Macabre indie puzzler ‘Year Walk’ coming to Wii U this year
While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One get most of the attention when it comes to indie games, Nintendo’s Wii U has quietly built a solid stable of them as well. The latest? Creepy puzzler Year Walk from Swedish studio Simogo. Yeah, it’s appeared on a number of other platforms before, but the company promises that the version coming to the Wii U is no lazy port — it’s been entirely rebuilt with the console’s unique characteristics in mind by the folks at Dakko Dakko. For instance, the GamePad is used extensively throughout be it for note taking or accessing the game’s encyclopedia and map. You can use motion controls in conjunction with analog sticks to look around, and Simogo says that while that might scare some folks off, it’s actually pretty chill and the required input movements are subtle.
“It’s very reminiscent of using the Wii Remote to point at the TV, or mouse controls, but perhaps even more relaxed, as you don’t have to point it towards the TV,” the studio’s blog post says. “You can rest the GamePad neatly in your lap.” Perhaps best of all, it doesn’t sound like we’ll have long to wait: The game should be out either late this summer or early in the fall.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Nintendo
Via: Eurogamer
Source: Simogo
This is the tablet made for America’s Prisons
Private corrections service JPay, has introduced a new Linux-based tablet designed specifically for the two million prisoners it services across 34 US states. The company has previously launched its JP4 tablet – with around 60,000 in use across US prisons today – but the new JP5mini has one big advantage; it can connect to wireless networks, which many prisons are beginning to implement.
The JP5mini is an entry-level tablet designed specifically for the harsh realities of modern prisons; costing just $70, it offers a small 4.3-inch display and 32GB internal storage, allowing inmates to access music, email, video chat and more. The tablet runs a locked down version of Android and offers a censored experience designed to ensure that inmates remain connected with the outside world and are able to fit back into community once they’ve served their time.
Designing a device for use inside a prison has meant the company has had to be innovative in its approach to some pretty unique problems, including ensuring the devices aren’t used as a weapon or a vehicle to smuggle items into the prison. As a result, the JP5mini is unique in many ways, as JPay CEO Ryan Shaprio, told TechCrunch:
“All of our tablets are constructed out of clear, polycarbonate plastic to ensure no contraband is brought into the prisons through the device. The JP5mini was built with a secure boot loader so no other operating system could be installed, ensuring that an inmate doesn’t manipulate the system in any way.”
On the outside, the JP5mini sounds impressive and is built like a tank; it is shockproof, waterproof and has been drop-tested from a height of 30 feet. Even if thrown against a solid wall, the tablet won’t break which is probably a good thing given if it break, the pieces could make a lethal weapon.
On the inside however, the specs are woeful, although this is unsurprising given it costs just $70. The JP5mini is powered by a dual-core processor with Linux OS and a secure bootloader to prevent the other platforms from being installed. The key reason JPay chose Linux over Android is that while inmates can use the tablet to send messages and email, all communications – incoming and outgoing – are manually monitored and individually approved by prison staff. As such, the age-old method of screening inmate communications is still in place.
The JP5mini is quote as offering up to 35 hours music playback or 12 hours of video playback off a single charge, which is certainly impressive given the low price and the fact that many normal tablets can’t achieve this. From August this year, the company also plans to launch its own app store allowing inmates to buy games and other apps.
The discussion around whether inmates require technology is certainly one that splits opinion but my opinion is that the point of a correctional facility is to ensure that inmates reform and are able to assimilate back into society once they have paid their dues. As technology ever advances, the need to expose inmates – especially those who have been locked up for a long period of time – to technology, even if basic, becomes ever greater and while the JP5mini won’t win any awards, it should help introduce inmates to technology in its most basic form. Do you agree? Let us know your views in the comments!
Moto G (2015) rumored to be launching on July 28th
There are lots of rumors floating around regarding Motorola’s next smartphone lineup, and it looks like we won’t have to wait too long to find out what Motorola has planned for the next Moto G. According to the Brazilian site Tecmundo, the Moto G will be launched on July 28th and go on sale in Brazil on the same day.
The device is expected to sport a 5 inch 720p display and use the Snapdragon 410 processor. It is thought that there will be two models, one with 8GB of storage and one with 16GB. The former will likely have 1GB of RAM, while the latter could pack 2GB.
As for the camera, we are expecting a 13MP rear facing snapper and a 5MP one on the front. The unit will be powered by a 2470 mAh battery, will include a SD card slot, and support 4G LTE.
According to a recent leak, the Moto G (2015) will come with Moto Maker support.
Rumors about the next gen Moto G have been building for a while and according to a recent leak, the Moto G (2015) will come with Moto Maker support. This means owners could be able to choose different colored back panels, front panels, and accent colors for the metallic camera module.
However not everyone is jumping for joy if these specification turn out to be accurate. The rumored processor in the new Moto G is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410. A 64-bit processor with four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.4GHz. It also includes an Adreno 306 GPU. The problem is that this the same processor used by the Moto E, the cheaper sibling of the Moto G. The 4G LTE version of the Moto E uses the Snapdragon 410, however clocked slightly slower at 1.2GHz.
The first two generations of the Moto G have certainly been well received and I am looking forward to seeing what Motorola is going to do next.
The reality is however, that the Moto E and Moto G are quite different devices. The Moto E has a 4.5 inch display and a 5MP rear facing camera. The Moto G trumps the Moto E in just about every department and even if the processor is the same, that shouldn’t be a worry for Moto G fans as the Snapdragon 410 is definitely an upgrade from the processor found in the the second gen Moto G.
The rumored pricing for Brazil is R$899 which works out at around $286 USD. However that probably isn’t a reflection on the international price as the current Moto G 4G costs R$929, when bought directly from Motorola in Brazil. International pricing is likely to be similar to the second generation Moto G.
The first two generations of the Moto G have certainly been well received and I am looking forward to seeing what Motorola is going to do next especially given all of the recent leaks, but what do you think? Are you looking forward to the new Moto G?
WiFi Aware enables instant local device communication
WiFi may empower us to do clever things but the technology itself isn’t that smart. It doesn’t communicate anything meaningful until a full connection has been established, which means that it can’t tell us useful pieces of information about the service that we want to connect to. However, the newly unveiled WiFi Aware specification aims to change this.
WiFi Aware enables certified products to discover and communicate with other nearby devices without relying on an internet connection, sort of like Bluetooth Low Energy or Qualcomm’s LTE Direct. Devices will continually broadcast small packets of information, which could allow applications to push notifications to other devices or provide information to a user about a nearby service, person or business, all before making a regular WiFi connection.
WiFi Aware is part of the growing trend towards smaller hubs connected up to the larger Internet of Things. This could power all sorts of simple conveniences, such as turning on you lights when you’re in range of your home WiFi or finding a nearby shop which stocks your favorite products.
A key part of the idea is contextual data. We don’t want to be bombarded with all of the information from variously nearby networks. Instead, users will have control over the type of data they are alerted too and the data that push to other devices, a filter if you will. WiFi Aware devices know about everything in close proximity, but only connects to relevant sources of information.
Privacy and the impact on battery life are sensible concerns, but Edgar Figueroa, President of the WiFi Alliance, says that WiFi Aware is very power efficiency and consumes less energy than traditional WiFi. As for privacy, apps that use the service will have opt in/out settings, and the lack of an instant Internet connection offers some extra protection.
The first wave of WiFi Aware gadgets and applications not here just yet, but Broadcom, Intel, Marvel and Realtek already have certified chips for future gadgets. Social networks could roll out applications with Wi-Fi Aware before the end of the year.
Epic Games is the latest hacking victim
Not even a chainsaw bayonette (or the stealthy gent up above) could stop Epic Games from falling prey to hackers. The Unreal Engine-maker sent emails to members of its forums announcing that unauthorized access to usernames, email addresses, passwords and birthdates may have been accessed by an intruder. From the sounds of it, the only channels affected were related to Bulletstorm, Gears of War, Infinity Blade, UDK, and older Unreal Tournament titles. Developers active on the Unreal Engine 4 forums shouldn’t have anything to worry about, nor should those posting about Fortnite and the latest Unreal Tournament. For now, the forums are offline while Epic investigates the source of intrusion and the company warns to be on the lookout for any phishing attempts, nefarious emails or other, ahem, infiltrations into your sensitive information.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Epic Games
London’s getting another 51 all-electric buses
London’s public transport is already going green, but there’s still a lot of work to do before all of the city’s buses are switched over to renewable energy sources. Just two weeks after mayor Boris Johnson announced the capital will host the world’s first purpose-built all-electric double decker, Transport for London (TfL) today confirmed a further 51 green vehicles will hit the streets by autumn in a bid to lower carbon emissions and improve London’s air quality.
While the contract has been handed to Go Ahead, one of the UK’s largest bus operators, it’s not yet known who will supply the new all-electric buses. However, it’s been made clear that they will run on route 507, which links Waterloo with Victoria, and route 521, which connects Waterloo to London Bridge. While two Chinese electric buses have operated on these routes since 2013, two new Spanish buses were introduced just this week. Once the new fleet arrives, both routes will become fully electric and join London’s first all-electric service, route 312, when it makes the switch later this year.
In in the next five years, TfL hopes to have 300 zero-emission single-deck buses and 3,000 double-decker hybrid buses running across central London. Considering that there will only be 22 pure electric buses in London come October, the TfL has its work cut out. However, it’s already allocated upwards of £700 million to make it all happen.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: TfL
Specs for upcoming Huawei-manufactured Nexus leak
We’ve known for sometime that Google has afforded Huawei the task of developing its next generation Nexus smartphone, but we hadn’t, up until now, received any reliable leaks or rumors suggesting what the Chinese company had planned for the device.
Earlier today, renowned leaker @Evleaks took to his Twitter page to reveal some of the specifications for the upcoming Huawei Nexus. If they turn out to be correct, and we have no reason to doubt the credibility of the source, it looks like the handset is set to be pretty impressive.
According to the imparted information, the device will sport a 5.7-inch QHD display, feature a fingerprint scanner and be powered by Qualcomm’s upcoming quad-core Snapdragon 820 System-on-Chip (SoC).
Unfortunately, we don’t have a specific date for when Google is intending to launch its next Nexus, but the initiator of the leak has reason to believe that it will be in the fourth quarter of this year.
As with all leaks and rumors, we have to take the above alleged specifications with a pinch of salt, at least until Google or Huawei provide us with some evidence with regards to what’s in store for its next flagship, but hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer to find out.
Source: @Evleaks (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: Specs for upcoming Huawei-manufactured Nexus leak
The Sony Lavender may be released publicly as the Xperia C5 Ultra
According to popular tipster @Upleaks, Sony’s upcoming selfie-focused smartphone, previously known by its internal codename Lavender, may be released publicly under the branding ‘Xperia C5 Ultra’.
With regards to its specifications, the handset is rumored to sport a super-narrow bezel, a FHD display, 2GB of RAM, a 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek chipset, a 13-megapixel rear facing camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing shooter.
Sadly, we don’t have any information with regards to an official launch date just yet, but judging by the frequency of leaks, we presume that Sony will take the wraps off this device sometime next month.
Source: @Upleaks (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: The Sony Lavender may be released publicly as the Xperia C5 Ultra
HTC confirms that it will roll out the Android M update to the One (M8)
Earlier today, HTC’s Vice President of Product Management, Mo Versi, took to his official Twitter page in order to announce that the Taiwanese company will be rolling out the upcoming Android M update to all Developer and Unlocked variants of the One (M8).
@sonsonnetwork @HTCUSA Thanks Pierrette! Appreciate your support. Yes, the M8 will receive the M OS update.
— Mo Versi (@moversi) June 30, 2015
This is great news for those who previously believed that the device wouldn’t be receiving any future major upgrades. Owners of the M8 can expect to see the update on their phones by the end of the year.
Source: Mo Versi (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: HTC confirms that it will roll out the Android M update to the One (M8)
OnePlus Two camera details revealed by MKBHD
With just two weeks left to the official unveiling, there are still a few details that OnePlus hasn’t revealed about its upcoming OnePlus Two handset. Camera specifications can now be ticked off the list, as prolific Youtuber MKBHD has been given one to take for a photography trail run.
Details reveal that the OnePlus Two’s camera will come with a 13 megapixel resolution and a maximum f/2.0 aperture, which falls just shy of some of the more expensive 2015 flagships. Sadly, there doesn’t appear to be any optical image stabilization, but the phone is making use of laser auto-focus technology to bring nearby objects into focus very quickly. We first saw this type of technology in a smartphone back with the LG G3.
As for image quality, initial testing suggests that the OnePlus Two shows a noticeable improvement over its predecessor. However, the phone still falls a way short of the very best camera tech on the market right now, such as the cameras found in the LG G4 and Samsung Galaxy S6.
That being said, OnePlus is apparently still working on the phone’s camera software, so there may still be some slight tweaks and improvements to image processing come the final release.
You can check out the hands on testing in the video below, which features a wide range of shots taken with the handset.
Other known details about the OnePlus Two include 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, a USB Type-C port, Snapdragon 810 processing package and a price tag that will fall under $450. Any thoughts on what we know about the handset so far?
AIVAnet 