Don’t want to pay extra for Oculus movies? Use these awesome alternatives instead!

There is no reason to overpay for your movies when you have options.

The Gear VR is comfortable enough that you can easily lay back and check out your favorite movies. Now Oculus Movies, is built right in so that you can purchase and watch the movies that you are really hankering for. However there is a bit of a catch here. That’s because purchasing a movie through Oculus Movies is actually a bit more expensive than it is anywhere else. Nobody wants to overpay for content unless they have to, and that’s definitely true here. Thankfully when it comes to checking out movies in VR, you have a few options to check out.

Read more at VRHeads

Play laser tag in the real world with this smartphone attachment

Playing laser tag is fun, but in order to do so, you have to go to a special venue, get specialized equipment and basically block off the entire day. With Proxy49’s Inceptor, however, you don’t have to. This little accessory combined with a game called Father.io essentially changes any smartphone into a mobile laser tag machine, without the need for a plastic toy gun attachment.

The device was funded on Indiegogo last year, but is just now heading into production. It has an infrared receiver and transmitter, a battery, plus a slew of different sensors that promise low latency as you’re running around dodging tags. It also has an LED to let you know whose team you’re on. The app, on the other hand, essentially uses your phone’s camera to help you see the world around you, and then it overlays graphics like target crosshairs and how many points you’ve scored.

We tried it out for a little bit at GDC 2017 in San Francisco, running around the perimeter of the Moscone Center. The app was definitely still in beta though, and accuracy seemed to be a little off. I also didn’t like it that I never knew how many hit points I had left and I couldn’t really tell how “hurt” my opponent was either. The folks behind Proxy49 tell me they’re still working on the app, and that the Inceptor could potentially be used with other games too.

Still, smartphone-powered laser tag is not a bad idea. I liked the augmented reality aspect of it — channeling Pokemon Go here a little — in that you could actually “see” your target in real life and fire at him or her. The fact that my screen flashed red when I “died” was a nice touch too.

You can pre-order the Inceptor on Indiegogo for $50 for a 2-pack, or if you prefer, you can get one for $30 each from Brookstone later this year.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from GDC 2017!

Uber’s solution to leadership woes may be a second-in-command

Uber is in a lot of hot water lately between Greyball, sexual harassment claims, a political uproar, an Alphabet lawsuit and CEO Travis Kalanick’s own outbursts. How is it supposed to get the ship back on course? If you believe sources speaking to The Information, the ridesharing outfit has a simple solution: hire a No. 2. Kalanick reportedly plans to take on a second-in-command that would “make key decisions” for the company. Think of this person like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, or Eric Schmidt in Google’s pre-Alphabet days — a second voice that tempers the founder’s idealism with some business sense.

The company isn’t commenting on the rumor apart from acknowledging Kalanick’s recent remarks that he needs to “grow up” and is looking for “leadership help.”

If accurate, this may be as much in Kalanick’s interest as anything else. A second in command might silence some of those calling for the CEO to quit, reassuring them that the company’s success or failure isn’t solely attributable to him. The upshot, of course, is that this might help Uber avoid making some decisions it regrets later. You won’t necessarily see a dramatically kinder and gentler Uber, but it may find itself in trouble less often than before.

Source: The Information

Facebook Messenger bots are going to get a lot more verbose

Facebook’s next updates for Messenger have a big focus on bots. Yep, Zuck is still trying to make “fetch” happen with those. Anyhow, the newest bits for the platform are mostly about letting others know that a bit of text originated from. That means from a shared bit of bot text will allow you to start a conversation with said bot from your existing conversation window. Even if you’re using Messenger from desktop. In addition to a bunch of other developer-centric notes is word that the bot text limit has been doubled. So yeah, jumping from 320 characters to 640 means that the bots are about to get a lot more chatty.

Source: Facebook Developers