Tech Digest daily roundup: New York Times buys Wordle
The New York Times has purchased the popular word game Wordle for an undisclosed seven-figure sum. The free and simple game was created by software engineer Josh Wardle. It was released last October and now boasts millions of players. Mr Wardle said the game’s success had been “a little overwhelming”, and that he was “incredibly pleased” to announce the deal with the New York Times. The newspaper publisher said the game would initially remain free to play. The game challenges players to find a five-letter word in six guesses. BBC
An update on Wordle pic.twitter.com/TmHd0AIRLX
— Josh Wardle (@powerlanguish) January 31, 2022
Downing Street has launched an audacious bid to lure the $45bn (£34bn) payments behemoth Klarna to the London Stock Exchange amid fears that high-growth companies are snubbing the City for New York. Ministers courted the Swedish business at a Number 10 meeting in which they encouraged some of Europe’s largest tech companies to float in the City by touting the opportunities for post-Brexit reform. Boris Johnson was meant to personally host the online gathering in a sign that the Government and London Stock Exchange are rolling out the red carpet to tech companies, but he dropped out shortly before he began to address the Commons about Sue Gray’s Partygate findings. Telegraph
PlayStation maker Sony has announced a $3.6bn deal to buy Bungie, the games developer behind titles such as Destiny. It comes two weeks after Microsoft, maker of the rival Xbox console, said it was paying $68.7bn for Activision Blizzard, whose titles include Call of Duty and Candy Crush. US-based Bungie was founded in 1991 and early hits included Myth and Marathon. It was bought by Microsoft in 2000, under whose ownership it developed the Halo franchise. Microsoft spun off the game studio in 2007 but retained the rights to Halo. Sky News
Google has announced that Gmail’s new layout, which changes how Google Chat, Meet, and Spaces are integrated, will be available to try starting in February; become default by April; and become the only option by the end of Q2 2022. The view makes it so Google’s other messaging tools, which are part of (but not necessarily limited to) its business-focused Workspace suite, are no longer just little windows floating alongside your emails, but get their own screens in Gmail that are accessible with large buttons on the left-hand side. Google calls this the integrated view, and it’ll soon be familiar if you (or your employer) are a Workspace customer. The Verge
Apple now supports unlisted apps on its App Store. These will be discoverable only with a direct link and will not be available to the general public on the platform. Apple envisions these apps to be used for limited audiences such as employees, students or conference attendees and the new apps will be available via the Apple School Manager and Apple Business Manager platforms. Unlisted apps will still have to be approved by Apple’s App Review team. Unlisted apps will need to be “ready for final distribution” meaning betas and pre-release builds will not be eligible. GSM Arena
Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their “Full Self-Driving” software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt. Documents posted Tuesday by U.S. safety regulators say that Tesla will disable the feature with an over-the-internet software update. The “rolling stop” feature allows vehicles to go through intersections with all-way stop signs at up to 5.6 miles per hour. The docments say Tesla agreed to the recall after two meetings with officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. AP News
