Telegram Messaging Service Launches Bot-Powered Gaming Platform

Popular messaging app Telegram today announced the launch of a bot-powered gaming platform that enables users to play games right inside their chats.

Last year we launched a Bot Platform for Telegram. Free, powerful, and open, it was an instant hit among users and developers. Today we are aiming to push the boundaries further by launching a bot-powered Gaming Platform on Telegram. That’s right: you can now use bots to play games in your chats, complete with graphics and sound.

The company promises ‘hundreds of games’ are heading for the messaging service, but around 30 are ready to go live, many of them published by developer platform gamee. Games can be anything from simple arcades and puzzles to multiplayer 3D-shooters and real-time strategy games.

Users can start a game by interacting with a chat bot, either directly or by invoking a bot from an existing conversation thread using the @gamee alias. Gamers are also able to challenge friends on the Telegram service and start up competitions across existing chats, with high scores saved and updated for every game played in a thread and gamers notified if they get overtaken in a leaderboard.

Telegram is promoting the idea of users building their own games, which it calls ‘easy’, and reckons some can be created in a matter of hours. The technology powering the games is HTML5, so they’re loaded on-demand like ordinary web pages and therefore take up zero space on the host device.

To be able to play the games, users will need to update their apps to version 3.13, which should roll out on the App Store store today. Telegram is a free download for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

Tags: chat bots, Telegram
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TalkTalk ditches line-rental, probably not cheaper, definitely less confusing

TalkTalk is saying it’s returning to its “challenger roots” with the introduction of a new broadband pricing structure. The company says it has become the first major internet provider to reward its existing customers, as well as new ones, so that anyone who’s been with TalkTalk for 3 months or more can switch their package if there’s a better deal available.

The company is also rather generously promising no price hikes for 18 months, although it doesn’t say how much the price increase will be after those 18 months. But the biggest change is the scrapping of line rental charges, so you’ll only have one price to take note of when signing up, making the whole process a lot less confusing.

From today, if you sign up to TalkTalk’s services, you can mix and match the products you want – in a similar vein to Now TV’s Combo packages – choosing from broadband, mobile, TV and phone services. Current customers can also change their package and half of them will almost certainly pay less for their package.

TalkTalk has made it easy to choose a package, you’ll first need to choose between ‘fast broadband’, presumably of the copper variety, or ‘faster fibre broadband’. You can then add unlimited UK landline calls or choose from a selection of international packages, and then opt for a TalkTalk TV box for Freeview, or TalkTalk TV Plus which adds 30+ entertainment channels including Sky 1.

All packages come with unlimited broadband downloads, an essential mobile SIM with 500mb of data, 200 minutes and unlimited texts and TalkTalk’s Super Router.

The changes have been made to help regain consumer confidence after a number of hacks last year.Tristia Harrison, TalkTalk’s consumer managing director said of the new packages: “TalkTalk is changing. Nothing matters more to us than our customers and doing right by them is the right thing for our business. We’ve listened hard to what they’ve told us and we’re acting on it. People are fed up of confusing packages and loud advertising, they’re frustrated with deals which shoot up mid contract, and they hate seeing the best deals saved for new customers”.

“We know these changes are an essential service that really matter to people, so it needs to be simple, affordable, reliable and fair. We’re proud to be the first to make the big changes customers expect and deserve of their telecoms provider today”.

What is Westworld, when is it on TV and how can I watch it?

It was mid-2014 when HBO announced that it would make a small screen adaptation of Westworld and although we’ve had a lengthy wait it’s finally here.

Most will fondly remember Michael Crichton’s original film from the early 70s, with a robotic Yul Brynner terrorising vistors of a high-tech, sci-fi theme park, but the TV series takes the idea and expands upon it greatly. It is also, if early critical reports are true, essential viewing.

Some are even calling it the new Game of Thrones, which is some claim considering how big that has become over the last few years.

So here is our guide to Westworld and where and when you can watch it in the UK.

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HBO

What is Westworld?

The Westworld TV series takes the theme of the 1973 movie but builds upon it. For a start, the smaller theme park in the original is now an enormous world, where human fantasies, wants and desires can be acted out, no matter how depraved. Androids populate the park and visitors get to use them any way they like, including, but not reserved to murder.

In the film, there were three zones, based on the the wild west, plus Roman and medieval times, but the series solely focuses on the former for now. It also provides a few twists on the action, straying away from the basic thriller premise of the movie. After all, there are 10 episodes per series to fill.

The TV show stars Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden.

When is Westworld on TV?

Westworld episode one first aired in the US on HBO on Sunday 2 October. I starts in the UK on Tuesday 4 October at 9pm. Each subsequent episode will also air in the UK on a Tuesday, with the US equivalent two days prior.

HBO

Where and how can I watch Westworld?

As Sky has a long-term partnership with HBO, Westworld is screened on Sky Atlantic in the UK. That means Sky subscribers can watch it live on their Sky boxes, including Sky Q.

They can also watch episodes on demand from each respective day they air. The episodes will also be available to view on mobile devices and games consoles through the Sky Go, TV From Sky, or Sky Q applications.

Now TV subscribers can also watch the show live and on demand, as long as they have the Entertainment Pass. That costs £6.99 and is contract-free, so you can subscribe for the next 10 weeks to watch Westworld and cancel straight after. You will only have to pay for the month’s it is active.

Now TV apps are also available for games consoles, mobile devices and several connected streaming boxes and TVs.

Xiaomi finally goes offline with the Redmi 3S Plus in India

Xiaomi is finally targeting offline buyers.

Xiaomi is a force to contend with in the online space in India, but the manufacturer hasn’t paid attention to the lucrative offline market. That’s changing with the launch of the Redmi 3S Plus, Xiaomi’s first phone to be sold exclusively offline.

The phone is a new variant in the popular Redmi 3S series, featuring a 5-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 430 SoC, 2GB of RAM, 32GB storage, 13MP camera, 5MP front shooter, LTE with VoLTE, and a 4100mAh battery. Much like the Redmi 3S Prime, there’s a fingerprint sensor located at the back.

Introducing the #Redmi3S Plus, available exclusively via our retailers for India Mi fans! Love it? pic.twitter.com/4ayqRowPww

— Redmi India (@RedmiIndia) October 1, 2016

Going offline is the logical move for Xiaomi in India as it tries to continue its momentum from the successful launches of the Redmi Note 3 and the Redmi 3S. Over 70% of all smartphones are sold through offline distributors, and by targeting retail stores in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, Xiaomi will be able to cater to an entirely new audience. OPPO and vivo used the same strategy to their advantage over the course of the last year, and by going offline, Xiaomi can compete better with its Chinese rivals.

The Redmi 3S Plus retails for ₹9,499, and is now available from over 7,000 retail outlets across the country, including major chain stores like Sangeetha and Big C. Interested in knowing what’s on offer? Be sure to read our Redmi 3S review.

Lumsing’s new wall charger offers USB A, USB Type-C, and Quick Charge 3.0

Most people charge their phones from a computer or the wall charger they received with their phones.

But there are other options – including better, faster, more versatile ones. For instance, Lumsing’s 48W dual-port Quick Charge 3.0 and USB Type-C wall charger can power a MacBook, USB Type-C smartphone such as the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X, and other types of mobile devices, and it can do so up to four-times faster than the conventional way due to Qualcomm’s built-in Quick Charge fast-charging technology.

If you have multiple phones (say, an old Android phone with a Micro USB port, a newer Android phone with a USB Type-C port, or maybe even an iPhone with a Lightning port), it’s probably difficult for you to find a computer with several USB ports let alone USB Type-C to charge them all at once. Maybe you have a power strip next to your bed, but more likely, your phones are plugged into sockets scattered around your house.

The point is, charging phones can be a messy experience, and it can get more complicated if you throw in the added layer of wanting to use fast-charging technology. Enter the Lumsing 48W dual-port Quick Charge 3.0 and USB Type-C wall charger we mentioned earlier. It has two ports (USB A and USB Type-C), and it offers Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 as well as Quick Charge 3.0.

Lumsing, which makes not only chargers, but also portable power banks, headphones, etc, is trying to streamline how we charge our devices. Its dual-port wall charger is square-shaped and has a black, matte plastic body with a foldable plug. When the plug isn’t sticking out, which is handy for traveling, the charger looks like a mini Apple TV, so it’s sleek enough to carry around. 

Those two ports are positioned near each other on one end of the charger. The standard USB A port supports Quick Charge 2.0 and 3.0 from Qualcomm. Quick Charge 3.0 can charge phones like the new LG V20, LG G5, or HTC One A9 to an 80-percent charge in just 35 minutes.

More phones are actually compatible with Quick Charge 2.0, such as Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices, the LG G Flex 2, BlackBerry Priv, Moto X Pure Edition, and Nexus 6 from Google, but they won’t charge as fast as they do with 3.0.

The Quick Charge 2.0/3.0 port (19W) is an extra that makes the charger more versatile. It adds the ability to charge both Quick Charge-compatible and non Quick Charge-compatible Android phones fast enough.

Pocket-lint

As for that USB Type-C port, it is ideal for devices like the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X, which use another fast-charging standard (Fast Charge). During our time with Lumsing, we used it with a Nexus 5X and iPhone 6S. We therefore couldn’t test Quick Charge, but we absolutely loved the ability to efficiently charge both devices from one adapter – especially the Nexus 5X, as USB Type-C adapters and computers are still hard to come by.

Overall, we found the charger to be functional, reliable, and portable. The adapter itself also stayed cool the entire time rather than generate too much heat. It quickly became the No. 1 way we charged our phones. No longer did we use the USB Type-C wall charger that came with the Nexus 5X, nor did we plug our iPhone into a Mac at night. Instead, both charged via the Lumsing. 

Also, remember the Lumsing can even charge the new MacBook while charging your USB Type-C smartphone. Like we said, with this wall charger, you don’t need to bring several different chargers for all your devices when on the go, as one charger will fit them all and can fit into any purse.

We definitely recommend checking this gadget out. 

It costs $36.99 in the US and is available on Amazon (enter LUMUSBC1 at checkout to get $7 off – the deal starts from 12:01 am on 3 October and ends at 11:59 pm on 16 October). It’s also available in the UK from Amazon for £29.99 (enter LUMUSBC2 at checkout to get £5 off – the deal starts from 12:01 am on 3 October and ends at 11:59 pm on 16 October.

LG OLED G6 4K TV review: So good it’s almost silly, but it’s silly expensive too

Two things stand out about the 65-inch LG G6 OLED TV right from the off: its stunning design and its eye-watering price.

Where the latter is concerned, £6,000 is clearly a massive chunk of cash to consider dropping on a 65-inch TV. But the OLED65G6V’s design is so extraordinary that your hand automatically starts creeping towards your wallet as soon as you look at.

Seriously, the sight of the LG G6’s screen sitting on a frame that’s less than 3mm deep looks like the eighth wonder of the modern world. Especially given that the majority of the sub-3mm panel has been made of glass rather than boring old metal or plastic.

Essentially the OLED65G6V makes you feel like you’re watching pictures being conjured out of mid air by some sort of dark AV magic. But is it genuinely worth its asking price?

LG G6 OLED TV review: Design and connections

The OLED65G6V’s stunning slenderness is possible because LG has shifted all of the TV’s brains and connections into the distinctive desktop stand that juts back behind the screen’s bottom edge. This stand can be rotated back behind the screen to form a wall mount if you wish, and also sports a high quality, full-width soundbar attached to its front.

LG

This soundbar delivers a startling 60W of power across a 4.2-channel speaker configuration, and even goes so far as to build speakers into two of its sides so that it can always deliver forward-firing sound regardless of whether you’ve wall hung the TV or sat it on a piece of furniture.

The OLED65G6V’s connections – mounted rather awkwardly in the edges of the desktop stand – are comprehensive, including four HDMI, three USB and the usual Wi-Fi and wired network options.

The USB ports support recording from the built-in Freeview HD tuner to USB HDD, or playback of multimedia from USB drives, while the network ports support DLNA streaming from compatible devices and access to LG’s online features.

LG G6 4K OLED TV review: Apps and OS

These online features are a bit weird. For while you still get good stuff like the subscription streaming services of Amazon and Netflix – both offering native UHD and high dynamic range (HDR) streaming content – as well as Now TV, My5 (Channel 5’s catch-up service) and the BBC iPlayer, you don’t get the Freeview Play app found on LG’s cheaper OLED TVs for 2016. Which means you don’t get any support for the ITV Hub or All4 catch-up TV platforms.

LG

LG’s argument for stripping Freeview Play out of the OLED65G6V is that buyers of such a high-end TV will likely have external devices for delivering catch-up TV services. But if you’re going to make that argument, you arguably might as well not put any apps on the TV at all!

At least the G6 does still employ LG’s excellent webOS smart interface, with its crisp, economical, clean and responsive design.

LG G6 65-inch 4K TV review: Superb OLED panel

The OLED65G6V’s use of OLED technology isn’t just exciting because it contributes to the set’s extraordinary design. The way each OLED pixel produces its own light and colour independent of even its nearest neighbours has also made it the TV technology of choice for many picture quality connoisseurs.

What’s more, being able to deliver deep black pixels right alongside bright white ones without any of the light bleeding issues you get with LCD TVs in the same circumstances potentially makes OLED even more exciting in these days of HDR content.

Talking of HDR, the OLED65G6V handily supports both the common so-called “HDR10” format, and the Dolby Vision HDR take. Dolby Vision sources are scarce at the moment: in the UK only Netflix currently supports Dolby Vision HDR right now, on a very limited range of TV shows and movies. But Amazon has promised Dolby Vision support too, and it’s possible it will crop up on Ultra HD Blu-ray too, eventually. At any rate, there’s surely no harm in LG supporting both HDR formats even when no other UK TV brand currently does.

LG

The OLED65G6V also plays 3D Blu-rays (extremely well) if 3D is still on your AV radar.

Its specifications when it comes to contrast, brightness and colour join with its native Ultra HD resolution to earn the TV the AV industry’s Ultra HD Premium badge of HDR performance honour.

Actually, the OLED65G6V’s claimed ability to deliver 96-98 per cent of the digital cinema DCI-P3 standard’s colour range and maximum brightness output of between 650- and 700-nits both comfortably exceed the Ultra HD Premium requirements.

In action the OLED65G6V is at times – often, even – so good it’s almost silly.

LG OLED65G6V review: Blacker than black

With standard dynamic range (SDR) content of the sort most of us still watch for the majority of the time, the G6 is positively imperious. This set combines the best reproduction of black we’ve seen on a flat TV with dazzlingly rich colours, remarkable amounts of shadow detail in dark areas, and much improved brightness from the company’s 2015 OLED screens.

LG seems to have improved its colour management this year too, resulting in more consistently natural and accurate tones as well as enhanced subtlety when it comes to rendering even the tiniest tonal shift in 4K-resolution colour blends.

Also a treat to behold is the uniformity of the OLED65G6V’s lighting when handling dark scenes. The pixel-for-pixel light control of its OLED panel completely avoids the sort of light clouds, halos and stripes you get during dark scenes with LCD TVs.

LG

LG has even managed to almost completely remove the light banding problem (where light levels reduce in intensity in clear “steps” as your eye tracks the image from the centre out) that plagued 2015’s otherwise excellent OLED TVs.

You still have to be careful not to set the OLED65G6V’s brightness too high (stick to between the 49 and 52 settings) if you don’t want the screen’s normally stellar black level performance to take a bath.

Some slightly awkward motion handling can reduce the TV’s sharpness with action-packed 4K sources too. Overall, though, we say the OLED65G6V produces the best standard dynamic range pictures the TV world currently offers.

LG 65-inch 4K OLED TV review: HDR magic and misfires

The set’s stunning black level performance and pixel-level light control also give it leg up over the LCD competition with HDR content. Seeing bright HDR objects sitting amid near-black backdrops with no light pollution around them is a sight that never gets old. In fact, for many AV enthusiasts it’s a sight that’s enough in itself to make OLED irresistible.

The OLED65G6V also does a terrific job of delivering the wide colour gamuts associated with HDR sources, combining OLED’s natural colour strength with the extra vibrancy made possible by having such deep, immaculate black colours to bounce off. The old SDR pictures we’ve been living with for so many decades look drab by comparison.

While the OLED65G6V can look mesmerising with HDR, though, it can struggle at other times – especially when watching HDR10 content rather than Dolby Vision.

The issues are all connected with the fact that even though its near-700 nits of brightness is a significant improvement on previous OLED TV generations, it still falls way short of the 1000-nits most HDR content is mastered at – and even further short of the 4000-nits some HDR content is mastered at.

LG

That, ultimately, is the decision you make when buying an OLED TV: they’re always going to be darker than an LCD equivalent, but deliver better black levels.

Even so, the LG G6 can’t deliver HDR’s bright peaks with as much intensity as the brightest HDR-capable LCD TVs this year – especially Samsung’s KS9500 and KS9000 models. The KS9500 is actually capable of reaching brightness peaks twice as high as those you can get from the OLED65G6V, and these help make HDR content look both more dramatic and more like the intense light of the real world.

The OLED65G6V also struggles to resolve subtle colour and light tone differences when showing bright HDR whites and colours, leaving them looking monotone and low-res versus the rest of the 4K image.

Finally, in shots containing particularly extreme contrasts between bright and dark areas, the dark areas can draw your eye too strongly. This seems to be because some shadow detailing has gone AWOL, leaving the darkest areas looking rather hollow and one-dimensional.

LG G6 65-inch 4K TV review: Dolby delights

Dolby’s take on HDR interestingly works more successfully overall on the OLED65G6V than LG’s delivery of HDR10 – seemingly because it takes the limitations of the OLED panel into better account. There’s far less detail loss in bright areas, colours look both richer and more subtly delineated, and there’s a better sense of depth in dark areas.

There is an important trade-off for these improvements in the form of a lower overall brightness level. However, while this inevitably reduces the impact of HDR’s extra brightness, Dolby Vision HDR still looks much more impressive overall on the OLED65G6V than HDR10.

LG

The sound performance from the OLED65G6V’s speaker bar is exceptional, too. It plays music and movies alike with almost hi-fi levels of clarity, detail and precision, as well as having enough power and dynamic range to slide effortlessly through the sound mix gears of a good action film.

Bass extension goes much deeper than you usually hear with an integrated TV sound system, and voices are always clear and well rounded. The soundstage spreads comfortably beyond the physical confines of the screen, too, without becoming incoherent.

Verdict

To see an OLED65G6V is to want one. Its design is so stunning it’s almost obscene, while its contrast-rich pictures are often good enough to make grown AV fans weep. Amazingly, thanks to its built-in soundbar, it even manages to sound outstanding despite the screen’s ground-breaking slimness.

All of which has probably got you wondering why the mark at the top of this review doesn’t read full marks. First of all, while pictures look stellar for much of the time, you can get more spectacular – albeit more messily lit – HDR images from this year’s best LCD TVs.

The biggest problem, though, is that the margin of the OLED65G6V’s picture and sound superiority over LG’s step-down E6 OLED TV is quite small. Yet the price gap between the two TVs, at £1,500, is a far from it. The curved C6, minus the sound bar, is even less still.

As a result, much as we love most things about the LG G6, in the end it’s hard to sensibly suggest that anyone for whom money is any sort of object stump up for one when the almost-as-good E6 or curved C6 OLED panels can be had for so much less cash.