This month in technology: Fortnite’s football foray and the end of Adobe Flash Player

Farewell Flash

Adobe Flash Player has officially been discontinued after 14 years, bringing down the curtain on one of the most influential pieces of software in modern history.

Released in 1996, Flash paved the way for people to stream videos and play online games, and by 2009 it was installed on 99% of internet-connected desktop PCs

However, Flash’s powers began to wane as the smartphone era came into effect, with Adobe unable to keep up with the technological changes.

The group did make attempts at a mobile version but stopped that project in November 2011, and four years later Apple disabled the plug-in on its Safari browser by default.

Adobe has warned its customers to remove Flash from their computers, stating there will be no further updates or security patches

Adobe said: “Uninstalling Flash Player will help to secure your system since Adobe does not intend to issue Flash Player updates or security patches after the end-of-life date.”

How do you feel about Adobe Flash Player coming to an end? pic.twitter.com/viQ66D8h64

— Heart Internet (@HeartInternet) January 20, 2021

Burnley turns to AI

Premier League outfit Burnley has become the first side in the division to use AI in its global scouting process.

Via a partnership with AiScout, the Lancashire club will launch a platform that allows anyone aged 14 and above to record themselves undertaking football drills and upload the clips to a mobile app.

The videos in the app will then be analysed by AI to help Burnley’s scouts identity potential talent.

Alan Pace, Burnley chair, said: “This is a first opportunity for us to introduce new data-led technologies into the football club and promote Burnley to the wider football world by giving aspirational young players across the world an opportunity. We look forward to expanding the programme throughout 2021.

“With the pandemic currently leading a suspension of youth football in Lancashire and across the UK, this trial represents an open and inclusive opportunity for football players to complete a set of drills in their own environment that could end with them being scouted by a Premier League club,” he added.

Pace’s ALK Capital, which led the takeover of Burnley in December 2020, has previously invested in AiScout.

Fornite’s football foray

More than 20 global football teams are set to make an appearance in the hugely popular Fortnite via a partnership between game publishers Epic Games and IMG.

Players will be able to represent teams from across Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania as part of the licensing agreement.

Starting from 23 January, players will be able to choose outfits from 23 of the participating clubs including European giants Juventus and 2018 MLS champions Atlanta United.

Nate Nanzer, Epic Games head of global partnerships, said: “We really view this as the the start of what we want to do in football. We’ve dabbled in the past, like we did some stuff with Liverpool Football Club a few months ago, but that’s now evolved into this, and the football calendar is pretty exciting over the next couple years, so hopefully we can keep doing more.”

Matthew Primack, IMG SVP of licensing, added: “This is a truly international collaboration, tapping into clubs from almost every continent and offering fans the opportunity to express their passion for the beautiful game and their favourite team through the trailblazing world of Fortnite.”

LG ponders mobile market exit

South Korean technology firm LG is reportedly considering exiting the mobile phone in 2021, according to reports coming from the Asian nation.

The Korea Herald has reported that LG CEO Kwon Bon-seok had sent out an internal staff memo that indicated a shift in business strategy.

LG has lost around $4.5bn in the last five years as it continues to struggle to match the pace set by its Far East electronic rivals Samsung and Huawei.

The memo handed to the Korea Herald read: “The competition in the global market for mobile devices is getting fiercer, it is about time for LG to make a cold judgment and the best choice.

“The company is considering all possible measures, including sale, withdrawal and downsizing of the smartphone business,” the memo concluded.

However, the Seoul-based firm has quickly moved to dismiss the report, telling the Android Police the report was “completely false and without merit”.

New universal chat app to launch

A new universal chat app is set to launch in a move that will attempt to unify 15 different chat platforms into a single space.

Beeper is the brainchild of Eric Migicovsky, who founded smartwatch company Pebble, and was announced on Twitter earlier this month.

The project was previously known as NovaChat and requires a $10 per month subscription fee.

Perhaps the most significant chat platform that is set to come under the Beeper umbrella is Apple’s iMessage service.

IMessage is only officially available on Apple devices, a constraint that Migicovsky says can be circumnavigated “using some trickery”.

WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Twitter, Slack and Instagram are some of the 15 platforms that will be available on Beeper.

New app alert: I've been working on Beeper for a while and today we're launching! It's a single app to chat on iMessage, WhatsApp, and 13 other networks. Been using it as my default chat client for the last 2 years and there is NO going back. Check it out https://t.co/vjAtnYvdhS pic.twitter.com/rJ39rPFixb

— Eric Migicovsky (@ericmigi) January 20, 2021