A robot conductor led a live orchestra performance

Just a month after humanoid robot Pepper conducted a Buddhist burial ceremony, a robo-contemporary has conducted the world-renowned Lucca Philharmonic orchestra alongside opera great Andrea Bocelli. Do robots need a heart to complete tasks of passion? As shown by YuMi, the robotic maestro designed by Swiss Firm ABB, maybe not.

Under the fresco-covered ceiling of a theatre in Pisa, Italy, the two-armed YuMi directed a program titled “A breath of hope: from the Stradivarius to the robot” for guests attending the first International Festival of Robotics. YuMi’s movements are incredibly fluid and nuanced — as you’d expect the gestures of a world-class composer to be — with the orchestra’s resident conductor Andrea Colombini saying that “everything was perfect, especially in the length and in the speed of the gesture, which is very important.”

The robot’s performance was developed in two stages. Firstly, Colombini’s movements were captured in rehearsal through a process called “lead-through programming”, where YuMi’s arms were guided to follow the motions. Then the movements were fine-tuned and synchronized with the music.

“I think tonight we’re truly making history and writing the future of robotics applications,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer after the performance. “YuMi demonstrated how intuitive, how self-learning this machine is — how wonderful our software really is in learning the movement of a conductor, sensing the music, and really conducting an entire team.”

YuMi isn’t designed to replace orchestral conductors, of course. The machine is a proof of concept, demonstrating what’s possible with ABB’s software. However, Colombini and his orchestra have said YuMi could play a great role during rehearsals, when the conductor is absent.

Source: ABB

Sony’s big idea: Get fans to make its next hit

A tiny San Francisco art gallery isn’t where you’d normally find a group of hardware beta testers, much less for a major consumer-electronics company. But on August 26th, 2017, Sony held an event for exactly that at The Laundry, a small and intimate exhibition space in the city’s Mission District that’s so hidden, you have to walk through a cafe in order to get in.

Nevertheless, at around 5 p.m. on a Thursday, the place was filled to the brim. That’s because this was the fourth and final meetup for participants of “Program N,” a project where volunteers tested a hands-free open-ear audio device (called, appropriately enough, Concept N) for Sony for almost a year.

It’s a project within Sony’s Future Lab, a special research and development arm that comes up with new and innovative approaches to hardware. One of those approaches? Instead of developing products secretly, these prototypes would be open to the public for feedback.

Future Lab came about in early 2016, and the key difference between it and other R&D groups within Sony is transparency. “We had never disclosed concepts and technologies under development,” said Naoya Okamoto, a program director for Future Lab. “But [with Future Lab] we opened up for the first time.”

Makoto Murata, the project team lead for Program N,
shows the Concept N prototype on the screen.

To be clear, these aren’t consumer-ready products. Not all Sony projects are eligible for the Future Lab treatment, and very rarely are they anything more than just concept prototypes, which rarely ever make the transition over to store shelves. Instead, Okamoto said that Sony hopes to use the feedback to accelerate its R&D activities in general. “It’s a very rare case, sort of an experiment, for us to share our prototype devices under development with the public,” he added. “And to let people use it at their leisure and away from our premises.” It was a big risk.

Yet, it’s a risk that Sony might be forced to make. Even though Sony was once the mainstream electronics brand of choice, it’s waned quite a bit in recent years. Its Xperia brand of phones has failed to capture the market the same way that Samsung and Apple has, and its Vaio brand of PCs proved so unsuccessful it had to sell it off a few years ago. Sony’s unfortunate insistence on proprietary media formats like Memory Sticks and Minidiscs didn’t help it either.

Sony’s Future Lab made its first public debut at SXSW last year, where it introduced a series of different concept prototypes for the first time. One was a projector that transformed any surface into a touchscreen interface (this would later be known as Concept T), an “aim-able” projector wand that could make it seem as if sound was coming from whatever area it was pointing at, and an advanced haptic controller that provided surprisingly realistic touch feedback.

From left to right: Kengo Yoshii (engineer), Angie Park (UX researcher)
and Makoto Murata (project lead)

But the product that got most of the buzz was Concept N, the aforementioned audio device. It’s essentially a wearable neckband equipped with four microphones and acts as a hands-free way to interact with your phone, like asking for directions or finding out the local weather. It even has a built-in camera to which you can command to take photos.

The best thing about the N, however, is that it can play back audio in your ears without the use of intrusive earbuds. Instead, it uses innovative speaker placement to beam audio around your head. And if you want better audio quality, Sony also made a pair of unique open-ear earbuds to use with it. Rather than sticking in your ear canal, these earbuds clamp over, behind and onto the inside of your ear, so that you can still pay attention to your environment while listening to your favorite tunes.

“We had a round of discussions about how people were using their smartphones and devices,” said Kengo Yoshii, a Sony engineer who gave a presentation at the San Francisco meetup. “Was there a way to create an experience that allowed us to communicate and have access to information while still being able to engage and be an active participant in life?” Based on questions like these, Concept N was born.

Concept N as seen at the SXSW festival in 2016.

Makoto Murata, the project team lead for Program N, said that the team tested the product internally, but only received positive feedback. “We didn’t believe it,” he said. “To solve this problem, we [decided to] open the innovation up. Co-creation is the best way.”

“We found we need to share the actual, real voice of the customers,” Okamoto added.

So in September of 2016, Sony started to accept applicants for Program N. However, there were a few caveats. It was open only to people living in San Francisco and the Bay Area — Okamoto said this was specifically done to attract participants with an “innovative mindset” — and participation was by invitation only. What’s more, in order to sign up, applicants had to cough up $100 of their own money as a non-refundable fee.

To kick the program off, Future Lab held a sales pitch event in the offices of Wired Magazine, which also served as the first user initiation meeting. “It was a very diverse crowd,” said Erik Hartley, a Program N participant who attended the event based on a friend recommendation.

“It wasn’t just a bunch of tech people,” he added. “They were bike messengers, photographers, professors, and people from all different backgrounds. The people really brought me into it, moreso than the device itself.” Still, he didn’t make the decision to sign up until he tried it for himself. “The headphones sold me on it. This is something I want to spend a bit of money on.”

He wasn’t the only one. According to Okamoto, by the end of the program, Sony had about 300 participants testing Concept N.

And if you think this is just a glorified focus group, think again. Aside from paying their own money for the hardware, Program N participants were invited to attend several meetups throughout the year, where they interacted with Sony engineers directly. Future Lab also attended the Silicon Valley Bike Festival and Bike To Work Day SF in order to talk to cyclists and bike commuters about how N could improve their experience. Sony also flew out engineers and designers from Tokyo to San Francisco for the sole purpose of in-person feedback. This feedback would then shape future updates.

“The first version of N didn’t have a calling function,” said Okamoto, adding that most people in Tokyo don’t use headsets to make calls, so it was an afterthought. Understandably, it was the most highly requested feature right from the start, and was the very first update they made to the product.

Makoto Murata and Kengo Yoshii next to three Project N participants:
Erik Hartley, Qianhe, and Brian Mikol .

In addition to bug fixes, Sony introduced more features over time. Some of the more interesting ones include a personalized radio service that read the latest news to you, turn-by-turn directions, a local neighborhood guide that would recommend nearby attractions and NBA scores.

A particularly amusing addition was Lost Dog, an augmented reality game where you try to help a ghost dog reunite with its owner. “They put enough thought into it, where it worked exactly where people would be walking their dogs in San Francisco,” said Hartley. It’s an app that would only work in the city, he added, and yet Sony had actually hired actors to do voices for the game.

“They gave us dedicated support,” said Hartley. “There were actual engineers responding to us on a regular basis. For Sony to go out and crowd source this research and development, I’ve not seen that from other companies before. I’d love to see other companies do that.”

Eventually, the work that Sony was doing with Program N got noticed by Sony’s mobile communications department. “We saw what they were doing, and thought there might be something there for us,” said Don Mesa, the Vice President of Marketing for Sony Mobile Communications in North America. “We saw a connection between smartphones and the ear, and started to work behind the scenes on it.”

A Future Labs participant trying out the Xperia Open-Ear prototype.

The result is the Xperia Ear Open-Style, which we just got a sneak peek of at this year’s IFA. Instead of using a neckband, it consists of two separate earbuds that you clamp onto your ears, similar to how the Concept N earbuds work. And unlike Concept N, which uses its own voice assistant protocol — the N assistants’ names are Nigel and Anna — the Xperia version will be compatible with your phone’s existing AI, be it Siri or Google Assistant.

But perhaps more importantly, unlike Concept N, the Xperia Ear Open-Style will eventually be a product that consumers can buy.

At the fourth and final meetup, users got together to talk about what they liked and didn’t like about the headset. Most seemed to really love the open-ear concept, and the ability to listen to music while also being engaged with the world around them. “For the first time it actually allowed me to relax at work,” said Hartley. “Because I could listen to music and function at work at the same time.”

“I had all kinds of voice interfaces at home. Amazon Echo, Google Home, Cortana,” said Qianhe, a senior researcher working in health and wearables. “But I didn’t have any voice interface that I can use in a wearable device […] N is the only device out there like this with a voice interface.”

A mockup of what Sony wants its Xperia Open-Ear earbuds to look like, as seen at IFA 2017.

Thomas Harp, a cyclist, said he loves being able to listen to the environment while listening to music. “I’m typically riding around with a single headphone, but now I can get a stereo effect,” he said. “I use it everyday.”

Of course, there were complaints too. Most of the people in attendance agreed that the four to five hour battery life of the hardware was far too short, while others said the voice recognition could be better. In particular, one user said that he wanted the N dictionary to recognize more words.

Svante Rodegard, a user who was in the program from the start, said that he joined because he was a Sony fan. “There was a time when Sony had the coolest products around,” he said. “Ah, I thought. Sony is trying to get back on top with the cool products. That’s what brought me into this gathering.” More users chimed in at this point, and reminisced about their memories with the Walkman and the Minidisc player. One user by the name of Deborah said she “grew up in a Sony home.”

“When I was growing up, Walkmans were a big deal,” said Hartley. “Later in my life, I bought a Sony CD Mavica Camera. I had that for three years! It was only 1 megapixel but I liked it because I could have my pictures on my computer almost instantly.”

Future Lab participants gather at The Laundry for the fourth and final meetup for Project N.

As of September 2017, Program N has officially ended, as its legacy continues with the Xperia Open-Ear concept over at Sony Mobile Communications. As for other Future Lab devices, Sony is now gathering applicants for the Concept T projector, though since it’s regarded as a B2B device, it’s a program that will be tested with developers and manufacturers rather than end-users.

As N drew to a close, Okamoto reflected on lessons learned during Future Lab’s first public-facing project. Unsurprisingly, he said he found real user feedback incredibly valuable, and that having over 300 participants in the program is far better than the usual small-scale test Sony does internally.

Perhaps the biggest lesson Okamoto took away from Program N, however, was that it changed the way the engineers thought about the hardware. “The engineers and R&D group, are usually separated from actual, real users,” he said. “Normally we are working in our lab, far from the real world.”

But when Sony had the engineers who made the prototype meet with testers face to face, Okamoto said that this changed their mindset. “They found the reality. The communications changed their minds. It was a more realistic way of seeing the user’s daily life.”

A Future Labs participant testing the latest Project N iteration.

As valuable as this open and transparent way of R&D was, however, Sony said it won’t be using this approach with everything that the company makes — instead, it’ll plan an “appropriate program for each concept.” That’s understandable, of course, as doing this sort of project just for one product already requires a lot of resources and time.

But if there’s anything that this program shows, it’s that listening to users — some of whom are still very passionate about the Sony brand — can be very beneficial to a company that’s getting increasingly left behind in the consumer electronics wars. Even if the Xperia Open-Ear concept doesn’t become successful, Sony would have learned a few lessons from the back-and-forth process of talking to users directly; lessons that it could use with other products in the future.

Still, it’s not clear if doing this will actually give Sony its cool back. That vision of the company’s history might be long past rescue. Future Lab could end up like the Aibo; another failed Sony experiment.

But as long as Sony is still surviving, it’s trying its hardest to stick around. “The next concept prototypes are under way,” said Yoshii as he ended his presentation at the meetup. Later that evening, he announced that he had moved from Tokyo to San Francisco, to work closer with the Future Lab team in the US. “We hope that we can continue our relationship,” he told the crowd. “We hope to co-create our future together.” And, perhaps, Sony’s future too.

Images: Andrew Eggers for Sony (Neckband on screen); Crowd shot; Man with glasses looking down); Nicole Lee (Three Sony employees; Panel group; Side profile of man wearing prototype); Nathan Ingraham (Neckband on pedestal); Edgar Alvarez (Earbuds in case)

Amazon’s next docuseries follows the U of M football team

Not content with its NFL bragging rights, Amazon now wants in on college football. Instead of livestreaming games, it’s settling for a docuseries. The eight-part show from Big Ten Network will offer a comprehensive look at the University of Michigan football program.

The docuseries will follow team members throughout the 2017 season as they balance classes with practice, and their lives in the local Ann Arbor community. Sounds like Friday Night Lights (the college years), right? Maybe. If Amazon wants a truly memorable show, however, it will aim for something in the vein of ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode The U — which chronicled the rise of the University of Miami football team in the ’80s. Either way, Wolverines fans should be happy. The currently untitled show hits Amazon Prime Video in January.

Amazon scooped the rights to 10 NFL simulcasts earlier this year for a rumored $50 million, replacing Twitter in the process. It also debuted a behind-the-scenes series from NFL Films last summer.

Source: University of Michigan Wolverines

British warships will soon have Siri-like voice controls

British warships will soon integrate Siri-like voice systems into their controls, according to the head of the UK’s Royal Navy. Speaking at the Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition — one the biggest arms fairs in the world — First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Phillip Jones said the Royal Navy wanted to embrace the speed at which warfare is being transformed by IT, and pointed to new Type-31 frigates as an example.

“The Type 31e will feature different app-based tools which can access the ship’s data. These will be operated from a series of touchscreen displays, Siri-style voice-controlled assistants and perhaps even augmented reality technology,” Jones said. “This is not a gimmick or a fad. As modern warfare becomes ever faster, and ever more data driven, our greatest asset will be the ability to cut through the deluge of information to think and act decisively.” The warships are scheduled for deployment in 2023.

Via: The Guardian

Apple’s new iPhones can fast-charge, if you have the right adapter

One of the biggest (and most widely predicted) improvements that Apple revealed at its event yesterday was the addition of wireless charging for the iPhone. The glass-backed phones will allow for Qi inductive wireless charging, which means that you can charge them using ubiquitous third-party surfaces. But there are perks if you’re willing to continue to use a wire to charge your phone: You can fast charge the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X battery to 50 percent in just 30 minutes.

There’s a catch, though. In order to make this work, you’ll have to separately purchase Apple’s (or a third party’s) 29-watt USB-C charger and USB-C to lightning cable; neither will come packaged with the iPhone 8, 8 Plus or X. The charger will run you $49, while the separate cable is $35 at the Apple Store (sorry, the Apple town square). Not an insignificant chunk of change, to be sure.

There appears to be some good news for MacBook owners, though. If you own a 2016 or later edition of the MacBook Pro with a USB-C charger, it looks as though you can use your 87W or 61W USB charger to quick charge your iPhone 8 or X, regardless of the difference in wattage. It’s welcome news that Apple has introduced a fast-charge capability for the iPhone (and let’s face it, it’s well past time), but it wouldn’t be Apple if they didn’t make us shell out for extra chargers and cables.

Via: 9to5 Mac

Source: Apple (1), Apple (2)

iPhone X vs. 8 and 8 Plus: Display Sizes, Cameras, Battery Life, Face ID vs. Touch ID, and Other Tech Specs

Apple on Tuesday hosted its first-ever event at Steve Jobs Theater, where it unveiled the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.

iPhone X is Apple’s new flagship smartphone, with a stainless steel frame sandwiched between a nearly edge to edge OLED display on the front and glass on the back. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus also received a glass-backed design, but otherwise the devices look virtually the same as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

iPhone X starts at $999 in the United States, while the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus start at $699 and $799 respectively.

If cost wasn’t a factor, the iPhone X is undoubtedly the better smartphone in more ways than one. But the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are very capable smartphones as well, so when there is at least $200 or $300 in savings to be had, it’s worth considering which of the three smartphones best suits your needs. Find out ahead…

iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus: What’s the Same?

• A11 Bionic: All three iPhones have an A11 chip. It has two performance cores that are 25 percent faster, and four high-efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster, than the A10 chip in iPhone 7. The chip has a neural engine for facial recognition and an embedded M11 motion coprocessor.

• Wireless Charging: All three iPhones have wireless charging based on the Qi standard. Each device can charge by being placed on an inductive charging pad, such as Apple’s upcoming AirPower mat or third-party options from accessory makers such as Mophie, Belkin, and Incipio.

• Fast Charging: All three new iPhones are “fast-charge capable,” which means the two devices can be charged to 50 percent battery life in 30 minutes using Apple’s 29W, 61W, or 87W USB-C Power Adapters, sold separately and included with 12-inch MacBook and late 2016 or later MacBook Pro models.

• Water Resistance: All three iPhones have IP67-rated water and dust resistance like the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

• Storage: 64GB or 256GB.

• True Tone and Wide Color: iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus have True Tone and Wide Color displays. True Tone automatically adapts the color and intensity of the display to match the color temperature of the light in its surrounding environment. Wide Color is use of the P3 color space.

• 3D Touch: Deeply press the screen to preview emails, messages, and other content, and access convenient Quick Actions.

• 4K video recording at up to 60 FPS and 1080p HD video recording at up to 60 FPS.

• LTE Advanced with VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and read-only NFC.

• Lightning connector.

iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus: What’s Similar?

• Rear Camera System: iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus both have 12-megapixel rear-facing dual cameras consisting of a telephoto lens and a wide-angle lens with ƒ/1.8 aperture. Both have quad-LED True Tone flash, optical zoom, digital zoom up to 10x, and support for Apple’s new beta Portrait Lighting feature.

Where the iPhone X prevails is with dual optical image stabilization. iPhone 8 Plus only has optical image stabilization for the wide-angle lens. iPhone X’s telephoto lens also has a faster ƒ/2.4 aperture compared to ƒ/2.8 for the iPhone 8 Plus. Of course, the iPhone X prevails much further vs. the single-lens iPhone 8.

• Front Camera Sensor: While the iPhone X’s new TrueDepth system as a whole is a significant change, the front-facing camera itself is a 7-megapixel sensor with ƒ/2.2 aperture, Retina Flash, and 1080p HD video recording on all three iPhones. The difference on the iPhone X is support for Portrait Mode selfies.

• Battery Life: All three iPhones have similar battery life for internet use and video playback over wireless. iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus also have identical battery life for talk time and audio playback over wireless, which are two areas where the smaller iPhone 8 does fall much shorter.

iPhone X

• Talk: Up to 21 hours
• Internet: Up to 12 hours
• Video: Up to 13 hours
• Audio: Up to 60 hours
iPhone 8 Plus

• Talk: Up to 21 hours
• Internet: Up to 13 hours
• Video: Up to 14 hours
• Audio: Up to 60 hours
iPhone 8

• Talk: Up to 14 hours
• Internet: Up to 12 hours
• Video: Up to 13 hours
• Audio: Up to 40 hours

• Memory: iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus are believed to have 3GB of RAM, while the iPhone 8 likely has 2GB of RAM.

iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus: What’s Different?

• All-Screen OLED Display: iPhone X is Apple’s first smartphone with an OLED display, which has benefits such as improved color accuracy and contrast ratio, true blacks, and a much higher 1,000,000 to one contrast ratio. And without bezels, beyond a notch for the TrueDepth front camera system, the iPhone X is nearly all screen.

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus still have LCD displays with top and bottom bezels like every iPhone before them, but they do gain True Tone functionality like the iPhone X. True Tone automatically adapts the color and intensity of the display to match the color temperature of the light in its surrounding environment.

iPhone X

• 5.8-inch OLED display
• HDR
• 2436×1125 pixels
• 458 PPI
• 625 cd/m2 max brightness
• 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio
iPhone 8 Plus

• 5.5-inch LCD display
• —
• 1920×1080 pixels
• 401 PPI
• 625 cd/m2 max brightness
• 1300:1 contrast ratio
iPhone 8

• 4.7-inch LCD display
• —
• 1334×750 pixels
• 326 PPI
• 625 cd/m2 max brightness
• 1400:1 contrast ratio

• New Size: Despite having a large 5.8-inch display, the iPhone X’s all-screen design allows it to be between an iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in both size and weight. For that reason, the iPhone X is the best choice for a smartphone with the maximum display size vs. one-handed usability.

iPhone X

• Height: 5.65 in (143.6 mm)
• Width: 2.79 in (70.9 mm)
• Depth: 0.30 in (7.7 mm)
• Weight: 6.14 oz (174 grams)
iPhone 8 Plus

• Height: 6.24 in (158.4 mm)
• Width: 3.07 in (78.1 mm)
• Depth: 0.30 in (7.5 mm)
• Weight: 7.13 oz (202 grams)
iPhone 8

• Height: 5.45 in (138.4 mm)
• Width: 2.65 in (67.3 mm)
• Depth: 0.29 in (7.3 mm)
• Weight: 5.22 oz (148 grams)

• Face ID / TrueDepth: Apple replaced Touch ID with Face ID on iPhone X. Simply raise the device, look at it, and swipe up on the screen to unlock the device or authenticate your identity for Apple Pay. Apple said there’s a one in a million chance the facial recognition system could be duped by a stranger.

• No Home Button: Given the lack of a Home button, the iPhone X has an elongated side button. Siri is activated by double tapping that side button, or by saying “Hey Siri” as previously. Other gestures include swiping up to return to the Home screen, swiping up and pausing to view multitasking, and tap to wake.

• No Gold: iPhone X comes only in Space Gray and Silver.

• Animoji: Animoji are Apple’s new set of emoji-style characters that animate based on an iPhone user’s facial expression. Animoji take advantage of the iPhone X’s new TrueDepth camera system, which features several new 3D sensors to detect your facial expressions in real time.

Conclusion

iPhone X has many of the best features of an iPhone 8 Plus, including a larger display, yet the device is closer to an iPhone 8 in size.

iPhone X benefits from far superior display technology and the TrueDepth system, which powers Face ID, Animoji, and Portrait Mode selfies. But the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are equally as fast, support wireless charging, and still have a Home button with Touch ID for those who prefer fingerprint authentication.

Apple markets the iPhone X as the “future,” and that’s likely true for its smartphones, but it’ll cost you an extra $200 or more to get there.

Related Roundups: iPhone 8, iPhone X
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New Interview Reveals More Details About Upcoming tvOS/iOS Social Adventure Game ‘Sky’

Game developer thatgamecompany appeared on stage at the Apple Event yesterday with a title that will be launching exclusively on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV soon, called Sky. The game is described as a “social adventure” where players navigate a world in the clouds alongside their friends, and marks thatgamecompany’s first game in five years, since 2012’s Journey.

Journey was a game that automatically matched players with random other people online throughout the adventure, but it was impossible to join up with a specific friend. In its press release for the game, along with a new interview with president and creative director Jenova Chen, thatgamecompany explained that many fans wrote them after Journey and asked for “a game where they could play together” with friends and family members.

The idea of a wider audience playing the game on smartphones, not just video game consoles, led the developer to launch Sky mobile first and exclusively on Apple devices. This will make it easier to play the game with others, and thatgamecompany said it is “a game specially created to be played, and shared, among loved ones and family.” During the keynote, the company confirmed that up to eight players from anywhere in the world can play together at a time.

We wanted as many people to love games, and so we were encouraged to explore this idea at thatgamecompany. Which brings our games, for the first time, to mobile – a platform that many have access to, the world over.

It’s hard to explain the game, but a good place would be to say that Sky is a game specially created to be played, and shared, among loved ones and family. If you can imagine the delight of visiting a theme park where lasting memories are made, we envision Sky will sometimes feel like that.

In a six-minute interview with Geoff Keighley, thatgamecompany president and creative director Jenova Chen — who was on stage during Apple’s keynote — said that it’s “difficult” to summarize the entire game, but many of its mechanics surround “giving” to and helping out other players. Sky is set in a “whimsical” world above the clouds, where a great civilization once resided but is currently in ruins. Chen mentioned that the idea behind this world and the game as a whole was to build a theme park of sorts, where players can return daily and spend minutes or hours discovering new lands alone or with friends.

He also hinted at frequent updates and changes coming to the world, stating that it is “constantly evolving” and when players return there might be new places and sections of the world that open up that weren’t there before. Because of the consistent additions and new discoveries happening in the game, Chen compared Sky to a television series that players can return to and experience new chapters in the story and game environment.

A specific release date and price point for Sky have still not been revealed by thatgamecompany, but Chen mentioned that it should arrive on tvOS and iOS “this winter.” The company encourages those interested to stay up-to-date on development through a newsletter sign-up than can be found on the game’s webpage.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Don’t Buy)
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Disney Is the Only Major Hollywood Studio Not Backing Apple’s Plan to Sell 4K Films at $20

Apple yesterday revealed the Apple TV 4K, a new set-top box that will bring all the features of the fourth-generation Apple TV, along with the ability to stream 4K HDR video content. This includes iTunes 4K movies, which the company confirmed will be sold for the same price as HD movies at $20 apiece. Users will even be able to gain access to 4K movies they’ve already purchased in HD at no extra charge.

When it made this announcement, Apple showed off a list of Hollywood studios during the keynote that will support 4K movies on iTunes at this price: 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures. In a new report today, The Wall Street Journal noted that the major absence among this list is Disney.

The one absence from Apple’s list of big studios selling movies in UHD is Disney. It wasn’t immediately clear why the company behind Star Wars and Marvel couldn’t reach an arrangement with Apple. It currently sells its films in 4K on other digital stores, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.‘s Vudu, for $24.99.

Disney’s absence is particularly notable given a longstanding close relationship between the two companies. Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger is on Apple’s board of directors and Disney was the first studio to sell television shows and movies on iTunes.

Apple is said to have made deals with these studios so that 4K films would not rise above $20, but a few weeks ago it was reported that some studios were vying for $25-$30 for each 4K movie on iTunes. It isn’t currently clear why Disney films — which include Marvel and Star Wars — won’t be available in 4K on iTunes, but the WSJ pointed out that Disney currently sells its films in 4K on apps like Vudu, but at a higher price of $24.99. If talks fell through with Apple, that price tag is likely the reason why.

Apple’s negotiations with participating studios reportedly went down to the wire, ending just weeks ahead of the September 12 reveal of the Apple TV 4K. Some studios are also said to still be interested in offering movies on platforms like iTunes just weeks after they debut in theaters, suggesting time frames and prices like 17 days after a theatrical debut for $50, or four to six weeks from release for $30. These talks are still ongoing and it remains to be seen if Apple and iTunes would ultimately take part in such a feature.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Tag: Disney
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Don’t Buy)
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Offering Pre-Approvals to iPhone Upgrade Program Customers Ahead of iPhone 8

Apple has emailed customers enrolled in its iPhone Upgrade Program with instructions on how to get a head start on the iPhone 8 pre-order process.

Apple advises customers to open the Apple Store app on their current iPhone, choose their preferred iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus model, and get pre-approved for an iPhone Upgrade Program loan. The window to get pre-approved ends tomorrow, Thursday, September 14, at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Pre-approved customers can then return to the Apple Store app when iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus pre-orders begin on Friday, September 15 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time to complete the process.

This year, it appears that iPhone Upgrade Program members will be able to use a Trade-in Kit with a prepaid shipping label to return their old iPhone to Apple, rather than being forced to visit an Apple Store to complete the upgrade process. The mail-in option should make this year’s launch a less frustrating experience.

While the iPhone X is Apple’s new flagship smartphone, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus shipping estimates could become lengthy soon after pre-orders begin, so getting pre-approved is highly recommended.

Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program lets customers upgrade to a new iPhone after they have made at least 12 payments towards their current iPhone and trade it in upon upgrading. The full cost of the iPhone and included AppleCare+ coverage is spread out over 24 months with zero percent interest.

Here’s the monthly cost breakdown for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X in the United States. The program is also available in the UK.

At this time, the pre-approval process doesn’t appear to apply to the iPhone X, which can’t be ordered until Friday, October 27.

(Thanks, Timothy!)

Related Roundups: iPhone 8, iPhone X
Tag: iPhone Upgrade Program
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You Can Now Use the Nintendo Switch Voice Chat App While in Other Apps or When iPhone is Locked

Ahead of the Nintendo Direct coming this afternoon, Nintendo recently updated its Switch Online voice chat iOS app with a few useful tweaks to the way the software handles chatting online with friends. Prior to the update, you had to keep the app open at all times to hear and be heard by your friends while playing games like Splatoon 2.

Now, Nintendo explains in the app’s update notes that you can both browse to other iPhone apps and lock the device, and voice chat will continue to function in the background through the Nintendo Switch Online app.

The expanded functionality of voice chat should greatly enhance the usefulness of Nintendo’s app and online services, which will turn into a monthly paid subscription sometime in 2018. Pricing and tiers include $3.99/month, $7.99/3 months, and $19.99/year.

The app first launched on July 18, a few days ahead of Splatoon 2’s debut, allowing gamers to visit SplatNet 2 on their iOS device to look at previous match statistics, check out current stages in rotation, and invite friends to Private Battles on the Switch console. Nintendo’s upcoming 45-minute Direct will begin this afternoon at 3 p.m PT and plans to focus on games coming to Switch and 3DS consoles.

Tags: Nintendo, Nintendo Switch
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