More renders of the Galaxy S7 Edge leak, shows off all three colors
Yep, we have more renders of the Galaxy S7 Edge. There’s really not much more to hide at this point, as we’ve seen images showing off the curved sides of the device and nearly every detail about the phone and its smaller sibling have been leaked at this point.
These renders do give a pretty good indication of the colors we can expect to see Samsung unveil this time around. We have the titanium silver that’s been popular on some of the company’s international models, as well as the solid black (no more blue-ish tint!) and the champagne gold that’s becoming increasingly popular. Everything else is in line with what we’ve seen, including the softer curves and stark resemblance of last year’s Galaxy S6.
Do any of these colors have you ready to throw down some cash on a pre-order later this month? Personally, I’m a big fan of white/silver phones, but the titanium gray might be a nice replacement if Samsung decides to drop a totally plain white phone this time around.
source: Evan Blass (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: More renders of the Galaxy S7 Edge leak, shows off all three colors
Blizzard believes mobile is the future, VR taking the back seat
Blizzard may not release titles very often, but they are known for launching game-changers… literally. Franchises like Starcraft and Warcraft dominated the strategy game market, only to then release World of Warcraft and take over the MMORPG industry. What’s next?
Well, we know the smartphone boom has brought upon us a whole new way of looking at technology, which does include gaming. This is not only an activity you indulge in for hours. You can do it on your way to work, while drinking coffee or maybe even hitching a ride on the bus for a couple stops.
Blizzard loving mobile
Where does Blizzard fit into all of this? Their popular game Hearthstone has become one of the top grossing titles in the industry, and it makes them about $20 million a month, according to research firm SuperData.
Blizzard knows the importance of mobile gaming and the need to adapt to this evolving market. In an interview with Venture Beat, president and co-founder Michael Morhaime, senior vice president and co-founder Frank Pearce and senior vice president Chris Metzen talked about the future of Blizzard, and it is looking very pocketable.
See also: 15 best free Android games of 2016!
The only issue is that most other games are not exactly designed to be viewed in the smaller screen… nor are they casual. The company is bound to run into some issues, and needs to adapt its strategy to fit today’s gaming needs.
“If we were going to continue to evaluate experiences in real-time strategy, I think we’d have to figure out what that means to the current player space. [StarCraft II expansion] Legacy of the Void is great. [But] I don’t think that people want to sit down and play 45 minute missions any more. I think that space might need some reinventing.”
“I feel like there’s still a big opportunity in mobile beyond just casual games. I’m not sure we’ve figured out what that is yet.”
What will we see coming from Blizzard, aside from their Hearthstone series? We will have to wait and see. But it seems we won’t be seeing anything in the VR department… at least not for a while.
A bit about VR
You may have noticed we are pretty excited about VR here at Android Authority. It’s one of those things you have to experience to really understand. It not only seems like the next step in gaming, it looks, sounds and feels like it. Just imagine looking at World of Warcraft through a VR headset!
The guys at Blizzard can envision this, and seem to like the idea, but so far they have no plans to invest on such venture. This is sad news, but at least they are keeping their minds open to the idea.
See also: 7 best Google Cardboard VR apps and games
“Everybody’s talking about VR and wearing funny helmets. Culturally, we’re interested, and we’re watching. How rad would it be to run around in World of Warcraft and see it 1-to-1? That does appear to be the next horizon. But we’re kind of watching. It’s possible that other companies will take more tentative steps and plant their flags. I don’t think we’re quite ready to conquer all that yet.”
Wrapping up
The information is still a bit general and the company still needs to do some planning, but at the very least we get an idea of where they aim to go.
What kind of games would you like to see coming from Blizzard? Are you down for 45-minute missions? Are you itching for some more complex titles, or do you prefer them going the casual route? Maybe a balance? Hit the comments and let us know!
Samsung’s Gear VR can now take golf fans on the PGA Tour
It’s a little hard to believe that something called the “Waste Management Phoenix Open” is one of the biggest events in golf, but hey — now you don’t need to shell out tons of cash to explore the event’s signature course. All it takes is a Samsung Gear VR, a compatible phone and the PGA’s new Tour VR app to take a closer look at some sweet club-on-ball action.
The PGA’s virtual ambitions are off to a respectable, if limited start. There are four videos to flick through, with two taking us onto the Scottsdale course’s practice area for a close-up instruction from Patrick Rodgers and Peter Malnati. The other two dig into what it’s like playing and working the greatest show on grass, adding a level of inside baseball to an app is otherwise devoid of America’s pastime. If digital tours of Arizona aren’t your thing, you’ll have to wait a little longer — the PGA has pledged update the app with more videos as the seasons slogs on. With luck, we’ll get a highly detailed breakdown of the grasses at Pennsylvania’s Oakmont Country Club in time for the US Open; until then, make do with these peaks at some of the PGA’s fledgling VR work:
Source: PGA Tour
DARPA to unveil its 130-foot unmanned robot ship in April
DARPA is christening its autonomous robot ship in April, the agency’s director, Arati Prabhakar, has revealed at a media roundtable. That’s the same submarine-hunting drone defense contractor Leidos began building in 2014, and the same one that will be steered by software you might have helped develop a few years ago. ACTUV (an acronym for its rather unweildy name: the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel) is 132-foot long and weighs 140 tons.
It’s designed to be completely autonomous, as that will save the agency a bunch of money. Based on the details DARPA previously shared, the US Navy will deploy sonar buoys to give the drone an idea on where to go. After that, the ship will take over, using long/short-range sonar to detect stealthy diesel electric submarines and follow them around for months. Besides hounding foreign submarines, it can also be used for reconnaissance, to deliver supplies to other ships and counter undersea mines.
After ACTUV’s unveiling and christening in Portland, Oregon, the agency will start demonstrating its long-range capabilities over the course of 18 months. That’s not all Director Prabhakar announced at the media gathering, though. She also talked about DARPA’s funding and other projects for 2017, including its plans to “launch 100 satellites in a 10-day period” using its XS-1 reusable aircraft.
Via: Popular Science
Source: DARPA, National Defense Magazine
Google Text-to-speech adds multiple male and female voices
Be together, not the same. Such is Google‘s motto as of late, so it makes no sense that everyone’s Text-to-speech voice sounds the same. I still wish I could listen to Snoop Dog’s graceful voice reading Android Authority articles out loud. We are not quite there yet, but at least things are getting a little better.
Google’s Text-to-speech tool has been updated to include multiple voice variations in all available languages. As of version 3.8, there is a bevy of options for both female and male alterations, making it easy to customize your experience and make your phone sound a little different from the crowd.
After playing around with it for a bit, I can tell the main difference is in speech flow. Each version seems to represent a different style of talking, but the voices themselves do sound very similar. Maybe they are simply manipulated via software? We wouldn’t be able to confirm that, but you can check them out yourself.
Simply go to Settings > Language & input > Text-to-speech output, then tap on the gear next to “Google Text-to-speech Engine” and select “Install voice data”. Select the language of your choosing and check out the different voice options available.
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Do you use Google’s Text-to-speech?
I have to say I rarely use Text-to-speech. In fact, the few times I have it is only to test it. I can see how it would be convenient when your hands are busy, though. Or when you simply don’t want to be looking at a screen. I am sure I would use it all the time if I could use Snoop’s voice, that’s for sure.
Do hit the comments and let us know what you think of this update. Will you be taking advantage of it?
Download
Don’t want to wait around for Google to push this update to your phone? We understand this may take a while. If you are the impatient kind, simply hit the button below to download the APK file and install the update manually. Enjoy!
Samsung Galaxy View price drops… again
The Samsung Galaxy View just doesn’t seem to be able to find a spot in many homes. And I honestly don’t know what I would do with it, to be honest. The 18.4-inch device is nice and large, but it won’t replace my TV, computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone. I suppose an Android device this size would be good mostly for keeping around the kitchen?
Regardless, those of you who do see yourselves using the Samsung Galaxy View can now have it for a lower price. The over-sized tablet was released back in November for $599.99. After what seemed like some unsuccessful weeks, it went down to $499.99. Fast-forward some months and now we are seeing it go for only $449.99.
Will you buy it at that price? It’s really not a bad tablet, it’s just its size that limits it. Specs include an Exynos 7580 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage, a 2.1 MP front-facing camera and a 5700 mAh battery. And of course, we can’t forget that massive 18.4-inch 1080p display.
You can try to make sense of Samsung’s explanation of this device’s purpose, if you still don’t know whether to buy it or not. We also have a hands-on post! Then hit the button below to purchase your own when you are convinced. Are any of you signing up? Hit the comments and tell us your reasoning.
AIs get a crash course in humanity by interpreting stories
As it turns out, the key to crafting intelligent machines that won’t go rogue and slaughter us all might be some very thoughtful storytelling. Mark Riedl and Brent Harrison from Georgia Tech are trying to mold the way artificial intelligences wrap their incorporeal heads around human ethics by feeding them stories, and rewarding them for sticking to an ethically sound path.
The project is a sequel and partner of sorts to Scheherezade, an earlier project of Riedl’s that saw a program piece together stories with logically sound plot points and developments from crowdsourced submissions. This time, Riedl and Harrison used Scheherezade to map out the structure of a story’s plot elements and figure out the “most reliable” path. From there, Quixote turns that “plot graph” into a tree of nodes (in this case, plot points) connected by transitioning events, and either rewards or punishes the artificial agent based on how well it sticks to that pattern of events.
It’s a fascinating turn, but maybe not the most surprising one — human kids can pick up tips about creative problem solving from Rapunzel and the Ant, and the Grasshopper reinforces the importance of not being a procrastinating schmuck. (Of course, there are some classic stories with less-than-sterling lessons too). Riedl’s and Harrison’s work might not be applicable to every robot we’ll ever build, but hey — they admit it’s pretty nicely suited to so-called artificial agents that “have a limited range of purposes but need to interact with humans to achieve their goals.” By steeping AIs in stories that align with certain cultural values, they just might learn to figure out right from wrong (and without murderous consequences to boot).
Source: Georgia Tech
RCA Mercury 7 Pro review
Tablets are weird, and that’s because they don’t really have a place. They’re slightly bigger than a smartphone, but not as large as a laptop or monitor. In many cases, folks would rather use their smartphone than a tablet. Why? Well, one reason is that tablets don’t really have a use aside from being an expensive YouTube or Netflix player. Aside from that, they really don’t have a firm place within the market, and the less-than-stellar tablet sales show it.
However, RCA believes they’ve truly come up with something useful. Enter, the Mercury 7 Pro, a budget-friendly tablet with decidedly low-end specifications. Does RCA have what it takes to truly make a name for itself within the tablet world? Well, not really.
Design
There isn’t anything that’s particularly unique about RCA’s Mercury 7 Pro, other than it was designed to be used with a keyboard case.
On the bottom frame of the tablet is a magnet that connects with the keyboard case to enable those keyboard capabilities. Normally, this is where a micro-USB port would go, or even an auxiliary port. However, RCA ended up tucking all the Mercury 7 Pro’s ports on the right side of the chassis. It’s where the volume rocker, power button, and the aforementioned auxiliary port and micro-USB port are.
On the back of the device is a rear camera as well as the larger-than-normal speaker grill.
The Mercury 7 Pro knows it’s a budget-friendly tablet, and it doesn’t do much to hide that fact. The tablet truly feels cheap and chintzy in the hand, and it wouldn’t take much to break it. I’ve been very afraid of dropping it, as it feels as if even a small drop would render the tablet useless.
Now, the unique part of the tablet is the keyboard case, which adds quite a bit of thickness to the unit. It still makes it very portable and versatile. Access to a keyboard to jot down some quick notes is nice, though it’s certainly not for anyone that doesn’t have small hands; I’ve tried to use the keyboard normally quite a bit, and usually end up only spewing jumbled words. Typing with the on-screen keyboard is much more efficient, at least it was for me.
The case does add some protection to the tablet, though it doesn’t get rid of the Mercury 7 Pro’s chintzy feel. Aside from that keyboard functionality, it basically just adds another layer of polymer to the tablet.
Hardware
The RCA Mercury 7 Pro features a 7-inch (1024×600) display, a quad-core MediaTek MT8127 chip, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, a 1-megapixel front camera, a 2-megapixel rear camera, and a battery rated for up to 6 hours.
Performance
Surprisingly, the tablet is actually quite quick and snappy. Scrolling through menus and websites was no problem for this tablet’s decidedly low specifications. It handled most applications without a hitch, though some of the more demanding games did take a toll on it.
While scrolling through menus and doing average things with the tablet are quite zippy, it does still have a few hang ups here and there. At one point, I hit the “home” button, and had to wait some time before it actually showed me the home screen. However, this was infrequent, but happened more than twice.
The display was without a doubt the most disappointing factor of the Mercury 7 Pro. The 7-inch display was no problem, but the low 1024×600 resolution didn’t help much as far as crispness goes. In fact, much of the display has a sort of blur to it, though it wasn’t as noticeable when watching video. However, it did make using applications and browsing the Internet unappealing.
The tablet is priced at around $80. That makes buying a tablet extremely cheap; however, I’m certain I and many others would be willing to pay a tad higher of a price for a higher quality display.
Battery
As far as battery life goes, RCA says it’s rated for up to six hours of continuous use. Playing video in 720p continuously allowed the tablet to last around 4 and a half hours, but not much more than that. The tablet, like many others, actually lasts a lot longer if your use is fairly sporadic. I was able to get almost two days out of the tablet when only using it here and there. Not too shabby for an $80 unit.
Software
On the software front, I was actually quite surprised. RCA ended up using what looks like nearly stock Android. It was a good decision, considering that a heavier skin would’ve only taken a larger toll on the tablet’s overall performance.
However, it isn’t without its negatives. The Mercury 7 Pro is only running Android 5.0, not even Android 5.1. It’s likely not going to get updated either, as we haven’t heard hide nor hair from RCA on an update schedule.
More annoyingly, there’s a few RCA-branded applications that you can’t uninstall. In fact, they’re not really even applications. Three of these so-called applications are actually the manual for the tablet. One is in English, and the others are in two different languages. This was a strange inclusion as far as preloaded bloatware goes.
Camera
There isn’t much to speak on as far as the camera goes. You have a 1-megapixel front camera and a 2-megapixel rear camera. As with most tablets on the market, neither of these cameras perform well at all.
For example, you can try and take a picture on a perfectly-lit room, but the camera still ends up taking a dark photo. But once again, this is the case with most tablet cameras. But unfortunately, even the 1-megapixel front sensor isn’t good enough quality for video conferences.
All in all, fairly disappointing, but that’s not necessarily RCA’s fault, but the fault of cameras on Android tablets as a whole.
Closing
In conclusion, RCA’s Mercury 7 Pro isn’t any different than any other $80 budget-friendly tablet out there. The only thing RCA has differentiated in its tablet is the keyboard attachment. Unfortunately, that’s not a huge selling point at the budget range. And with that, it’s just another low-end Android tablet that’ll be met with poor sales.
Amazon has been able to create some excellent value with the Fire tablet (review here) for a meager $50. Sales have literally exploded at various points since its launch, putting the tablet on backorder for three weeks or a month at a time. It’s truly been able to set itself apart.
It’d be neat to see if RCA or some other company could do that same thing, but for some reason, everyone continues to create the same tablet, just with a different brand and a slightly altered design.
If you’re looking for a cheap tablet with keyboard functionality, the Mercury 7 Pro could be for you, but then again, you might be better off with an Amazon Fire.
Come comment on this article: RCA Mercury 7 Pro review
Yatzy Ultimate
Overview
Developer: Seavus Group
Price: Free (Ad-Supported, $1.99 to remove ads; micro-transactions)
Highlights:
- Real-time competition with players around the world.
- Credit-based betting system.
- Offline mode.
- Three variations of the classic dice game to play.
Setup
Yatzy Ultimate has a relatively simple, if slightly counter-intuitive, setup. It does not support Google Account login (hence counter-intuitive) or Google Play, but it allows you to create and account with either Facebook or Game.IO. If you don’t feel like creating yet another game account, you can always play as a guest, and you will retain your credits persistently. There is also a handy tutorial/training mode right at the homescreen, if you don’t feel like using your credits right away.
Features
Having played Yahtzee extensively with my mother as a child, this app triggered a giant tsunami wave of nostalgia. It plays exactly as I remember, minus the pen-and-paper scoring and the irreplaceable feel of pouring the dice out of the shaker. If you haven’t played Yatzy, this app probably isn’t for you. If you’re curious about the rules, this is probably a good page with which to start. Yatzy Ultimate offers three different variations of the game to play: Yatzy, Maxi-Yazty, and American Yatzy. The variations offer different rules and scoring, though, they all essentially play the same way.
Classic.
Yatzy is relatively generous with their credits, starting you out with 5000 right off the bat. You’re able to bet as many as 750 credits and as few as 100 per game in the basic single-player stage, and you can buy additional credits via in-app purchases ($0.99 for 2,000, and up to $19.99 for 500,000). In addition to changing how much you can bet each round, you are also able to increase the score threshold you need to reach in order to win; thereby increasing the payout if you reach it.
Seven different boards to play on.
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There are currently seven different stages of betting, each one requiring significantly more than the last to qualify to enter. I am fundamentally wary of a game relies on random number generation (RNG), for a number of reasons:
1) No number is every truly random.
2) As such, the game could theoretically alter your results, and
3) therefore directly alter your ability to earn credits.
The betting system.
Those things being stated, I feel that Yatzy Ultimate does a good job of making sure that your results feel fair, and not like you’re being robbed of your credits. Sound and visual design are okay, not phenomenal. The graphics look a little grainy on my Nexus 6P, which is a simple enough fix that I hope is remedied soon.
What I like
- Classic dice game.
- Decent production value.
- Fair-enough RNG.
What I don’t
- Ad-supported AND micro-transactions.
- Graphics get a bit grainy on higher resolution screens.
Conclusion
Yatzy Ultimate is a perfectly acceptable recreation of the classic dice game. To me the game will always be known as Yahtzee, but the spirit of the game is captured well, and is actually easier than playing the physical game due to built-in scoring and dice rolling. The game is free and you never need to purchase micro-transactions to advance, though the ads occasionally grate nerves.
Google Play Store – Yatzy Ultimate
The post Yatzy Ultimate appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Here’s how to get Twitter’s Best Tweets on your timeline
In February, Twitter received a ton of heat when BuzzFeed uncovered that the company was going to introduce a new way in which tweets would be presented to users. The timeline would be restructured to have tweets from different times shown next to each other, a clear departure from the chronological order currently presented. Twitter stepped forward, though, to say things wouldn’t be changing very much and users would have the option to accept or reject the new approach. It turns out the Best Tweets feature is really just an extension of the existing “While you were away…” banner which appears when a user hasn’t checked his or her timeline for long periods of time.
Let’s get Best Tweets on your timeline so you never miss out on anything important.
- Head over to the Play Store, search “Twitter,” and launch the download to install the app on your phone or tablet.
- Create a new Twitter account or log in to your existing one. Just give the app a minute or two to sync up with your profile.
- Select the button at the top right of the app to display the dropdown menu. Here, you’ll need to head into Settings.
- Since Best Tweets involves your timeline, select Timeline.
- And now all you have to do is check the box to the right of Best Tweets’ description.
Now all of the best content from your friends and other favorite accounts will appear atop your timeline upon returning after a break from Twitter. Best Tweets will mix in stuff from the past with current tweets in a seamless layout; therefore, the only way you’ll actually know if a tweet is recent or not is by checking the timestamp.
Hell. No. https://t.co/lbgE1oeVWe
— Justin Herrick (@JustHerrick) February 13, 2016
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
If you want to disable Best Tweets after feeling it waters down the real-time aspect of the service (because I know I do), follow the same exact directs and uncheck the box in the final step.
Come comment on this article: Here’s how to get Twitter’s Best Tweets on your timeline
AIVAnet 