HeyWhatsNew: Call of Duty Heads to the Big Screen and Google Must Share Search Data After Antitrust Ruling
Hello, Heyuppers! Here’s a look at this week’s top stories in tech, gaming, and innovation starting 01/09/2025.
Amazon Launches Lens Live
Amazon is taking AI shopping to the next level with Lens Live, a new upgrade to its Amazon Lens feature that lets shoppers discover products in real time. By pointing your phone at items in the real world, Lens Live shows matching products in a swipeable carousel and integrates with Amazon’s AI assistant, Rufus, for product insights. The feature builds on Amazon Lens rather than replacing it, adding a live, interactive component that helps shoppers compare prices and explore options on the spot.
Lens Live is part of Amazon’s broader push into AI-powered shopping, which includes smart guides, personalized recommendations, AI-enhanced reviews, and tools to find clothes that fit. Powered by Amazon SageMaker and AWS-managed OpenSearch, the feature lets users tap on items to view matches, add them to their cart, or save them for later. Lens Live is launching first on iOS for tens of millions of U.S. shoppers, with plans to expand further in the future.
Google Keeps Chrome, But Must Share Search Data in Landmark Antitrust Ruling
Google won’t have to sell its Chrome browser, but it’s not exactly off the hook. A DC judge ruled that while the tech giant can keep Chrome and keep paying partners for default search placement, it does have to share some of its search data with competitors and can’t make exclusive deals that shut others out. It’s a big move—the most significant antitrust remedy against a tech company in 25 years—but it could still be a while before any of this actually changes how we search online.
The hope is that sharing data will give rivals a chance to catch up and innovate, even if some critics think the remedies don’t go far enough. Google says it’s reviewing the decision carefully, while the Justice Department considers pushing for more. Meanwhile, this isn’t Google’s only legal headache. Other cases around its app store and ad tools show that the company’s dominance is still under serious scrutiny.
Call of Duty Is Heading to the Big Screen in a Paramount Blockbuster
Call of Duty, one of the world’s most popular video game franchises, is getting a live-action movie treatment. Activision is teaming up with Paramount to bring the hit series, known for its gripping storylines and over 500 million copies sold worldwide, to cinemas, aiming to thrill long-time fans and attract new ones. While details on the plot or cast haven’t been revealed, both studios promise a blockbuster that captures the excitement and imagination of the games.
The move joins a growing trend of turning top video games into films, following hits like the Super Mario Bros Movie, the Minecraft Movie, and adaptations of The Legend of Zelda and Elden Ring. Paramount, known for Sonic the Hedgehog and action franchises like Top Gun and Mission: Impossible, brings serious blockbuster experience to the project, giving fans high hopes that Call of Duty’s jump to the big screen will be nothing short of epic.
Final Fantasy Tactics Returns as The Ivalice Chronicles
Nearly 30 years after its original release, Final Fantasy Tactics is back as The Ivalice Chronicles, keeping its beloved story and strategic gameplay intact while modernizing the experience for today’s players. Fans can expect subtle updates like improved interface, additional dialogue, and voice work, but the turn-based battles, job system, and pixel-art charm remain. The game’s story of medieval class struggles, war, and social inequality, originally inspired by late-1990s Japan, feels strikingly relevant today, giving the classic title fresh resonance.
Rebuilding the game from scratch without the original source code was no small feat, but director Kazutoyo Maehiro and his team stayed true to the original while refining clunky mechanics and adding quality-of-life improvements, such as a clearer combat timeline. Unlike other full-scale remakes, they chose not to overhaul the graphics or expand the world, preserving the isometric maps and pixel style that define the game’s identity. Maehiro hints that success with this release could open the door for sequels or new tactical RPGs, keeping the Ivalice universe alive for a new generation
YouTuber Makes $9,000 a Month Posting AI-Generated Videos
A 21-year-old computer science student from the Philippines, Mark Lawrence I Garilao, revealed he earns around $9,000 a month from his YouTube channel, FUNTASTIC YT, by posting AI-generated videos. The clips, featuring a cartoon kitten and his father in surreal scenarios, take just one to two hours to make using tools like ChatGPT and KlingAI. One popular video, with the kitten swimming in a pond of gummy bears, has nearly 2 million views, and his channel now has almost 600,000 subscribers.
Garilao’s videos are part of a growing trend of “AI slop”, short, mass-produced clips made with generative AI designed to grab attention and rack up views. Other creators are doing the same to capitalize on algorithm-driven recommendations. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are starting to label AI-generated content and update policies around “inauthentic” posts, as this type of content continues to spread across social media.
Thanks for tuning in today, Heyuppers! Catch us at the same time next week!
