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The iPhone’s Next Breakthrough Features May Depend on These Technologies

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For Lucy Edwards, a blind, UK-based journalist and broadcaster, maintaining a social distance in public during the height of the pandemic was challenging. That’s why she tried People Detection, a feature within the iPhone’s Magnifier app that uses the iPhone 12 Pro‘s and 13 Pro‘s lidar sensor to detect when others are nearby. 

“I’m going to have to get used to it, but I’m really excited that I can be in control again,” Edwards said in a BBC video from 2020 documenting her experience. 

Lidar, or light detection and ranging, is just one example of how the technology inside the iPhone has evolved in the last 15 years. When the first iPhone launched, on June 29, 2007, it had a 3.5-inch screen that would be considered minuscule by today’s standards and a single 2-megapixel camera. Now Apple’s most sophisticated phones come equipped with triple-rear cameras that are advanced enough to shoot films, sensors that help people like Edwards navigate the world, and powerful chips with billions of transistors. 

The iPhone often served as a catalyst for the technologies introduced within, whether it’s digital assistant Siri, mobile payments or wireless charging, and helped drive the evolution of how we live our mobile lives. But in the future, the most important part of the iPhone might be everything around it. That’s according to analysts who’ve observed the mobile industry’s general trends and Apple’s strategy.   

In the short term, we’re likely to see incremental improvements like higher quality cameras and giant displays. But over the next decade, the iPhone could evolve into a hub for smart glasses and other devices. AirPods, Apple Watches and CarPlay-enabled vehicles may be just the start. The iPhone’s core elements, like its display and charging systems, are also expected to get a significant boost. 

“The next quest for the smartphone is to figure out what it will connect to next,” said Runar Bjørhovde, an analyst with market research firm Canalys. “Because the smartphone has not necessarily reached its potential yet, but as a standalone device I think the smartphone is getting closer and closer to the edge.” 

Your iPhone at the center of everything

There’s plenty of speculation about what’s next after the smartphone. The resounding consensus seems to be smart glasses, with companies like Meta, Snap and Google all working on their own version of high-tech spectacles. 

Apple is no exception; reports from Bloomberg indicate that the iPhone maker could debut a mixed reality headset this year or next that supports augmented and virtual reality technologies. A pair of AR-powered smart glasses could arrive later this decade, according to the report. 

So what does this have to do with the iPhone? Possibly everything. Even though Apple’s headset is expected to function as a standalone device, the apps and services it runs would likely stem from the iPhone. 

Think of the Apple Watch. It doesn’t need a nearby iPhone to function, but a large part of its appeal involves its ability to sync closely with Apple’s phone. Many of the Apple Watch’s notifications are also tied to accounts and apps that were set up on the iPhone. 

Whether it’s a smart headset, the Apple Watch, AirPods or HomeKit-enabled appliances, analysts expect the phone to remain at the center.  

The iPhone will likely remain at the center of the Apple experience, serving as a hub for AirPods, the Apple Watch and possibly a pair of smart glasses one day.

Scott Stein/CNET

“The phone will be the anchor,” said Gene Munster, managing partner for tech investment firm Loup Ventures and a longtime Apple analyst.

But it isn’t just about connecting to new personal tech gadgets. Apple is gradually turning the iPhone into a viable replacement for the wallet, weaving it even more tightly into the nondigital aspects of our lives. 

Apple has made a lot of progress on this front over the past year by rolling out new features like digital IDs for Apple Wallet and Tap to Pay, which turns the iPhone into a contactless payment terminal for merchants without additional hardware. Apple also just announced Apple Pay Later, which lets Apple Pay users split a purchase into four equal installments paid over the course of six weeks. 

“It’s clear that there’s a lot of momentum within financial services with Apple, and I think we will see further advancements there,” said Nick Maynard, head of research for Juniper Research. 

Better lidar, more advanced AI for better spatial awareness

Making educated guesses about Apple’s general direction for the iPhone is certainly easier than pinpointing specific changes that might be coming. But analysts have some ideas based on the seeds Apple has planted in current iPhones. 

Lidar will likely continue to be important as the company pushes more deeply into augmented reality. Apple added lidar on the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020 to boost the performance of AR apps, enable new camera tricks and facilitate accessibility features like the aforementioned People Detection. The technology measures distance by determining how long it takes for light to reflect off an object and bounce back. 

Yet the iPhone’s current lidar sensors might not be sophisticated enough to bring Apple’s augmented reality ambitions to fruition, said Munster. 

“Specifically what needs to happen is the mapping of the real world needs to be more accurate,” said Munster, whose firm conducts research on topics like augmented reality, autonomous vehicles and virtual reality. “And until that happens, AR isn’t really going to happen.”

The iPhone’s People Detection feature uses lidar.

James Martin/CNET

Lidar improves the iPhone’s depth-sensing skills, but it’s still up to the phone’s processor to make sense of all that data. Apple has leaned into artificial intelligence — one of Silicon Valley’s favorite buzzwords in recent years — to give the iPhone and other products more context about users and their surroundings. 

Once again, you can look to the Apple Watch to see this approach at work. Apple’s smartwatch uses artificial intelligence and data gathered from its sensors for tasks such as tracking your sleep and noticing when you’re washing your hands. 

Hanish Bhatia, a senior analyst for Counterpoint Research, provided a hypothetical example of how AI improvements could one day manifest in upcoming iPhones. He envisions a future in which Apple’s smartphone can observe a person’s habits to understand whether the phone’s primary user or a family member may be using the device. 

“The way you use your phone, at what angle your smartphone is tilted … Do you press with a particular pressure, or do you just tap it with your nails or something like that?” he said as an example. “All of these are different types of behaviors which are very unique to a user.”

Bhatia’s example is speculative and doesn’t reflect Apple’s actual plans. But with advancements in AI and technologies like lidar and ultra wideband giving the iPhone more spatial awareness, it’s easy to imagine a scenario like this.

Displays and charging tech could get a big change

Perhaps one of the biggest questions surrounding Apple’s future smartphone plans is whether the company will ever create a foldable iPhone. Samsung, Apple’s biggest rival in the mobile space, has already launched several generations of phones with flexible designs. Motorola, Huawei and Microsoft have all followed suit, and Google is rumored to be working on a bendable Pixel. Shipments of foldable smartphones are said to have increased by 264.3% in 2021 compared with 2020, according to The International Data Corporation.

But experts like Munster and Maynard are skeptical about whether Apple will take a similar approach. Though the tech giant has filed patents for mobile devices with flexible displays, those filings aren’t always indicative of Apple’s plans. Sales of foldable phones have been growing, but shipments still pale in comparison with regular smartphones. (Research firm IDC estimates that 7.1 million foldable phones were shipped in 2021 compared with 362.4 million phones shipped in just the fourth quarter of last year). And then there’s the question of whether foldable devices bring anything truly new or meaningful to the smartphone experience. 

There are also challenges with creating a true glass screen that’s foldable, says Munster. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip has a glass screen, but that glass is also combined with “a special material” to “achieve a consistent hardness,” CNET reported in 2020.

“The piece that’s missing from my perspective is how [Apple] would actually do it,” Munster said.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 can fold in half.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The iPhone’s charging experience is probably due for an upgrade too. Between USB-C, Lightning and MagSafe, it isn’t an exaggeration to say that Apple’s charging options are complicated. Maynard believes pressure from the European Union and US senators could mean a switch to USB-C might be in the iPhone’s future.

But more dramatic changes could also be in the pipeline. Rumors about a completely portless iPhone have swirled for years, and Maynard doesn’t think it’s totally out of the question.  

“I suspect if any vendor was going to launch a fully portless system, then it probably would be Apple,” said Maynard, citing Apple’s decision to remove the iPhone’s headphone jack in 2016. 

Wireless charging has also been a focal point for Apple in recent years, further supporting the case for a port-free iPhone. There’s Apple’s relatively new MagSafe chargers, and many CarPlay-enabled vehicles also support wireless connections. Apple has also patented wireless charging systems that would be built directly into MacBooks, enabling Apple’s laptops to charge iPhones, Apple Watches and iPads. The iPad Pro’s Smart Connector also provides a quick and easy way to attach accessories to Apple’s tablet without a port. 

“The number of systems that actually 100% must have a cable are diminishing,” Maynard said. 

Apple’s MagSafe battery pack wirelessly connects to the back of an iPhone.

Patrick Holland/CNET

Otherwise, analysts expect to see routine upgrades to the camera in the near term. Munster says there’s room for improvement in the iPhone’s front-facing camera, while Bhatia expects Apple to continue to use display size and camera quality to distinguish the regular iPhones from its Pro iPhones. 

It’s impossible to know what’s next for the iPhone without Apple’s input. But experts seem certain on one thing: Apple is laying the groundwork for the iPhone’s future today. Current iPhone features, like Apple’s lidar-powered accessibility tools meant to help people like Edwards, could provide a clue about what’s ahead. 

“Everything we can see that they’ve done over the last few years is a good hint of what’s coming up next,” said Bjørhovde. “Because a lot of what I think they do is setting themselves up for the systems they want to integrate the iPhone into in the years to come.”

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Ubisoft to turn off online features for some old games, meaning players lose access to their DLC

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Ubisoft are switching off online services for several older singleplayer games, including Anno 2070, Far Cry 3, Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and Splinter Cell: Blacklist. For several of those games, that means that as of September 1st, “the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable,” according to an Ubisoft support page.

Technology

EA Roasted Over Single Player Tweet

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EA

A decade ago, Electronic Arts (EA) won the dubious honour of being the most hated company in America – twice. While it has slipped from the rankings since it never seems too far from the occasional controversy or regular criticism for its practices.

This week the company, tried to get in on a meme which is essentially: “They’re a 10, but [insert something bad]”. To do so though, their official EA Twitter account sent out: “They’re a 10 but they only like playing single-player games.”

The tweet drew immediate reaction not just from the public at large, but plenty of major game industry players including some of its employees – and seemingly none of the many thousands of responses were kind.

The post struck a nerve with many, including Zach Mumbach who was formerly a producer at “Dead Space” developer Visceral Games (the studio closed by EA in 2017). He said in a tweet:

“This is the company that shut down my studio and laid off ~100 great developers because we were making a single-player game. Also, if you break game rating scores down to a 10-point scale most EA games are a solid 6 or 7. Not because the developers are bad but because EA the corporation forces them to rush games out. EA corporate leadership wouldn’t know what a ’10’ looks like in terms of video games.”

Others like Vince Zampella, the head of Respawn Entertainment which makes both multiplayer (“Apex Legends”) and single-player (“Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order”) hits for EA, responded to the tweet with a suitable facepalm emoji.

As Kotaku points out, the company’s growth has been “primarily achieved by doubling down on multiplayer live-service games… and finding new ways to monetise them through elaborate microtransaction shops, season passes, and loot boxes.”

EA famously scrapped the ambitious single-player “Star Wars” game from original “Uncharted” trilogy writer Amy Hennig, only to then release “Star Wars: Battlefront II” with its pay-to-win loot boxes. That title became a lightning rod for controversy over microtransactions and drew legislative scrutiny.

As some have pointed out though, the tweet is especially baffling considering some of EA’s most acclaimed titles to date have been single-player ones including BioWare’s “Mass Effect” and “Dragon Age” franchises; the “Dead Space,” “Crysis” and “SSX” franchises; and the likes of “Mirror’s Edge,” “Titanfall 2,” “The Sims 4” and more recently the aforementioned ‘Fallen Order’.

In addition, some of their more recent multiplayer efforts including “Anthem,” “Battlefield V” and “Battlefield 2042” have drawn stern criticism and some of the worst user scores ever seen on aggregate sites like Metacritic. Following the outrage, EA tweeted: “Roast well deserved. We’ll take this L cause playing single-player games actually makes them an 11.”

Source: PC Gamer



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AMD Rumored To Expand AM4 Ryzen CPU Lineup With New 3D V-Cache & Low-End Chips

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AMD isn’t done with AM4, that’s been confirmed by themselves, but what exactly does the red team plan on doing with the platform moving forward? Well, the answer would be expanding it with even more Ryzen CPUs with 3D V-Cache and low-end options.

AMD’s AM4 Longevity Plans: More Ryzen 3D V-Cache and Low-End Options In The Works?

There have been various rumors of what AMD is planning on with its AM4 platform now that the company has introduced its AM5 platform. The AM5 platform is the path forward, offering Ryzen 7000 CPUs with Zen 4 cores and DDR5 / PCIe 5.0 support. But AMD knows that the vast majority of its userbase won’t be shifting to AM5 just yet. As such, AMD gave us a teaser of what to expect on the platform with its Ryzen 7 5800X3D and several mainstream Ryzen 5000 options. Based on the latest rumors, it looks like we are going to see more of that action coming to the AM4 platform in the coming months.

AMD Ryzen PC Revenue To Decline By 26% In 2022 Due To The Success of Intel’s 12th Gen CPUs, Reports Market Analyst

Leaker, Greymon55, states that the rumors of AMD prepping not one but several Zen 3D products under the AM4 banner are true and there will be more information coming this month. Note how only Zen 3D is mentioned which means we will get new CPUs under the Ryzen 5000 family. AMD’s 5800X3D is based on the 5800X with increased cache and retains the 8 core / 16 thread design.

It’s possible that the next additions could be based on the Ryzen 5 5600X, Ryzen 9 5900X, and Ryzen 9 5950X. We can’t exactly say which SKU will be getting the 3D V-Cache treatment but 5600X3D will be a single CCD V-Cache chip, offering up to 32 MB L3 + 64 MB LLC (V-Cache). The Ryzen 9 parts will theoretically feature dual V-Cache CCD’s so that’s 64 MB of L3 + 128 MB of LLC (V-Cache) or 64 MB per CCD for a total of 192 MB of cache. If you add in the 8 MB of L2 too, you get a total of 200 MB of L3 cache.

Now an interesting route that AMD could go with a Ryzen 9 V-Cache part is to offer a single CCD with V-Cache and the other without it to make up a total of 128 MB of cache. That’s still 33% more cache than the 5800X3D and should result in some impressive gaming performance numbers. But as we mentioned earlier, we cannot confirm if such an SKU exists or not but only that AMD might be working on it. As for the low-end parts, it is possible that AMD plans on replacing its Ryzen 4000 Renoir-X chips with Cezanne-X chips under the Ryzen 5000 family. Cezanne-X with Zen 3 cores will offer better performance and offer a good chance of the red team being competitive against Intel’s Alder Lake and Raptor Lake budget CPUs till Zen 4 goes mainstream.

These 3D V-Cache Ryzen 5000 CPUs will allow users on AM4 to have something new without the need to change their entire platform migrating to AM5. With that said, AM5 will also be getting an upgraded Zen 4 V-Cache lineup by the end of this year, giving enthusiast gamers the option to either stick with their existing AM4 setups and use a Zen 3D part or go all out in the premium Zen 4D range.

AMD Mainstream Desktop CPU Generations Comparison:

AMD CPU Family Codename Processor Process Processors Cores/Threads (Max) TDPs (Max) Platform Platform Chipset Memory Support PCIe Support Launch
Ryzen 1000 Summit Ridge 14nm (Zen 1) 8/16 95W AM4 300-Series DDR4-2677 Gen 3.0 2017
Ryzen 2000 Pinnacle Ridge 12nm (Zen +) 8/16 105W AM4 400-Series DDR4-2933 Gen 3.0 2018
Ryzen 3000 Matisse 7nm (Zen 2) 16/32 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2019
Ryzen 5000 Vermeer 7nm (Zen 3) 16/32 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2020
Ryzen 5000 3D Warhol? 7nm (Zen 3D) 8/16 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2022
Ryzen 7000 Raphael 5nm (Zen 4) 16/32 170W AM5 600-Series DDR5-5200/5600? Gen 5.0 2022
Ryzen 7000 3D Raphael 5nm (Zen 4) 16/32? 105-170W AM5 600-Series DDR5-5200/5600? Gen 5.0 2023
Ryzen 8000 Granite Ridge 3nm (Zen 5)? TBA TBA AM5 700-Series? DDR5-5600+ Gen 5.0 2024-2025?

News Source: TechPowerUp



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An Affordable Reference Mic You Can Build Yourself

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Reference mics are vital tools for audio work. They’re prized for their flat frequency response, and are often used for characterizing the audio response of a room or space. OpenRefMic aims to be an open source design for producing reference mics without paying exorbitant retail prices.

The heart of the build is a preamplifier that runs off standard 48 V phantom power, and is responsible for both biasing the electret microphone element and acting as a buffer for the mic signal. It’s designed specifically to work with the PUI AOM-5024L-HD-F-R mic capsule, chosen for its good performance and low noise characteristics. However, other electric mics should work, too. The hardware is wrapped up in a 3D printed case which can readily be made on most basic printers. It’s complete with a press-fit grille that holds the mic capsule in place.

The prime goal of the project is low noise; the project creator, [loudifier], notes that most commercial reference mics focus first on flat frequency response and then reducing noise. OpenRefMic performs well in this area, and its lack of a perfectly flat frequency response is countered with calibrated equalization. It also works with regular pro-grade XLR cables and phantom power, rather than needing fancy laboratory-spec cables and interfaces.

The final result is a credit to [loudifier], who demonstrates a strong understanding of the principles of reference mic design. We’ve seen some other great low-cost reference mics recently, too!

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A look at the Gmail Material You redesign for web [Gallery]

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Google announced Material You for Gmail on the web this Thursday and it’s now starting to roll out. One notable addition that the company didn’t announce was the use of Google Sans.

Personally, we’re only seeing the revamp live in our Workspace accounts, but it’s also already appearing on personal Google Accounts.

Font: Google Sans

The Material You redesign screenshots shared at launch used Google Sans Text, but Google Sans is live in Gmail today. Google Sans was detailed in 2018 as a size-optimized version of Product Sans, which is only intended for first-party product logos.

GS Text is “designed for smaller point sizes and perfectly suited for body text.” Google might not be ready to widely use that font yet. 

Screenshot vs. live

Gmail-only view

Opening Quick settings from the gear icon in the top bar reveals the new “Apps in Gmail” preference to customize whether you want to see/use Chat (with Spaces) and/or Meet in an integrated view. Those icons will disappear from the left sidebar based on your selection, while unchecking both will remove that navigation element entirely and load the Gmail-only configuration.

Compose FAB + window

The two rightmost screenshots in the gallery above also show the new shape for the Compose Floating Action Button. It replaces the pill-shaped button and matches the Android app.

Meanwhile, the actual compose window has been ever so slightly tweaked with a light top bar.

Before vs. after

Gmail themes

Lastly, you can still change the background theme so it’s not Material You’s default blue theme. From Quick settings, open the Theme menu. Like before, solid color choices include: Dark, Blue, Soft Gray, Lavender, Rose, Mustard, Wasabi, Spearmint, Seafoam, Dusk, Mahogany, and Eggplant. There are various pictures and you can upload your own image too.

The UI will adapt accordingly, with the Compose FAB white in most instances. There’s no Dynamic Color, but one can only assume that’s coming soon to give online Gmail the full Material You experience.

More on Gmail:

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Ubisoft plans to shut down multiplayer and online features for 15 “older games”

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Ubisoft has confirmed it’s shortly pulling the plug on a number of its games, including Anno 2070, Far Cry 3, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, and Assassin’s Creed 2.

Most of the games included on the list are getting on a bit, but three-year-old VR game Space Junkies is also getting pulled, and as its a “multiplayer-only title”, you will be “unable to play the game going forward”.

Whilst the singleplayer features for these games will mostly be unaffected, multiplayer modes or online features may be unavailable after 1st September, along with the ability to buy DLC.


5 Reasons Ezio is the Best Assassin (in Assassin’s Creed, Anyway)

In some instances, such as Ghost Recon Future Soldier, you’ll only be able to play the singleplayer campaign offline, and you won’t be able to link – or unlock goodies – via your Ubisoft account.

Here’s the full list, although in the case of Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 3, only the original games are affected; your remaster should continue to work as usual:

  • Anno 2070
  • Assassin’s Creed 2
  • Assassin’s Creed 3
  • Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
  • Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD
  • Assassin’s Creed Revelations
  • Driver San Francisco
  • Far Cry 3
  • Ghost Recon Future Soldier
  • Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
  • Rayman Legends
  • Silent Hunter 5
  • Space Junkies
  • Splinter Cell: Blacklist
  • ZombiU

“Closing the online services for some older games allows us to focus our resources on delivering great experiences for players who are playing newer or more popular titles,” Ubisoft explained in a blog post. “To help us achieve this, a number of older titles will be added to our list of decommissioned online services.”

Ubisoft is using its games to help make players aware of the impacts of climate change. Playing for the Planet, an UN-led initiative which seeks to use games to “inspire young people to learn and act in support of the environment”, includes both Riders Republic and Skull & Bones in its list of games that include in-game events that will raise awareness about climate change.

“Like our current societal challenges, changes need to be collaborative, raise awareness, and encourage others to learn of and consider additional ecological causes that need attention,” the publisher said.

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The DioField Chronicle launches September 22, demo launches August 10

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Strategy [46 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/strategy”>Strategy RPG [14,207 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/rpg”>RPG The DioField Chronicle [1 article]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/games/the-diofield-chronicle”>The DioField Chronicle will launch for PS5 [2,986 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/playstation/ps5″>PlayStation 5, Xbox Series [2,343 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/xbox/xbox-series”>Xbox Series, PS4 [23,455 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/playstation/ps4″>PlayStation 4, Xbox One [11,098 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/xbox/xbox-one”>Xbox One, Switch [11,773 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/nintendo/switch”>Switch, and PC [15,397 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/pc”>PC via Steam on September 22, publisher Square Enix [4,932 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/square-enix”>Square Enix and developer Lancarse [73 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/lancarse”>Lancarse announced. A demo will launch on August 10.

In Japan, the standard edition will be available both physically and digitally for 7,678 yen; the Digital Deluxe Edition for 10,978 yen; and the Square Enix e-STORE Collector’s Edition including a Board Game [5 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/board-game”>board game and pin set for 16,478 yen. Pre-orders will open on July 7.

The demo will feature the full first chapter of the game, and its save data can be carried over to the full game when it launches.

Here is an overview of the game, via Square Enix:

About

The birth of a new Strategy RPG [85 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/rpg/strategy-rpg”>simulation RPG with cutting-edge graphics.

An all-new simulation RPG brought to you by Square Enix. Combining our skill and experience in crafting great stories with real-time strategic elements, we have created an simulation RPG that may look familiar at a glance, but provides something never seen before. This game offers a truly unique experience from both its story and its gameplay.

Key Features

  • An All-New Simulation [111 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/simulation”>Simulation RPG from Square Enix – An all-new simulation RPG that chronicles an epic tale of war and honor. Features a unique world depicted using beautiful graphics that blends fantasy, medieval, and modern-day influences, and a deep, yet innovative real-time battle system.
  • Deep, Strategic Real-Time Battles – The battles in this game are defined by swift assessment of battlefield conditions and issuing decisive orders that take advantage of your troops’ strengths and weaknesses to gain advantage over your foe. Make clever use of a variety of skills, classes (troop types), and equipment to attack the enemy and complete your mission.
  • Realistic “Diorama”-Style Battle Scenes – The natural environment and cultures of the island of DioField combine with unique “diorama”-style textures to create a clear and beautiful visual aesthetic.

Watch over an hour of gameplay footage below (from 9:45 to 1:22:18).

Gameplay



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Bronx deli owner says illegal fights good for neighborhood

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A Bronx deli owner has a funny way of showing his disapproval for rampant violence in the neighborhood — once a year, he lets members of a notorious fight club beat each other up in his shop.

Best Hood Deli 1 owner Scott Oudeh insists opening his doors to the underground fight club Rumble — which has been broken up by the sheriff’s department in the past for unlicensed combat, guns and drugs — is actually a way to keep the peace.  

“It’s to stop the guns and the violence,” insisted Oudeh, 28, of giving the fighters a place to battle for the past four years. “It’s to show people that you might have beef with each other, but you don’t have to resort to shooting. Just put the gloves on and fight.” 

Footage of the most recent bodega brawl — attended by roughly 30 screaming fans and even a toddler — shows one man flailing his fists until he brutally cracks another in the head, sending him into a stockpile of two-liter soda bottles that burst all over the floor of the Melrose deli.

Despite the vicious nature of the fights, Oudeh said no one has ever been seriously injured and the amateur combatants hug it out and shake hands afterward.

“If there’s beef, it gets squashed,” the former boxer and high school wrestler said. 

In response to a clip of the fight posted on TikTok, one user commented, “Love it. Keeping the peace the right way.” Another said, “Better than guns.”

But others said the fights are bad for business — and the neighborhood.

“I like Scott, and he runs a good, clean store, but that’s a stupid idea,” said Victor Lopez, 55, who’s also a former boxer.

Scott Oudeh lets members of a notorious fight club beat each other up in his shop.
J.C. Rice for NY Post

“You see in the video how close those guys get to the fridges and all the glass. One guy cuts himself, gets badly hurt, and Scott will get locked up.”

Nai Longli, 45, who runs the laundromat next door was shocked when The Post showed him footage of the fight.

“Oh my gosh. We always wave to each other, and he’s a great neighbor, but I never knew that kind of thing went on there,” he said.

But the deli man sees the fights as a form of public service.

“The South Bronx is known for a lot of violence, and we’re trying to calm it down in a way the neighborhood understands it,” Oudeh said. “It’s a free event. I have to close my store when they come, so I actually lose some money, but for the community, I’m willing to lose a few hundred bucks.”

Year-to-date, the 40th Precinct, whose cops patrol the neighborhood, has logged 416 felony assaults compared to 312 in 2021, a 33 percent surge. Murders are up from six to seven, a 17 percent bump and misdemeanor assaults climbed 12 percent from 436 to 490. Shooting incidents are down slightly from 28 to 25, or 11 percent.

Since 2018, the police have responded to the deli for a handful of shopliftings, robberies and disputes, but have never received complaints of underground boxing matches there.

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Sharon Gans’ NYC cult member exposes fight clubs, broken lives

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It was 1991, and Spencer Schneider, a 31-year-old corporate lawyer, was face to face in the boxing ring with Morton, an “Ivy League nebbish” who suddenly hit him in the face with shocking savagery.

“I looked down at my brown gloves, which were now wet with blood,” Schneider writes in his book, “Manhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos, and Survival” (Arcade). Schneider’s nose was broken. Glen, a doctor and fellow member at “School” — the secretive cult that had recruited Schneider the previous year — forbade Schneider from seeking medical help, counseling him to “use [his] pain” as an “opportunity to practice non-identification with the body.”

It was this kind of masochism packaged as self-help that allowed Sharon Gans, the cult’s charismatic leader, to ensnare hundreds of young professionals in Manhattan and Boston to provide slave labor to build her compounds in Kalispell, Mont., and upstate New York. Often laboring for 24 hours at a time without a break, the men stripped logs, installed plumbing and electricity — none of which they were trained to do. (One man sustained a serious injury, nearly losing his arm). The women cooked and cleaned for free. Cult members would also recruit new members, and bankroll her lavish lifestyle, including an $8 million Plaza Hotel apartment. (This was the apartment where she would die of COVID-19 in 2021, at the age of 86. Gans’ reign over her exploited students spanned more than 40 years, and the cult continues today.)

Alex Horn and wife Sharon Gans originally started their cult in San Francisco in the late 1970s as The Theater of All Possibilities.
Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images

Many of its adherents are New York City big shots, according to Schneider, whose fascinating exposé of School — also known as Odyssey Study Group — is the first ever to be published by a survivor.

Gans and her husband, Alex Horn, started the cult in San Francisco in the late 1970s as The Theater of All Possibilities. They reportedly forced people to sell tickets to their critically-panned plays on penalty of physical abuse, and directed members whom to marry and reproduce with.

Gans forced cult members to help build her lodge in Falls Creek, Montana, where they often worked 24 hours a day without a break.

By the early 1980s, they had decamped to New York, where they rebranded themselves and began meeting in apartments, then at a loft on lower Broadway where Schneider recalls going to “class.” 

Gans, a red-haired former actress, was a magnetic pseudo-intellectual sociopath whom Schneider judged, upon their first meeting, as “completely nuts.”

He nonetheless fell under her spell — for 23 years.

Schneider (second from left) thought Sharon Gans was ”completely nuts” when he first met her — but ended up staying in the cult for 23 years.
Courtesy of Spencer Schneider

Schneider was groomed for School by an MBA student named Bruce whom he met in a bar in the late 1980s. He was further drawn in over lunch at the trendy Blue Water Grill restaurant on East 16th Street, where both Bruce and a beautiful investment banker named Heather asked him about himself. “Heather and Bruce listened so intently. In my life, who had listened like this?” It felt like being in on a seductive secret, and “like falling in love.”

Schneider was then invited to attend classes he was forbidden to talk about, discussing esoteric Russian philosophers George Gurdjieff and Piotr Ouspensky (who, despite his philosophy degree from Washington University in Saint Louis, Schneider had never heard of) as well as “ancient oral wisdom” dispensed by Gans, who described herself as almost at the “level of Christ and Buddha.” He paid a monthly “tuition” of $300 in cash, which included boxing classes — that were supposedly to teach him “what it means to be courageous and a hero” — acting classes, fishing trips, parties and retreats.

Gans enjoyed meddling in the love lives of members, forcing them to marry and have affairs.
Wikipedia

Schneider first saw Gans a year into his indoctrination, at a ritual where she reclined, pontificating, with platters of fruit, cheese and vodka by her side. Dispensing lavish praise and blunt, cruel put-downs, Gans behaved like a domineering, abusive parent whose erratic behavior keeps the kids on edge.

Gans mainly targeted the wealthy for her cult; some were heirs or heiresses with family money, while others were high-salaried professionals. One young executive boasted about his $20,000 bonus — and Gans made him sign it over to her on the spot.

After Gans’ death in 2021, the cult was inherited by four members, who are now named in a class action lawsuit.
Courtesy of Spencer Schneider

Wildly intrusive into the personal lives of her “students,” Gans regularly dispensed unsolicited advice to people about sex (she ordered one married man to “find a young girl to jog with and get [oral sex]” and advised a married family woman to “go to Italy . . . Stand at the fountain. Wait for a man. Have an affair.”) She arranged marriages (including Schneider’s) and even told Schneider to impregnate his 19-year-old stepdaughter. (Thankfully, he rejected her advice).

At one point, Gans offered Carol, a wealthy student, her choice of “any man she wanted,” and arranged for her to marry Bob, who was already happily married to another cult member, Alice. Gans held an engagement party and heaped praise on Alice for relinquishing her husband. As the students applauded, Alice’s tears of humiliation “streamed down.”

While Gans had chosen “Beth,” with whom Schneider has one son, to be his wife, he nonetheless “valued [his] marriage” of 13 years, which made him reluctant to leave the cult. His gradual awakening — and his exit from the group in 2012 — was prompted by reading online accounts of other members’ escapes, and by Gans’ own increasingly volatile behavior, including her shrieking attack on a dignified, respected actress who was hosting an arts festival in the Republic of Georgia (“It would be like doing this to Helen Mirren,” says Schneider). Gans’ heavy-handed intrusion into Schneider’s divorce in 2010 also put him off.

Schneider says the cult, now called “The Study,” is led by four people who inherited it from Gans, who was estranged from her two children when she died. These new cult leaders are named in a class-action lawsuit filed last year by two women who say they provided slave labor to Gans.

“Sharon got off on controlling people’s lives, and it wasn’t just anybody,” says Schneider. “It was your doctor, lawyer, architect, money manager, the owner of your children’s private school.”

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