Xbox One adds ‘Halo: Reach’ and 15 more playable 360 titles
Microsoft’s Xbox One has had a stellar release slate over the last few months, packed with exclusive games like Rise of the Tomb Raider and multiplatform hits such as Fallout 4 and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Still not satisfied? Well, there’s now an additional 16 games from the Xbox 360 era that you can play on your Xbox One via backwards compatibility. Some of the highlights include the head-scratching puzzle-platformer Braid, indie darling Spelunky, Portal and Fable 3.
There’s also Halo: Reach, which, alongside The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5: Guardians, means that every mainline Halo game is now playable on the Xbox One. If the latest effort from 343 Industries has you feeling bummed, perhaps Bungie’s swansong can fill you with festive cheer?
Oh, and if you need a reminder, here’s a quick video explaining how backwards compatibility works on the Xbox One:
Source: Major Nelson
You can search for ‘Mario Maker’ levels on the web next week
Crafting truly brilliant Mario Maker levels isn’t easy, but finding them soon will be. Nintendo just announced its “Super Mario Maker Bookmark” portal will go live on December 21 so you can search for levels to play from a computer or mobile device instead of just on your Wii U. Better yet, you’ll be able to flag those primo levels from whatever device you’re working with — they’ll appear in the Course World tab so you don’t have to worry about finding your favorite works all over again.
Nintendo first revealed the portal in a Nintendo Direct livestream last November, where they also confirmed that players have crafted over 3.3 million levels since the game’s launch. Of course, what they didn’t mention at the time is all the other stuff that’s slated to augment the game on the 21st. Course pages will display infuriating World Record completion times, and designers get new items like bumpers, P Warp Doors and a Fire Koopa Clown Car (“capable of shooting fireballs as well as a powerful charged shot that can even destroy Blocks”) for even more effective trolling.
Source: BusinessWire
Engadget giveaway: Win a 15.6-inch HP Envy laptop courtesy of AMD!
Tablets and smartphones becoming the norm, so it’s not unusual to find your laptop’s display accruing fingerprints out of habit, even if it’s not a touchscreen. This week, AMD is offering one lucky Engadget reader a chance to get all their devices on the same page with an HP Envy 15.6-inch touchscreen laptop. This Windows machine packs built-in Band & Olufsen speakers, 6GB of memory and 1TB of storage into a 0.93-inch-thick package. To keep everything purring along, there’s an AMD FX-8800P accelerated processor on board, part of the company’s sixth-generation A-Series line that boasts some serious performance. That means enough power to help you can cruise though family get-togethers with a little gaming and as many movies as it takes. All you need to do is head down to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning this AMD-powered HP laptop.
- Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
- Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. One (1) HP Envy m6 Notebook (m6-p051xx, $650).
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
- This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Engadget and AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until Dec. 18th at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
Adobe’s new app adds text and graphics to your social posts
To help the less design savvy create graphics for their social posts, Adobe has a new app that’s driven by so-called Design Filters. The app is Adobe Post, and similar to Instagram, it relies on a collection of pre-selected designs instead of photo presets to create the final result. Once you’ve decided on a look, Post allows you to change the font, colors and other elements before beaming the image out to Facebook, Twitter and other social streams.
Adobe’s main goal is a quick and easy way for folks to create graphics with photos they’ve taken or with a stock image available inside the app. If you have a favorite font that you use on the regular, don’t expect to be able to employ it here, as Post only allows for the options it offers and you can’t upload your own. However, rather spending several minutes trying to decide on a color combo, the app will automatically suggests a palette based on the background image, which can come in pretty handy. If you can’t come up with a good idea, there’s an Inspiration Wall of templates to get you started.
Post is the third entry in what Adobe refers to as its storytelling apps. The new software joins Voice and Slate which help users create videos and web-based layouts for presentations and more. If you’re looking to give it a shot, Adobe Post is now available for free from the iTunes App Store.
Source: Adobe
NFL Solicits Apple to Stream ‘Thursday Night Football’ Next Season
The NFL has solicited Apple and other digital companies, including Amazon, Google and Yahoo, about streaming the full “Thursday Night Football” schedule online on a non-exclusive basis next season, according to SportsBusiness Daily.
The league also sent bidding proposals to CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and Turner Sports for traditional TV rights to the “Thursday Night Football” package, which is currently split between CBS and the NFL Network for the ongoing 2015 season.
The league’s initial plan would have the digital streams serve as a simulcast of the television production — with the same ads and in-game production features. […] It is not clear how much the league is expecting to make from the streaming rights, but several sources said the digital streams would not diminish the TV rights fee, especially if the digital streams carried the same advertising.
While there is no certainty that Apple is interested in the NFL’s digital rights, online streaming is inevitably the future of sports broadcasting as more cable subscribers cut the cord. NFL offers a live streaming app Game Pass, but it does not include “Thursday Night Football” and its selection of games is limited compared to rival platforms such as MLB At Bat, NBA League Pass and NHL GameCenter.
Yahoo could be a frontrunner to secure the digital rights, having paid an estimated $15 million to exclusively live stream a 2015 regular season game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars at London’s Wembley Stadium. Yahoo said it saw 33.6M streams of the game and up to 15.2M unique viewers tuned in to the live stream on the web, tablets and smartphones.
CBS currently produces all sixteen “Thursday Night Football” games, anchored by sportscasters Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, as part of its estimated $300 million NFL deal. NFL Network simulcasts the games and carries eight games exclusively as part of its current partnership with CBS, which began in the 2014 season. Most games kick off at 8:25 p.m. Eastern Time.
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Jeff Williams Named Apple COO, Phil Schiller Takes Over App Store Leadership
Apple has announced an executive shakeup today that sees Jeff Williams promoted to Chief Operating Officer and marketing chief Phil Schiller taking over App Store leadership across all Apple platforms.
Williams, who joined Apple in 1998 as head of worldwide procurement, becomes Apple’s fourth C-level executive alongside CEO Tim Cook, Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri and Chief Design Officer Jony Ive.
As vice president of operations since 2004, his responsibilities included overseeing Apple’s supply chain, service and support, and the company’s social responsibility initiatives protecting its employees worldwide. He also continues to supervise development of the Apple Watch and ResearchKit.
Cook called Williams “hands-down the best operations executive I’ve ever worked with.”
“We are fortunate to have incredible depth and breadth of talent across Apple’s executive team. As we come to the end of the year, we’re recognizing the contributions already being made by two key executives,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Jeff is hands-down the best operations executive I’ve ever worked with, and Johny’s team delivers world-class silicon designs which enable new innovations in our products year after year.”
App Store leadership previously belonged to Apple services chief Eddy Cue, who continues to oversee the iTunes Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple Maps, iAd, iCloud and iWork apps. Schiller’s expanded role will be focused on strategies to extend Apple’s ecosystem across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV, alongside his traditional marketing responsibilities.
Cook continued, “In addition, Phil is taking on new responsibilities for advancing our ecosystem, led by the App Store, which has grown from a single, groundbreaking iOS store into four powerful platforms and an increasingly important part of our business. And I’m incredibly happy to welcome Tor Myhren, who will bring his creative talents to our advertising and marcom functions.”
Apple also announced that Johny Srouji is joining the company’s executive team as Senior Vice President for Hardware Technologies, and that Tor Myhren will join Apple from Grey Group in the first calendar quarter of 2016 as Vice President of Marketing Communications, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.
Srouji joined Apple in 2008 to lead development of the A4 chip, and now oversees the company’s silicon and hardware technologies, including batteries, application processors, storage controllers, sensors silicon, display silicon and other chipsets across Apple’s entire product line. He previously worked at Intel and IBM in the areas of processor development and design.
Myhren will be responsible for Apple’s advertising and marketing communication efforts across a range of creative disciplines, including video, motion graphics, interactive web design, packaging and retail store displays. The experienced advertising executive will succeed Hiroki Asai, who is retiring after 18 years in graphic design and marketing communications roles at Apple.
The leadership changes are reflected on Apple’s executive profiles page.
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Report: Sony battery boasts 40 percent longer use time
I’m sure you’re all familiar with the complaint that smartphone batteries just don’t seem to last long enough, offering only a few hours of screen-on time before running out. While quick charge technologies are helping to sidestep the problem, what we really need is extra capacity in our gadget-sized battery cells.
Fortunately, Sony is one of a growing list of companies that is working on improving battery capacities. According to a report from Nikkei, Sony plans to introduce a new high capacity battery in 2020 that should last 40 percent longer than lithium ion batteries currently on the market. Alternately, batteries and devices could be made smaller and still provide the same length of use as today’s hardware.
The new battery cell is said to be based on a sulfur compound, rather than lithium cobalt oxide found in the positive electrodes in most mainstream gadget batteries, allowing it to store additional energy. The trouble with sulfur-based batteries is that they typically suffer from substantially reduced capacity over repeated recharge cycles. However, Sony has managed to overcome this issue by formulating a new electrolyte solution. The next step is to test the battery to ensure that it is safe for mass production and use in mainstream electronics.
2020 is still a bit of a long time to wait, so in the mean time check out Gary Sims’ rundown of the fastest charging smartphones.
19 new MasterCard and Visa issuers added to Samsung Pay
If you have a Samsung device and you want to try out Samsung Pay, you may be one of the many users left out in the cold. Samsung Pay supports a limited number of debit and credit cards from specific banks, but it looks like that’s about to change. Samsung announced this week that 19 new Visa and MasterCard issuers have been added to the service, news that is sure to satisfy customers who have been patiently waiting for their bank to be eligible. Here’s the full list of new compatible issuers:
- PNC Bank
- KeyBank
- TCF Bank
- Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union
- Financial Center Federal Credit Union
- Greater Kinston Federal Credit Union
- Keypoint Credit Union
- Numerica Credit Union
- Utah Community Credit Union
- Amegy Bank National Association
- California Bank and Trust
- Pentagon Federal Credit Union
- Achieva Credit Union
- Associated Bank
- Bayport Credit Union
- Bethpage Federal Credit Union
- Cambridge Savings Bank
- USC Credit Union
- Navy Federal Credit Union
If your bank or credit union made the list, congratulations! You should be able to open up the Samsung Pay app on your device and save your card for future use! Chase, Citi, and Bank of America were among the list of previously supported financial institutions, but it’s good to see Samsung expanding the reach of the service to more users.
If your bank is still not supported, it may be added in the coming months as Samsung continues to expand the number of institutions that work with Samsung Pay.
Source Samsung
The post 19 new MasterCard and Visa issuers added to Samsung Pay appeared first on AndroidGuys.
[Deal] Have peace of mind while traveling with the Twist World Charging Station
If you travel quite often, you know how frustrating it can be to make sure that you have the right charging plug for the various countries. Not every country follows the same standard of the United States, so you’ll need to have the right charger for the right country.
When running into this issue, it can be a pain trying to find a decently priced replacement so that you can keep your devices charged. Let alone the fact that different countries have different standards. Enter the Twist World Charging Station.
The Twist World Charging Station allows for you to charge all your devices regardless which country you are visiting. You will no longer have to be concerned with having too many chargers in your carry on, and can use the Twist World Charging Station in over 150 different countries.
- Does away w/ the need to carry many chargers & converters on the road
- Includes 4 USB ports to charge devices
- Eliminates the need for multiple wall outlets to charge multiple devices
- Features a universal AC power outlet ideal for international travel
- Works seamlessly w/ electric outlets in over 150 countries
- Comes w/ built-in fuse protection to ensure your devices charge safely
- Allows for maximum portability w/ light & compact design
- Twists for easy access to the charging port of your choice
Normally priced at $48, you can jump on this deal for the Twist World Charging Station for 27% off, at only $34.99. That’s a great deal to save yourself some headache and have some peace of mind. Keep your devices charged as you travel the world, and save some money in the process.
You can find this, and many other great tech bargains through our Deals page. Backed by StackCommerce, there are daily promos, giveaways, freebies, and much more!
AndroidGuys Deals: Twist World Charging Station
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ICYMI: We’ve gone full Leia in honor of Star Wars
Today on In Case You Missed It: Many of you will be leaving work as quickly as possible to catch an early screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We’re helping you prepare for the glory of what awaits with a round-up of some of our favorite Star Wars moments and characters with all the products, amazing DIYs and games that are rocking our galaxy.
We’ll be back to normal for tomorrow, so if you see any interesting science or tech videos, please share with us! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.
AIVAnet 