‘Alto’s Adventure’ zen mode is built to help you relax
Alto’s Adventure is already something of a tranquil experience between its endless snowboarding and beautiful pastoral landscapes, but developer Snowman wants go even further. It’s introducing a “zen mode” to Alto that removes scores and lets you continue from wherever you crashed — all you have to do is enjoy the experience. There’s also a more relaxing soundtrack in this mode, and you’ll even get a photo tool that lets you zoom in and peek behind foreground objects that might clutter the scene.
The update will arrive on June 2nd for all iOS users. As for Android? That’s coming “soon,” Snowman promises. Alto might not be your first choice for a chillout session (a soothing album and a quiet room would be my pick), but this should help for those moments when you’re more interested in tuning out than beating your previous run.
Via: The Verge
Source: Built by Snowman
Boss-battle game ‘Furi’ gets a soundtrack full of electro artists
You might not know much about The Game Bakers’ upcoming one-on-one action game Furi, but you’re about to hear a lot more about it in a very literal sense. The studio has revealed that its boss-battles-only title will have a soundtrack created by a slew of known electro artists, including Carpenter Brut, Danger and The Toxic Avenger. The Game Bakers are confident enough in it that they’re both selling the soundtrack (€15/$17 for digital, €30/$34 vinyl) and holding a concert in Paris on July 8th.
The game itself hits both PCs and the PlayStation 4 sometime in the summer. It’s too soon to know whether or not Furi can match the early hype, but the trailer hints at frenetic gameplay in a distinctive setting — both good signs in our book. We’re planning to cover the game at E3, so we’ll let you know whether or not it merits your attention.
Source: Bandcamp, The Game Bakers
Google bakes Cast capabilities into its Fiber boxes
If you’re a Google Fiber subscriber, you no longer need to use a Chromecast to stream content from your mobile device to your tv. Google announced today that it has integrated Cast technology (what makes your Chromecast work) directly into their Fiber set-top boxes. It cuts out the Chromecast middle man, is what I’m saying. You can just chuck that dongle since it’s now superfluous. The casting process is exactly the same, it just runs straight through the set-top box now.
Source: Google Fiber Blog
iPhone 7 Series Said to Have 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB Storage Options
Following a recent report claiming the iPhone 7 will ship with at least 32GB base storage, with Apple dropping the infamous 16GB model, research firm TrendForce adds that the mid-tier 64GB storage option may be replaced with 128GB alongside a new 256GB version at the high end of the lineup.
Apple is likely to make changes to the storage options for iPhone 7. The 64GB version, which has been the most popular option in previous generations, may be discontinued and replaced by the 128GB version, though this decision has yet to be finalized. On the other hand, Apple is certain to raise the maximum storage option to 256GB so that iPhone 7 will have the highest NAND Flash density of the entire series.
The new storage options would henceforth be 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB, although the report does not make it entirely clear if the 256GB version will be exclusive to the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus or also available for the 4.7-inch model. The current storage options for both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus include 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB.
Earlier this year, Chinese website MyDrivers said the iPhone 7 Plus may exclusively feature 256GB storage and a 12.7 percent larger 3,100 mAh battery. In terms of credibility, the website did accurately report on the iPhone SE’s 1,624 mAh battery and 2GB of RAM before Apple launched the 4-inch smartphone.
The remainder of the report corroborates other well-known rumors, including a dual-lens camera and 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM being exclusive to the 5.5-inch model. The 4.7-inch model is expected to retain a single-lens camera and 2GB of RAM. No major display upgrades are expected until Apple switches to OLED in 2017.
Recent rumors suggest the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will share a design similar to the iPhone 6s series, sans a 3.5mm headphone jack, with more significant changes coming to the 2017 iPhone. This year’s new features could include a faster A10 chip, waterproofing, repositioned antenna bands, faster LTE and Wi-Fi chips, and more.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tags: storage, TrendForce
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Apple Sends Press Invites for June 13 WWDC Keynote at 10:00 AM
Apple today invited members of the press to attend the keynote event for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, set to take place from June 13 to June 17. The keynote will be held on June 13 at 10:00 a.m., the standard start time for Apple’s media events.
It will take place at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, a venue able to hold more attendees than Moscone West, where the event has taken place in past years.
Apple is expected to launch new versions of iOS and OS X, along with new versions of tvOS and watchOS, its two newest operating systems. There’s also a possibility we could see the debut of new hardware products, and much of the Mac line is in need of an update.
iOS 10 and OS X 10.12 will be the two major announcements at the event. iOS 10 is believed to include a redesigned Apple Music app, a Siri SDK for developers, and Apple Pay support for web browsers, allowing Apple Pay to be used to make purchases via Safari much like PayPal. OS X 10.12 is expected to bring Siri integration to the Mac for the first time, with a dedicated Siri button available through the menu bar and dock.
In past years, Apple has made a live stream of its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote available on the web and through the Apple TV, and it is likely to do so again this year. MacRumors will also provide live coverage of the event both through MacRumors.com and through our MacRumorsLive Twitter account.
Related Roundup: WWDC 2016
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KFC Now Accepts Apple Pay in the United States
KFC has announced that it now accepts Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and other mobile payment options at some of its U.S. restaurants, with nationwide adoption to be completed by the end of the summer.
“Ease of use and functionality were our first priorities,” said Chris Caldwell, KFC U.S. Chief Information Officer. “When we factored in consumer concerns about security and privacy, we identified Android Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay as the best options for our guests.”
In October 2015, Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey confirmed that KFC, Chili’s, and Starbucks would launch Apple Pay in 2016.
Apple Pay is also supported at Canadian banks BMO, Scotiabank, and TD Canada Trust starting today. Apple is “working rapidly” to expand the service to additional regions, including Hong Kong and Spain, and possibly France, Brazil, Japan, and elsewhere, in partnership with American Express and MasterCard among others.
Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: KFC
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Use carabiners to organize your wrench sets – CNET
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Taylor Martin/CNET
Keeping tools organized is essential to finding the right tool for the job quickly, but also for not losing part of a set. If your tools are properly organized, you can tell at a glance if something is missing or out of place.
A clever tip for organizing one of the most obnoxious tools in a toolkit, wrench sets, comes from reddit user Scienlologist.
Before we start, you need to know that this only works with combination wrenches — the ones with an open-end spanner and a box-end spanner. You will need one or two cheap carabiners (also called spring clips) per set, depending on the size of the carabiners and the size of the wrenches. You can find carabiners in multi-packs online for around $0.50 (that’s about £0.35 or AU$0.70) each. You may want to pick up a few different sizes or colors just to be safe.
Once you have your carabiners, open the clip and slide the box-end of the wrenches onto the carabiner, all facing the same direction. A medium-sized spring clip will hold five to seven wrenches. You may want to use a smaller carabiner for the smaller wrenches in a set and larger clip for the larger wrenches. Or you could use different colored spring clips to color code which wrenches are standard and which are metric.
This organization method isn’t very practical for a full-sized toolbox, but it does make it easier to keep tabs on your wrenches in a portable tool bag. And it makes them easier to grab all at once. However, it also means it’s more difficult to get to a specific wrench in the middle — you’ll have to take a couple wrenches off the clip to get to the one you need.
Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer review – CNET
The Good The Kinsa Ear Thermometer gets quick and accurate readings, and the app organizes that information intuitively.
The Bad Kinsa can’t quite justify its price — especially when some parents might only use it a few times.
The Bottom Line Kinsa is useful, especially if your child has known health concerns and you need to monitor their temperature over time.
Two months into fatherhood, after rescheduling a forgotten appointment, I tried and failed to recall my son’s birth date, weight, and height for the doctor. While that might not nominate me for a “Worst Dad” award, it’s tough to feel confident when you’re sleep deprived and you can’t remember if it was diapers or wipes you needed to buy on your way home.
Luckily, devices and apps for overwhelmed new parents (or just absent-minded ones like me) are gaining popularity. The Kinsa Ear Thermometer is the most recent addition to this movement, and its function is simple: it records the time and date of your child’s temperature readings, then pairs them with any accompanying symptoms (such as coughing). Besides this device-to-app communication, the thermometer records accurate temperatures in about a second, so holding the probe in the ear of your squirming kid isn’t so difficult.
After using the FDA-cleared Kinsa myself, I’m impressed. It does what it advertises, and it does it well. The only problem is, it costs $60 (about £41 or AU$83).
This smart thermometer keeps baby healthy
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Here’s what using Kinsa looks like: You turn on the thermometer by pressing the big white button, and it immediately prepares to pair with your phone via Bluetooth. Once you pair through the Kinsa app (which takes all of 30 seconds), the thermometer is ready to use. Take a temperature reading and it will show up in the app. All you have to do is enter your child’s name, assign the reading to them, and add any additional symptoms you noticed.
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Kinsa’s sensitive probe can be cleaned with rubbing alcohol and stored with an included clip-on cover.
Chris Monroe/CNET
While checking the temperature of a healthy baby is a good precaution, you don’t really need an app for it. Kinsa’s smarts help with situations where you must monitor a child’s temperature over time. For parents of children with known health concerns, this sort of information organization is invaluable.
Having a baby? Check out our takes on this related tech.
- The Fisher Price SmartConnect Sleeper
- The Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad
- The 4moms Infant Tub
As I mentioned, Kinsa costs $60. Compared to other ear thermometers, that’s a relatively reasonable price. But for new parents, it’s about as much as a decent sleeper or changing pad — and you’ll use both of those far more than a thermometer. For many parents, a $10 thermometer to use in their baby’s armpit will suffice. That said, if you find that you need an ear thermometer, Kinsa is competitively priced and smarter than the alternatives.
Oculus Rift: Price, shipping date and everything you need to know
Oculus Rift was a long time coming but it’s actually a real-life consumer headset these days. Oculus Rift, made for everyone rather than just developers, is available for the price of $599 or £499.
Orders are limited to one headset per person at this stage and you might have a lengthy wait for delivery, but at least it’s available now.
Of all the virtual reality (VR) systems, Oculus Rift is the one that probably commands the most headlines. It was a long time in development, it’s acquisition by Facebook garnered plenty of attention and its capabilities place it at the forefront of VR experiences. We’ve met Rift plenty of times during its development and have never failed to be impressed.
READ: Oculus Rift preview: The VR revolution begins here
If you’ve been following the Oculus story and you’re tempted by Rift, with porders open, here’s everything you need to know about buying this premium VR system.
Oculus Rift
Oculus Rift: What’s in the package?
The Oculus Rift £499 price gets you the headset itself. But Oculus is throwing in plenty more, so you can use it as soon as it’s delivered.
The Rift package includes the headset with built-in headphones and microphone, the sensor, and an Xbox One controller. Oculus’ own Touch controllers are also coming this year, so you’ll be able to play more motion-oriented games when they arrive. When you place your order, you’ll be put in the queue for the Touch devices too, should you want them to add to the experience.
The Oculus Remote is also included. This is designed specifically for VR use to make controls easier without being able to see what’s being pressed and it’s this you’ll use to browse the store and so on.
Crytek
Oculus Rift: What games come with the Rift?
There is a rapidly growing library of games available for the Oculus Rift already, include EVE: Valkyrie and Lucky’s Tale – the latter included for free with all headsets.
Plenty more titles are available on the Oculus Store, with over 100 due to be downloadable by the end of 2016 – including Minecraft. We can see plenty of people getting lost for hours in VR Minecraft worlds, although had some reservations when we tried it ourselves.
Other games due or have already been released this year from Oculus Studios include Rock Band VR, Edge of Nowhere and The Climb. There will be 20 exclusive Oculus games in total from the studio this year.
READ: The Climb preview: Virtual hands hanging-on with Crytek’s Oculus exclusive VR game
Oculus Rift: Can my PC run Oculus Rift?
The headset is only part of the equation: to use Oculus Rift you’ll need a PC too. There’s a quick check tool that will tell you if your Windows PC is powerful enough to run the headset on the order website right here.
Any PC that’s “Oculus Certified” will work with the headset, having been tested by Oculus. These start at a price of $1,500 and can also be ordered from a number of partners, as detailed on the Oculus website. There are various other initiatives to make sure you have VR compatible hardware such as the VR Ready label from Nvidia.
For those who want a quick confirmation of the hardware you’ll need, here’s a quick rundown:
- CPU: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
- RAM: 8GB+
- Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
- Input: 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
- OS: Windows 7 SP1 64-bit or newer
It’s worth noting that since Oculus posted its recommended specs, graphics card manufacturers have been hard at work making cards that can run VR but without costing the Earth. AMD announced during Computex that its Radeon RX480, priced at £160, will be VR-ready when it is available.
Oculus VR
Oculus Rift: What about “Oculus Ready” PC bundles?
Oculus VR began shipping its headset on its own earlier this year, on 28 March, but also recommends several PCs to go with it. The bundles include not only the headset but also the certified PC required to run it.Amazon, Microsoft Store, and Best Buy each sell these “Oculus Ready” bundles from Asus, Dell, and Alienware. Bundles start at $1,499 but can cost upwards of $3,000. For example, Alienware’s Area 51 desktop has a Haswell Core i7 chip with 16GB of memory and GTX 980 graphics, and it costs $3,149.
Each bundle also comes with the headset, sensor, an Xbox One controller, remote and Lucky’s Tale. Check out Oculus’ blog post for more details about all the bundles and how you can get one.
Oculus Rift: Where can I buy Rift?
Oculus Rift is now available to order on Oculus.com.
It’s priced at $599 in the US, £499 in the UK and €699 in the Eurozone. This price does not include taxes or shipping, which will vary by country.
Oculus Rift is available to ship to the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States.
As Oculus is struggling to make units fast enough to match the incredible demand, you might have quite a wait before your Rift ships. At present the site lists August as the shipping date for new orders (as of the beginning of June 2016).
Microsoft opens HoloLens platform to combine third party VR and AR
Microsoft has announced that its HoloLens platform is going to be opened up to the masses so that others can create their own devices.
Microsoft has also said these devices are just months away from becoming a reality we can own.
At Computex, Microsoft made it clear that the Windows Holographic platform will be opened up to third parties. That should mean that not only will the platform work with augmented reality but it could work with virtual reality also.
A demo was shown in which a HoloLens wearer created a virtual space and then invited an HTC Vive user to collaborate. This combination of augmented reality and virtual reality is being referred to by Microsoft as “mixed reality”.
While Microsoft admitted openly that it is working with HTC Vive, other potential hardware partners were not mentioned. That said Microsoft is currently working on the Windows Holographic platform in some form with Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and MSI.
Could the Windows Holographic platform become a one-stop shop for all virtual and augmented reality experiences? It’s a very real possibility that could help bring the virtual worlds together and, hopefully, help advance hardware and software creation and development in the near future. Microsoft compares it to the Surface, which has since spawned numerous similar devices.
READ: Microsoft HoloLens preview
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