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DoorDash will temporarily reduce or waive its commission fees

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DoorDash will also allow over 100,000 independent restaurants to join its subscription program for free, while existing partners will have their commission fees reduced. DashPass lets diners pay $10 a month to have delivery fees waived on orders over $15. In today’s world, that could be a good deal, both for consumers and for restaurants.

Restaurants don’t just pay hefty commission fees to companies like DoorDash and GrubHub — the delivery businesses also charge them for advertising and marketing purposes. DoorDash pledged up to $20 million in marketing funds to help independent restaurants generate more business in the coming weeks, in addition to the waived commission fees.

As coronavirus concerns grow in the US, more people may opt to stay at home and more independent and small businesses may face major financial impacts. Hopefully initiatives from companies like DoorDash will help to soften the blow.

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Nintendo gets cute with its upcoming indie lineup

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I Am Dead


The excellently named I Am Dead comes courtesy of the creators of Hohokum and Annapurna Interactive, the publisher of beloved indie gems like Florence, Sayonara Wild Hearts and Kentucky Route Zero. Despite its bright and colorful art style, I Am Dead sees you exploring the afterlife. According to Annapurna, the game is “coming soon” to the Nintendo Switch and PC.

Freakapocalypse

Freakapocalypse is the brainchild of Kris Wilson, the creator of online webcomic Cyanide and Happiness. It started life as a Kickstarter project back in 2017. It will launch first on Nintendo Switch this summer. We didn’t see too much gameplay, but it looks like it will be a side-scrolling adventure in the vein of classics like Monkey Island.

The Good Life

The Good Life, the new game from Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die creator Swery, is coming to the Switch later this year. Like his past games, The Good Life delivers on Swery’s trademark weirdness and charm. He has described it as “debt-repayment RPG” set in a rustic British countryside town where everyone turns into cats and dogs at night. Oh, and your primary form of transportation is a sheep.

The Last Campfire


The Last Campfire is the latest game from Hello Games, the studio behind No Man’s Sky. While it was first announced in 2018, we’ve heard relatively little about the project since then. But now we know you’ll be able to play it this summer. Compared to the expansive world No Man’s Sky offered, The Last Campfire looks like it will be a more handcrafted and personal experience.

Exit the Gungeon

Last but not least: if the eShop is working again, you can download Exit the Gungeon today to tide you over while the games above make their way to the console.

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Waymo goes dark except for fully driverless rides

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The freeze is taking effect in the context of not only widespread closures and shutdowns to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, but also hesitation within Waymo’s ranks. One backup driver for Waymo One refused to pick up a passenger at Intel’s Chandler, Arizona office after hearing reports of a COVID-19 case at the company.

It’s not clear when Waymo’s full efforts will resume. That will likely depend on the development of the pandemic and when officials deem it safe to resume close contact. However, its ability to keep truly some service active could make a case for self-driving cars in the future — it may be the only way to greatly reduce health risks for ride hailing services.

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‘Exit the Gungeon’ lands on Nintendo Switch today

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The game’s status as a timed exclusive wasn’t a surprise; Exit the Gungeon was listed for a May 31 release on Steam and a console release was teased by the developers. But it is unusual to see an indie land on the Switch before it hits PC; usually the ports come a few months later or titles get a simultaneous release.

The listing page for the game is up on the web, though at the time this post is being written it’s still not showing up on the Switch, possibly due to this morning’s outage. (We’ll update this post when it does.)



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Google updates its Discover Feed to let you flag misleading articles

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You can access the reporting feature by tapping the three-dots icon located toward the bottom right corner of an article card. You’ll then see an option that allows you to “Report content.” Currently, you can flag stories as “misleading or sensational,” “violent or repulsive,” “hateful or abusive” and “other.” Unfortunately, tapping the “other” option at the moment doesn’t allow you to explain your reasoning.

While there’s always been an option to send feedback to Google about an article, this should hopefully push people to be more proactive about flagging content they think should be better. You can try out the functionality yourself by updating to version 10.99 or later of the Google app. With the coronavirus outbreak, the update also comes at a time when the need for accurate, reliable information could not be more pressing.

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Movies Anywhere will let you share purchases with friends

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Screen Pass will let users share up to three films per month. Recipients will have a week to accept the film, 14 days to start it and 72 hours to finish it. There aren’t any limits on how many times you can share a film, but not every title in the Movies Anywhere catalogue is eligible. That depends, in part, on the studios — Movies Anywhere doesn’t have films from Paramount, Lionsgate or MGM. Still, Screen Pass will make it possible to share over 6,000 films.

For now, Screen Pass will be a closed beta, launching later today. An open beta is planned for May, and the full launch is expected later this year. Even if you don’t make it into the betas, you’ll be able to receive and watch movies shared by Screen Pass users.

This could be bad news for movie theaters, which are being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to people sharing more movies at home, Universal is now releasing movies in theaters and at home on the same day. Movie studios have been considering this for years, and the need to keep a healthy social distance may finally push studios to get onboard.

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Facebook pledges $100 million to small businesses impacted by coronavirus

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The financial assistance will come in the form of cash grants and ad credits. It’s meant to help businesses stay afloat as more customers stay home, and Facebook intends for the aid to be used to pay workers who can’t come to work, help with rent costs, enable businesses to connect with more customers and contribute to overhead costs.

Facebook will begin taking applications in the coming weeks. In the meantime, interested businesses can sign up to receive more information, and Facebook has made its Business Hub available to all. There, businesses can find ideas and advice for managing during the downturn that the coronavirus pandemic has led to.

“Small businesses are the heartbeat of our communities, and many of the people who run these businesses are heavily affected by the crisis — especially as more and more people sensibly stay home,” Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a statement. “The longer the crisis goes on, the greater the risk to small businesses and to the livelihoods of their owners and employees.”

Sandberg says Facebook was inspired by other people around the world “rising to the enormous challenge in front of us.” Food delivery services like Uber Eats, Grubhub and Seamless are waiving or suspending some fees for independent restaurants, and gig-economy companies are looking for ways to support workers diagnosed with COVID-19 or quarantined. Donations like these by Facebook will likely become more common. Hopefully, they’ll make a meaningful impact.

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Apple accidentally listed four new iPad Pro models on its website

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iPad Pro listing

MacRumors

Notably, two of the models, A2228 and A2229, match recent filings the company made with the Eurasian Economic Commission. In the past, new database listings with the ECC have typically foreshadowed new releases from Apple.

As for what to expect from the new iPad Pro, analyst Ming Chi-Kuo has said the tablet will feature a triple-lens main camera array with 3D sensing capabilities. Frequent Apple leaker Sonny Dickson corroborated this rumor partway through last year when he shared what he claimed was a “final design” mockup of the new 11-inch iPad Pro. However, the most exciting change might not have anything to do with new hardware. Late last month, The Information said Apple was preparing to start producing a new keyboard accessory with a built-in trackpad, suggesting iPadOS 14 will feature more robust mouse support. In other words, the iPad Pro may finally live up to its billing as a laptop replacement.

The question then becomes whether Apple will announce the new iPad Pro anytime soon. In November, Bloomberg said the tablet could arrive “as early as” the first half of 2020. Of course, that was before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

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‘The Sims 4’ is now just $5

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Based on a post by The Sims’ official Twitter account, this was supposed to be an EA spring sale that went live a little earlier this year. The company didn’t elaborate on why it started the sale early, though one possible reason comes to mind: A lot of people are staying at home for a while due to the coronavirus scare, and they could potentially enjoy playing a happy life simulator as an escape. Whatever EA’s motivations are, this seems like a good chance to grab the game and the expansions that usually cost $40.



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Sony will reveal more PlayStation 5 details in a livestream tomorrow

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It’s time. In a tweet, Sony announced that it will be hosting a livestream tomorrow about the PlayStation 5. The broadcast will be hosted by Mark Cerny, the console’s lead system architect (he spearheaded the PlayStation 4, too) and the director of both Knack games. According to Sony, the presentation will provide “a deep dive into PS5’s system architecture, and how it will shape the future of games.” The announcement comes less than 24 hours after Microsoft offered a deep dive on the Xbox Series X system architecture. Coincidence? We think not.



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