TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, could soon be launching yet another ambitious project: their own smartphone. 

The Financial Times reported the new project, citing “two people familiar with the project,” on Monday. The plan is to focus on launching the phone with the company’s many apps pre-installed to lure buyers into choosing their phone over competitors. 

Besides TikTok, ByteDance also owns news app Jinri Toutiao, its Chinese version of TikTok called Douyin, and new messaging app Flipchat. It is reportedly also looking into its own music streaming service to compete with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify. 

According to the Financial Times:

ByteDance’s latest project, the brainchild of founder Zhang Yiming, follows its acquisition of a number of patents from Smartisan, a Chinese phonemaker, and subsequent recruitment of some of its staff.  

Mr Zhang has long dreamt of a phone with ByteDance apps pre-installed, according to one person with knowledge of the secretive project.

Whether or not Zhang’s dream actually materializes is another matter. The FT is quick to note failed phone projects from two other tech giants, Amazon and Facebook. And one can’t forget the disaster that was Snapchat’s own hardware foray, Spectacles. 

SEE ALSO: Music could make Snapchat more like TikTok

Additionally, ByteDance is facing some uphill climbs on a global scale. TikTok was briefly banned in India, where the app is extremely popular. 

And there’s the privacy issue: Douyin is heavily surveilled and censored by the Chinese government. One of the most well-known examples of this censorship was the 2018 wiping of tens of thousands of Peppa Pig videos from Douyin because government officials considered the cartoon pig a “subversive” figure.

The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China could also throw a big wrench in any plans ByteDance has to get traction in the American phone market. The U.S. Department of Commerce banned Chinese tech giant Huawei, for example, over spying and other national security concerns, prompting Microsoft to clear its laptops from its store and Google to temporarily cut off business with the company.

Whether ByteDance can replicate their app success on in the hardware market remains to be seen, but it’s looking like a tough gambit. 

Warning: Spoilers for Game of Thrones lie ahead.

On a set where dragons live and the dead walk again, even the most mundane of details can seem pretty magical. Luckily, Game of Thrones: The Last Watch didn’t settle for good enough — instead hunting down the best of the best behind-the-scenes nuggets to feed our mourning fandom.

On Sunday night, HBO aired the two-hour making-of special, chronicling the end of Thrones from the perspective of its creators and through the lens of documentarian Jeanie Finlay. From Kit Harington’s big finale reaction to those ridiculous makeup jobs, there’s plenty for Thrones fans to obsess over. So here are just eight of our favorite moments from The Last Watch.

1. Thrones used A-list cast members as press (and fan) decoys

Thrones fans are a resourceful and clever bunch. So much so, that the show began sending its actors to locations where they weren’t filming to throw theorists off their tail. 

The most important smoke and mirrors act? The shooting of Tyrion’s nomination of Bran as King in King’s Landing’s dragon pit in Season 8, episode 6.

To ensure fans would not pick up on any important details, The Waif (Faye Marsay), Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha), The Night King (Vladimir Furdik), and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) all came to location in Spain where the scene was set to be filmed, in spite of not appearing anywhere near the final product. (Notably, neither Marsay nor Wlaschiha appear in Season 8 at any point.)

“It’s weird, I’ve come out basically as a decoy,” laments Harington as he tags along in a crew van. “It feels weird being here and not actually filming.” 

2. Designers spent seven months building King’s Landing, just to blow it up

Thrones’ production designer and art director Deborah Riley worked tirelessly with her team over the course of seven months to build the final set for Dany’s infamous rampage — only to blow it up for the cameras after a few days of shooting.

“It’s very early to blow this up it feels,” notes episode director Miguel Sapochnik, as he and Riley wander the IRL King’s Landing.

“I know! It really bothers me,” says Riley. “It’s like, wait a minute, what did we approve? Should’ve at least had Cersei going down for lunch once or twice or something.”

Moments later, the pyrotechnics team goes through with the plan, lighting the magical set ablaze to mimic Drogon’s destruction. It’s a remarkable feat of craftsmanship and commitment, made even more spectacular by its sudden demolition.

3. Emilia Clarke shared a very special bond with the wig department

The Khaleesi doesn’t make the wig, but the wig sure can make the Khaleesi. 

Throughout The Last Watch, fans are treated to a behind-the-scenes look at Emilia Clarke’s preparation process, with special emphasis put on her relationship to Daenerys’ iconic hair. As Clarke noted in her Instagram post saying goodbye to Thrones, the ever-evolving “wig of dreams” played a massive role in creating the legendary Queen.  

Each day of filming, Clarke would meet Thrones‘ hair supervisor Candice Banks at the wig department’s stationing area — sometimes as early as 3 a.m. — to begin putting on her platinum locks.

“When you put that on, it’s just an instant whoa,” Clarke says, donning a bald cap in preparation. “My heart is in my throat when I think about this not happening much longer.”

4. “Dead” extras couldn’t breathe during the Battle of Winterfell

While filming the long-awaited Battle of Winterfell, Thrones’ main stars may have been the ones feeling the most pressure — but it was the scene’s supporting players who were left holding their breath. 

Due to low temperatures while filming near Belfast, Battle of Winterfell extras and stuntmen who had been “killed” during the episode’s epic combat were instructed to not breathe during filming, lest their frosty exhales be seen on-screen, shattering the illusion of their recent peril.

“Background and stunts, until the moment we yell cut, you need to hold your breath, but also not breathe out,” a voice on the PA can be heard saying. “It’s gonna be amazing. If anybody dies, let me know.”

Notably, the same applied to Iain Glenn as he and Clarke acted out the heart-wrenching final moments between Jorah and Dany. Talk about an acting challenge. 

5. That coffee cup probably came from a super nice lady named Leigh

In the wake of so-called Cupgate, Thrones fans continue to seek answers. Unfortunately, The Last Watch fails to definitively point the finger at any specific individual — but it does reveal where that cup of coffee likely came from.

Leigh McCrum, the delightful food truck owner behind Thrones’ sustenance, can be seen throughout The Last Watch selling sandwiches, ice pops, and plenty of coffee to crew and cast members. She’s a warm, friendly presence, reveling in the cinematic magic of catering the biggest show in television history.

As for the ongoing investigation, each cup McCrum sells dons that same logo seen in Episode 4, originally mistaken for a Starbucks logo. Was it a simple accident or the greatest branding stunt known to Westeros? It’s tough to say, but if anyone has the answer, it’s Leigh.

6. Episode 2’s iconic Dany and Jon scene wasn’t quite as magical IRL

Dany and Jon’s romantic dragon getaway may have been one of Season 8’s most romantic moments, but the dynamic was notably less idyllic on set. 

As seen in the doc, not only did Harington and Clarke have to emote at a gigantic green square while toughing the harsh Icelandic weather, they also had to make out while pretending to hear nearby dragons.

“Move to your right a little bit, Emilia,” prompts Thrones director David Nutter over intercom, as Jon and Dany kiss in the snow. “And growl.” 

Yup. That awesome ruh-roh shot of Jon reacting to Drogon and Rhaegal’s disapproval was inspired by a flatly delivered “growl” from David Nutter. Movie magic, people. It’s amazing.

7. The Night King (aka Vladimir Furdik) is just the sweetest guy ever

A shining but lesser known star in the Thrones-verse, Vladimir Furdik is the stuntman-turned-actor behind the late Night King. The Last Watch offers fans a chance to get to know the typically silent star — and good gracious, if he isn’t an absolute delight. 

Walking us through the magic of makeup, the specifics of stunt work, and the overwhelming nature of fame, Furdik is the most relatable figure in the doc. Pleasant, awestruck, and happy to be there, he is the polar opposite to everything you thought The Night King would be. 

In one scene, Furdik, serving as a press decoy in Spain, cautiously approaches a mob of fans. 

“You know who I am, yes?” Furdik asks, his thick Slovakian accent barely masking his nervousness.

Instantly, the crowd erupts with cries of “The Night King!” and begins begging for autographs. Furdik’s face lights up, and he eagerly begins signing merchandise and posing for pictures. It’s a moment of pure magic, fit only for the one true King. 

8. Game of Thrones’ real MVP? Iconic extra Andy McClay

Of all the big reveals in The Last Watch, none are quite as lovely as the overdue honoring of Andy McClay. 

McClay, an Irish actor and diehard Game of Thrones fan, served as an extra on the show for multiple seasons, most recently appearing as a member of Jon Snow’s guard during the finale. Following Harington’s farewell speech to the crew, McClay offered his thoughts on the end of an era directly to camera.

“I’m choking up here, man,” McClay says. “Honestly. It’s what Kit was saying. Even though, I’m just an extra, in comparison to him being the main star, it really has changed my life. I didn’t think I was going to get this emotional. It has. It really has. The past five years have been the best five years of my life.”  

Dedicated and passionate, McClay served as an essential backbone to the series, emphasizing just how much the creation of Thrones was a true team effort. 

Now, as made clear in The Last Watch, he serves as a Game of Thrones tour guide in Belfast, showing fans still not ready to move on where the magic really happened.

Game of Thrones: The Last Watch is streaming on HBO Now. 

One sharp Australian teen caught a break this week after being caught hacking tech giant Apple. 

The 17-year-old Adelaide student was one of two teens who were charged with hacking Apple twice, once in 2015 and once in 2017, and downloading a digital ton of internal documents. 

After putting the teen on nine months of probation instead of jail time, Magistrate David White said, according to ABC News Australia: “He is clearly someone who is a gifted individual when it comes to information technology, that being said, those who have this advantage of being gifted doesn’t give them the right to abuse that gift … You must remain on the straight and narrow and use your gifts for good rather than evil.”

It probably helped the teen’s cause that Apple reported it suffered no financial loss or damage due to the hack. 

The Adelaide hacker’s attorney pointed out that he was only 13 when the first breach occurred and that the teen hoped it would lead to a job with Apple, ABC News Australia reports.

“He had no idea about the seriousness of the offence and hoped that when it was discovered that he might gain employment at this company.

“He didn’t know this was going to lead to anything other than a job at the end of it, [this] happened in Europe, a similar person got caught and they ended up getting employed by the company.”

The other hacker, from Melbourne, was sentenced to eight months probation last year. He was 16 at the time of the hack and was caught after bragging on WhatsApp and storing the stolen files in a folder called, shockingly, “hacky hack hack.”

An Apple spokesman referred Mashable to the statement it issued after the ruling in the first case:

At Apple, we vigilantly protect our networks and have dedicated teams of information security professionals that work to detect and respond to threats. In this case, our teams discovered the unauthorized access, contained it, and reported the incident to law enforcement.  

We regard the data security of our users as one of our greatest responsibilities and want to assure our customers that at no point during this incident was their personal data compromised. 

SEE ALSO: What Apple’s Supreme Court case means for the future of the App Store

Here’s hoping the hackers take the lesson to heart and, like the judge said, use their talents for the benefit of technology.

Everything is creepy in outer space.

It’s a dark, hostile environment where sound doesn’t travel and death comes quickly for those who lack the proper protection. Habitable spaces can be built, but these costly creations are cramped on the inside and fraught with danger. Even the smallest malfunction can turn deadly.

This is familiar ground for sci-fi thrillers, but none have taken quite the same approach as Observation, from No Code (published by Devolver Digital). The title is the name of a space station where most of this story unfolds, but it’s also a reference to how you spend the bulk of your time in the game.

Observation casts you as the System Administration Maintenance AI — Sam for short — aboard the station. You’re there to monitor operations and provide assistance to the astronauts under your care as needed, and you see all of it unfold through the unfeeling perspective of a camera lens.

It sounds like a boring existence for a human player to dive into, and under normal circumstances it definitely would be. But Observation opens in the aftermath of some terrible incident. The station is low on power, the crew is scattered (and perhaps dead), and Sam’s memory core has been wiped. 

Whatever happened here, there’s no record of it when you first start playing.

Whatever happened here, there’s no record of it when you first start playing. Your only source of information is Dr. Emma Fisher, a scientist aboard the Observation who is working feverishly to figure out what happened and how to fix it. If all goes well, maybe she and the others will survive.

Early on, Emma is your lifeline to … well, everything. Whatever happened aboard the Observation completely knocked out Sam’s ability to manage station systems. At the start, you’re limited to one static camera view of the station interior. As Emma brings more of your systems online — often with your help — you’re able to jump between different camera feeds, communicate wirelessly with station systems and electronics, and even take direct control of a spherical drone.

Visually, this is a game of peering at the innards of a space station through a variety of camera lenses. The interface never lets you forget that you’re in control of a computer brain, with digital readouts splashing across the screen regularly as you take in and interact with the environment around you.

The time-tested video game approach of gradually unlocking what eventually becomes a deep pool of abilities doesn’t apply here. Sam’s purpose at any given moment is dictated by the human giving orders on the outside. You have a measure of control over how you carry out those orders — you can even refuse at times, and the character responds accordingly — but never in a way that lets you break from the plot.

Yes, Observation puts the story first at all times. You’ll never once see a “Game Over” screen, even if you fail at some task or another — you’ll just try again until you get it right. Functionally, the tasks Sam is given are puzzles. They take different forms and will sometimes repeat, but you’ll ultimately tackle a wide variety of them over the course of the game’s 5-to-10-hour play time.

One challenge that comes up a couple times involves pressing buttons at specific moments and in a set sequence to repair faulty locking mechanisms on a docking ring. Another recurring puzzle plays like a game of Simon Says where a set of symbols flashes, one after the other, and you have to recall and repeat the sequence once it’s over.

Observation puts the story first at all times.

There are hidden object tasks where you have to locate malfunctioning system nodes or missing crew aboard the station. Environmental puzzles that involve searching rooms carefully to find, say, a PIN for a computer login screen. And through it all, you’re constantly reporting data back to Emma as you find it and gathering clues of your own that grant further insight into what happened.

None of it is particularly challenging, though it’s easy to lose track of where you are as you jump from camera to camera and, when it’s an option, guide your drone through the zero gravity environment. Navigation is the biggest hurdle, no question. The puzzles are simple and forgiving, and they function primarily to evoke a sense of place and identity. Observation does a tremendous job of making you, the player, feel like the string-puller behind a computer’s AI brain.

The backdrop for all of this is a sci-fi thriller that isn’t afraid to indulge in its clear Hollywood inspirations. The most obvious callback is, without a doubt, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Several key moments in Observation make no attempt to disguise their connection to the Stanley Kubrick classic.

That’s not the only Hollywood touchstone at play, but to name any others would risk spoilers. There are lots of surprises tucked away in Observation‘s unfolding story and ending that’s wide open to interpretation. This is the kind of narrative you’re meant to chew on and think about, and— for the right player — obsess over.

SEE ALSO: The dread of ‘A Plague Tale: Innocence’ wastes its great promise

The connection between Emma and Sam is central to everything, and makes it clear early on that this is no rogue AI horror story. If you see the 2001 comparison and think “AI programming runs amok, got it,” you’re way off. There’s something deeper going on here, a much larger plot that relates not just to Emma and Sam, but to the Observation as a whole and its core mission.

I’ve already said too much. As it always is with any good mystery, this one lands better if you go in blind. Suffice to say: Observation is a game that everyone can play, and anyone who loves creepy outer space mindbenders should play.