Zoom suffered a major outage that may have cancelled your video meetings

If you couldn’t join a must-attend Zoom meeting this morning, you weren’t alone. Zoom is recovering from a major outage that prevented users from starting or joining meetings. The company didn’t yet have an explanation for the problem, but said it had “identified” the cause and continue investigating the fault. It also vowed to monitor the situation.

The company first flagged the outage at 11:17AM Eastern, shortly after users began reporting that zoom.us was unavailable. It pinpointed the issue at about 11:30AM and said it had fixed the problem several minutes later.

Zoom outages aren’t unheard of. Notably, the service had a rough morning in August 2020 that left meetings unavailable for hours. This downtime has become rarer, though, and outages like these are all the more painful as a result. Look at it this way, though: this might be welcome if you’re tired of lengthy video calls that could have been replaced with a simple email.

TikTok experiment asks you to share BeReal-style daily posts with friends

Instagram isn’t the only one hoping to capitalize on the daily photo sharing trend. TikTok has unveiled an experimental Now feature that, much like BeReal, asks you to post either a photo (using front and back cameras) or 10-second video to tell friends what you’re doing each day. You’ll have a limited window to share content after you receive a randomly-timed prompt. Effectively, it’s a visual status update.

The test will run over the “coming weeks,” according to the social network. TikTok Now is available through the usual app in the US, but you may also find it as a dedicated app in other countries. Not surprisingly, the company is limiting some features for teens. Anyone under 16 who creates an account in the Now app will default to private viewing. Teens between 13 and 15 can only receive comments from friends, and everyone under 18 can’t share their content on Explore.

TikTok is more used to rivals duping its features than the other way around. However, it’s easy to see the reasons for borrowing BeReal’s core concept. Daily posts could keep you coming back to TikTok. They also elevate the importance of friends — you might want to add more people to your social circle if you know you’ll see frequent updates. In that sense, Now could change TikTok’s role as much as it could improve the company’s bottom line.

Adobe acquires collaborative design platform Figma for $20 billion

Adobe just made a big move into team-based creative work. The company is acquiring the online collaborative design platform Figma for roughly $20 billion in cash and shares. That’s the largest buyout of a private software company to date, according to Bloomberg‘s Katie Roof. Adobe hopes the deal will “accelerate” web creativity and put more of the Creative Cloud suite’s technology on the internet. You can expect to see Adobe’s visual editing features find their way into Figma’s platform.

The two firms expect the purchase to close sometime in 2023 if it receives approval from regulators and shareholders. Figma co-founder and chief Dylan Field will continue to lead his company if and when the takeover finalizes, but will report to Adobe’s digital media lead David Wadhwani.

Don’t worry that Adobe will completely revamp Figma, at least not at first. Field stressed in a blog post that Adobe was “deeply committed” to keeping Figma an autonomous company. There’s “no plan” at the moment to change Figma’s pricing, and it will remain free for education users. While the executive hoped to draw on Adobe’s know-how for upgrades, he also expected to keep running Figma as he did before.

While the acquisition is huge, it’s not surprising given Adobe’s past moves. It bought the video collaboration platform Frame.io in 2021, and has been making moves into web-based tools with offerings like Creative Cloud Express. Figma is a logical (if major) extension of that strategy — it could help make online teamwork a staple of the creative process in companies that regularly use software like Photoshop and Premiere.

California sues Amazon for preventing third-party sellers offering cheaper prices elsewhere

Amazon still can’t avoid lawsuits over third-party prices. The New York Timesreports California has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of violating both the Cartwright Act and state competition law through its pricing rules. The internet giant is stifling competition by preventing sellers from offering lower prices on other sites, according to Attorney General Rob Bonta. If they defy Amazon, they risk losing buy buttons, prominent listings or even basic access to Amazon’s marketplace.

If successful, the lawsuit would bar any contracts deemed anti-competitive and notify sellers that they’re free to reduce prices elsewhere. Amazon would also have to pay damages, return “ill-gotten gains” and appoint a court-approved overseer.

In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said California had the situation “exactly backwards.” Third-parties still have control over prices, Amazon claimed, and inclusion in the “Buy Box” space supposedly shows that a deal is truly competitive. It further contended that the suit would raise prices. You can read the full statement below.

The case is similar to a District of Columbia lawsuit. The region’s Superior Court dismissed that case in March citing a lack of evidence, but Attorney General Karl Racine is appealing the decision.

Amazon is facing increasing government scrutiny of its practices. The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating issues ranging from major acquisitions through to withheld driver tips, while EU pressure prompted Amazon to revise its seller program and improve third parties’ chances of competing with direct sales. The tech firm has balked at these moves, and went so far as to both demand the FTC chair’s recusal as well as fight agency requests to interview executives. Don’t expect either side to back down any time soon, in other words.

“Similar to the D.C. Attorney General—whose complaint was dismissed by the courts—the California Attorney General has it exactly backwards. Sellers set their own prices for the products they offer in our store. Amazon takes pride in the fact that we offer low prices across the broadest selection, and like any store we reserve the right not to highlight offers to customers that are not priced competitively. The relief the AG seeks would force Amazon to feature higher prices to customers, oddly going against core objectives of antitrust law. We hope that the California court will reach the same conclusion as the D.C. court and dismiss this lawsuit promptly.”

HP’s construction robot puts blueprints on site floors

Construction workers might soon spend more time building and less time preparing. HP has unveiled a SitePrint robot that autonomously prints layouts on construction site floors. With the help of a remote control tablet and cloud tools, the machine can outline walls, doors and other elements with little intervention — it can avoid unexpected obstacles, including steep drops. The company claims the bot can finish a layout in a “fraction” of the time humans require, although this will vary by the complexity of the project.

The robot includes two batteries that can each handle up to four hours of printing. It can print on surfaces like concrete, plywood and terrazzo, even if they’re rough. You can also choose inks that last days or months to suit the timeline for a given job.

HP is making the SitePrint robot available to North American companies this month as part of an early access program. The finished automaton and a full-scale launch are due sometime in 2023. The hardware has already been tested with projects ranging from airports to hospitals.

There’s clearly a concern SitePrint might automate people out of jobs. The robot only requires one operator versus the two or three people typically needed for manual layouts. However, its timing might be particularly apt. As in many other fields, the construction industry is grappling with labor shortages. Robots like SitePrint could help builders make the most of limited staff, or take on more ambitious tasks without hiring larger crews.

Northeastern University targeted by anti-VR bomber

Northeastern University has found itself the victim of an unusual technology-related bomb attack. CNNreports that someone sent a bomb-like package to the Boston university’s virtual reality lab in Holmes Hall on September 13th, causing hand injuries to the man that opened the container. There were no indications of a greater threat, and the school resumed classes after determining the campus was secure.

The currently unidentified attacker appears to have a grudge against VR, and Meta in particular. CNN sources claimed the “rambling” note in the package slammed Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg as well as the links between academia and VR developers. There were no explosives in the container, one of the sources said. Instead, it depressurized with violent force. It also wasn’t mailed to the university.

While there has been limited damage, law enforcement is taking the case seriously. The FBI, which has been coordinating with local police, has offered the full help of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and other units for the investigation.

Meta has faced some criticism over its decision to rebrand and focus on the metaverse. It started shifting its attention to VR just as whistleblower Frances Haugen shared documents that she said highlighted Facebook’s failures in handling misinformation and other social media problems. VR may serve as a distraction from Meta’s shortcomings, in other words. Privacy and safety have also been concerns in VR. While it’s not clear the attacker had any of these issues in mind, there’s little doubt Meta’s approach to VR already had its detractors.

TikTok search results are reportedly swarming with misinformation

While TikTok is no stranger to fighting misinformation, the problem might be worse than you think. As the AP reports, internet trust researchers at NewsGuard have published a report claiming that almost 20 percent of sampled search results for major news topics included misinformation. The bogus claims covered subjects ranging from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through to COVID-19 vaccines and the January 6th, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

NewsGuard also found that typing innocuous queries can lead to suggestions rife with misinformation. Start looking for “climate change” and TikTok will offer searches related to climate science denial, for instance. The results are also more polarizing than through Google, according to the researchers, with 12 out of the top 20 results for the 2022 US midterms included highly partisan statements.

We’ve asked TikTok for comment. In a statement to NewsGuard, a spokesperson said the social media giant doesn’t allow “harmful misinformation” and pulls it from the platform.

TikTok has made a point of removing misinformation. It took down nearly 350,000 videos related to the 2020 US presidential election by the end of that year, for example. The company uses AI to screen videos, and either pulls flagged clips automatically or sends them to human moderators. The concern, as you might guess, is that this approach doesn’t catch enough offenders — particularly those that avoid using keywords likely to alert the AI.

However prominent misinformation might be, the report comes at a bad time for TikTok. Operations chief Vanessa Pappas is due to testify today alongside other companies’ executives at a Senate hearing exploring social networking’s effects on national security. The findings won’t necessarily come up during the hearing, but they could further pressure TikTok to clamp down on falsehoods.

Action RPG ‘Project Eve’ will finally debut in 2023 as ‘Stellar Blade’

Shift Up’s long-touted Project Eve is finally nearing release. The Korean developer has announced that the action RPG will arrive in 2023 as Stellar Blade. It will be a PS5 exclusive on consoles. Accordingly, the studio used Sony’s State of Play event to share a trailer outlining the game’s apocalyptic premise.

You play Eve, a warrior who returns to a shattered Earth to rebuild the last city (Xion) and protect it against “NA:tives.” Naturally, there will be some intrigue between humans alongside the usual battles against horrific-looking creatures. The action RPG mechanics will sound familiar, but could be intriguing if you thrive on perfecting your gameplay. You’ll need “precise timing” with combos, defensive maneuvers and skills to succeed against regular foes, while boss fights will demand a more “strategic” approach.

Project Eve has garnered increasing buzz since the first teaser trailer appeared in 2019, in no small part due to its eye-catching visuals. Whether or not the finished Stellar Blade lives up to those expectations is another story. This is Shift Up’s first console game, not to mention its first AAA release. While the company has had success with the mobile-oriented Destiny Child, it’ll need to show that its experience translates well to other platforms.

‘Yakuza: Like A Dragon 8’ arrives in 2024

If you’ve been craving more Yakuza games, don’t worry — you’re going to get plenty in the next couple of years. Sega has revealed that Yakuza: Like a Dragon 8 is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC (via Steam) in 2024. While it’s still early days, the developers have confirmed that both Like a Dragon‘s Ichiban and series veteran Kiryu will both serve as protagonists. You’ll see an RPG-style combat system once more, and Kiryu will have his own party.

You won’t have to wait that long if you need an additional fix. Another spinoff, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, is coming in 2023. The mid-sized action adventure (larger than DLC, smaller than a full game) will shed light on Kiryu’s life between Yakuza 6 and Like a Dragon 8. Think of it as a way to both fill out the backstory and help newcomers catch up if they’ve missed earlier games in the franchise.

The games join a remake of the samurai-era Like a Dragon: Ishin launching in February 2023. Sega is clearly capitalizing on the growing success of Yakuza games beyond Japan (including offshoots like the Judgment series). Not that you’ll necessarily mind if you’re a fan. Like a Dragon was generally well received when it arrived in 2020, and these follow-ups promise more of that successful formula.