Steam will soon natively support PlayStation 4 controllers
While it’s been possible to link a DualShock 4 to a PC to play Steam games, the functionality has been provided by third-party apps, not the companies themselves. Luckily, that will soon change, after Valve’s Jeff Bellinghausen confirmed to Gamasutra that the game company is working to include native support for other gamepads, starting with the PlayStation 4 controller.
“Believe it or not, when you use the PS4 Controller through the Steam API, it’s exactly the same as a Steam Controller. Not only is it a really nice, high quality controller, but it’s also got a gyro and a touchpad.” says Bellinghausen. “Existing native support for the PS4 controller on the PC is a bit weak; in this case Steam itself is communicating directly with the device so everything that’s nice and reliable.”
In the past, Steam users have relied on apps like DS4Windows to connect DualShock controllers to their PC. However, with native Steam support and the new DualShock 4 USB Wireless Adaptor, which already helps PC users play PlayStation Now games on their desktop, it won’t be long before Sony’s gamepad can be fully utilized — touchpad and all — without any additional customization.
Via: Polygon
Source: Gamasutra
Apple Previews Redesigned Flagship Regent Street Store in London
Apple today invited journalists to London, England to preview its redesigned Regent Street store, set to open this weekend. Dozens of images have been shared on Twitter and other websites, providing us our first glimpse at the revamped location that’s been under construction for more than a year.
The lower level of the redesigned store (Sebastian Anthony via Twitter)
Apple Regent Street now features Apple’s next-generation retail design, previously seen at its flagship Union Square location in San Francisco, including wide, open spaces with indoor trees, sequoia wood tables and shelves for displaying products, a large 6K video screen, and light boxes extending the length of the ceiling.
Two new side staircases lead to a second level (Ian Betteridge via Twitter)
The location now has a Genius Grove, a section at the center of the store designated for customers to receive support side-by-side with Geniuses under the canopy of local trees. This area is able to accommodate more customers than a traditional Genius Bar commonly found at Apple’s other retail locations.
Apple’s new Regent Street storefront (Nick Dines via Twitter)
In line with remodeling plans filed last year, the storefront is no longer adorned with four Apple logos in each window, but rather a large, white flag with the Apple logo. The central glass staircase has been removed, replaced with two new side staircases that lead to the second level with more product displays and workshop space.
Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts was on hand to preview the new store, designed by Foster and Partners, the award-winning architecture firm behind Apple’s upcoming Campus 2 headquarters and Union Square retail location. Apple Regent Street will open its doors to the public on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Related Roundup: Apple Stores
Tag: United Kingdom
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The second trailer for ‘Rogue One’ is here
Disney has dropped the latest trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, showing more of the main characters and building on details revealed in the last one. The film — which arrives on December 16th — is set in the time before the original 1977 film, as the rebels seek the Death Star plans. Felicity Huffman’s character, aided by Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, is actually looking for her own father, who is “critical to the development of the super-weapon.” There’s a more eye-candy, too, including an AT-ST walker, more ships, a better look at Darth Vader and … well, just watch it already.
Inside the redesigned Apple Store on Regent Street
Soon, Apple’s store on Regent Street, London, will re-open to the public. The gadget mecca has been given a radical makeover, retiring the old glass staircase and much of the first floor. In their place you’ll find a double height “grand hall” which stretches seven meters above you. Twelve trees have been added to the ground floor, as well as some circular sofas (made from Rolls-Royce leather), and two staircases made from a pale Castagna stone. Climbing these will take you to a smaller space upstairs, where Apple’s new “Creative Pros” can teach you about specialised software.
The same design concept was rolled out in the US earlier this year. Regent Street is the first location in Europe to receive the new treatment, however. It was put together by Foster+Partners, the same architecture firm working on Apple’s new spaceship campus in Cupertino. It feels pretty spacious, although I suspect that feeling will disappear when hundreds of customers are battling for an Apple Genius. The store also has a fresh, earthy look. In addition to the new trees, Apple has added some wall panels covered in foliage. The tall glass windows still reside at the front of the shop too, meaning there’s plenty of natural light pouring onto the demo units.
Before its public opening this Saturday (October 15th), Apple invited us to take a look around. The new design contains few surprises — it’s very consistent with Apple’s longstanding design ethos — but does highlight the company’s relentless push to improve its retail presence. Google, take note.
Facebook Live will host a collaborative escape room game today
If you enjoy live action room experiences (think zombies, puzzles etc) or fancy yourself as a bit of an armchair detective, it might be worth tuning into a first-of-its-kind Facebook Live stream later today. To celebrate the launch of its new crime drama, UK TV channel Alibi will host Framed, the “world’s first livestreamed escape room”, at 3pm ET/8pm BST — and it’s open to all.
The hour-long interactive murder mystery focuses on a security guard at an exclusive art gallery who finds himself trapped in a room with a dead body. The guard (who will be wearing a head-mounted camera for the duration of the stream) has 30 minutes to piece together what happened before he is framed for the crime himself.
Sounds like any other Escape Room puzzle, right? Well, because Framed is being hosted on Facebook Live, thousands (if not millions) of users can potentially get involved. If you do decide to tune in, you’ll be encouraged to debate clues in the comments and asked to vote using Facebook’s Reactions emoticons. The Guardian reports that moderators will also be on hand to wade through the comments and pick out the answers that will help the protagonist progress through the story.
With a potentially large audience working together, the story’s creators think it’s very possible that the crime will be solved sooner than expected: “In a way that will just prove our premise, that the audience are a bunch of brilliant amateur detectives,” UKTV’s Sam Pearson told The Guardian.
Framed will launch on October 13th at 3pm ET/8pm BST on Alibi’s Facebook channel.
Via: UKTV, The Guardian
Source: Alibi (Facebook)
Shazam adds in-app music video channels
You still probably got Shazam pegged as the app to launch when you want to ID a song. And it still does that, expect it now also comes with a bunch of extra features. The latest addition to its offerings? Videos, thanks to its partnership with music video platform Vadio. Now, when you ID a song, a curated music video channel will pop up that you can play within the application itself. It’s not clear at this point whether you’ll get something relevant to the song you Shazamed or something completely random.
Vadio assembles channels in different ways, so expect some to be on point and others to be more of a mixed bag. The platform employs human editors to create curated streams, but it also uses an algorithm that automatically generates them based on the latest trends. Plus, it allows brands to create their own.
Fabio Santini, the company’s Chief Product Officer, said in a statement:
“We continually look for new ways to expand the ways in which our users can discover music. We want to give fans a great reason to spend more time with Shazam by giving them access to a rich and immersive music video experience. In turn, this creates new revenue opportunities for artists and, moreover, powerful ways of gaining exposure for brands.”
Since the new feature will be available everywhere the app is active, you can test it out to see if it’s worth exploring or if it’s just another thing to ignore. Users in India, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nigeria and Venezuela who couldn’t care less about Shazam’s extra offerings, however, can always download its new stripped-down version for Android.
Source: Shazam
Soylent recalls its food bars after making some customers sick
You probably shouldn’t eat one of Soylent’s recently-launched food bars. The company is halting sales, and recalling existing bars following reports of of customers getting sick after eating its latest future-food. People have reported feeling nauseous, vomiting and even diarrhea.
“After hearing from our customers, we immediately began investigating the cause of the issue and whether it was linked to a problem with the Bars,” the company said. “So far we have not yet identified one and this issue does not appear to affect our other drinks and powder. Though our investigation into this matter continues, we have decided to err on the side of caution and take this preventative step.”
As reported by Ars Technica earlier this week, while many reports were sent directly to the company and its own official forum (it’s not cheery morning reading), more appeared on Reddit threads, with complaints doubling since Monday.
Launched in August this year, (the same month that the smoking, exploding Galaxy Note 7 was also introduced to the world), Soylent has already removed the food bars from its online store for the time being and has cancelled shipping orders.
Mileage varies, but many customers suffered assorted tummy troubles a few hours after eating the bars. One unfortunate customer relays a story about having a reaction so severe that he felt faint, and had to be taken to hospital. Soylent has already tested the bars of some affected users for contaminated materials and bugs: those tests came back negative.
Some customers had eaten other Soylent products without problems, including the meal-replacement drink that brought the company to the attention of many — especially Silicon Valley-based workers looking for a time-saving meal hack. The company says that each food bar packs 12.5 percent of your daily nutritional requirements — priced at two dollars per bar.
Ars was told by a source that the company was also looking into whether the soy-based nature of the bar was triggering food intolerance reactions. The soy protein inside each bar apparently comes from three different sources and they may not be mixed evenly as the bars are made, according to the source. Two of these aren’t found in other Soylent products.
Source: Soylent
TSMC Breaks Earnings Records Thanks to Increasing Demand for iPhone 7
Thanks to a boost from supplying parts for the increasing demand of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has raised its forecast for 2016. Specifically, the manufacturer expects a revenue growth of between 11 and 12 percent, whereas it was previously holding out only for an increase of between 5 and 10 percent for the year (via Reuters).
Third quarter net profit jumped 28 percent from previous quarters to $3.1 billion, which came in above analyst predictions of an approximately $2.9 billion forecast for the July-September quarter. It also set a new quarterly record for the company in the net profit category, which previously sat at $2.5 billion.
Overall revenue for the quarter broke another record for the company, with revenue amounting to $8.1 billion in total, a 23 percent increase from the second quarter of 2016. In addition, the company recently said that revenue for the first nine months of 2016 jumped 7.1 percent to $21.6 billion, increasing 39 percent in September alone thanks to the launch of the iPhone 7. According to industry insiders and confirmed by teardowns of the handset, TSMC mainly supplies the iPhone 7 with its A10 chip.
TSMC’s good fortunes have also been inversely related to Samsung’s ongoing Galaxy Note 7 debacle, but executives at the Taiwan-based manufacturing company noted that it’s “too early to tell how business will play out.”
“Samsung is a very strong company,” TSMC acting spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun, told reporters at a briefing after the company met analysts. “I think the issue today is that even they (Samsung) cannot say what has caused this, so this makes everyone nervous.”
Looking at the fourth quarter, TSMC predicts revenue to remain steady at around $8 billion, but the company forecasted its results just under the $8.1 billion third quarter earnings. The numbers for the rest of 2016 didn’t factor in the potential for increased profit from users displaced because of Samsung’s scrapping of the Note 7.
“The previously anticipated inventory reduction at the end of Q4 will be mild,” co-CEO Liu said during the earnings briefing. “The end of this year will be more peaceful than in previous years. We see end-market demand is still healthy.”
While still not quite as popular as last year’s model, shipments of iPhone 7 units are expected to reach 80 to 84 million units in the second half of this year, compared to 85 to 90 million iPhone 6s devices shipped in the latter half of 2015. Samsung’s exploding Note 7 battery problem is believed to be a catalyst to a potential boost in iPhone sales, with a recent SurveyMonkey poll finding that 26 percent of Note 7 owners plan to use their refunds to switch to Apple’s flagship phone.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tag: TSMC
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No seriously, return your Galaxy Note 7
Some people are tempted to hold onto the Note 7 — here’s why that’s a really, really, really bad idea.
As Samsung officially cancels the Galaxy Note 7 and works with the U.S. authorities on a recall of all devices, both old and new, there’s been a growing chorus of Note 7 owners saying they’re keeping hold of their phones. In a way, it’s understandable. When it’s not catching fire, exploding or spewing “angry grey-green smoke,” the Note 7 is one of the best Android phones out there. It’s easy to see why you’d hesitate to part with it and ostensibly take a downgrade to a Galaxy S7 edge or some other phone.
But that’s no reason to risk your own safety, and that of the people around you. And in the weeks and months ahead, expect Samsung to do everything in its power to make sure you’re aware of the recall, and turn your Note 7 in.
Here are just a few reasons why you should listen to the manufacturer’s advice.
1. It could explode at any moment (duh)
Let’s start by stating the completely obvious: There’s a reason why Samsung has canceled the Note 7, and why the CPSC has issued a second recall. The Galaxy Note 7 is not safe. It’s not safe to use, and could explode at any moment — while charging, while in use, and potentially even while switched off. Recall that the infamous Southwest airplane incident involved a Note 7 combusting while powered down.
Here are a few possible scenarios which could unfold if you keep your Note 7 around:
- Your Note 7 is sitting on your nightstand while you’re sleeping and it starts spewing noxious gasses, as happened to one Note 7 owner in Kentucky, who was later taken to hospital with acute bronchitis. The phone in question was not in use or charging at the time.
- Your Note 7 explodes in your pocket, causing deep second-degree burns, as allegedly happened to one Note 7 owner in Florida who’s now suing Samsung over the incident.
- Your child is using the Note 7 when they’re injured by it catching fire in their hands, as happened in one case in Minnesota.
- Your Note 7 is powered down and stowed when it spontaneously combusts, as happened on a Southwest airplane during boarding. If can happen on an airplane, it can happen when it’s powered down in a drawer, in a box, or sitting on a kitchen counter doing nothing.
You get the idea. There is no safe way to keep your Note 7 around, and if you plan on holding onto it for any length of time — even packed away as a collector’s item — the chance of one of these things happening increases exponentially over time.
2. Samsung is going to nag you to death with push notifications
Samsung will do everything in its power to cajole you into returning your phone.
During the first Note 7 recall, Samsung went to great lengths to make sure customers knew about the recall, and it plans to do the same again. This includes push notification messages, texts from your carrier, and eventually a software update notification that’ll keep popping up every few hours.
Samsung wants you to turn in your Note 7. And it has complete control over your phone’s software, and will do anything in its power to cajole you into doing just that.
3. A future software update will hobble your battery life
Among other things, Samsung is likely to issue a software update to all Notes, as it did during the first recall. As before, we can expect battery life to be capped (probably around 60 percent, as during the first recall), and for additional software nags to appear each time you plug the device in, telling you to return it.
Think you can just refuse the software update? Last time around Samsung made sure the update notification popped up every few hours, with no way to permanently dismiss it.
Those are extra annoyances you’ll have to endure if you’re dead set on continuing to use this potentially explosive smartphone.
4. … And your phone may eventually be remotely deactivated
One card Samsung has yet to play is the remote deactivation of all Galaxy Note 7s. This was rumored to be one of the tools at Samsung’s disposal during the first recall, but the company later denied any plans to do so. Make no mistake though — Samsung is absolutely capable of doing this.
This probably won’t happen anytime soon, but it’s entirely possible the “nuclear option” of remotely disabling all Note 7s still in service might be used a few months down the line. Even if Samsung doesn’t do this, individual carriers may block the Note 7 from accessing their network by blacklisting their unique IMEI numbers — to much the same effect.
5. There’s no future update support
Samsung has canceled the Galaxy Note 7. That means no new security patches, no new feature updates, and certainly no upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat — ever.
6. You can’t bring it on an airplane at all, in any capacity
The second recall in the United States means it’s now prohibited to bring a Galaxy Note 7 onboard an airplane in any capacity, whether it’s powered on, switched off or stowed in luggage. A statement given to Gizmodo by the FAA around the time of the original recall reads:
If the device is recalled by the manufacturer, airline crew and passengers will not be able to bring recalled batteries or electronics that contain recalled batteries in the cabin of an aircraft, or in carry-on and checked baggage.
That means if you’re caught with a Note 7 onboard, don’t expect to be allowed to fly. Maybe you’re not a frequent flier right now, but do you really want to be tied to a dangerous phone that limits your travel options further down the line?
And with Samsung withdrawing the Note 7 globally, airlines and aviation authorities in other countries are sure to follow the FAA’s lead.
7. There’s no resale value
Aside from the fact that the CPSC recall of all Note 7s makes sale of the device illegal in the United States, nobody’s going to want to buy one when it’s time to move onto a new generation of phones. (You’ll also face issues shipping the phone, with couriers and delivery firms reportedly refusing to carry the Note 7.)
Even if you’re planning on holding onto it as a memento or collector’s item, remember that the Note 7 doesn’t need to be powered on to be potentially explosive. There’s been at least one report of the device spontaneously catching fire while powered off.
Return your Galaxy Note 7 and get one of these Android phones instead
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Galaxy Note 7 fires, recall and cancellation: Everything you need to know
- Do not buy a Galaxy Note 7
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
- The latest Galaxy Note 7 news
- Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!
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