Pokemon Go is spreading the love for Valentine’s Day, double candy and higher spawn rates for pink Pokemon

The Pokemon Company and Niantic are feeling very generous and to celebrate Valentine’s Day, are spreading the love in the form of more candy and a greater chance of catching certain Pokemon when playing Pokemon Go. Starting from 7.00pm tonight, 8 February, you will be able to collect double the amount of candy when catching, hatching and transferring Pokemon, while your Buddy Pokemon will go out its way to find double the amount of candy for you, their trainer.

• Pokemon Go review, or The Trials and Tribulations of a Pokemon Go addict

The love doesn’t end there though, as pink Pokemon including Chansey, Clefable, Porygon and others will have higher spawn rates, meaning there’s a greater chance of you catching one to add to your collection, or collect more candy to evolve them.

Other second generation pink Pokemon such as Cleffa, Igglybuff and Smoochum will have a higher chance of hatching from eggs you collect. Last but not least, any Lure modules you deploy will be active for six hours as opposed to the standard 30 minutes.

Pokemon Go has had several new features added to it in recent months to help encourage players to continue their quests, or to entice players back that may have felt the novelty had worn off. The introduction of second generation Pokemon and Ditto were certainly welcomed with open arms, and Pokeballs, while the improved nearby feature has made it much easier to track down any elusive pocket monsters you’re missing from the Pokedex.

• Pokemon Go: How to play and other tips and tricks
• How to catch Ditto in Pokemon Go
• Pokemon Go: Sightings and nearby will super-charge maps and help you find Pokemon

Be sure to make full use of this new feature for Valentine’s Day though, as the double candy and increased chance of catching pink Pokemon will end at 7pm on 15 February.

Corsair teases its first whole computer

You likely know Corsair as a computer parts and peripherals manufacturer. It makes DRAM modules for laptops and desktops, flash drives, PC cases, SSDs, keyboards, mice and so on and so forth. An ad published in Maximum PC’s March issue, however, reveals that the company has become a full-fledged PC maker. Its first ever whole computer is fittingly called Corsair One, and it features a dark, Tron-esque design.

The ad called it a “category-defying new PC” that was “built from the ground up to power anything and everything you love to do.” That’s pretty much the extent of what the ad divulged, though it also has the URL to Corsair One’s barebones landing page. You can sign up on the website to get updates, but rest assured that we’ll also share more details when they become available.

Source: Corsair One

Netflix wants its own TV merchandise empire

As the lineup of Netflix originals swells, it’s no surprise to hear that the company wants to push into merchandising. As Bloomberg reports, the video streaming provider has posted a job opening for a “licensing, merchandising and promotion” senior manager, tasked with “pursuing consumer products” that will “drive meaningful show awareness.” The move makes perfect sense, given the popularity of shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. T-shirts, caps and mugs seem obvious; it will be interesting to see how, if at all, the company experiments.

Intriguingly, the new job description references “books, comics, gaming toys, collectibles, soundtracks and apparel” as possible licensing opportunities. A Narcos graphic novel? Or maybe a special Stranger Things version of Dungeons & Dragons? The opportunities are endless.

A merchandising push would help Netflix on multiple fronts. The additional revenue would help pay for new originals, follow-up seasons, and the renewal of third-party TV shows and movies. Raising show awareness would also have the knock-on effect of driving new subscriptions. If you’ve long stopped paying for Netflix, but suddenly see someone raving about The Crown, you’re more likely to consider shelling out again. It’s a tactic which companies like Disney and Warner Bros. have long mastered to boost interest in their movies. Which leaves the big question: what Netflix merch would you actually spend money on?

Via: Bloomberg

Source: Netflix

Who wants to play games on their smartwatch?

It’s always been possible to play games on your smartwatch, but is that really the best way to use that device? The makers of that Minecraft Gameband your niece and nephew won’t shut up about think so, and have launched a Kickstarter to prove it. FMTwo’s Gameband is a smartwatch that purports to be the first “fully dedicated gaming smartwatch” that’s “optimized for on-the-go-gameplay.”

Gameband is packing a 1.63-inch AMOLED display paired with Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip clocked at 1.2GHz. Other features include a 400mAh battery, USB C, Bluetooth 4.2 and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi as well as an integrated microSD card slot. The unit runs a tweaked version of Android Marshmallow and will work with both Android and iOS devices. You can also use it much like its predecessor: as a mobile storage device for PC-dependent games like Minecraft and Terraria.

The device will come in three different flavors: a vanilla Gameband, as well as versions with Terraria and Atari branding. Each one, we’re told, will come with 20 mini games pre-loaded, including versions of Pong, Asteroids and Centipede built for the small screen. In addition, the latter two will have a choice of limited-edition branded straps and digital watch faces to show your allegiance to the respective brand.

Should you wish to grab one of these, then you can do so at the low price of $99, should you be an early backer on Kickstarter. Later backers will be asked to cough up $149, while latecomers will need to spend $199 if it meets its planed street date this September.

Source: Gameband

Facebook adds ways to find and offer help through Safety Check

Facebook’s Safety Check feature has proven useful as a quick and easy way for people to tell their family and friends they’re safe during times of crisis. But safety is one thing; what if you still need food and shelter? Or perhaps medical supplies? That’s why Facebook has introduced a new feature called Community Help. Now when you check in to say you’re safe, you’ll see some follow-up queries to either find help if you need it, or to give help if you have the means to do so.

These “Find Help” and “Give Help” options will be integrated in the same interface as the Safety Check page. Hit Find Help, and you can select from a number of different categories, like food, shelter or water. Pick shelter, for example, and you’ll see posts from people in the community offering their homes or apartments as a place to stay. You could even see spots plotted out on a map thanks to approximate location data.

Posts from friends or mutual friends will appear on the top, since they’re probably more trustworthy than strangers. Each individual post will have a Message button at the bottom, so you can easily send them a message and hopefully get the help you want. Once the person asking for help and the person giving help have been matched up, the request can be closed out so that they will no longer show up on the search results and map.

Of course, there’s always the potential danger of con artists taking advantage of bad situations. Facebook has tried to curb this by implementing a few safeguards. First, when you do hit Find Help in the app, there’ll be a warning that teaches you a few safety tips, like always meeting the other person in public and vetting their profile to see if they’re legit. There are also controls to report posts if they seem particularly sketchy. Plus, only those ages 18 and older are allowed in. And in order to prevent bots and spam, accounts that are extremely new won’t be able to gain access to the group.

Still, Facebook seems pretty hopeful that scams like these will be few and far between. Preethi Chetan, a product designer for Safety Check, said that in their research, she’s been pretty heartened to see a lot of people wanting to give help any way they can. “It’s nice to see good will like that in the community,” she said.

This feature exists within Safety Check itself, so it’s useful to have some background on how the whole thing actually works. First, an incident has to be important enough to trigger an alert by global crisis reporting agencies NC4 and iJet International. Once that happens, Facebook automatically starts looking for keywords and location data for posts about the incident in the area.

If there’s enough of a critical mass of folks talking about it, Safety Check will then trigger for that particular event, calling for locals to mark themselves safe. Once they do, they can also immediately check up on their friends by inviting them to do the Safety Check as well. The entire process is community-activated — it’s been that way since November last year — though Facebook employees do perform oversight to make sure everything’s running smoothly.

Right now, Community Help will only be for natural and accidental incidents in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and India. It’ll roll out to more countries and more incident types as the team learns more about how people use the tools. “As with any activation, we’re looking to get feedback and listen and improve our products for communities in need in the future,” said Chetan.

Pink creatures will invade ‘Pokémon Go’ this Valentine season

Pokémon Go will look a lot rosier than you’re used to these next few days. For V-day 2017, pink Pokémon like Chansey, Porygon and (the evolved form of Clefairy) Clefable will spawn a lot more often than usual. But if you want some cute pink baby Pokémon instead, then start incubating some eggs, because they’re more likely to hatch into Cleffa, Igglybuff and Smoochum, as well.

In addition to pink species’ invasion, you’ll receive double the amount of candy when you catch, hatch or transfer a Pokémon to the Professor. Oh, and you may want to hold onto those lures until the event begins — each one will keep attracting Pokémon for six hours instead of the usual 30 minutes. Keep an eye on your watch, assuming you still play Pokémon Go, don’t live in China and actually want to catch pink squishy creatures. The event begins today, 11AM PST/2PM EST, and will run until 11AM PST on February 15th.

‘Gears of War 4’ gets bromantic update for Valentine’s Day

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Microsoft has decided to woo gamers with a week-long Gears of War 4 event. Taking a few tips from Cupid, February 10th will see the week-long return of popular multiplayer-mode Torque Bow Tag. The limited-time event also includes daily Valentine’s themed bounties, a new craftable character and introduces two new maps – Impact Dark and War Machine.

While the fleeting holiday-themed event will come and go, the two additional maps are here to stay. Impact Dark is a reworked version of existing Gears 4 arena – Impact. Swapping the original’s bright daylight setting for the dark of night, the map also increases the tension by covering the battlefield in visibility-reducing smoke.

The other map accompanying the update is a reimagined version of the popular War Machine stage from the original game. Making its way to Gears of War 4 for the first time, War Machine has now uprooted from the dingy train station of old to a grandiose looking COG settlement. Despite the drastic visual overhaul, developer The Coalition claims that the core map design fans remember has remained intact.

In a bid to stop you rage-quitting, this new patch also brings with it a whole load of gameplay tweaks, including long-requested improvements to the game’s Guardian Mode. The February update is available to download now, with season pass holders able to play the two new maps today. For everyone else, the new stages will be playable on February 10th. While not as fully-fledged as Gears of War 4’s Christmas update, we can’t think of a better way to celebrate Valentine’s than devouring a gift box of chocolates, ignoring your significant other and settling in for a week-long frag fest.

Source: Xbox

ICYMI: DARPA’s drone snatcher and Pokémon: Minecraft edition

Today on In Case You Missed It: DARPA unveiled a UAV recovery systems that can catch a 1,000-pound drone but still fit comfortably in a standard 20-foot shipping container. The SideArm, as it’s called, uses the same arresting-wire system that full-sized military jets use aboard aircraft carriers — just, you know, upside down.

We also take a look what happens when modders manage to stuff a full Pokémon game (in this case, “Cobalt and Amethyst”) into the Minecraft universe. Modder Phoenix SC reportedly spent 31 months creating the add-on. It contains a brand-new storyline, 136 new Pokémon and about 70 hours of gameplay. Just make sure you catch this unofficial addition to the Pokémpire before Team Nintendo arrives.

As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @engadget or @mskerryd.

Foxconn Gives Sharp the Lead on $7 Billion U.S. Manufacturing Plant

Following weeks of reports and speculation on the potential opening of a United States-based factory built by Apple suppliers Foxconn and Sharp, a report from Reuters today states that Sharp is “taking the lead” on a $7 billion plant in the U.S. that was initially outlined by parent company Foxconn. The plant will break ground sometime in the first half of 2017.

The timing of the news coincides with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s incoming meeting with President Donald Trump, the driving force behind the recent glut of U.S. iPhone manufacturing news. In a phone call with Apple CEO Tim Cook in December, Trump said it will be a “real achievement” for his Presidency when he gets Apple to shift device manufacturing stateside.

A decision by Foxconn to give Sharp the lead would come as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to travel to the United States to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, who in his inauguration speech vowed to put “America first”.

In a package Tokyo hopes will please Trump, Abe will unveil investments to create as many as 700,000 U.S. jobs, people familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier.

Abe will visit Trump at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida over the weekend, where the two leaders will play golf, following a meeting on Friday in Washington.

Sharp previously cited interest in building U.S. plants for LCD panel construction for TV sets and home appliances. Foxconn’s rumored U.S. plans are more closely aligned with Apple through a proposed $7 billion joint investment with the Cupertino company, which would potentially lead to a display manufacturing facility in the country. Sharp now appears to be spearheading that project.

According to people familiar with the matter, PM Abe will present a plan to create more than 700,000 jobs through U.S.-based operations and include a variety of manufacturing companies, as well as Foxconn and Sharp. As usual, a Sharp spokesperson said that no official decision has yet been made on building a factory within the U.S.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: Foxconn, Sharp, Donald Trump
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Chan Zuckerberg Biohub starts handing out big bucks to disease investigators

Why it matters to you

It’s a bold ambition but the research could one day benefit us all.

When Mark Zuckerberg wonders about stuff, he wonders big. As befits someone who co-founded and now controls the world’s biggest social network, the Facebook CEO recently wondered if he could “help scientists to cure, prevent or manage all diseases within our children’s lifetime.”

And not only has he been wondering about it – he’s actually trying to do it, too.

Together with his wife Priscilla Chan, the pair last September pledged $3 billion to fund medical research over the next decade. Distributed by the Chan Zuckerberg (CZ) Initiative, some of that money has just been released to the opening project – Biohub – a medical-focused research facility comprising “some of the best and brightest” scientists and engineers from Stanford University; the University of California, San Francisco; and the University of California, Berkeley, as well as an experienced engineering team linked to the CZ Initiative.

Each of the selected 47 investigators will receive up to $1.5 million over the next five years to conduct life science research in their respective areas of expertise. The work of the Biohub will focus on four main areas, namely new detection technologies, new treatments, new ways to prevent infection, and new approaches to rapid response when new threats emerge.

One of the first projects will be to further explore the various kinds of cells that control the body’s organs, and ultimately to map every cell in the human body. Another goal is to design new tests and vaccines in an effort to overcome challenges such as HIV, Ebola, and Zika.

“CZ Biohub investigators share our vision of a planet without disease,” said Joseph DeRisi, co-president of CZ Biohub and professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UC San Francisco. “To realize this vision, we are giving some of the world’s most creative and brilliant researchers access to groundbreaking technology and the freedom to pursue high-risk research.”

DeRisi added that CZ Biohub investigators aim to challenge “traditional thinking in pursuit of radical discoveries that will make even the most stubborn and deadly diseases treatable.”

More: CZ Initiative acquires AI-powered science search engine called Meta

Announcing the pledge last fall, Zuckerberg wrote in an online message, “Medicine has only been a modern science for about a century, and we’ve made incredible progress so far. Life expectancy has increased by 1/4 of a year per year since then, and if we only continue this trend, the average will reach 100 around the end of this century.”

The Zuck noted that as things stand, four types of illness – cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases, and neurological diseases – account for the majority of deaths, and suggested that meaningful progress could be made to “cure, prevent, or manage” these diseases using the right technology.

Over time, around $600 million of funding is expected to be received by the Biohub as its researchers attempt to solve the world’s biggest health problems..