Amazon’s first Super Bowl commercial is for Echo
Tech companies are ready to make the most from one of the biggest sporting events in the world, the Super Bowl. That includes Amazon, which will air its first-ever Big Game commercial during the 50th edition of the NFL’s main event. The ad’s teaser focuses on the Echo speaker and Alexa, the retailer’s virtual assistant, and stars Alec Baldwin alongside football legend Dan Marino. You can see Baldwin ask Alexa things like “what’s a snack stadium,” in preparation for his Super Bowl party.
Of course, as has been the tradition for decades, you can expect to see many more hyped commercials on Super Bowl Sunday (February 7th), so keep an eye out for any major surprises. SB 50 will host the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, each team led by two top-tier quarterbacks — Cam Newton and Peyton Manning, respectively. You won’t want to miss it, commercials aside.
Source: Amazon (YouTube)
Ride along with Apollo 11 astronauts on launch day
David Whelan, lead developer for the kickstarted Apollo 11 VR Experience, announced on Wednesday that the game will be a launch title for three upcoming VR systems: the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. The team is also reportedly working on a version for the Oculus DK2 dev set, however they have no current plans to port the game to the Samsung Gear.
“We are working very hard to ensure that we hit the submission deadlines and quality checks for each platform,” Whelan wrote on the project’s Kickstarter page. “But we are now getting to a place with development where we feel quite confident that we should hit these targets barring any changes requested from the main platform providers.”
[Image Credit: Getty]
Via: VR Focus
Source: Kickstarter
Facebook’s Like button alternatives launching ‘in the next few weeks’
Facebook has been wanting to replace the Like button for a few years now, and that idea might soon come into fruition. Back in October 2015, the social network’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave us a sneak peek at what we could expect from Facebook’s Like button alternatives, called Reactions. Reactions can be thought of as a more expressive Like button, where users will get to express their exact feelings from a number of different emotions such as love, awe, humor, sadness and more. Facebook has been testing Reactions for a few months now, and it looks like they’ll soon roll out to users in the United States. According to what the company tells Bloomberg, we can expect to see a full rollout “in the next few weeks.”
Related: Why you can’t rely on Facebook friends in times of need
The social network doesn’t have plans to rush into things, and for good reason. Facebook’s Like button has been a very big tool in the way users express themselves on the internet, and the company didn’t exactly want to mess that up. Many folks over the years have been requesting a Dislike button to be added to each Facebook post, but Zuckerberg claimed that would make things too negative. Also, adding a Dislike button would be quite reminiscent of the way Reddit works, almost acting on an upvote/downvote structure. This isn’t ideal for obvious reasons, which is why the Facebook team created Reactions.
“We roll things out very carefully,” says Chris Cox, the social network’s chief product officer. “And that comes from a lot of lessons learned.” Cox says the data he has looks promising, and that users will likely accept Reactions with open arms.
We’ll let you know once we hear more about the big Reactions rollout.
Google Play Store streamlines comment feedback
Users have noted that a feature Google was testing in the Play Store a few months ago appears to be rolling out to all users. The feature involves the feedback options that users can provide to the reviews that are left on apps in the Play Store. Users are now limited to only a couple options when reviewing a review.
In the past the Play Store displayed both a thumbs up and a thumbs down icon next to each review. Users could use this to provide feedback as to whether a particular review was useful or not. Those icons have changed to include just a thumbs up icon and a stack of three dots ala the overflow menu. The overflow icon does function as a menu trigger, but the only option that comes up is to report a review as spam.
For now the changes mean users only have the option to provide positive feedback or report something as spam. With the code in place to trigger a menu pop up, we will have to see whether additional options are added at a later time or whether Google decides to keep things as simple as this current iteration. For now, the changes appear to only impact the Android version of the Play Store. On the web, users still have three options – spam, helpful or unhelpful.
via: Android Police
Come comment on this article: Google Play Store streamlines comment feedback
[Deal] Google offering discounts on smartphones and smartwatches for Valentine’s Day
While the next big event everybody will be celebrating is Super Bowl on February 7, Valentine’s Day comes soon after. And Google wants to help you get the perfect tech gift for your loved one this year by offering some “romantic” tech bundles with some sweet discounts.
One of the deals Google is offering is the Nexus 6P and Huawei Watch bundle. If you’re buying the Huawei-made Nexus 6P, what better than to pair it with a Huawei Watch? This bundle will save you $50 off of a Matte Gold Nexus 6P as well as a $50 credit towards the Huawei Watch when you buy any Nexus 6P.
The last hardware discount is $50 off of a Nexus 5X. The Nexus 5X normally retails for $349, but this $50 off discount brings it down to a much more affordable $299 price point. One important thing to note: the 16GB model is currently out-of-stock, so you’ll actually be paying $349 for a 32GB unit instead of $299 for the 16GB model. There’s no firm date on when Google will have more stock in, but hopefully it won’t be long.
There’s no telling if Google will offer more discounted hardware bundles as we get closer to Valentine’s Day, so be sure to keep an eye out!
Anyone plan on picking up anything? Sound off in the comments!
Come comment on this article: [Deal] Google offering discounts on smartphones and smartwatches for Valentine’s Day
Instagram snags Kevin Weil after Twitter departure
The last few days have been tumultuous for Twitter after news broke that several executives were leaving the social platform’s management team. At least one of them appears to be headed to a competitor as multiple sources are reporting that Kevin Weil, the former vice president of product at Twitter, is on his way to Instagram as the Head of Product.
Weil’s move comes on the heels of Instagram’s former head of product, Peter Deng, moving over to the Oculus portion of the Facebook collective earlier this month. According to sources, Instagram has actually been courting Weil for several months now and Deng’s move helped things fall into place. Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey may have gotten wind of that development as reports indicate Weil’s responsibilities at Twitter had been scaled back after a round of layoffs last October. Weil is slated to to officially stay on as a Twitter employee until January 29th, so no official word from Instagram is likely to be released until after that date.
Along with Weil, Twitter also lost their VP of Engineering Alex Roetter, their VP of Global Media Katie Stanton and VP of Human Resources Skip Schipper. Despite some initial reports, all of the executives left of their own accord rather than being let go by Twitter. Some sources indicated that Roetter alerted Dorsey to his imminent departure late in 2015 after a reorg. No word has surfaced yet on where these individuals may be heading.
source: Re/code
Come comment on this article: Instagram snags Kevin Weil after Twitter departure
Ad-free stations and X-Ray lyrics finally being added to Amazon Prime Music in the UK
The old adage better late than never seems to comes to mind here. Six months after the release of Amazon Prime Music in the United Kingdom, it looks like Amazon is finally bringing its ad-free prime stations and X-Ray lyrics to you users across the pond.
While Amazon Prime Music already offered subscribers access to over a million songs, ad-free, there was no real way to put the app on “auto-pilot”, say like Pandora. Now subscribers will be able to just pick an artist/song and allow Amazon to do the work for you. Of course, via a handy thumbs up/down button, the stations can then be further personalized by the user so it becomes better over time. In addition to this, while you are listening to a song, thanks to Amazon’s X-Ray lyrics, you can refer to your phone to see what the lyrics are at that exact moment of the song.
These new features come at no additional cost to those of you already subscribed in the UK. All you have to do is open up your app and enjoy all the ad-free goodness!
Press Release:
Amazon expands Prime Music streaming service with the launch of ad-free Prime Stations and Lyrics in the UK
Prime Music now offers hundreds of ad-free internet stations available to Prime members at no additional cost to their membership
X-Ray Lyrics also added to Prime Music, allowing customers to follow song lyrics as they listen
Luxembourg, 27th January 2016: Amazon has today announced the addition of Prime Stations to its Prime Music streaming service, allowing Prime members unlimited access to hundreds of ad-free and personalised internet radio stations at no additional cost to their membership. Prime Stations is available through the Amazon Music App on iOS, Android, Kindle Fire HD/HDX, Mac, PC, and the web.
Whether it’s pop, rock, indie, classical, film scores, R&B or opera, Prime members just need to find a genre, artist or decade they like and hit ‘play’ to hear a continuous stream of music that can also be paused, replayed, or skipped without any restriction or interruption from ads. Listeners can hit ‘play’ on an artist station and enjoy some of their best tracks along with unlimited songs from similar artists. As listeners listen and give songs a thumbs up or thumbs down, each station will adapt to their music tastes meaning a completely bespoke experience for each listener.
“With Stations we’ve introduced another feature for Prime members to discover great music at no additional cost to their membership,” said Steve Bernstein, Director, EU Digital Music at Amazon. “Whether customers are on the move, at work or entertaining, there’s no shortage of choice with hundreds of Prime Music Stations to choose from. And with the skip, thumbs up and thumbs down functions, customers can take full control of their stations and adapt them to their music tastes.”
Another feature recently launched on Prime Music is X-Ray Lyrics. Available on Kindle, Fire TV, iOS and Android devices, X-Ray Lyrics lets Prime Music listeners seamlessly follow along to lyrics onscreen on tens of thousands of tracks while songs are playing.
Here are just a few of the hundreds of Prime Stations available:
80s Pop
90s Indie
All R&B
Ariana Grande
Bastille
Best of Prime Music
Blues Rock
Beyonce
Blur
Bruno Mars
Carrie Underwood
Charli XCX
Classic Indie
Coldplay
Dance Pop
Eagles
Easy Listening
Ella Henderson
Ellie Goulding
Eurythmics
Film Scores
Fleetwood Mac
Florence + The MachineHAIM
Imagine Dragons
Instrumental Jazz
Iron Maiden
Jason Derulo
Jessie J
John Legend
Joni Mitchell
Kaiser Chiefs
Katy Perry
Kelly Clarkson
Kylie Minogue
Laura Marling
Little Mix
Marvin Gaye
Meghan Trainor
Missy Elliott
Modern Country
My Chemical Romance
Nicki Minaj
New Age
Of Monsters and Men
Olly MursOne Direction
OneRepublic
Opera Music
Orchestral Classical
Passenger
Pop Classical
Reggae
Rita Ora
Ryan Adams
Selena Gomez
Sia
Simon & Garfunkel
Snow Patrol
The Beatles
The Maccabees
The Rolling Stones
The Vaccines
Top Hard Rock
Train
Usher
Vocal Jazz
Walk the Moon
ZZ Top
Stations and Lyrics join the Prime Music service just six months after its launch for UK Prime members in July 2015. Prime Music gives Prime members in the UK unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs, hundreds of Prime Music Stations and hundreds of hand crafted playlists at no additional cost to their membership. Visit www.amazon.co.uk/primemusic for more information.
Come comment on this article: Ad-free stations and X-Ray lyrics finally being added to Amazon Prime Music in the UK
Intel Launches New Skylake Chips Appropriate for 15-Inch Retina MacBook Pro
As noted by AnandTech, Intel this week quietly released an updated processor price list which includes several new Skylake chips that could be used in an updated 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro.
The direct upgrade path for the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro would use the following quad-core chip options: a 2.6 GHz Core i7-6770HQ, a 2.7 GHz Core i7-6870HQ, and a 2.8 GHz Core i7-6970HQ, all coming in at the same price points as the Haswell variants currently used in the MacBook Pro.
Perhaps a more intriguing but less likely scenario involves a series of new mobile Xeon E3 chips. These chips could offer even better CPU, graphics, and memory performance, although pricing becomes an issue with the highest-performing chip in the family.
As for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, Intel announced chips appropriate for those machines back in September, although it suggested the chips would not actually be launching until early 2016. Those chips have been included on Intel’s price lists for several months, but have been slow to show up in the wild. A claimed benchmark for a 13-inch MacBook Pro running one of these chips last week appears to have been a fake.
Most of Apple’s Mac lineup is in need of updates, as Intel’s Skylake delays have hampered Apple’s ability to launch refreshed models. But with the Skylake logjam finally starting to break, Apple appears set to update its entire notebook lineup over the next several months. Opportunities for major product introductions could come at Apple’s rumored March media event or at WWDC likely scheduled for mid-June, although smaller updates could come at any time via press release.
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Google Hangouts for Android update adds quick replies
Google is updating its Hangouts chat app that adds some long-awaited functionality. The update is slowly rolling out now, but has already been thoroughly investigated by Android Police. The headline feature is quick reply. Clicking “reply” on a notification now brings up a simple text box so you can respond to messages without entering the Hangouts app itself. Also new is the ability to “save” important conversations to your your home screen, which gives them their own icon.
There are a number of other, less interesting tweaks included in the update, such as some design changes to the settings menu and pop ups. Speaking of, there’s one pop up in the update that suggests Google may be considering dropping some key functionality from the app in the future. Android Police reports that the new version now prompts you to “Check out Google’s new SMS app,” with a dialog box that also says “For sending simple, fast SMS text messages, try Messenger.”
Google added text messaging support to Hangouts years ago, but it also has Messenger, an app dedicated solely to SMS and MMS. Both features are still fully functional in the new Hangouts build, so it’s impossible to say what Google’s plans are here, but it’s unlikely that the company would try and push users over to Messenger without good reason.
Source: Android Police
Vertical scroller ‘Downwell’ fires its way to Android
Downwell is finally coming to the Play Store. The vertical scroller where your character falls down a well (hence, the name) while battling enemies was only available via Steam and for iOS devices. Its creator Ojiro Fumoto has been developing the Android version for quite a while, and he’s just announced on Twitter that it’s coming out on January 27th, 12nn PT/3pm ET. He didn’t mention how much the Devolver-published game would cost you, but it’s priced at $2.99 on iTunes. We don’t see it on Google Play yet, though, so you’ll just have to try searching for it later.
Downwell, if this is the first time you’ve heard of it, has garnered many positive reviews during its lifetime. Metacritic gave it a score of 91 and Polygon reviewer Douglas Wilson said it’s the best game he played in 2015.
Sorry for the wait! Android version will hit tomorrow 😉 pic.twitter.com/FyZKW6l4zJ
— Ojiro (@moppin_) January 26, 2016
Source: Ojiro Fumoto
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