Welcome to our round-up of the hottest tech news for April. A lot’s been happening this month. Award-winning games, new apps, new AI… Luton FC. It’s all here, so let’s dive right in.
And the BAFTA goes to… Baldur’s Gate 3!
The 20th BAFTA Games Awards took place on Thursday 11 April, and Baldur’s Gate 3 was the big winner. The epic role-playing game scooped 5 awards – best game, best music, best narrative, best performer (for Andrew Wincott who plays Raphael – a bit of a devil by all accounts), and the EE players’ choice award which is voted by the public.
This news didn’t come as a huge surprise to us. Baldur’s Gate 3 had already scooped best game at the 2023 Game Awards, the Academy Awards of gaming. And it truly is an amazing game, with spectacular graphics, great settings, cool combat, and some of the best voice acting you’ll hear. Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X |Series S, GeForce Now, Microsoft Windows, and Mac operating systems.
There were other worthy winners. Mario still has some bounce in his step, with Super Mario Bros. Wonder winning both the best family and best multiplayer awards. There were also well-deserved BAFTA wins for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo Switch), and Marvel’s Spider Man 2 (PlayStation 5).
Tik Tok reveals a familiar looking app
Tik Tok is testing out a new app called Notes. It’s available on iPhone and Android in selected countries, but it hasn’t made its way to the UK yet.
According to Tik Tok, the new app will offer a dedicated space to post and share photographs. Sounds familiar? Yes, it’s incredibly similar to Instagram.
There are a few differences though. Unlike Instagram, the Notes feed is in grid form, allowing you to see multiple posts at the same time. You can also give posts a headline, which you can’t do on Instagram.
TikTok has yet to say when the Notes app will be available in the UK. But when it does, we’ll let you know.
5-7 year olds are on the phone
Mobile phone owners are getting younger. Research from Ofcom shows that almost one in four kids aged five to seven in the UK now have their own mobiles.
The big question for parents is, when should you give your child their first smartphone? According to this BBC article on the right age to get a smartphone, it’s more than a question of age, with lots of different factors coming into play – such as, how does it fit for both the child and family? A lot of parents will want younger children to have phones so that they can keep in touch with them when they’re apart.
It also emerged this month that the government is considering banning phone sales to children under the age of 16. At the moment, retailers have no restrictions on the age of the person buying a phone.
C’mon you Hatters! Luton Town’s ground is now on EA FC 24
EA FC 24 is arguably the greatest footie game around. Its attention to detail is incredible, and there’s nothing like leading your favourite team out onto the pitch and savouring the atmosphere of your familiar home stadium. Luton FC fans have been feeling a little left out though, as their home ground wasn’t represented in the game. Until now, that is.
EA has announced: “Game developers have worked closely with the club to authentically represent the stadium as it stands today. From Kenilworth Stand to the David Preece stand, fans can experience Kenilworth Road in all of its glory.”
We’re crossing our fingers that Luton escape relegation this year, so that their gaming fans can enjoy playing in their EA FC stadium for another season (at least). And because we’re an unbiased bunch, we’ve got our fingers crossed for all their relegation rivals too. May the best teams stay up!
Meta smart glasses are getting smarter
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg really talked up the AI opportunities of Meta smart glasses when they were launched last year. Now it looks like real progress has been made, with some cool Meta AI features appearing on the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses - but only in the US and Canada for now (why is the UK never first?).
The standout AI feature is called Look and Ask. You can probably guess what this does, but we’re going to tell you anyway. To activate it, say “Hey Meta, look and …” then ask a question about something you can see. You could try asking questions about any buildings, animals, vehicles or anything interesting you see when you’re out and about. You could even ask about an ingredient in the supermarket and get suggestions for cooking with it.
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses also have a Meta AI assistant to help you do things like making calls, sending texts or playing music video calls, using just your voice. Here’s what we thought of the Ray Ban Meta smart glasses when we tried them out last year.
Currys does curries. Or does it?
We’ve left the hottest news to last. Way back at the start of the month, 1st April, to be exact, Currys launched a new ‘Curries for Tech’ scheme.
It was a tasty proposal. In selected stores, customers could bring in their old unwanted tech and exchange it for a free delicious curry. Options on the menu included Mixer Masala, Air Fried-Aloo, and Crock Pot-ato Vindaloo(!)
It soon became obvious that the ‘selected stores’ involved were very selected. There weren’t any. It was an April Fool’s joke. Did you guess?
But wait! There’s a twist to the story. In an unexpected turn of events, Currys got so many messages from curry loving customers, that it went ahead with the scheme after all. On 12th April, the Currys Croydon store teamed up with Caribbean restaurant, Top it Off, to dish out two signature meals – Currys Chicken Curry and a Vegan Tech-a Masala, both served with Currys special purple rice. So, was it an actual April Fools or not? We’ll let you work it out for yourself.
We’ll be back next month with a round-up of May’s greatest tech news. Keep an eye out for that end-of-May TechTalk email.
