Tesla quietly drops the Model S 85 series in the UK

Most Brits can’t afford to buy a Tesla, but for those that can deciding which particular model to go with is now a little easier. The electric car company has quietly slimmed down its Model S range in the UK, pulling the all-wheel drive 85D, the performance-enhanced P85D and the rear-wheel drive 90. Now, drivers on the island are limited to four different configurations — the rear-wheel drive 70, the all-wheel drive 70D and 90D, and the top-tier P90D. There’s also the optional “Ludicrous Speed” upgrade that pushes the P90D’s 0-60mph time down to 2.8 seconds.

The lineup has been getting a little jumbled as Tesla introduces more efficient and refined versions of the Model S. The 70 models were a replacement for the older 60kWh vehicles and the 90 series is effectively the same for the 85 vehicles. In the UK, customers have had the option to upgrade their 85 to a 90 for more range and performance — Tesla says most people took up this offer, which is why it decided to pull the 85 line altogether. In other words, this is just a little bit of spring cleaning.

Via: AutoExpress

Netflix kids series ‘Beat Bugs’ features music of The Beatles

Amazon and Netflix are cranking out original series at a rapid pace. The content isn’t just for adults, though, as both streaming libraries feature a smattering of original kids stuff, too. Netflix is expanding its lineup with Beat Bugs: an animated series that follows the adventures of five friends. What’s more, the show is inspired by songs from The Beatles, because, you know… bugs. As you might expect, the tunes are a big part of the show and there’s some well-known artists who cover the tracks for the series.

The likes of Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, The Shins, Sia, Of Monsters and Men, P!nk and more all lend vocals to the classic songs. Even late-night host James Corden, known for his “Carpool Karaoke,” makes an appearance. Beat Bugs is set to debut in August, but Netflix isn’t offering a specific date just yet. For now, have a look at the teaser trailer just down below.

Source: Netflix

How do you say Opera in Chinese? $1.2 Billion

Opera, maker of the web browser and various other technologies, confirmed they have received an acquisition offer that places the value of the company at approximately $1.2 billion USD. The offer comes from a consortium of Chinese companies including Kunlun, Qihoo 360, Golden Brick and Yonglian. The offer amount represents a premium of 53 percent above Opera’s trading price before the announcement was made.

Opera CEO Lars Boilesen thinks the company should accept the buyout offer and had this to say,

“There is strong strategic and industrial logic to the acquisition of Opera by the Consortium. The Consortium’s ownership will strengthen Opera’s position to serve our users and partners with even greater innovation and to accelerate our plans of expansion and growth.”

The Chinese companies that comprise the Consortium appear to be excited at the opportunity to acquire Opera’s brand and technology and see it as a way to continue to grow on a global basis. Although the Opera browser is probably the company’s the most well-known product, Opera has been making inroads in recent years with their advertising network and data compression, notably in the video compression space. Video continues to be a big factor in how consumers use their mobile devices, so that could be a lucrative market for Opera to be in.

The purchase by the Chinese Consortium will have to be approved by Opera shareholders and several government entities will weigh in as well. No timeline has been announced yet, but more details should be available later today as Opera is scheduled to release their earnings report and should discuss the buyout offer.

source: Re/code

Come comment on this article: How do you say Opera in Chinese? $1.2 Billion

Pocket Zombie – Virtual Pet (review)

Pocket Zombie is a delighful and unique take on the virtual pet, er, in this case, zombie. Pocket Zombie places you in control of the care taking of a Pete Lorre’esque zombie. Care for this zombie occurs through a series of tasks including: play, feeding, bathing and sleep. As you continue to take care of your zombie, you will level up and gain access to items for your zombie, including: skins, environmental decorations, new types of food and potions. All of these items can be purchased using the games gold coin currency which you earn through performing each task involved with taking care of your zombie.

Setup

Setup of Pocket Zombie is a breeze. To download Pocket Zombie to your device, simply grab it from the Play Store, locate the game on your device and click the icon.

Inspiration?

Upon first opening the game, you will be notified of the permissions the game requests access to. Agree to these permissions and continue. After approving the games permissions, you will be taken to a brief and straightforward interactive tutorial on how to care for your zombie. Upon completion of the tutorial, you will be asked to name your zombie and you will then be given full control of the game.

Review

I think one word sums up Pocket Zombie, very well: charm. Having grown up in the 90’s during the Tamagotchi and Digimon craze, it’s very refreshing to see a modern day take on the virtual pet for a new generation of kids. I say “kids” because this game is the perfect distraction for your kid(s) while sitting in a waiting room or during a long road trip. There’s plenty here to keep your child busy.

Gameplay

As a virtual pet game you are tasked with taking care of a zombie. Luckily for you, care of the un-dead is pretty simple and straightforward. Four tasks are required to take care of your zombie:

1. Playing with your zombie – this is accomplished through 4 minigames
2. Feeding your zombie (he thankfully does not eat human flesh)
3. Bathing your zombie
4. Allowing your zombie to sleep

One of the things I love most about this game is how unique of an approach it takes toward one specific task: play with your zombie. Playing with your zombie is accomplished through the play of 4 minigames:

• Flappy Zombie – a “Flappy Bird” clone
• Memory – a match tile memory game
• 2048 – a puzzle game that has you combining tiles of the same number to reach a sum of 2048
• Match 3 – a match 3 game in the vain of “Candy Crush Saga” and “Bejeweled”

As you play these mini games (any that you wish to play), you will continually raise your zombie’s happiness level as well as contribute to leveling up and earning coins to buy items for your zombie. Each of these games is fully fleshed out and each plays very well, lending to a full experience with all of them.

A lot of times, the mini games contained in virtual pet titles are lazy and unoriginal. I have to applaud the Arongame in his creativity and implementation of this feature in the game. I must mention that 2048 feels a bit too advanced to be featured in a game geared towards children and should probably be removed from the game altogether.

Feeding

Feeding allows you to feed your zombie a variety of different foods, both healthy and unhealthy. I love this feature because it allows you the option to make your zombie fat. My zombie has lived entirely on a diet of french fries. As you level up, more foods will become available for purchase using the in-game coin currency.

Bathing

Bathing is pretty straight forward. You touch a bar of soap and move it over the zombie in order to lather him up. After you’ve lathered the zombie up, you click a bucket located to the 1 o’clock position of the zombie, which releases a small torrent of water to rinse him off. It could just be me, but the zombie seems to look a bit smug during his bath time…

If you go too long without bathing your zombie, flies will begin to buzz around him, which he does not like or appreciate. This raises the question: is it really possible to clean a zombie?  He’s a rotting corpse…

Sleep

Sleeping is my biggest problem with this game. When you put your zombie to sleep, a timer begins. This timer can start as high as 1 hour, 59 minutes! I see this as a bit of a pay wall because there is a potion you can buy for 50 coins which will automatically replenish your zombie’s energy level and eliminate the need for you to wait for him to sleep.

Now here comes my “conspiracy theory”: My thought is that this sleep timer is a way to manipulate you into buying a coin bundle, via in app purchase, to have on stand by for those times that you don’t feel like waiting the upwards of 2 hours for your zombie to sleep. With all of the content available to unlock in this game, it is certainly very reasonable to assume that you could run out of coins and be forced to buy more, using real money, in order to continue playing the game uninterrupted.

Parents, be warned: this game does have in-app purchases. In order to avoid unwanted charges to your bank account, be sure to block in-app purchases on the device your child is playing Pocket Zombie on. One bright light in the midst of this darkness is the ability for your child to continue to play the available mini games despite how tired the zombie may be. Trust me; the zombie will get over it.

The “Shop”

Now that we’ve covered the gameplay basics, let talk about the “Shop”. The “Shop” is accessible via the green button with a shopping cart on it that is seen in each area of the zombie’s habitat.

The Shop has four categories:

1. Money – the games in app purchases
2. Clothes
3. Food
4. Decor – items that allow you to decorate your zombie’s habitat

As you progress through the game and level up, more and more items will become available for purchase in the “Shop” using the game’s coin currency.

Graphics

I think the graphics in this game are one of its weak points (in reference to the main game’s graphics. I will review the mini game graphics separately). I particularly dislike the way the zombie looks. As mentioned above, it looks like Pete Lorre from Looney Tunes, which dredges up terrifying childhood memories.

The textures in the game are bland and lack a great amount of detail. I must admit that before playing this game, I was expecting something less ‘cutesy’ and more like “Zombie Weatherman” aesthetically. Anyone remember that old app (game?)? Nonetheless, the graphics get the job done. I won’t ding the game too much for them.

Mini Game Graphics

Graphically, the mini games look excellent! I have no complaints about any of them, either from a visual standpoint or a playability standpoint. I especially applaud the developer for Flappy Zombie. Arongame really captured the ‘pixelesque’ retro feel of it’s inspiration, Flappy Bird. Out of everything in this game, Flappy Zombie is my favorite feature. Flappy Zombie is so good that it could be a standalone title. Kudos, Arongame, for designing something so delightful!

One last feature of note is the ability to take screenshots of your zombie. This can be accomplished via the blue button with a camcorder on it, located to the 10 o’clock position of your zombie. This feature is available in each main area of your zombie’s habitat.

Sound

The game’s sound design is a bit sparse. The only music heard in-game is in the mini games. Unfortunately, this music is the same no matter which mini game you play. There are some basic sound effects throughout the main game: crickets in the sleep area (and even a rooster and a wolf at appropriate times), a water splash sound when rinsing the soap off of your zombie in the bathing area; it’s all basic stuff here. The zombie’s voice definitely fits its look. It sounds sort of like a squeaky voiced muppet.

Conclusion

While Pocket Zombie is not perfect, I definitely have no reservations in recommending it to any parent looking for a new game for their child to play. Heck, even as an adult you may have some fun with it. Give 2048 a try. It’ll give your brain a workout.

I do think the game could use a little more in-depth of a tutorial. For example: at the end of my time with this game, my zombie was shivering and had a temperature gauge to his left that started out at a reading of 5 percent. I had no idea what to do about this.

I would also recommend that 2048 be completely removed from the game. I think that 2048 is just too advanced for what I perceive this game’s target audience to be.

Score

Pocket Zombie is a wonderful game. It’s solid and it’s fun to play. It has a near infinite replay value and if you avoid the wretched in app purchases, the game is completely free! Despite my complaints about the game’s graphics and sound; the mini games, their quality, and the overall charm of this game warrant a score of 3/5 from me. Definitely give Pocket Zombie a try. I feel confident that you won’t be disappointed.

Download Pocket Zombie from the Google Play Store.

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