Apple makes more money from games than Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and Activision Blizzard combined. In 2019, Apple made $11 billion from video games, more than the combined gaming revenue of the four major game companies. And this despite the fact that Apple, in principle, does not release its games — all thanks to commissions in the AppStore!
In 2020, gaming revenues were even higher at $13.5 billion. Moreover, it is games that make up 2/3 of all revenues from the AppStore. This is how making infrastructure turns out to be more profitable than the final product
<<< May 04, 2022 Feed >>>
According to datareportal, the average Russian TikTok user spent 26.3 hours a month there (data as of the beginning of 2022) — against the global average of 19.6 hours. This is an hour less than the leader of the rating — Great Britain.
The leaders, in addition to Russia and Britain, are also the USA, Germany and Australia. But Asians spend noticeably less time on TikTok: 16.9 hours a month in Korea and 16.3 hours in Singapore, for example. Again, we repeat, these numbers are only for those who, in principle, use this social network
>>>>>>>>>>>>
According to the results of the first quarter, 320.4 thousand children were born in Russia — 16.6 thousand less than in January-March last year, Rosstat reported in operational statistics.
The death rate is growing, the natural population decline continues to accelerate: 264.3 thousand people per quarter, or 7.3 people per 100 thousand people — this is a new absolute anti-record in the entire modern history of the country.
>>>>>>>>>
In March, the real size of assigned pensions in the Russian Federation decreased by 8.3%, reported to Rosstat in the report «On the socio-economic situation» of the country.
>>>>>>>>>>
According to a patent in the database of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Microsoft engineers have created gloves that are embedded with sensors and a compact motor. As a result, if the user contacts an object in virtual reality, the sensors will give a signal and the motor will simulate touching objects. The gloves are planned to be used in both professional environments and video games.
>>>>>>>>>>
Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Russia’s retaliatory economic measures in connection with the unfriendly actions of individual states. According to the decree, state bodies, municipal authorities, as well as organizations and individuals under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation are prohibited from:
make transactions in favor of persons and organizations under Russian sanctions;
fulfill obligations under foreign trade transactions with such persons, if the transaction has not yet been completed;
to carry out financial transactions, the beneficiaries of which are persons subject to sanctions.
In addition, the export of products and raw materials is prohibited if the supply is for the benefit of persons subject to Russian sanctions. The list of persons subject to sanctions, the government must approve within 10 days.
>>>>>>>>>
Greece starts building a floating LNG terminal. The terminal with a capacity of 5.5 billion cubic meters per year should be operational by the end of 2023. Gas can be distributed to the markets of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia, Moldova and Ukraine.
>>>>>>>>>
A gas pipeline has been launched between Lithuania and Poland, which will connect the Baltic countries and Finland with the EU. The total length of the gas pipeline is 508 km, the project cost was 500 million euros.
>>>>>>>>>>
Sri Lanka launches a residence permit program for investment. Foreigners who deposit at least $100,000 into a local bank account will be allowed to live and work in Sri Lanka for 10 years under the Golden Paradise visa program. Money must be blocked in the account for the duration of the stay.
Another way to get a five-year residence is to spend at least $75,000 to buy an apartment on the island. For example, for 100 thousand dollars you can buy a two-room apartment in a new house in the unofficial capital of the country — Colombo.
>>>>>>>>>>
Finnish state-owned rail operator VR Group will sell all of its Russian assets, including freight subsidiaries. The company has already begun to terminate the transportation contracts with the Russian side. Simultaneously with the end of transportation, contracts with Russian Railways will be terminated.
>>>>>>>>>>
The Principality of Liechtenstein joined the European Union (EU) sanctions on Russian trusts and other types of trust property on May 2, according to a statement on the country’s government website. The restrictions prohibit citizens and residents of the Russian Federation from registering trusts in this country, and Liechtenstein citizens from servicing these trusts.
>>>>>>>>>
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced his readiness to buy large volumes of liquefied natural gas from Greece in the future. He announced this at the launch ceremony for the construction of an LNG station.
>>>>>>>>>>>
The Chinese service Weibo, similar to Twitter, will publish IP addresses to prevent the publication of content that is bad in terms of power. After the dramatic fall of the Chinese stock market, you can not publish negative forecasts for the economy, write about the fall of securities, etc. Otherwise, the accounts will be destroyed.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Japanese developers have taught smartphones to adjust the interface to the location of the finger, even if it does not touch the screen. It turned out that the resolution of cameras in modern smartphones is enough to recognize the finger, the screen and their relative position by reflection in the eyes.
>>>>>>>>>>
The Taliban, a terrorist organization banned in Russia, which controls Afghanistan, has pledged to ensure freedom of the media and financial support for journalists in the country.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada today in the second reading adopted a bill banning pro-Russian parties in Ukraine. The document provides for a ban on the activities of parties whose programs are aimed at justifying and denying armed aggression against Ukraine, or at glorifying people who commit military operations against the country.
>>>>>>>>>>
The Russian Ministry of Finance proposed to classify data on the owners of more than 10,000 Russian companies. As conceived by the ministry, this will help them not fall under the sanctions of «unfriendly» countries.
>>>>>>>>>
The Chinese company WeRide will start testing dozens of autonomous sweepers without a steering wheel and pedals on the roads of Guangzhou in May. They will drive around the city on their own, sweeping and washing the asphalt.
>>>>>>>>>
In Germany, they began a survey of companies to find out their gas needs. The survey of 2.5 thousand largest gas consumers will last until mid-May. This information is needed by the German authorities to create the so-called gas safety platform — a digital database that will help regulate the supply of gas in an emergency.
We are talking about next winter, as Germany will have enough gas for now, even if Russia cuts off supplies right now, writes Tagesschau. The gas safety platform should be ready by October.
>>>>>>>>>>
Italians with incomes below 35 thousand euros per year will receive an «anti-inflationary bonus». The government has decided on a one-time support for pensioners, working and self-employed citizens. 28 million Italians will receive payments of 200 euros, according to Il Sole 24 ore.
The new support measure is designed to help people cope with the consequences of a significant increase in the prices of electricity, gas, fuel and food. Payments will be made through a new tax on additional profits of energy companies. In March, consumer price growth accelerated by 6.7% in Italy. This is the highest rate since 1990. Energy carriers have risen in price by almost 53% over the year, fresh food — by 8%.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Florida-based Undefined Technologies has unveiled the next generation of its «silent» commercial drone, which uses an ion engine instead of propellers. Two flight tests have already been carried out. The project received funding of about $2 million.
It cannot be called 100% silent. However, Undefined Technologies says it will be quiet compared to current propeller-driven drones. The Ventus drone flew for about two and a half minutes, and the noise figure was 85 decibels. The end goal is around 70 decibels, or about the same as the DJI Mavic.
>>>>>>>>>
A court in Fiji allowed the United States to take the Amadea yacht, allegedly owned by Kerimov. The vessel, 106 meters long, has a helipad, a swimming pool, a cinema hall and costs at least 300 million US dollars.
The yacht Amadea was delayed in Fiji in mid-April. On Tuesday, the Fiji Attorney’s Office announced that the country’s High Court had positively responded to its request, filed at the request of the US Department of Justice.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The United States has increased oil supplies to Europe to the maximum since 2016, when Washington allowed the supply of raw materials abroad.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Australia has decided on further sanctions against more than 70 Russian politicians and more than 30 ministers of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, media reports citing the website of the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
>>>>>>>>>>
Investors began to receive payments on two issues of sovereign Eurobonds of Russia, carried out by the Russian Ministry of Finance in the currency of the issues — dollars, Bloomberg reported.
>>>>>>>>>>
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the creation of three new regions in the republic, the press service of the head of state reported. The decree will come into force on June 8, 2022.
«I decide to form the Abay region with the administrative center in the city of Semey by separating the Aksuat, Abay, Ayagoz, Beskaragai, Borodulikha, Zharma, Urdzhar, Kokpektinsky districts, the cities of Semey and Kurchatov from the East Kazakhstan region,» the text of the document says.
>>>>>>>>>>>
The Czech PPF Group, which has been looking for a buyer for the RAV Agro agricultural holding in the Voronezh region for several years, has left this business. According to Kommersant, the farms were transferred to the Krasnodar-based Zemelny Reserve LLC, where 99% is owned by the general director Yevgeny Svistula, 1% is controlled by the Russian Agricultural Bank.
>>>>>>>>>
FC Otkritie Bank announced that it had completed the legal affiliation of RGS Bank, the development of the auto business in the group will continue under the Otkritie Avto brand.
>>>>>>>>>>
Norway’s Equinor posted a net loss of $1.08 billion from write-offs of Russian assets, according to a report released today. Equinor also announced that it had stopped trading in Russian oil. This means that it will not enter into any new transactions or participate in new projects for the transportation of oil and oil products from Russia.
>>>>>>>>>>>
At a meeting on April 29, the Board of Directors of Etalon Group decided to postpone consideration of the issue of paying dividends for 2021, the company’s press service reports.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Scientists from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics (ICiG, Novosibirsk) with colleagues from the United States have found that the ability of mosquitoes to carry malaria is associated with previously unknown loops of their DNA, according to the publication of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences «Science in Siberia».
>>>>>>>>
Britain’s BP posted a key profit boost in 1Q 2022 thanks to higher oil and gas prices, although it suffered a net loss due to write-offs after exiting assets in Russia.
>>>>>>>>>>>
The Finnish energy company Fortum announced the impairment in the first quarter of 2022 by 2.1 billion euros of assets related to the company’s activities in Russia
In Russia, Fortum owns 98.23% in PJSC Fortum (former TGK-10) and about 30% in PJSC TGK-1 (the main shareholder is Gazprom Energoholding). In addition, Fortum owns a 73.4% stake in Uniper, which owns 83.73% of Unipro PJSC in Russia. The company is also involved in a number of renewable energy projects.
>>>>>>>>>
The volume of German exports to Russia in March 2022 fell by 62.3% compared to February due to sanctions and various export restrictions and amounted to only 0.9 billion euros, according to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis).
>>>>>>>>>
U.S. microchip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) records first-quarter revenue above $5 billion in 2022
>>>>>>>>>
As a response, Russia added 63 Japanese citizens to its «stop list», including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Defense Minister Kishi Nobua.
Sanctions, which include an indefinite ban on entry into the territory of the Russian Federation, have also been imposed on a number of Japanese parliamentarians, heads of the Japanese media, journalists and representatives of the scientific community. The full list of persons included in the sanctions list is published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
>>>>>>>>>>
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation put on the wanted list the Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov, who is recognized in Russia as a foreign media agent.
>>>>>>>>>
In April 2022, loading on the network of Russian Railways amounted to 102.4 million tons, which is 5% less than in April 2021, the company said.
>>>>>>>>>>>
In the first quarter of 2022, for the first time, Russia did not enter the top 3 leading countries in terms of tourist flow to Turkey, follows from the statistics of the Turkish Ministry of Tourism.
>>>>>>>>>>
The American Corteva Agriscience (Pioneer brand), one of the major suppliers of plant protection products and seeds, is leaving Russia. As reported on the Russian website of Corteva, its distributors in the Russian Federation are more than 160 companies. Corteva has two offices in Russia — in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Nearly 100,000 working Russians are currently idle, with about 110,000 more in part-time employment, Labor and Social Protection Minister Anton Kotyakov said on Wednesday.
>>>>>>>>>>
German apparel and accessories maker Hugo Boss AG posted a 52% increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, to 772 million euros.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
The revenue of Russian Post JSC under IFRS in 2021 amounted to 228.1 billion rubles, an increase of 8.2% compared to 2020, the company said
>>>>>>>>>>>
The arbitration claim of Moscow seized the money and property of Google LLC for 500 million rubles as an interim measure as part of the claim of the NTV television company to restore access to the YouTube account, follows from the court documents.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Britain has added 63 more individuals and entities to its Russian-linked sanctions list, including a number of Russian media outlets and journalists, Downing Street said in a statement.
In particular, journalists Yevgeny Poddubny, Alexander Kots, and Dmitry Steshin were sanctioned. Sanctions are also being imposed against the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, the Inforos news agency, the South Front publication, and the Strategic Culture Foundation.
>>>>>>>>>
German automaker Volkswagen AG (VW) almost doubled its after-tax profit in the first quarter of 2022 and recorded a slight increase in revenue
>>>>>>>>>
As Kommersant found out, Sberbank sold coal mines in the Rostov region, previously owned by DTEK Rinat Akhmetov, to Cypriot Valleyton Investments.
>>>>>>>>
American technology company Emerson ceases operations in Russia. Emerson also plans to sell the Metran industrial group (a subsidiary of the company located in Chelyabinsk).
>>>>>>>>>>>
In the first quarter of 2022, timber harvesting in Russia decreased by 2.4%, from 70.7 million to 68.9 million cubic meters. m, RBC was told in the press service of Roslesinforga (a division of Rosleskhoz). The largest decline of 34% was recorded in the Leningrad region, in the Irkutsk region the decline was 11.5%.
>>>>>>>>>
The volume of EU trade in agri-food products increased in January year on year by 25%, amounting to €28.3 billion, according to a report by the European Commission. The volume of exports amounted to €15.8 billion, and imports — €12.5 billion, an increase of 16% and 38% respectively
>>>>>>>>>>
The UK has imposed a ban on the export of consulting, accounting and PR services to Russia.
>>>>>>>>>
Aeroflot’s Board of Directors approved an additional issue of shares in order to increase the charter capital and strengthen the company’s financial stability.
>>>>>>>>>>
Russia took 155th place in the annual rating of freedom of speech by the international human rights organization Reporters Without Borders, a year ago the country occupied 150th place. The authors of the index rated the state of press freedom in Russia as “very difficult”
>>>>>>>>>>>
Germany has stopped supplying Russian gas in reverse to Poland, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said. But, according to him, at the same time, a virtual reverse for Poland “immediately arose” from the applications of consumers in Italy and France, which are provided through the Polish corridor.
>>>>>>>>>>
Reuters, citing sources, reports that the EU ban on Russian oil will come into force in six months. It is noted that the ban will take effect immediately, without a gradual withdrawal. Both for the spot market and for existing contracts.
>>>>>>>>>>
A delegation from the Palestinian movement Hamas arrived in Moscow for talks. Hamas emissaries plan to meet with Lavrov and «other officials» to discuss the situation around Jerusalem and relations with the Russian Federation.
>>>>>>>>>>
According to the new Reporters Without Borders rankings, Europe continues to be the region where journalists can work most freely. The top three countries with the most free press are Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
>>>>>>>>>>
The Bulgarian government fired the entire management of the Bulgarian Post after the work of the state-owned company was blocked for two weeks due to a cyber attack.
>>>>>>>>>>
According to Bloomberg, the sixth package of sanctions will also include a clause on depriving Russian citizens, residents and legal entities of the right to directly or indirectly purchase real estate in the territory of the union. In addition, it will not be possible to acquire a company or a share in it if it owns any real estate. The ban does not apply to residents of the EU, states of the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
In some EU countries, for example, in Greece, Spain or Portugal, there are programs for obtaining a residence permit based on the purchase of a home. If the restrictions come into force, the programs will become unavailable to Russians.
>>>>>>>>>>
The Finnish state railway company VR has begun the process of completely stopping freight traffic to Russia, the company’s press service said.
>>>>>>>>>>>
In Australia, scientists have found that honey bees can distinguish between even and odd numbers. As part of the study, the experts divided the bees into several groups. One group was taught to associate even numbers with sweet water with sugar, and odd numbers with water with quinine, which made the liquid bitter. At the same time, another group was taught the opposite associations with water.
Subsequently, the scientists showed the bees cards with even and odd numbers. In 80 percent of cases, insects correctly determined the number. When they were shown cards they had not previously used, their accuracy rates dropped but remained at 70 percent.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Page is being updated … stay tuned to TopNews ……