Popular first-person shooter franchise Titanfall coming to Android in 2016
If you’re a fan of Respawn Entertainment’s first-person shooter franchise Titanfall and thought it would be well-suited on a mobile device, we have some good news for you. Independent video game developer Respawn and Nexon, a Korean game publisher, have teamed up to bring several new and original Titanfall games to Android smartphones and tablets. The two companies say that we can expect multiple Titanfall titles in the future, with the first one launching on Android sometime in 2016.
For those unfamiliar, Titanfall was originally released for the PC and Xbox One in early 2014, and was ported to the Xbox 360 just one month after that. In the game, you can play as both an assault Pilot and a fast and powerful Titan in six-on-six matches in war-town outer space colonies. Depending on how many players are in each match, the game can get quite hectic, yet fun at the same time. Titanfall was actually the most-awarded game at E3 2013, earning over 100 nominations and over 60 wins. It not only won six E3 Critics’ Awards, it was also the third highest-rated Xbox One game in 2014 according to Metacritic.
Respawn and Nexon have yet to give any details about the first game, but we’ll definitely let you know once we learn more. So, who’s excited?!
See also: 14 best Android shooting games
Nexon and Respawn Make Strategic Investment in Mobile Game Developer Particle City to Create Exciting New Gameplay Experiences Based on Critically-Acclaimed Title
EMERYVILLE, Calif. – Oct. 29, 2015 – NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) (3659.TO), a worldwide leader in free-to-play online and mobile games, and independent videogame developer Respawn Entertainment announced today that the companies have partnered to create several new and original smartphone and tablet games based on the expansive sci-fi universe ofTitanfall. In connection with the partnership, the two companies jointly invested in mobile game developer Particle City, the studio leading the development of the upcoming titles. In this multi-game, multi-year partnership, Nexon will serve as the exclusive global publisher of the Titanfall mobile games, with the first game expected to be released worldwide on iOS and Android in 2016.
“As a player and fan of Titanfall I am delighted to be working with the talented team at Respawn to bring the world of Titanfall to mobile and tablet,” commented Owen Mahoney, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nexon. “Working closely with our partners at Respawn and Particle City we intend to build on the original game’s success and introduce millions of mobile gamers to the rich Titanfall universe.”
The collaboration with Respawn and Particle City is Nexon’s latest in a series of global partnerships with renowned developers. Recently, Nexon announced a partnership with Respawn and Electronic Arts to bring a PC online version of the award-winning first-person shooter Titanfall to Asia. In April 2015, Nexon published the hit mobile strategy game DomiNations, which wasdeveloped by Big Huge Games, an independent studio co-founded by 24-year industry veterans Brian Reynolds and Tim Train, famous for online strategy games Civilization II and Rise of Nations. Nexon also recently announced the details of LawBreakers, the first game from Cliff Bleszinski and Arjan Brussee’s Boss Key Productions.
“Our partnership with Nexon is momentous for many reasons,” said Vince Zampella, CEO & Co-Founder, Respawn Entertainment. “Nexon’s unrivaled publishing network and free-to-play expertise will allow Titanfall to reach new global audiences. And with Particle City, we are closely collaborating to create all-new standalone games with original gameplay experiences that expand the Titanfall universe to players everywhere.”
Particle City was co-founded by industry veteran Larry Pacey and Respawn CEO Vince Zampella in 2015. The new developer will be led by Pacey, with Zampella serving in a creative advisor role. Particle City, co-located with Respawn in Los Angeles, is currently hiring top talent. Candidates can find a list of open positions at www.particlecity.com.
Through the partnership, Nexon and Respawn will build on Titanfall’s premier franchise to deliver a high-quality game experience to the $30 billion mobile gaming market, the largest gaming platform globally. Praised as an evolution of the first-person shooter genre, Titanfall was the most-awarded game of E3 2013, earning more than 100 nominations and 60-plus wins, including a record-breaking six E3 Critics’ Awards. The title was the third highest-rated Xbox One game released in 2014, according to videogame review score aggregator Metacritic.
Microsoft’s first Android launcher focuses on your favorites
Microsoft has already courted Android fans by releasing a lock screen, but it’s taking the relationship one step further by introducing a full-fledged launcher. The newly official (if already expected) Arrow Launcher is a purposefully simple interface that centers on your favorites. Your home screens include both everything you’ve used recently as well as your most commonly-accessed apps and contacts — it’s a bit like iOS 9’s Proactive feature writ large. You also get a tray for quick access to key apps and settings (see above), not to mention tightly integrated reminders. This is one of Microsoft’s numerous Garage experiments, so it’s tough to know how much long-term support it’ll get. Still, it’s worth trying if you’ve ever wished that Microsoft would make an Android phone beyond the short-lived Nokia X.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Google Play, Microsoft Garage
Europe’s lawmakers suggest giving Snowden amnesty
The European Parliament has voted to grant amnesty to Edward Snowden, the former US government contractor who revealed the depth of the country’s surveillance programs back in 2013. By a vote of 285 to 281, the European Parliament is recommending that the 28 states of the EU “drop any criminal charges against Edward Snowden, grant him protection and consequently prevent extradition or rendition by third parties, in recognition of his status as whistle-blower and international human rights defender”.
Via: ZDNet
Source: European Parliament
3D printing hair is as easy as using a hot glue gun
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have devised an ingenious method for creating lifelike hair fibers the only requires a common, inexpensive fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer. The technique is surprisingly simple: the printer squeezes out a small dollop of molten plastic and then pulls away, stretching the material into a long strand — much like the sticky strings that hot glue guns leave behind.
Source: Gierad Laput
T-Mobile, MetroPCS pick up the 5.5-inch Alcatel Fierce XL
T Mobile and its prepaid arm, MetroPCS, are set too soon offer the Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL. Powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop this handset provides a 5.5 inch HD display at 720 pixel resolution.
The 1.1GHz quad core Snapdragon 210 processor is bolstered by 2GB of RAM and 16 gigabytes of internal storage. Not a lot of smartphone, mind you, but when you consider the price of the device is a mere $139 we are quick to forgive.
The Fierce XL is the third and the Fierce series from Alcatel and packs an 8 megapixel camera on the back with a 2-megapixel shooter around front. Indeed, this is a 4G LTE smartphone and is capable of voice over LTE (VoLTE), Wi-Fi calling, and HD Voice.
MetroPCS will be the first to offer this smartphone when it goes on sale November 2nd. T Mobile will pick up the call at some point down the road, however an exact date and price has yet to be determined.
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[TA Deals] Grab a TigerVPN Lite lifetime subscription for $29!
If you’re in the market for a virtual private network (VPN) to up your computer security, we’ve got a fantastic deal on a lifetime subscription to TigerVPN Lite. That lifetime subscription usually sells for close to $800, but you can pick one up for just $29. That’s a pretty hefty discount.
TigerVPN Lite offers tons of features, making it one of the most competitive VPN services around:
- Provides top-notch security
- Encrypts all your browsing w/ a 256bit SSL encryption
- Includes 10Gbps servers optimized to limit latency globally
- Offers access to 15 nodes: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Denver, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami, Montreal, New York, Toronto, Vienna & Zurich
- Doesn’t limit your data; plus bandwidth health detection maintains performance at peak times
- Includes easy-to-use mobile apps
- Allows for a choice in encryption protocol – PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN, etc.
Plus, it has a wide range of device compatibility, working on Windows, OS X, and both iOS and Android. That covers just about every combination of devices you might have.
Come comment on this article: [TA Deals] Grab a TigerVPN Lite lifetime subscription for $29!
‘The Weather Channel’ App for iPhone Gains Revamped Design, 3D Touch Support
The Weather Company is introducing a major update for its The Weather Channel iPhone app today, introducing a new visual design, longer-range weather forecasts, user-tailored weather updates, and support for 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus.
When opening The Weather Channel app, users will be greeted with a personalized dynamic home screen that offers up custom weather information that’s based on user location. It includes current weather conditions and information that changes based on time of day, weather severity, and changing local weather conditions. For example, if rain is predicted later in the day, a user might get a rain alert, or during a storm, a severe weather alert might be visible on the home screen.
A completely new visual aesthetic is the chief change in The Weather Channel app, with a design that’s cleaner and more informative. Gone is the circle-shaped weather listing in the middle of the app, which has been replaced with a full screen image on the home screen overlaid with relevant weather information.
Drilling down into the app will show an easy-to-read list of more detailed weather information, like wind speed, humidity, pressure, and more, along with a new 15-day forecast, which is a full five days longer than the previous 10-day forecast. As with the current app, the new app includes information on local health alerts, pollen levels, airport conditions, weather news, and beach conditions.
It continues to offer Weather Channel news updates, breaking news on weather, local maps, interactive radar maps for rain and snow information, hurricane reports, relevant weather-related notifications, and social weather reports that aggregate weather reports from social networks. New to the app is The Lift, an Al Roker-hosted mobile-only morning show that combines weather-related news, nature stories, viral videos, and more.
iPhone users with an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus can use 3D Touch on the app’s icon on the Home screen to enter one of four user-customized screens that include radar, saved locations, current location, search, or tools for sharing the weather.
For those who don’t want to see ads within The Weather Channel app, there’s a new $3.99 in-app purchase option that will remove all ads for one year. The $3.99 fee must be renewed each year to keep ads from being displayed.
The Weather Channel for iPhone can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
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Review: Sena’s Leather Apple Watch Case Easily Transitions From Home Dock to Travel Accessory
Though there are now hundreds of Apple Watch chargers and stands on the market, Apple is only selling a handful in retail locations – those that are designed with a clean aesthetic that matches the feel of the company’s products. The latest Apple-endorsed Apple Watch charging solution comes from Sena, and will be in Apple Stores in mid-November.
Sena’s Leather Watch Case, which is actually available from Sena’s website beginning today, is a hybrid stand and case product that can be used for charging, storage, and travel purposes.
The Leather Watch Case is designed to look like a traditional watch case that might come with any luxury watch. It’s similar in size to the box that comes with the stainless steel Apple Watch, with a round exterior covered in a quality black European leather and a microsuede-covered interior for the Apple Watch to rest on. It only comes in black, which might not be appealing to all users, primarily those with silver, gold, and rose gold Apple Watches.
As with most Apple Watch charging accessories, the Leather Watch Case requires you to supply your own Magnetic Charging Cable, but it does include a cord wrap to keep the cable hidden from view. There are four pieces to the Leather Watch Case, which snap together magnetically: a leather-covered bottom base, a plastic cord wrap that fits inside the base, a microsuede interior piece that houses the Apple Watch charging puck, and a leather-covered lid with a padded microsuede interior that fits over the whole thing to protect the Apple Watch when on the base.
Assembling the Leather Watch Case was a simple enough process that consisted of fitting the charging puck into the microsuede holder, guiding the cord through the cord wrap and out the base, and fitting all of the pieces together.
Apple Releases First iOS 9.2 Beta for Public Beta Testers
Earlier this week, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 9.2 to developers, just under a week after the public release of iOS 9.1. As of today, Apple is also making iOS 9.2 available to its public beta testers.
Beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program will receive the iOS 9.2 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.
Those who want to be a part of Apple’s beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas. Because iOS 9.1 was just released, it will likely be a month or more before we see the public release of iOS 9.2.
iOS 9.2 fixes several bugs in the operating system and it includes other under-the-hood enhancements. According to the release notes for the first beta, the Safari View Controller (the view of Safari you see within apps) is being updated with support for third-party Action Extensions that will let it more closely mirror the Safari app. It also includes options to reload content and request a desktop site, as in Safari.
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Guard your info from prying eyes with LEO Privacy Guard
With many of us having our entire lives and all our personal information somewhere on our phones, security and privacy are extremely important. LEO Privacy Guard is a security app full of features that attempt to keep your information safe and away from anyone looking for it. You can lock apps, hide messages and contacts, and even give your phone a performance boost if it needs it. The only question that remains, how well does it work?
LEO Privacy Guard setup
Setting up LEO Privacy Guard is fairly simple. When you first open the app, you are given a few splash screens that go over the main features in the app, and you are then asked to set a password so only you can access and make changes within the app itself. It defaults to a pattern password, but you can change it to a PIN code if you prefer. In case you forget your password, there is also a security question to fill out so you can still gain access.
LEO Privacy Guard usage
LEO Privacy Guard is free, and the first thing you will notice are the little aliens that hide at the edges of your screen. Clicking on them opens a page called “APP JOY” that gives you a grid of sponsored apps to install. These are basically the only ads you will see in the app aside from a couple of banner ads at the bottom, and for the most part, ads are unobtrusive.
The overall design of LEO Privacy Guard is somewhat cartoon-ish. Some may like this and others might not, and I happen to fall into the latter category. It is not bad, but I find it a bit to childish for an app centered around security.
The main feature of this app is App Lock which allows you to protect whichever apps you want behind the same password you set at the beginning. Putting an app behind a password is fairly simple. You tap on App Lock, select the apps you wish to protect, and you are done.
When you try to open an app that is protected, you are supposed to be met with the splash screen asking you enter the password. Unfortunately, I experienced significant delay between opening the app and having the password screen appear. For a full three seconds, you can see everything in the app you opened before being prompted to put in a password.
While that might not sound like a long time, it did give me enough time to open my email app (which was protected) and click on a specific email. After the password prompt popped up, I exited the app and immediately opened it again. I found the email I had clicked on was still open and I was able to take a screenshot before the password screen showed up again. This gives someone plenty of time to search through your email or text messages to find certain personal information and snap a picture before being met with the password prompt.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a “Boost” feature that cleans up your RAM and claims to make your phone run faster. With most modern smartphones, memory cleanup is not needed and I would have rather they left this feature out.
There is also a section in the app labeled “Protection” that looks like it will tell you if your phone is susceptible to a security risk. What it actually does is tell you if you have utilized all the features in LEO Security Guard. So if you haven’t hidden apps, pictures, messages, and contacts, you will have a protection “alert” in the app.
One more feature called “App Cover” attempts to add a little more security to those apps you password protected. You can choose to have a fake phone call happen, an error message, and a few other screens pop up every time a protected app is opened. Unfortunately, I found these to cause an even longer time between opening an app and being prompted to enter a password.
Roundup
What I liked:
- Easy to set up
- Decent security for protection against siblings or friends
What I did not like:
- Actual security features are lacking
- Long time between opening app and seeing password prompt
- Mostly useless “Protection” feature
- Not needed “Boost” feature
2.5 out of 5 stars
Now it is time to answer the question from the beginning of this review, and the answer is that this app does not work extremely well. Interaction is fluid, but the actual security part (which is the point of the app) is majorly lacking. If you are just planning on using this app to keep a younger sibling or nosy friend out of your messages or pictures, it will probably work.
But if you are looking for an app that will provide real security for the sensitive information you keep on your phone, you should look elsewhere. The lag between opening an app and being asked for a password allows for anyone looking for personal information to find it and even take a picture of it.
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AIVAnet 