Swarm turns your check-in history into a detailed lifelog

By bringing back mayorships, leaderboards and other features that make every day a new level in one big game, Swarm is now more or less what Foursquare once was. But with the release of Swarm 4.0 today, the check-in app is expanding further beyond the immediate gratification of coins and titles. The update places a greater emphasis on the lifelogging aspects of Swarm, using check-in data to build a richer history of what you and your friends have been up to. This starts with a redesigned profile tab highlighting check-ins, streaks and any photos posted while out and about.

Within the new profile tab, you can easily see the visit streaks you’ve earned, and you’ll now find numerical and graphical breakdowns of top check-in spots (such as gyms, coffee shops and bars). These show where you and your friends tend to spend the most time, with both recent and all-time records. Also, your global check-in map, which itself has been tweaked to be more informative, now sits behind your profile picture, telling everyone how much of a jet-setter you are. And because Swarm doesn’t want you to miss out on those all-important coins and stickers, it’ll remind you of any skipped check-ins.

The “Weekly Swarm” is another new feature that updates you on all the cool stuff your friends have been doing while you’ve been stuck at work. This includes what they’ve been up to over the past seven days, in particular what “popular events and trending places” they’ve visited. Best of all, though, it’ll report back any new or lost mayorships and stickers. So while you may not have earned anything to brag about that week, at least you can… console a friend that’s been ousted as the long-time mayor of their local coffee shop.

Source: Google Play, iTunes

The Pokémon Company Releases New Details and Screenshots for ‘Pokémon GO’

The Pokémon Company today released more information about its upcoming augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO, which blends the series’ trademarked collectible gameplay with location-based discovery thanks to the technology of modern smartphones. As in its original September announcement, the company reiterated that the app itself will be free at launch, with in-app purchases available to round out the experience.

Pokémon GO works by notifying players when they’re near a catchable Pokémon, and now the company is explaining how the catching process works: gamers will use their smartphone to “take aim” at where the Pokémon is waiting and use one of their collected Poké Balls to capture it. As is normal in games of the series, there’s a chance for the capture to fail or for the Pokémon to run away before it can be caught.

There will also be a new feature called PokéStops, “located at interesting places, such as public art installations, historical markers, and monuments,” that act as a sort of rest stop for users to restock on Poké Balls and Pokémon Eggs — which use the pedometer of a smartphone to hatch after a certain number of steps. The more the game is played, the faster players can level up their Trainer and discover higher-level Pokémon in the wild while gaining access to more powerful items.

Similar to PokéStops, Pokémon GO will use the well-known feature of the Gym to provide community hubs in certain locations around the globe. But these areas won’t be as peaceful-minded as PokéStops, with players able to challenge the ownership of a Gym and potentially gain control over it with their team of Pokémon. Although it will lack the story-driven experience of a proper game in the series, these features hint that there will be some sort of structure to Pokémon GO.

At a certain point in the game, you’ll be asked to join one of three teams. Once you join a team, you’ll gain the ability to assign Pokémon you’ve caught to empty Gym locations or to a location where a team member has placed one of his or her Pokémon. Like PokéStops, Gyms can be found at real locations in the world. Each player can place only one Pokémon at a particular Gym, so you’re encouraged to work with others on the team to build up a strong defense.

If a Gym is already claimed by another team, you can challenge that Gym using your own Pokémon. Using the Pokémon you’ve caught, engage in battle with the defending Pokémon at the Gym to claim control.

The Pokémon Company reiterated that all of “the features, available languages, design, and overall appearance” of the game are not yet final, but a trial run is currently being conducted in Japan to iron the experience out before a wide release, which has also yet to be confirmed.

There’s been a lot of news surrounding traditionally console exclusive companies emerging into the smartphone gaming market, including Pokémon parent company Nintendo, and now Sony, which just announced it’ll be bringing some of its characters to smartphones beginning in Japan and Asia.

Check out The Pokémon Company’s official press release for more information on Pokémon GO.

Tags: Nintendo, Pokemon, Pokémon GO
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Pay what you want: A smarter storage solution with Zoolz Cloud Backup

Reliable cloud storage is essential for data protection, but quality can get pricy no matter how good the bargain.

That’s why Pocket-lint’s new offer on a 5-Year Subscription to Zoolz Cloud Backup is so fantastic – because you get to pick the price!

Featuring innovative technology, Zoolz is the only service that effortlessly moves anything on your computer to the cloud with reliable security and automation. It backs up everything on and connected to your computer, automatically protecting new and changed files without any intervention.

And with tiered offers suited to your particular need, you can take advantage of a great offer through Pocket-lint Deals and Pay What You Want for 5 Years of Zoolz Cloud Backup. While you can grab 100GB backup for whatever you want to pay, beat the average price to upgrade to the 500GB option for more space!

Stream and share your media and other files instantly from anywhere in the world. Zoolz encrypts your files before they leave your machine, securely transfers your files, and stores them on encrypted servers using military grade 256 AES Encryption.

Your vital files are kept permanently secure, with features including backup scheduling, bandwidth throttling, icon overlay, file retention and more. Quickly and easily select the files you want to store, and rest assured knowing your data is stored over multiple facilities and devices – even a calculated attack wouldn’t wipe out your sensitive data.

Enjoy lifetime storage for your media without any additional costs. With your additional Instant Vault storage, just drag and drop any files to secure for easy sharing and access.

For “Pay What You Want” bundles, you can get a great product for as little as you want to pay. With the Pay What You Want: 5 Years of Zoolz Cloud Backup, a portion of the profits will go to support Save The Children. So while you’re leveling up your skills and career potential, you’ll also support a good cause.

Plus, make it onto the leaderboard during the sale and gain 1 entry to our exclusive $1000 Apple Store giveaway! Reach the top, and gain 5 entries!

Twitch wants your ideas for TwitchCon 2016

Twitch tipped its hand a bit when it announced that its community meet-up/education expo TwitchCon 2016 would be moving to the roomier climes of the San Diego Convention Center. Now live-streaming behemoth is ready to reveal why it needed all that extra space: The plan is for more of everything. Namely, panels. In the past few months, Twitch Creative has blown up, expanding beyond Deadmau5 making beats and into streaming classic episodes of Bob Ross’ painting series and Julia Child’s cooking shows. TwitchCon 2016 will reflect that by offering special spaces for the Creative community to interact with each other and even do some arts and crafts.

There will also be an area dubbed the Music Garden for Twitch artists can show off their wares along with special guest DJ appearances. Speaking of music, the company says that there will be another end-of-show after party featuring a surprise performer. Last year it was Deadmau5 and Darude, this year? That’s anyone’s guess at this point.

To fill the SDCC, Twitch is soliciting ideas from the community for workshops, panels and presentations. The deadline for your idea is March 8th, so strap on that thinking cap sooner rather than later.

A handful of partnered broadcasters that’ll be in attendance has been unveiled as well with UFC champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Sonja “OMGitsfirefoxx” Reid among those scheduled to appear. The first round of tickets will go on sale sometime in April and this year’s show runs three days, from September 30th to October 2nd.

ICYMI: AI bots, the wall-climbing drone and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: Microsoft debuted a teenaged AI bot on Twitter to study human interactions and USC researchers are testing out bots with realistic faces for video chat support. Stanford’s SCAMP is a UAV that can land and climb the sides of buildings. And the AxiDraw is a personal writing and drawing machine that will not screw up the decorative calligraphy on anything.

We also enjoyed this survival video showing how to start a fire with a lemon. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

‘Activist investor’ wants to replace all Yahoo’s directors

In many ways, Yahoo is the internet’s metaphorical grandparent. We don’t visit nearly enough, and we’re all avoiding thinking about what might happen to it. Well, it looks like an equally metaphorical rich Aunt is stepping in and taking care of that for us. The WSJ reports that “activist investor” Starboard Value LP is coming good on an earlier threat of getting rid of Yahoo’s existing directors, and putting forward nine new ones, of its choosing, in their place.

Starboard owns a relatively small slice of Yahoo (a reported 1.7%), but the firm’s concerned that its investment might evaporate if the current board, and CEO Marissa Mayer, continue to steer the ship. Yahoo’s search and ad sales businesses have struggled to compete with rivals Facebook and Google, and estimates suggest that the company’s also facing its largest drop in sales in six years — a slump of nearly 14 percent.

Meanwhile, Yahoo has been receiving interest from “credible” buyers argues Starboard. Companies such as Time Inc. and Verizon — the latter which recently bought that other internet stalwart, and Engadget parent company AOL — have apparently shown interest. Starboard clearly thinks a sale would make most sense (for its interests, at least). Yahoo already ceded to the investment firm (and others) when it reversed a plan to spin off its valuable stock in Alibaba, and it wouldn’t be the first time a board change has happened in response to investor pressure.

Yahoo made some bold purchases under Mayer — such as buying Tumblr — none of which have been able to reverse its fortunes. It recently shut down all its digital magazines, and shuttered its Games vertical. The move to replace the current directors would still be a few months out, but Starboards track record includes taking out the entire board at Olive Garden’s parent company, so the threat is very real.

Source: WSJ

Samsung wants to swap its rigid culture for a startup ethos

Samsung, the largest mobile and memory chip company in the world, says it plans to change its autocratic ways and act more like a start-up. In a statement, it says “we aim to reform our internal culture, execute as quickly as a startup company and push towards open communication and continuously innovate,” according to Reuters. To show it’s not kidding, the company held a special “Startup Samsung” ceremony at its South Korean headquarters and had staff pledge to reduce their hierarchical ways, endless meetings and insane work hours. Executives also signed an agreement to remake the corporate culture.

That, of course, is easier said than done. Samsung is a notoriously old-school company with a rigid top-down business structure. That helped helped it grow into the largest mobile phone and memory-chip company in the world, with over 300,000 employees. Lately, however, the company has admitted that its traditional ways have stifled innovation, causing shrinking profits and a loss of smartphone market share. As a result of those issues, the company recently replaced its long-time mobile chief, JK Shin.

Samsung is in transition at the top, too, as president Lee Kun-hee is expected to hand the reigns to son Lee Jae-yong following health problems. The company recently made some cosmetic changes, adding flexible working hours, relaxing the dress code and letting employees skip notorious after-work drinking sessions that they’re normally pressured to attend. However, analyst Kim Young-woo told CNBC that the changes may be a guise to help Samsung lay off senior employees in favor of younger talent. “South Korea has a military and seniority-based culture. Will that be eliminated simply by removing Samsung’s ranking system? It will never happen,” he says.

Source: Reuters

Vevo’s app can use your Spotify account to give better recommendations

Last year, Vevo rolled out a new iOS app that let users pick their favorite artists as part of an onboarding process meant to give better customized music recommendations (it later brought the same experience to Android). In the time I’ve spent with Vevo’s apps lately, I’ve found they work well — as long as you’re a top 40 music fan. But going through that onboarding process is a pretty big pain point if you’re a fan of music even slightly outside the mainstream; you just won’t likely find many bands or singers you care about.

Fortunately, that’s changing today. A new update rolling out to the Android app (iOS will follow in the next week or so) tweaks the onboarding process so you’ll get much more relevant results, regardless of what genres you’re a fan of.

The biggest change is that you’ll start off picking your favorite genres, not artists. The expected options like pop, country, hip-hop, indie and so forth will all be shown to you, and once you pick your favorites there you can dive into picking specific artists. It’s an entirely logical way to go through the process of getting set up with a music app (Apple Music has a similar system in place), and it’s a little surprising that it wasn’t there at launch.

That’s not the only new feature to make finding music you care about easier. Vevo can now link up with your Spotify, Twitter and YouTube accounts and automatically import the artists you follow on those platforms. That’ll help you get better recommendations on Vevo and quickly have a profile filled out with music that you care about. And this new feature will certainly be helpful to users when the company’s subscription product rolls out later this year.

Vevo says the social connection features will remain a mobile-only feature, at least for now, but the onboarding process will come to its Apple TV app eventually. In the meantime, though, any changes you make on the mobile apps will be reflected across your account, so the Apple TV app will remain up to date. If you want to give these new features a shot, the Android app should be in the Google Play Store today.

Google is helping developers make more accessible apps

Designing apps is hard, especially when you’re trying to cram a new feature into an already crowded interface. Even the most popular apps can become cluttered, making them difficult to use for people with poor eyesight or hand-eye coordination. To help, Google has developed an Android app called Accessibility Scanner, which can analyse any screen and pull out elements that should be improved. Recommendations can include larger text and “touch targets” — buttons, menus and anything else required for navigation — different colour choices and stronger contrast.

Once you’ve installed the app has been installed, you’ll see a circular blue button hovering on your screen. A single tap will trigger a scan, while a long-press allows you to move the button to a new location. The analysis will then be presented as a gallery, with a different screen dedicated to individual problems. These are then collected as a list which can be shared via email.

As the app’s Play Store description explains, “designing for accessibility can allow (developers) to reach a larger audience and provide a more inclusive experience.” While the tool is meant for app creators, Google stresses that it could be used by anyone. If you’ve been struggling with a particular app, or think other people would benefit from a redesign, this could be an effective way to prove your case to a developer.

Via: Android Police

Source: Accessibility Scanner

Verizon announces the LG K4, available today for $5 a month

Verizon has announced its latest budget smartphone, the LG K4, and it packs lots of features in a small price tag. The K4 has a 4.5-inch display and runs Android 5.1.1. Internally, it has 16GB of on-board storage, with the ability to add more through a microSD card. Other specs include:

• 4.5″ Display (854 x 480 pixels)
• World device — works in over 200 countries
• 5 MP rear-facing and 2 MP front-facing cameras with gesture shot
• 1.1 GHz quad core processor
• Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop)
• 16 GB of memory, expandable up to 32GB with a MicroSD (portion of memory occupied by existing content, MicroSD sold separately)
• 1,940 mAh removable battery

You can grab the LG K4 for just $5 a month for 24 months from Verizon.

See at Verizon