Cloud Chasers is a new indie game about migration and survival
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There are plenty of brilliant indie games out there but many of them never reach mobile platforms – for once, though, one game that looks really interesting is coming our way. Cloud Chasers by Blindflug Studios (the same folks who made First Strike) is going to launch on Android and iOS on the 15th of October. Subtitled “A Journey of Hope”, Cloud Chasers sees you take control of a father and daughter duo, Farmer Francesco and Amelia, as they migrate across an endless desert in the hopes of going somewhere better. Driven by their story, you’ll need to keep the pair alive by managing their health and water – and to harness water, you’ll need to get up on your glider and harvest the clouds. Check out the official release trailer:
There’s a haunting beauty to Cloud Chasers and the game looks well executed on all fronts – no wonder it’s caught attention at multiple indie conventions. Once again, Blindflug addresses an important issue in its game – while First Strike addressed the issue of nuclear mutually assured destruction, Cloud Chasers addresses global migration, an issue I’m sure many of us are now acutely aware of, and Blindflug hopes to give us a different perspective of it.
What do you think about Cloud Chasers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Cloud Chasers
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Scottrade learned about a data breach from law enforcement
Companies typically find out about data breaches first-hand, and bring in the police after the fact to (hopefully) identify the culprits. Unfortunately, Scottrade didn’t even have that luxury: the investment firm only learned about a huge breach after federal law enforcement showed up at its door with word of an ongoing investigation. The intruders compromised roughly 4.6 million accounts between late 2013 and early 2014. They focused primarily on snagging contact information, but the targeted system also included information as sensitive as Social Security numbers.
Scottrade is quick to stress that neither passwords nor trading platforms were at risk, and it’s offering a free year’s worth of identity protection services if you’re still worried about fraud two years after the incident took place. Still, the revelation isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring. It suggests that the company’s security measures weren’t thorough enough to even detect the hacking attempt, let alone stop it, and that millions of customers were unaware of the danger until the feds stepped in.
[Image credit: Chris Yunker, Flickr]
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: Scottrade
Apple to Open Up Apple TV’s Universal Search to Additional Apps via New API
One of the key features of the new Apple TV set to launch later this month is universal search, which allows users to find content across a number of different services using text entry or, in some countries, Siri voice search. Universal search will work across iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Showtime at launch, but it was initially unclear whether the feature would be expanded to include additional content sources over time.
In a follow-up story on his interview with Tim Cook last month, BuzzFeed‘s John Paczkowski relates some additional details on Apple TV shared by Cook, including word that developers will indeed be able to make their content available to universal search via an API.
“At launch we’ll have iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, and HBO — so we’ll have five major inputs into universal search initially,” Cook said. “But we’re also opening an API, so that others can join in.”
And Apple’s confident that they will do just that. “I think that many, many people will want to be in that search,” Cook said. “And that’s great for users. Think about your experience today. Even if you’re fortunate enough to have the content you want to watch in an app, you sometimes don’t remember exactly where that show is, so you’re going to Netflix or Hulu or Showtime. You shouldn’t have to do that. It should be very simple.”
Cook went on to note that universal search will be intelligent enough to know which services the user is subscribed to, highlighting which sources are available free or with existing subscriptions. This is true even when different services offer only a portion of a television series’ seasons, such as a show where older seasons are available through Netflix with an existing subscription but newer seasons may need to be purchased through iTunes or through a new HBO subscription.
Danny Boyle on ‘Steve Jobs’: Casting Michael Fassbender, Apple’s Lack of Involvement, Accuracy
In a new interview with The Daily Beast, Steve Jobs director Danny Boyle spoke about many aspects of the movie, from why he casted Michael Fassbender to Apple’s lack of involvement with the film and whether it’s accurate to the life of Steve Jobs.
After Christian Bale dropped out of the role and Sony Pictures courted the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper, the production chose Michael Fassbender to play the Apple co-founder. Boyle admits Fassbender doesn’t look like Jobs, but says that there’s a drive inside Fassbender that resembles Jobs.
What I saw in Michael was, aside from him being a great actor, this obsessive dedication to his craft, which I felt made him perfect for Jobs. Even though he doesn’t look exactly like him, by the end of the film, you believe it’s him.
Boyle goes on to say that he “won’t even pretend to say that this is the definitive portrait of Jobs,” noting that he acknowledges that some people will take the movie in a different way. Boyle says the film attempts to show as much of Jobs as possible, but that they weren’t able to fully capture everything about him.
As Raymond Chandler said, in any work of art there’s a sense of redemption. He clearly achieves that in his other family, which we don’t touch on. He did move towards knowing that even though he did make the most beautiful things in the world, he himself was poorly made. The ability to recognize that is a big step. He is our hero, if you want to call him that.
Finally, Boyle speaks a little about Apple’s lack of involvement in the film. In a recent interview with The Daily Beast, Ridley Scott, who directed Apple’s infamous “1984” commercial, said that the filmmakers wanted to include the commercial in the film. However, Apple wouldn’t agree because they didn’t like the direction the film takes. “It’s about his daughter,” Scott tells The Daily Beast. “Which is an odd choice because he was a genius designer and visionary.”
Sources at Universal Pictures tell The Daily Beast that Apple was “not helpful” in the making of the film. When asked about whether Apple tried to obstruct the making of Steve Jobs, Boyle dodges the question and says “We’ve had our struggles and we’re going to get the film out there, and once we get the film out there, I’m sure we can talk about all that.”
The full Daily Beast interview goes more in-depth with Danny Boyle, touching on the movie’s behind-the-scenes drama after the Sony hack, the film’s unique structure and more.
Google updates Photos for iOS, but no Chromecast support just yet
Waiting for the revamped Google Photos app to arrive on iOS? Well, the company has just rolled out an update on iTunes, but we’re afraid it doesn’t come with all the new features Mountain View promised at its Nexus event. The latest version for iPhones and iPads lets you share animations via Whatsapp, and if you’re in the US, it gives you the power to label people and merge face groups. Similar to the Android version, you can easily search for the names of the people you labeled or even combine search terms (say, name + location) to find particular photos. However, it has one glaring omission: it’s not Chromecast-enabled just yet. Google says that’s “coming soon!” in its announcement post — in the meantime, it has sprinkled in some bug fixes and added the ability to fire up the app faster.
Source: iTunes, Google Photos (Google+)
Aetho’s ‘Aeon’ GoPro stabilizer looks slick, and so will your video
“Shoot video that’s worth watching” reads one of the straplines for Aetho’s “Aeon” handheld GoPro stabilizer. It sounds kinda obvious, right? But, if you’ve ever walked/ran/danced/dived/whatever with a GoPro in your hand/mouth/knees/whatever you’ll know it’s not that simple. You thought you had an oak-like steady grip, turns out you shake like a cold chihuahua — and the GoPro does a wonderful job of translating that to your videos. Aethos’s marketing copy suddenly doesn’t seem so vapid, does it? Especially once you see what the Aeon can do for your footage. Which, helpfully, you can right here in this article.
Let’s back up a little. What is Aeon? It’s a camera gimbal (stabilizer) designed for GoPros. If you’ve ever watched a silky-smooth drone video, you’ve already enjoyed gimbal-stablized video. But, handheld versions of these already exist, right? Yeah, they do. In fact, when I recently wrote about some of the best accessories for the ubiquitous action camera, I cited an existing gimbal as my “must have” add on. The problem with current products, though, is they either feel a little delicate, a little clunky, or simply lack practical design.
Aetho’s goal with the Aeon is to make a stabilizer that looks and functions as slick as the video it produces. I spent some time with a 3D-printed prototype, and I have to say, it looks and feels very promising. Firstly, the design is unlike most competing products (which usually resemble a frame on the end of a pole). Aeon, on the other hand, looks like the offspring of a traditional steadicam that got friendly with the steering controls of a supercar. The curved handle feels much more comfortable to hold for extended periods, and it also places the camera directly level with your hand. With other gimbals, the GoPro is usually above your hand, which makes framing less predictable. With Aeon, you just point your knuckles where you want to film, and the GoPro follows. A small, but significant detail.
The Aeon also allows a broader range of lateral motion. The camera’s 3-axis articulation is designed into the handle itself, so instead of motors moving on the end of a pole, the grip has much more ability to twist and maneuver. To make use of this, Aeon has an analog joystick (a-la PS Vita etc.), that lets you pan the camera left or right (or up/down) without your wrist moving. This means you can be moving (say, on a board/bike) and track your subject with your thumb, while keeping your hand naturally pointed forward. Another big plus, is a circular LCD display at the top of the grip so you can see exactly what you’re filming at all times. At the base of the grip, is a GoPro mount, letting you attach this to helmets, selfie-sticks and any other compatible accessory you might already have.
The prototype I tried didn’t have some of these extra features (no LCD or GoPro mount), but the gimbal and joystick worked perfectly, and the results are impressive. I took it for a walk, which might not be extreme, but the movement of walking is one of the best ways to bugger up your handheld video — and you can see below how smooth it is (the video starts with unstabilized video first). Frustratingly, I realized after shooting that the GoPro in the Aeon has a bust lens hood, so there’s some blurring from the camera, but the results are unmistakably much, much smoother than the camera that’s just on a regular grip (GoPro’s 3-Way, incidentally).
Other details I noticed, is that where the motors in my current gimbal can jam when you reach the end of their rotational range — creating an annoying vibration in the gimbal and your footage — the Aeon prototype didn’t do this once. That alone make me excited about this product. It only takes one rogue wobble to ruin your meticulously planned cinematic skate intro, right? Oh, and the Aeon can be charged via USB cable — no weird-sized batteries with a cradle (if you have a Feiyu, you know what I mean). I still love my Feiyu G4, but Aetho’s taken a good idea, and tried to make it great — and from what I can see, it works. If there are any concerns, it’s whether it’ll deliver the five hours of battery life promised, and how rugged or delicate the final units will be, something I can’t judge from the prototype.
The Aeon’s currently taking orders on Indiegogo, but, from my conversations with Aetho founders Harrison D. Lee, and Ian Nott, all the development is done (for real, it used to look like this), and production is ready to go — slated for early 2016. The money pledged is to directly fund the production of those devices. How much for one you ask? If you’re quick, $300. If you’re not so quick, $350. That’s about $100 more than the popular Feiyu G4, but with LCD, and other design advantages above, that seems about right.
Source: Aetho (Indiegogo), Aetho
The 220 day old 2015 Moto E wont be receiving Android 6.0 Marshmallow
“We believe your phone should look and behave like you want it to. That means our approach to software is ‘less is more’, so you can focus on the choices that are right for you“
Motorola, taking the “less is more” line a little too literally, will not be updating the 2015 Moto E and the Verizon and AT&T variants of the 2014 Moto X to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The 2015 Moto E, one of the best budget phones around, was announced in only February. In the marketing video for the Moto E, these fateful words were uttered.
“And while other smartphones in this category don’t always support upgrades, we won’t forget about you, and we’ll make sure your Moto E stays up to date after you buy it.“
Apparently what Motorola meant by that statement was that the Moto E would be upgraded from Android 5.0 Lollipop that it was launched with to Android 5.1. This, frankly, is ridiculous. For a company that promises quick updates and a stock-like experience, the new Lenovorola is going in the wrong direction. Gutting much of the workforce, not updating their recent phones and bad customer service is not the recipe that turned Motorola from the disaster it was into a favorite among stock Android fans.
I can’t tell if it’s worse that they’re not updating a popular budget that came out in February or their flagship from a year ago on the two most popular carriers in the United States.
Full list of devices receiving Android 6.0 Marshmallow:
- 2015 Moto X Pure Edition (3rd gen)
- 2015 Moto X Style (3rd gen)
- 2015 Moto X Play
- 2015 Moto G (3rd gen)
- 2014 Moto X Pure Edition in the US (2nd gen)
- 2014 Moto X in Latin America, Europe and Asia2 (2nd gen)
- 2014 Moto G and Moto G with 4G LTE2 (2nd gen)
- DROID Turbo
- 2014 Moto MAXX
- 2014 Moto Turbo
- Nexus 6
Motorola will also be sunsetting their work on Moto Assist, Moto Migrate and Moto Connect. The logic is a bit more clear on these apps though. Moto Assist and Migrate have had their functionality move into the core of Android and will come on all phones so it doesn’t make sense for Motorola to devote time and resources to a redundant program.
To say this turn of events by Motorola is disappointing would be underplaying it. A lot of people had hoped that after being acquired by Google, Motorola would be the “chosen one” going forward, giving us fast updates, great hardware and an attractive price but now that trust is broken for many people.
Source: Motorola blog via Android Police
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Current subscribers won’t receive a Google Play Music credit with a new Nexus purchase
Sorry Google Play Music subscribers. It looks like you won’t be getting an advertised three month credit when you purchase a new LG Nexus 5X or Huawei Nexus 6P. In the terms for the Play Nexus 90 promotion, it says the following:
“The Offer is only open to residents in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Greece, Japan, Australia and New Zealand (each an “Eligible Territory”) who:
- have purchased an Nexus 6P or Nexus 5X in a Eligible Territory (“Phone”) between September 29, 2015 and midnight Pacific Standard Time on April 18, 2017; and
- at the time the Offer is redeemed: (i) are not current Google Play Music subscribers; (ii) have not been Google Play Music subscribers in the past 12 months; and/or (iii) have not participated in a Google Play Music trial in the past 12 months.”
In past cases, even as recently as the Nexus 6, current subscribers would get a credit towards their bill. I personally have a credit until December due to buying a Nexus 6 and I’ve been a subscriber since the service begun a few years ago.
Definitely disappointing but probably not something that will keep many people from purchasing the phone. If you’ve only used the free version of the service it appears that you’ll still be able to redeem the offer and get three free months.
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Samsung offering freebies for activating Samsung Pay on your phone
If you have one of Samsung’s recently released phablets, a Note5 or S6 Edge+, you can get a free gift from Samsung. All you need to do is activate a card on the tech giant’s newly launched mobile payment app, Samsung Pay. For activating a card you’ll get your choice of a free flip case or wireless charger. Unfortunately it’s not one of Samsung’s new fast wireless chargers.
Chances are good that the Samsung Pay app is already on your phone but you may need an OTA update for it to work. Check your phone update section in settings app.
To redeem the offer, activate a qualifying card then hit “more” in the top right corner, select “announcements” then “Samsung Pay Activation Offer” for more details. Unfortunately, you have to have one of the few cards that Samsung Pay currently supports. If you have an American Express, Bank of America, Citi or US Bank card, you’re good to go. If not, you’re left out for now but Samsung says they’ll be adding more supported cards soon. If you’re on Verizon, you may not be able to use Samsung Pay at all.
Samsung has a big advantage over other mobile payment options like Android Pay or Apple Pay due to the fact that they can work on older magnetic secure transmission (MST) payment machines as well as newer machines that also support NFC. Samsung acquired LoopPay earlier this year who pioneered these MST payments and are accepted in about 10 million stores.
Source: Samsung
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What I learned from spending a week with the first big Apple Watch update
By Jared Newman
This article originally appeared on Fast Company and is reprinted with permission.
As the first Apple Watch update big enough to merit its own official web page, WatchOS 2 is supposed to be a big deal.
Yet in day-to-day use, many of WatchOS 2’s improvements can be easy to miss. You might have no desire to use the Apple Watch as a beside clock, and may never frequent the retailers whose rewards cards now work with Apple Pay. Siri’s new voice controls are useful in only a handful of situations, and an expanded contact list doesn’t matter much if you’re not initiating many calls from the Watch in the first place. Public transit information is nice, but only if you’re in one of the select cities where that data is available. As a way to tell time and view notifications, the Apple Watch is largely the same as it ever was.
But that doesn’t mean WatchOS 2 is unimportant. It’s just that the biggest changes are happening behind the scenes, as app makers rework their software to take advantage of new capabilities. WatchOS 2 is a significant update, but one whose effects won’t truly be felt for some time.
I’ve spent about a week with WatchOS 2, and so far my experience hasn’t changed drastically from before the big software update. Most of my Watch usage involves managing emails, checking sports scores, controlling music playback, and fielding the occasional phone call or text message. WatchOS 2 does little to improve those experiences.
But in dabbling with the first WatchOS 2 apps, it seems the update is more about establishing the product to be far more useful in the future.
In Search Of Native Apps
The most noteworthy change in WatchOS 2 is support for native apps, which can run on the Apple Watch without being connected to a nearby iPhone over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
Already, this has opened the door to some offline utility apps, such as PCalc, a basic calculator, and Pomodoro Pro, a timer for managing productivity. But going native should also benefit apps that still rely on an iPhone for Internet connectivity; in theory, they should be faster and more reliable, since they’re not banking so heavily on the iPhone for processing power and core app logic.
The native WatchOS 2 apps that I have tried do seem slightly more reliable than their non-native counterparts. The weather app Dark Sky, for instance, loads just a little faster, and doesn’t revert to the loading screen as you move between various sections of the app.
So far, however, most Apple Watch apps are no different than they were in WatchOS 1. Several developers have told me that switching to a native app isn’t especially easy, because it requires rewriting much of their existing code to run on the Watch instead of the iPhone. And certain features, such as iCloud and GameCenter, are a lot trickier to implement now. In other words, it’ll be a while until native apps are the norm.
Making Watch Apps More Useful
Apple Watch apps aren’t just getting a speed boost in WatchOS 2. They’re also getting more powerful as Apple provides access to more of the Watch’s hardware capabilities.
A twist of the Digital Crown, for instance, can now control software knobs and menu boxes within third-party apps such as PCalc and The Weather Channel. Access to the accelerometer and heart rate monitor open the door to third-party fitness and sleep tracker apps. Haptic feedback allows for surprising new apps such as Tacet, a metronome that counts the beat by tapping on your wrist.
In time, these types of capabilities will help the Apple Watch become more than just a notification machine. By using the Digital Crown for selecting items, Apple can pack more information into the screen. And with wearable sensors and haptic feedback, they can accomplish things that just aren’t possible on your phone.
Complicated Complications
Even when you’re not actively using third-party apps, WatchOS 2 extends their usefulness by letting them appear as Complications on the main watch screen. DataMan Next, for instance, can show how much wireless data you’ve consumed, and WaterMinder can show how much more hydrated you ought to be. These apps can also use WatchOS 2’s Time Travel feature to show past and future information with a twist of the Digital Crown. An obvious example would be a weather app that lets you scroll through the next several hours of forecast data.
For now, if you want more Complications, you’ll need to seek out the handful of specific apps that offer them. (And sadly, none yet exists for sports scores or fantasy football.) But over time, it’s likely that app makers will treat Complications and Time Travel as a high-priority feature. After all, it’s an opportunity for their apps to be the first thing you see when you glance at the screen.
The current situation reminds me somewhat of Android home screen widgets in their early days, with too few Complications overall and too many of dubious value. But as app makers catch on, I suspect the inclusion of clever Complications will become a lot more commonplace.
Seeding The Future
Whereas WatchOS 1 was largely about the apps and services that Apple built in on its own, WatchOS 2 extends those capabilities to third-party apps. The difference is barely noticeable now, but over time there should be a cumulative impact as apps become faster and can do a lot more. (And one can imagine these effects will be more pronounced whenever the next version of the Apple Watch hardware arrives.)
That may explain why Apple calls this update “an even more personal experience.” The tagline no longer refers to just the watch faces and wrist bands you choose, but to a new wave of apps that you’ll come to rely on.
[Photo: courtesy of Apple]
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