Court Protects Unreal Engine-But not Fortnite; Google Discover-Short Vids Like TikTok; Tesla Major Construction at Battery Facility in Fremont; Nintendo- 4K Capable Switch in 2021

Epic games got a split decision from a court on their temporary restraining order against apple. Theverge.com reports that the court ruled that Apple can’t retaliate against the company by terminating the developer account used to support the company’s Unreal Engine. In the same ruling, the judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers held that Apple is not required to bring back Fortnite to the App Store. Because keeping Epic from supporting the Unreal engine could affect others besides the parties, the court said “Epic Games and Apple are at liberty to litigate against each other, but their dispute should not create havoc to bystanders.” The ruling today is only temporary and limited in scope unit the court can hear more detailed arguments concerning a preliminary injunction. That hearing is on the docket for September 28th.

With TikTok under the gun to be banned from the US if it doesn’t sell its US assets to an American company, a number of firms have been in talks to pick up those assets. Meanwhile, according to 9to5google.com, Google Discover has been testing TikTok like ‘short videos’. Discover has appeared to the left of most Android home screens or in the Google app. Now, there is also a carousel of the short videos. The videos open in your device’s default browser. There are controls to un/mute and share, and you also see a progress indicator. YouTube is also working on a TikTok competitor called ‘Shorts’ that is slated for later this year. It will likely also appear in the new Discover carousel.

Tesla has been doing some major construction at its Tera battery manufacturing facility on the campus of its Fremont, CA plant. Electrek.co says this revolves around the company’s secret ‘Roadrunner’ project…Tesla’s in-house designed battery cell manufacturing system which is expected to increase production and reduce cost. There is already a pilot manufacturing line up and running, and new machinery developed in-house will be used. Tesla applied to expand its pace at the facility in June. and also applied to increase electrical consumption to almost 92,800 MWh/year, up from 72,800 MHh/yr. Right now, the plan is to hold their ‘Battery Day’ event at the facility…unless it has to be delayed again due to the coronavirus.

Both Microsoft and Sony have shown off their 4K ready consoles that will be out later this year….the PS 5 and Xbox Series X, so what about Nintendo? Engadget.com notes that they are cooking up an upgraded version of the Switch with support for 4K. It’s also believed that a number of new games from both Nintendo and outside studios will drop, too.