Kiiroo taps OhMiBod to build a better connected vibrator

Way back when, Dutch teledildonic startup Kiiroo launched a pair of devices that let you have sex from opposite ends of the internet. There was only one problem: the Onyx male masturbator and Pearl connected vibrator were pretty underwhelming. It’s a problem that Kiiroo has sought to remedy by leaving the hardware design to sex toy manufacturers who know what they’re doing.

Last year, the company teamed up with Fleshlight to produce the Launch, a connected male masturbator. Now, Kiiroo and OhMiBod have leapt into bed to produce the Fuse, a connected vibrator. The beefy, rabbit-style vibe will do everything that Kiiroo’s other products will do, and the hope is that it’ll also erase all the bad memories of the Pearl in the process. It’s likely that webcam performers will also embrace the gear for a replacement for its underpowered predecessor.

The Fuse, like the Pearl, has a touch-control surface on the outside that can be paired with other devices. But also the company believes that the device will be pleasurable enough that users will want to employ it on its own. And, much like so many other Kiiroo products, Fuse will sync with online video and VR content. It’s one of a handful of female-focused pleasure products we’ve seen that can do such a thing, as well.

The OhMiBod / Kiiroo Fuse is available to buy on both company websites for $149 and we’ll bring you more details on the device in due course.

What we’re playing: ‘Madden 18’, ‘Cuphead’ and ‘Destiny 2’

Welcome back to Gaming IRL, a monthly segment where several editors talk about what they’ve been playing in their downtime. This month, like much of the world, we’ve been playing Destiny 2 and EA Sports’ latest and greatest. Also Cuphead. Lots of Cuphead.

Madden 18

Billy Steele
Senior News Editor

When EA revealed a story mode for Madden 18 back at E3, I was already hooked. The limited portion of the so-called “Longshot” feature I saw in LA only cemented it. I hadn’t paid attention to Madden in years, but the addition of a narrative storyline that had a healthy dose of Friday Night Lights and a NCAA Football tease was enough to make me take notice again. Sure, “Longshot” is the football equivalent of “The Journey” in EA’s FIFA franchise, but the story mode feels like a great add-on to a title that’s typically all about playing games and managing rosters.

“Longshot” begins like any good football story does: Kids playing catch in the yard. You first meet the main character, Devin Wade, pretending to win a big game with his best friend Colt Cruise (How’s that for a Texas football name?) and his father, Cutter. The narrative quickly speeds ahead to Devin and Colt leaving before sunrise to drive to an NFL regional scouting combine — what could be the duo’s last chance to make a professional roster. Devin was a 5-star recruit at Texas but quit football entirely after his father died. Now he’s trying to make an impossible comeback.

From there, the story is told through a series of flashbacks to Devin’s high school and college days. You can only play through those high school games, so don’t get your hopes up for a mini version of NCAA Football to fill that void. The small sections of Friday Night Lights-esque action are equal parts fun and thrilling as the pressure is on you to save games on the arm, legs and skill of Devin Wade. Since you don’t have to pick plays or worry about other aspects of the game, you can just focus on making the throws and decisions needed to win. It may seem a bit weird for die-hard Madden fans, but the condensed action keeps the story moving at a good clip. It also helps that Devin is basically Cam Newton 2.0.

I enjoyed those sections where Devin dons the Mathis Bullfrogs’ green and gold more than any other section of “Longshot.” Indeed, you get a brief look at what it’s like to go through the draft process, including interviews, football IQ tests and drills — lots and lots of drills. That stuff was all pretty interesting, but for me, those high school games stand above the rest it. There’s also a reality show storyline that makes “Longshot” peak 2017.

Even with all of those things, telling Devin’s current story by bouncing back-and-forth with flashbacks is a little clunky. It makes sense, but the pace of the story seems to sputter at times. There’s a lot more drama surrounding that TV show than seems necessary, but it does make Devin’s prep for the rest of the draft process much more interesting than if he were training on his own. It’s just a little over the top at times.

I won’t spoil the ending, but “Longshot” gives Madden fans something extra this year and provides a foundation for other story modes in future releases. For me, “Longshot” isn’t quite as compelling as FIFA’s “The Journey,” but it’s a solid first effort in a new franchise. It’s good enough that I’m looking forward to seeing what EA does next with Madden 19.

Cuphead

Aaron Souppouris
Features Editor

Cuphead hasn’t quite lived up to my expectations, but what I expected, entirely unreasonably, was perfection. Instead, I got a mixture of sublime and frustrating.

At its best, Cuphead is a flawless run-and-gun shoot-em-up, with tight controls and truly unique hand-drawn visuals. The run-and-gun boss battles — which make up around 80 percent of the game — get closest to the perfection I desired. Phases are innovative, tricky, but fair. Attacks are very well sign-posted so that, if you die, it’s your fault. Restart, get better, and proceed.

The difficulty curve, for the most part, is also solid. The first island is a breeze, teaching you the various mechanics, the second will pose some difficulties, the third gets the closest to the Contra: Hard Corps levels of difficulty that the pre-release hype was talking up, and the final boss challenge, well… I haven’t found the time to beat it yet, but I will.

My frustration comes in from the (mandatory) extra levels. In each of the three worlds, there are platforming levels and flying levels. While StudioMDHR (the game’s developer) seems to have perfected its boss battles, neither the platforming nor flying levels feel very good. The former are mechanically simplistic, while the airborne sections just don’t control anywhere near as well as the ground-based combat.

Despite its flaws, Cuphead is still a must-buy for anyone with an Xbox or PC (I played on the latter). I’m hoping to get through the final boss this week, and then I’ll probably be heading back through the game in search of a “perfect” rating.

FIFA 18 (Nintendo Switch)

Edgar Alvarez
Senior Editor

Forget The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey, the game that drove me to buy a Nintendo Switch is FIFA 18. Since EA Sports teased the title last year, I had been dreaming of playing it during my morning and evening commutes to and from the office. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks. To give you a better idea of why I was so excited, all you need to know is that I was ready to move on from the PlayStation Vita and FIFA 13. That’s right, the PlayStation Vita.

Thankfully, the Switch came along and now I have a soccer gaming experience that’s closer to the one on the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Given the lower processing power of Nintendo’s console, compared to Sony’s or Microsoft’s, the graphics on FIFA 18 aren’t as detailed and the gameplay isn’t as smooth. The people in the crowd look like they’re made of paper, for example. But the rest of the game makes up for that.

Career mode, which lets you manage a team, is by far my favorite mode to play on the Switch. Kickoff against a friend locally is also great, especially since you can set up basically anywhere and get a game going in matter of seconds with the Joy-cons. If there’s anything I wish FIFA 18 on the Switch had is “The Journey,” the franchise’s story mode where you can live the life of a footballer in a cinematic narrative.

Other than that, though, it doesn’t seem like EA Sports cut many corners with FIFA 18. The game is as fun as it is on the PS4 or Xbox One and, better yet, it beats having to keep playing on the PS Vita — as much as I love Sony’s fabled handheld.

Destiny 2 Crucible

Timothy J. Seppala
Associate Editor

If Bungie hadn’t forced me to play a few rounds of Crucible before progressing further in Destiny 2‘s story, I probably wouldn’t have touched it. And that’d be a hell of a tragedy. Before I wrapped the campaign, I found myself loading the adversarial mode whenever I was stuck in a no-respawn zone of the narrative. Or whenever I had a half hour to kill and didn’t feel like dealing with the initial spawn point in the European Dead Zone’s bullshit. Or just, whenever I got the itch to play the game for a few minutes.

I’m not much of one for online shooters. But something about Crucible’s eight-minute, team-only games just works for me. My favorites are the slow-paced, low-scoring, deliberate matches of Supremacy. Kills don’t count, per se, until you pick up the gem that drops when your opponent does. If the opposing team recovers them before you can claim, you don’t get a point either. It’s a great risk-versus-reward system and it can get incredibly tense — especially if you’re rolling solo without a mic. Speaking of which, if you find yourself in a game where the other team is in a clan and chatting and you aren’t? Prepare for a bloodbath.

The way Bungie is addressing concerns over Destiny 2‘s endgame is worrisome, and I can level with people worried that there won’t be much reason to stick around between expansion packs, but right now it isn’t a big deal for me. At the rate I’m increasing my Warlock’s power level (currently at 242) it’s going to be a bit before I’m able to tackle a raid, so as long as the loot on the stick doesn’t go away for adversarial play I’ll be pretty happy.

“IRL” is a recurring column in which the Engadget staff run down what they’re buying, using, playing and streaming.

Japan’s latest GPS satellite will guide self-driving cars

Japan just fulfilled a key part of its space ambitions — and it’ll have important ramifications for everything from self-driving cars to self-defense. The country has launched its fourth Michibiki satellite, which expands a “quasi-zenith” system designed to provide greater access to GPS in urban ‘canyons’ where buildings tend to block signals from lower-orbit satellites. Needless to say, that’s vital for autonomous vehicles that need GPS to get their bearings in a country dominated by sprawling cities.

The military might want it, too. While Japan’s armed forces are largely focused on defense, this fourth quasi-zenith satellite could help those calling on the nation to buy cruise missiles as a deterrent to North Korea. If the North ever launches a strike, Japan could use the GPS-guided missiles in retaliation. There have been objections over the militarization of space (Japan banned military uses for 39 years, until 2008), but North Korea’s growing belligerence might see the satellite find use for combat.

As it stands, Japan has plenty of other peaceful purposes. It could help with GPS-guided farm equipment. And importantly, it’ll help Japan reduce its dependence on American satellites. The ultimate goal is to operate a cluster of seven Michibiki satellites by 2023, which should be enough to offer true independence.

Via: Nikkei, WSJ, Reuters

Source: JAXA

Pixelmator App for iOS Updated With Drag and Drop and HEIF Image Support

Pixelmator today updated its iOS app with full support for iOS 11, including importing HEIF images and Drag and Drop functionality on iPad.

Drag and Drop support enables iPad users to easily move images and graphics between Pixelmator and other apps. For example, users can move their entire composition into apps like Mail, Messages, and Keynote by simply touching and holding outside the image canvas, then dropping the image into the other app.

With support for HEIF images, Pixelmator for iOS users can now import images saved in the High Efficiency Image File Format. The new, more efficient format reduces file sizes without sacrificing quality, and is now used as the default on the iPhone 7 and later. Learn more about HEIF in our earlier coverage.

Last week, Pixelmator for Mac was also updated to include HEIF image support and integration with Apple’s Photos app on macOS High Sierra.

The update also includes bug fixes for issues such as Pixelmator quitting unexpectedly when zooming in after starting a selection, compositions sometimes disappearing when adding or removing layers, and certain buttons in the Color and Format popovers occasionally not responding to touches.

Pixelmator version 2.4 is available on the App Store [Direct Link] as a free update for existing users. The app costs $4.99 for new users.

Tag: Pixelmator
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Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Now Own at Least One Apple Product

A new survey conducted by CNBC has found that 64 percent of Americans own an Apple product of some kind, a number that’s increased from 50 percent in a similar survey published in 2012. The average American household owns 2.6 Apple products, which is “up by a full Apple product” from the previous survey. The All-America Economic Survey polled 800 people across the United States in late September, and CNBC said that the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Apple device ownership rates dip below 50 percent in the 2017 survey for Americans with incomes under $30,000, retirees, and women over the age of 50. CNBC reported that the “wealthiest Americans” own 4.7 Apple products per household, while the “poorest” have one. Other statistics include 3.7 devices per household in the West of the United States, while households in the South owned 2.2 devices on average.

“I cannot think of any other product — especially any other product at a high price point — that has that kind of permeation with the public and level of growth,” said Jay Campbell, pollster with Hart Research, which conducted the survey along with Public Opinion Strategies.

64 percent of those surveyed claimed that the time they spend on an iPhone is “mostly productive and useful,” while 27 percent said that it’s “mostly unproductive.” On average, the time spent on an iPhone was “dominated” by phone calls, emails, and texting, followed by social media. Most Americans surveyed said that they were less likely to spend time watching videos, playing games, and shopping on their iPhone.

Campbell said it could be people are understating how much they use their phones for entertainment and how much time they waste. “But overall,” he said, “it continues to be the case that the smartphone is really helping the American worker, helping the American family be efficient with their time and really accomplish more than they could otherwise and I think people recognize and appreciate that.”

In a separate study conducted by Piper Jaffray earlier in 2017, it was found that 76 percent of teens polled owned an iPhone, increasing from 69 percent in the same period a year prior. 81 percent of teens also said that they plan to purchase an iPhone as their next smartphone, up from 75 percent in 2016. Piper Jaffray’s survey polled 5,500 teens in the United States with the average age of 16.

Tag: cnbc.com
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Netflix’s first original soccer docuseries focuses on Juventus FC

Netflix rarely ventures into the world of sport, but for its latest original docuseries, the streaming giant has confirmed it’s working with one of the biggest names in soccer (football): Juventus FC. As part of a deal with the Italian champions, the company will produce four hour-long episodes that offers “unprecedented access” to the Juventus players and facilities during the 2017-18 season.

Netflix claims it will “follow the most compelling stories and characters in the club, spending personal and professional time with the players both on and off the field, on the road, at home and wherever it takes to capture in depth the real lives that make the Juventus one of the most fascinating teams in the world.”

Juventus, often known as The Old Lady, is a European super club. This year, it became the first Italian team to win six Serie A titles in a row and set a new record with 33 consecutive home wins. It came close to winning the Champions League, but a Ronaldo-inspired Real Madrid emerged victorious in the final.

Both Amazon and Netflix have debuted sports docuseries in the past, but have stuck to American Football. Amazon has followed the Arizona Cardinals and LA Rams NFL franchises, while Netflix has enjoyed two successful series following the exploits of the East Mississippi Community College in Last Chance U.

A chance to follow the Bianconeri will not only appeal to soccer fans outside of the US, but also provide a detailed insight into how one of the biggest teams in the world consistently achieves greatness.

Source: Netflix

The 20th anniversary Tamagotchi is smaller but still easy to kill

It’s been 20 years since the iconic virtual pet Tamagotchi hit US shores, becoming a must-have item for kids and teenagers and proving enough of a distraction that it was banned from many classrooms. Many of those youngsters now have offspring of their own, and Bandai is hoping to entice both generations by reintroducing the classic 1997 model with a special anniversary edition. But most adults and many children now carry a phone capable of doing so much more than that little plastic egg could. Why would they, or anyone, invest in a Tamagotchi? I spent the weekend with my own little simulated creature in my bag and spoiler alert: It died of neglect.

At first, things went well with my Tamagotchi, as I turned it on and hatched a cute round creature from an egg. The device hasn’t changed much from its original incarnation, a colorful ovoid-shaped piece of plastic with three buttons and a pixelated screen. The few friends I showed it off to recognized it immediately, their faces breaking out into delighted smiles. The only major physical difference is that at 1.5 inches tall and 1.25 inches wide, it’s 20 percent smaller than the classic.

The size doesn’t affect the usability much — I was still able to push the buttons with my edge of my thumb, though I found it a lot easier to just hit them with my nail. It’s perfectly pocket-friendly, unless you have a hole in your pants… which, turns out, I did. Luckily I was able to snag it before it slipped away completely on a crowded subway platform. Each Tamagotchi comes with a ball chain so you can loop it onto your bag or jacket, but anything I attach to my backpack tends to disappear so I opted to just put it inside.

Even though it looks the same, the smaller size limits the functions somewhat. The original Tamagotchi let you interact with your pet by playing simple games or disciplining it when the creature misbehaved. However, the 16 x 16 pixel screen on the anniversary edition limits the number of functions compared to the 32 x 16 original. So the new Tamagotchi sticks with the basics. You feed it, clean up its poop and… well, that’s about it. When it wants something from you, it beeps. I’d be sitting at my desk and suddenly be compelled to drop what I was doing to check the device, which quickly got annoying. As I couldn’t figure out how to mute or pause it, I resented my Tamagotchi after a few hours, no matter how cute it was.

Still, I fed it when asked, and sometimes even not, just to make sure it was happy. But this weekend I was busy at New York Comic Con and couldn’t give the Tamagotchi all of the attention it needed. I should have known something was up when I finally remembered to check and saw my little baby blob had grown into a duck-billed character called Nyorotchi. How you treat your young Tamagotchi determines its adult form, and it turns out Nyorotchi is the weakest and a direct result of neglect.

The nail in its digital coffin was when I switched bags but forgot to transfer the Tamagotchi. Unfortunately, that meant that when I finally retrieved the plastic egg from my backpack on Monday, what greeted me was a little headstone and ghost. It had died, alone and unloved.

I can easily reset the device and start again, but I’m not sure I need yet another cute animal caretaking game in my life. I have my roster of Pokémon on my 3DS, and I play the cat-collecting simulation Neko Atsume on my phone sometimes, but even then I find myself drifting away often. There’s also the fact that with a Tamagotchi, I’m being asked to carry around a single-serving device even though I could easily download an app that does the same thing. Bandai even has an official Tamagotchi app you can snag for a dollar.

Bandai’s Tara Badie told us that the physical package is what makes Tamagotchi special — less of a toy or game and more of a lifestyle product. On your phone it’s just another app, but letting it live in its own little plastic “house” makes it stand out and turns playing with it into an occasion. I could certainly see that when my friends handled it. Normally people are reluctant to touch your phone, but they’re more than willing to hold the little pink Tamagotchi, push its buttons and watch it dance happily around the tiny screen. And the bright, colorful cases give it a bit of fashion-forward flair — remember when Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom wore Tamagotchis to the Met Gala?

Whether you’re one of those people that takes good care of your digital pets or you’re apt to kill them in the first few days, Tamagotchi isn’t a huge commitment in overall time or money. The anniversary line only costs $15 each and can be preordered today. It might not have a color screen or connectivity features, but it packs a lot of charm into each plastic egg. For that I’m willing to give mine another shot at life, however much its insistent beeping irks me.

Anti-doping agency to ban gene editing starting in 2018

Anti-doping agencies are constantly playing whack-a-mole with cheating, as new drugs pop up as soon as tests are found for the old ones. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) now says it wants to to crush a new one before it grows into a monster: Gene-editing. Starting next year, the list of banned substances includes “gene editing agents designed to alter genome sequences and/or the transcriptional or epigenetic regulation of gene expression,” the agency says.

If you’re thinking that sounds a lot like CRISPR gene editing, the new rule seems to be targeting just that. As it stands, WADA already bars genetically modified cells and other types of gene therapy that can enhance performance, the existing rules don’t cover CRISPR-type methods.

The agency said that certain types of gene therapy might be allowed, as long as they don’t significantly enhance athletic prowess. “Generally, performance enhancement implies enhancement beyond a return to normal, although you may appreciate that this is not always easy to prove definitively,” WADA spokesperson Maggie Durand told New Scientist.

WADA seems to be well ahead of any actual cheating. Only one CRISPR trial with humans has been completed, a form of lung cancer treatment at Sichuan University in China — though dozens more are planned in the nation. Unlike regular drug doping, CRISPR requires sophisticated, expensive equipment and techniques, so it’s not like shady MDs can do it their garages — for now.

It’s a good thing that WADA doesn’t have anyone to catch yet, because it doesn’t really seem to have any detection methods, either. When quizzed by New Scientist (Engadget has reached, out too) about how it plans to catch gene-editing cheaters, the agency had no response. It’s been working on techniques to detect such doping for over ten years, but only came up with a single test least year. For now, the best method might be the “biological passport” that can detect significant changes in an athlete’s body.

Via: New Scientist

Source: WADA

Wells Fargo Adds Apple Pay Support to More Than 5,000 ATMs

Wells Fargo today announced that NFC functionality is now available at more than 5,000 of its ATMs across the United States.

The technology enables customers to initiate an ATM transaction by holding their smartphone or wearable device with mobile payment functionality near an NFC-enabled ATM terminal and inputting their PIN.

Supported digital wallets include Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and the bank’s own Wells Fargo Wallet for Android.

Customers that have added their Wells Fargo debit card to Apple Pay, for example, can simply hold their iPhone near the ATM, enter their PIN, and complete a transaction, with no physical plastic card required.

Wells Fargo said it plans to upgrade the rest of the company’s more than 13,000 ATMs with NFC by 2019. NFC-enabled terminals are marked with the universal contactless card symbol.

Earlier this year, Wells Fargo launched a separate one-time access code feature that lets customers authenticate at an ATM by entering an 8-digit code generated from the Wells Fargo app, along with their PIN, for card-free access.

Bank of America also began rolling out Apple Pay support for withdrawing cash from hundreds of its ATMs last year.

Related Roundup: Apple PayTags: NFC, Wells Fargo
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Apple Music Announces Short Film About Niall Horan’s Debut Solo Album ‘Flicker’

Apple Music subscribers will be able to watch an exclusive short film about the making of Niall Horan’s new album “Flicker,” with the movie and album set to launch simultaneously on October 20 (via Billboard). The film will showcase Niall in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his debut album, similar to the short film that Apple Music released about Harry Styles around the launch of his own debut album in May.

“On The Record: Flicker” will feature interviews, footage of acoustic rehearsals, and “insight into Horan’s creative process and this watershed moment in his career — all with heart-on-sleeve honesty that he pours into his songwriting.” Prior to the October 20 debut of the film and album, there will be an “intimate private screening” for fans of the movie in Los Angeles on October 19, after which Horan will premiere the songs from Flicker in a live performance.

“I always knew that if I ever made a solo album what it would sound like,” Horan says in a preview of the film. “I spent the last year and a half between the four walls of a studio and I’m ready to go and show how proud of the album I am.”

Another recent Apple Music short film looked into Pink’s creative process when making her new album “Beautiful Trauma.” The film — titled “On The Record: P!nk – Beautiful Trauma” — included interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with Pink “reflecting on her art and her career, on motherhood and the world we live in–all with the sort of honesty and sense of humor we’ve come to love and expect.” Similar to Horan’s film and album, Beautiful Trauma is set to release on October 13 alongside the short film about the album’s creation.

Tag: Apple Music
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