Angry Birds Epic to arrive June 12 for iOS and Android
We knew that Rovio’s Angry Birds RPG game is due soon and now we have a date for its arrival. Angry Birds Epic is due June 12 on iOS and Android.
After releasing Angry Birds Go, a racing game, Rovio seems eager to explore other genres as well. Angry Birds Epic is an RPG game and the plot is rather similar to the other games in the series. Pigs steal eggs from the birds and here we go again, though RPG style this time. The looks of the game will also look similar to you and we’re talking turn-based RPG game here. You’ll of course get the chance to play with some familiar characters from the games prior to this one.
We’re somewhat excited for this in hope it won’t be a money-draining mess like Angry Birds Go. How about you, will you play it?
VIA: PhoneArena
The post Angry Birds Epic to arrive June 12 for iOS and Android appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Galaxy Note 4 Rumors Surface with LTE Exynos for Europe, Qualcomm in the States
The latest and greatest device just isn’t good enough anymore. We have to speculate and wonder what the “next big thing” will be and have. It is almost becoming a game. To see what might be true and what might be false. Who ever gets the most correct answers wins. The current supreme ruler in the Android realm is Samsung. Over the years we have watched Samsung release questionable devices prior to the Samsung Galaxy S line that really launched their success with the OS. Since then we have watched Samsung grow their Android portfolio with various tablets and phones with the most commonly known being the Galaxy S line and the Note Line. However, over the years we have also watched a division between devices overseas and here in the states. I am not talking about random variants of a device, but the varying chipsets that were used. For instance, the Galaxy SIII, while a bit older now, had a Exynos overseas with 1GB of RAM and the one in the US offered a Qualcomm processor and 2GB of RAM. The complication was due to the LTE technology we use here in the states, and other parts of the world, that the Exynos processor just didn’t play nicely with.
The Galaxy Note 3 was primarily a Qualcomm based device with limited markets having the Exynos edition. The latest line of rumors around the unannounced Galaxy Note 4 that we all know will be coming eventually is that Samsung will be bringing the Eynos chipset back a little stronger this time than they did with the Note 3. Samsung is said to be bringing the Exynos 5433 to the European models. It is also supposedly carrying the Intel-Powered Cat. 6 LTE (XMM7260) chipset.
Don’t let any of this news get you all wound up in the states though as they are also saying the Note 4 outside of Europe ( U.S. Korea, China and Japan) will bring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805. Not that we mind really. The Snapdragon 805 is a fantastic processor that handles plenty.
SamMobile goes on to state that they have confirmed the Note 4 will house a 16MP OIS camera module from Sony. So that is good news to me as I personally love the image quality of the Sony camera modules. Hopefully Samsung doesn’t fubar it with crap software.
Source: SamMobile
//<![CDATA[
ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random()*1E16);
document.write('’);
//]]>
Apple Adds ESPN and Local NPR Stations to iTunes Radio
Apple has expanded the content available on iTunes Radio with a new ESPN Radio station and more than 40 local National Public Radio (NPR) stations. First noticed by AppleInsider, the new stations can be accessed directly within iTunes Radio on both iOS devices and desktop computers via a search, though the new stations may be available to some users in the Featured section.
The ESPN Radio station on iTunes Radio offers the same live streaming content that is available through traditional ESPN radio affiliates, and the schedule of content can be found on the ESPN Radio website. Content includes national sports talk shows including Mike & Mike, The Freddie Colman Show, The Dan LeBatard Show, and more.
Special events, such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series, and college football will be broadcast on the station, kicking off with the broadcast of the Atlanta Braves vs. the Colorado Rockies game on Wednesday, June 11 at 5 PM Pacific Time.
“We are thrilled to make our industry-leading sports talk and championship play-by-play content available to fans via iTunes Radio,” said Traug Keller, senior vice president, ESPN production business divisions. “And we are excited to partner with Apple to expand our digital reach. Our fans can look forward to expanded ESPN Audio offerings on both the national and local sports levels in the future.”
Along with the new ESPN station, there are over 40 new NPR stations from cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Austin, and more. NPR first came to iTunes Radio back in March with the launch of a national news channel and at that time, NPR officials promised additional content from local stations. Content provided will include a mix of live and taped news.
iTunes Radio, which launched alongside iOS 7 last September, is still limited to the United States and Australia. Apple does, however, have plans to expand iTunes Radio to the UK, Canada, and New Zealand in the near future, eventually bringing the service at least 100 countries.
Google just bought a satellite company for $500 million
Google is in the ground, on the roads and floating through the skies, and now it’s looking beyond, by agreeing to the half-billion dollar cash purchase of a company that says it’s “built and launched the world’s smallest high-resolution imaging satellite, which collects beautiful and useful images and video every day.” Skybox Imaging (already signed up as a Virgin Galactic customer) says it started with a goal of tracking changes happening across the surface of the earth, while recent rumors from The Information suggest tech giants like Google and Facebook are in a space race as they try to connect the world to the internet and their various services. The satellite company’s tech can immediately assist Google Maps / Earth, but Google says it could have other purposes too, like acting as a relay to spread wireless internet to places currently without service or where connections have been knocked out by disasters.
Filed under: Wireless, Science, Internet, Google
Source: Skybox Imaging, Google
All the games from Sony’s PlayStation event at E3 2014
Sony’s E3 event didn’t end until 11PM ET last night. So, just as we did with the Xbox titles revealed at E3, we’re going to round up all the future games heading to Sony’s various consoles. It’ll basically be a condensed version of our Sony liveblog, with an extra helping of trailers and without the excitable prose of Ben Gilbert, who was up way past his bedtime.
Grim Fandango
That’s right. Tim Schafer’s 16-year-old PC classic is now an active and exclusive Sony title, in the hands of Double Fine Productions. It’ll be coming to the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita at an undisclosed date, and we can particularly imagine the morbid adventure getting a new lease on life (death?) on the handheld’s touchscreen. Alas, no trailer at this point.
Far Cry 4
We already knew Far Cry 4 was coming to all major platforms in November, but E3 has exposed a Sony-exclusive feature. In what sounds like a pretty smart approach to promoting game downloads, we’re told that Far Cry 4‘s multiplayer mode will be open to groups of PSN friends, even if only one of them owns the title — possibly through Sony’s PlayStation Now streaming service.
LittleBigPlanet 3
Sackboy’s creators have learned some new stitches, resulting in some new characters like the quadrupedal “Oddsock.” In turn, these characters will bring new abilities and dynamics into the game — including flying! — that should make your homemade levels (which will still be playable, with enhanced graphics) a whole lot easier to complete. Expect to see LittleBigPlanet 3 on the PlayStation 4 in time for the holiday season.
Destiny Beta
If you’ve been waiting to experience this title, you only need to be patient for five more weeks. PS3, PS4 and Xbox owners can get early access to the beta on July 17th when they pre-order. It’s probably the closest you’re going to get to a playing Halo game on a Sony console. Oh, and bundle shoppers will find the game packaged with a matching “glacier white” PS4, out with the final release on September 9th.
Rainbow 6: Siege
The Division isn’t the only new title inspired by the late Tom Clancy. Rainbow 6: Siege is a strategic multiplayer shooter in which destructible environments seem to play a big role — at least judging from the heavily rehearsed match shown in the video.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity
Arno Dorian’s upcoming adventure sees him add even more blood to the spillage of the French Revolution. As well as a peek at in-game footage, E3 also gave us a release date: October 28th on the PS4 (as well as Xbox One and PC).
The Order: 1886
Almost a century later than the fall of the French monarchy, a group of four knights resurrected the myth of King Arthur on the streets of London. Or did they? Either way, this spooky, pseudo-historical third-person shooter won’t arrive until 2015, and it only got a fleeting appearance during Sony’s E3 event.
Entwined
A colorful twin-stick action game that sort of reminds us of Flower. You can play it for yourself right now on PS4 via the PlayStation Store, while PS3 and PS Vita versions will arrive at a later date.
Let It Die
Gosh, this one looks gruesome. A PS4 exclusive consisting of hatchets, spiky balls on chains, wooden clubs with nails poking out of them and extra points for being nasty. Alas, no straight-up gameplay footage in the E3 trailer.
Dead Island 2
Again, no gameplay footage was on show here, but E3 revealed that the zombie franchise is making its way to the PS4, with a few platform-exclusive features (including 30-day early beta access) and with the help of the same studio that brought us Spec Ops: The Line. Headed for release in spring 2015.
Bloodborne
If you’re going to be playing a dark fantasy game in 2015, it may as well be one made by Hidetaka Miyazaki. The director and his team at From Software brought us Dark Souls, and now they’re working on a grisly action-RPG for the PS4 that was previously code-named Project Beast.
Abzu
A very calm, underwater version of Journey. Made by some of the same people who made Journey. Fancy that! It’s coming to the PS4, but we don’t know when.
Battlefield: Hardline
Ben Gilbert can’t bear the look of it, and the gameplay certainly seems chaotic — almost ridiculously so. If you’re a Battlefield fan, however, you might appreciate this new use of the game’s mechanics. Plus, you can try the beta free right now from inside the PS4 version of Battlefield 4.
No Man’s Sky
A deep, procedurally generated space-faring sim that will come first to the PS4. This was probably Tim Seppala’s top game of the night.
The Last Of Us
We already knew a remastered edition was coming to the PS4, but you’ve got to watch the new trailer to feel the vibe.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
With probably the best soundtrack of the night (“Nuclear,” by Mike Oldfield), the trailer is full of big men with tiny weapons.
Grand Theft Auto V
Another definite contender for your wish list: GTA V is finally headed to next-gen consoles and the PC this fall. Expect weather, damage, wildlife and all-round better graphics to bring this game to life.
Batman: Arkham Knight
The new Batman game looks to heavily feature the Batmobile… and don’t forget Scarecrow. Fortunately, Gotham City doesn’t appear to contain any pedestrians.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
More Nathan. More Sully. More heavily directed gameplay that still somehow manages to create a sense of place and character. The newly named Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End should arrive in 2015.
Xbox at E3 2014: an interview with the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer
Yesterday wasn’t the first time Phil Spencer took an E3 stage for Microsoft to talk Xbox, but it was his first time as the head of Microsoft’s Xbox division. After taking over for Marc Whitten back in March, Spencer’s been on a charm offensive. His focus was clear at yesterday’s show: games, all games. Forget about last year’s coming out for Xbox One as an “entertainment” platform — yesterday’s focus was all games, all the time. The 90-minute show was divided cleanly in half between games coming this year and games arriving in 2015 and beyond. It was, in short, an impressive display of the Xbox One’s gaming prowess over anything else. “I want the content to be the star,” Spencer told us.
So, that aside, we wanted him to give us more on the other stuff that the Xbox One does: media streaming, voice control, Windows 8 and television. And hey, what’s Microsoft doing to compete with Sony’s Project Morpheus VR headset, not to mention the Oculus Rift?
First things first, how is Microsoft responding to the likes of Oculus’ Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus?
“I look at VR as an interesting technology. I’m watching what’s going on out there; I don’t really think it’s a mainstream technology yet today. The nice thing at Microsoft and Xbox is we’ve remained invested in experimenting with a lot of what’s out there, whether it’s voice, or motion. Right now I’d say we have our skunkworks stuff that we’re working through, but right now we’re watching how the VR space evolves to see if it ends up as a mainstream consumer scenario.”
Skunkworks, eh? It sounds like Microsoft’s R&D department has something going on with VR, though it sounds more exploratory than anything else. And what about Xbox 360 gaming on Xbox One — could an emulator be on the way? Spencer got verbose:
“So, not to geek out on it, Xbox 360 is obviously a Power PC-based architecture. We’ve got an x86 architecture on Xbox One, which makes the translation a little more challenging. The interesting thing — the Xbox 360 has an amazing content catalog, one of the largest catalogs ever created. When I think about that content, I don’t want that content to just waste away. I want it to be content people can play for many years; there are a lot of different ways for us to enable that. It’s something that I’m sitting down with the team and we’re brainstorming on. We don’t really have a plan yet that I can communicate in a way, but I can say I want to make sure that that content is stuff people can play. I think that’s an important part of investing in an online, connected community, is that the content I acquire and I’m playing is something I can carry forward with me. Right now there isn’t a plan, just to be clear to people. But it’s something that we have conversations about.”
Check out the full interview above for all of Spencer’s answers, including much more about Windows 8 apps on Xbox One and the future of Kinect.
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
China is the global leader in Internet of Things thanks to government support
China accounts for more than a quarter of global machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, according to a report by the GSMA association of mobile operators. With more than 50 million connections, the country’s at the head of the pack when it comes to Internet of Things adoption. China’s lead is thanks to strong government support – the country plans to invest more than $600 billion in IoT through the year 2020. The fact that China’s top mobile operators are cooperating with the government to deploy M2M solutions across several fields doesn’t hurt, either.
As growth in mobile network subscribers has slowed in China, operators are looking elsewhere to make money. And thanks to government support, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have developed IoT services that will find use cases in healthcare, transportation, education and beyond. As the GSMA notes, “regulatory uncertainty” has held back the growth of large-scale connected devices. Asia alone accounts for 40 percent of the world’s machine-to-machine connections, with the United States leading the market outside of Asia.
Filed under: Internet
Via: Phys.org
Source: GSMA
eBay’s same-day delivery service stalls out
When we checked in on eBay Now last fall, its leaders were brimming with optimism, announcing plans to bring the same-day delivery option to 25 more cities by the end of 2014. Skip forward to today, however, and it’s apparently a different story. VentureBeat sources claim that the service is in serious trouble; in addition to losing executives and getting rid of first-party drivers, eBay Now is reportedly “blowing a ton of resources” and may be near shutting down. While the speedy courier option has done well during busy holiday shopping seasons, it reportedly doesn’t have enough day-to-day business to stay afloat.
Some of this could be inherent to the business model. Where something like Amazon’s same-day shipping is really just another way to expedite your order, eBay Now is a “personal shopping service,” according to one tipster. Every customer needs special treatment as a result, and that may not be viable under the current approach.
When asked, eBay told VentureBeat that it was “committed to local delivery” and still plans to “test and evaluate” services that connect stores to buyers in their area. However, the company adds that it’s focused on supporting eBay Now in the cities where it operates today, and isn’t headed to new areas “at this time.” The statements don’t rule out future expansion, but you shouldn’t count on eBay’s fast shopping system reaching your ‘burg any time soon.
Filed under: Internet
Source: VentureBeat
Audible Audiobooks Integrated with Amazon Kindle Mobile App
There is still something pretty wonderful about plopping down under a tree or hanging out in your favorite chair and reading a book. Thanks to technology many of us have a huge book collection that doesn’t take up 3/4 of the house collecting dust. On the other side of the coin it can be difficult to find, or make, the time to just read. That is where audiobooks have come in and filled the void. They allow us to listen to the story we wanted to read without having to stop and actually read it. In 2008 Amazon purchase the popular Audible audiobooks company and now, 6 years later they are finally integrating it into the Amazon Kindle App for iOS and Android.
“We’re working hard to help customers find more moments each day to enjoy a great book,” said Russ Grandinetti, Senior Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Integrating professional narration into our Kindle apps means you never have to put down a favorite book–start reading at home, get in the car and simply tap a button to continue listening without losing your place.”
Integration alone wouldn’t make this much a big deal. However, the integration lets you switch between audio and reading without losing your place in the book.
“We continue to hear from a growing number of Whispersync for Voice converts who tell us the innovation has profoundly changed the way they read–in fact, switching back and forth between reading and listening has become their preferred way of experiencing stories,” said Audible founder and CEO Donald Katz. “And the feature has gotten easier and easier to use, as this exciting integration into Kindle apps attests.”
I know there was a period of time a while back that I was listening to an audio book and then opened the digital copy. It was rather annoying to try and find where I had left off.
The new integration is part of the update that Amazon released today. In addition to the simple toggling between voice and reading, you can also expect a few other additions.
Be sure to hit the Play Store for updated app, if you don’t happen to have it installed yet, use the links below to go grab it.
//<![CDATA[
ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random()*1E16);
document.write('’);
//]]>
Watch Nintendo’s E3 ‘Digital Event’ right here!
Hey! Nintendo’s annual not quite E3 event is kicking off at 9 AM PT (12 PM ET). As usual the company isn’t holding an in-the-flesh press event. So, why don’t you follow along with us and watch a stream of the company’s big gaming announcements (we’ll be watching right along with you). Mario Kart already out of the way, maybe we’ll get word on some of our other favorite Nintendo franchises. (Zelda or Donkey Kong, anybody?) Only one way to find out. Click on through past the break to watch a Twitch stream of the “Digital Event” or just check back with us throughout the day as we bring you all the latest E3 news.
AIVAnet 