Paramount agrees to offer Sky UK content across Europe

The European Union is supposed to be a big old open market, but Sky customers may beg to differ — most don’t have the same movie options as folks in the UK and Ireland. That’s because Disney, Paramount and other major US studios negotiate lucrative deals country by country, stopping Sky UK from offering content online or via satellite to folks outside the UK. As a result, the EU antitrust commission sued Sky and the movie studios, going after contracts that tie the broadcaster’s hands. Now, Paramount has agreed to eliminate clauses that stop Sky UK from offering its services elsewhere, a deal that the commission seems likely to accept.

The deal would also apply in reverse, so that Paramount can’t oblige broadcasters outside of the UK to limit services in Britain and Ireland. (It’s unclear if the deal means that Sky UK will then be forced to sign up any European customers who wants access to currently geo-blocked movies, however.) The commission’s goal is to eventually eliminate the restrictions by 2017 as part of its Digital Single Market strategy, with the aim of allowing more broadcasting competition.

The EU commission is taking comments on the proposal, and if all parties are satisfied, the commitments, which run five years, will be made legally binding. The EU commission says it’s still “investigating the conduct” of other parties in the suit, namely Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros and Sky.

Via: Deadline

Source: European Commission

Logitech made this retro game display from 160 light-up keyboards

Because when there’s VR and cosplay around the corner, a simple gaming keyboard is not going to cut it.

Logitech’s installation at PAX East at least caught the eye. It’s made of 160 keyboard, with every key thenlaser-etched for more (multi-colored) light to bleed through. Each key acts as a pixel, treating you to a short Earthbound-ish bullet-hell cross-over… thing in glowing primary color joy. It teamed up with Iam8bit to program the short movie.

Source: YouTube (Logitech)

Google Play Store may be coming to Chrome OS

As Google I/O draws near, it looks like big things are in the works for Chrome OS.

Google has been working on getting Android apps on Chrome for a while. We saw the release of the ARC Welder tool in April 2015, helping developers port Android apps to Chrome OS. More recently, a new find by a user at Reddit might mean the entire Google Play Store is headed for your Chromebook.

After mentioning he briefly saw a mention of Allowing Android apps on the developer channel of Chrome in the settings page, another user provided a screen shot of a new dialog all about Google Play. A look into the Chrome source found more than one reference about both the setting and the new dialog, so something is in the works.

Many rumors about Chrome and Android merging have been heard, but Google always has maintained that the two will continue to be separate projects.

So what might be happening? That’s the big question.

Right now, the Android Runtime for Chrome includes a rudimentary version of Play Services that allows Cloud Messaging, Google sign-in, a contacts provider and OATH2 support, as long as the developer does a few extra steps to set things up through the Google Developer console. For full access to the Google Play Store, this restriction would have to be lifted. This would mean a full version of Play Services either built into Chrome, or a bigger and better ARC module. Either of these two things could happen, but it would take Google building it and distributing it for it to actually work.

With Google I/O a month away, we expect to learn exactly what this means. We’re pretty sure the end users would love to have access to a million or so Android apps on their Chromebook, but what will developers and publishers think? Having an app that lives right beside a web browser on a product with a full keyboard and mouse or trackpad means more thought goes into monetization and delivery, which means more work on one or both platforms. Teams working on social media apps, web portals and shopping apps (as well as any app that can also live as a web page) will have their work cut out for them, that’s for sure. It’s going to be an interesting ride.

Even Kate Upton’s ‘talent’ can’t save Game of War from being a hot mess [Review]

Given its popularity and advertising in recent months, I wound up being assigned to review Game of War, by developer Machine Zone, Inc. I had downloaded it in the past and tried it out. It wasn’t my cup of tea, so I uninstalled it and moved on. This time, I decided I would give it an honest try; I think you already know how that turned out.

With a 2014 advertising budget of $40 million, boasting things like 30-second television commercials, Kate Upton, and even procuring a commercial slot during Super Bowl 49, you would think that the game would be able to live up to the hype. Sadly, no such luck.

General Details

War! That is what “Game of War” is all about right? WRONG. I have played this game for a solid week and have not “gone to war” in any capacity. Sure, you can “attack” other towns and monsters but there is no battle mechanic. Who wants to play a game about fighting, and not fight?

Instead of action, we play a game about building our town into the most powerful city possible with tons of guards, resource gathering, and defensive structures. Ok, I can manage that. So this is a mobile civilization builder. Wait, what do you mean I can’t expand? So I can only build in this one place? What is the point?

Mechanics

The game controls are sub-par. For a build-and-wait game, I seem to spend an awful lot of time clicking different buildings and navigating LOTS of menus. This needs to be streamlined in order to make efficient use of the players times. When it comes to freemium games, I’m not going to pay any money to continue playing if the free play I get is cumbersome and time-consuming.

Graphics

Sadly, the graphics we see in this game are nothing like the video clips or commercials we see about it. The graphics engine looks like it was developed 8 years ago and they decided to never upgrade. The most complex graphic is the animation of characters within the buildings, very reminiscent of the game Pharo (released on PC in 2000). Other animations are both very rare and poor.

hero as advertised

in game hero

Other Details

As with all the other “free to download” games, Game of War constantly has its hand out for IAP’s, probably to feed that massive AD campaign. I have not spent a penny on this game yet, however, I have noticed there are lots of opportunities to purchase items for your hero, speed up bonuses, and purchase more dark energy (attack stamina).

1 of 4

Quests

City Building

Reward Chests

Alliances

Conclusion

With all of the money that is put into advertising this game, I would have hoped they had put some of that into hiring more developers and improving the actual gameplay. Save yourself the time and frustration and take a pass on Game of War, no matter how hot that model they hire is.

Make your own hand-controlled robot with a crowdfunded kit

If you’ve ever wanted to craft a robot that you can control with your hands, you now have a chance of making it a reality: Ziro has started a crowdfunding campaign for its gesture-controlled robot kit. Pledge at least $149 and you’ll get both the centerpiece Smart Glove as well as enough parts to build an automaton you can steer with your fingers. It can get expensive to build exactly what you want (a Pro kit is at least $229), but every bundle promises easy construction and smartphone app integration — you won’t have to have a deep understanding of robotics to make this work. If all goes well, you’ll get your Ziro hardware in January.

Source: Indiegogo

Exploit gets around Windows’ app security safeguards

For years, business-focused versions of Windows have had an AppLocker feature that lets you blacklist or whitelist apps. It’s undoubtedly helpful for companies eager to keep malware (or just risky software) off their network. However, researcher Casey Smith has discovered a vulnerability in Windows that gets around this barrier. If you tell Regsvr32 to point to a remotely hosted file (such as a script), you can make a system run whichever app you want — just what hackers and virus writers are looking for. It’s stealthy, too, as it doesn’t require administrator access or give itself away through registry changes.

There isn’t a known patch for the flaw yet, but we’ve asked Microsoft for comment and will let you know if it has something to say. In the meantime, there is a stopgap. Eric Rand suggests telling Windows Firewall to block Regsvr32, which prevents it from accessing online files. While that’s not very convenient if you have a whole office’s worth of PCs to protect, it beats the alternative.

Via: CSO

Source: SubTee

NASA conducts the toughest test yet for drone traffic control

If you think piloting a drone is tricky, try managing a swarm of them in the sky at once — it’ll be a small wonder if there isn’t a collision. However, NASA and the FAA managed just that. They’ve completed the most complex test yet of a drone traffic management system, handling 22 drones at once (24 total) in several locations over the space of 3 hours. As if that weren’t enough, the testers also put “dozens” of virtual aircraft into the fray.

It’s still early days for the system, so don’t expect skies chock-full of drones in the near future. Should everything work out, though, it could be crucial to taking drones mainstream. In the countryside, it could help coordinate everything from farming to firefighting. It could also help in urban areas, where there isn’t a lot of breathing room above the streets. You probably won’t have to deal with one of these systems first-hand, but it could help a lot if it helps a delivery drone reach you on time.

Source: NASA

Qualcomm says it’s fine to fast-charge your phone over USB-C

Technically, USB-C and fast-charging methods like Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 aren’t supposed to mix. As Google’s Benson Leung (a frequent crusader for good USB implementations) noted last fall, the USB-C spec explicitly forbids the variable voltage tricks that QC3.0 and others use to top up your battery in a hurry. Does that mean that your HTC 10 or LG G5 is at risk of catching fire, then? Not if you ask Qualcomm. It tells Android Central that you can make its fast-charge solution fit USB-C’s voltage demands, and there have been “no reports” of problems so far. In short, you shouldn’t have to worry when you plug in. So it’s all settled, right?

Well, not quite. The Qualcomm statement doesn’t address whether or not the USB-C phones using QC3.0 really are honoring the port standard. It’s notable that Google’s own USB-C phones, the Nexus 5X and 6P, don’t use Quick Charge precisely because of concerns that it’s out of spec. This doesn’t mean that companies like HTC or LG are living dangerously by implementing speedy charging tech, but you shouldn’t be surprised if they’re the exceptions rather than the rule.

Source: Android Central

AC editors’ apps of the week: TimmyMe, Instagram Layout, Kolorette

Our weekly app picks

It’s Appday Sunday and that means we’re back with more of our favorites to share. Every week we bring a handful of great apps to the table and share them with everyone. Sometimes they are new apps, sometimes old standards, but every time they are apps we love to use.

Give these a look and then take a minute to tell us all about the apps you are using and love so we can give them a try. We all find some of our favorites right in the comments on these posts!

Russell Holly — Exploding Kittens

If you backed the Kickstarter, you already know what this is and already love it. Exploding Kittens started as a card game that can be played with 2-5 people, with decks that are both child-safe and not-so-child-safe. It’s a hilarious short game that is great at parties, but when you go home you can’t play anymore.

The app lets you continue playing with friends — or strangers, we’re not judging — and lets you avoid all of the human interaction you had to deal with before.

Buy: Exploding Kittens ($1.99)

Daniel Bader – TimmyMe for Tim Hortons

TimmyMe isn’t a great app, but that doesn’t matter: it’s one of the first apps I use when returning to Canada, walking straight towards the closest Tim Hortons.

The app, half-heartedly developed by Canada’s favourite coffee chain, allows you to digitally store physical gift cards and, after a protracted rollout, pay for your coffee, tea, bagels, donuts and TimBits, using your Android phone. Like many other retailers’ apps, TimmyMe also displays the closest store based on your location, as well as any promotions currently being offered in that area. And when you get voluntold to grab your coworkers a coffee with your donut, there’s a section, dubbed TimmyRun, to easily jot down the whole order.

TimmyMe, like Tim Hortons coffee itself, could stand to be improved, but there is something addictive and functional about it that keeps you coming back for more.

Oh, and I take my coffee with one cream, no sugar.

Download: TimmyMe (Free)

Andrew Martonik — Instagram Layout

I know it’s been out for about a year on Android now, but Instagram’s Layout app for making quick collages is still great. Rather than snag some random third-party app from Google Play or wait for Google Photos to create collages for me, I just keep Layout installed and every time I open up Instagram I have a new option to create collages. Just select a few photos, pick a collage style that works for you, tweak the sizes and proportions if you want, and you’re posting something more interesting than a single photo.

I wish Instagram would just build this functionality into its main app, since I never use Layout independently, but for now I have no problem keeping it installed to have the feature available every time I go to post on Instagram.

Download: Instagram Layout (Free)

Ara Wagoner — Kolorette

When tinkering around with themes, I’m often trying to color match text or icons to a wallpaper or another image. Kolorette is an app with a very simple goal: extract colors from your images that can easily be brought into other apps like Zooper and Kustom’s KWGT and KLWP. Being able to draw colors out of a wallpaper, an image, or even your currently playing album art opens up new realms of possibility for meshing your theme elements and for bringing more color and vibrancy to your phone.

Download: Kolorette (Free, in-app purchases)

Jen Karner — SailorMoon Drops

We all know that I’m a sucker for these goofy little games that I play on my phone. While I’m usually on the hunt for something new, or intriguing, I’ve gone and fallen down the rabbit hole of match-3 games yet again. Except that this time the game is Sailor Moon, and by playing through the game I am playing through the first season of the show. Considering how much I still love Sailor Moon, this was too exciting to pass by.

SailorMoon Drops is essentially a matching game like Bejeweled or Candy Crush. The difference comes in that this is most definitely a Sailor Moon game. You’ll collect the 5 inner sailor scouts, and use their special abilities to help you clear the boards. Collectibles can be found in specific levels which will give you bits of wallpapers, keys to unlock the next area, and tokens to help you level up your characters. There are in-app purchases, but I haven’t found them to be necessary, and they’ve started running events with special levels and prizes. Overall it’s fun, and addictive, exactly the way a puzzle game in your pocket should be.

Download: SailorMoon Drops (Free with in-app purchases)

Jerry Hildenbrand — F-Droid

F-Droid is an app store. Since it’s a third-party app store, it means you’ll have to disable the factory security setting that allows apps from outside of Google Play to be installed. If you’re not comfortable with this, that’s cool — we won’t judge.

F-Droid is a place where you can download FOSS (Free Open Source Software) applications that use various fully open licenses. Besides finding plenty of apps that aren’t available in Google Play for one reason or another — Google sets the rules in their store, as they should — you’ll also find the full source code posted for anything and everything available. This is a great way to learn how things are done, as well as a great way to build on top of existing work to make it better. Just remember the source license requirements if you share anything you’ve made that way.

You don’t need any type of account to use F-Droid, and they are a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing FOSS. While they build the apps in their repository from source, they aren’t responsible for the content so you’ll want to pay attention to what you’re downloading.

All in all, it’s a cool way to use the open-source Android with open-source software. And it makes it easy.

Download: F-Droid (Free)

Your EE 4G phone will work “everywhere you go” by 2020

EE has revealed that it is on track to cover 95 per cent of the UK landmass with 4G coverage by the end of the decade. That will represent an increase of 35 per cent in just four years.

The only places that will not be covered by 2020 are “where people cannot easily go”.

Government targets agreed by EE and the other major mobile networks state that 90 per cent of UK landmass must have access to 2G voice calls by the end of 2017. EE aims to go “beyond what the Government wants” and also cover 92 per cent of the country’s landmass with 4G by the end of next year.

What’s more, the 100s of new sites will greatly improve the infrastructure for when 5G services are launched.

Landmass coverage is greater than population coverage, we were told by new EE CEO Marc Allera in a London briefing. People can move around and they want coverage wherever they travel. “We’re covering where our customers go. Not just where they live,” he said.

READ: EE brings back customer services to UK and Ireland, better service promised

Pocket-lint

Marc Allera, CEO of EE

In addition, although Government guidelines stress that areas require 2G voice coverage, EE will also cover them with 4G for data, with VoLTE (voice over LTE) services employed to ensure customers can make calls in mobile network dead zones. This will dramatically improve services in rural areas, it is claimed.

The extra five per cent of the UK that will not be covered by EE’s 4G service is “where people do not live or go”, such as the Outer Hebrides. EE is looking at whether it is also feasible to cover these locations too as internet coverage might still be required for other reasons.

“Should we be covering places where people don’t go? The answer might be yes in time,” revealed Allera. 

Connected sheep or weather stations were two possible uses discussed.

“We have a long term ambition to have 100 per cent coverage,” added Mansoor Hanif, EE’s director of radio access networks. “Drones, satellites, balloons – there will be a way of covering these.”

Two of the places to benefit first from the extended EE rollout are the Isle of Scilly and Shetland. All five of Scilly’s islands have now been switched on and can receive superfast mobile broadband. Shetland’s Mainland too, with the other islands in the area getting 4G by summer 2017.

“The hardest places to reach, where the population is sparse, is where they need it the most,” said Allera.