GoPro just spent $105 million on these two video-editing apps

No one likes to edit videos. We’re sure video editors even hate their job.

It’s tedious and cumbersome and practically any other adjective to describe painstaking and/or annoying. So when GoPro killed several action cams and laid off 7 percent of its workforce after posting disastrous fourth-quarter results, it of course laid some of the blame on video editing, even going so far as to describe it as an “inconvenience” during the company’s Q4 earnings call earlier this month.

But that’s all about to change for GoPro. In an attempt to fill in some gaps and maybe stem the losses, the action-cam maker has announced it acquired two mobile video editing apps: Replay and Splice. Replay is developed by Stupeflix and allows you to select video clips and photos to combine them into a single video, while Splice by Vemory lets you edit videos using advanced features.

GoPro said it plans to merge Replay and Splice into its mobile strategy in order to “deliver ultra-convenient, yet powerful, mobile editing solutions to GoPro customers and billions of smartphone users.” Both apps are now available for iOS, with Android releases still planned for later this year, as GoPro said their teams will maintain operations at their locations in Paris and Austin, respectively.

GoPro told Forbes that it paid $105 million in cash and stock to buy the two companies behind Replay and Splice. The idea is that theese apps should make editing GoPro clips much easier and tolerable going forward. Also, instead of using third-party apps and software, you’ll now have robust editing solutions to access directly from GoPro.

What’s on your HDTV: 4K Blu-ray, ‘Creed,’ ‘Zelda’ and ‘Mythbusters’

Somehow, season four of House of Cards arriving this week doesn’t feel like that big of a deal. Beyond Netflix’s flagship series, we’re looking forward to a number of big releases, including the first big slew of Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. Some of the better movies of the 4K and HDR-mastered bunch include multiple Oscar-winner Mad Max: Fury Road and Sicario. Unfortunately, for other Academy Award-caliber flicks like Creed, The Room and The Danish Girl, 1080p will have to do (for now).

This is also the final week for Discovery’s Mythbusters, which airs its series finale Saturday night. Last but not least, Nintendo is dropping a remastered version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in HD on the Wii U Friday. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Creed
• Room
• The Danish Girl
• Legend
• The Night Before
• Death Note (Complete series)
• The Fall (S2)
• Mad Max: Fury Road (4K)
• Sicario (4K)
• The Last Witch Hunter (4K)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (4K)
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (4K)
• Salt (4K)
• The Maze Runner (4K)
• Hancock (4K)
• Chappie (4K)
• Ender’s Game (4K)
• Life of Pi (4K)
• The Expendables 3 (4K)
• San Andreas (4K)
• Pan (4K)
• The Smurfs 2 (4K)
• Pineapple Express (4K)
• Collider (PC)
• Worlds (PC)
• Broforce (PS4)
• McDROID (PS4)
• TRON RUN/r (Xbox One)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Awakening DLC (PC, Xbox One)
• Shadow of the Beast (PS4)
• Bus Simulator 16 (PS4)
• Gunscape (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U – March 4)

Monday

• 11.22.63, Hulu, 3AM
• The Voice (season premiere), NBC, 8PM
• Gotham (spring premiere), Fox, 8PM
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, CW, 8PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• American Dad, TBS, 8:30PM
• Mavis!, HBO, 9PM
• Major Crimes, TNT, 9PM
• Lucifer, Fox, 9PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9PM
• Top Gear, BBC America, 9PM
• Blindspot (winter premiere), NBC, 10PM
• Better Call Saul, AMC, 10PM
• Billion Dollar Wreck, History, 10PM
• Castle, ABC, 10PM
• Lost Girl, Syfy, 10PM
• Independent Lens, PBS, 10PM
• NCIS, CBS, 10PM
• Talking Saul, AMC, 11PM
• Bitten, Syfy, 11PM
• True Life: My Parents Are In Porn, MTV, 11PM

Tuesday

• The New Yorker Presents, Amazon, 3AM
• New Girl, Fox, 8PM
• Finding Your Roots, PBS, 8PM
• The Flash, CW, 8PM
• Pretty Little Liars, Freeform, 8PM
• Here We Go Again, TV One, 8PM
• The Muppets (season finale), ABC, 8PM
• NCIS, CBS, 8PM
• Grandfathered, Fox, 8:30PM
• Rizzoli & Isles, TNT, 9PM
• The Outsiders, WGN, 9PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 9PM
• Shadowhunters, Freeform, 9PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 9PM
• Marvel’s Agent Carter (season finale), ABC, 9PM
• Moonshiners, Discovery, 9PM
• NCIS: New Orleans, CBS, 9PM
• Teen Wolf, MTV, 9PM
• The Grinder, Fox, 9:30PM
• Super Tuesday Election Coverage, ABC/CBS/NBC/CNN, 10PM
• Gonzaga: The March to Madness, HBO, 10PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, FX, 10PM
• The Shannara Chronicles (season finale), MTV, 10PM
• Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, Comedy Central, 10:30PM

Wednesday

• The Middle, ABC, 8PM
• Unsung, TV One, 8PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8PM
• Rosewood (spring premiere), Fox, 8PM
• Young & Hungry, Freeform, 8PM
• The Mysteries of Laura, NBC, 8PM
• Mike & Molly, CBS, 8:30PM
• Baby Daddy, Freeform, 8:30PM
• The Real O’Neals (series premiere), ABC, 8:30PM
• Supernatural, CW, 9PM
• Dual Survival, Discovery, 9PM
• Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
• Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9PM
• The Next: 15, TV One, 9PM
• Black-ish, ABC, 9:30PM
• Hap & Leonard (series premiere), Sundance, 10P<
• Catfish, MTV, 10PM
• Broad City, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Suits (season finale), USA, 10PM
• Chicago PD, NBC, 10PM
• CSI: Cyber, CBS, 10PM
• American Crime, ABC, 10PM
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FXX, 10PM
• Man Seeking Woman, FXX, 10:30PM
• Teachers, TV Land, 10:30PM
• MTV Suspect, 11PM
• Joking Off, MTV2, 11PM

Thursday

• You, Me, and the Apocalypse, NBC, 8PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
• American Idol, Fox, 8PM
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, CW, 8PM
• WWE SmackDown, USA, 8PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 8:30PM
• The Family (series premiere), ABC, 9PM
• The 100, CW, 9PM
• Mom, CBS, 9PM
• 2 Broke Girls, CBS, 9:30PM
• How to Get Away with Murder, ABC, 10PM
• Prey, BBC America, 9PM
• Baskets, FX, 10PM
• Portlandia, IFC, 10PM
• Workaholics, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Shades of Blue, NBC, 10PM
• Elementary, CBS, 10PM
• Colony, USA, 10PM
• Shades of Blue, NBC, 10PM
• Nightwatch, A&E, 10PM
• Idiotsitter, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Dark Net, Showtime, 11PM
• Adam Devine’s House Party (season premiere), Comedy Central, 12:30AM

Friday

• House of Cards (S4), Netflix, 3AM
• Lego Bionicle (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Lego Friends (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• The Amazing Race, CBS, 8PM
• Sleepy Hollow, Fox, 8PM
• The Vampire Diaries, CW, 8PM
• Dr. Ken, ABC, 8:30PM
• Grimm, NBC, 9PM
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9PM
• The Originals, CW, 9PM
• Second Chance, Fox, 9PM
• Shark Tank, ABC, 9PM
• Blue Bloods, CBS, 10PM
• Vice, HBO, 11PM
• Animals, HBO, 11:30PM

Saturday

• Mythbusters (series finale), Discovery, 8PM
• NBA: Rockets/Bulls, ABC, 8:30PM
• Nightmare Nurse, Lifetime 8PM
• Black Sails, Starz, 9PM
• Mythbusters: The Reunion, Discovery, 9PM
• Saturday Night Live: Jonah Hill/Future, NBC, 11:30PM

Sunday

• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Las Vegas, Fox, 3:30PM
• 60 Minutes, CBS, 7PM
• Bordertown, Fox, 7PM
• The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Showtime 8PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 8PM
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8PM
• Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life, Fox, 8:30PM
• Vinyl, HBO, 9PM
• The Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
• Downton Abbey (season finale), PBS, 9PM
• The Last Man on Earth (spring premiere), Fox, 9:30PM
• Girls, HBO, 10PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 10PM
• Quantico (spring premiere), ABC, 10PM
• Togetherness, HBO, 10:30PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM

Enter now for a shot at the new Samsung Galaxy S7!

Here we go! Samsung has announced their latest edition, the Galaxy S7. We just wrapped up a contest giving one of our awesome Android Central readers a free S7 (winner will be announced soon!) and thought it would be fun to go ahead and give away another S7 to a second reader! Keep reading for all the information you need to get yourself entered in this giveaway!

How to Enter: PLEASE NOTE, LEAVING A COMMENT DOES NOT ENTER YOU INTO THE CONTEST. Head down to the widget at the bottom of this page. There are multiple ways to enter, each with varying point values. For example, you can submit a photo to show us how excited you are for the S7 to gain 20 entries instantly! It’s easy, just hit the option then upload from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or your computer. You can also answer a simple question for 10 entries, comment on a specific thread in the forums for 10 entries, and follow us on various social media channels for even more entries. Complete all of the tasks for maximum entries and your best shot at winning!

The giveaway is open until March 8th, and winners will be announced on the blog shortly after the close date.

The Prize: One super lucky Android Central reader will take home a brand new Samsung Galaxy S7!

Please note that service is not included with the phone. Also, in the event that the winner resides outside of the United States, the prize maybe be subject to duties and taxes, which are the responsibility of the winner.

Good luck everybody!

Win a brand new Samsung Galaxy S7 from Android Central!

Samsung Galaxy S7

• Galaxy S7 and S7 edge hands-on
• Galaxy S7 and S7 edge specs
• Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
• Details on the Galaxy S7’s camera
• The SD card is back on the GS7
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums

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Under Armour’s SpeedForm Gemini 2 RE connected running shoes now on sale

Under Armour’s SpeedForm Gemini 2 RE running shoes, which sport a bit of connected gadget smarts, are now on sale direct from Under Armour. For the curious, the SpeedForm Gemini 2 RE running shoes can track your runs and then upload the recorded data to the dedicated Map My Run app. The goal is to help you get extremely accurate run data so you can more efficiently tweak your training and hit your goals.

The Map My Run companion app has also been updated for the SpeedForm Gemini 2 RE launch, adding support for the shoes along with a new feature: Dynamic Training Plans. Under Armour says that Dynamic Training Plans will use your workout data to create a personal training plan and will automatically readjust to account for any changes in performance.

If you’re interested, be sure to check out our full review of the Under Armour SpeedForm Gemini 2 RE running shoes. Otherwise, you can hit up the link below to grab a pair for $150 from Under Armour.

See at Under Armour

30 Days later — a Marvel: Contest of Champions for Android follow-up

Marvel walks a fun line with their psuedo-fighter, and it keeps you coming back for more.

When I initially sat down to write about Marvel: Contest of Champions I hadn’t been playing for particularly long but I was already hooked. The access to a gorgeous and easy to play fighting game was the first draw, but I’m also a major Marvel fangirl. So, 30 days later, these are my thoughts on whether this game will keep you enjoying it after the first few days.

The first big question was whether this game was enjoyable even without In-App Purchases (or IAP for short). While Marvel: Contest of Champions does have some IAP, it’s not a game that requires you to constantly purchase new booster packs in order to enjoy the experience. After a full month of grinding and playing in Versus modes, I never wound up spending any cash to pick up in game boosts. That’s because this game finds a really good way to reward you with in-game items if you’re able to rely on some basic skills to win fights. Between the various modes of play you’ll quickly and easily earn just about everything that you need to keep moving forward. IAPs in this game are largely about shortcuts, making ti so you can avoid things that feel like grinding.

Purchasing more units would make it easier to snag those high level crystals and thus higher level champions, but I never found it was necessary in order to succeed. In fact I was only ever even reminded of those IAPs when I tried to grab a crystal that I just didn’t have the units for. Is it slower going this way? Absolutely. I grind through each level until I’ve gotten a completion award for it. By doing that my ISO-8 is always overflowing, and it’s easy to stay on top of character upgrades. The biggest bottleneck that I ran into was when I desperately needed catalysts but was unable to find them anywhere. Once you get used to jumping between campaign quests, battle quests, and versus modes — and grabbing the different loot that you get from each of these, you won’t really need to spend your hard earned money.

While an easy way to share the game — and hook my friends — never really showed up, it was easy to play across multiple devices. Depending on the day I was playing on one of three different phones, plus a tablet and the game synced perfectly across all of these without any issues. If I switched from one to another, the game would just reload itself and I was good to go. It means you need an internet connection, but that’s a reasonable trade-off for what you’re getting in this situation.

After I got a variant Deadpool this way, I make sure to check on my mail every day when I open up the game.

I play Marvel: Contest of Champions for an hour or two each day at most — spread out across the entire day of course — and there is still a ton of content that I’ve barely touched. The battle quests are timed, so every week or so there is a new one to play through. These have proven to be an excellent distraction from the main campaign and the surest way to pick up gold and loot each day. The battle quests are also occasionally themed, like Deadpool for Valentine’s Day. Each battle quest event is also accompanied by a specific crystal that you can buy for the chance of an awesome special character. These have kept me distracted enough that I’m still not even close to finishing the campaign missions.

One of the things that I didn’t check often enough when I got started was the mail being sent to me by the game team. For the most part it’s just info about current events, new features being added, and special events going on. However, every now and then they will also send you some sweet perks. These include everything from high level ISO-8 and catalysts, to 2-Star champions. After I got a variant Deadpool this way, I make sure to check on my mail every day when I open up the game.

I still don’t really interact much with the other people in my Alliance, but that’s because I prefer my gaming to be a solitary experience. Thankfully it isn’t held against me, and I can still rack up Alliance points with a tap. I’ve gotten tons of rewards for Alliance missions that I didn’t even realize I was accumulating points towards, which is always awesome. Checking in just once a day and helping people requesting aid has gotten me several Alliance crystals as well. There are still new Alliance modes out on the horizon too, and they look pretty interesting as well. Especially since a huge update dropped today adding Alliance Wars to the Alliance quest tab.

All in all, after a month’s worth of play I’m still really enjoying the game. The regular tweaks on content mean that it hasn’t gotten boring at all, and since I’m cool with grinding through a game I haven’t devolved to picking up units in the game. There are plenty of free games out there that I enjoy and return to on a regular basis, and Marvel: Contest of Champions has definitely joined those ranks. It’s different than a console fighting game, but that’s what makes it more enjoyable on a mobile platform.

McDonald’s turned its Happy Meal Box into a Cardboard-like VR headset

Yep. You read that right.

McDonald’s Happy Meal Boxes have been made into virtual-reality headsets. But don’t go rushing over to your nearest Mickey D’s just yet, as this promo is limited to one country at the moment (and it’s not the US or the UK). Oddly, it’s Sweden (of all the places!). The company has suggested to AdWeek however that this is merely the first trial run and therefore could be expanded if the box headsets end up being a hit among Swedes.

McDonald’s Sweden had dubbed its Google Cardboard-inspired creation “Happy Goggles” and plans to make 3,500 of the viewers available at 14 restaurants during the two weekends of 5 March and 12 March. They won’t be free; you’ll have to pay about $4.10 each. For that price you’ll also get access to a ski-themed VR game created by McDonalds in order to celebrate the Swedish “Sportlov” recreational holiday.

To turn the red boxes into Happy Goggles, simply tear along the perforated lines and fold. The video below demonstrates what to do. Each box also comes with a VR lens, but you’ll need your own smartphone to download and run the Slope Stars VR game or any VR mobile experience.

McDonald’s DIY VR headset made from its meal packaging follows news from last week about Coca-Cola experimenting with ways to convert old packs of Coke into viewers. Marketing gimmick? Yes. Do we care? No. Just gimme!

NY judge rules feds can’t force Apple to unlock an iPhone

A US magistrate judge in New York has ruled that the government can’t force Apple to help law enforcement unlock an iPhone using the All Writs Act. This case in question is about drug trafficking and is not related to the San Bernardino shooter case.

While the cases are different, it’s a win for Apple in its battle with the FBI and Department of Justice. An Apple senior executive told Engadget that while it’s a important precedent, it’s not a binding precedent that magistrate Judge Pym in the San Bernardino case is legally bound to follow.

In his order magistrate Judge James Orenstein states: “More specifically, the established rules for interpreting a statute’s text constrain me to reject the government’s interpretation that the AWA empowers a court to grant any relief not outright prohibited by law.”

Apple has earlier prodded Judge Orenstein to rule on the feds wanting Apple to help it unlock the phone of Jun Feng who was suspected of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. During a search, DEA agents seized an iPhone 5s belonging to Feng.

The government then initiated the execution of a search warrant for the contents of the phone which has a passcode. Apple then submitted an opposition to the order and after additional filings and oral arguments, we’re here. Another case with a locked iPhone that the government want’s Apple to help unlock and the company rejecting that order. Only in this case, a judge has already ruled and its in Apple’s favor.

In the brief, the judge concluded that this is an issue that should be handled by congress. If the government wants to use All Writs or CALEA to force companies to circumvent encryption, there needs to a clear law granting it that power.

One interesting bit of information to come out of today’s news is that during a conference call with reporters, an Apple senior executive insisted that Apple has never created or signed any piece of software to decrypt a phone.

The company has handed iCloud backups over to law enforcement when order by the courts. This is in line with the company’s remarks that if it has the data, it will comply with lawful orders.

Apple and Department of Justice will argue their cases in front of Judge Pym on March 22.

Malware hints that Hacking Team is back

Hacking Team has largely stayed under the radar after a gigantic leak exposed its spyware-selling ways, but the company might be on the rebound. Security researchers have noticed that recent Mac malware installs a version of Hacking Team’s Remote Code Systems tool from around October, or three months after the outfit was publicly torn apart. There is a chance that a third-party group simply obtained and reworked some of the leaked source code, but clues suggest that this wasn’t the work of amateurs.

For a start, the existence of fresh code in the sample malware is odd in itself. As SentinelOne’s Pedro Vilaça asks, why would a third-party maintain Hacking Team’s work? Also, it’s unusually sophisticated: it uses Apple’s own encryption system, making it harder to scrutinize the malware’s contents. The only significant doubt is that Hacking Team had promised to come back with brand new code — a few modifications here and there don’t really count.

You probably don’t have much to worry about at this stage. At least some antivirus scanners already detect the malware, and there’s no obvious infection mechanism. You may have to be fooled into installing a file, or else fall victim to another exploit that brings Hacking Team’s work along for the ride. If this is the company’s work, though, it’s bad news for targets of less-than-scrupulous government surveillance.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Reverse Engineering Mac OS X, Objective-See

GoPro buys mobile app makers to help your action camera editing

It’s rarely fun to edit your action camera videos, and that’s a big problem for GoPro — it even cited that drudgery as a significant “inconvenience” to users when reporting its lackluster results in January. And now, it appears that the company is doing something about it. It just acquired the developers behind two mobile editing apps, Replay and Splice, for $105 million. While GoPro isn’t divulging its exact plans, it tells Forbes that it needs more developers to boost its (frankly humble) video editing efforts.

The respective teams aren’t uprooting themselves, but you might not want to count on their apps existing as-is when GoPro promises that it will be “impossible to miss” its presence in the future. Either way, it’s safe to say that editing GoPro clips should be easier and more sophisticated going forward, at least for everyday users who stick to the official software. Previously, you had to turn to third-party apps to make more than rudimentary edits. This would let you produce a reasonably polished clip on your phone without wondering who you should turn to, letting you share that whitewater rafting video before you’ve reached home.

Via: Forbes

Source: GoPro

Google starts selling Cardboard VR viewers through its store

Believe it or not, Google hasn’t offered Cardboard through its own online shop — you’ve had to go through third parties to get a taste of its virtual reality experience. Logic is finally prevailing, though, as Google has started offering Cardboard through its in-house store. Pay $15 ($25 for two) and you’ll get the bring-your-own-phone VR solution straight from the source. The offering isn’t alone, either. It’s joining a new VR section in the Google Store that highlights the Mattel View-Master and other VR gear. You probably bought Cardboard a while back if you were really, really eager to give it a try, but look at it this way: this is a simpler way to see what the fuss is about if you’re a relative newcomer.

Via: Manuel Clement (Twitter)

Source: Google Store