VRcade Arena promises 8-person, ‘warehouse-scale’ multiplayer

Why it matters to you

What’s better than donning a headset and playing games in virtual reality? Sharing that virtual world with up to seven of your pals.

Consumer virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are great, but most owners simply don’t have the space to host experiences that can be enjoyed with friends. To fill that void, Seattle-based VR arcade specialist VRstudios has announced a new system dubbed the VRcade Arena.

VRcade Arena is described as a “warehouse-scale” platform that will allow businesses to offer multiplayer VR experiences to the public. The hardware streamlines the entire process of setting up the correct environment for players, even down to software integration of first- and third-party equipment, according to a report from Road to VR.

Most of the first wave of VR arcades simply use consumer headsets that are configured and networked by technically minded staff. VRcade Arena looks set to simplify the process somewhat, which should make it easier for businesses like amusement parks, casinos, and movie theaters to get in on the VR boom.

The platform supports multiplayer for up to eight players, making full use of the proprietary wireless headsets developed by VRstudios. Additional peripherals like motion controllers and mock pistols are also wireless, allowing users to take on a wide range of different experiences without having their movements constricted.

The current list of games supported by VRcade Arena includes Time Zombies, Barking Irons, PlanktOs: Crystal Guardians, and VRcade Drone Storm. The platform ships with various pieces of software designed to make the most of such a large-scale multiplayer set-up.

Over the past few years, we’ve started to see more and more facilities offer up all the necessary hardware and peripherals to give visitors a full VR experience. Last year, The Void delivered a Ghostbusters-themed experience in New York City where players could throw on a proton pack and go on the hunt for some restless spirits.

This kind of VR content can be amazing — but it’s typically bespoke, since most games designed for consumer headsets are designed for a single player. To make VRcade Arena a success, VRstudios needs to provide both a functional hardware set-up and enticing software that makes the most of its unique capabilities, and that’s no small feat.

Now up for sale on eBay, Loretta Lynn’s Eagle tour bus carried host of famous acts

Why it matters to you

Want a piece of country music history? Loretta Lynn’s Eagle tour bus is currently up for sale on eBay.

Loretta Lynn’s Eagle tour bus is for sale, but the 40-foot vehicle has an even deeper history of transporting award-winning musicians and bands. Grammy Award-winner Vassar Clements, Country Music Hall of Fame singer Faron Young, Loretta Lynn’s guitarist Perley Curtis, and the Badfinger and Sugarland bands all owned or toured in the 1977 Eagle tour bus currently up for auction on eBay. The bus still has “Coal Miner’s Daughter” on the front, but it can be removed.

The bus has one private bedroom and six bunks that can accommodate eight or more people. There’s a bathroom but no shower. There is, however, an empty closet adjacent to the bathroom that was originally intended for a shower, so conversion should be easy.

The bus has new air brakes, a new alternator, two new batteries, a new 14kW generator, and less than 1,000 miles on mostly new tires (two on the rear are retreads). The Detroit 8V71 diesel engine is paired with a five-speed transmission.

The eBay summary chart says the mileage is 200,000, but the owner’s representative says the mileage is actually unknown due to a motor rebuild. The vehicle has always been privately owned and never used commercially, so there are no logs. There are, however, meticulous records of the bus’s restoration and maintenance by the previous owner.

The diesel generator runs off the main fuel tanks to power two large air conditioners. One AC unit is located between the lounge area and the bunks and the second between the bunks and the master bedroom. There are 110V outlets throughout the bus.

Other features include two flatscreen TVs, two DVD players, a music system with surround speakers, a microwave oven, air horns, aluminum wheels, and reverse lights. Interior motor access panels on the floor make it easy to work on the engine. Underneath the coach, there are six large storage bays that go all the way from side to side.

The seller’s representative says the engine is strong and the bus do 78 to 80 mph on the highway if necessary. The rep also said the bus rides and steers very well. This bus was featured in Sugarland’s first music video, although the interior has since been updated.

This is just the latest eBay listing for a vehicle associated with musicians or celebrities. Earlier this year Bruce Springsteen’s yellow Chevrolet convertible was listed. A GTO Robert Downey, Jr. drove in the movie Home for the Holidays was also on eBay.

The current high bid for Loretta Lynn’s tour bus is $29,200. The auction ends at 1:20 p.m. PT on Friday, July 6.

3D-printed robot aims to improve breast cancer diagnosis

Why it matters to you

The Stormram 4 may enable more accurate breast cancer diagnoses and biopsies.

A small, 3D-printed robot developed by researchers at the University of Twente may become a revolutionary new tool in breast cancer diagnoses and biopsies. They’re calling it the Stormram 4 and, although it looks intimidating, it could help save lives.

“The manual MRI-guided breast biopsy procedure is time-consuming and ineffective,” Vincent Groenhuis, one of the researchers who developed the device, told Digital Trends. “It uses a thick needle, extracting large tissue samples, often in multiple attempts, to extract a representative biopsy sample.”

To overcome these problems and get more precise biopsies, Groenhuis, Françoise Siepel, and Stefano Stramigioli from the Robotics and Mechatronics (RAM) lab decided to develop a robotic system. But there was a big problem.

“Current robotic systems cannot be used inside the MRI due to the high magnetic field,” he said, “and therefore we initiated the development of an MRI-compatible robotic system for breast biopsy.”

They found a solution in 3D-printed plastic, which doesn’t affect the MRI scanner’s magnetic field, and went through four iterations of the device before finalizing the current one.

The team faced a series of challenges during the development of the first three Stormrams, not least of which was figuring out how to power the thing, since electric motors also interfere with MRI scanners. In its current form the Stormram 3D-printed robot is driven by air pressure and controlled by an operator outside of the scanner.

The Stromram 4 has a number of advantages to conventional techniques, according to the researchers, beginning with its sub-millimeter precision, which would be impossible for human hands.

“The robotic system can manipulate the needle more precisely toward target coordinates of the lesion inside the body, on the first attempt,” Groenhuis said. “This will improve the accuracy of the biopsy procedure compared to the current manual practice. Secondly, the needle insertion can be performed inside the MRI scanner itself, so that the needle can be followed under nearly real-time imaging guidance. The required time to perform the biopsy is also shorter, allowing more effective use of the MRI scanner facilities.”

Groenhuis and his team said the device is in its final stages of design but it will still need a few years of development and trials to receive regulatory approval.

Top 5 cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb suffers major data breach

Why it matters to you

As if you needed yet another reminder — if someone calls you up and asks for your password or other private information, don’t give it to them.

It’s easy to get a bit discouraged lately when it comes to securing our personal data. There are so many different methods being used by cyber criminals to get access to our data that it is tempting to just give up on the notion of keeping our information to ourselves. Cybercriminals use a variety of electronic means to break into systems, whether it is our own PCs or those maintained by the hundreds of companies with which we do business. Sometimes, it is the combination that does the trick — a breach in an individual’s PC serves as a gateway to organizational data and results in our information making its way into the wild. Such seems to be the case in an attack on the Bithumb cryptocurrency exchange.

The news comes via Hot for Security, based on information from some local reports in Seoul, Korea where the attack occurred. Apparently, a Bithumb employee’s PC was compromised and customer information including mobile phone and email addresses were stolen. The breach occurred on June 29 and around 30,000 customers were affected.

While Bithumb asserts that no information was accessed that would provide direct access to customer’s digital currency wallets, the stolen information seems to have been used in “voice phishing” scams targeting individual customers. A number of victims have come forward claiming the loss of significant amounts of money, including one customer who succumbed to a phishing attempt and lost 10 million won (approximately $8,700) in bitcoin.

Bithumb is a significant player in the cryptocurrency market in South Korea, owning approximately 75.7 percent of the volume. It is also one of the five largest bitcoin exchanges in the word, trading over 13,000 bitcoins worth of cryptocurrency trading volume — which make up around 10 percent of the global market.

Initially, Bithumb is offering victims up to 100,000 won, or about $87. Anyone who suffered additional losses will receive more compensation when the total damages have been calculated. It is estimated that Bithumb will pay out as much as 3 billion won in total, or around $2.6 million. The South Korean government is investigating, with a number of agencies participating.

While these kinds of attacks can be discouraging and seem completely out of our control, there are still steps we can take to keep ourselves safe — or at least a little safer. In the case of the Bithumb attack, it was old-school social engineering that was used to break into customer accounts, reinforcing the need to be paranoid when deciding when to give out personal information over the phone. The bottom line remains the same: Never give up your secrets unless you are absolutely certain who you are talking to, and never give anyone your password or other credentials.

These are the best PlayStation VR games!

Your PlayStation VR collection should include these titles!

Sony and their partners did a great job making sure there are plenty of great games for you to play in PlayStation VR on launch day. It doesn’t matter if you’re into shooting, flying, music, adventure, or silly games that involve putting bacon in a blender, there really is something for everyone to enjoy.

That also means it’s not entirely clear which games you should go for first, but we’ve been playing through all of them and have some suggestions for you! If you’re starting a PlayStation VR collection, make sure these games are on your list!

Read more at VR Heads!

Become a Salesforce wizard with this $36 certification bundle

Salesforce is a huge asset for many companies looking to become more efficient, and they are willing to pay experts big bucks to help them out. Wouldn’t it be nice to learn the skills you need now so that when the next big opportunity presents itself you could be in the running? Sounds expensive and time-consuming, right? Well, it doesn’t have to be.

Get certified for just $36 Learn More

Meet the Salesforce Administrator Certification training bundle, a great way for you to learn these new skills and move towards getting certified.

With this bundle you’ll get:

• Access 42 hours of content 24/7
• Configure & manage Sales & Service Cloud
• Gain insight into each of the functional Salesforce user groups
• Implement automation, security, debugging, data validation, & customize apps
• Deploy applications & manage changes on the Force.com platform
• Develop new applications using Salesforce Platform App Builder
• Configure a Salesforce user interface

Save 96% right now! Learn More

Normally, this would all set you back $470, but right now you can pay a fraction of that. For just $36 you can learn these new skills, and gain a new certification. This price won’t last long, so be sure to grab it while you can now!

Android Central and Mobile Nations, Inc. are not affiliated with or sponsored or endorsed by salesforce.com, inc.

Top 5 things HTC U11 does better than the Galaxy S8

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is our pick for best Android phone overall right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. And it certainly doesn’t mean you should dismiss the other flagships out there. HTC’s latest phone, the U11, actually gives Samsung a real run for its money — and there are a lot of reasons why you might want to pick up a U11 instead of an S8.

Check out the video above for the top five reasons why you might want to consider HTC’s shiny, squeezy flagship over the current king of the Android hill, the Galaxy S8.

Still on the fence? Let us know which handset you’d go for down in the comments!

• Android Central on YouTube
• More on HTC U11
• More on Samsung Galaxy S8
• Best Android Phones

How to stop Facebook and Instagram notifications from driving you crazy

Before you delete Facebook for being annoying, take a dive into the notification settings.

Quick story time: A few weeks back I went camping out in the remote wilderness for the weekend. We were well out of my carrier’s range and so I was unable to check on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for three whole days. When I got back into range of a cell tower, my phone exploded with notifications as expected.

I don’t care that “so and so posted something for the first time in a while”!

But among the texts and emails, my Facebook and Instagram notifications stuck out to me. In my absence, no one had actually commented or liked anything on my profile — and yet I still received several notifications about “so and so posted something for the first time in a while” or “that old friend from high school who you barely ever talk to added new photos recently”.

Social media notifications are supposed to be about letting you know when someone has commented on or reacted to something you’ve posted, but then there are all these other types of notifications that seem to serve another purpose — get you looking at your phone, opening up that timeline, and getting distracted in the never-ending stream of content.

The biggest culprits seem to be Facebook and Instagram (which Facebook owns). Naturally, I took to Facebook to vent about this issue, then dove into the app settings to see what could be tweaked. If you’re getting fed up with these attention-stealing notifications but don’t want to go the nuclear route and delete the apps from your phone, here’s how to reel in social media notifications on the biggest culprits — Facebook and Instagram.

How to tweak your Facebook notifications

You’re only able to tweak how mobile notifications are delivered via the Facebook app on Android, so tweak the notifications themselves, you need to log into Facebook on a web browser.

Tap the down arrow in the top-right corner.
Tap Settings
Tap Notifications.
Tap On Facebook.

This is where you can tweak the majority of things Facebook will send notifications for. By default, Facebook will notify you of all activity that involves you, whether that’s someone tagging you in a photo or commenting on of your posts. If that’s all you’re after in terms of notifications, you can turn pretty much everything else off.

It seemed like the “Close Friends” notification was the biggest culprit for those random notifications about my friend’s Facebook activity. Once you’ve gone through the Facebook notification settings on your computer, you can fine tune your mobile notifications in the Facebook app.

How to tweak your Instagram notifications

With Instagram, I only want to be sent a push notification if I’m tagged in the post of someone I follow, someone likes or comments on my stuff, someone follows me, or someone is trying to direct message me. That’s it.

By default, Instagram will also send notifications if a Facebook friend has recently joined Instagram, the first time an account posts or adds to their Instagram story, any new feature integrations, and even reminders simply to check in on the app. Here’s how to turn those ones off.

From your Instagram profile, tap the menu button in the top-right corner.
Swipe up to scroll down until you see Push Notifications

Tap Push Notifications.

Swipe up to scroll through the available notifications.
Tap Off to turn off any notification you don’t want to see

Instagram also gives you the option of only allowing push notifications from people you follow, which is good if you find yourself being harassed by spam bots. I’m still finding that Instagram is holding back notifying me on some likes for the sole purpose of getting me to check into the app. I’ll check the app and see that three friends have liked a photo, then a half hour later I’ll get a notification for one of those three friends. Hard to say if it’s a bug or a sneaky way for Instagram to look at your phone but it’s the one annoying notification quirk I haven’t solved yet.

What notifications drive you crazy?

Is there an app that you use all the time that just spams you with notifications? Let us know and we’ll look into helping you calm it down!

Shortage of data causing Samsung troubles in launching Bixby Voice for the U.S.

Big data is a big deal.

The full launch of the English version of Samsung’s Bixby voice control interface for the Galaxy S8 is still in a holding pattern, after originally expecting to launch in June. The delay comes from a handful of issues with the service but is driven by a lack of usage data that’s ultimately required for the machine learning systems to work at their full potential. Although the service is already available in Samsung’s home country of South Korea, evolving Bixby for use with U.S. English is proving tougher.

Because of the vast number of potential commands and numerous pathways to accomplish those commands within the interface and apps on a phone, the only realistic way to make it all work is for machine learning algorithms to process large amounts of data and determine those links automatically. Samsung’s engineers can of course set them on the right path, but in the end, you need real-world usage data to show the algorithms how people are using the service and how to best accomplish the commands.

Working with big data is tough enough — and that’s after you gather it all.

With Bixby Voice actually coming to the U.S. late last month in an opt-in beta, presumably Samsung will be able to accumulate the data it needs to get to the point of launching fully on every Galaxy S8 and S8+. From there, the extra data gained from millions of users will help improve the service over time. But because Samsung doesn’t initially have the wealth of voice data that a company like Google does, it’s slow going at the start.

The question is, how long will people wait? Samsung isn’t yet offering a new timeline for a public launch of the service. With Bixby Voice being one of the headline features talked about with the launch of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in April, it’s already a tad disappointing for people to not have access to it. Presumably Bixby Voice will be fully up and running by the launch of the Galaxy Note 8 later this year.

Then the discussion begins as to where Samsung will launch Bixby Voice next — with other massive markets like Europe and India needing attention, the U.S. is simply a stop on the road, not the finish line.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
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• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
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Pixel and Nexus factory images with July security patches now available, OTAs arriving soon

Another month, another set of security fixes for Android.

Right on schedule, Google has released the latest factory images and OTA files for recent Pixels and Nexuses, including the July 5 security patches. This update will hit the Pixel XL, Pixel, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Pixel C, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player. The new software is still based on Android 7.1.2 for the modern devices, but of course 7.1.1 for the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, which continue to simply get security patches without new versions of Android.

Aside from the security patches — which are of course very important in their own right — Google isn’t highlighting any big bug fixes or feature changes for any specific devices.

If you want to flash the full factory image or OTA file to your phone or tablet, be sure to refer to our full guide on manually updating your Pixel or Nexus. Take care to notice that for some phones, there are different images available depending on what carrier you’re using — such as Verizon or Project Fi — that you should specifically pick.

For the rest of us who are a little more patient, OTA updates should be rolling out to Pixels and Nexuses soon, hitting everyone’s device in the next few days.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

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