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Today — 20 May 2025Tech News

Luminar kicks off another round of layoffs amid CEO’s sudden resignation

20 May 2025 at 16:56
Luminar, the lidar company founded by recently replaced CEO Austin Russell, is going through another restructuring, according to a recent regulatory filing. This new round of layoffs, which the company did not provide figures for, follows extensive cuts to the workforce in 2024. Luminar cut about 30% of its workforce in 2024, a reduction that […]

Google’s Sergey Brin: ‘I made a lot of mistakes with Google Glass’

20 May 2025 at 16:17
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he “made a lot of mistakes with Google Glass” during an onstage interview at Google I/O 2025 on Tuesday. Brin was a surprise addition to an interview with Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis conducted by Big Technology Podcast’s Alex Kantrowitz. Brin went on to say he “didn’t know anything about […]

Google shows Android 16’s Live Updates with Maps, Uber Eats, rolling out ‘over the next year’ [Gallery]

20 May 2025 at 15:50

One of Android 16’s new features is “Live Updates” and we’re finally getting a peak into how they’ll work for apps like Google Maps and Uber Eats, but we might also be waiting longer than expected to start using them.

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Fortnite is finally back on US iPhones

20 May 2025 at 15:15

Fortnite is once again available on the iOS App Store in the US, according to Epic Games. You can get it from the App Store here. Epic says it has returned to the Epic Games Store and AltStore as well.

Apple kicked Fortnite off the App Store nearly five years ago after Epic Games added its own in-app payment system to the game, which violated Apple’s rules. But after a major court ruling in Epic Games v. Apple that forced Apple to not take fees from purchases made outside of apps, the game is available to play on US iPhones once again.

we back fam https://t.co/X14bCXoylB

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) May 20, 2025

Shortly after the big ruling hit, CEO Tim Sweeney said that Epic planned to bring back Fortnite to iOS in the US. He also made a “peace proposal:” “If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic.“

On May 9th, it submitted the app to Apple. Ahead of that, Sweeney said that Epic would use its Sweden developer account to submit the game to the US App Store.

Late last week, Epic said that Apple had blocked Fortnite’s return to the App Store, and the game also became unavailable on other alternative app stores in the EU. However, Apple said that it had “asked that Epic Sweden resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies” and that “we did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces.”

Epic asked the judge in the Epic v. Apple case to order Apple to review its Fortnite submission on May 16th. Yesterday, the judge said in a filing that Apple is “fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or a hearing,” and that if a resolution wasn’t reached, the Apple official who “is personally responsible for ensuring compliance” would have to appear at a hearing next Tuesday.

However, shortly after Fortnite returned to the App Store on Tuesday, Epic and Apple filed a joint notice saying that they have “resolved all issues” from Epic’s May 16th filing. Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Epic also recently rolled out a new promotion to encourage players to use its payment systems: if you use Epic’s system in Fortnite, Rocket League, or Fall Guys on PC, iOS, Android, and the web, the company will give you 20 percent back in Epic Rewards that can be used for other purchases in its games or on the Epic Games Store.

In the iOS version of Fortnite that was released on Tuesday, the app shows you that 20 percent bonus when you pick which payment system you want to use to buy V-Bucks.

The company launched a new Star Wars-themed season for Fortnite on May 2nd.

If you get the app from the App Store, it will be a small initial download, and after you actually open the app, it will download the rest of the game. For a colleague, that additional download was 12.95GB.

Update, May 20th: Added details of Epic and Apple’s joint notice.

Fortnite returns to the App Store for iPhone and iPad in the US

20 May 2025 at 15:12

After a nearly five-year hiatus, Fortnite is back on the App Store for iPhone and iPad users in the United States. Epic Games announced the return of the battle royale gaming app this afternoon, and you can head to the App Store now to download it.

Fortnite is also back in the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the European Union.

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Google I/O 2025: Three highlights Apple should pay attention to

20 May 2025 at 15:06

Much like Microsoft’s Build keynote, Google’s kickoff of its annual developer event was a sort of AI-palooza. Unless you’re done with AI, in which case it was probably a snoozefest, and I suggest you skip over to the next post. I’m not sure it’s a good long-term plan, though.

From flashy moonshots to real, actionable, useful features that customers will be able to take advantage of almost immediately, there was a little bit of everything. Including things that Apple users will also greatly benefit from.

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