Month: July 2023
Nintendo may be gearing up for the launch of its newest next-gen console
Sources have reported that Nintendo has sent out development kits for partner studios as it gears up for next-gen launch.
According to various sources, Nintendo may be gearing up to launch its next console sooner than you may think.
Ever since the Nintendo Switch OLED was released in 2021, we’ve been wondering when we’ll get a Nintendo Switch 2. While we originally theorized that it would be around six years until the next console, placing the release date around 2027, current reports seem to disagree.
According to a report by VGC, multiple people with inside knowledge of Nintendo’s next-gen plans, the company is getting ready to release the new console in the second half of 2024. This will supposedly ensure stock doesn’t run out on day one, as we’ve seen with PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
A 2024 release date for the Switch would mean a ‘mid-cycle’ launch for new hardware compared to PlayStation and Xbox. Something that has been somewhat of a historical trend for Nintendo.
So far, not much else is known about the highly-anticipated console. However, sources were able to describe how the upcoming Switch will have a portable mode, much like the Nintendo Switch before it.
VGC also reported that the newest console may launch with an LCD screen instead of the high-quality premium OLED. While it may not be able to rival the Nintendo OLED in handheld quality, this downgrade could mean lower prices. Despite the potential of an LCD screen, we’re still hoping to see significant technical upgrades. With no 4K output when docked, the Switch is beginning to show its age.
Tokyo-based industry consultant Dr Serkan Toto told VGC that by “looking at Nintendo’s financials, it seems clear that it’s time for a new piece of hardware in 2024. The only way to stop these losses from totally ballooning next fiscal is a new device, and the second half of 2024 sounds like a realistic release window to me.”
If you’re in the market for a next-gen console, then check out which console is right for you before you spend an arm and a leg on it.
Fleek Network releases new whitepaper for decentralized edge platform
Fleek Network, a network optimized to facilitate the deployment and running of geo-aware decentralized web and edge services, has released a new whitepaper unveiling its decentralized edge platform. This major milestone is accompanied by the launch of an open-source GitHub
Fleek Network, a network optimized to facilitate the deployment and running of geo-aware decentralized web and edge services, has released a new whitepaper unveiling its decentralized edge platform. This major milestone is accompanied by the launch of an open-source GitHub […]
eBay charged with multiple unfair labor complaints in struggle with its first union
Image: eBay
eBay is the latest company to be hit with unfair labor complaints as this year’s hot labor summer continues amid strikes, threats of strikes, and workers all over the country organizing for better working conditions. The complaints were filed on behalf of workers at TCGplayer, a company eBay acquired in 2022 that’s known for selling and authenticating trading cards from games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and Magic: The Gathering. The complaints allege that after workers at TCGplayer won their union election back in March, management of eBay and TCGplayer has refused to acknowledge the union and engaged in tactics designed to impede or delay workers’ ability to negotiate for a fair contract.
“My colleagues and I haven’t had a cost-of-living raise in 3 years. We are losing sick time and face constant changes at work that impact our ability to be successful,” said Briana Thomas, a member of the TCG Union-CWA and part of its organizing committee in a press release from the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Thomas spoke about the issues workers have had since winning their union election five months ago.
“Back in March, the majority of my coworkers and I voted in favor of the CWA representing us,” Thomas said. Since then, Thomas explained that eBay and TCGplayer have filed several appeals challenging the election while also refusing to recognize the union amid the appeals process stymieing TCG Union’s ability to negotiate for a fair contract.
“They have refused to give us our rights to status quo. Our Weingarten rights. They refuse to recognize us as a union. They refuse to acknowledge the fact that [the union has] been certified even if we present them with certification,” Thomas said. “So they are just continuing to make all these changes and refusing to work with us and refusing to follow their legal right to sit down or their legal responsibilities to sit down and bargain with us at the table.”
Though the TCG Union-CWA was formed just this year, workers were set to vote on unionization back in 2020. According to Thomas, before the 2020 vote, TCGplayer management made promises to improve benefits and implement better pathways to promotion.
“They asked us to give them a year to deliver on all these promises,” Thomas said. She said that workers were given a raise, and the union vote was withdrawn.
“We haven’t gotten a raise since that one in 2020. And then things have just gotten worse.” Two years after the withdrawn vote, eBay acquired the company for just under $300 million.
In addition to refusing to recognize the union or meet union members at the bargaining table, Thomas said that eBay and TCGplayer have tried to further erode union support through intimidation tactics and by retaining Littler Mendelson, a notorious anti-union law firm known for its work against organizers at Starbucks and Apple.
“We’ve had to deal with lots of captive audience meetings,” Thomas claimed. “We had to deal with them quite literally demonizing those of us that wanted the union. They told us to call the cops on our coworkers if they made us feel uncomfortable. They spread lies about how we were showing up at people’s houses and harassing them. They tried to perpetuate this idea that we were doing this maliciously.”
The unfair labor complaints further allege that eBay and TCGplayer have:
refused to recognize and bargain with the union;
refused to provide information relevant to collective bargaining requested by the union;
refused to afford Weingarten Rights to employees in accordance with NLRB regulations;
implemented unilateral changes to various terms and conditions of employment, while refusing to negotiate with the union regarding those changes in violation of status quo rules
As labor movements in video games and other gaming-adjacent industries continue to gain momentum, most of the coverage has been centered on winning union elections. However, that is just the first in a series of steps toward a union’s ultimate goal: a collective bargaining agreement that results in a fair contract. According to Thomas, that goal has been threatened by eBay and TCGplayer.
“People are getting angry,” Thomas continued. “They’re angry because they’re afraid. We are afraid that they are going to continue drawing this out.”
The Verge has reached out to eBay and TCGplayer for comment.
Image: eBay
eBay is the latest company to be hit with unfair labor complaints as this year’s hot labor summer continues amid strikes, threats of strikes, and workers all over the country organizing for better working conditions. The complaints were filed on behalf of workers at TCGplayer, a company eBay acquired in 2022 that’s known for selling and authenticating trading cards from games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and Magic: The Gathering. The complaints allege that after workers at TCGplayer won their union election back in March, management of eBay and TCGplayer has refused to acknowledge the union and engaged in tactics designed to impede or delay workers’ ability to negotiate for a fair contract.
“My colleagues and I haven’t had a cost-of-living raise in 3 years. We are losing sick time and face constant changes at work that impact our ability to be successful,” said Briana Thomas, a member of the TCG Union-CWA and part of its organizing committee in a press release from the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Thomas spoke about the issues workers have had since winning their union election five months ago.
“Back in March, the majority of my coworkers and I voted in favor of the CWA representing us,” Thomas said. Since then, Thomas explained that eBay and TCGplayer have filed several appeals challenging the election while also refusing to recognize the union amid the appeals process stymieing TCG Union’s ability to negotiate for a fair contract.
“They have refused to give us our rights to status quo. Our Weingarten rights. They refuse to recognize us as a union. They refuse to acknowledge the fact that [the union has] been certified even if we present them with certification,” Thomas said. “So they are just continuing to make all these changes and refusing to work with us and refusing to follow their legal right to sit down or their legal responsibilities to sit down and bargain with us at the table.”
Though the TCG Union-CWA was formed just this year, workers were set to vote on unionization back in 2020. According to Thomas, before the 2020 vote, TCGplayer management made promises to improve benefits and implement better pathways to promotion.
“They asked us to give them a year to deliver on all these promises,” Thomas said. She said that workers were given a raise, and the union vote was withdrawn.
“We haven’t gotten a raise since that one in 2020. And then things have just gotten worse.” Two years after the withdrawn vote, eBay acquired the company for just under $300 million.
In addition to refusing to recognize the union or meet union members at the bargaining table, Thomas said that eBay and TCGplayer have tried to further erode union support through intimidation tactics and by retaining Littler Mendelson, a notorious anti-union law firm known for its work against organizers at Starbucks and Apple.
“We’ve had to deal with lots of captive audience meetings,” Thomas claimed. “We had to deal with them quite literally demonizing those of us that wanted the union. They told us to call the cops on our coworkers if they made us feel uncomfortable. They spread lies about how we were showing up at people’s houses and harassing them. They tried to perpetuate this idea that we were doing this maliciously.”
The unfair labor complaints further allege that eBay and TCGplayer have:
refused to recognize and bargain with the union;
refused to provide information relevant to collective bargaining requested by the union;
refused to afford Weingarten Rights to employees in accordance with NLRB regulations;
implemented unilateral changes to various terms and conditions of employment, while refusing to negotiate with the union regarding those changes in violation of status quo rules
As labor movements in video games and other gaming-adjacent industries continue to gain momentum, most of the coverage has been centered on winning union elections. However, that is just the first in a series of steps toward a union’s ultimate goal: a collective bargaining agreement that results in a fair contract. According to Thomas, that goal has been threatened by eBay and TCGplayer.
“People are getting angry,” Thomas continued. “They’re angry because they’re afraid. We are afraid that they are going to continue drawing this out.”
The Verge has reached out to eBay and TCGplayer for comment.
Save $100 on This LowePro Camera Backpack and Protect Your Gear on the Go – CNET
The lightweight Trekker 150 is the perfect companion for summer adventures, and today only you can pick it up on sale for just $55.
The lightweight Trekker 150 is the perfect companion for summer adventures, and today only you can pick it up on sale for just $55.
Amazon Will Now Share Recalls and Product Safety Alerts in Your Account – CNET
A new alerts page will appear if a product you purchased is the focus of a recall.
A new alerts page will appear if a product you purchased is the focus of a recall.
VC Office Hours: Black Girls Code founder Kimberly Bryant starts a new chapter
Kimberly Bryant has had quite a few ups and down during her journey as an entrepreneur, especially over the past year.
Kimberly Bryant has had quite a few ups and down during her journey as an entrepreneur, especially over the past year.
Known for founding Black Girls Code, a nonprofit organization that helps young Black girls enter STEM fields, Bryant faced a slew of problems in 2021, when tensions started boiling between her, her employees, and her board. Allegations of poor management followed, and eventually led to her indefinite suspension from the company, and a few months later, she was let go. The situation is still developing.
At the time, many founders told TechCrunch it was a wake-up call to pay more attention to how much power they give boards.
Regardless of the drama, though, Bryant is back with her latest endeavor: a 12-week startup accelerator program called The Black Innovation Lab (BIL), under the umbrella of her newly launched investment firm, Ascend Ventures.
Based in Bryant’s hometown, Memphis, the accelerator aims to cut checks for Black-founded companies addressing timely issues such as artificial intelligence, climate and healthcare.
Black founders are woefully underfunded, consistently raising less than 2% of all venture capital in any given year. The numbers hardly move when broken up by category: last year, for example, Black founders raised 1% of all capital invested in climate funding.
“Black founders have the potential to make a significant positive impact on the world,” Bryant told TechCrunch+. “A strong sense of community, equity and culture are keys to the success of any startup endeavor.”
Bryant plans to launch BIL next fall with gener8tor, one of the biggest startup accelerators in the nation. The accelerator aims to host one to two cohorts of six early-stage and pre-seed companies per year. Each startup will receive $100,000 of guaranteed funding in exchange for equity, which is a common practice with startup accelerators. Bryant wants to expand the accelerator throughout the U.S. over the next 10 years.
Ascend Ventures currently aims to focus on supporting startups in its accelerator program, though Bryant says wants the fund to one day invest in companies outside of BIL.
Image Credits: Kimberly Bryant
The timing is right: the Southern U.S. is seeing a boom in venture funding as resources continue to grow in the region for founders who live and have relocated there. Last year, during the venture pullback, the Southeast U.S., including states like Georgia and Florida, was the only region not to see a substantial decrease in funding. Atlanta has emerged as a shining jewel of the region, following in the footsteps of Austin and Miami.
Upon launch, the BIL will be based out of Memphis’ historic Griggs College, a Black-owned institution that operated from 1949 to 1971. Bryant is crowdfunding to help expense the BIL program, but says she also has support from private angel investors, LPs, and the Tech Hub Program.
We recently caught up with Bryant to talk about this new endeavor, what she’s learned since leaving Black Girls Code, and what kind of legacy she wants to leave within the startup ecosystem.
(This interview has been edited lightly for length and clarity.)
TechCrunch+: How did your experience with Black Girls Code impact how you set up BIL?
Kimberly Bryant: As I transitioned from my role with Black Girls Code (BGC) at the end of 2022, I embarked on a journey of self-reflection and learning from the mistakes I made as a founder. During this time, I found myself inundated with messages from other founders, and as I connected with them, a common theme emerged — the need for key business tools and support in areas such as board governance, IP protection, and access to adequate capital for growth.
It wasn’t until I left BGC that the vision for Ascend Ventures and Black Innovation Lab became clear. The urgent need was a space for entrepreneurial mentorship and support, where founders could access the resources and guidance needed to succeed. My lessons from Black Girls Code also guided me to prioritize diversity and equity.