Peek at the drawings used to design the original ‘Zelda’
To quote one of my favorite video game characters: Greatness, from small beginnings. To celebrate The Legend of Zelda’s 30th anniversary, Nintendo has released a handful of drawings that were used to design the first game in the franchise. They’re essentially graph paper, with shaded boxes to represent walls and bottomless pits. Careful markings indicate where doors and monsters should be, while a pair of tables explain which colors should be used. Each page offers some wonderful insights into how Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka and others mapped out one of the most iconic video games of all time. Looking at them, I can’t help but crack a smile.
Nintendo used a similar approach for Super Mario Bros. and other classic titles from the 8-bit era. They’re worth remembering as you barrel through the 30 or so games available on the NES Classic Edition this Christmas (provided you can acquire one, of course). If you’ve always wanted to make your own game, there’s nothing to stop you from grabbing a pad of paper and some marker pens. Who knows, you might come up with the next Shovel Knight. Or just a new level to recreate in Super Mario Maker.
Via: Develop
Source: Nintendo
The best gadgets of 2016
A year ago, virtual reality felt almost like a pipe dream. But during 2016, we saw the launches of the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and Daydream, a new mobile platform from Google. VR is here, and it’s very much . . . well, real. We’re still waiting for more games to appear and for the price of truly immersive platforms to fall, but it’s an auspicious start for a category that’s sometimes felt overhyped.
Of course, there was even more great stuff this year beyond VR. We’ve seen the steady evolution of smartphones with Google’s Pixel devices, the iPhone 7 Plus and Samsung’s Galaxy S7 line (with the Note 7 being the obvious exception). Both Dell and HP delivered some of the most refined laptops we’ve ever seen (sorry, MacBook Pro). And we can think of a few more standouts too. Find all of our favorite gadgets of 2016 in the gallery below.
Check out all of Engadget’s year-in-review coverage right here.
Barnes & Noble’s $50 Nook came pre-installed with spyware
Barnes & Noble introduced the $50 Nook just in time for the holiday shopping season, but it failed to mention one crucial bit of software pre-installed on its 7-inch e-reader: malware. Specifically, the new Nooks came with an ADUPS program that granted a third party full access to all of a device’s data plus complete control privileges. This means someone overseas had the ability to collect your personal information and wipe your Nook clean, if it had the ADUPS spyware installed.
This is the same malware that was recently discovered in 120,000 Blu unlocked smartphones.
Barnes & Noble told 9to5Google that a software update removing the exploit was deployed for all Nooks, and it’s working on an update that will remove ADUPS from the e-readers entirely. ADUPS additionally said it didn’t collect any “personally identifiable information or location data,” and it didn’t intend to.
Barnes & Noble tried something new with its latest Nook. Its existing partner, Samsung, doesn’t manufacture Android devices in the $50 range, so Barnes & Noble outsourced production to Shenzhen Jingwah Information Technology Co., Ltd, according to LinuxJournal. ADUPS is also a Chinese company, based out of Shanghai.
Source: LinuxJournal, 9to5Google
Machine learning is helping researchers decipher bat speech
Egyptian fruit bats are widespread throughout Africa and often roost together in colonies of 1,000 or more individuals. With that many neighbors packed together, it’s no wonder they’re such a noisy bunch. And thanks to some exciting machine learning research from Tel Aviv University, we now understand a bit of what they’re saying.
The research, published Thursday in the journal, Scientific Reports, explains how they did it. First, the team spent 75 days recording two groups of 11 bats held in separate cages. The team then went through the video footage to suss out which individuals were squeaking at each other, what they were squeaking about — food, sleep, perch or sex (or lack thereof) — and the ultimate outcome of the argument. Finally, they trained the machine learning algorithm with 15,000 calls from seven adult females using those variables.
In the end, the algorithm managed to correctly identify the bat making the call (compared to the video footage) 71 percent of the time, the subject of that argument 61 percent of the time and the eventual outcome 41 percent of the time.
“What we find is there are certain pitch differences that characterise the different categories – but it is not as if you can say mating [calls] are high vocalisations and eating are low,” Yossi Yovel, co-author of the study, told The Guardian. “We have shown that a big bulk of bat vocalisations that previously were thought to all mean the same thing, something like ‘get out of here!’ actually contain a lot of information.”
The team hopes to further decipher bat language based on the squeak patterns and inflections. Eventually this research could reveal insights into not just bat behavior but also how human language itself evolved.
Via: The Guardian
Source: Nature
MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Copy of Fantastical 2 for Mac
We’re doing a series of holiday giveaways ahead of Christmas, and for today’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Flexibits to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a copy of Fantastical 2 for Mac.
Fantastical is one of the most popular calendar apps in the Mac App Store, with a clean, easy-to-use layout and the ability to use natural language like “lunch with Eric at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday” to create calendar events and reminders.
There’s a full Mac app and a menu bar widget that makes it easy to see what you’ve got going on at a glance, and it works with all kinds of calendar accounts: iCloud, Google, Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo, and any other CalDav account.
It features a Notification Center widget, Handoff support, Action and Share Extensions, and it was recently updated with Touch Bar support for the new MacBook Pro. Fantastical 2 for Mac syncs with Fantastical 2 for the iPhone and the iPad, so your calendar is always at your fingertips no matter what device you’re using.
Other Fantastical 2 features include time zone support, geofence alerts, built-in maps, Google and Exchange integration, multiple themes, calendar sets for organizing work and personal calendars, support for multiple languages, and more.
Fantastical 2 for Mac normally costs $50, but 25 MacRumors readers will get a copy for free. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (December 22) at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time on December 29. The winners will be chosen randomly on December 29 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
Tags: giveaway, Flexibits, Fantastical
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Apple Names Best-Selling Holiday Movies of All Time on iTunes, Including ‘Elf’ and ‘The Polar Express’
Apple today got in the holiday spirit by announcing the top five best-selling holiday movies of all time on iTunes, ever since the movie rental section of the digital marketplace opened in 2008.
The top five highest grossing iTunes holiday movies are:
Elf [Direct Link] – $9.99 HD Purchase / $3.99 HD Rental
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation [Direct Link] – $9.99 HD Purchase / $3.99 HD Rental
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas [Direct Link] – $9.99 HD Purchase / No Rental Available
Home Alone [Direct Link] – $9.99 HD Purchase / $3.99 HD Rental
The Polar Express [Direct Link] – $9.99 HD Purchase / $3.99 HD Rental Apple didn’t offer any specifics behind each film’s download numbers, but gave snippets about plots, writers, directors, and actors for each holiday favorite.
The company prompted users to ask Siri on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV to search for the movies listed today, as well as other seasonal mainstays like Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, The Night Before, A Christmas Story, The Santa Clause, It’s a Wonderful Life, Love Actually and Mickey’s Christmas Carol.
Tag: iTunes
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‘Super Mario Run’ Survey Asks Players How Much Game Should Cost, If They Would Play Sequel
Nintendo recently began sending email surveys to a few Super Mario Run players who linked the iOS game with their My Nintendo account, MacRumors has learned.
The 10-minute long survey asks basic questions pertaining to how users found out about the game, what modes they liked, and how much they are willing to pay for a game like Super Mario Run. The survey fluctuates between multiple choice and written answers.
The survey’s construction and questions are similar to the ones Nintendo used to give out to Club Nintendo users so they could receive points to spend on exclusive merchandise from the company. Now, it appears Nintendo is aiming to discover for itself what players think of Super Mario Run, following a week of press that mostly centered around the opinion that $9.99 is too high a price for the amount of content presented within the game.
With the new survey, players can now give Nintendo their own thoughts on the matter. One of the questions even asks if users would play a sequel to Super Mario Run “if one was released in the future.” As of now, Nintendo is supposed to be gearing up to announce more information on the launch of Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem for iOS, both said to debut before March 2017 if the company’s original plan from 2015 remains intact.
The negative reactions to the pricing structure and online requirements of Super Mario Run have gone so far as to cause Nintendo’s stock to lower earlier this week, with players rating the game a 2.5/5 on average on the App Store. Although news has been scarce, in May it was reported that Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem would adopt the free-to-play model, with users able to purchase in-game items and boosts of some kind after downloading at no cost.
Miitomo — Nintendo’s first true iOS game — was free-to-play, but the user base slacked off precipitously after launch, with data suggesting “users didn’t really get” the game and its basic, social network inspired gameplay loop.
Super Mario Run [Direct Link] got its first update this week, introducing a new “Friendly Run” mode where players can compete against ghosts of friends and family members, with the caveat that no coins or Toads can be collected during each run. There’s also a few new holiday-themed items in the Kingdom Builder shop.
(Thanks, Dan!)
Tag: Super Mario Run
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Channel Master Flatenna 35 review – CNET
The Good The Channel Master Flatenna is a solid antenna at an incredibly low price. It outperforms more expensive designs in both the number of channels it can pick up and the strength of the signal.
The Bad The antenna has a short, non-replaceable cable. There are no fasteners included in the box.
The Bottom Line With its super simple design and strong performance the Channel Master Flatenna 35 is the ultimate gateway drug to cutting the cord.
If you’ve shopped for an indoor antenna in the past few years you’ve likely come across the Mohu Leaf. It’s a flat square antenna you can bung up anywhere — a window, wall or the side of an entertainment unit. Its simple design has spawned a crowd of imitators which, in the case of Channel Master Flatenna 35, is able to do a similar job for a lot less. At 10 bucks, the Flatenna a no-brainer.
Despite its on-the-nose “flatizza” name, the Channel Master is actually a likable piece of equipment. It’s remarkably simple: a flexible sheet of plastic with a captive coaxial cable trailing from the bottom. The sheet itself is quite light, but add in the cable and it comes in at three ounces, while the antenna portion measures 13×9 inches.
Sadly, the coaxial cable is quite short at about six foot long, so if you need more length you’ll need to spend another $10 on a male-female coaxial extension cable or adapter.
Unlike some of the competitors, there’s no adhesives or fasteners in the box so you’ll need some poster putty to attach it to a window or wall.
All about Kodi: What it is, how to get it, and which boxes have it pre-installed
Cord cutters are raving about Kodi.
If you’ve been hearing people talk about Kodi lately, here’s a quick breakdown of what it is, why it’s great, and a couple recommendations for Android TV boxes that come with it pre-loaded.
What is Kodi?
Kodi is an open-source media center app that’s been developed and built out over the past decade. Its latest build is one of the most complete media centers you’ll find, allowing you to consolidating all your media — videos, music, and photos — into a single destination with a customizable interface that’s both stylish and easy to use. There’s also a slew of third-party add-ons available within Kodi, which grant you access to all sorts of streaming options from around the world. Kodi is widely available, with builds available for nearly all operating systems and devices.
See at Kodi.tv
Why it’s great
Kodi makes it easy to organize and watch your favorite media from your computer, smartphone, or TV via a Kodi-enabled device. Available in the Google Play Store, Kodi can be installed on pretty much any Android device. While it’s pretty easy to setup Kodi on your own, there’s been increased interest in TV boxes that come with Kodi pre-installed. Simply connect these boxes up to your TV, connect them to your Wi-Fi and you’re ready to start streaming content. Depending on how much you’re planning to invest, these boxes can come loaded with 4K capabilities.
Top picks for pre-installed Kodi boxes
Given how versatile and easy it is to get Kodi, you may already have a device that’s ready to roll — whether you’ve got a computer hooked up to your TV, an Android TV device such as the NVIDIA Shield or the Xaomi Mi Box, or you’re looking for a new project for your Raspberry Pi.
But all these options take some setting up and tweaking, which is why many smart TV boxes are coming preloaded with Kodi. Sometimes referred to colloquially as “Kodi boxes,” these devices range drastically in terms of quality and security, but they’re also extremely affordable and require little setup. Take a look at some of these options available from Amazon for under $100.
Q-Box Amlogic S905 Smart TV Box
This Android TV box supports up to 4K playback, runs on Android 5.1 and comes pre-loaded with a bunch of popular apps, including Kodi — though you’ll probably need to do some tweaking to get everything up to date with the latest versions. You’ll be able to update and get more apps for other streaming services you might be subscribed to via the Google Play Store. There’s 16GB of internal storage available for your own media, along with an SD card slot on the back. The Q-Box comes with a remote, but also features two USB ports on the back if you’d prefer to control it with a mouse and keyboard.
Aesthetically, this box has a ring of changing light around the perimeter, which might feel a bit gaudy to some, but it can be toggled in the preferences.
See at Amazon
MX3 Advance Android TV Box
The MX3 Advance also is capable of supporting 4K playback and should handle all your binging needs without feeling sluggish. It also comes with Kodi installed and preloaded with a bunch of popular add-ons. There’s 16GB of internal storage along with an SD card slot so you can load up your personal media, and there’s also two USB ports on the back.
Those ports might come in handy, since the included remote control has a very limited range and is not so good. You’d be better off getting a wireless controller (See the suggestions on the Amazon page for good options with built-in QWERTY keyboards), or using those USB ports for a keyboard and mouse combo.
See at Amazon
Your picks?
What are your favorite ways to access Kodi? Let us know in the comments below!
AIVAnet 