Here are a few of the stories I’ve found interesting over the last couple days.  This was written Friday morning, so anything that happened later in the morning or early afternoon will not be included

President Trump Will Ban TikTok and WeChat as of Sunday

President Donald Trump’s commerce department has issued an order that will ban Apple and Google from offering TikTok and WeChat for download on their respective app stores beginning Sunday, September 20.

Also included in the order are provisions that state that internet service providers and content delivery networks will be barred from "enabling the functioning or the optimization" of the apps, and "directly contracted or arranged Internet transit or peering services."  This essentially mens that TikTok will not be able to function in the United States.

This is obviously a significant escalation in Trump’s trade war with China, and is the kind of thing that the US has, in the past issued strong statements against when dictatorial governments in other parts of the world have done similar things.

This story is far from over.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/09/tiktok-wechat-to-be-pulled-from-us-app-stores-as-of-september-20/

PlayStation 5 Launches November 12

Sony announced that the PlayStation 5 will launch in Canada for November 12.  The version without the disc drive will be $500 CAD, and the version with a disc drive will be $630 CAD.  The PS5 is more expensive than the Xbox Series of consoles, but it should be noted that both models of PS5 offer the same hardware specifications, except for one model lacking a disc drive.  This is in contrast to the Xbox Series, where the Series S has lower hardware specifications to achieve a lower price.

Pre orders have already opened, and supply appears quite limited.

https://mobilesyrup.com/2020/09/16/playstation-5-price-launch-date-canada/

LG Announces “Wing” Smartphone

After weeks of leaks and teases, LG has announced a wild smartphone it calls the Wing.  The LG Wing features a screen that swivels 90 degrees perpendicular to the body of the phone, which reveals a smaller screen underneath.  When flipped out, the phone has a “T” shape.

I don’t know who asked for this, I don’t know who will buy this, but I love crazy phone designs.

https://www.theverge.com/21444746/lg-wing-dual-screen-phone-hands-on-impressions

Nintendo Discontinues the 3DS

Nintendo has quietely discontinued the Nintendo 3DS family of consoles.  The original version of the 3DS launched in early 2011, and was a followup to 2004’s Nintendo DS.  The 3DS launched at the height of the 3D TV fad, hence the name, and featured a top screen that supported 3D visual that did not require 3D Glasses.  Despite the heavy push, the 3D component never caught on, and it was largely abandoned within a few years.  Nintendo even released two versions of the 3DS that they called the 2DS that lacked the 3D capabilities altogether.  The 3DS sold 75 million units, while its predecessor, the Nintendo DS, sold 15 million.  This means that in 16 years, Nintendo sold over 225 million dual screen portable gaming systems.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in this announcement was that it took this long.  When Nintendo first released the Switch in 2017, it said the 3DS would remain on the market as a budget option, and targeted towards younger audiences.  The 3DS has received virtually no software support since then, with no titles of note being released since the release of the Switch

I really liked both the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS, and carried them with me for many, many years.  I really enjoyed those devices, but their time has come.  I still have my “New Nintendo 3DS XL”  (Nintendo was really bad at naming things) and I still pull it out on occasion.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-3ds-has-been-officially-discontinued/1100-6482298/