Roku And Google Argue Over YouTube TV App

If you’re one of the millions of users who access their streaming services through a Roku-branded television or streaming box, you may have noticed just how long it took HBO Max and Peacock to arrive on the service. Now, Google and Roku are at odds over the YouTube app following Roku’s removal of the separate YouTube TV app. Google added fuel to the fire today by adding YouTube TV to the existing YouTube App.

The fun kicked off last week when Roku removed the YouTube TV app from the Roku store. The distribution deal between the two companies expired on April 30, and Roku says Google is asking for unfair terms meant to not just benefit YouTube, but also to negatively affect Roku and Roku users. The terms include things like providing Google with special access to consumer data, Roku to build a special YouTube search function into the Roku interface, and even for Roku to meet certain hardware specs. In short, it sounds like Google is asking Roku to be another branch of its existing Chromecast product line at additional cost to Roku itself.

When negotiations stalled out and the distribution agreement expired, Roku removed the YouTube TV app.

Today, YouTube added a new menu item to its YouTube app that lets you click on “Go to YouTube TV” to watch programs within the application. YouTube is also “working with other partners to secure free streaming devices in case YouTube TV members face access issues on Roku.”

This sure seems like a power move to shift people off of Roku and onto Google-powered streaming devices, but this also isn’t the first time an app provider has complained about Roku making unreasonable demands to allow an app on its devices. Last year, the HBO Max and Peacock apps arrived late on Roku asking for “egregious” terms over access to things like advertising.

“We have only asked Google for four simple commitments,” Roku said in an April 30 statement (via The Verge). “First, not to manipulate consumer search results. Second, not to require access to data not available to anyone else. Third, not to leverage their YouTube monopoly to force Roku to accept hardware requirements that would increase consumer costs. Fourth, not to act in a discriminatory and anticompetitive manner against Roku.”

YouTube fired back, stating that “Roku often engages in these types of tactics in their negotiations. We’re disappointed that they chose to make baseless claims while we continue our ongoing negotiations. All of our work with them has been focused on ensuring a high quality and consistent experience for our viewers. We have made no requests to access user data or interfere with search results. We hope we can resolve this for the sake of our mutual users.”

Google said in a blog post that it wanted to “renew the YouTube TV deal under the existing reasonable terms,” but said that Roku used the opportunity to “renegotiate a separate deal encompassing the YouTube main app, which does not expire until December.”

Google says that it is “still working to come to an agreement with Roku to ensure continued access to YouTube TV for our mutual customers,” noting that existing YouTube TV members can still access their content on Roku as long as they don’t delete the app. Google also says that it is working with Roku to “certify that new devices meet our technical requirements.”

Roku, meanwhile, says that Google continues to “blatantly leverage its YouTube monopoly,” and that the company’s “actions are the clear conduct of an unchecked monopolist bent on crushing fair competition and harming consumer choice.” The company adds that it hasn’t asked for any additional money from YouTube, but rather for “Google to stop their anticompetitive behavior of manipulating user search results to their unique financial benefit and to stop demanding access to sensitive data that no other partner on our platform receives today.”

One sticking point with regard to hardware is that Google wants Roku to allow use of the AV1 video codec, stating that “Roku requested exceptions that would break the YouTube experience and limit our ability to update YouTube in order to fix issues or add new features. For example, by not supporting open-source video codecs, you wouldn’t be able to watch YouTube in 4K HDR or 8K even if you bought a Roku device that supports that resolution.”

YouTube is a worldwide streaming giant, and Roku is huge in the streaming hardware space. It seems likely that Google would want to edge Roku out if possible, considering it has its own streaming devices, and knows that the loss of YouTube would be a huge hit against the service. Roku, meanwhile, has shifted from providing just streaming hardware to handling things like advertising and offering content, putting it in a space to compete with companies like YouTube and WarnerMedia. It remains to be seen who will blink first.

Get A First Look At Supergirl’s New Guardian In Costume

Kelly Olsen (Azie Tesfai) will be picking up the mantle of Guardian in the twelfth episode of Supergirl’s sixth and final season, titled “Blind Spots.” She is taking over the role from James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), who left the series back in Season 5. Take a look at Kelly in full Guardian costume in Tesfai’s celebratory tweet below.

Making the moment even more special is the fact that Tesfai co-wrote the episode alongside co-producer J. Holtham. It will also be directed by an Arrow-verse regular, David Ramsey, who is slated to appear in it as his fan favorite character, John Diggle. A full description of the episode is not yet available, but it will deal with and address racial inequality.

Kelly’s debut as Guardian has been a long time coming in Supergirl, first being teased back during the Arrowverse crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths which began running back in 2019. Thankfully the long wait is nearly over. “Blind Spots” is scheduled to air on the CW on September 21.

While Supergirl may be coming to an end with Season 6, many of the CW’s Arrowverse shows have already been given their renewals. Superman & Lois, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, and Batwoman will all be continuing on into next year.

Resident Evil Village Food Guide – Where To Find All Ingredients

Resident Evil Village‘s traveling merchant, the Duke, will sell you a whole lot of useful stuff over the course of the game. One service you might not know he offers, though, is his culinary expertise. If you find the ingredients, the Duke will cook various meals and share them with you. These meals are extremely useful–they boost protagonist Ethan Winters’ overall stats, giving him more health, faster movement speed, and a stronger defensive guard.

The ingredients the Duke needs for these meals are all various kinds of meat, which you can find around the village and surrounding area. Whenever you see animals such as fish, chickens, pigs, or goats, you should, uh, kill them. They’ll drop different kinds of meat you can then deliver to the Duke for each kind of meal. But there are several special, one-of-a-kind animals you’ll need to find in the village to make the very best foods. Below you’ll find all the details you need to make each of the Duke’s meals, including where you can find the rarest animals.

Quick Cooking Tips

  • You’ll gain access to the cooking system the first time you return to the village after venturing into Castle Dimitrescu. It’s a good idea to scour the village for ingredients every time you return to the village. Each time you head to different areas around the village outskirts, you’ll gain new keys and items that let you unlock new places, and thus, new animals.
  • Mostly, the cooking system is just about finding animals. You’ll find most of them around the village just as you’re exploring during the game. When you find animals, they’ll be marked on your map, so you can easily return to get any that you might have missed. And sometimes, even animals you haven’t seen for yourself will be marked on the map–so make sure to use it to help you track down the ingredients you need.
  • You can turn in your ingredients to the Duke at any time in the cooking menu, applying them to whatever recipe you want. This is a good practice for keeping your inventory clear, in fact; meat can take up a lot of space in your suitcase if you’re holding onto ingredients for a long time. That makes it tougher to pick up new weapons, ammo, and health items, dump ingredients quickly to free up space.
  • As you work through the game, you might find photographs that show you rare animals. Each of these photos shows the animal and its background will give you clues about where those animals are located. We’re marking those animals’ locations in this guide, but if you want to find them on your own, you can do that by diligently searching through Resident Evil Village. You’ll know the rare animals by their coloring: you’re looking for a bluebird, a white pig, and a yellow fish.
  • After leaving Moreau’s Reservoir, there will be several signs scattered through the village directing you to your next objective. Follow them until you see the one marked “Good Luck!” that points you into a tunnel. If you turn left here and follow the path, you’ll come across Otto’s Mill, where the Cannibal’s Plunder treasure is marked on your map. Expect a fight when you go inside the mill, but it’s worth the effort to unlock room filled with spare meat, fish, and poultry. You can use it to shore up any recipes you might be lagging on (specifically if you need Meat; there’s a lot less Poultry and Fish to be found, unfortunately), and if you don’t need the ingredients for recipes, sell it all to the Duke to make some extra Lei.

Recipes

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The Duke can make several meals, and their complexity and the rarity of ingredients determines how much they affect you. If you can, your best bet is to focus on a single meal at a time that seems attainable with the ingredients you can locate in the village. You should be able to knock out at least one or two every time you return to the village; follow this guide and you’ll likely have them all done before heading to the Stronghold and Factory areas.

Herbed Fish

  • 3 Fish
  • 3 Poultry
  • Slightly increases total health

Bird and Beast Pilaf

  • 4 Poultry
  • 1 Meat
  • Decreases damage taken when guarding

Three-Flavored Mititei

  • 4 Fish
  • 2 Poultry
  • 3 Meat
  • Increases total health

Tochituri de Pui

  • 4 Poultry
  • 3 Meat
  • 1 Juicy Game
  • Greatly increases total health

Ciorba de Porc

  • 1 Fish
  • 5 Meat
  • 1 Quality Meat
  • Greatly decreases damage taken when guarding

Sarmale de Peste

  • 6 Fish
  • 1 Finest Fish
  • Increases movement speed

Fish Locations

  • Castle Dimitrescu drawbridge, through the Maiden and Demon gate. Step into the water to the left of the bridge to find a pool full of fish. You can get these as soon as you open the gate the first time, or return later.
  • Moreau’s Reservoir. Once you’ve drained the reservoir area, return to the first windmill where the crank broke. Follow the path past the building to its lowest point to find a spot that still contains water and fish
  • Southern riverbank. After leaving Moreau’s Reservoir, head toward the Ceremony Site but don’t cross the river. Use the crank to lower the bridge on the bank of the river and cross to find a boat. Take it south to the next dock, then get out and turn left. Follow the path to find a pool with fish (also the Finest Fish ingredient location)
  • Otto’s Mill. You’ll find one fish in the room full of meat.

Poultry Locations

  • In the village, behind the house with the red chimney. You’ll find your way into this location after you leave Castle Dimitrescu, so the chickens should be easy to get to.
  • In the graveyard, through the Iron Insignia Key door. You’ll need the key from Castle Dimitrescu, which you receive for solving the piano puzzle.
  • Near the Fallow Plot. Turn right just as you enter the field to find a shack south of the area and chickens behind it.
  • East Old Town. You’ll gain access to this area after leaving Beneviento house. Look for a building on the southwest side of the area with chickens behind it.
  • Moreau’s Reservoir. After you come out of the mines and find the Duke and the controls for the dam, look behind the building for chickens.
  • Otto’s Mill. Look for at least one Poultry in the big room full of meat.

Meat Locations

  • West Old Town. After completing Castle Dimitrescu, look for pigs at the south end of the area near the Workshop, which has the gate that says “Do Not Enter.”
  • Near the Beneviento’s Gardner’s House. Once you’ve left Castle Dimitrescu and been to the house with the red chimney, you can head toward Beneviento house. You’ll find animals on the left side of the path as you’re approaching the house, near the Gardner’s House. (You might have to wait until after you’ve left the Beneviento house to get to these.
  • Windmill near Moreau’s Reservoir. As you approach the windmill building on your way to the reservoir for the first time, you’ll find a goat just outside the building.
  • Village near the graveyard. After you leave Moreau’s Reservoir, a goat will just be wandering through the middle of town.
  • Otto’s Mill. A goat hangs out just in front of the mill, which you can reach after you’ve left Moreau’s Reservoir. You’ll also find a whole bunch of meat inside the mill.

Bluebird Location – Juicy Game Ingredient

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The first rare animal is the bluebird. You’ll find the photograph marking the bird’s location in the outhouse behind the gardener’s house near Beneviento house. You might recognize it as showing the graveyard that surrounds the Maiden and Demon Gate to Castle Dimitrescu. Look for the bird in the tree in front of the gate; you’ll get the Juicy Game ingredient, which you can use to make Tochitura de Pui. The mean will greatly increase your total health.

White Pig Location – Quality Meat Ingredient

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The second rare animal can be found and killed after you return from the Beneviento house–but you won’t find the photo identifying it until you make your way toward Moreau’s Reservoir. The photo is on a barrel right outside the windmill that marks the entrance to the reservoir, but you can find the white pig back near Luiza’s house. Head through the Fallow Field to Luiza’s, but instead of going to the burned-out building, turn right to the small house where you rescued Elena and her father the first time you were here. Go through their house and jump through the window to get into the yard behind the house, where the white pig hangs out. That’ll get you the Quality Meat for the Ciorba de Porc recipe, which greatly decreases the damage you take when guarding.

Yellow Fish Location – Finest Fish Ingredient

No Caption Provided

The last rare animal pops up after you’ve left Moreau’s Reservoir. You’ll find the photo identifying the fish Head back to the Altar location in the village, then west toward the Ceremony Site. Instead of crossing the bridge, head down to the riverbank and use the crank tool to lower the second bridge there. When you get to the far side, you’ll find a boat you can use to navigate down the river. Take the boat south until you hit another dock. As you disembark, turn left and walk down the path into a small pool, which you’ll find full of fish–including a yellow one. Killing the fish of a different color rewards you with the Finest Fish meat, which can cook up the Sarmale de Peste meal to permanently increase your movement speed.

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The FTC Is Not Happy With Manufacturers That Don’t Let You Repair Their Products

This week, the United States government signaled its intent to take the side of consumers in the fight over the “right to repair,” or the ability for consumers to readily and easily repair their own devices. In a new report, the Federal Trade Commission attacks manufacturers, listing an array of anti-competitive and restrictive action taken to prevent owners from fixing their products.

The report, titled Nixing the Fix, has been eagerly anticipated by both manufacturers and consumer rights advocates, as it is one of the biggest signs in recent years of how the U.S. government is approaching the right to repair. In the report, the FTC outlines the policies instituted by manufacturers of devices from mobile phones to cars, such as purposefully limiting the availability of spare parts and instituting product designs that make repairs unnecessarily complex.

The Right to Repair logo.
The Right to Repair logo.

The FTC focuses on the impact to the users from these restrictive measures taken by manufacturers. It specifically calls out the disproportionate financial impact that onerous anti-repair designs and policies have on low-income communities and people of color. The FTC states that small repair shop businesses are also unfairly harmed.

The report has been sent to Congress, where it is now up to legislators to take more significant action. The FTC cannot do much on its own to implement policies to reverse manufacturer restrictions, although the report suggests that it should take such actions that it can as allowed by law. For anything more ambitious, the House of Representatives and Senate must take on the task with the information provided by the agency. In its recommendations section, the report suggests legislation outlawing anti-competitive policies, stating that self-regulation will not be sufficient.

Call Of Duty: Warzone Double XP Now Live

Double XP in Call of Duty: Warzone is live now, but it only lasts until tomorrow. Activision announced that, in response to 1 million players completing Call of Duty’s challenge for supporting veterans, it would grant extra experience points for all players for 24 hours.

Last week, Activision kicked off an in-game challenge to raise awareness for action to support veteran medics and hospital corpsmen and women. The challenge tasks people to revive five downed players in Call of Duty: Warzone; competing it by May 9 grants a unique Call of Duty Endowment calling card. In addition, Activision donates $1 to the Call of Duty Endowment charity for each person who successfully finishes the challenge.

The total number of players has just crossed 1 million, and as promised, Activision enabled Double XP for all Warzone players. But it won’t last long: the promotion will only be live until tomorrow. An exact time wasn’t specified, but Activision’s announcement came at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST so the Double XP is likely to expire at that same time tomorrow.

In addition to the challenge, Activision also added the Battle Doc Pack, themed after a real-world U.S. Army combat medic, that includes an Operator skin, a gun skin, and some other cosmetics. All proceeds from the sale of the pack go to the Call of Duty Endowment, which works to find job opportunities for military veterans. To date, the Call of Duty Endowment has helped place 81,000 veterans in jobs.

Now Playing: Call of Duty Warzone – Official Verdansk ‘84 Trailer

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Skullgirls 2nd Encore Is Getting A New DLC Character

Skullgirls 2nd Encore is getting a new DLC character, developer Hidden Variable and publisher Autumn Games announced. Her name is Umbrella and she is part of the game’s Season 1 Pass DLC. She is planned to be released sometime in 2021 and will also be available in the Mobile version.

Hidden Variable says that Umbrella is still in early development, but the developer wanted to share some details about her playstyle. Umbrella has a living weapon named Hungern that she utilizes with most of her attacks. Hungern has an interesting mechanic where he gets hungrier and hungrier as the match progresses or after performing certain actions. His hunger level fluctuates and will affect his attacks.

Hungern has three states: Starving, Overstuffed, and Ravenous. When he is Starving, Umbrella’s normal attacks are slower, but attacks that devour opponents become stronger. The Overstuffed state provides bonus effects to attacks that have him spitting up something from his stomach. Being balanced between those two makes Hungern enter the Ravenous state. This means that he is hungry and powerful, but isn’t Starving just yet. Players that can maintain this state will be rewarded. It looks like Umbrella’s gameplay direction requires some micro-management.

Right now, Season 1 Pass owners can play a rough version of Umbrella for about 2 months while she’s still in early development. In Q3 2021, Umbrella will be mostly complete with full finished animations, with Hidden Variable continuing to fine-tune her mechanics. Umbrella is set to fully release into Skullgirls 2nd Encore during Q4 and will come with her own full story mode.

Skullgirls 2nd Encore is available right now for PlayStation 4, Vita, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

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Trials of Osiris Rewards This Week Are Igneous Hammer, Igneous Hammer, And Igneous Hammer (May 7-11)

This weekend marks the last Trials of Osiris event in Destiny 2 before the launch of its next content season, the Season of the Splicer, on May 11. You’re going to want to jump into the multiplayer competition this time, because it’s your best chance ever of getting a god roll on Igneous Hammer, the hand cannon that has become a PvP favorite throughout the season. Every reward this week is Ingeous Hammer, greatly intensifying your chances of getting your perfect version. Here’s what you can expect from this weekend’s Trials of Osiris and what map you’ll play.

As always, this weekend’s Trials event continues to the Tuesday weekly reset, so you’ve got until May 11 to earn rewards and spend tokens with Saint-14.

Trials of Osiris Map And Rewards (May 7-11)

  • Map: Distant Shore
  • 3 wins — Igneous Hammer, Solar hand cannon
  • 5 wins — Igneous Hammer
  • 7 wins — Igneous Hammer
  • Flawless run — Igneous Hammer (Adept)

While Trials is tough and most players might never go flawless, the event isn’t just for the very best players in the game. You can still earn Trials rewards–in this case, Igneous Hammer, a gun that has been extremely dominant in the Crucible all season–just by playing matches, win or lose. The End Game bounty from Saint-14 awards each week’s three-win reward just for participating. There’s also a Seasonal Challenge that awards another weapon drop if you can win a total of seven rounds (as opposed to complete matches).

The Trials of Osiris runs from Friday to Tuesday every week, providing one of the toughest challenges in Destiny 2 for Crucible players. Your goal in the PvP mode is to win as many matches as possible before you suffer three total losses, which forces you to reset your Trials run, or Passage, and try again. It’s worth noting, though, that there’s no team matchmaking in Trials: You have to assemble your own three-player fireteam to run the event. You’ll earn loot at certain points as you rack up victories, but the best rewards in the event come when you go on a winning streak of seven matches in a row–a “Flawless” run.

If you can manage to go Flawless, you’ll visit the Lighthouse and earn exclusive rewards. Opening the chest in the Lighthouse now gets you an “Adept” weapon, which has extra stat boosts you can’t get almost anywhere else. Visit Saint-14 to pick up a Trials Passage and bounties to get started, but remember that you have to spend any Trials tokens you earn for wins with Saint-14 before the weekly reset on Tuesday, May 11. These tokens expire at the end of the weekend you earned them, so get your rewards while you can.

Also See: Xur Location for May 7-11 and his items

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