This is the Nintendo PlayStation that almost was
It might seem crazy today, but in the early ’90s Nintendo and Sony were working together on a video game accessory that’d add CD capabilities to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. There would also be a separate Sony console that’d play SNES cartridge games and titles for the SNES CD system dubbed the PlayStation. As legend tells it, the deal went sour when Nintendo instead announced a partnership with Sony’s competitor Philips for the optical add-on at the same CES that Sony unveiled its Nintendo-centric PlayStation. The rest is history. What you see above might as well be a unicorn, then.
Reddit user Analogueboy recently posted pictures of what looks like a prototype of the original PlayStation, saying that it was in a box of his dad’s junk. Apparently his pops had worked with someone named Olaf who was employed by the Mario company, who then left the console behind in a box of rummage.
As many have reported, this Olaf could possibly be the founder of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson. That may or may not be true, but as far as we can tell this device isn’t a fake. There’s video evidence below and many more photos at the source link if you want to play detective for yourself.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony, Nintendo
Via: Reddit
Source: Assembler Games
Alleged OnePlus 2 render surfaces, shows off all-metal body
There’s certainly no shortage of OnePlus 2 rumors floating around the internet, especially because the official unveiling of the device is only a few short weeks away. It’s already been confirmed that the new smartphone will come with a fingerprint scanner, a Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor and a USB Type-C port, though we have yet to hear any official word of the device’s chassis.
Just yesterday, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau teased on his Weibo account that the OnePlus 2 may in fact come with an all-metal design, though speculation beyond that teaser has been pretty scarce so far. Today, it looks like we’re getting another piece of information that may back up that rumor, thanks to an alleged leaked render of the new smartphone on Weibo:
Taking a look at the render, we can see that the device closely resembles the HTC One M8 and M9 with its all-metal chassis. Aside from the materials, though, we’re not seeing too much that stands out – a rear-facing camera, a volume rocker on the right-hand side, as well as a standard 3.5mm headphone jack up top. Although the render isn’t the best quality leak we’ve ever seen, it still may give us a glimpse of what’s to come with OnePlus’ next flagship.
It should be noted that we can’t vouch for the validity of this leak in any way, so we need to be sure to take this with a grain of salt. There’s a possibility that this could actually be the real deal, but it also may be a fan-made concept image. There’s no way of knowing for sure, so all we can do right now is speculate.
Keeping in mind the confirmed specifications of the device, do you think you’d be interested in the OnePlus 2 if it came with an all-metal build, similar to what we’ve seen on HTC’s flagship devices? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
[Deal] Spigen hosting sitewide sale for Independence Day this weekend
Take a moment away from the Independence Day fun this weekend to take a look at Spigen’s massive amount of products. The accessories maker is hosting a sitewide sale that starts today and runs through Sunday. This means that you will be saving on cases, covers, bags, screen protectors, and more.
Only clearance items are excluded from the sale that requires promo code FREEDOM25.
[Spigen]
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The best Lightning cable
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a list of the best technology to buy. Read the full article below at TheWirecutter.com
After measuring the charging speed of nearly 50 Lightning cables and sending the top 11 to our electrical engineer for teardown analysis, the $9 Anker Lightning to USB Cable is the one we’d buy. Its Lightning-connector plug will work with almost any case, and it costs less than half of what you’d pay for Apple’s cables. Plus, it’s built with a stress-relief collar that’s molded with the plastic plug housing, meaning it should be sturdier than the competition.
How we tested
Testing the charge rate of each Lightning cable.
After combing through thousands of cables, we tested the cables’ charge rates by plugging them into a USB power monitor connected to a 12-watt adapter, which told us whether or not both iPads and iPhones would be charged at full speed from each cable. Next, we tested to see if the Lightning plug would fit in Lifeproof’s Fré, a case with notoriously small port openings. Our electrical engineering consultant, Sam Gordon, then evaluated the internal structures of each cable for components such as braided wires and electromagnetic shielding.
Our pick
Anker’s Lightning to USB Cable is inexpensive, well-built from the cord to the stress-relief collar, which protects the cable from damage caused by bending near the connector port. Apple’s cables are notorious for breaking in this way. In our power draw tests, Anker’s cable consistently carried a charge of 2.4 amps to an iPad Air. While some cables performed as well in this regard, none did any better. This high speed ensures any iPhone, iPod, or iPad will charge as quickly as it can, as long as it’s plugged in to a high-voltage power source.
The one drawback of the Anker is the size of its Lightning-connector housing, which is about 1mm thicker than Apple’s cable and 0.7mm wider. For most cases, this won’t matter, but we did find it too large for the tiny opening on the Lifeproof Fré.
The runner-up
Testing with Lifeproof Frē and iPhone 5.
The Dynex’s 3 Charge/Sync Cable with Lightning Connector ($13) is an acceptable runner-up if the Anker is unavailable. It charges just as quickly as the Anker cable and feels just as durable, but it’s more expensive to ship. It’s a great option if you need something quick from a brick-and-mortar store.
A shorter option
Top to bottom: short cables from Monoprice and Insignia.
If you’d rather have something short and stubby that’ll easily fit in a bag without having to be wound up, go with Insignia’s 6 Lightning Charge-and-Sync Cable. If it’s not available, Monoprice’s 4-inch MFi Certified Lightning to USB Charge/ Sync Cable is another decent option. Even though they’re shorter than the standard cables, they cost the same or more; you’re paying for convenience.
A longer option
Aduro’s 10′ cable is great when you’re not right next to a plug.
Long cables are the most troublesome of the bunch, as they tend to fail more quickly, and they need to be thicker to carry a fast charge. Teardowns reveal this is likely due to the fact that the wires inside are unbraided (and sometimes thinner) so they can keep costs down. That being said, of those we tested, Aduro’s 10′ Sync and Charge Lightning Cable ($15) was the most impressive.
Wrapping it up
The $9 Anker Lightning to USB Cable is the Lightning cable we’d buy. It’s much cheaper than Apple’s official cable, is built to last with high quality internals, and its Lightning connector plug is small enough to fit most cases.
This guide may have been updated. To see the current recommendation please go to TheWirecutter.com
Filed under: Peripherals
Sony has a new facial expressions selfie technology
Sony has just filed a patent for a new selfie technology that can take contentious selfies and pick out the best one for you.
The new technology patent seems pretty weird as it will allow a phone, camera, or Google Glass type device to take many photos throughout the day and night. The pictures are then sent over a secure network to a server that will then process them. The software will detect emotional states being displayed in each photo and apply the appropriate tags.
Users can search for all the happy times during the day or sad ones, etc. All the blank expressions can be deleted. You could also create a timeline of different emotions.
It will even take photos of you during your sleep which could be used to track sleep patterns for better sleep quality, but is also super weird. I really hope sleeping selfies don’t become a thing.
Obviously privacy concerns could be a problem, especially with every photo being sent over the internet to a private server. What do you think of this patent, are you excited or creeped out?
Source: Venturebeat
Come comment on this article: Sony has a new facial expressions selfie technology
Layze Phone Holder
Have you ever felt that you just couldn’t get your phone in an ideal position? Trying to do a bit of reading could give anyone a stiff neck and you can just forget about trying to cook from a recipe without bathing your device in Marsala sauce. Sure arms and hands can do the job but then fatigue starts setting in and, really, who wants to use limbs when you’ve got technology? The Layze Phone Holder is here to satisfy all of your phone placement concerns and bring us one step closer to the future we caught a glimpse of in WALL-E.
The Layze Phone Holder requires no tools for installation and is immediately usable thanks to its bendable design. Fully adjustable with 360 degree rotation & tilt, selfies, snapchat and FaceTime are a breeze. As useful in the car as in home, Layze is built to last with durability in mind. For just $24.99,you can lay claim to yours, today!
Today’s Bonus Deal
Consolidate all of yours keys into one convenient tool with the Keyport High-Tech Multi-Tool, just $39.99 (33% off)
See more at deals.androidguys.com
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5 Android apps you shouldn’t miss this week! – Android Apps Weekly
Sponsored by: Rocket VPN
[Price: Free / $2.99 per month / $29.99 per year]
This week’s Android Apps Weekly is sponsored by Rocket VPN. This VPN service is simple enough for anyone to understand but powerful enough for most VPN uses. It’s also been recently updated to include Material Design! You can choose from servers all around the world to securely connect to the Internet and protect yourself from the unknown. You can get a 7 day free trial and you’ll be given access to 500MB free each month or you can pay to get more!
Welcome back to Android Apps Weekly! Here are your headlines for this week:
- First up this week, it’s been announced that Mojang, the company behind Minecraft, will be killing off support for another one of their games called Scrolls. Reports are that you can still play the game through June 2016, but that’s one less game in the Mojang library.
- CyanogenMod has been teasing a new browser called Gello. This is based on Chromium like many others but this one includes some fun customization features like site-by-site privacy settings. There is no ETA for release yet but this looks like it could be pretty good.
- Recently, an application was taken down and the developer was sued by the FTC. The reason was because the app was designed to mine Dogecoins when not in use. This not only makes devices slow with terrible battery life, but it’s also illegal in the United States. They settled for just shy of $50,000.
- Google Photos saw some controversy this week after the app mistakenly tagged black people as gorillas. As you can imagine, this is not good news and people are understandably upset. The developers have issues apologies and have removed gorillas from the database until a permanent fix can be worked out.
- Select theaters will be having way more fun with the upcoming terminator release than others. It’s been announced that some theaters will let people play a Terminator Genisys game on the theater screen before the movie shows. This is really cool and it should happen more often.
For even more Android apps and games news, don’t forget to check out this week’s newsletter. There we’ll have the complete list of headlines, updates, and new releases that we didn’t have time for here. If you’re so inclined, you can subscribe with your email address and have this info sent directly to your inbox every Friday!
Check out our Android Apps Weekly newsletter!
Pushbullet
[Price: Free]
Normally we don’t include app updates here but Pushbullet has one so big that we want to talk about it. A recent update has not only cleaned up the user interface a whole bunch, but it’s also added full messaging support. Other improvements include better pushing between devices and your regular bug fixes and performance improvements. If you want a one-stop shop for connecting your computer to your Android device, Pushbullet seems to be the way to go.
Yahoo Aviate Launcher
[Price: Free]
Yahoo’s Aviate Launcher is another app that got a huge update this last week that’s worth talking about. The app now includes a new feature called Smart Stream. This is kind of like a competitor to Google Now. It keeps an eye on the stuff you do on your device and then tries to compile a feed of stuff that you might be interested in. This also includes weather data, directions, and it’ll even pull your music app to the front if you plug speakers in.
Geometry Wars 3
[Price: $4.99]
Geometry Wars 3 was released to the Google Play Store this last week to positive reviews. The game features a glorious display of colors and fast paced game play. It includes over 50 levels including classic arcade levels, 10 battle modes, and multiple control set ups. It’s $4.99 but there are no in-app purchases and the game currently has over 500 positive reviews versus 16 negative reviews. This one’s a no brainer for those looking for a time killer.
Vainglory
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Vainglory is a hotly anticipated MOBA that released on Android just yesterday. It features a League of Legends-style pay scheme where you can play as much as you want for free but some of the more specialized items and characters may cost a couple of bucks. It features long game matches, customizable hero builds, and all of the awesome stuff that you’d expect in a MOBA. Do be warned, this game packs a serious punch so low end devices may not handle it well.
Half-Life 2: Episode 2
[Price: $7.99]
Half-Life 2: Episode 2 was released on Android but there is some bad news. It’s only available for the Nvidia Shield Tablet and Nvidia Shield’s Android TV device. If you’ve never played the Half-Life series before, you’ll probably need to at least play Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode 1 to know what’s going on. This, however, is a console level game with great graphics, a good story, and plenty of things for you to shoot. It’s $7.99 with no in-app purchases.
Wrap up
If we missed any great Android apps and games news this week, let us know in the comments! Thanks for reading and watching. See you next week.
Here’s why your favorite subreddits are unavailable
Sad to say your Fourth of July weekend Redditing might not be as smooth as you’d hoped. A number of major subreddit mods have set their domains to private after news broke out that one of the website’s employees, Victoria Taylor, has abruptly been let go. If you’re wondering why people would be up in arms over one employee, then you likely haven’t read any big celebrity Ask Me Anything (AMA) posts for a while. Officially, she’s the company’s Director of Communications, but within the community, she’s known as “chooter” — the woman with fingers as quick as lightning who made most AMAs enjoyable.
The first sub to go dark was /r/IAMA. One of its mods, a user called “karmanaut,” explained that they had no choice, because they have to rethink how AMAs are conducted now that Victoria is gone:
The admins didn’t realize how much we rely on Victoria. Part of it is proof, of course: we know it’s legitimate when she’s sitting right there next to the person and can make them provide proof. We’ve had situations where agents or others have tried to do an AMA as their client, and Victoria shut that shit down immediately. We can’t do that anymore.
Part of it is also that Victoria is an essential lifeline of communication. When something goes wrong in an AMA, we can call and get it fixed immediately. Otherwise, we have to resort to desperately try messaging the person via Reddit…Part of it is also organization. The vast majority of scheduling requests go through her and she ensures that we have all of the standard information that we need ahead of time (date, time, proof, description, etc.) and makes it easier for the teams that set up AMAs on both ends. She ensures that things will go well and that the person understands what /r/IAMA is and what is expected of them. Without her filling this role, we will be utterly overwhelmed.
Other subreddits followed in solidarity, as you can see in this list. The biggest ones there are /r/askreddit, /r/gaming, /r/pics and /r/science, though some entries in the list have already lifted the restrictions they placed earlier.
Neither Miss Taylor nor Reddit has offered any clarification on what happened behind the scenes, but some people speculate that she took the fall for that disastrous Rev. Jesse Jackson AMA. Others think she might have been the victim of a budget cut, while there are those who think she was fired because she lives in New York. Former CEO Yishan Wong admitted last year that the company wanted all its employees to relocate to San Francisco. During her time as the AMA section’s czar, she helped set up sessions with and/or transcribed for Elijah Wood, Marilyn Manson, Chris Pratt, Robin Williams, Bill Gates and even the POTUS, just to name a few.
[Image credit: Veronica Belmont/Flickr]
Filed under: Misc
Source: Gilgamesh- (Reddit)
‘iPhone 6s’ Logic Board Suggests 16GB Base Model and Updated NFC Hardware
New images of the logic board from the next-generation “iPhone 6s” have been obtained by 9to5Mac, a few days after the site shared photos from an unnamed source which showed that a new, updated Qualcomm LTE chip could be in store for the iPhone this year. Today’s images suggest that, on top of the Qualcomm chip’s faster LTE speeds and increased energy efficiency, the iPhone 6s will include fewer chips that are collectively more efficient, updated NFC hardware for Apple Pay, and likely the same 16GB entry-level capacity seen on current iPhones.
The Toshiba flash memory chip shown in the photos has a 16GB capacity based on the “G7″ in the part number, and was built using a 19nm production process. This suggests that the new line of iPhones this year will once again offer a starting storage option of 16GB, likely supplemented with the same 64GB and 128GB options at higher price points seen currently.
While many have complained 16GB is not enough entry-level storage as HD video and space-hungry apps have proliferated, recently Apple SVP of Marketing Phil Schiller claimed the company’s cloud-focused services, like the just-launched Apple Music, help alleviate some of the storage stresses on low-end storage configurations. Other changes with iOS 9 such as smaller iOS update sizes and app thinning to load only the app assets needed for a particular device, will also help trim down storage needs.
On the NFC side of the new iPhone, the new chip inside the iPhone 6s is again from NXP but with a new 66VP2 part number compared to the 65V10 part in the iPhone 6. Chip teardown experts at Chipworks were unclear, however, exactly what kind of improvements such a chip will bring to the new line of smartphones, although they posit it could be eliminating the need for a separate secure element processor altogether and folding the two into one chip.
Echoing earlier rumors, today’s images suggest once again that the iPhone 6s will remain identical in look and shape to its predecessor, as seen in a case maker’s design drawings and logical for the continuation of the “S” generation trend. Any changes in dimensions would be negligible, leaving the device compatible with nearly all existing iPhone 6 cases and accessories.
Best Twitter app alternatives [2015]
Twitter has a good Android app and it’s getting better after every new update. In fact, they’ve been focusing on the user interface and experience over advertising as of late. The native Twitter app, however, just doesn’t fit some users’ styles.
There is an arsenal of third-party Twitter replacements out there, and some of them are actually really wonderful. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Falcon Pro 3
If you’re not a fan of Twitter’s own mobile app, Falcon Pro 3 is probably the next best option for browsing your timeline and managing multiple Twitter accounts. In my testing, it’s faster than the normal Twitter app, it’s gorgeous, and it’s smooth as butter. Spending just a bit of money will return you some of Falcon Pro 3’s premium features that only enhance the overall experience.
Plume
Plume for Twitter is another excellent third-party solution, brought to you by the developers who created Beautiful Widgets. It’s highly customizable and has a lot of features, such as an internal browser, a lockscreen widget, in-app live streaming, geotagging, and much more. Of course, one of the best aspects of the app is that the developers remain on top of bug fixes and consistent improvements to performance. You will never have to worry about Plume growing old.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is another excellent solution as a Twitter replacement, but it’s much more than that. You can easily manage multiple social media accounts, whether it be Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. One of Hootsuite’s best features is the ability to manage and schedule posts, which is helpful for those that are on the go and still have a business or social media account to run. The app is free up to three social media networks. If you need more, there are in-app products to meet your social media needs.
Talon
As far as features go, Talon falls short compared to Falcon Pro 3, Plume, or Hootsuite. What it does have, though, at its core is customization, a beautiful design, gorgeous animations, and great performance. Not only that, but it’s one of the few Twitter apps to feature Google’s Material Design guidelines. Talon supports up to two Twitter accounts, has live steaming support, an excellent notification system, and much more. Really, this is one gorgeous Twitter app alternative.
Fenix
Fenix for Twitter is unique in that it provides an excellent tablet experience. It has all of the usual flavors you’ll find in Twitter apps–support for multiple accounts, themes, internal browser, and more. And its tablet layout is out of this world. It compiles your timeline into gorgeous card-like chunks, allowing for easy readability. If you’re one to come home from work, sit back in the recliner, and scan through your social media feeds on your tablet, Fenix is a great solution.
Tweetings
Tweetings is another great Twitter alternative, especially in terms of design. Tweetings offers an expansive theme engine, allowing users to pick from thirty-two different Material Design options. There are sixteen dark and sixteen light themes to choose from the app even includes options to create your own themes. As far as features go, you get a gorgeous Google Now-like UI with cards, support for multiple Twitter accounts, excellent navigation, and beautiful widgets.
Twidere
Twidere is better than the native Twitter app in many ways. It’s a powerful alternative featuring Google’s Material Design outlines and offers both dark and light themes, along with color theme support. It has the many features you’d expect in a Twitter alternative–multiple accounts, drafts, and better direct messages. One of its best aspects is that its open source, allowing the community to contribute various features and design tweaks to it.
Tweetcaster
Tweetcaster has a design that seems dated compared to other Twitter alternatives beautiful as many of the other Twitter alternatives; however, it does have a unique interface and touts some powerful features. Tweetcaster has support for multiple Twitter accounts, and lets you post to Twitter and Facebook simultaneously. There’s also this nice feature called Zip It which allows you to silence certain Twitter users and keywords from showing up in your timeline without unfollowing anyone. Yes, this identical to Twitter’s Mute button, but Tweetcaster supplies its own third-party option. Another really cool feature is that tweets will stream in real-time when connected to Wi-Fi.
Robird
Last up on our list is Robird, an intuitive and gorgeous Twitter alternative. The interface is sleek, easy to navigate, and relatively fast. As far as features go, it’s fairly minimalistic in this sense, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In a day and age where our apps have so much going on, sometimes it is nice to just have a fairly basic Twitter app that will perform all the functions you want it to do.
Conclusion
One of the unfortunate things about Twitter’s own mobile app is that it lacks Material Design and it doesn’t pack as many features as independent developers are packing in their own alternatives. That’s what makes other options out there much better than what Twitter offers, for the time being.
What’s your favorite Twitter app alternative? Sound off in the comments below or tweet us!
Come comment on this article: Best Twitter app alternatives [2015]
AIVAnet 