Toys that let you send voice messages to your kids are coming to the UK
Anyone that has kids, or regularly interacts with kids, knows that getting them to talk on the phone is a nightmare at the best of times. Brooklyn-based studio Toymail knows this, so it’s bringing “The Mailmen” to the UK to make things a little easier for friends and family to interact with the little people in their lives. You see, The Mailmen are small battery-powered toys that allow anyone with the free companion app to send voice messages to kids. You record a message, it gets sent to one of five animal-themed characters (including Rochester, Buck, Milksop, Fairfax and Snort) your child owns and they can immediately send one back.
Toymail originally started life as a Kickstarter project, before enjoying wider success in the US. The toys are easy to set up and connect to your home Wi-Fi network in order to deliver the messages, which can be read back in a funny voice or your own. Currently, it only works on iOS devices but its makers say an Android app isn’t too far off. To get your hands on one of these remote parenting toys, Firebox the exclusive UK stockist and has them up for pre-order at £49.99.
Filed under: Household
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Seminal game publisher Sierra returns from obscurity with Geometry Wars
Ready to blast some pinwheels again? Hallowed ’90s game publisher Sierra is back as an Activision subsidiary with an upcoming sequel to King’s Quest and, yes, Geometry Wars. The latter game will be called Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, and Venture Beat reports that Sierra is in talks with independent developers to produce new content as well. In case you’ve forgotten (or not played the mobile versions), Geometry Wars is about avoiding and blasting an ever-thickening pile of graphically-shaped enemies. It first came out on the original Xbox platform through Project Gotham Racing 2, while the sequel arrived on Xbox Live Arcade — leaving Xbox One gamers in the lurch. There’s no word on which platforms it’ll hit when it arrives this Christmas, but Sierra did say that King’s Quest will come to Xbox Live, Playstation Network and Steam in 2015 — a good sign for Geometry Wars.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Venture Beat
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‘Goat Simulator’ is coming to Xbox One (yes, that’s a real game)
You may not have heard of Goat Simulator, but yes, it’s really a game. And hey, it’s apparently coming to Xbox One! The bizarre “game” has you piloting a goat, causing trouble all over town. Chris Charla, head of the Microsoft indie game program at Xbox, introduced the game among a lengthy list of other indies that are “coming to console first on Xbox One.” Among them is hit mobile game Threes, innovative and insane first-person shooter Super Hot, and Worms studio Team 17′s latest work, The Escapists.
But when will all these games arrive? It looks like at least a few will arrive this year, though no specific dates were given out at Microsoft’s Gamescom 2014 presser (which is where we are right now, in case that wasn’t clear). We’ll have more from Microsoft’s event as the day goes on!
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
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‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’ is getting a custom Xbox One with 1TB of storage
The long-running relationship between Microsoft’s Xbox consoles and the Call of Duty brand is expanding into hardware: a custom Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Xbox One is in the works for this holiday. Better yet, it comes ready for all that downloadable content you’re going to buy, packing a one terabyte hard drive internally. And what about Kinect? No Kinect, sadly. We say “sadly” because the bundle costs $500. Which is to say, “It costs the same amount as an Xbox One with a 500GB hard drive and a Kinect.” Sure, you get Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and you get a custom Xbox One with a larger HDD, but will $500 still be too much for mainstream folks who haven’t picked up an Xbox One just yet? We’ll see when it arrives on November 4th.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Microsoft
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‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’ is a 2015 exclusive for Xbox One
Hoping for some Xbox One exclusives to be announced at Gamescom? You’re in the right place. Phil Harrison, corporate VP at Microsoft, just announced Rise of Tomb Raider will be coming to the platform some time “holiday” next year (though we’re not sure which). It’ll be the latest instalment of the legendary franchise, one that’s probably older than many of the people who will play it. Even if it isn’t the “definitive version.”
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
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Vodafone targets data-sharing families with its new Red+ plan
Family mobile plans might be big in the US, but they haven’t really got going in the UK. However, that isn’t stopping Vodafone from trying to change people’s minds with the launch of its new Red+ plan. Instead of equipping a family with individual tariffs, Vodafone aims to supply each member of the household with their own SIM, allowing the “plan leader” to distribute monthly data limits depending on how data thirsty they are. These so-called leader plans are basically upgraded Red plans that come with a 2GB, 4GB, 7GB, 10GB or 13GB data allowance, which can then be shared with a family member in 500MB, 1GB, 2GB or 4GB amounts.
Red+ plans come with tools to restrict or expand the data allowance for each member, which may come in useful if the teenager in the family is pushing their quota with Netflix streaming or excessive Snapchatting. Vodafone says you’ll pay less than you would on individual plan and throws in unlimited calls and texts for each member to sweeten the deal. The Red+ plan certainly seems like fine idea on the surface, making sure to rival EE’s Shared 4GEE plans, but it’s pretty hard to argue with the unlimited data Three offers to all of its customers.
[Image credit: kake_pugh, Flickr]
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile
Via: Vodafone Blog
Source: Vodafone Red+
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The Xbox One is getting major media updates: here’s a breakdown
Microsoft has just kicked off Gamescom 2014 by announcing a plethora of new features coming to the Xbox One — some you may have known about, and some not. First up is a much anticipated feature: a new app will soon turn the Xbox One into a media player, letting you stream movie and audio files from a USB key or DLNA network. Microsoft’s Major Nelson has promised that the console will support many more media formats than the Xbox 360 did, including new file types like MPEG2 TS, animated GIF and MKV. A preview version of the app will arrive first with USB support, while DLNA and certain file formats like MKV won’t come until later. (For a list of compatible file formats, check the source.)
Still on the media front, Microsoft also announced some interesting TV-related features. You’ll soon be able to boot directly to your TV from standby mode, a big convenience if you use that app a lot. Another new feature coming is SmartGlass TV streaming: if you’re in another room, you can watch shows over your home network on a SmartGlass-equipped tablet or smartphone on Windows, iOS or Android. That’ll let you change channels and pause, play or rewind shows, all while still playing games on your Xbox One. The latter feature will arrive first to European countries receiving the new Xbox TV tuner by the end of the year. On a related note, regions with OneGuide will also get a mini guide that displays program information at the bottom of the screen.
For gaming, there’s some new but important features, especially for chat users or social types. The new Friends section that rolled out to early access members will now come to the general preview program. To remind you, the new features let you keep up with your friends’ activities at a glance, showing the games they’re playing and a Gamerscore leaderboard. There will also be a brand new Snap Center where you can see messages, parties, friends and achievements in one place without leaving a game — a feature that Xbox 360 users were sorely missing. And if you message a lot, you’ll now see full conversation threads without interrupting gameplay — including full discussion histories with embedded links and game clips.
Finally, Microsoft re-iterated that it’s hard at work readying the Xbox One launch for 29 new countries, up from the 26 it announced before. It said it’s still on track to release the console “in the coming weeks” to countries including Japan, Russia and Switzerland.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Major Nelson
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There is a white Xbox One console and gamepad coming this October
The rumors are true: there is a white Xbox One game console on the way, and it’s arriving alongside Xbox One-exclusive Sunset Overdrive. And the console isn’t the only white bit, as there’s a white gamepad coming too. It’ll cost $400 when it arrives this October, and it comes with the standard 500GB of storage and the aforementioned gamepad. The bundle appears to come without Kinect, though we’ll be sure to ask Microsoft as soon as this Gamescom 2014 press conference is over.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Microsoft
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Xbox One gets new Halo Channel in November
As if Halo: The Master Chief Collection wasn’t a juicy enough feast of your favorite Xbox sci-fi military franchise. Today at Gamescom Bonnie Ross, GM at 343 Industries, revealed an new hub for fans of the game on Xbox One — The Halo Channel. It’ll coincide with the launch of the The Master Chief Collection in November, and you’ll be able to chat, catch news and, of course, dive right into your preferred edition of the game (we’re fans of the original if you’re asking). As you might expect, the channel also comes with the obligatory exclusive content and Twitch integration too.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
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Xbox One gets game pre-loading starting with Forza Horizon 2 in September
Folks playing games on PC have enjoyed the ability to pre-pay and download games ahead of launch for years now. This console generation, the feature is finally arriving in the living room: Xbox One gets game pre-loading and pre-payments starting with Forza Horizon 2 this September. The news comes from Microsoft’s Gamescom 2014 press conference, and apparently the feature is simply starting with Forza Horizon 2 before expanding to FIFA 15 and other games going forward.
Of course, PlayStation 4 fans have enjoyed this feature for some time now. But hey, maybe you went for Xbox One? Now you’ve got the feature too! Well, soon anyway.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Microsoft
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