to tackling tough social issues in their videos through a regional Creators for Change Fellows program. Following a series of kick-off Boot Camps across Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, a committee selected 15 regional Fellows from these 5 countries, collectively representing an audience of over 2 million fans. Armed with production funding and opportunities to work with civil society organizations, these up-and-coming voices have created over 15 inspiring videos.
- Be Internet Citizens, the United Kingdom’s local Creators for Change chapter, is on target to reach 20,000 students you the end of the year with content about responsible Internet use and empowering young adults to be positive voices online.
- Israel hosted almost 100 top creators for a Tolerance Summit in connection with the local chapter initiative, #Ovdim_Al_Ze. The 2018 Tolerance Challenge was announced, an invitation for local creators to share meaningful and heartfelt videos for release on the International Day for Tolerance taking place on November 16th, 2018.
- The German chapter of Creators for Change, #NichtEgal, kicked off a nation-wide roll-out of school-focused workshops in October. Targeting 61 schools in all 16 German states, this program aims to train 200 teachers and 1,500 mentor students, who are forwarding their knowledge to 10,000+ students within the program until the beginning of December. These workshops are supported by our local YouTube creators who share their experiences and advise the students on how to have a positive impact in their communities.
- So far this year, 35 000 youth have benefited from anti fake-news and hate speech related workshops in France as part of the Toi-même Tu filmes program, working closely with partners like Les Petits Débrouillards and Génération Numérique to deliver trainings all over France. Additionally, YouTube Creators for Change has partnered with the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner to sponsor the 2018 Mobile Film Festival, encouraging youth around the globe to create short films that celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.
To all the creators who participated in this year’s program: thank you. We are grateful for your passion and dedication.
— Juniper Downs, Head of YouTube Public Policy
Layoffs coming to Motorola, might impact the Moto Z and Moto Mods
Motorola’s smartphone business has been a story with a ton of ups and downs. They helped to really spark the Android craze with the Verizon Motorola Droid, but subsequently lost a lot of ground to HTC and then Samsung. That eventually turned into a sale to Google and the promising but underwhelming Moto X line, […]
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