Ishtar Commander is a Destiny player’s best friend (App Review)
You wake up in the early 2700s, long, long after the golden age, the arrival of the fallen and the collapse. You’re greeted by your ghost who informs you that he’s been looking for you for a long time. You look around to find yourself in fallen territory surrounded by nothing but destruction. You have to make it to the wall to get to safety….
And that’s how your journey begins. From that point, you become a guardian of the last city on Earth. Protected by the traveler and bathed in light, the Tower sits above the city as a symbol of hope of what we may be again, one day. Throughout your missions, you begin to accumulate new weapons, new armor, vehicles, shaders, and emblems. You can only carry so much, so the others must remain in your Vault or be deleted.
This is where Ishtar Commander comes in.
In late-game Destiny you’re more than likely running three characters, a combination of Warlocks, Hunters, and Titans (with their tiny little T-Rex arms). Moving guns, gear, and ghosts between characters can be accomplished at the Tower with the Vault, but that’s a slow and painful process.
Usage
When you boot up Ishtar Commander (the app name comes from a location in the game) you’re greeted with a login screen for either your Xbox Live or PlayStation Network account. The app hooks directly into Bungie’s (the creator of Destiny) system to move items around. There are no fancy parlor tricks that leave your items at risk of being lost.
You’re able to move between your three characters and the Vault with simple swipes to the left and the right. The top of the screen lists which character you’re currently viewing and at the bottom, you can click on tabs for Weapons, Armor, Inventory, and Progress. Weapons and Armor are pretty self-explanatory. Inventory covers everything in your Materials and Consumables list in Destiny, as well as Emblems, Shaders Vehicles, Sparrow Horns, Ships, and Emotes. It’s your “catch-all” screen if you will.
In my opinion, where the real power of Ishtar Commander lays is the ability to move things in and out of your Vault and in between character at a moment’s notice. I routinely run the raid with three different characters and use specific weapons during the raid. If I were to have to run to the Tower every time I wanted to move weapons it would take much, much longer.
Another really important feature within Ishtar Commander is the ability to save loadouts. There are many different activities in Destiny and everyone has their preferred weapons for things like the Crucible, the Raid, or Heroic Strikes. Each activity can have its own separate loadout saved for quickly moving weapons and gear over quickly so you can jump into games as fast as possible. You can also hit “maximize light level” to pop your light level up as high as possible for engram decrypting purposes.
Within the settings you can turn on turn on settings for light level, armor grades (for you tier 12 chasers), and hidden stats.
Everything works flawlessly within the app. If you don’t have room to send a weapon to another character, you get a very clear error explaining why. There’s no guesswork. While there have been some issues in the past with functionality, the devs seem to have figured it out recently and we’ve had a long period of silky smooth performance.
Graphics and Sound
With apps that focus on functionality, there is sometimes a letdown in the graphics and sound departments. Luckily, Ishtar Commander avoids any kind of serious issues.
There are very clear sections for each type of weapon (Primary, Special, Heavy) and the icons for each weapon are large enough to easily tell exactly what you’re selecting. My only gripe is the large amount of space between each section. It seems to just be a waste.
There aren’t many sounds in the apps besides a clip from Destiny during your initial boot-up and some error sounds. The sounds are consistent and not annoying so no issues there.
Conclusion
I use Ishtar Commander every time I play Destiny. While that isn’t as much as I may like these days, I can usually get in a couple hours with friends during the week and run the raid. Ishtar Commander saves me so much time and frustration. I no longer have to run back to the Tower and switch between characters to move guns, materials, and consumables.
The devs have been excellent communicating with the community and pushing constant updates. When something breaks, it’s immediately addressed. You rarely see dev support for a free app like this.
If you’d like to pick up Ishtar Commander, you can head over to the Play Store!
Watch the Olympics in 4K Ultra HD on Comcast, DirecTV or Dish
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games are almost here, and despite the issues present in Rio, watching from home should be better than ever. If you’re in need of something else to display on your brand new Ultra HD television then we have good news — NBC will have 4K, HDR footage with Atmos surround sound available that’s actually downsampled from 8K (which you can see for yourself, if you live in Japan). The only problem? Not every TV provider will be pushing it to viewers, and it will be on 24-hour tape delay.
US viewers have four choices for Ultra HD broadcasts from the Olympics: DirecTV, Dish, Comcast and EPB. Chattanooga residents will have to contact EPB for details on how to get channel 803, while DirecTV is promising a linear broadcast on channel 106. Dish Network will not have the Opening Ceremony available initially, but promises a broadcast on channel 146 and video on-demand highlights that will be in 4K, but won’t feature HDR. For Comcast, you should be able to see all the clips, but it isn’t pushing any Ultra HD via its cable boxes at all. Instead, footage will only be available to people who have Samsung or LG Smart TVs with the Xfinity preview app built-in.
Source: NBC
Uber has served 100 million trips in New York City
As Uber strikes million-dollar deals in China, it’s also celebrating a milestone in one of the first places it established itself: New York. The company has announced that it’s now delivered 100 million trips to users in the city, which explains why it’s investing deeply in things like global mapping — to the tune of $500 million. It’s not all happy mergers and expansion: the company is still fighting bans, suspensions and fines across the world; you’re still going to have to hire a normal taxi if you’re planning a trip to Hungary, for example.
On June 30, 2012, we reached 1,000 trips in NYC. Today, we reached 100,000,000. Where to next, New York? pic.twitter.com/s2a0ILX4GC
— Uber NYC (@Uber_NYC) August 1, 2016
Source: Uber NYC (Twitter)
Theranos intros new ‘fingerprick’ testing tech despite its woes
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has introduced a 95-pound testing device called “miniLab” at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry meeting in Philadelphia. The controversial blood testing company, which promised results with just a fingerprick, has been in hot water ever since The Wall Street Journal published a series of articles detailing its flawed results and other issues. In fact, it voided its past test results and lost its contract with Walgreens over the past few months. Holmes was also banned from owning a lab for two years. That’s why the convention’s the attendees were expecting a presentation clarifying the science behind its fingerprick-testing technique, according to Bloomberg.
What they got instead was the announcement of a brand new device different from its old Edison machine. WSJ’s sources said Theranos barely used Edison, because the results it produced weren’t always accurate. But just like Edison, the miniLab was also designed to test for a variety of illnesses, including Zika, using just a drop of blood. Holmes said the machine is even capable of detecting additional strains of the Zika virus. Many attendees were obviously skeptical of the new machine — “I certainly didn’t see anything that lives up to the expansive claims they made,” one pathologist told Bloomberg — but the CEO said Theranos already submitted the new device to the FDA for approval.
Source: Reuters, Bloomberg, Stuart Blitz (Periscope), Theranos
Whirlpool WRB322DMBB Bottom Freezer Refrigerator review – CNET
The Good This Whirlpool bottom freezer offers the best performance of any fridge we’ve ever tested, and it comes at a reasonable asking price, to boot.
The Bad The design is boring and the features are few and far between. Certain build aspects also feel flimsy.
The Bottom Line If you value performance over gimmicks, then this unassuming icebox is the fridge for you.
The Whirlpool WRB322DMBB is a good fridge. Yes, it’s plain-looking inside and out, and no, there’s nothing unique about it. It doesn’t have any flashy features. It isn’t as stylish as today’s French door models are. It won’t make your neighbors jealous.
But this is a good fridge — a really good fridge. At $1,400 (or $1,500 if you want it in stainless steel), it offers cooling performance that’s as strong as any refrigerator we’ve tested, including ones that cost thousands of dollars more. Basic build aside, it’s a solid option, solid enough to unseat last year’s LG LDC24370ST as our pick for best bottom-freezer fridge. If you’re shopping for a bottom freezer and you value performance, I’d have a hard time finding a reason to recommend anything else.
Tall, dark, and powerful: Meet the Whirlpool…
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The Clark Kent of refrigerators
You’ll find 15.6 cubic feet of storage space in the body of the fridge — a decent amount of room for groceries.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Bottom freezer fridges flip the script on the traditional top freezer build that many of us probably grew up with. Like the name suggests, bottom freezers put your frozen goods down below the fridge compartment. This makes it more comfortable to reach fresh groceries, though you will need to bend over a bit to grab a frozen pizza.
As bottom freezers go, the WRB322DMBB is a pretty basic one, with a plain-looking 22.1 cubic-foot interior. 15.6 of those cubic feet are allocated to the fridge compartment — that’s a bit better than the 14.8 cubic feet in the Kenmore Elite 78022 and the 14.9 cubic feet in GE’s Artistry Series bottom freezer, but not quite as big as the 16.4 cubic feet in the LG LDC24370ST or the equally-sized LG LDCS24223S that replaced it this year.
Both of those LG fridges sit atop the bottom freezer storage space scoreboard, but the WRB322DMBB isn’t far behind. We had no trouble finding room for all of our test groceries, and we were very nearly able to fit all six of our large-sized stress test items in, too (the party platter didn’t quite make it in). All in all, it’s a very solid result for a relatively inexpensive bottom freezer model.
Whirlpool vs. the bottom freezer competition
| 15.6 cubic feet | 16.4 cubic feet | 14.8 cubic feet | 14.9 cubic feet | 14.9 cubic feet |
| 6.5 cubic feet | 7.7 cubic feet | 7.3 cubic feet | 6.0 cubic feet | 6.0 cubic feet |
| 22.1 cubic feet | 24.1 cubic feet | 22.1 cubic feet | 20.9 cubic feet | 20.9 cubic feet |
| Yes (in freezer) | Yes (in freezer) | No | Optional (+$89) | Yes (in freezer) |
| No | No | No | No | No |
| Yes (+$100) | Yes (+$100) | Yes (+$200) | No | Yes (+$100) |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 584 kWh | 608 kWh | 589 kWh | 488 kWh | 572 kWh |
| $70 | $73 | $71 | $59 | $69 |
| $3.17 | $3.03 | $3.21 | $2.82 | $3.30 |
| $1,400 | $1,500 | $1,800 | $1,200 | $1,550 |
| $1,165 | $1,300 | $1,250 | $1,075 | $1,395 |
The klutzy crisper bins come out way too easily.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
Less solid: the interior design. Specifically, I’m talking about the drawers — they’re wobbly and plasticky, and they don’t catch very well when you open them, which caused me to accidentally yank them all the way out of the fridge on several occasions. They’re my least favorite thing about this refrigerator.
Google’s 2016 Nexus phones could feature a new launcher
While we’ve had early looks at Android Nougat for months, it appears Google may be saving other software tweaks for its next Nexus devices. Android Police has screenshots that it says show “in progress” evidence of the new software, with a replacement for the Google Search bar widget at the top, a new way to open up the app drawer and space for potentially revamped navigation buttons.
As some commenters mention, the slide-up app drawer shown in the pictures brings to mind the Android experience of we started with on the T-Mobile G1. Up top, the slide-out G button for searching and calendar widget look well-positioned for a focus on the new Google Assistant AI. As the calendar keeps turning, we’re getting closer and closer to seeing the new Nexus lineup, but even these leaks could change by then — stay tuned.
Source: Android Police
New Apple TV Remote app lets you control Siri on Apple TV from iPhone
Apple has released a new app, called Apple TV Remote, and it sort of replaces the previous Remote app.
Teased at Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference last year, the new Apple TV Remote app has been available for developers since June and was released to the public this afternoon. It basically includes support for some of the new features introduced on the latest Apple TV, although it’s still an early version and could do with another update that adds even more functionality.
The new Apple TV Remote app isn’t available as an iPad app yet, and it lacks Home Sharing features that would let you control iTunes on a Mac. Apple’s original Remote app for Apple TV, which is still available to download, works with iPad however (except for 12.9-inch iPad Pro units).
Here’s how Apple described the new app:
“Apple TV Remote is a great companion to Apple TV, delivering the best of the Siri Remote. With Apple TV Remote, you’ll never need to put down your iPhone to enjoy Apple TV. Control Apple TV with a swipe of your finger or use the keyboard to quickly enter text. And you can use the app along with the Siri Remote.”
Stand-out features include the ability to navigate Apple TV with touch gestures, quickly enter text, email addresses, and passwords using the keyboard, and of course ask Siri to find something great to watch, listen to, or play. Keep in mind this Siri capability requires the fourth-generation Apple TV. The app also lets you control the movie, TV show, or song that’s currently streaming.
You can even use the new Apple TV Remote app to play games (with your phone’s accelerometer and gyroscope) and enable on Game Mode for simplified game controls, according to Apple, which originally said it wanted to release the app “in the first half” of 2016.
Apple didn’t quite make that deadline – but it’s here now. Download it free of charge from the Apple App Store.
Amazon dreamed up these cool headphones that listen for your name
Amazon might be getting into the noise-canceling headphone biz – only its headphones are really smart.
The thing about noise-canceling headphones is that they let you block out all the sound surrounding you, letting you focus on the audio coming in from the two cans attached to your ears. They’re marvelous little things, but they’re also super inconvenient for those nearby who might want to get your attention, as you likely won’t be able to hear them as they call your name.
In an attempt to make this problem no more, Amazon has been awarded a patent for a new type of noise-canceling headphones that can actively listen for specific sounds – whether that be sirens or even someone yelling your name. When it detects one of these types of sounds, it’ll stop the noise-canceling aspect of the headphones, enabling you to hear the world around you.
Amazon’s patent describes a technology that can analyse noise for distinct triggers. Amazon is likely building off its existing technology, as it has already done a lot of work in voice-recognition through its Amazon Echo platform.
As always though, this is just a patent and may never come to fruition. Still, it’s cool to see what the company is dreaming up for potential future products.
What’s on your HDTV: Summer Olympics, NFL preseason
It’s time for the 2016 Summer Olympics, broadcast live from Rio (in HD, Ultra HD 4K with HDR and VR!), so you know what I’m watching this week. The tape-delayed Opening Ceremony kicks things off Friday night, but after that all the sports will be broadcast or streaming live. Football fans can rejoice as preseason action gets rolling, while gamers have several nice choices with Telltale’s Batman game on all platforms with Crowd Play, or Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked on consoles. Key & Peele’s Keanu is here on Blu-ray and Netflix is ready to premiere a new David Cross comedy special plus The Little Prince.
Blu-ray & Games & Streaming
- Batman: The Killing Joke
- Ever After High: Epic Winter (Netflix, 8/5)
- The Lobster
- Keanu
- Meet the Blacks
- Mother’s Day
- The Girlfriend Experience (S1)
- The Blacklist (S3)
- Blindspot (S1)
- The Knick (S2)
- Dead Island Retro Revenge (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 1 (Everything)
- Risk: Urban Assault (PS4, Xbox One)
- Battleship (PS4, Xbox One)
- This is the Police (PC)
- Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked (PS4, Xbox One)
- Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart (PS4)
- Overcooked (PS4, PC, Xbox One)
- Cannon Brawl (Xbox One)
Monday
- American Ninja Warrior, NBC, 8PM
- So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, 8PM
- WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
- The Fosters, Freeform, 8PM
- Meet the Donors: Does Money Talk?, HBO, 9PM
- I Am JFK Jr., Spike TV, 9PM
- Chris Harris on Cars, BBC America, 9PM
- Guilt, Freeform, 9PM
- Rizzoli & Isles, TNT, 9PM
- Angie Tribeca, TBS, 9PM
- The Making of the Mob, AMC, 10PM
- Major Crimes, TNT, 10PM
- Are You the One?, MTV, 10PM
- Unreal, Lifetime, 10PM
- Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, TBS, 10:30PM
Tuesday
- Difficult People, Hulu, 3AM
- Casual, Hulu, 3AM
- America’s Got Talent, NBC, 8PM
- Whose Line is it Anyway?, CW, 8PM
- WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
- Coupled (season finale), Fox, 8PM
- MADtv, CW, 9PM
- Zoo, CBS, 9PM
- Animal Kingdom, TNT, 9PM
- Deadliest Catch, Discovery, 9PM
- 60 Minutes Sports, Showtime, 9PM
- Scream, MTV, 10PM
- Feed the Beast (season finale), AMC, 10PM
- Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Wrecked, TBS, 10PM
- Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
Wednesday
- Beat Bugs (S1), Netflix, 3AM
- Chelsea, Netflix 3AM
- Penn & Teller: Fool Us, CW, 8PM
- America’s Got Talent, NBC, 8PM
- Unsung Hollywood: Charlie Murphy, TV One, 8PM
- Young & Hungry (season finale), Freeform, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- CMA Music Festival, ABC, 8PM
- Baby Daddy (season finale), Freeform, 8:30PM
- Suits, USA, 9PM
- American Gothic, CBS, 9PM
- Dating Naked, VH1, 9PM
- Kingdom (season finale), DirecTV, 9PM
- The Night Shift, NBC, 9PM
- Mr. Robot, USA, 10PM
- Tyrant, FX, 10PM
- Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons, HBO, 10PM
- Another Period, Comedy Central, 10PM
- The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, MTV, 10PM
Thursday
- Olympic Preview, NBC, 8PM
- Battlebots, ABC, 8PM
- Home Free (season finale), Fox, 8PM
- Greatest Hits, ABC, 9PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 9PM
- The First 48, A&E, 9PM
- Ripper Street, BBC America, 10PM
- Lip Sync Battle, Spike TV, 10PM
- Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, FX, 10PM
- Queen of the South, USA, 10PM
Friday
- David Cross: Making America Great Again!, Netflix, 3AM
- The Little Prince, Netflix, 3AM
- 2016 Summer Olympics, NBC, 7:30PM
- Masters of Illusion, CW, 8PM
- Killjoys, Syfy, 9PM
- Dark Matter, Syfy, 10PM
- Outcast, Cinemax, 10PM
- Ridiculousness, MTV, 10PM
- The Eric Andre Show (season premiere), Cartoon Network, 12AM
Saturday
- Summer Olympics, NBC, 8PM
- Sorority Nightmare, Lifetime, 8PM
- 2 Lava 2 Lantula, Syfy, 9PM
- Boston EMS, ABC, 10PM
Sunday
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- Preseason NFL: Packers vs. Colts, ESPN, 8PM
- Hamilton, History, 8PM
- Celebrity Family Feud, ABC, 8PM
- Inspector Lewis, PBS, 9PM
- The Night of, HBO, 9PM
- Ray Donovan, Showtime, 9PM
- The Hunt, BBC America, 9PM
- Power, Starz, 9PM
- Naked & Afraid XL, Discovery, 10PM
- Survivor’s Remorse, Starz, 10PM
- Braindead, CBS, 10PM
- Motive, USA, 10PM
- Ballers, HBO, 10PM
- Roadies, Showtime, 10PM
- The Jim Gaffigan Show, TV Land, 10PM
- Murder in the First, TNT, 10PM
- Vice Principals, HBO, 10:30PM
- Tunnel, PBS, 10:30PM
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM
(All times listed are ET)
Pokémon Go hits 100 million downloads
Pokémon Go is still going strong, despite privacy scares and feature bugs. According to a report by App Annie, it has now been installed over 100 million times, up 25 million from late July. While that number is from an analyst report and the actual number of downloads could be slightly different, it’s not that hard to believe. As TechCrunch noted, the game was downloaded 50 million times on Android within only 19 days according to previous estimates, whereas it took 77 days for ColorSwitch to get to that point.
App Annie also says that the game still earns over $10 million in daily revenue from both iOS and Android apps, over three weeks after it was released. Despite its success, it doesn’t seem to have an adverse effect on other applications. The analyst’s report mentions that other games saw their daily revenue drop for a few days after the app was launched, but they quickly bounced back. Further, it has popularized augmented reality apps and has given other developers an example of how to create engaging games.
“By now, it should be clear that Pokémon Go’s launch was a watershed moment for AR and its success has not come at the expense of other mobile games or apps,” the report concluded. “Instead, it has opened up new engagement and revenue opportunities for the entire app ecosystem by creating a model to close the online-to-offline (O2O) loop.”
Via: TechCrunch
Source: App Annie
AIVAnet 