LEGO Jurassic World roars onto the Google Play Store

The ever-expanding LEGO franchise has added a new mobile title to its library with Lego Jurassic World. The game puts a classic LEGO twist on the world of last year’s box office hit, while also allowing you to play through storylines from the the original Jurassic Park film, along with The Lost World and Jurassic Park III.

This is what you’ll get with LEGO Jurassic World:

• Relive key moments from all four Jurassic films: An adventure 65 million years in the making – now in classic LEGO brick fun!
• Wreak havoc as LEGO dinosaurs: Choose from 20 dinosaurs, including the friendly Triceratops, deadly Raptor, vicious Compy and even the mighty T. rex.
• Customize your own dinosaur collection: Collect LEGO amber and experiment with DNA to create completely original dinosaurs, like the Dilophosaurus rex.
• Populate and explore Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna: Put your unique dinosaur creations in to paddocks as you complete special Free Play missions.

LEGO Jurassic World is available now on the Google Play Store.

Amazon Dash Buttons can now ship more than 100 products to your door

Amazon has tripled the number of brands available on the retail giant’s Amazon Dash Button program, enabling Prime customers to choose from more than 100 consumables to order through the push of a button. Quite literally. With these handy little devices installed throughout the home, you’ll be able to conveniently have products delivered straight to your door without even firing up your web browser.

Dash Buttons are available to Prime members for $4.99 each, which will be rebated as credit to their account when they place their first order through each button. Once a button has been pressed, an order is automatically placed with free Prime shipping. Notifications will the be pinged to the customer. Supported brands include Air Wick, Red Bull, Slim Jim, Amazon Essentials and Bounty.

• Order your Amazon Dash Buttons

Amazon now has Dash buttons for over 100 brands

Amazon’s Dash buttons are making shopping lists a thing of the past. You’re a Prime member, after all, and shouldn’t have to trouble yourself with such things. Since the little connected buttons became available, nigh on 30 brands have made ordering mac and cheese, diapers and washing powder that bit more convenient. And to celebrate Dash’s first birthday, Amazon today announced a significant expansion, with a total of over 100 different buttons now on hand to take your orders for thousands of individual products.

Plenty of well-known brands now have Dash buttons to call their own, so if you’re running out of anything from Red Bull to Doritos to Trojan condoms, replenishment is but a prod away. You can check out the full list of new additions here; and remember, they’re effectively free, so go wild and make a fridge-door collage of the things if you want to.

Via: The Verge

Source: Amazon

Twitch shows love for mobile eSports with ‘Vainglory’ deal

Twitch has made a deep foray into touchscreen eSports with a deal to broadcast and promote the Vainglory Championships. The streaming company partnered with the app’s developer, Super Evil Megacorp, for three years, with each company investing multi-millions of dollars to support the tournament. As a reminder, Vainglory first appeared when Apple used the title to show the power of its A8 chip. It went on to become the fastest growing mobile Twitch game last year and is available on Android or iOS.

According to Twitch, the game was also the biggest touchscreen eSport last year, with $350,000 in prize money around the world. During the winter championships, the competition drew over 1.5 million viewers on the streaming service. The deal means that Twitch will provide a dedicated broadcast team to cover Vainglory events and handle sponsorship and merchandise deals. The spring championships kick off today with registration for three-player teams competing for a total prize pool of $80,000.

With the new season comes new game options, including a new beta “Battle Royal” mode, along with a new hero, skin and “Halcyon Days” event. According to Twitch eSports director Nick Allen, the deal shows that mobile titles, once slagged by gamers, are on the upswing thanks to higher quality titles. “The eSports industry has been dominated by PC and console titles, but Vainglory is ushering in a new mobile games movement,” he says.

Microsoft’s Edge browser will offer ad blocking

Ad blockers continue to go mainstream as Microsoft revealed its Edge browser will soon have the tech built right in. The feature was spotted by ZDNet during a Build 2016 presentation, where a slide showed that the software giant will “build ad blocking features into the browser” in the next release. The wording implies that the feature may work natively without third-party extensions, which is a good thing since Edge only just started supporting those. However, the same slide also shows that Microsoft plans to “provide a modern extension/plug-in model,” complete with a store, for the next Edge release.

If accurate, the browser would join Opera, Safari and other browsers in natively stopping ads. Google has abstained so far with its mobile version of Chrome (for five billion reasons), though you can install third-party ad blockers on Chrome desktop. While users may enjoy extra data-savings, security and speed using such apps, publishers that rely on ad revenue are revolting. Sites like Forbes won’t even let you browse without turning off your adblocker and in France, multiple news sites have banded together to curtail them.

Microsoft didn’t say how its tech would work or when, exactly, the next Edge version will come. If its figures on Windows 10 adoption are accurate, however, a larger number of folks would suddenly get access to ad blocking tech. That could change the equation for publishers and ad networks (like Engadget’s parent AOL) significantly.

Source: CNET

ROAM-e is the selfie drone your narcissistic self needs

If you’re the sort of person to get annoyed by selfie sticks in public, then look away now, as the ROAM-e takes things to another level.

The ROAM-e pitches itself as a flying selfie machine, and is the inevitable mash-up of drones and the need for an increasing number of photos of yourself in strange places. 

It features a twin rotor on the top with collapsible blades, so it’s easy to pack down into your bag, ready to be deployed for those essential selfie moments.

The idea is that you launch it into the air to take snaps. The company says it will never stray more than 25 metres away and with a Follow Me function, you’ll be able to keep it within 3 metres. 

It has facial recognition, so it will take photos of the right person and can also swivel to take perfect 360 panorama shots. There’s a 5-megapixel camera at its heart. We can see that there’s some appeal for daredevils, as you could have this drone take a picture of you standing on the top of a cliff for example, or in places you’d otherwise not be able to take photos from.

The ROAM-e is up for pre-order, costing $349.

This isn’t the first selfie drone however. We’ve previously seen the Lily, which prefers to be called a flying camera than a drone, and there’s the Nixie too, designed to be a wearable you can launch to take selfies.

HTC 10 vs LG G5: What’s the rumoured difference?

We’ve already seen a couple of the big Android flagships launch this year but there are a few we are still waiting on, one of which comes from HTC. The company opted not to use Mobile World Congress to unveil its next smartphone creation, with an event set for 12 April instead.

The show in Barcelona did reveal what LG and Samsung both had up their sleeves however, with the announcement of the G5, Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge. All three devices were well received begging the question, what will HTC add to the table with its new flagship?

We’ll have to wait a little longer for the official specs of the HTC 10, as it is being called in the rumours, but there is still enough speculation to put it up against the LG G5 to see how the two Android flagships might compare, based on the rumours.

HTC 10 vs LG G5: Design

There have been plenty of leaks when it comes to the HTC 10 and its design. Rather than taking from its predecessor – the One M9 – it looks like HTC will follow the same path as the One A9, in terms of the front at least.

From the leaked images, you can expect a metal body with chamfered edges on the front and rear, a fingerprint sensor on the front flanked by capacitive buttons, a serrated power button on the side and no BoomSound. Rumoured measurements are 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.6mm, which is the same as the One M9, and it has also been claimed that HTC would be adding some degree of waterproofing to its new flagship.

The LG G5 also has a metal body, although it has a modular element to it, allowing for a replaceable battery by removing the bottom of the device, as well as the attachment of what LG calls Friends – more on those in a second. It measures 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7mm and weighs 159g so while it is a little taller and wider than the reported measurements of the HTC 10, it is slimmer.

LG’s flagship has no waterproofing on board, but there is a fingerprint sensor, which is placed on the rear beneath the camera.

HTC 10 vs LG G5: Display

It’s not clear what size or technology the HTC 10 will offer in terms of display as reports contradict each other. Some claim it will offer a 5.1-inch screen, while others have claimed a 5.2-inch display. There have also been suggestions of HTC switching to AMOLED like it did with the One A9, but there have also been reports of the company sticking with Super LCD, which is the technology present on its previous flagships. 

What the reports do seem to agree on is that HTC will offer a Quad HD resolution. If this is the case, the HTC 10 will offer a pixel density of either 565ppi or 577ppi, depending on the size it selects.

The LG G5 has a 5.3-inch display, which is therefore larger than both reported sizes for the HTC 10. It is an LCD display so if HTC opts for AMOLED, you can expect richer and more vibrant colours than the G5, but probably a little more unrealistic too.

The G5 has a Quad HD resolution, which means it offers a pixel density of 554ppi. This therefore suggests HTC 10 will probably offer a sharper image on paper if the rumours are true, but with such a minute difference, the human eye won’t notice.

HTC 10 vs LG G5: Camera

The HTC 10 has seen a couple of different rumours surrounding its rear camera. One report claimed we would see a 23-megapixel rear sensor, but there have been a couple of other reports suggesting it would in fact be a 12-megapixel rear sensor. Apparently, the HTC 10 could have the same sensor as the Nexus 6P with 1.55µm pixels. It is also expected to have features including laser assisted phase-detection AF, optical image stabilisation and a dual tone flash.

Less rumours have circulated around the HTC 10’s front-facing snapper, but a 5-megapixel sensor has been thrown about.

The LG G5 has dual rear cameras comprising of a 16-megapixel sensor and a 135-degree wide-angle 8-megapixel sensor. It too offers features including laser auto-focus and optical image stabilisation and there is an LED flash on board. The front-facing camera is 8-megapixels, which at the moment looks like it will mean the LG offers a higher resolution than the HTC for selfies and video calling.

HTC 10 vs LG G5: Hardware

The HTC 10 is rumoured to be coming with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. This is said to be supported by 4GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and microSD for further expansion. There hasn’t been as much talk on the battery capacity, but 3000mAh has been suggested. 

Based on the leaked images, you can also expect USB Type-C to be on board for the HTC 10, meaning faster charging and data transfer. As we mentioned previously, it looks like BoomSound won’t be present for the HTC 10 but that’s not to say the new device won’t be capable when it comes to audio. Rumour has it the HTC 10 might offer high-res audio with MQA support.

The LG G5 also opts for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. It too comes with a microSD slot for further storage expansion and USB Type-C but the battery capacity is a little smaller than the expected spec for the HTC 10 at 2800mAh. That said, LG’s battery is replaceable as we mentioned, and one of the “Friends” offered by removing the bottom of the device is a special DAC for better audio capabilities. The LG G5 has 24-bit DAC within the headphone socket though.

HTC 10 vs LG G5: Software

The HTC 10 will no doubt launch with Android Marshmallow, just as the LG G5 did. You won’t get the same software experience however as both companies add their own skins on top of Android’s software.

HTC’s device might offer a closer to raw Android experience than LG’s however. It has been rumoured the HTC 10 will launch with a refined version of Sense, called Sense 8.0_GP. It is claimed to be a lighter version than previous iterations, offering users a close to stock Android with the best of Sense.

LG also refined its latest Optimus UX software for the G5 by removing the app launcher but it’s still very much LG software with Android underneath rather than Android with touches of LG. 

HTC 10 vs LG G5: Conclusion

The LG G5 is a great device and it stole headlines when it launched because it managed to be a little different. The rumours suggest the HTC 10 will give it a good run for its money though. 

If the speculation is true, both these handsets will have a metal build, both will offer the same powerful hardware and both will deliver a good camera experience.

LG has already proved itself in all these areas, especially the camera, while the HTC 10 will still need to do this when it arrives. Based on the rumours though, there doesn’t look like there will be much in these two devices. For all the rumours surrounding the HTC 10 you can read our separate feature, or to find out what we thought about the G5, read our review. 

‘Disney Infinity’ drops support for its Apple TV version

Apologies if you bought Disney Infinity 3.0 for your Apple TV, but the game’s development team has stopped supporting the platform. On the Disney Infinity forums a user posted about an issue where Baloo and Marvel Battlegrounds figurines weren’t working in the game, but Zootopia figures were. Turns out that the reason for that is because there was already support in the game for the latter, but that an update was needed for the other characters. Except that update isn’t coming any time soon.

One of the forum mods posted that the development team is “currently focusing on the traditional gaming platforms. We are always evaluating and making changes, but there are currently no plans for further updates to the Apple TV version of the game.” It turns out that the Battlegrounds playset wouldn’t be a good fit because it focused on three-and-four player games, something the Apple TV version doesn’t support.

It’s a crappy situation, to be sure. The forum thread is justifiably rife with complaints and, unlike other app-based games, this stings a little harder for those who invested simply because they were promised a console-like experience with the game. That and the Infinity figures and starter kit cost way more than the typical app: $14 per (or $20 for a playset) and $100, respectively. You can still buy the latter directly from Apple.

The Infinity team did something extremely similar with the game’s PC version recently, too. When we last wrote about Infinity at length, we said that it finally felt like a full-fledged game. Unless you’re playing on a console, that sadly isn’t the case.

Via: Touch Arcade

Source: Disney Infinity forums

ICYMI: Sad unicorn truth, disease-fighting drones and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: The news that a type of unicorn walked the earth at the same time as prehistoric humans makes modern-day fantasy novels make a lot more sense. CERN is getting its Large Hadron Collider back online after a hiatus to improve its electrical system. And Ethiopia is using drones to drop sterile tsetse flies over the country, intending for them to breed with the wild natives and cut back on the population of disease-carrying insects, thus lowering risk of illness to humans and animals.

We also share that paleontologists mapped the evolution of the largest type of dinosaurs, learning new things about them; and also touched on how vertical farming operations are moving into grocery stores. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

Here’s your first look at the all-new ‘Top Gear’

The BBC is still filming the next season of Top Gear, but to get fans excited it’s taken some time out and put together a short teaser trailer. As you would expect, it’s a minute of pure motoring adrenaline, with plenty of exotic cars and jaw-dropping cinematography. Top Gear host Chris Evans and Hollywood actor Matt LeBlanc take center stage, although racing car driver Sabine Schmitz also makes an appearance towards the end. It’s hard to judge a show based on 60 seconds of footage, but here’s one obvious takeaway: the show’s budget and production values are still sky high.

Top Gear will be rebooted in May, months ahead of Amazon’s new motoring show on Prime Video. It’ll be a decisive moment for the broadcaster, as it tries to prove Top Gear can live on without Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. With new presenters and a reworked creative team, there’s a lot to prove, especially given the reported problems both on and off camera. Clarkson, meanwhile, is currently filming for Amazon. The first of three seasons will arrive on Prime Video this autumn — no doubt some comparisons will be made between the two.

Source: Top Gear (YouTube)