Royals and Giants Stadiums to Accept Apple Pay for Concessions During World Series [iOS Blog]
Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City and AT&T Park in San Francisco will accept the new Apple Pay mobile payments program beginning tomorrow with Game One of the World Series in Kansas City.
Fans who attend games at the two participating stadiums will be able to use Apple Pay to purchase food and beverages at concession stands, thanks to a partnership between MLB Advanced Media and MasterCard.
We thank MasterCard for its great involvement in bringing another simple and secure mobile technology to baseball fans,” said Noah Garden, EVP, Revenue, MLBAM. “Introducing this service underscores the importance of our on-going commitment to mobile innovations at Major League Baseball ballparks. Being able to build reliable, convenient and authentic technologies on their personal devices is no longer a nice-to-have option for fans. It’s central to their experiences.”
Enabled today through the iOS 8.1 update, Apple Pay is Apple’s new mobile payments service that is accepted at any retail location that supports NFC-based contactless payments. Apple Pay can also be used within select apps that support the Apple Pay API, allowing physical purchases to be made with a single tap.
Major League Baseball is an Apple Pay app partner, which means Apple Pay is being built into the At the Ballpark app. When single-game tickets for the 2015 Major League Baseball season go on sale in November, Apple Pay users will be able to purchase tickets with a single tap using the payments service.
Major League Baseball was also one of Apple’s first iBeacon partners, rolling out thousands of iBeacons at a range of different stadiums ahead of Opening Day in 2014.
The MLB At the Ballpark app can be downloaded for free from the App Store. [Direct Link]
2014 Mac Mini Teardown Highlights Increased Difficulty For User Upgradability
iFixIt has conducted their teardown of the brand new Mac mini, finding that the new device is more difficult to open than previous models. They’ve also discovered that the RAM is soldered onto the machine, which was first discovered late last week.
The team found that gaining entry into the new desktop is more difficult than previous models. Instead of a twistable bottom cover, the new Mac mini requires a plastic opening tool to pop off the cover. Underneath that is a new solid door that blocks easy access to the RAM and fan. The door uses what iFixIt calls “the smallest Torx Security screw” they’ve ever seen, requiring their tool design team to prototype a new screwdriver to open the desktop.
Inside, the Mac mini now sports a new AirPort card that connects straight to a PCIe slot rather than via a cable. Unlike past Mac minis, the new version only contains one SATA port. Previously, Mac mini users could upgrade their desktops with an extra hard drive. However, iFixIt notes that there is an extra socket that could potentially be used for a SSD blade via a PCIe cable. Oddly, the new Mac mini’s power supply is identical to both the 2012 and 2011 models.
Finally, iFixIt gave the new Mac mini a repairability score of 6 out of 10, which is a worse score than the 2012 Mac mini’s 8 out of 10. Although disassembly is straight forward, the team noted that the presence of Torx security screws and soldered on RAM made it more difficult to repair than previous models.
What’s on your HDTV: World Series, ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and Wyatt Cenac
This week baseball fans tune into their championship series as two once-unlikely contenders do battle for the crown. If you prefer your drama on stage and screen however, you’ll probably be saying goodbye to HBO’s Boardwalk Empire this weekend as it wraps up its run. Netflix and Amazon both bring highlights on streaming this week too: Netflix has comedian and Daily Show contributor Wyatt Cenac plus the documentary E-Team, while Amazon brings the first few episodes for season two of its comedy series Alpha House. Hit the gallery or just look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Blu-ray, Streaming movies & Games
- Snowpiercer
- Gabriel Iglesias Fluffy Movie
- The Vincent Price Collection II
- Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort
- Mad Men: The Final Season, Part 1
- The Purge: Anarchy
- Sex Tape
- F for Fake
- Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series
- Bayonetta: Bloody Fate
- Shadow Warrior (PS4, Xbox One)
- Race the Sun (PS4)
- Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved (Xbox One, Xbox 360)
- The Walking Dead: S2 (PS4, Xbox One)
- Just Dance 2015 (XB1, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
- Bayonetta 2 (Wii U)
- Samurai Warriors 4 (PS4, PS3)
- Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth (PC, Linux, Mac)
Monday
- Monday Night Football: Texans vs. Steelers, ESPN, 8:15PM
- The Originals, CW, 8PM
- The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
- Gotham, Fox, 8PM
- The Voice, NBC, 8PM
- Dancing with the Stars, ABC, 8PM
- The Millers (season premiere), CBS, 8:30PM
- American Dad (season premiere), TBS, 9PM
- Private Violence, HBO, 9PM
- Jane the Virgin, CW, 9PM
- Star Wars Rebels, Disney XD, 9PM
- Scorpion, CBS, 9PM
- Sleepy Hollow, Fox, 9PM
- Independent Lens, PBS, 10PM
- Are You The One?, MTV, 10PM
- Castle, ABC, 10PM
- NCIS: LA, CBS, 10PM
- The Blacklist, NBC, 10PM
Tuesday
- Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn, Netflix, 3AM
- MLB World Series Game 1: Royals vs. Giants, Fox, 7:30PM
- NCIS, CBS, 8PM
- The Flash, CW 8PM
- Finding Your Roots, PBS, 8PM
- The Voice, NBC, 8PM
- Selfie, ABC, 8PM
- Manhattan Love Story, ABC, 8:30PM
- Uncle, DirecTV 101, 8:30PM
- 30 for 30: When the Garden Was Eden, ESPN, 9PM
- Supernatural, CW, 9PM
- Makers: Women in War, PBS, 9PM
- Top Gear (US) (season finale), History, 9PM
- Finding Giants (series finale), NFL Network, 9PM
- Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 9PM
- NCIS: New Orleans, CBS, 9PM
- Marry Me, NBC, 9PM
- Inside the NFL, Showtime, 9PM
- Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
- About A Boy, NBC, 9:30PM
- Town of the Living Dead, Syfy, 10PM
- Awkward, MTV, 10PM
- 4th and Loud, AMC, 10PM
- Frontline, PBS, 10PM
- Person of Interest, CBS, 10PM
- Chicago Fire, NBC, 10PM
- Forever, ABC, 10PM
- Sons of Anarchy, FX, 10PM
- Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Brickleberry, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- The Listener, Ion, 11PM
Wednesday
- E-Team, Netflix, 3AM
- MLB World Series Game 2: Royals vs. Giants, Fox, 7:30PM
- Melissa & Joey (special presentation), ABC Family, 8PM
- Arrow, CW, 8PM
- The Middle, ABC, 8PM
- Survivor, CBS, 8PM
- The Mysteries of Laura, NBC, 8PM
- Baby Daddy (special presentation), ABC Family, 8:30PM
- The Goldbergs, ABC, 8:30PM
- The 100 (season premiere), CW, PM
- Nova: Ben Franklin’s Balloons, PBS, 9PM
- Criminal Minds, CBS, 9PM
- Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9PM
- Modern Family, ABC, 9PM
- Kingdom, DirecTV 101, 9PM
- Black-ish, ABC, 9:30PM
- NFL Turning Point, NBC Sports Network, 10PM
- American Horror Story: Coven, FX, 10PM
- Stalker, CBS, 10PM
- Chicago PD, NBC, 10PM
- Nashville, ABC, 10PM
- South Park, Comedy Central, 10PM
- The League, FXX, 10PM
- Franklin & Bash (season finale), TNT, 10PM
- Key & Peele, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- Ali G: Rezurection, FXX, 10:30PM
- Web Therapy (season premiere), Showtime, 11PM
Thursday
- The Vampire Diaries, CW, 8PM
- Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
- The Biggest Loser, NBC, 8PM
- Chargers/Broncos football, CBS, 8:25PM
- Bad Judge, NBC, 9PM
- Gracepoint, Fox, 9PM
- Reign, CW, 9PM
- Scandal, ABC, 9PM
- A to Z, NBC, 9:30PM
- Parenthood, NBC, 10PM
- How to Get Away With Murder, ABC, 10PM
- Ridiculousness, MTV, 10PM
- Adam Devine’s House Party, Comedy Central, 12:30AM
Friday
- Alpha House (season premiere), Amazon, 12:01AM
- MLB World Series Game 3: Royals vs. Giants, Fox, 7:30PM
- Haven, Syfy, 7PM
- The Amazing Race, CBS, 8PM
- WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
- Cristela, ABC, 8:30PM
- Grimm (season premiere), NBC, 9PM
- Leave the World Behind: Swedish House Mafia’s Final Tour, Showtime, 9PM
- Shark Tank, ABC, 9PM
- Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9PM
- A Football Life: Terrell Davis, NFL Network, 9PM
- Constantine (series premiere), NBC, 10PM
- Blue Bloods, CBS, 10PM
- Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO, 10PM
- Z Nation, Syfy, 10PM
- Dane Cook: Troublemaker, Showtime, 10PM
- Comedy Bang! Bang!, IFC, 11PM
- Gabriel Iglesias presents Stand-Up Revolution, Comedy Central, 11:59PM
Saturday
- High School Possession, Lifetime, 8PM
- The Transporter: The Series, TNT, 9 & 10PM
- The Good Witch, Hallmark, 9PM
- Survivor’s Remorse, Starz, 9PM
- Doctor Who, BBC America, 9PM
- The Chair, Starz, 10PM
- Black Dynamite, Cartoon Network, 10:30PM
- Saturday Night Live: Jim Carrey & Iggy Azalea, NBC, 11:30PM
Sunday
- MLB World Series Game 5 (if necessary): Royals vs. Giants, Fox, 7PM
- 60 Minutes, CBS, 7:30PM
- The Dorm, MTV, 8PN
- Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8PM
- The Paradise, PBS, 8PM
- Madam Secretary, CBS, 8:30PM
- Packers/Saints football, NBC, 8:20PM
- The Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
- Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, CNN, 9PM
- Homeland, Showtime, 9PM
- Death Comes to Pemberly (Part 1 of 2), PBS, 9PM
- Resurrection, ABC, 9PM
- Boardwalk Empire (series finale), HBO, 9PM
- The Good Wife, CBS, 9:30PM
- Talking Dead, AMC, 10PM
- The Affair, Showtime, 10PM
- Tethered, Discovery, 10PM
- CSI, CBS, 10PM
- Revenge, ABC, 10PM
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM
- Comic Book Men, AMC, 11:59PM
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Sorry, theater actors: now robots can play leading roles
We’ve seen robots star in plays before, but the one in a new production of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis doesn’t take on a bit role or even a supporting one: it’s the show’s lead actor. While we feel bad for struggling theater performers who can never seem to get a big break, it seems rather fitting for a robot to take center stage for this particular story. See, The Metamorphosis is about a man who inexplicably turns into a giant insect — the play’s director, Oriza Hirata, just substituted a robot for the bug in this Japanese-French production. Sure, it’s a lot easier to just get someone who can act like an automaton, but where’s the fun in that?
Hirata didn’t even pick an old robot for the job. No, he collaborated with roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro (whom you might remember for creating creepy humanoid machines) to develop Repliee S1 for the part, and he made sure it can smile, laugh and even speak its lines in an automated voice. While its body’s mostly made of metal framing, its hands and face are human-like and stark white, something which the actress that plays its mother compares to “Masque Blanc” or white mask for the theater. If you want to see how Repliee S1 fares on stage, you’ll have to catch this high-tech version of Kafka’s tale (aptly entitled La Metamorphose Version Androide) in Yokohama, Japan this week, or in Normandy, France in November during the region’s Autumn Festival.
[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Robots
Source: The Telegraph
‘Assassin’s Creed’ and ‘Watch Dogs’ lead Jade Raymond has left Ubisoft
The driving force behind some of Ubisoft’s most successful franchises and best moments is no longer with the game maker as of today. Jade Raymond, executive producer on Assassin’s Creed II, Watch Dogs and Splinter Cell: Blacklist, has left the company after ten years of service, the company announced. To do what, exactly? That’s anyone’s guess. She’s been in the AAA space for a good portion of her career, working on The Sims Online prior to joining Ubisoft and being a key voice in the creation of the first two Assassin’s Creeds. Given her experience running Ubisoft’s Toronto studio, though, it might not be much of a stretch to imagine her going indie and assembling a quick and nimble team entirely of her own — it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen it happen.
In an interview with Metro last year, she lamented that she’d love to make a game where it was a challenge for an elderly player character to even make it to the bus stop, but went on to say that when you’re dealing with a $100 million budget that type of experimentation just isn’t possible. Maybe this will be her chance. Either that or she could go majorly left-field and start brewing craft beer.
[Image credit: ZCooperstown/Wikimedia Commons]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Ubisoft
iOS 8.1 Brings iCloud Photo Library to All Users, With Images Accessible on iOS Devices, iCloud.com
iOS 8.1, released to the public earlier today, included Apple Pay support as its most notable feature, but it also brought several other updates to the mobile operating system, including iCloud Photo Library. With iOS 8.1, the iCloud Photo Library beta is now available to all iOS 8 users, as is a new iCloud Photos app that can be found within iCloud.com.
First introduced during WWDC, iCloud Photo Library stores all of the photos and videos that a user takes in iCloud, making them available on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Macs through iCloud.com. It will also work with the Photos app that Apple is creating for the Mac, which is expected in early 2015.
iCloud Photo Library. You’re never without your camera. Now you’ll never be without your photos. Every photo and video you take now lives in iCloud — giving you the freedom to access your library from any device, anytime you want. So you can view a photo from last week or last year no matter where you are.
iCloud Photo Library is designed to keep all of a user’s photos synced on all of their devices at all times. When an image is edited on an iOS device in the Photos app with Apple’s built-in editing tools, those changes are immediately uploaded to iCloud and visible on other devices right away.
iCloud Photo Library is also designed to free up valuable storage space on iOS devices. Full high-resolution photos and videos are stored in the cloud, while smaller versions of the images are displayed on devices, taking up far less storage space. iCloud Photo Library uses the iCloud storage space of each user, with 20GB of storage space available for $0.99 per month. Apple’s iCloud storage plans go up to 1TB, which is priced at $19.99 per month.
iCloud Photo Library can be enabled on iOS devices in the Settings app by going to iCloud > Photos and toggling on “iCloud Photo Library.” The Settings app also lets users choose whether to optimize iPhone storage or download and keep original full-sized photos on their devices.
Once iCloud Photo Library is enabled, images and videos stored on iOS devices will be automatically uploaded to the cloud. They can be viewed as usual within the Photos app for iOS, and on the web, they can be viewed through the new iCloud Photos app on iCloud.com.
In the iCloud Photos app, users can perform several actions that are also available in the iOS version of the Photos app. Images can be favorited, which sends them to a special “Favorites” album, they can be downloaded in full resolution, or deleted, which removes the photos from iCloud Photo Library on all devices. From the main “Moments” view, it’s also possible to click on the “Select Photos” option to delete or download multiple images at once.
iCloud Photo Library does not appear to be working flawlessly at the current point in time, which is likely why it’s still given “beta” status. In MacRumors own testing, deleting some photos from the iCloud Photos app did not delete the photos from the iPhone 6 Plus they were taken on. A later sync even returned the photos to iCloud.com.
While iCloud Photo Library was available to developers during the iOS 8 beta testing period, Apple opted to pull it from the iOS 8 golden master ahead of iOS 8’s public release and demote it to beta status.
The reason behind iCloud Photo Library’s removal from the release version of iOS 8 was unclear, but it is possible Apple delayed the release in light of the negative press iCloud received in early September due to the celebrity photo leak.
With Apple having taken significant steps to bolster the security of iCloud, adding two-step verification and sending security emails when changes are made to iCloud or a device is restored, the company appears ready to let the public have full access to the new photo storage feature.
Use TimeTune to help organize your life
There are tons of daily planners and organization apps out there, but not many seem to get it right. TimeTune is a new app that aims to help increase your productivity while improving your daily routine. all while offering a beautifully-designed interface.
Most of our days are based around routines, and that’s really when the most work gets done. TimeTune organizes your days and weeks into sections, or routines, to help you stay on task. Here are some of the main features the app has to offer:
- Activity and time management based on routines and suitable for everyone who values their time
- Routines can be daily, weekly or use any number of days up until 15
- Creation of attractive custom tags to quickly identify the activities in your schedule at a glance
- Full customization for each notification independently (vibrations, sound, personal message, wake-up screen and even voice)
- Routine statistics to analyze and improve your distribution of time and so being able to do everything in your schedule and detect time leaks
- Simplified data introduction: no need to enter calendar dates or duration for the activities in your schedule, the app works it out for you
- Widget with a completely customizable look so that you can examine the activities in your schedule the way you like
TimeTune can be your task reminder, activity manager, schedule optimizer, or daily planner, and can even replace your calendar. If you’d like to check out TimeTune for yourself, head to the Play Store link below. The app is free, but you’ll need to pay $1.99 to get rid of those pesky ads.
Have you used TimeTune? Let us know in the comments!
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The post Use TimeTune to help organize your life appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Apple CEO Tim Cook: iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Demand ‘Far Outstripping’ Supply
Apple CEO Tim Cook commented on the balance between supply and demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus during today’s earnings call, stating that demand is far outstripping supply despite a satisfactory production ramp-up. Cook noted that available data makes it unclear as to when supply will catch up with demand, and that the company was “not close” to having a balance between supply and demand at the end of Q4 2014.
Supplies for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have remained tight since the launch of both devices last month, as new iPhone 6 orders still show a shipping estimate of 7-10 business days while the iPhone 6 Plus is still showing a shipping delay of 3-4 weeks. It is worth noting that the iPhone 6 has been mostly available at Apple’s own stores and other retail locations, while the iPhone 6 Plus has a constrained supply in-store.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Apple delayed plans to mass produce the larger 12.9-inch iPad in order to shift its resources towards the iPhone 6 Plus as it has remained unsatisfied with the production output from its suppliers for its larger iPhone. A report from earlier this month also stated that the company is shifting its production balance towards the iPhone 6 Plus which may gradually improve its supplies of the larger phone.
Nexus 6 pre-orders will start on Oct 29th in the US, sometime in Nov for other countries
If you are in the U.S. and are wondering when the Nexus 6 pre-orders are going to go live, we now have a more specific date rather than “late October”. According to the Play Store page, which has now been updated, you will be able to start pre-ordering the device starting on October 29th. Prices for the 32GB model will start at $649 USD, whereas the 64GB version will be slightly more at $699 USD – both colours, midnight blue and white, are available for both storage variants. Whether they start shipping out immediately or shortly after that is anyone’s guess, but at least we have a more solid date now.
As for the rest of the world, Nexus 6 pre-orders likely won’t start till November some time. For instance, Google Australia has made it known that Australia won’t be getting pre-orders for the Nexus 6 until sometime in November, and pricing has yet to be finalized. So it seems that if you live anywhere but America and want to get your hands on the Nexus 6, you’ll have to wait a little longer.
Are you looking to pre-order the Nexus 6 when it becomes available? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Google Play, Gizmodo via Droid-life
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‘Material Wallpapers’ Brings More Material Design to your Device
After the official announcement of the Nexus 6 and Android Lollipop, the new developer preview was set to hit the net, and of course devs start stripping it for parts. Anytime that happens with the new version of Android, we get a new selection of wallpapers. They looked pretty as always, but some of you that might have thought there weren’t enough to choose from, will be happy to hear that a new app in the Play Store will hopefully satisfy your Material Design cravings for the price of free.
Material Wallpapers hit the Play Store today, that brings in 30 Material Designed Wallpapers to your device. Hit the Play Store link below to head over there and grab it. Let us know how they are for you.
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