Watch what happens when NFL quarterbacks are ‘replaced’ with drones
Why it matters to you
Those looking to gear up for the NFL Pro Bowl may enjoy watching the new drone drop competition that will take place on January 26.
Sure, the best NFL receivers can snatch a ball out of the air and make it look easy, but can they catch one dropped from 200 feet — by a drone? That’s exactly what the newest event at the Pro Bowl Skills Showdown is aiming to find out.
Airing tonight, January 26, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, and live-streaming to the ESPN website, ten players from the AFC will compete against the best of the NFC in a set of five different challenges, from dodgeball to the new wide receiver drone drop. The Skills Showdown is returning after a ten-year hiatus as a sort of precursor for Saturday’s AFC-NFC Pro Bowl in Orlando.
More: Fox, GoPro to give fans a ref’s-eye view of the field for Big Ten Championship
Of course, with the last Showdown held in 2006, there’s bound to be some new additions — so why not throw the popular drone into the mix? The quadcopters will be flying up to about 200 feet in the air and dropping footballs down to the wide receivers playing in the Pro Bowl.
Those wide receivers are set to include the Steelers’ Antonio Brown and the Raiders’ Amari Cooper for the AFC, with AJ Green (Bengals) and TY Hilton (Colts) in the reserves. On the NFC side, the list of receivers includes the Julio Jones of the Falcons, and Odell Beckham of the Giants, with Mike Evans (Buccaneers) and Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals) in the reserves.
The cool #ProBowlSkills event I alluded to is a WR Drone Drop. Video here via @nfl from our test https://t.co/KHfHqAJGGz
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) January 25, 2017
The NFL shared its test of the Drone Drop competition as a sort of preview — the quadcopters grip a ball at the front, releasing while hovering at a steady altitude. Several sports commentators are suggesting that the Showdown, with the drone drop and dodgeball, could be more entertaining to watch then the actual Pro Bowl.
Brian McCarthy, a public relations representative for the NFL, confirmed that the organization had received FAA approval for the event — since it’s actually now illegal for commercial drone operators to fly over people.
The Skills Showdown kicks off on January 26 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN — and will also be live-streamed on WatchESPN.
Cricket customers now get more data for the same low price
Why it matters to you
Extra data means customers will get to stream media, play games and surf the web even more while on the go — without spending an extra cent.
AT&T’s prepaid subsidiary, Cricket Wireless, has long been a solid option for those looking for maximum coverage at a relatively low price, who don’t mind slower data speeds. Starting January 27, the company will raise high-speed data allowances across several of its plans, according to a news release.
Under the new terms, customers at the $40/month Basic tier and the $60/month Pro tier will see allotments rise to 3GB and 12GB, up from 2.5GB and 10GB respectively. Additionally, Cricket is locking in an existing promotion that raised the data limit from 5GB to 8GB for its $50/month Smart customers. Going forward, 8GB will be standard at that price level, making it the best data-per-dollar value proposition of all of Cricket’s plans.
More: AT&T has officially shut down its 2G network, will pursue 4G LTE, other tech
Customers can save if they enroll in auto pay with the carrier, which credits them $5 a month at the end of each billing cycle. Cricket is also offering discounts on select phones, including the LG Stylo 2, for new customers who bring their numbers with them. The full list of sales is available here.
As always, all this cheap data comes at a price — and for Cricket, that means capped data speeds. “High-speed data,” which the company defines as LTE and HSPA+, is limited to 8Mbps and 4Mbps, respectively. After you run through your allotment, you’re stuck at 128Kbps for the rest of the month, unless you up your plan.
While that’s not a massive inconvenience compared to the 12Mbps AT&T’s post-paid customers reportedly average, the policy has stayed unchanged for years, even as Cricket continues to routinely increase data allowances. In fact, Cricket has been throttling high-speed data at 8Mbps since 2013, when AT&T founded the company as Aio. That was before it merged the brand with Cricket in 2014 after acquiring Leap Wireless. Back then, LTE wasn’t capable of quite the same kind of speeds we’re seeing today, nor was it as widely available.
As AT&T maintains the 8Mbps cap for Cricket customers — in all likelihood to nudge them toward its more expensive flagship service — a core part of its user base is getting increasingly left behind in the dust. This divide will only be exacerbated once carriers begin rolling out 5G networks, as they are expected to next year. Hopefully, AT&T has an upgrade waiting in the wings for its prepaid contingent.
Pearl RearVision Backup Camera review
Research Center:
Pearl RearVision Backup Camera
In April 2014, the federal government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put into effect a new regulation that requires all automobile manufacturers to add backup cameras to vehicles by May 2018. But until the mandated deadline, backup cameras are still offered as an option or exclusive feature, with some manufacturers charging upward of a thousand dollars to add the functionality as part of a more luxury trim package.
There are plenty of third-party backup cameras on the market that are more affordable, but a vast majority of cameras use wires for power and connectivity; wires that often require the need to drill through various parts of your vehicle. And the few wireless cameras that are on the market tend to be subpar in image quality and resolution.
To provide a best-in-class after-market solution, Pearl developed a completely wireless backup camera called RearVision. Pearl’s approach hits on all of the weak points of current backup cameras: RearVision is entirely wireless, dead simple to install, uses your smartphone as a high-resolution display, offers collision alerts, and relies on both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity to transfer live images on the fly.
Note: The RearVision will only work in 1996-model-year cars or newer that have a 12V OBD-II port. You should check your vehicle before purchasing.
Installation and setup
Despite our love for DIY projects and tinkering, the idea of drilling holes through a vehicle is far from appealing. So, RearVision’s no-drill setup is enticing.
Pearl says the RearVision takes ten minutes to set up. We managed to do so in about five – two of which was spent finding a screwdriver to remove the license plate – so installation took no effort, even for novices. The camera is out-of-the-box ready, with helpful illustrated instructions.
Once you’ve removed the license plate (and any cover it might have had), the process is as simple as attaching a metal frame around the license plate and securing it back in place. The main RearVision unit, which contains two cameras (one for day, and another to help it see at night; more on this later) is then attached to the frame with a single security torx screw. That’s it. Unfortunately, you will have to say good-bye to the old cover that proudly proclaims your alma mater, or that your other car is a Porsche.
The next step is to pair the RearVision to your smartphone, which requires downloading Pearl’s RearVision app (Android and iOS) and plugging in the RearVision adapter into your vehicle’s OBD II port, which is usually located below the steering column. All of the video processing and transmission of data is done by the OBD II port. Inside the small device is an eight-core processor and wireless connectivity to act as a middleman for video transmission, when you shift your car into reverse.
The kit also includes a phone mount that attaches to your car’s dash or vent, and your phone via a magnet.
After a brief onboarding process within the app, the RearVision backup camera is good to go.
Experience
Our expectations for the RearVision were incredibly high. After all, you’re paying $500 for a device that you’ll use every time you put your vehicle into reverse. Even though the RearVision is more affordable and less invasive than other after-market options, it’s far from cheap.
But even with the bar set high, RearVision managed to reach it. With its 175-degree field of view and onscreen lines for guiding, backing out a 2012 Buick Verano went from being a former pain-in-the-neck to not only convenient, but enjoyable. The wide field of view made it easy to see anything and everything behind the vehicle.
With its 175-degree field of view, backing out went from painful to convenient and enjoyable.
If an object or person gets too close for comfort, the RearVision will beep through its OBD II adapter and display a little water drop effect over the video – on top of where the obstacle is located. The sound is loud enough to get your attention – even with the radio on – and the ripple effect is a subtle visual cue that helps distinguish the obstacle from surrounding areas.
When your phone is positioned horizontally, the RearVision app shows you the full, wide-angle feed across the entire screen. When positioned vertically, the app shows two images: the entire 175-degree overview of what RearVision sees, and another above it that lets you choose from three separate locations of said video feed to zoom into for a closer look.
For us, the standout feature is the RearVision’s video quality. During daylight, the video is absolutely astounding, especially when paired with a larger phone, such as an iPhone 7 Plus or Google Pixel XL. There is obvious distortion around the edges of the video, but that’s to be expected with such a wide-angle lens in front of its small 1/3-inch CMOS sensor. Besides that, the picture is clear as can be and capable of picking up even the smallest obstacles – like your kitten that somehow snuck outside.
The camera also performs well at night. One of the two cameras housed inside the framing has an infrared sensor. When using RearVision at night, the system automatically switches to this camera and uses the rear-facing lights of your vehicle to illuminate the path behind it.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video
The image quality for both day and night is impeccable, as long as the connection is strong. It’s important to note how the RearVision operates in terms of transmitting the live video footage. The default method of video transmission is Wi-Fi. When Wi-Fi isn’t working for some reason or another, the system reverts to Bluetooth.
In the two months we’ve been using the device, we can only recall three times when it switched to Bluetooth (a notification pops up letting you know it’s using Bluetooth over Wi-Fi). And during these moments, we did notice a substantial decrease in video quality, but it was still good enough to see what was behind the vehicle.
If you’re wondering how the cameras are powered without wiring, it’s possible thanks to an internal battery that’s continually charged, via integrated solar panels beneath the frame. Even on the cloudy days, the RearVision worked without problem and never showed any signs of a low battery.
More: Yada Backup Camera with Dash Monitor review
The only issue we encountered with the RearVision was visibility in less than ideal situations. For example, when it was raining, the light used to illuminate the vehicle’s license plate caused the beads of water on the lenses to light up extremely bright, making the video feed all but unusable. It’s worth noting though that this wasn’t so much RearVision’s fault, as it was more the shape of the Verano’s rear end. For some reason, the rear bumper is angled in such a way that the lenses on the RearVision unit were more exposed, both to rain and the license plate light. On most other vehicles the unit wouldn’t be nearly as exposed, which should prevent this from happening.
Pearl says the RearVision takes ten minutes to set up. We managed to do so in about five.
To promote safe driving, and to adhere to specific laws, Pearl limits RearVision to operating only when you’re driving 10 miles per hour or less. When you aren’t backing up, the RearVision app switches to its dashboard interface, which offers customizable shortcuts to your most-used apps on your phone. Our setup, for example, includes Apple Music, Apple Maps, and Waze. It’s a clever app design that simplifies the process when you plan on using other apps for your drive.
On Android, you can set up RearVision to automatically open when you get in the car. On iOS you’re limited to a push notification when you get in your vehicle, but a simple swipe takes you directly into the app.
If you’re new to backup cameras in general, there will be a bit of a learning curve. Trusting the camera over your mirrors takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature.
Warranty information
Pearl offers a three-year warranty, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee. If your RearVision becomes defective during regular use, Pearl will either repair or replace the unit. This warranty is transferrable in the event a RearVision unit is sold as part of a used car, but the warranty date is still based on the original purchase date.
Our Take
The RearVision, price wise, sits somewhere in the middle: It isn’t the most affordable backup camera out there, but it’s also not out of reach. It’s without a doubt the least invasive and most impressive option across the board.
Is there a better alternative?
Compared to what we’ve seen in the market – in both specs and usability – there’s nothing like it. If cost is the biggest factor in your purchase, you’ll be able to find a more affordable option, but you’ll be sacrificing the simplicity of setup and the quality of video, which we think justify the cost.
How long will it last?
Theoretically, a RearVision unit will last as long as Pearl continues to support the specific model through its app. There aren’t a great deal of failure points on the unit, but depending on the region you’ll be driving, the elements might take their toll overtime. Pearl is a new startup, so we don’t have any historical data to reference, but the company was founded by three former Apple engineers, if that is any comfort.
Should you buy it?
Yes, if you’re in the market for a backup camera and don’t want to worry about drilling through your vehicle, the RearVision is a wonderful buy. It’s slightly expensive for a single-purpose gadget that you don’t use all the time, but unlike other backup cameras, there’s no hidden installation costs or cumbersome rigging to get it working, which alone makes it worth the price – even more so if it could save you from being in an accident.
Mozilla directs Firefox to disable Web of Trust add-on due to user data concerns
Why it matters to you
Mozilla is looking out for your safety by disabling the Web of Trust add-on that you might still have installed in your Firefox browser. It might be time to uninstall it.
The Web of Trust (WOT) service add-on aims to make browsing safer by monitoring the sites that users visit and warning when they run into a variety of danger such as scams, malware, and rogue web stores. WOT offers browser extensions and mobile apps that are intended to provide a “simple and safe browsing experience.”
However, Mozilla’s Firefox browser is apparently disabling the WOT add-on and marking it as suspicious based on concerns over the protection of user data. Apparently, WOT was previously identified as a problem add-on and removed from the list of available add-ons, and now those users who still have WOT installed in Firefox are no longer able to use it, as Graham Cluley Associates reports.
More: Web of Trust add-on pulled following report of privacy violations
WOT is a crowdsourced solution service that analyzes the ratings of over 140 million users to determine when a web page might include unsafe content or links. With WOT installed, a traffic light icon is used to indicate whether a current page is safe or unsafe, with a green light meaning that users have rated the site as safe, yellow if caution is advised, and red if potential threats have been identified.
According to reports in 2016, WOT gathers information on user browsing activities, including the date, time, location, and URL of pages visited. A user ID is associated with that data that WOT asserts is anonymous, but German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) reporters were able to parse the data and pull out user-identifying information such as email addresses and names for at least 50 unique users.
On November 1, 2016, Mozilla was notified and, based on further research by Rob Wu, the WOT add-on was removed as a downloadable option. Users who still had the add-on installed and running were able to continue using it until January 25, 2017, when Mozilla apparently disabled WOT in Firefox.
Graham Cluley Associates
News of Mozilla’s actions first popped up on WOT’s support forums, with a number of users complaining that the add-on no longer functions. The user receives a notification on trying to run the WOT add-on stating that “Versions 20170120 and lower of the Web of Trust add-on send excessive user data to its service, which has been reportedly shared with third parties without sufficient sanitization. These versions are also affected by a vulnerability that could lead to unwanted remote code execution.”
WOT has confirmed that it’s working to patch a remote code execution bug that exists with the tool, but there’s no word yet on whether WOT will fix the “deanonymizing” problem that led to the add-on being removed. Anyone who has the add-on installed should likely consider uninstalling it and waiting to see if WOT addresses Mozilla’s concerns.
‘Scrabble’ with slang words is the best way to describe Ludacris’ new game
Why it matters to you
Ludacris says that the game can help players learn about each other’s unique forms of communication and find ways to use language to bridge generation gaps.
Rapper, actor, and now, app creator. Chris Bridges, better known as Ludacris, is a wearer of many hats, and his latest just might be his best yet. On Thursday, the Grammy-winning artist joined forces with Edwin Benton to release Slang N’ Friendz, a new mobile game that “gives players of all ages the chance to communicate using their favorite words by incorporating a dictionary database of slang words compiled from across the globe.”
While most word games insist on abiding by a rather strict lexicon, Slang N’ Friendz instead leverages more commonly used words to create more engaging gameplay. The free game hopes to encourage players to use “both traditional and alternate words,” remaining true to their own unique manners of speech. Really, there are next to no rules in this game, as it allows for customization features and even the ability to add new words to the game’s database.
“Our goal is to provide users with a fun, compelling and un-intimidating word game where they can be themselves, learn and represent where they come from. Our purpose is to connect people across the world and allow users to engage with someone they wouldn’t normally meet. Slang is universal and could be the driving factor that brings us together and one day, possibly change the world,” said Benton, the CEO and founder of Slang N’ Friendz.
More: 25 immersive apps and games that make Samsung’s Gear VR a must-have
To play, simply download the free app and get connected to an international community of users. You can select to play against a random user, a friend, or even on your own. Like Scrabble, Words with Friends, or other popular word games, you will be able to place your given letter tiles on a board to form a word. The difference, of course, is what qualifies as a word.
“In a time when so much of the world is divided, technology has the opportunity to bring us together. Slang N’ Friendz encourages users to connect, be friendly and identify what they have in common through language,” Ludacris said. “It’s also a chance for different generations to learn about each other’s unique forms of communication and find ways to use language to bridge generation gaps.”
Marvel announces multi-game partnership with Square Enix
Avengers! Reassemble?
We’re finally getting an Avengers game! OK, we’ve sort of had one before in the Ultimate Alliance franchise, but… meh?
IGN and Superherohype are spreading the word that Marvel has made a multi-year, multi-game agreement with Square Enix, bring together two entertainment powerhouses in (what will hopefully be) beautiful synergy.
Square Enix, well-known for the Final Fantasy franchise, is tapping Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics, as well as Deus Ex developer Eidos Montréal for an Avengers game set to be released in 2018.
The Avengers Project is being designed for gamers worldwide and will be packed with all the characters, environments, and iconic moments that have thrilled longtime fans of the franchise. (Marvel)
We teamed up with @SquareEnix for a multi-year, multi-game partnership starting with The Avengers project! Details: https://t.co/Z9gqDlBVLJ pic.twitter.com/VyyAlxu2e1
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) January 26, 2017
No platforms have been announced yet, but with Square Enix onboard, we can safely assume PS4 is in the mix.
No other games have been announced yet, nor has the plot for the Avengers game, known for now as “The Avengers Project”, been revealed. Our only clue is the cryptic appearance of the word “Reassemble” and the rather intriguing launch trailer below.
What do you think?
Are you psyched for an Avengers game? Or have you had it with the Avengers franchise? Sound off in the comments below!
Here’s our first live look at the Galaxy S8
This is the first live look at the Samsung Galaxy S8.
We now know what the Galaxy S8 will look like, if this live photo of the new device, or pair of devices, is real.
According to trustworthy leaker, Evan Blass of Venturebeat, the Galaxy S8 will resemble its predecessor in a number of ways, but will eschew the standard flat model for a duo of curved edge-to-edge variants in two sizes: 5.8 inches and 6.2 inches. Based on a previous leak, we know that the phone’s screen, which will reportedly have a non-standard 18.5:9 aspect ratio, will comprise 83% of the front, which approaches the definition of “bezel-less”. The odd aspect ratio will also allow Samsung to fit more vertically on the screen; the navigation keys won’t eat into any actual screen real estate like on other devices with typical 16:9 shapes.
The 5.8-inch version will reportedly have a 3,000mAh battery, while the larger 6.2-inch model will be boosted to 3,500mAh.
As you can see from the shot above, Samsung will be doing away with a physical home button and capacitive navigation keys on the phone’s front, moving to on-screen buttons while shifting the fingerprint sensor to the phone’s rear, to the right (or left, depending on how you’re holding the phone) of the 12MP rear camera. At the bottom, a USB-C port is centered next to a single speaker and, thankfully, a headphone jack.
Though we don’t know screen resolution as of yet, the 5.8-inch version will reportedly have a 3,000mAh battery, while the larger 6.2-inch model will be boosted to 3,500mAh. That is the same, and slightly smaller, than the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, respectively.
Inside, a Snapdragon 835 will pair with 4GB of RAM, while a new 64GB base storage size will be augmentable with a microSD slot. As we reported earlier this week, the Galaxy S8 will be the first phone to ship with Qualcomm’s new ultra-fast Snapdragon 835, much to the chagrin of LG and others.
We can expect incremental upgrades in the imaging department, according to Venturebeat; a single 12MP rear sensor and f/1.7 lens sounds the same as the Galaxy S7’s on paper, but there will undoubtedly be improvements to the optics to talk about. On the software side, the camera will incorporate OCR abilities to parse images and text that the new AI assistant will be able to turn into documents for archiving.
The phone will be announced at an event in New York City on March 29.
Perhaps the most interesting and unusual feature will be a Microsoft Continuum-like desktop dock called DeX, which will allow Android to be used as a desktop operating system, with a little help from Samsung’s engineers. It’s unclear what version of Android the phone will run at launch, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see Android 7.1 Nougat when the Galaxy S8 debuts in April.
As for the announcement itself, VB is reporting that it will take place in New York City on March 29, a month after Mobile World Congress. In Europe, the phones will cost €799 and €899, respectively, €100 more than the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.
More: Galaxy S8 rumor roundup
Samsung
Samsung is a massive South Korea-based multinational company that makes some of the best-selling phones, tablets and mobile accessories, but also spans industries such as televisions, appliances and semiconductors (like memory and processors). Samsung is the largest Android device manufacturer worldwide.
- Best Samsung phones
- Samsung Galaxy S7 edge review
- Best microSD card for Android
How the classic puzzle game Myst came to Android
Nearly 25 years after its debut on CD-ROM, Myst has come to Android more beautiful and captivating than ever. But can this meditative classic capture a new generation of twitchy gamers?
The last time I spent any time in Cyan Inc.’s Myst, the legendary 3D puzzler that remained the most successful PC game ever until The Sims debuted in 2002, I was barely nine years old, enamored with the prospect of sitting in front of a computer and clicking to travel between places and times. Myst, like so many games released in the early 90s, remains in my head as it was: simple, beautiful and exasperating, a feat of early computer game engineering.
The game comes to Android seven years after iOS, but thanks to recent graphical overhauls and a transition to the cross-platform Unity engine, it arrives more beautiful and immersive than ever.
Of course, 24 years later, to return to the original game would be impossible; there have been so many iterations since then, from graphics- and sound-improving remasters to mobile adaptations, the original seems almost quaint. And yet the brothers behind the game, Rand and Robyn Miller, who began development of the classic back in 1990, believe Myst’s primary gameplay still shines, even as it finds itself debuting on another platform, Android, after yet another remastering.
“I’m still as enamored with Myst as I ever was,” Rand Miller told me in a phone interview. “Myst was designed to be simple, and in transitioning to touch [on a smartphone or tablet] it loses a layer of abstraction.” The game comes to Android nearly seven years after it debuted on iOS, but thanks to two recent graphical overhauls and a transition to the cross-platform Unity engine, it arrives more beautiful and immersive than ever.
The game itself isn’t necessarily the one you’ll remember from the early days of whirling 1x CD-ROMs. It’s realMyst, an adaptation originally released in 2000 that added real-time movement to the stillness of the original; a true adventure game rather than a series of vignettes. The assets and locations are all the same, but in realMyst you actually walk between them — something that wasn’t possible with the extremely limited hardware of the early 90s.
“When we were first porting our own games to Android, back in the early days, device parity was so crazy… it scared off most developers at the time.”
To undertake the transition to Android, Cyan called on renowned Saskatchewan-based mobile publisher, Noodlecake, to do the heavy lifting. Noodlecake, which has carved out a niche as the publisher entrusted with bringing prime iOS exclusives to Android — games like Alto’s Adventure, Chameleon Run, Punch Quest, Wayward Souls, and Sage Solitaire, which may not have come to Android at all other — found the game to be in good condition after the Unity conversion, said COO Ryan Holowaty.
Holowaty said that Cyan approached his company to port both realMyst and Riven, which will come to Android devices in the coming months, because of their reputation in deftly handling Android ports, a task daunting for many other publishing houses. “When we were first porting our own games to Android, back in the early days, device parity was so crazy — and we ran into a lot of problems. That’s what scared off most developers at the time. There were too many devices to support, and they didn’t know how to optimize the games [that were originally coded in Objective-C].
“Now, the specs and the hardware have balanced out, and it’s a bit easier to be confident that a game will run great across multiple devices… but we developed a reputation for being the place for iOS developers to bring their games to Android.”
Holowaty acknowledged that not all game ports are financially successful, but the relationships Noodlecake creates, along with the long-term success of the gaming franchise for the original publisher, is worth the trade-off. He noted that, with a game like Alto’s Adventure, which debuted as a paid title on iOS, developer Snowman accepted Noodlecake’s suggestion to make it free-to-play on Android. Some iOS developers, especially smaller teams, don’t have the resources to bring their titles to Android, but feel it necessary from an imaging perspective to have the game present on both major gaming platforms. That’s where Noodlecake shines.
The publisher also enjoys the feedback loop by having a number of high-profile titles living in one place. On iOS, for example, popular retro platformer Punch Quest is published by its developer, Rocketcat; on Android, it lives next to Alto’s Adventure and realMyst.
The adaptation to a fully 3D environment introduced a number of compromises he and his brother weren’t necessarily ready for.
But Myst is unlike anything else in Noodlecake’s repertoire. It’s vast and epic and, while optimized for mobile devices, perhaps requires a bit more patience than the average mobile gamer possesses. The controls, while sensible, are still limited by the game’s original mouse click-heavy navigation, and without the ability to strafe you’ll be doing a lot of backing up away from walls as you endeavor to tap on a sconce or manipulate a lever that could be a clue as to why you’re roaming a seemingly-empty world full of ethereal music and scratchy vocalizations.
Miller acknowledged this issue, saying the adaptation to a fully 3D environment introduced a number of compromises he and his brother weren’t necessarily ready for. “We lived in those models back in those static days. Moving to real-time 3D, we found the biggest issue was some of the things were able to control in 2D, like setting up shots and putting people in exact positions where they were able to interact with things to keep them right on trails — we had to deal with that, by improving the interface and ensuring the navigation was intuitive.”
Ultimately, the game, while still beautiful and eminently playable on Android, is not — and never will be — inherently attractive to a modern generation of gamers brought up on fast-paced twitch controls. That’s a shame, because Noodlecake did a great job bringing the majesty of Myst, the game and the world, to Android, and at $6.99, it’s a piece of gaming royalty you can pick up and take with you any time.
Download realMyst ($6.99)
Android Gaming
- Best Android games
- Best free Android games
- Best games with no in-app purchases
- Best action games for Android
- Best RPGs for Android
- All the Android gaming news!
ZTE Axon 7 Mini comes to Canada through Virgin Mobile
The ZTE Axon 7 Mini, which we voted as the best phone you can buy under $300, is coming to Canada this week through youth-oriented carrier, Virgin Mobile.
The phone, which will cost $49 CAD on a 2-year contract and $399 CAD outright, will eschew the MiFavor, um, flavor of Android in favor of a more stock experience, though it will still run Android 6.0.1 out of the box. The other main difference from the U.S.-sold unlocked variant is the elimination of the second SIM slot, which isn’t a popular feature up in the Great White North.
The 5.2-inch variant of the larger 5.5-inch ZTE Axon 7 doesn’t have the same power as its sibling — it trades a Snapdragon 820 and 4GB of RAM for a Snapdragon 617 and 3GB — but it does maintain the same excellent metal build, eye-catching design, and front-facing stereo speakers. There’s also a 16MP rear sensor with electronic image stabilization, and an 8MP front-facer that’s identical to the regular Axon 7.
ZTE spokesperson Katie Thomas told us that the Axon 7 Mini also has a slightly newer audio amplifier and codec combination than the Axon 7, which should actually provide better audio from the headphone jack than the more expensive model.
The Axon 7 Mini goes up against other mid-range devices like the Huawei Nova Plus and Moto G4 Plus.
See at Virgin Mobile
HTC 10 update delayed yet again for mainland Europe
European HTC 10 owners are still waiting on their update to Nougat.
While HTC 10 owners in the USA have been enjoying the Nougat update for more than a month now, it’s a different tune for those living in mainland Europe who are still awaiting their OTA update to the latest Android software.
Graham Wheeler, Product and Service Director for HTC, took to twitter earlier today to announce that the Nougat update has started rolling out to devices in the UK, Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East — but that technical issues had forced them to pause on pushing the update to the rest of mainland Europe.
For HTC 10 users in mainland Europe, we’ve unfortunately had to pause the rollout as we look into a technical issue and work to correct it.
— Graham Wheeler (@wheelergd) January 26, 2017
Wheeler offered no insight into what was causing the European delay, but did say he would provide an update and said he expects the update to finally roll out in February.
Reaction to this news was mixed, with some twitter users praising Wheeler and HTC for being forthright with handling the delay, while others were, as you would expect, a tad upset about the added delays.
[custom:htc-10]
AIVAnet 