Yahoo streams the NFL, Skype fixes character bug, Bethesda trails Fallout 4, Apple recalls Beats, Hound battles Siri and Cortana, and Geralt of Rivia steals The Witcher 3.

The NFL Experiments With Free Game

Yahoo has won the rights to stream an NFL football game online later this year, when the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills meet on October 25. The game will be broadcast on the Web for free to viewers around the world, although it's expected to be mostly American viewers watching. Because this isn't real football.

Yahoo is believed to have paid $20 million for the rights to stream the game, which it hopes to recoup in ad revenues. Brian Rolapp, Vice President at NFL Media, said, “Our hope is that it will be a very high-quality experience. But this is one of the reasons we’re doing it — to figure out how close are we to high quality streams of our most valuable property.”

This game marks a significant moment in the history of the National Football League, which is keen to experiment with new forms of digital distribution. Unfortunately, most NFL games are locked into being shown exclusively on television networks until 2022, so this won't be a speedy and pain-free revolution.

Skype Fixes Annoying Character Bug

Skype has acted fast to fix a bug which caused its apps to crash when someone sent a message containing the character, "http://:". This bug, first reported by VentureBeat, affected people using Skype on Windows, Android, and iOS, and repeatedly crashed the app thanks to the chat history being downloaded from the cloud even after the user deleted it.

The short-term solution was to ask the sender to delete the offending message and download an older version of the software. However, Skype has now released updates for all affected platforms, so users are advised to download the latest version to permanently resolve the issue.

Fallout 4 Officially Unveiled

Bethesda has officially announced Fallout 4, after preparing the Internet for the news with a countdown timer. All we really have so far is the trailer embedded above, with Bethesda likely saving all of the juiciest details until E3 2015 later this month.

The Fallout 4 trailer shows how the world has changed since a nuclear war obliterated huge swathes of the population. We see it through the eyes of a dog which looks set to play a pivotal role in the game. The main protagonist of this open RPG set in Boston is only shown briefly at the end of the video.

Apple Recalls Beats Pill XL

Apple is recalling the Beats Pill XL Speaker after determining that, "in rare cases, the battery in the Beats Pill XL Speaker may overheat and pose a fire safety risk". Users are being advised to stop using the device, and contact Apple using the relevant online form to arrange a return.

Those who choose to return the product will receive an Apple Store credit or electronic payment of $325 (or the equivalent in local currency). The Beats Pill XL Speaker has been sold since January 2014, and was designed and manufactured before Apple acquired Beats in May 2014 for $3 billion. So, blame Dre, not Cook.

SoundHound Debuts New Voice App

SoundHound has launched its latest product in beta. Hound is a new app which promises to be a more capable personal assistant than Siri, Cortana, or Google Now. And according to Re/code, it took nine years to develop. Unfortunately, Hound is currently only available by invitation, on Android, and in the United States.

Judging by the demo embedded above, Hound certainly looks promising. It understands what's being asked of it without making any errors, and delivers the relevant information both quickly and accurately. But it remains to be seen whether the actual user experience lives up to this promise.

The Witcher Steals His Own Game

And finally, it turns out Geralt of Rivia is a bit of a gamer. Especially when there's a new game out detailing his adventures. What am I going on about? The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is so good that even its main protagonist wants a piece of the action.

This video shows Geralt, the lead character in the game, marching into a store and buying a copy of the game, as well as a PlayStation 4 on which to play it. He then goes for a coffee, because slaughtering enemies is thirsty work. [H/T Polygon]

Your Views on Today’s Tech News

Will you be watching the free NFL game streamed online? Were you affected by the Skype bug? Are you excited at the prospect of playing Fallout 4? Do you own a Beats Pill XL? Do you believe the Hound app will deliver on the promise of the demo?

Let us know your thoughts on the Tech News of the day by posting to the comments section below. Because a healthy discussion is always welcome.

Image Credits: Mike Morbeck via Flickr