Live-action ‘Pokemon’ film snags ‘Gravity Falls’ and Marvel writers
There’s a live-action Pokemon film on the horizon, and Variety reports Legendary has two great writers in its sights to help pen the feature: Alex Hirsch of Gravity Falls fame and Nicole Perlman, who helped pen Guardians of the Galaxy.
Both writers are currently in negotiations to write the script for the Pokemon flick, which is said to be based on the Detective Pikachu game for 3DS. Curiously, it has yet to receive an English release.
With a quirky and accessible series like Gravity Falls under Hirsch’s belt and the massive success of Guardians of the Galaxy for Perlman, it seems as though this Pikachu-focused movie is actually in great hands, though it’s hard to say what about Detective Pikachu could actually constitute a movie. Why not a full-length Pokemon-only movie to keep options open?
Universal Pictures is going to tackle the film’s distribution outside of Japan, and The Pokemon Company’s collaborator Toho will handle distribution inside of Japan. There’s no set release date for the film just yet, but you can bet there’ll be plenty of news leaking out with the popularity of Pokemon Go and Pokemon Sun and Moon releasing later this year.
Source: Variety
Driverless buses to hit Finnish city’s streets
Finland has been testing autonomous EasyMile buses on public roads for a little while now, but away from the hustle and bustle of its big cities. Now the Scandinavian country is ready to try out the adorable, driverless people-movers on the mean streets of Helsinki.
Finland is one of the first countries to try out the minibuses on city roads thanks to its laws allowing cars to roam without a driver. Dubai had signed a deal with the company back in April to test the EasyMile vehicles, while a Japanese mall began using them to shuttle shoppers around this month. But neither of those will likely rival the live-traffic demands of the Helsini experiment.
The buses won’t be doing extensive hauls: the EZ10 model is built for short-range travel, say for ferrying folks between a metro station and bus stop, at a max speed of a little over six miles per hour. If all goes well, the vehicles will supplement but not replace existing mass transit networks. The test will run until mid-September.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: YLE
French mayor bans ‘Pokémon Go’ in his town
In what is either great technological misunderstanding or extreme territorialism, mayor Fabrice Beauvois wants every digital pocket monster out of his village. He mailed a decree to Niantic, creators of the mobile game Pokémon Go, demanding they pull their game from the 800-person settlement of Bressolles northeast of Lyon.
His umbrage: the company didn’t ask for permission before setting up shop. When a cafe or restaurant owner wants to open in a French town, they are obligated to ask the mayor first, Beauvois told the Associated Press. The same applies to Niantic even if they’re settling in to the village’s virtual space.
While Beauvois isn’t trying to ban the game in response to particular incidents in his village, he does want to ensure a sense of tranquility and peace. Of course, his further comments to the AP veered toward fear: that the game is spreading in a “contagious” way, that young people could become dangerously addicted and that it was his duty to ensure order in his town.
Niantic has begun heeding calls to remove functionality in particular areas, from the US Holocaust Museum to the entire nation of Iran. But Beauvois’ protective rhetoric feels fiercely French, a territorial control of what is and isn’t allowed that’s hot on the heels of Cannes’ ban on the Islamic burkini beach garb.
Source: The Associated Press
Apple Pay Launching at Chick-fil-A on August 19
Starting on August 19, Apple Pay will be available in Chick-fil-A restaurants across the United States, allowing fast food buyers to make their purchases both in-store and at the drive thru using Apple’s payment service.
The news was shared by the Chick-fil-A Twitter account following an inquiry by AppleInsider writer Roger Fingas, who had heard a tip that support was already rolling out at some Chick-fil-A locations.
Chick-fil-A was first announced as an Apple Pay partner in February of 2016, and support was supposed to roll out shortly after, but it has taken several months for the restaurant to implement Apple Pay. Chick-fil-A will also be accepting Android Pay starting on August 19.
@loneswords Yes, as of August 19th, Apple Pay and Android Pay are available for payment both in-restaurant and in the Drive Thru.
— Chick-fil-A, Inc. (@ChickfilA) August 17, 2016
Chick-fil-a rival KFC, which also specializes in fried chicken, began accepting Apple Pay at the beginning of June.
Apple Pay is now officially accepted by more than 100 retailers in the United States, along with all locations that allow contactless payments.
Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Storm: Another weather app from Weather Underground
The Essentials
Developer:Weather Underground
Category: WeatherLink:
Price: Free with ads and a $1.99 a year in app purchase to remove ads
Link: STORM APP
What you need to know
Storm is a weather app from the folks over at Weather Underground. It’s a deeper dive into 
the weather around you. The normal WU weather app gives you some of the same functionality as Storm but this app takes it even further for you weather nerds out there.
We get all sorts of cool (pun intended) features in this app. There are so many options here it is almost overwhelming. So let’s get started!
Opening the app brings us to a “Let’s find you some weather” page. We can search for a location or let the app use GPS to find our current location. Once we pick a location we are dropped onto a Map of that location. Along the bottom, we have Current, Hourly and Daily forecast boxes. Clicking on each gives you a ton of info about each one. For 
instance clicking on the current box brings us to a beautiful looking screen that has the current Temp, feels like temp, wind speed, humidity, gusts,dewpoint,pressure, visibility, and even the look back in the weather history for today showing record HI record LOW and averages for both too. We get just as much or more in the other boxes.
If that was not enough to impress your friends, channel your inner Al Rocker and throw some lightning and tropical storm tracking on that map and WOW everyone with your mad weather skills.
The app is supported by ads, but you can pay $1.99 a year to remove them. The ads did not get in the way when I was using the app and for the most part blended into the backgrou
nd then i was using Storm. This is a good thing and more ad-supported apps should take this approach.
There are a ton of weather apps out there. Some are really good and others are very basic and don’t give enough info. Storm is near the top on my list because of all the info that is right at your fingertips. I did notice that the lighting near me was not as accurate as some of the other apps I have used. If you are a weather nerd this app is sure to satisfy your need for weather domination. If you just want to know how far that lightning strike was from your current location, or how hot it is outside Store does that too.
If you are a weather nerd this app is sure to satisfy your need for weather domination. If you just want to know how far that lightning strike was from your current location, or how hot it is outside Storm does that too!
Find it in the Google Play Store Here
HP Omen X Desktop Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
HP is taking its Omen gaming brand very seriously, breaking out new, higher-end products as the Omen X. The flagship is the new Omen X Desktop, which is built into a giant black metal cube, complete with multicolored lights.
The cube sits perched on one edge, held in place by a small stand. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it just looks cool; second, it exposes more of the surface area of the case, allowing for better airflow and increasing the thermal efficiency of the system.
Sarah Tew/CNET
And with the ability to pack in nearly any high-end PC gaming component, cooling is something to take seriously. Despite the unusual design of the chassis, this is essentially a modular desktop, starting with a standard micro-ATX motherboard and supporting current-gen processors and either one or two desktop graphics cards.
Both Nvidia and AMD options will be offered, including the new Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 cards. Liquid cooling is also an option, and probably a good idea if you’re running dual GPUs. Naturally, most of the hardware configuration options will be VR-ready.
The Omen X Desktop should be available to order very shortly through HP’s website, and prebuilt configurations start at $1,799 in the US (no international price or release details are available yet).
HP’s new gaming cube, the Omen X Desktop
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But besides just ordering a finished configuration from HP, there are a couple of other options. If you’re a DIY type, HP will sell you just the empty case for $599 — no motherboard, no power supply, no components. Or, if you want a very extreme configuration, HP will send you to Maingear, a well-known boutique PC builder, and that company will start with HP’s empty chassis and build in whatever sky-high configuration you want, including rigid tube liquid cooling systems and custom automotive paint jobs.
2017 Jaguar F-Type review – Roadshow
Aug 2016
The Good The 2017 Jaguar F-Type Coupe’s beautiful exterior design covers a stiff, dedicated sports car with exceptional handling, enhanced by all-wheel-drive. Its supercharged 5-liter V-8 engine creates 550 horsepower and makes a ferocious growl.
The Bad The infotainment head unit relies on the driver’s phone for connected features and does not support Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Manual shifting with the eight-speed automatic transmission shows a little lag.
The Bottom Line With only two seats, the 2017 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe is a dedicated sports car, showing off remarkable exterior design coupled to impressive handling and power.
Few cars make you smile every time you see them. Today’s homogenous design makes it difficult to distinguish one car from another in mall parking lots, but the Jaguar F-Type is another story. It captures attention with its graceful, compact design.
Its nose may be shorter than an E-Type’s, but it works in proportion to the cab and the aggressive rear fenders. Nose and engine in front and cab at the rear makes for a classic sports car look with historic precedent.
The F-Type’s design makes it an exceptional car.
More exceptional are the performance dynamics of the 2017 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe I’m driving. Simply firing up the engine lets it sound off with an exhilarating growl. Set to Dynamic mode, this all-wheel-drive racer gives immediate power on throttle and scrambles through each turn like the big cat on its badge.
The Jaguar F-Type shows off exceptional sports car styling with its long nose and aggressive rear fenders.
Wayne Cunningham/Roadshow
Jaguar first launched the F-Type as a convertible in 2013, then followed up with the Coupe version. The sports car showed off a newly unleashed Jaguar design department following the company’s acquisition by India’s Tata Motors. Its base model comes with a 340-horsepower supercharged V-6 engine, but in R trim, its supercharged 5-liter V-8 makes 550 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque.
And it is quick: 3.9 seconds to 60 mph quick.
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The F-Type R Coupe is also a dedicated sports car, in that you won’t find any child-sized rear seats behind the front sport buckets. The rear track is almost 2 inches wider than the front, and an all-wheel-drive system, with a 63-to-37 rear to front torque split, comes standard.
The F-Type R Coupe is also a dedicated sports car, in that you won’t find any child-sized rear seats behind the front sport buckets.
Cruising down city streets, the powerful V-8 reacts well to the excessive stops and starts of low-speed traffic, with the eight-speed automatic transmission gearing towards smooth launches and economy. An idle-stop feature even steps in at stop lights to reduce fuel wastage, bringing the engine back online quick enough to avoid annoyance.
The smartly decked-out cabin helps mitigate a ride that, even with the F-Type R Coupe in comfort mode, proves a little too stiff for rough road surfaces. Low-profile tires do nothing to prevent curbing the 20-inch wheels.
Sitting in traffic, I get the occasional thumbs-up from other drivers, which I answer with a sport exhaust-enabled engine roar.
The Jaguar F-type’s all-wheel-drive system splits torque 63-to-37 rear to front.
Wayne Cunningham/Roadshow
Cruise control doesn’t include an adaptive function, so I’m on my own for braking, but a blind spot monitor system is a welcome addition, given the low roof. The dashboard holds an 8-inch touchscreen, not surprisingly standard in the upscale F-Type, but its navigation and entertainment software looks familiar from Jaguars of recent years. That means it’s a reasonably useful system, covering the basics, but it lacks a dedicated data connection for online services. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are also missing.
The Changing Face of iGaming Shows the Increasing Advancement of Virtual Reality
“Oculus RIft Crystal Cove prototype” (CC BY 2.0) by pestoverde
Virtual reality (VR) is reshaping the world around us. From the games we play to the adverts we watch, the combination of headsets and immersive graphics is making our virtual experiences more engaging and entertaining than ever. Indeed, from Facebook’s ToyBox project creating a new table tennis experience to Surgical Theater and Conquer Mobile turning CAT scans into 3D figures, companies of all shapes and sizes are embracing VR.
One industry that’s now moving further into the realms of VR is the iGaming industry. Since the industry first came to prominence in the early noughties, technology has played a huge role in the evolution of iGaming. Taking classic casino games such as roulette and blackjack and turning them into an online experience that people could play from the comfort of their own homes revolutionised the gaming community.
Casino Games Become the Latest Beneficiary of VR
“Casino Night 2.19.13” (CC BY 2.0) by Southern Arkansas University
In fact, the evolution of the industry can be demonstrated by one of the most popular casino games in the world, roulette. Today you’ll find three incarnations of the game at all of the major platforms. For example, inside Betway Casino you’ll find traditional online roulette in a range of variants. From American Roulette with 38 betting options to multi-wheel roulette where one bet can be multiplied by eight, the range of options at Betway has been carefully crafted to suit players of all persuasions.
Beyond its online offerings, Betway has moved with the times by creating dedicated iOS and Android apps. Offering all the same playability as their online counterparts but using touch technology to make a more efficient mobile experience, these games have opened up the genre to even more players. The final and most recent innovation from online operators is live dealer roulette.
Using the latest webcam and RFID technology, these tables essentially fuse the live and online gaming worlds in a single portal. Instead of playing against a random number generator (software that determines the result of a spin) and some animations, these games have real people spinning a real roulette wheel. Aside from being the latest step on roulette’s evolutionary ladder, it was the first movement towards virtual reality.
Although live dealer tables don’t offer a “virtual reality” experience in the same way product such as Oculus Rift do, the combination of real and virtual elements has helped to make the games more immersive. Picking up on this movement towards more realisitc gaming, Microgaming created its first VR product in late 2015. Demoed at various trade shows and titled VR Roulette, the software harnessed the power of Oculus Rift and Leap’s 3D controllers to make the first fully interactive virtual roulette game.
VR is a Game Changer for Everyone
“Samsung Gear VR” (CC BY 2.0) by pestoverde
While the industry is still a few years away from having VR Roulette available at every major platform, the seeds have been sown and that’s a testament to the technology. We now live in an age where gaming on its own isn’t enough. Gone are the days when a 2D platform game like Super Mario was enough to satisfy the hardcore gamer. Today we need hyper realistic scenery, online multiplayer functionality and, as is the case with roulette, real people assisting our virtual experience.
Virtual reality is the next step in this movement towards greater engagement and that can only benefit industries such as iGaming. Indeed, with analysts projecting that VR will be worth $120 billion by 2020, the range of features we’ll soon have access to will take things to levels we never even thought we possible. As we said at the top of the article, VR is reshaping the world around us. Whether it’s iGaming or advertising, our experiences are set to become virtually real in the coming years and that’s something we should be looking forward to.
‘Resident Evil 7’ gameplay vid proves safety is an illusion
Resident Evil 7 is looking as creepy as ever, if the latest trailer out of Gamescom 2016 is any indication.
The latest bit of footage to come out of what may be the most terrifying Resident Evil yet is a found footage nightmare, and this time it’s all gameplay from Resident Evil 7 proper rather than the Beginning Hour teaser.
A young woman is heard frantically communicating with an unknown person while trying to escape an unknown woman (“I can’t let her catch me again,”) traversing a ramshackle old bridge and deserted cabin. A creepy woman with a lantern is seen looking for the female protagonist, moving around erratically in pursuit. Just when she thinks she’s safe, the hideous stranger (bearing an uncanny resemblance to the ghost from P.T.), is in your face, hissing “Where do you think you’re going?”
Intense. Hopefully the rest of the game will follow suit when it releases in January 2017 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One with PlayStation VR support. You can check out the demo, Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour right now if you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber on PS4.
We’re live all week from Cologne, Germany for Gamescom 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Via: VG247
6 areas where the Note 7’s software looks different – CNET
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Samsung’s new Gear VR: There’s only one reason to buy it
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Not long ago, Samsung was known for the sheer amount of dramatic changes it made to the look and feel of Android. For those who don’t remember, Samsung’s TouchWiz skin was synonymous with bloatware and overloading devices with features users didn’t need or want.
Thankfully, Samsung has all but dropped the TouchWiz name (from its keynotes, at least) and greatly toned down the overall look and feel of its software. With the Note 7, Samsung furthers itself from TouchWiz and continues to refine its interface, making features easier to understand, and adding features people will want to use.
Here are some of the key changes Samsung made to the Note 7’s software:
Revamped icons
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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Samsung redesigned its core app icons, adding a more subtle look and flair to them. Email, for example, looks nothing like it does on previous Galaxy phones, while apps icons for My Files, Internet and Galaxy Apps are changed only slightly.
Quick Settings panel
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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
The same lighter touch Samsung took towards its own app icons spilled over into the quick settings panel. Individual settings are no longer kept inside a circle, instead the icons are placed just above a drop down option for each respective item.
How you interact with each setting has also changed. For example, you can still tap on the Wi-Fi icon to toggle its current state (on/off). But instead of long-pressing to view extra information (available networks, in the case of Wi-Fi) you can now tap on the dropdown option.
Additionally, you can now tap and hold on a quick settings icon to add, remove or rearrange various options.
New Settings page
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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
The Note 7’s proper Settings page has a completely new look. Gone are several pages of different options, placed in sometimes random categories. Now, the Note 7’s Settings page looks more like the standard Android settings page. That is, it’s a single list of categories, with brief descriptions and the ability to search for a specific setting.
One nice touch I’ve grown fond of while using the Note 7 is the “Looking for something else?” section at the bottom of each page, which links out to similar settings which can be accessed on a different page.
Camera interaction
The Note 7 has the same camera found in the S7 and S7 Edge, but the Camera app itself now relies on gestures to navigate between modes and settings.
Previously, the camera app on Galaxy devices used buttons and labels to navigate throughout the app. Now, with a swipe to the right you can switch between shooting modes. A swipe up or down switches between front and rear cameras, while a swipe to the left reveals filters.
Always on display
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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Samsung has added new functionality to the always on display of the Note 7 that makes it actually useful. Primarily, notifications from third-party apps now show up on the lock screen and can be opened with a double-tap on the icon. Also, you can now add a touch of personalization by changing the color of the clock and adding a background pic.
Blue light = Night Shift
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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
A new Blue Light feature replicates the Night Shift feature Apple first introduced with iOS 9.3. When enabled, you can change the color temperature of the Note 7’s display, which is supposed to make viewing a display at night easier on your eyes.
Samsung’s Blue Light setting can be enabled on demand, or set to automatically turn itself on and off based on your location and the time of day. Open Settings > Display > Blue Light filter to customize its settings.
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