Netflix is coming out with a good number of new games you can play for free, and the battle between Apple and Beeper continues. This is The Quick Bite from Thursday, December 14, 2023.
Welcome to The Quick Bite, our column where we list last night’s news for you Tuesday through Friday morning. That way you’ll quickly be up to date on everything surrounding technology and pop culture.
Today’s topics include free Netflix games, Tesla’s humanoid and the case for the AirPods Pro 2.
New free games at Netflix
Netflix is betting heavily on gaming. This year, forty games have appeared on the platform that you can play for free with your Netflix subscription. In addition, the company has more than ninety games in development.
Netflix has also already announced several new games for 2024. These include Game Dev Tycoon, Sonic Mania, and Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit in the coming year.
Netflix has a good reason to pay attention to games alongside their movies and series. You can read why here.
Netflix wants to play another game. (Image: Netflix)
Tesla’s newest robot can now gently handle an egg
You know Tesla mostly for its electric cars, such as the Cybertruck. Yet the company has much more in the pipeline. It has a division dedicated to developing a robot.
The company has the Optimus in development. By the way, not to be confused with Optimus Prime from Transformers, because this humanoid cannot turn into an electric car.
Its latest version is now even better. Tesla proudly reports that it is even more agile. Probably because the sensors have been taken in hand. Anyway, this news is a good distraction from a bigger problem: Autopilot in the cars. The company recalled two million cars just yesterday.
There’s a new bot in town 
Check this out (until the very end)!https://t.co/duFdhwNe3K pic.twitter.com/8pbhwW0WNc
– Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 13, 2023
AirPods Pro case now available for purchase separately
Apple has added a new product to its store. Well, not entirely new, as Apple launched the updated case of the AirPods Pro 2 this year, which has, among other things, the new USB-C port. This was only available for sale in conjunction with the earbuds themselves.
As of now, Apple is also selling the case separately. So do you want to upgrade, but are your AirPods Pro 2 still doing fine? Then at least you’ll save some money.
You can order the new case now from the Apple Store. It will cost you $109. Still prefer the earphones with it? Then it will cost you 279 euros.
The AirPods Pro 2. (Image: Mark Hofman / OMT)
EU aims arrows at X
There does not seem to be a day when Elon Musk is not in the news. This time it’s not him under fire, but his platform X. This has everything to do with privacy.
A complaint has been filed with the Dutch privacy watchdog by privacy rights organization NOYB. This is because the company is allegedly not enforcing its own advertising guidelines.
Those guidelines state that political affiliations or religious beliefs may not be used to target advertising. However, X appears to be doing just that.
Elon Musk worries. (Image: Philip Pacheco / AFP)
Update for Google Maps
Speaking of privacy, Google Maps is getting some new privacy features. These should allow users to further protect their data.
Your recent activities can now be found in a central place in the app. You can delete the data from there very easily.
This can be done one-by-one but also all at once. A window will then appear that tells you exactly what you are throwing away. Exactly when this update will be rolled out is still unknown.
Fight between Apple and Beeper over iMessage continues
The battle over the blue call balloons continues unabated. Apple is not picking up on the fact that Beeper has once again found a way to bring iMessage to Android and now appears to have blocked the service once again.
The company previously managed to get around the Apple blockade by letting people log in va an Apple ID. At least a better solution than Nothing’s earlier failed attack.
Now Apple has once again put a stop to it. “Apple appears to be intentionally preventing iMessages from being delivered to about 5 percent of Beeper Mini users,” the company informs. Reinstalling the app would help. A definitive fix is not yet in place, but Beeper does let X know it is working on it.
Apple appears to be deliberately blocking iMessages from being delivered to ~5% of Beeper Mini users. Uninstalling and reinstalling Beeper Mini fixes the issue.
We won’t have a fix tonight, but we’re working on it. https://t.co/70KbYfcwjr
– Beeper (@onbeeper) December 14, 2023
