Don’t worry, ‘Super Mario Run’ is coming to Android too
Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first Mario-centric release for the iPhone, is coming to Android, too.
So if you were feeling left out with your Galaxy S7 or Note 7 (just kidding, those were all recalled) you can rejoice! You too can enjoy Mario’s one-handed adventure, hitting the App Store this December.
There’s no word on when Android owners can expect to see the game on the Google Play Store, however. When speaking with Kotaku, Nintendo noted that the game would be released on Android devices “at some point in the future.”
In the meantime, you might want to get some practice in with New Super Mario Bros., since that seems to be where Super Mario Run seems to have drawn most of its inspiration, at least minus all of the one-handed stuff.
Via: Kotaku
Apple drops iPad prices while bumping up the storage
While Tim Cook and Co. didn’t make any iPad announcements on stage earlier, Apple’s tablet range did get a few changes today. Like the iPhone line, Apple is bumping the minimum storage to 32GB across the board and keeping the same price as the previous 16GB models. The iPad Pros now top out at 256GB of storage, but you’ll actually be paying less per gigabyte than in the past.
Things get a little more complicated, depending on which model you’re looking for, however: The iPad mini 2 now only comes in a 32GB size for $269 or $399, depending on whether you go WiFi or cellular. The WiFi-only models of iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 4 now cost $399 for 32GB or $499 for 128GB, but those are your only storage options. (For reference, an iPad mini 4 with 128GB was $599 at launch.)
On those iPad Pros, Apple has actually dropped the price on each storage option. Now, the high-end 12.9-inch, 256GB WiFi version will run you $999, down from $1099 previously. Same goes for the 9.7 inch model, which got a $50 price cut on the middle tier and $100 less expensive on the 256GB.
Click here to catch all the latest news from Apple’s “See You” event.
Via: MacRumors
Source: Apple
After Math: iPhone 7 edition
The newest iPhone is out, well all of it except for the headphone jack. But that’s not all that Apple announced during its press conference in San Francisco this morning. The company also showed off its new Apple Watch, boasted about its wildly popular App Store and Music service, explained the 7’s dual camera system and debuted some fancy new wireless earbuds. Numbers because how else will you know how much it’ll cost to replace those AirBuds you’ve already lost?
Apple’s AirPods toe the line between usefulness and gimmickry
Apple’s embracing this whole “no headphone jack” thing in a big way, and there’s no better indicator than the company’s new, $159 AirPods. They’re not quite ready for public consumption — the launch is scheduled for next month — but Apple had plenty of pairs to play with here at its iPhone launch event in San Francisco. As far as first impressions go, the AirPods certainly seem neat enough. Still, do they have the chops to become a must-have for iPhone owners? I really, really doubt it.
First, a caveat: Apple’s press room is still pretty insane, and the din of journalists is truly horrifying. As such, it was hard to tell exactly how nice they did (or didn’t) sound. That said, what I did hear wasn’t very far from the quality I always got out of Apple’s normal, wired earbuds — that is, pretty good but nothing to write home about. A Justin Timberlake track that an Apple spokesperson fired up felt a little too airy for my liking, and while we’ve all got different tastes, I was hoping for more out of a pair of pricey earbuds. Hopefully it was just the wrong music in the wrong place, and the AirPods are actually capable of more.
What you’re really paying for are the smarts inside the AirPod. Pairing them to an iPhone 7 was as simple as putting them next to each other and waiting for the setup panel to appear on the phone’s screen. (This is apparently how Apple Watch pairing will soon work, too). After that, you can double-tap on the buds to start chatting with Siri — all the usual commands work — and pulling one of them out of your ear stops the music completely. There are also some neat noise reduction tricks here for when you’re taking calls using the built-in microphone, but I didn’t get a chance to ring up my friends and properly try it out.
More importantly, Apple says these things will last up to 5 hours on a single charge, a claim we have no way of verifying right now. For those of you keeping track, though, Samsung claims its similar Gear IconX earbuds only last for 3 hours on a single go-around. Then again, the IconX also double as actual workout buddies, an avenue Apple didn’t try to pursue even though the Watch Series 2 and iOS 10 emphasize user health pretty heavily.
At the very least, their familiar design ensures you know what you’re getting into. If Apple’s EarPods never really fit snugly in your ears, well, you’d probably do well to stay away. I’ve personally never had a problem with their fit, so they nestled nicely into my ears and stayed there even as I wagged my head around like a huge dork.
There are other things to keep in mind, too. You’ll be able to pop the ‘Pods back into their carrying case for some extra juice though I’m sure some people will be miffed that there’s no way — a wired adapter, maybe — to get them juiced up while keeping the music flowing. Having used wireless earbuds like the Earin in the past, this isn’t a huge deal for me, but I wonder if Apple will eventually cook up an accessory to address this subtle issue.
It’s far too early to tell if the AirPods are worthy wearables or just a neat gimmick that builds on the promise of Apple’s increasingly wireless future. At this point, I’m not terribly thrilled, but here’s hoping the final models are capable of greatness.
Snapchat considers offering public stock
Snapchat is growing fast, which means that it will need more money… and it may be taking the steps it needs to bring in that extra cash. The Information’s sources claim that Snapchat is talking to investment banks about the possibility of an initial public stock offering either in late 2016 or early 2017. It’s not certain what share price Snapchat would set, but it reportedly wouldn’t value its overall worth at significantly more than the $16 billion it does now.
The company isn’t confirming or denying the apparent leak. A spokesperson only says that an IPO would hinge on a “variety of factors,” including some that are “beyond our control.” Chief exec Evan Spiegel has publicly maintained that the company “need[s] to IPO,” though, so it’s more a matter of when Snapchat sells shares than if. It certainly wants to avoid the mess that was Facebook’s IPO, where the share price didn’t pop and many investors felt burned.
And while you’re not necessarily going to invest in Snapchat yourself, an IPO could have a tremendous effect on how the service behaves. Public companies are under much more pressure to turn a profit, and that means both cutting money-losing features as well as finding more ways to earn some coin (just ask Twitter if you have any doubts). Your favorite feature might vanish, or you could see more ads than you did before. To some extent, Snapchat is already preparing itself — it appears to be dropping Local Stories, and it’s introducing behaviorally-targeted ads. While the core messaging and video story features are very likely to stay, don’t be surprised if many other elements change in the months ahead.
Source: The Information
The Aftermath: Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro event
For an hour-long media event, Sony packed a ton of new info into 60 minutes. Release date and prices for both the PlayStation 4 Slim and PS4 Pro, tons of HDR footage from upcoming games and even a few bits about how the PS4 Pro would better handle PlayStation VR games. That’s on top of perhaps the biggest announcement of the keynote: All 40,000+ PS4s will get an update that adds HDR video capability. And that’s just the beginning.
PlayStation 4 Pro games look amazing, but don’t expect real 4K
The PlayStation 4 Pro is undoubtedly the most powerful game console I’ve ever seen. Its GPU (powered by AMD’s new Polaris technology) is more than twice as fast as the original PS4, and it sports a faster clock speed as well. But while Sony is marketing it as the ideal console for 4K gaming, the truth is a bit more complicated. Rendering 4K games is something that’s still tough for high-end PC gaming rigs today. So Sony is giving developers a variety of ways to make their games look better than standard 1080p titles on the PS4, even if they can’t quite reach 4K.
According to Peter Wyse, SVP of production and development at Warner Bros. Interactive, there are two optimized rendering options available to PS4 Pro developers. “Resolution mode” made lets them lock games into a resolution beyond 1080p (I’ve found 1440p works well in PC gaming). “Quality mode,” on the other hand, dynamically scales the resolution depending on the game is performing. Wyse says you can expect resolutions that are up to 90 percent close to 4K in that mode.
Shadow of Mordor, a WB title, looked great on the PS4 Pro, even though it wasn’t running completely in 4K. There was more detail in player outfits and the environment, and on the whole it looked just as good as it does on a powerful PC. The same was true for Rise of the Tomb Raider — at one point, I could make out the plumage of a bird sitting on a cliffside. Most players likely won’t notice if PS4 Pro titles don’t reach 4K completely, so long as the results they’re seeing look better than the standard PS4.
To be clear, true 4K rendering is possible as well on the PS4 Pro, but it looks like we’ll only see it on some titles. Bethesda has the Elder Scrolls Online actually running 4K, but that’s a game that also benefits from an engine that scales across a wide variety of PC hardware, from integrated laptop graphics to powerful GPUs. And graphically it’s not nearly as detailed as most AAA games. According to Matthew Firor, the game’s director, it didn’t take much effort to get it up and running on the PS4 Pro. And since he’s mainly been developing for the PC, his team is used to creating games that scale with incremental hardware upgrades.
Here’s the thing gamers will have to get used to: 4K doesn’t matter as much as you think. The PS4 Pro’s real power will be in running games higher than 1080p and together with high-dynamic range lighting. (Sony is also making HDR available to all PS4 models via a firmware update.) The higher resolutions will make things look sharper and more detailed overall, while the HDR lighting will give bright scenes and shadows more depth. Both The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 looked strikingly different on the PS4 Pro, thanks to the graphical upgrades. (Though Naughty Dog might have downplayed just how good the games looked on the previous hardware to make the new gear seem better.)
Compared to the Xbox One S, which is basically just upscaling existing games, the PS4 Pro is effectively a “4K gaming” machine. And unfortunately for Microsoft, it won’t have a real 4K competitor until Project Scorpio debuts next year.
Nintendo loses a little piece of its identity with ‘Super Mario Run’
Today, Nintendo announced Super Mario is going mobile — Super Mario Run will launch on iOS and Android before the end of the year. We knew the company was making more content for smartphones, but for long-time Nintendo fans, this announcement still feels like a shock. For years, Satoru Iwata rallied hard against bringing Nintendo characters to the small screen. “If we did this,” he said in 2011, “Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo.” The company’s leader was adamant: putting Mario on mobile would make good short-term profits, but would ultimately devalue the property. Now that it’s here, we have to wonder — is Nintendo still Nintendo?
The answer to that question might lie in Nintendo’s motivation in taking Mario to iOS. At the 2011 Game Developers Conference, Iwata described Nintendo as a company that makes “platforms designed to demonstrate the high value of high-quality video game software.” Like the seal on your old NES cartridge says, Nintendo means quality. Can that quality persist on a mobile device? At the time, Iwata didn’t think so. “These platforms have no motivation to maintain the high value of video game software.”
On the other hand, innovation is core to Nintendo’s identity. Last year, Iwata told TIME that company’s philosophy is rooted in being unique and different. “That philosophy has been passed down to us,” he said. “For us to be able to do something unique that is different from others, being able to design the hardware in order to create unique software experiences gives us the best option.”
He was reaffirming the company’s focus on building dedicated console hardware — but in almost the same breath he praised smartphones as a platform for innovation, describing the mobile market as an opportunity to bridge the gap between casual gamers and Nintendo’s dedicated game console. Again, the idea was focused on high-quality, innovative games “We will be able to deliver unique experiences to the users of smart devices,” he concluded.
So, let’s recap: Nintendo is quality. Nintendo is innovation. Will Super Mario Run hold enough value in either to keep Nintendo… Nintendo? Without actually playing the unreleased game it’s hard to tell for sure, but at a glance, it fails on at least one count — innovation. Super Mario Run looks fun. It looks well made. It has good graphics and might have some fun hooks to keep players interested. Buyers even get the whole game at once: Nintendo hasn’t priced it yet, but says there are no in-app purchases to nickle and dime you. Sadly, none of that is innovative. Super Mario Run is essentially an perpetual runner game — a title where the main character always moves forward, no matter what. There are hundreds of those.
This puts Mario in good mobile company, but it makes Nintendo’s biggest property a me-too game. Games like Canabalt, Temple Run, Subway Surfers and Jetpack Joyride have already saturated the mobile market with high quality runner experiences. Even Mario’s long-time rival has one: Sonic Dash. Mario’s running down a road well travelled.
We could give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt and assume Super Mario Run will be a high-quality representation of a well tread genre — but it’s hard to tell how innovative it really is. Nintendo says players will be able to change Mario’s direction and perform other movements by hitting special blocks, and i’s levels certainly look more complicated than what you get in your average procedurally generated endless runner title. It’s possible the company could be preparing to launch the magnum opus of running games — the best possible use of the genre. That would be at least a little innovative, if a little less so than we’re used to from Nintendo.
Caption Contest: Tim Cook shows Maddie Ziegler the iPhone 7
Apple unveiled its newest iPhone in San Francisco today and, despite some backlash over its “courageous” stand in removing the handset’s conventional headphone jack, the iPhone 7 seemed well-received by the crowd. Among those in attendance, Maddie Ziegler, Sia’s dancer/mini-doppelganger. After the keynote, Apple CEO Tim Cook showed off some of the phone’s new features, but what was on the screen that has Ziegler so entranced?
Well, that’s for them to know and you to make up because it’s time to play Caption Contest! The rules are simple: Tweet us (@engadget) with the hashtag #EngadgetCaptionContest whatever funny, weird or oddball idea you think they’re talking about and we’ll retweet the best submissions as well as add them to this post. You’ll be internet famous! Unless, of course, you decide to act like a major hoser and engage in personal attacks or lascivious conduct, in which case we’ll mute/ban/ruthlessly mock you. Here are some suggestions by our staff to get your creative juices flowing.
Aaron Souppouris: “We actually have a headphone port we just covered it up for kicks”
Andrew Tarantola: “Here you can see the precise moment that Harambe was assassinated. Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left.”
Nathan Ingraham: “That PS4 Pro footage looks DOPE!”
Roberto Baldwin: “See, we have a money vault just like Scrooge McDuck”
Cherlynn Low: “That’s where we kept Craig Federighi and his hair today”
Terrence O’Brien: “Here’s ones of me and Bono, and here I am with Ryan Tedder, and here’s one of me in a car with Pharrell and James Corden, oh and did I tell you about the time I met…”
Richard Lawler: “…and with this button I can put a U2 album on any iPhone”
Kris Naudus: “And this is what Nintendo stock looks like today”
Jessica Conditt: “Let me show you how messaging works by opening this text I just got from Anthony Weiner”
Apple Watch Series 2 Continues to Offer Same Battery Life as Original Apple Watch
Despite rumors suggesting the Apple Watch Series 2 models would feature longer battery life than the original Apple Watch models, technical specifications for the new devices shared by Apple suggest the Apple Watch Series 2 will continue to offer up to 18 hours of battery life — the same as Apple Watch Series 1.
Part leaks indicate the Apple Watch Series 2 may indeed have a larger battery built into it, but it appears any increase in battery capacity is being consumed by the new GPS chip introduced in the Series 2. GPS, which will bring better location tracking to the Apple Watch, can drain a significant amount of battery.
Apple didn’t mention the battery life of the Apple Watch Series 2 on stage or point towards any battery improvements, so we will need to wait for a device teardown to see exactly what’s inside.
In addition to a new GPS chip, the Apple Watch Series 2 features a more water resistant casing suitable for swimming, a display that’s brighter in direct sunlight, and a second-generation dual-core S2 system-on-a-chip that offers 2x faster graphics performance and 50 percent faster CPU performance. Power drawn by the GPS chip may also be mitigated by the new S2.
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