Feral Releases Rome: Total War Collection on iPad for $16.99

Feral Interactive today announced ROME: Total War Collection for iPad, a bundle set containing acclaimed historical strategy game ROME: Total War and its expansions Barbarian Invasion and Alexander. The release marks the first anniversary of the original ROME: Total War on iPad.

The collection brings the tactics and battles of the acclaimed strategy title to Apple’s tablet devices with the added advantage of three historical campaigns in one purchase:

• ROME: Total War invites you to build and rule the ancient world’s greatest empire by fighting spectacular real-time battles in huge turn-based campaigns.
• Barbarian Invasion brings the action into the final years of Rome. Take up arms to defend the Empire, or lead the forces trying to bring it down.
• Alexander is the ultimate challenge for seasoned commanders. Lead the Macedonian faction as Alexander the Great and embark upon a daring conquest of the all-powerful Persian Empire.

All three games include all of the popular franchise’s classic features tailored to mobile gaming, including touch controls and mid-battle autosaves, as well as high-resolution visuals optimized for the iPad’s Retina Display.

The ROME: Total War Collection is available now from the App Store for $16.99. Players who already own part of the bundle may complete it by paying the difference between the bundle price and what they have already paid.

Supported iPads include the iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad (5th Generation), iPad Pro (1st Generation: 9.7″, 10.5″, 12.9″), and iPad Pro (2nd Generation: 12.9″).

Tag: Feral
Discuss this article in our forums

Free-to-Play Strategy Game ‘South Park: Phone Destroyer’ Arrives on the iOS App Store

Following an announcement earlier this year during E3, South Park: Phone Destroyer is launching today on iOS and Android devices. The game was developed by Ubisoft studio RedLynx in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios, and combines real-time strategy and collectible card mechanics with the world of South Park.

Similar to the console games South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured But Whole, players will take on the role of the New Kid in the midst of turmoil rising in the town of South Park. However, in the mobile game users have to collect, upgrade, and master card decks of iconic characters, which are then used in the game’s combat.

There are more than 80 unique cards to discover across Phone Destroyer’s single-player campaign, which includes 60 levels. There’s also a real-time, player versus player multiplayer mode with leaderboards and special character unlocks. Although the game is free-to-play, the developers clarified on the website that it “avoids the pitfalls” of traditional F2P apps:

The game is free to play. Everything can be earned in the game without paying, but you can choose to spend real world money if you wish. The game is designed so that nothing is ever locked behind a paywall. Everything in the game is available to all players as they progress, whether they choose to spend real-world money or not. Remember, you can always disable in-app purchases in your iOS device settings.

There will be ongoing updates coming to South Park: Phone Destroyer, including new characters, cards, and more. The game’s audio is also true to the original show, with character voices provided by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The game also comes with an iMessage app that includes 14 animated stickers of Cartman.

South Park: Phone Destroyer is rolling out worldwide beginning today, and you can download it for free on the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]

Tags: App Store, South Park
Discuss this article in our forums

Setback for SpaceX as its next-gen rocket explodes during testing

A SpaceX rocket exploded during testing at the company’s facility in Texas over the weekend. SpaceX confirmed the incident to the Washington Post on Wednesday, adding that no one was hurt.

Elon Musk’s private space company was conducting tests for its next-gen Merlin booster — one that hasn’t yet flown — when the explosion occurred on Sunday. It’s now trying to work out what went wrong.

The unfortunate incident comes toward the end of what has been a great year for SpaceX. So far in 2017 it’s completed 16 launches using Merlin engines on its Falcon 9 rocket, double what it achieved last year. Its missions involve transporting supplies to the International Space Station as well as satellite launches for a range of companies around the world.

Despite the explosion, SpaceX insisted it’s committed to its current launch schedule. This includes several launches before the end of the year and a possible test launch of its new Falcon Heavy rocket, which Musk says will be “the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two.”

All of its space missions have so far been unmanned, but there are plans to begin testing crewed flights in 2018.

Ups and downs

For those that follow the ups and downs of SpaceX in its ongoing quest to build a reusable rocket system to drastically cut the cost of space travel, this most recent setback will bring to mind a similar calamity suffered by the company just over a year ago when a rocket exploded on the launchpad.

No one was killed or injured in the spectacular fireball at Cape Canaveral’s facility, but the rocket was totally destroyed, along with a $200-million Israeli satellite that was to be used by Facebook as part of its ongoing efforts to bring internet connectivity to remote parts of the world. A lengthy investigation found the explosion was caused by a failure in one of the rocket’s helium tanks.

In a 2005 interview given by Musk when SpaceX was just starting out, the billionaire entrepreneur said the company’s ambitious goals meant that “failure is an option here,” adding, “If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” More recently he posted a blooper video titled, “How not to land an orbital rocket booster,” showing various disastrous efforts by SpaceX on its quest to perfect its system, which is designed to land booster rockets back on Earth shortly after launch.

Editors’ Recommendations

• ‘How not to land an orbital rocket booster’ – Elon Musk shares blooper video
• SpaceX sees a payoff from its pioneering work with reusable rockets
• SpaceX could launch ‘world’s most powerful rocket’ by year’s end
• Here’s everything you need to know about SpaceX Starlink
• SpaceX’s slim new spacesuits look straight out of sci-fi

Why did 22,000 people use a flight tracker to watch one plane fly to London?

Flight trackers like Flightradar24 let you input any flight number so you check the location of a plane in the air.

Usually, the vast majority of flights have between zero and 200 people tracking them, but on Wednesday, 22,000 people checked in to find the location of Kenya Airways Flight KQ100 as it flew from Nairobi to London’s Heathrow Airport.

So what was going on?

Well, on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was a high-ranking British politician called Priti Patel.

Patel, who was in Africa on official government business, had been summoned back to the U.K. by the British prime minister following revelations earlier in the week that she’d attended unauthorized meetings with Israeli officials over the summer, meetings that she’d also failed to disclose to British officials.

Within hours of touching down, Priti Patel resigned from her position as international development secretary, and at the same time apologized to Prime Minister Theresa May for her behavior, which she admitted “fell below the high standards that are expected of a secretary of state.”

Growing interest

Interest in the story had been growing day by day this week as more revelations about Patel’s meetings came to light. As she flew back from Kenya, most commentators expected she would be fired by the prime minister, or that Patel would resign. Several rolling-news channels referred to her flight on the trackers as she made her way back to the U.K.

With that in mind, it seems probable that most of the 22,000 that checked Patel’s flight were news junkies eagerly awaiting her return to the U.K. And it’s also likely that each of these dropped by to have just a brief look at the plane’s whereabouts rather than sit there watching it for the whole eight hours — unless of course they’re the type that loves watching paint dry.

Flightradar24 shows live air traffic from around the world via its website or mobile apps. The service, and others like it, uses data from several sources that enable it to offer a huge amount of information about most flights, including the precise location of an aircraft in the air.

Surprised by how many people were tracking Patel’s aircraft, Flightradar24 posted the data on its Twitter feed when the plane was still in the air.

More than 22,000 users are currently tracking flight #KQ100 en route to London.

According to media #PritiPatel is on board this flight.https://t.co/3GXUkQw0e3 pic.twitter.com/8uzL9usnRc

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 8, 2017

There have, however, been more popular flights on the tracker since it launched in 2006. Two years ago, for example, 35,000 fans of Liverpool soccer club hit the site to follow a plane with new manager Jürgen Klopp aboard as it flew to Liverpool John Lennon Airport from Germany.

Aware of the popularity of online trackers among plane enthusiasts, Boeing recently took one of its jet planes on an extraordinary test flight over the U.S.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Take to the virtual skies with these free flight simulators
• United’s Boeing 747s have flown into the sunset, here’s why ‘Jumbo’ fans are sad
• Watch how a rogue drone caused major disruption at a busy airport
• Chat in the air: Delta rolls out free in-flight messaging
• Google pulls flight API search, putting its competition in a tight spot

Walmart’s Black Friday ad offers some of the best deals we’ve seen so far

Walmart’s Black Friday deals have even me wanting to line up!

There’s really no better time than right now to start preparing for Black Friday. We’ve seen ads from lots of big retailers drop already, and now Walmart is here to show off its deals, and they don’t disappoint.

• Walmart 2017 Black Friday Ad Analysis
• Walmart 2017 Black Friday Ad Scan

Walmart will be open from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Thanksgiving, and there is no mention of the store closing from midnight to any specific time on Black Friday morning. You will be able to shop a selection of deals all day long on Thanksgiving, and there are actually some deals already available on its site to purchase now.

Some of the hottest deals that we spotted include a Google Home Mini for $4 after you factor in the $25 Google Express credit, a $50 Instant Pot, and the $199 3-camera Arlo Security System.

Of course, there are video games for as little as $9, and DVDs starting at just $2.

Check out the Thrifter Black Friday Hub

Huawei’s Mate 10 Pro could make its way to AT&T stores in the U.S.

Huawei is getting serious about the U.S. market.

Huawei relies on Amazon to sell devices in the U.S., but it looks like the company is tying up with at least one carrier to push sales of its latest flagship, the Mate 10 Pro. The folks at XDA Developers found a firmware file that suggests the phone will be sold and marketed by AT&T in the U.S.

The firmware in question (BLA-A09-att-us) is the latest build of EMUI 8.0 running on Oreo, and because it is a carrier-branded variant, there’s plenty of AT&T bloatware on board. XDA also found that the phone comes with Firefox out of the box alongside Chrome, hinting at a possible collaboration between Huawei and Mozilla.

As for the phone itself, the Mate 10 Pro features a 6-inch Full HD+ panel, and is powered by HiSilicon’s latest Kirin 970 chipset, which has a dedicated Neural Processing Unit. Other specs include 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, 12MP RGB sensor at the back along with a 20MP monochrome sensor, 8MP front shooter, and a massive 4000mAh battery.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro review: Best Android flagship for battery life

Huawei is the third-largest smartphone brand in the world — behind Apple and Samsung — but the company is a relative unknown in North America. The Chinese manufacturer signified its intent to make inroads into the U.S. market, and carrier partnerships play a role in achieving that.

OPPO F5 with 20MP front camera makes its debut in India for ₹19,990

OPPO’s latest selfie-focused phone is now available in India.

The OPPO F5 was unveiled late last month in the Philippines, and the phone has made its debut in India. The phone is available from Amazon for ₹19,990 ($310), and comes with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

The OPPO F5 features an 6.0-inch 18:9 Full HD+ display with minimal bezels at the top and bottom. The highlight of the phone is a 20MP front camera that comes with an AI-assisted beautify mode, which automatically adds filters to create the “most natural and stunning selfies.”

Other specs include a 16MP rear camera, 2.5GHz Helio P23 chipset, and a 3200mAh battery. The Chinese manufacturer will launch a variant with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage next month for ₹24,999.

See at Amazon

Uber and Lyft will test dedicated pick-up spots in San Francisco

One of San Francisco residents’ biggest gripes with ride-hailing services is that their vehicles tend to double park and clog bike lanes. With traffic as bad as SF’s, city officials had to do something about it. That’s why Mayor Ed Lee has struck a deal with Uber and Lyft: San Francisco will launch a pilot program converting parking spaces into painted curbs ride-hailing drivers can use as designated pick-up and dropoff spots. Lee has been negotiating with the companies for months and has agreed to do the pilot in exchange for precious traffic data the city can use to combat congestion.

According to SF Examiner, the drivers will use a geofencing feature in their apps to figure out which painted curbs they can and can’t use. Soon, both Uber and Lyft apps will include info about the new program to make sure riders are aware why their drivers can’t always pick them up where they want. To “ensure compliance,” Lee said the companies have to surrender anonymized trip details to the government. While some neighborhoods are already volunteering to be part of the pilot, the parties involved have yet to finalize how many parking spaces to convert and which locations will be the first to get designated pick-up zones.

Making #SF streets safer with designated pick up and drops off spots is the goal behind our pilot program with @Uber and @lyft. pic.twitter.com/HjKp0AstgS

— Mayor Ed Lee (@mayoredlee) November 8, 2017

Via: CNET

Source: San Francisco Examiner, Mayor Ed Lee (Twitter)

TripAdvisor labels hotels involved in sexual assault cases

Travel reviews website TripAdvisor has launched a new badge notifying users that they may want to do more research about the hotel or resort they’re looking at. “TripAdvisor has been made aware of recent media reports or events concerning this property which may not be reflected in reviews found on this listing,” the notification says. “Accordingly, you may wish to perform additional research for information about this property when making your travel plans.” The company promised to launch the badge after a report revealed that it deleted several users’ reviews warning others of rape and assault that allegedly happened over the years in some of the highest-rated resorts on the website.

A spokesperson said the badges will decorate establishments’ pages for up to three months. “However, if the issues persist [they] may extend the duration of the badge.” He also clarified that the “badges are intended to be informative, not punitive.”

While the warning labels don’t specify what kind of intrigues the establishments are involved in, the company seems to have tagged the Mexican resorts specified in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s exposé.

One of the people whose reviews were deleted told the Journal Sentinel that he was drugged and sexually assaulted by a massage therapist at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya. The publication’s report, however, focused on Iberostar Paraiso: at least three women said they were raped in the resort’s premises. Kristie Love from Dallas said she was raped by an Iberostar security guard in 2010, but staff refused to call in authorities. When nothing came of her complaint, she posted a warning on TripAdvisor, but it was promptly deleted. Jamie Valeri, who also said she was raped in the resort complex five years later, pointed out that if the website didn’t delete Love’s review, she might not have gone there at all. TripAdvisor also removed her posts warning other users about her experience.

After facing a massive backlash from those revelations, the company republished Love’s review and released a statement explaining that it had tighter rules when she submitted it. CEO Steve Kaufer also said the company had apologized to her, but it looks like TripAdvisor’s apology was the publicly released statement itself — she said she never received a single phone call or email from the company.

In addition to launching warning badges, TripAdvisor also tweaked its confusing “hearsay” policy. Most of the people Journal Sentinel interviewed were told that their reviews were removed, because they were merely “hearsay” despite posting about what happened to them personally. Now, the website has incorporated changes in an effort to be more clear “about the reasons [a deleted] review doesn’t meet guidelines and what part of it is in violation.”

Source: The New York Times, CBS News

Vodafone teams up with CityFibre to offer gigabit broadband

Despite there being healthy competition over broadband deals in the UK, its infrastructure is dominated by two players: BT (Openreach) and Virgin Media. It means that the majority of internet service providers are forced to lease BT lines, which restricts their ability to offer a unique service.

Vodafone sits in the unique position of owning a small amount of its own backhaul, after it bought Cable and Wireless back in 2012, but still largely relies on BT. That looks set to change after the company confirmed today that it’s teaming up with CityFibre, the UK’s largest wholesale fibre provider, to sell its service on new CityFibre broadband installations for an exclusive period of time.

According to a statement, the deal will provide Gigabit-capable fibre to up to five million UK homes and businesses by 2025. Vodafone will then be allowed to sell those lines before anyone else. The first phase of construction would connect up to one million premises and is due to begin in the first half of 2018. Both companies expect that to take roughly three years to complete. Once that is complete, they would seek to extend the terms to connect a further four million over the following four years.

It works out well for Vodafone for a couple of reasons. Not only are speeds a number of multiples faster than Openreach lines, connections are also cheaper. Although it is likely it will face competition from other providers for CityFibre’s new lines, will will enjoy first-mover advantage (typically during the construction phase). That could net the company £500 million over 20 years, allow it to partially escape BT’s clutches and allow it to begin extending its reach into UK homes after a very slow start.

Source: Vodafone UK