Amazon rolls out early Black Friday Alexa-exclusive deals

Alexa, what are your deals?

Amazon has started offering early Black Friday deals that can be purchased only through Alexa. Just ask the voice assistant “Alexa, what are your deals?” on the Echo, Echo Dot, Tap, Fire TV or the Fire HD tablet, and you’ll receive a list of all the items on sale. Alternatively, you can also head to the dedicated deals page on Amazon to find all the items on sale.

Here are a few notable deals:

• Amazon Tap – $79 – $50 off – say, “Alexa, order an Amazon Tap”
  -Samsung 32-inch 1080p LED TV – $119 – $80 off – say, “Alexa, order a Samsung TV”
• Sphero Star Wars BB-8 – $30 off – say, “Alexa, order a Star Wars robot”
• Philips Hue LED Starter Kit with 2 bulbs & Hue Bridge – $15 off – say, “Alexa, order a Hue Starter Kit”
• Beyerdynamic Limited Edition Headphones – $80 off – Beyerdynamic Limited Edition Headphones

Alexa-exclusive discounts are valid until November 21. Amazon is also throwing in a $5 gift card on orders over $10 in value placed through Alexa.

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Google Pixel lens flare: What it is, and how to avoid it

There’s a “problem” hitting Pixel phones: camera lens flare.

One thing is clear: when you’re taking pictures with your Pixel of scenes that have one main source of bright light, you can often see what’s known as “lens flare.” It is definitely A Thing, but how widely this is happening and how unusual it is compared to other cameras (phone or not) is rather overblown.

To better understand what lens flare is, how it happens and how to help avoid it when shooting with your Pixel, we have a comprehensive explanation for you. Read on.

What is lens flare?

Lens flare is a well-known characteristic of cameras by which light enters the lens and when passing through multiple lens elements refracts and produces harsh light artifacting on the resulting image. Lens flare is most pronounced on larger, longer lenses, like zoom lenses on DSLRs. But it’s important to note that camera phones aren’t impervious to flare just because their lenses are small — these small cameras still have several lens elements that trap light and sometimes create interesting light artifacts.

Each camera sensor and lens handles flare in a different way — the Pixel’s camera most often exhibits a faint white/pink/purple ring near the edges of the frame. Some cameras show it as more of a tight circle in the frame or a series of circles cascading across the image. The Pixel’s lens flare is most pronounced in situations when most cameras produces lens flare, such as looking directly at the sun or in scenes where an image is dominated by a single strong source of light from the side.

How to avoid lens flare on the Pixel

Now that you know just what lens flare is, how do you “fix” lens flare on your Pixel? Well, there are several parts to this — and unfortunately there isn’t a silver bullet to fix it entirely. It’s important to note right off the top that having your Pixel replaced is not a potential fix, as all Pixels have the same lens flare characteristics.

Lens flare will never disappear entirely, but you can do a few things to avoid it.

When it comes to lens flare, your only real hope is to recognize when it could happen and hope to avoid situations that most often produce the types of lens flare that the Pixel is susceptible to. As noted above, the big scenes that create lens flare are those in which you’re looking directly at the bright sun or are indoors with a strong source of light on the edge of your screen.

Beyond simply not shooting these sorts of scenes (which may not be an option), you can work to minimize the effect of the lens flare. When shooting toward the bright sun, it will help to put the sun off-axis or in the corner of the frame. If you’re shooting indoors with a bright source of light, let the light come from behind the camera rather than directly off to the side. Not only will these two methods help better balance the lighting and color of the entire shot, it will also reduce or eliminate the lens flare.

If you’re still finding that your Pixel is exhibiting far too much lens flare for your liking, an additional fix is on the way in the form of a software update, actually. Google has acknowledged that many Pixel owners are unhappy with the lens flare, and is working to have the camera software identify and synthetically remove egregious lens flare when you shoot in HDR+ (as the Pixel is set to by default). The software update should be arriving in the coming weeks.

Between the forthcoming software update and some extra thought while shooting, you’ll be able to reduce the occurrences of lens flare in your photos from the Pixel. Now and then you’re still likely to take a shot that has it, but that’s going to happen on any camera at some point — work to remove it when possible, and embrace it and keep the photos even when it happens!

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Siri could one day be a more effective assistant when iMessaging

Apple has filed for a patent that would see its Siri personal assistant become a more serious competitor to the likes of Google Assistant. Google Assistant can be found in Google’s Pixel phones, the Allo app and the Google Home speaker. It’s able to hold proper conversations and deliver results to questions within the context of what’s on screen or what’s previously been asked.

Siri on the other hand is able to handle relatively complex queries, but sometimes struggles with the context of conversations.

The patent in question, first spotted by Apple Insider, shows Siri being used within iMessage group chats to provide directions to a meeting place, schedule meetings, send money via different payment channels and more. The example of scheduling a meeting works by one participant asking Siri when every member is free to meet up. Siri is then able to tap into all participants’ calendars to find free times and suggest them to everyone.

Users can then vote which one suits them best and Siri will add it to their calendars.

The new and improved Siri could also send money to other users and could scan the other person’s iPhone to see which payment methods are supported and activated and suggest one to use.

Of course, there’s the issue of privacy at stake, and the patent says all users are able to choose whether to opt in or out or Siri accessing their personal data during iMessage chats.

For now, this is just a patent, although it was apparently filed in May 2015. However given the rise in popularity of voice-enabled personal assistants, we wouldn’t be surprised if Apple is working day and night to bring the new features to iPhones in the not-too-distant future.

Google Play Newsstand is the latest Google app to get a makeover

Following the update to its Play Music app, Google has kept the paint brushes out and given the Play Newsstand app a makeover too. The Newsstand app is designed to combine free and paid for editorial content from newspapers and magazines, and is now better equipped to compete with the likes of Flipboard and Apple News. You can see how the app used to look by clicking the link below.

• Google Play Newsstand app, a hub for all your favourite news sources

The redesigned app now has four tabs at the bottom of the screen: For You, Library, Explore and Read Later.

For You shows you some of the top stories trending worldwide, as well as stories Google thinks you’ll be interested based on your reading habits, which it picks up and learns over time.

Library is where you can select which news outlets you want to get your stories from, as well as reorder the main subject headings to give you a more personalised feed. Explore is where you’ll find stuff you may not have known about or news outlets you’ve never heard of before and Read Later does what it says, it’s a place to save stories to, well, read later.

For You is probably the most powerful tab of the four, as it brings up only articles Google thinks you’ll genuinely be interested in, even going as far as to give a short reason why it thinks you’ll like it. When you go into a story you’ll be presented with full colour images that can be viewed independently, autoplaying videos if they’re embedded in the article and subjects mentioned in the story for you to click on and read further stories.

Related stories are mentioned at the bottom too, so you’re never short of something to read. Once you’ve read a story, Google will grey it out so you can easily see what you have and haven’t looked at.

• Google Play Music gets smarter and prettier

A search bar is permanently pinned at the top of the For You tab, although it disappears when you go into a story. It’s there so you can always quickly navigate to something new, rather than having to scroll all the way back up to the top of the page.

The redesigned Google Play Newsstand app is now available to download for free on Android, iOS and even as a Chrome web version.

‘Beasts of Balance’ is a true digital board game hybrid

Hybrid board games are not a new concept. There’s only so much you can track with paper, dice and pen before it becomes ‘Spreadsheet: The Game.’ A companion smartphone or tablet app can, under the right circumstances, be a useful scorekeeper or dungeon master. Beasts of Balance, a new game by Sensible Object, takes this concept one step further with a deeper, more dynamic digital experience. While you stack objects on a podium, a real-time strategy game takes place on-screen. Both affect one another: The situation in the virtual world encourages you to play certain objects. Likewise, the beasts you position on the tower have ripple effects in the digital game. Mastering both is the key to a dazzling high score.

The aim is to create a world filled with beautiful, bizarre creatures. You work co-operatively with friends, taking turns to place the beasts on a podium. Once they’ve been played, the animal will appear in the digital world with a score. There are six in total, and they’ve all been designed so you can stack them in different ways. Each one has a small, ornate marking on its surface that can be read by the plinth via NFC. A quick tap indicates the piece has been selected, and a scale hidden under the base knows when it’s been added to the tower successfully.

Eventually, you’ll want to play an “artefact” piece. These larger, flat tiles are useful in order to keep your tower from falling over. They also modify what’s happening in the digital world, changing your creatures and the scores attached to them. The “cross” artefact, for instance, will create a hybrid based on two of the beasts you’ve already played. The “migrate” piece, meanwhile, will encourage them to move into a new, unusual habit where they can grow stronger. Elemental artefacts boost animals in particular environments, such as the sky, which is useful because their scores deplete when more “beautiful” creatures emerge around them.

Creating the animal pieces was no easy task. “It’s tough to make something that looks recognisable but also has a style to it,” Tim Burrell-Saward, a product designer at Sensible Object said. “Something that’s stackable and also manufacturable. It’s really hard to juggle those things together. We did lots of 3D printing — we couldn’t have done this without access to that. You can design something on screen or on paper, but it isn’t until you have it in your hands that you can play with it and see if it’s weighted correctly, or if the angles are too hard. There are just so many different variables.”

At any time, you can look at the app to see your world and the beasts within it. There’s no way to really “win” the game — you’re just trying to nail the highest score possible, which is calculated based on your creatures and the values attached to them. It’s a simple, but colorful interface, buoyed by jungle-esque music produced by Fez and Hyper Light Drifter composer Disasterpeace. A quick glance will tell you the creatures that need boosting and the ones you might want to turn into hybrids. Monitoring this ecosystem is vital as new animals are introduced and interact with one another, changing their values and your score.

The basic strategies are twofold. Firstly, you need a tower that’s tall and strong, otherwise you won’t be able to play the maximum number of pieces. For this, you need to play the beasts in an order that will produce the most stable structure. The second, and often conflicting strategy, is to play the animals in response to what’s happening in the digital game. To stop a beast’s score from dropping to zero, you might want to play an elemental artefact, even if it threatens to topple the tower. It’s also important to consider the hybrids you’re making — they command different scores and allow you to create even weirder creature combos later.

The game is over when your beasts and artefacts fall to the floor. Nimble groups can continue playing, however, if they quickly reassemble the tower. A countdown timer is visualised with a volcano on your phone or tablet — complete the rebuild before it erupts and you’re safe to keep going. It’s a neat idea that stops games from ending prematurely. At any time, seasoned players can rearrange the tower — removing a piece that will trigger a potential eruption, with everything settling back down once they’ve finished tweaking the structure. These rebuilds are especially useful in the latter stages of the game, when your beasts are balanced precariously.

I played a few matches with the Sensible Object team and was surprised by the game’s depth. At certain points, you’ll need to time an artefact with a firefly that’s hovering between your animals in the app. “Miracle” artefacts will force you to play a piece one-handed, while your other mitt keeps an icon on the screen pressed down. These touches culminate in a game that’s unlike anything I’ve played before. It’s equal parts physical and digital — a true hybrid that utilises the strengths of each medium. The app has some deep, interesting systems, while the physical props retain the tactile and social experience that so many people love about board games.

Beasts of Balance was originally funded on Kickstarter, under the name “Fabulous Beasts.” Warner Bros took issue with that however (apparently there’s a new Harry Potter movie coming out), forcing Sensible Object to come up with something else. Now, almost 11 months after its crowdfunding campaign, the team is close to shipping. You can pre-order the basic set for £69 ($99), as well as some optional extras which include a £15 ($21) playmat, the £15 ($21) Omnibeast and £15 ($21) Lalnalion. There’s even a £499 ($718) “Handmade Edition” if you want to go super-fancy.

Source: Beasts of Balance

Gear S3 to support Samsung Pay even without a Samsung phone

Samsung Pay confirms to AC that the service will work on Gear S3 when paired with any Android 4.4+ phone.

While most of the Gear S2’s features work just fine when paired to a non-Samsung phone, Samsung Pay was off-limits unless your watch was paired to a Galaxy device. On the upcoming Gear S3 watches, it looks like that’s no longer the case. The Samsung Pay Twitter account has confirmed to AC that the service will work just fine on the watch, when paired with any phone running KitKat or above.

@alexdobie Hi there – yes, #SamsungPay works on the #GearS3 with other Android devices running 4.4 Kitkat or above.

— Samsung Pay (@SamsungPay) November 18, 2016

To be clear, this doesn’t mean you’ll be able to use Samsung Pay on your non-Samsung phone independently of the watch, just that payments will apparently work on the watch without the requirement to use a Galaxy phone.

What’s not clear is exactly how this will work. Obviously inputting card details on the watch directly wouldn’t be ideal, so some sort of partner app on the phone would be needed. However, at present the Samsung Pay app is exclusive to Samsung phones. We’ve reached out to Samsung for further clarification.

It’s also unclear whether both MST and NFC payments will be supported on the watch when paired to a non-Samsung device.

At the very least, though, it’s a sign that Samsung wants to remove some of the barriers to entry for its payment service.

Samsung updates Galaxy S7 Nougat beta with Facebook fix

No other changes in this build, Samsung says, but more beta updates will follow.

Samsung is starting to roll out an update for Galaxy S7 and S7 edge Android 7.0 beta participants, fixing an issue which caused the Facebook app to crash. The 92MB over-the-air update is going out now to European Galaxy S7 edge (SM-G935F) owners, and other models are likely to follow soon.

A message given to beta participants says that this update only includes the Facebook fix, but that further updates will be rolled out based on feedback from beta testers.

Urgent version release due to force close issue when running Facebook.

Dear Customer

Update provided today is a software that fixes the problem of closing Facebook app.

New Beta software that is going to reflect all opinions sent by Customers is being prepared. However, there were also some Customers who raised complaints about Facebook problem and so we are sharing version firstly to deal only with that problem.

Galaxy Beta Program Team

The new build number (for the GS7 edge) is XXU1ZPKC.

If you manually flashed the earlier Nougat build through ODIN, without joining Samsung’s beta program, you’ll probably need to wait for a full firmware package to become available and manually update your phone to the new build. Right now it looks like official over-the-air beta updates are reserved for Samsung’s limited pool of testers.

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