‘Frog Fractions 2’ found buried inside a game about fairies

Frog Fractions 2 is out now, but be warned that it’s not a typical game. This is largely because its predecessor, Frog Fractions, was not a typical game, and series creator Jim Crawford is not a typical developer.

When Frog Fractions came out in 2013, it appeared to be a cute Flash title that taught kids math tricks through the guise of bug-snatching frogs. However, play past the first few levels and things get strange: After a trip to Bug Mars on the back of a dragon and a series of random adventures, the game ends with players managing a company that produces bug pornography. The whole thing takes about half an hour to complete and it definitely doesn’t teach kids any useful math skills.

When Crawford revealed the Kickstarter campaign for Frog Fractions 2 in 2014, he vowed to eschew traditional marketing schemes and keep the game a mystery during development.

“Most Kickstarters are very detailed about what you’re paying for, but the nature of this one is that you’re paying for a surprise,” he said at the time.

Since then, Crawford and a crack team of developers have been running at least two different augmented-reality games leading up to the release of Frog Fractions 2. The ARGs themselves are complex and multi-layered, with the creators leaving hints in podcasts and comment sections, within Super Mario Maker levels, and inside of more than 24 other independent games, including Campo Santo’s Firewatch. Crawford and his team recently ran through the oral history of these ARGs on Polygon.

The end of the main ARG campaign involved some folks completing an escape room in Portland, finding a key and using it to activate a big red button that read, via a sticky note, “Launch FF2.” The intrepid hunters at Game Detectives noticed that the Steam title Glittermitten Grove received a huge update precisely when the button was pressed.

Turns out, that update was Frog Fractions 2. Yes, buried inside a completely separate game about fairies building and managing their forest abodes, published by Adult Swim Games.

There are two ways to access Frog Fractions 2 via Glittermitten Grove, according to Kotaku: Use fireworks to dig in the ground until you find a door that leads to the sequel, or actually play Glittermitten Grove until you find a door in the sky.

Crawford warned everyone about the mind games behind Frog Fractions 2 back in 2014, when he said the sequel would be “larger in scope than Frog Fractions, containing multiple levels of secrets that will take you many play sessions to discover.” At least he isn’t a liar.

Source: GameDetectives, Polygon

How ‘Rogue One’ used CG to complete its cast

Spoilers ahead for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Two weeks ago, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story debuted, a side tale devoted to bridging the gap between the prequels and original trilogy. But it also spent time with numerous nods to the latter, including digitally resurrecting a character portrayed by an actor who passed away in 1994. While the CG necromancy earned mixed reactions, the resulting animation is an incredible achievement requiring the Rogue One filmmakers to walk a tightrope of technical and ethical concerns.

After they decided that the character in question, Grand Moff Tarkin, would need to be included due to his connection to the Death Star superweapon, the filmmakers set an ambitious plan to recreate him after the original actor Peter Cushing passed away two decades ago. They chose Guy Henry, an actor of similar stature who could affect Cushing’s vocal style, to film Tarkin’s performances while wearing motion capture materials on his head. Then they began the laborious process to digitally layer Cushing’s face on top, which required rigorous tinkering.

For example, Rogue One is lit differently than the franchise’s next film, A New Hope, where Tarkin appears: Thus, a more accurate recreation of Cushing’s face wouldn’t mesh with how the other actors in the scene looked. There were other challenges to hew closer to his performance, like imitating facial tics. The whole process was like “a super high-tech and labor-intensive version of doing makeup,” chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic John Knoll told The New York Times.

Nevertheless, the CG performance stoked backlash from critics who not only decried the “digital indignity” of resurrecting an actor beyond his or her ability to give permission, but also worried about a slippery slope enabling the studio to bring back other deceased performers. Rogue One’s filmmakers defended their decision and denied that the precedent would open floodgates. For one, it was labor-intensive and expensive. To slip other cameo characters in without incurring great cost, the team used unused footage from A New Hope of fighter pilots Red Leader and Gold Leader while completely recasting roles like Rebellion leader Mon Mothma and General Jan Dodonna.

But the worry remains: A final cameo in Rogue One’s closing moments shows a familiar bun-haired princess from behind before swapping to a brief facial view of Princess Leia, which the filmmakers had remapped with actress Carrie Fisher’s visage from 1977’s A New Hope. Unlike Cushing, Fisher was alive and could conceivably have given her personal blessing when Rogue One was in development, but her tragic passing today leaves us wondering just how restrained Disney will be given the character Leia’s enduring role in the franchise. The upcoming Episode VIII’s shooting may have wrapped back in July, but with this new resurrection tool in Disney’s kit, who knows if that will be Fisher’s last performance.

Update: This post’s original title ambiguously referred to the CG recreation of a “dead actor” to avoid spoiling the late Peter Cushing’s role in the film. Unfortunately, the headline was written before actress Carrie Fisher passed on today and seemed to refer to her and her cameo. We apologize for any perceived insensitivity.

Source: The New York Times

Long-lasting sound waves in glass could lead to better tech

Sound lasts for a long time when traveling through glass (just hit a wine glass with your cutlery if you need proof), but controlling the lifetime of that sound? Not so easy. Yale scientists, however, have discovered a way to extend the lifespan of sound waves that could be tremendously helpful for technology. The team shot a laser into a glass-based fiber optic waveguide, giving it the ability to both generate a sound at one frequency and extend it by creating a strong acoustic wave at another — as Yale notes, it’s like switching on your stereo to introduce a new frequency and prolong a ringing sound.

Since glass is the key to fiber optic data lines and other forms of tech, the implications are significant. They could introduce new approaches to “high-precision sensing and information processing,” according to Yale — say, using sound instead of light for processors or network links. While it’s far, far too early for this sound wave tech to find its way into a product you can buy, it won’t be surprising if you hear about additional breakthroughs stemming from the work you see here.

Source: Yale News

Apple Tops Holiday Sales With 44% of All New Device Activations

Apple’s iPhone and iPad were the most popular mobile devices gifted during the holidays this year, according to new data shared by Yahoo-owned mobile analytics firm Flurry.

Flurry examined device activations by manufacturer between 12/19 and 12/25, finding Apple devices to be twice as popular as Samsung devices.

44 percent of all new phone activations were Apple iPhones, while Samsung smartphones accounted for 21 percent of activations. Huawei, LG, Amazon, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Motorola trailed behind with between two and three percent of activations each.

While Samsung is slowly growing in popularity throughout the holiday season, up 1% from last year, Apple devices continue to be the gift to give. Holding the third and fourth positions for activations are Huawei and LG; which is remarkable, as both manufacturers do not have an individual device within the top 35 devices activated. Their high rank is likely due to the fact that they have wide variety of devices and affordable options (hundreds of phablet and medium phones) for consumers to choose from.

Google’s Pixel smartphone, which came out in October, did not make Flurry’s list.

Last year, Flurry released a similar report, and Apple devices made up 49.1 percent of all device activations, while Samsung devices came in at 19.8 percent.

Phablets, or smartphones and tablets ranging in size from 5 inches to 6.9 inches, continued to grow in popularity. In 2016, the phablets category, which includes the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and 7 Plus, was responsible for 37 percent of total device activations. Medium-sized phones, like the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7, were responsible for 45 percent of all activations. Activations of full-sized tablets, like the iPad, have continued to wane.

To gather its data, Flurry measured smart device activations and app downloads from the hundreds of thousands of apps it tracks from December 19 to December 25.

Tag: Flurry Analytics
Discuss this article in our forums

2016’s Biggest Apple Leaks: iPhone, Macs, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Apple’s product lineup has expanded over the past couple of years with the addition of the Apple Watch, a third notebook line, and most recently AirPods, and while 2016 turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for some with the Mac in particular seeing many models go the entire year without an update, there were still a number of significant updates.

July 2016 mockups showing iPhone 7 and two variations of iPhone 7 Plus
As we reach the end of the year, it’s worth a look back at some of the more notable and accurate rumors and leaks from 2016 to see how the sometimes long and winding road of rumors led to the product launches we eventually saw.

iPhone 7

As always, the iPhone rumor cycle starts early, although this year seemed to have a smaller than usual number of part leaks beyond the usual casing leaks, most of which were physical mockups based on circulating design specs.

The most controversial change in the iPhone 7 was the removal of the headphone jack, a rumor that first surfaced in November 2015 courtesy of Mac Otakara. As the calendar flipped over to 2016, additional sources came out in support of the claim, although many observers remained skeptical even as additional rumors and case leaks poured in throughout the first half of the year.

One of the other key changes in the iPhone 7 is the dual rear camera found on the larger iPhone 7 Plus model, and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was the first to report that rumor back in January. At the time, it wasn’t clear if the dual camera modules would be available in sufficient supplies to be included on all iPhone 7 Plus models, so Apple also protoypted a single-camera iPhone 7 Plus, but the company was indeed able to offer the dual cameras across the board on the iPhone 7 Plus.

March 2016 leak of iPhone 7 Plus dual rear camera module
By March, we started seeing our first part leaks in the form of the dual camera for the iPhone 7 Plus and an apparent mockup of the iPhone 7 Plus rear shell, showing the dual camera and an integrated camera bump.

Leaked iPhone 7 Plus shell mockup from March 2016
That rear shell leak also depicted three dots near the bottom of the case, leading to speculation about an iPad Pro-like Smart Connector. Rumors about an iPhone Smart Connector persisted for months afterward, but became quieter as we got closer to launch, and it’s unclear whether this rumor was unfounded from the very beginning or if it’s something Apple toyed with but ultimately decided against including.

AirPods

Rumors about Apple’s AirPods wireless earphones date back to October 2015, when we discovered a trademark application for the name that bore the hallmarks of being registered by an Apple shell company. As rumors of Apple removing the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 increased, speculation about potential wireless earphones from Apple followed suit, including a specific claim in January that Apple was working on premium wireless earphones to be sold alongside the iPhone 7.

September 2015 trademark application that first revealed the “AirPods” name
By July, we had increasing confidence that Apple was indeed behind efforts to trademark the “AirPods” name, and soon after we began hearing about Apple’s custom Bluetooth chip that would arrive in the AirPods and new Beats headphones in the form of the W1 chip.

Heading into Apple’s September iPhone 7 event, Apple began registering for product certifications for the AirPods, while trademark investigation further confirmed Apple’s efforts to protect the AirPods name, along with other terms such as AirPod Case.

iPhone SE

Apple’s iPhone SE debuted in March, and by the time the calendar flipped over to 2016 the rumor mill was in full swing on this device after several years of rumors about a new 4-inch iPhone to satisfy more budget-minded customers and those unhappy with Apple’s 2014 move to larger devices with the iPhone 6. Those rumors picked up in earnest with a December 2014 report claiming Apple was aiming for a late 2015 launch of the new 4-inch phone.

The biggest question about the iPhone SE that wasn’t resolved until relatively close to its launch was just what the device would look like, with rumors split between an iPhone 5s-like design and a more iPhone 6-like design with rounded edges.

February 2016 drawing showing an iPhone SE design based on iPhone 5s but with a bit of iPhone 6-style rounding
Ultimately, the iPhone SE turned out to be essentially identical to the iPhone 5 and 5s in terms of design, but with internal specs on par with the iPhone 6s in many respects.

One of the other details about the iPhone SE that remained unclear heading into 2016 was what its name would be, with the official name surfacing from 9to5Mac just under a month before the device’s unveiling. Rumors from January had suggested the device could carry an “iPhone 5se” or iPhone 5e” name, while earlier rumors had pointed toward “iPhone 6c” as a possible name, a moniker which had previously been attached to a rumored colorful budget version of the iPhone 6.

9.7-Inch iPad Pro

Given that the iPad Air 2 had debuted in late 2014, rumors of an “iPad Air 3” naturally ramped up heading into late 2015 and the launch of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

January 2016 drawing showing four speakers and rear flash on 9.7-inch iPad Pro
As we continued to wait for a new 9.7-inch iPad into 2016, rumors began hinting at a more iPad Pro-like device, with rumors starting to point toward a four-speaker setup and rear camera flash in January and ultimately including a Smart Connector and Apple Pencil support and even the same “iPad Pro” name.

Apple Watch

Early rumors about the second-generation Apple Watch suggested it could include a significant upgrade such as a camera, GPS, and cellular connectivity, but as we moved into early 2016, rumors began indicating we’d actually be seeing an update focused on internal upgrades with a launch in late 2016. By August, the specs for the Apple Watch Series 2 were pretty well nailed down, including GPS, a barometer, better waterproofing, and a larger battery, but not cellular connectivity.

August 2016 photos of Apple Watch Series 2 battery, 35% larger than original generation
One of the more intriguing rumors came in early August and addressed the possibility of Apple selling “upgraded” Apple Watch 1 models alongside the second-generation models. There was considerable skepticism about the rumor, as it was unclear why Apple would not just sell price-reduced original models alongside the Apple Watch 2, but the rumor indeed proved to be true, with Apple offering Series 2 models alongside new Series 1 models that were nearly identical to the first-generation models but with a faster processor to address performance issues.

MacBook Pro

Rumors of redesigned MacBook Pro models have circulated for quite some time, although some of the early rumors out of Apple’s supply chain either confused the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air or were ambiguous about which line they were addressing, which made for some uncertainty in the early months of the rumor cycle. One of the most widely covered early rumors actually came in November 2015, when it was reported Apple was working on new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with “fully redesigned” internal components. In hindsight, it seems clear this rumor referred to the MacBook Pro, and this became clearer in subsequent months as additional rumors surfaced.

The “new 13-inch and 15-inch” notebook rumor appeared again in March, and this time the machines were simply referred to as “MacBooks” and said to be thinner than the existing MacBook Air. Again there was confusion about which notebook line this rumor referred to, but it does once again appear to have been referring to the MacBook Pro, which is indeed thinner than the thickest portion of the MacBook Air. The rumor suggested the new notebooks could arrive in the June or July timeframe, hinting at a potential introduction at WWDC in early June, but we had to wait several more months before we finally did see the new MacBook Pro in October.

By late May we saw our first rumor about the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar, with reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo accurately describing the Touch Bar, Touch ID, USB-C, Thunderbolt 3, a new “thin and light” design, and a fourth quarter launch. His description of a new 13-inch MacBook was confusing, however, and in retrospect it appears he was talking about the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro that also appeared in October.

May 2016 of MacBook Pro top case with space for Touch Bar
Just days after Kuo’s report, the first (and only) true part leak for the MacBook Pro we saw appeared when photos of a top case from the 13-inch model leaked out of Apple’s supply chain. The photos clearly showed blank space replacing the traditional row of function keys, giving some strong support to rumors of the OLED Touch Bar that was indeed included on the new models. The photos also showed the larger trackpad on the new MacBook Pro, while side views showed the machine’s four USB-C ports and a headphone jack.

macOS 10.12.1 graphic from Apple leaked the Touch Bar and Touch ID
Subsequent rumors about the MacBook Pro generally reaffirmed what we’d already heard, with questions continuing to circulate about timing until Apple officially announced its October media event. In a bit of a surprise, Apple ended up spoiling its own unveiling a bit by including information on keyboard layouts with function keys, Apple Pay and Touch ID, along with graphics showing the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar, in the macOS 10.12.1 update that was released several days prior to the event.

MacBook

In early 2016, DigiTimes indicated Apple was planning to begin production on updated MacBook models with Skylake processors around March or April, which seemed reasonable given it would mark an approximately one-year interval since the machine was initially introduced.

March 2016 OS X reference to 12″ MacBook (Early 2016)
In late March, it was discovered that Apple had inadvertently leaked its own secrets by including references to an “Early 2016” MacBook within OS X, suggesting a launch before the end of April. Apple followed through with a launch of updated MacBooks in late April.

MacBook Air

Rumors on the MacBook Air were quite sparse in 2016, and in fact Apple did not update the machine other than quietly bumping the standard RAM to 8 GB on the 13-inch models in April and then discontinuing the 11-inch models in October. The only persistent rumor for the MacBook Air was a shift to USB-C that may have resulted from confusion with the MacBook Pro.

Even as the MacBook Pro detail began to firm up, however, reports of USB-C MacBook Air models continued, with mainstream media picking them up by August and other sources continuing to mention them almost until Apple’s October event. It now seems apparent, however, that Apple has no plans for significant MacBook Air updates, and the machine will likely be phased out as Apple consolidates its notebook lineup into the MacBook Pro and MacBook.

iMac

Several rumors in the latter part of 2016 indicated Apple is working on new iMacs with USB-C and AMD graphics chips. Bloomberg had indicated the updated iMacs were part of a wave of new Macs, some of which could launch “as soon as October,” but the MacBook Pro was the only Mac to see an update in that timeframe. Just ahead of Apple’s October media event, Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the new iMacs won’t be ready until the first half of 2017, a claim echoed by Bloomberg in late December.

Displays

An August report from Bloomberg claimed Apple was working with LG on a new 5K external monitor, some two months after Apple discontinued the Apple Thunderbolt Display and said it was getting out of the display business. That turned out to be correct, with Apple and LG introducing the new LG-branded 5K display (and a smaller 4K sibling) at Apple’s MacBook Pro event in October, and the new display began shipping just before the end of the year.

LG’s UltraFine 5K displays alongside new MacBook Pro
Ming-Chi Kuo addressed the topic of a new “Cinema Display” from Apple ahead of the October media event, indicating the display would likely ship in the first half of 2017 as the “shipping schedule [was] not imminent,” but it is unclear whether he was referring to the LG 5K display that just barely began shipping before the new year.

Wrap-up

Despite some confusion and conflicting rumors, the rumor mill was fairly accurate at predicting Apple’s product plans for 2016. As usual, some very early rumors on the various products turned out to be correct, but it took time for additional reports to corroborate the claims and increase confidence in them.

Among the most notable uncertainties were details on the iPhone SE, which varied significantly between iPhone 5s-like and iPhone 6 or 6s-like characteristics both internally and externally. Part of the uncertainty may have arisen from an extended development timeline that initially pointed toward a 2015 release but as it was pushed into 2016 Apple may have opted to increase the hardware capabilities of the device.

With Apple’s product launches done for 2016 and the calendar turning to 2017 this coming weekend, attention will soon turn toward a new batch of rumors as consumers look forward to the next iPhone, new iPads, more Mac updates, and perhaps some additional surprises.

Related Roundups: iPad Air 2, iMac, MacBook Air, Displays, MacBook Pro, Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3, iPad Pro, Retina MacBook, iPhone 7, iPhone SE
Tag: AirPods
Buyer’s Guide: 9.7″ iPad Pro (Caution), iMac (Don’t Buy), MacBook Air (Don’t Buy), MacBook Pro (Buy Now), Apple Watch (Neutral), 12.9″ iPad Pro (Caution), MacBook (Caution)
Discuss this article in our forums

Ring in 2017 with 25% off all the best Android accessories!

Looking to spread a little more cheer while ringing in 2017? What better way is there to celebrate than with 25% off all the best accessories for your favorite Android device with coupon code END16?! Whether you are in need of a new charging cable, a new case to protect your phone, or even a Bluetooth speaker, we’ve got you covered.

There are tons of great accessories in stock for a variety of different phones right now. From the HTC 10 to the Google Pixel, Galaxy S7, and even the OnePlus 3T, you can find what you need at ShopAndroid. You can save now through January 1 with coupon code END16, so don’t wait too long to pick up what you need.

See at ShopAndroid

Best of 2016

Every year, we review amazing tech from companies striving to outdo one another, and 2016 was no exception. This was a year that saw Samsung reach new highs and desperate lows, Google truly become a hardware company and release one of the best updates to Android ever, and Motorola reinvent its smartphone platform.

Hardware

Best Android Phone:

Google Pixel

Understated, powerful and reliable, the Pixel manages to be the best Android phone and one of the most fun to use. — Daniel Bader

More: Google Pixel review

Runners Up: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge Huawei Mate 9

Best Android Tablet:

Lenovo Yoga Book

Unconventional, impossibly light, and a genuine pleasure to use, Lenovo’s Yoga Book offers something truly unique to the tablet world. — Russell Holly

More: Lenovo Yoga Book review

Runner up: Google Pixel C

Best Phone Design:

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

The Galaxy S7 edge was this year’s best-looking phone, with subtle curves, impeccable build quality and unparalleled features! — Daniel Bader

More: Galaxy S7 edge review

Runner up: HTC 10

Most Surprisingly Good Android Phone:

OnePlus 3T

The OnePlus 3T offers EVERYTHING the spec nerds will salivate over, but is also one of the simplest and most powerful phones available for any level of user. — Andrew Martonik

More: OnePlus 3T review

Runner Up: Moto Z Play

Best Connected Home Accessory:

Google Home

Google Assistant is still growing, but the way it ties its knowledge of your life and the world around you into a simple, unassuming gadget makes it a must-have device. — Ara Wagoner

More: Google Home review

Runner Up: Echo Dot

Best VR Headset:

Google Daydream View

The newest VR headset by far, Google’s Daydream simplifies mobile VR in all of the best ways and already has plenty of great apps! — Russell Holly

More: Daydream View review

Runner Up: Samsung Gear VR

Best Android Accessory:

Chromecast Ultra

No matter what phone, tablet or entertainment center setup you have, you can take advantage of the fantastic simplicity of the Chromecast Ultra! — Andrew Martonik

More: Chromecast review

Runner Up: Spigen Style Ring

Best Chromebook:

Acer Chromebook R13

The Acer Chromebook R13 is beautiful, powerful and affordable. It’s everything Chrome has to offer, plus Android apps in the perfect 13-inch package. — Jerry Hildenbrand

More: Acer Chromebook R13 review

Runner Up: Dell Chromebook 13

Biggest Story:

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

The hottest story of 2017 was undoubtedly Samsung’s exploding smartphone, with the flames being fanned by not one but two bungled recalls, and reports of some customers being injured in the process. It was a multi-billion dollar mistake, about which many essays and books will surely be written. RIP. — Alex Dobie

Runner Up: Pokémon Go

Apps

Best App:

Google Photos

Google Photos solves the problem of storing and keeping track of photos across all your devices, using Google’s considerable cloud infrastructure and AI magic. Throw in delightful features like automatic animations, stylized pics and panoramas and you’ve got the best Android app of the year. — Alex Dobie

Runner Up: Pocket Casts

Best Game:

Clash Royale

Clash Royale was an early release for 2016, but proved to have real staying power thanks to consistent updates from Supercell and a great balance of action and strategy gameplay elements. — Marc Lagace

Runner Up: Reigns

Best VR App:

Tilt Brush

VR is for so much more than games! No experience demonstrated the incredible power of creating art in VR quite like Tilt Brush this year. — Russell Holly

Runner Up: Gunjack 2: End of Shift

Best AR Experience:

Pokémon Go

Love it or hate it, Pokémon Go was a cultural phenomenon in 2016. For many, it was the first glimpse at what smartphone augmented reality could do. It convinced millions of people to go play outside, and in turn became one of the highest-grossing games of the all time. — Marc Lagace

Runner Up: Google Tango

Best of Google

Best Nougat Feature:

Improved notifications

Google got serious about notifications in Nougat, giving us bundled, expandable alerts that show a ton of information and also look fantastic. Building on what was already great about Android’s notification system, Android 7.0’s notifications are part of what makes Android great for power users. — Alex Dobie

Runner Up: Night Mode

Best New Google Service:

Google Allo

I have no friends on Allo. It’s just me and my husband for now, but it’s our preferred method of communication. I love the various sticker packs — we use them throughout the day to check in with one another — and the Google Assistant integrated into the chat. And I love the instant replies that are a big help when typing is too much of an endeavor. I hope 2017 is the year Allo finds some traction because it’s got so much potential. — Florence Ion

Runner Up: Duo

Most Improved Google Service:

Google Photos

This year, Google Photos got a lot smarter, with more auto-generating videos, collages and other cool tricks. But it was for Pixel owners that Photos shined brightest, with unlimited full-res backups. — Harish Jonnalagadda

Runner Up: Google Play Music

Best launchers for theming

Customization is my favorite part of Android.

Android provides us with so much freedom, allowing us to completely scrap the setup and the launcher that came with our phones and replace it with something that suit us more. Years ago, before I knew what Nova Launcher and icon packs were, I was trying to make my phone look less blockish and boring. Our phones hold our lives — shouldn’t they hold some of our personality and style, too?

Whether you’ve got theming down to an art or you’re just looking for something a little more flexible than your current launcher, these are the best of the best when it comes to theming launchers. They are also two of the best launchers on the market, period.

Here’s why you should have Nova Launcher and Action Launcher in your theming toolkit.

The Best: Nova Launcher

Nova Launcher is one of the few constants in the launcher scene: Nova Launcher just turned five years old, and it has been consistently awesome. Nova Launcher has a small learning curve, but once you learn your way around Nova Settings, the theming world is your oyster, and Nova holds quite a few pearls.

The biggest pearl from a theming standpoint is Subgrid Positioning. This allows users to resize widgets and place icons halfways between traditional grid boxes. So you can resize a widget to be 4×1.5 or even .5x.5 if you want. This increased freedom when placing and sizing widgets is invaluable when it comes to lining up elements in complex themes, or even placing element precisely in relation a detailed wallpaper.

Try doing this in Action Launcher. I dare you.

Another benefit of theming on Nova is the flexibility of backing up and executing themes from Google Drive. The ability to set wallpapers, icons, and restore backups without having to download them locally first is a godsend, especially when you theme on different devices or gather/create your theme elements on desktop computers.

If there’s a downside to Nova Launcher, it’s that while everything is laid out in the settings in a fairly straightforward manner, it still takes time to edit everything individually. Nova Launcher is like a Swiss Army knife: there’s so many attachments you never think you’ll need but if you ever do, all you have to do is pull each one out until you find what you need.

Runner-Up: Action Launcher

Action Launcher, on the other hand, is more like a switchblade: very quick, very sharp, but without the bottle opener or the nail trimmer. Now, don’t get me wrong, Action Launcher has a lot of features, and a lot of customization, but all of it is geared towards productivity. There’s quite a lot of theming potential, but there are a few things missing that puts our overall favorite launcher behind Nova Launcher in this category.

One of Action Launcher’s most well-known features are their Covers, which allow you to replace a folder icon with the first icon in your folder, and allows you to quickly open that first app with a tap, while opening the folder with a swipe. It’s a nice feature, but I’m sorry to say that from a theming perspective, Nova does it better, albeit clunkier. To activate a Cover on Action Launcher, you simply open the folder, tap the three-dot menu, and tap Make Cover. In order to set a custom folder icon, you must make a folder a Cover, then change the icon of the app that becomes the Cover.

Action Launcher’s Covers are easy, but lack the customization in look and function of Nova Launcher’s folders.

When setting up a Cover on Nova, you long-press a folder, Edit it, then activate Swipe to open folder and set the tap action to the first app in your folder… or any other app or Nova shortcut you want. You can also set a custom folder icon regardless of using a Cover, as folder icons can be edited just like any other shortcut. It’s definitely easier on Action Launcher, but you can do it more ways on Nova, especially in relation to theme-building.

Another feature where Action Launcher opts for a simpler but ultimately less useful implementation is Quicktheme. Quicktheme allows you to quickly set colors that are decided by the colors in your wallpaper, and if Quicktheme pulls the right colors for your wallpaper, it’s great.

Action Launcher’s Quicktheme misses live wallpapers and many wallpaper colors. Nova lets you pick any color, even if you have to go find the hex code first

The problem is, a lot of times, Quicktheme can miss colors we want to use in our theme (especially accent colors), and you can’t manually pick a color if it gets missed: you have to re-apply your wallpaper and hope that Quicktheme gets it that time. If you’re using a Live Wallpaper like Touch Circle, your chances of getting the right colors are slim to none. It’s wonderful to have all your color options on one page, but I need all colors at my disposal, not six that may or may not match my wallpaper.

I ranted and raved about sub-grid positioning, and that’s missing from Action Launcher. Also missing is the “Padding” and margin options that allow Nova to stretch widgets to the edge of the screen. In Action Launcher, widgets will always have a gap between widgets and the screen, or between other widgets, meaning widgets can be slightly bigger and more-than-slightly cleaner on Nova than they will on Action.

Now, all of this is not to say Action Launcher can’t be used for good themes. Action Launcher currently has an excellent take on the Pixel theme, allowing you to better customize Pixel folder icons than Nova, but their pill search bar is separate from Quickbar and unthemeable, unlike Nova. Action Launcher has a leg-up on Nova’s theme because they have a shortcut to activate all their Pixel settings instead of Nova needing you to go through every single settings section.

The Verdict

Nova Launcher does more, and Action Launcher does some of it faster. If you’re not as nitty-gritty with your grids and widget placements, Action Launcher will get your theme up and get you on your way. If you care about the little details, or just need the freedom of being to chose just about everything in your launcher, Nova Launcher is your launcher.

Nova Launcher is my launcher, and judging from the holiday polls I’ve posted on the matter, Nova Launcher is a great many themers’ launcher.

Where are the other launchers?

I wish I could tell you there’s a lot of great theming launchers out there. But there aren’t.

There are certainly theming launchers beyond Nova and Action, but none can play on their level. Apex is abandoned. ADW was abandoned for a long time and still hasn’t seen its new 2.0 version go beyond the beta. GO Launcher is spammy. Buzz Launcher’s controls are awkward and it doesn’t play well with Google Play theme elements. And Lightning Launcher is too complicated for most users (even for me!).

Then there are dozens of decent general-use launchers that can do what we call ‘light-duty’ theming: custom wallpapers, icon packs, and resizable widgets. This includes launchers like Smart Launcher, Arrow Launcher, and Aviate Launcher. They are capable launchers, but they can’t compete with Nova.

Amazon Echo holiday sales 9 times higher than 2015, ‘millions’ sold this year

The holiday shopping season has been good to Amazon, and particularly Echo.

Now that Christmas 2016 has passed, Amazon has some insightful metrics on its sales from the bulk of the holiday season. Predictably, Amazon Echo sales were dramatically higher than last year: nine times higher than the same period last year, in fact. That is of course fueled by the massive increase in popularity and injection of Echo into popular culture, but also by the launch of the Echo Dot and Echo Tap to diversify the lineup.

Keeping up another tradition, Amazon isn’t releasing any sort of real sales numbers. Other than saying there have been “millions” of Echo devices sold in all of 2016, we don’t know just how popular these connected speakers are. Continuing the trend, Amazon says that its Fire TV Stick and Fire tablet topped its best-sellers list, but of course without the context of what other devices are included in the list and how many were sold.

The Echo is amazingly popular — we just don’t know exactly how many are sold.

No matter exactly how many are out there, we know a ton of Echo devices are in use. Amazon says some of the most popular requests of the Echo this season were for cocktail recipes, chocolate chip cookie recipes, holiday movies like Home Alone and Elf, and millions of holiday songs with Frank Sinatra’s Jingle Bells and Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You topping that list.

Speaking to the holiday shopping season more broadly, Amazon says that it shipped over one billion Prime and self-fulfilled items this holiday season. December 23 was the biggest day ever for same-day Prime Now deliveries, with three times more deliveries than last year. Not surprisingly, 72% of Amazon customers around the world shopped using a mobile device for the holidays.

Amazon Echo

• Read our updated review
• Get the latest news
• Join the discussion
• Download the Echo app

Amazon

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 reportedly uses AI across all its apps

Samsung has been eager to drum up attention for the Galaxy S8’s AI assistant, but just how is it going to work, exactly? We still don’t have the clearest picture, but some details might be coming to light. A SamMobile source claims that the Viv-based, voice-guided helper (reportedly named Bixby) will have a presence in all the of the phone’s included Samsung-made apps. You could use it in the Gallery app to show you photos of the beach, for example. This isn’t a radical development when both Google Photos and iOS 10 can accomplish similar feats, but remember that Bixby is likely replacing S Voice, Samsung’s aging in-house software — the point is to offer software smart enough that you don’t need to turn to another assistant.

The Korean tech giant had already hinted that you won’t need to dive into specific apps to perform many tasks, and that it’ll offer support for third-party apps. Again, these aren’t new to Bixby, but they represent a big leap over what S Voice can do.

As SamMobile suggests, the big question is how Google will react to this new AI. After all, Google is making a big push for Assistant. What happens when its largest Android hardware partner builds technology that effectively replaces its pride and joy? The two companies are on friendlier terms than they were a couple of years ago, but something tells us that Google won’t be all that enthusiastic.

Source: SamMobile