Grover is like Rent the Runway, but for gadget lovers
Add one more monthly expense to my budget. Just kidding, I don’t have a budget. (I’m not very fiscally responsible.) But whether you’re financially cavalier or a careful spender, Grover’s recent arrival in the US is good news. The company lets you rent consumer electronics at an affordable monthly fee (compared to full retail prices, at least) 30 percent of what you pay going toward your purchase of the device, should you eventually choose to buy it. I tried out the service (only available in NYC for now) and, much to my surprise, am having a hard time not handing my entire wallet over.
Grover is not the first to offer device rental. Notable competitors include Lumoid, which allows shorter durations and has a smaller selection, and the now-defunct YBuy. The latter let people get products sent to them for $25 a month, and subscribers had to return the devices after each month or choose to buy them. But YBuy appears to have disappeared since its successful 2012 funding; its website doesn’t exist anymore, and there doesn’t appear to be news as to why it closed. Former YBuy CEO Stephen Svajian did not respond to a request for comment.
As a gadget reviewer, I’m blessed to get to spend time with a ton of cool devices at work. So I thought Grover wouldn’t appeal to me. I could see it tempting my tech-savvy friends, who often ask me about my experience with the latest phone or hot new camera, but I believed I wouldn’t be moved.
How wrong I was. The site has 13 categories including cameras, MacBooks, phones, gaming and drones, each of which contains dozens of devices for loan. They weren’t outdated either, and you’ll typically find the latest in laptops, smartphones and wearables as soon as they hit the market. As of this writing, the phone selection includes Samsung’s Galaxy S7, S7 Edge and S7 Active, Apple’s iPhone 6s and iPhone SE, as well as Google’s Nexus 6P. Some categories weren’t as well-stocked, such as the virtual reality section, which only included the Gear VR (sorry, HTC Vive or Oculus fans). The drone category, meanwhile, lacks the DJI Phantom 4 (you can get the Phantom 3, though). Even so, within 10 minutes I had close to 20 tabs open.
I’ve never tried Rent the Runway or Bag Borrow or Steal, which let you rent luxury clothes, bags and accessories, but I imagine the appeal is largely the same. After getting over the initial apprehension of using a second-hand product, I grew more and more excited as I scoured the site. I first looked at categories where I knew I’d want something (like camera gear to improve the look of a production I’m working on). But, as I explored other areas, I realized there was so much I didn’t know I needed.
I had to exercise much more restraint when shopping on Grover than I would have on say Best Buy or Amazon, because everything fit into my imaginary budget. (Full disclosure: Grover picked up the tab for the month.) A voice in the back of my head kept saying, “It’s just for a month. If you don’t like it, you can just give it back.” Some devices, such as the Apple Pencil or the Netatmo Weather Station, were cheap enough ($10 a month) that I almost threw reason out the window to try them out.
Sometimes, logic kicked in and I realized that paying $3 a month for a Wistiki tracker was extravagant when I could own a Tile tracker for just $25. But mostly, Grover’s prices were reasonable, with devices costing between $3 and $200 a month. I finally picked a gold MacBook, a pair of red Parrot Zik 3 headphones, a Sony HXR-MC2500 video camera and a Godox Witstro AR400 ring flash for a grand total of $294.60.
Minutes after I placed my order, I received a confirmation email (complete with celebratory GIF at the top) with a summary of my items and a note that my products would arrive in two to five days.
The confirmation email from Grover. That GIF was a nice touch.
The next day, I got an alert that one of my items (the flash) would take longer than five days to ship and that the other three would arrive Friday. That’s a quick turnaround, considering I had placed the order two days prior, but it might be because the service is still so new in the US. Wait times could possibly go up to the full five days depending on Grover’s popularity and inventory. I was also given the option to ditch the flash altogether or wait for it to arrive the week after.
Friday arrived and a large brown box containing all three items landed in my office. Opening up the box felt just like unwrapping Christmas gifts because boxes for the MacBook and the headphones came wrapped in red paper held together with a Grover sticker.
I was surprised by the quality of the packaging. Everything felt like it had been shipped to me directly from the manufacturer; the boxes were pristine, and the devices still had their protective plastic covers on. But since Grover is in its first month in the US, its inventory is still brand-fresh. I was lucky enough to receive new stuff.
Over time, however, outgoing products will have been through several renters, so you may not experience the same brand-new wrapping I did. I asked Grover CEO Michael Casseu if the boxes would be the same for all consumers. “Of course, we would still use shrink wrap and ensure the packaging experience is always at its best,” he said. “If the original package is returned to us a bit banged up, we’ll just use custom Grover packaging everywhere to ensure it is the best quality and the best experience for consumers.”
This is how the Parrot Zik 3 headphones arrived.
As I started playing with my new toys, I had to deal with a unique conundrum. Unlike clothes or purses, many devices can retain your personal information and pass it along to the next user. Even though Grover recommends you wipe each machine before returning it and also resets each incoming gadget itself, there are still ways for malicious users to get info off a rental device. That knowledge made me far less comfortable with accessing credit card and other sensitive data on the MacBook I got.
If you’re like me, there’s a real chance you might damage the gadgets during your period of ownership. According to the terms and conditions, you’re liable for 100 percent of damage you cause. But Casseu told me the company will waive 50 percent “of unintentional damage,” and that this isn’t detailed in the terms and conditions “simply to not look like we’re offering insurance to avoid any misuse.”
That’s problematic. Since terms and conditions are a legally binding document that you have to accept and enter into before checking out, I wouldn’t expect Grover to hold up its end of the 50 percent waiver deal. The company may need to reword its terms to encompass this in the future. But in the meantime, go into it fully aware that you’ll be responsible for any damage.
Those prickly legal issues aside, I appreciated being able to temporarily own more than a $1,000 worth of gear. Plus, I’m starting to grow really fond of this MacBook and might actually extend the rental myself or buy the damn thing.
Still, as much as I love gadgets, without Grover I wouldn’t feel like I was missing out. The service will mostly appeal to people like Engadget Senior Mobile Editor Chris Velazco, who is constantly threatening to buy everything, only to later be disappointed by or bored with his new toys. The rental format not only lets people like Chris save some money and buy without the commitment of ownership, but also reduces waste, since they can return the products once they tire of the devices. Indeed, Chris has already signed up for the service and is expecting two devices to arrive. I feel bad for whoever gets the products after him; his technophilia is actually very disturbing.
This is how Senior Mobile Editor Chris Velazco handles new toys.
Ultimately, Grover provides an accessible, commitment-free gateway into the usually expensive world of tech that most aficionados will find appealing. But it has its issues, like the murky wording around its breakage policy.
It’s what Grover says is coming that I’m most excited about. Casseu told me that before Christmas rolls around, the company may launch a pricing plan that could let you rent any three gadgets for $100 a month. That would bring Grover closer to the “Netflix or Spotify for gadgets” format that the company touts itself as, and would further differentiate it from Lumoid or Rent A Center.
For now, I struggle with two things. One, does Grover actually save me money by letting me get devices for cheaper, or does it make me spend more by making me fall in love with what I rented? I honestly cannot decide. And, finally, should I buy this MacBook or nah?
Microsoft Office iPhone users can doodle with their fingers
If you want to sketch or perhaps add your signature to a Word, Excel or PowerPoint document on iOS, the only option has been to use the iPad Pro’s Pencil. Now, with the latest version of Office for the iPhone, you can draw directly on a document with no need for the stylus. Once you launch the app, you can “use your finger to write, draw and highlight with the tools in the new Draw tab,” Microsoft says.
Tools include a pen with adjustable line thicknesses and color, a highlighter and an eraser, and you can draw directly on cells, documents or slides. The new tools should come in particularly handy in conjunction with Office’s new collaboration tools, letting users easily mark up and share changes. The updated apps are now available on the App Store.
Via: The Verge
Source: Microsoft (iTunes)
Tim Cook: ‘Apple could unlock iPhones, but won’t’
To celebrate both Tim Cook’s fifth year at the helm of Apple and the production of the billionth iPhone, the chief has sat down with the Washington Post. It’s very much a goodwill piece, although there are a few insights into both Cook and Apple that the CEO lets slip along the way. For instance, on the subject of the San Bernardino iPhone, the company did spend a long time working out if they could unlock it. After deciding that it was possible, but that it’d be extremely difficult to stop the exploit being shared, Cook refused to do it. As he explains, “the risk of what happens if it got out, we felt, could be incredibly terrible for public safety.”
Cook also reiterated that the $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics was really to get at the company’s streaming platform. In his eyes, Apple doesn’t “acquire for revenue,” but for “talent and/or intellectual property,” although the profit that Beats generates is a handy bonus. Buying Beats enabled Apple to get its own music service “out probably a little sooner than we would have otherwise.” Cook also claimed that Apple may make more original video and audio shows like Planet of the Apps and Beats 1, but only if it will act as a “catalyst” for pushing apps as the future of TV.
Tim Cook does seem determined to gloss over Apple’s tax status in Europe, claiming that the company didn’t get special treatment in Ireland. The European Union feels differently and has opened a lengthy investigation to examine the terms of a so-called sweetheart deal when Apple Ireland was established in 1991. The fact that, in 2014, Apple booked two-thirds of its global profits to an Irish-registered tax haven implies something may not be right. Cook also believes that where you “create value is the place where you are taxed,” his justification for saying that only US tax is worth paying.
As for the future, Cook refutes the suggestion that Apple is lagging behind companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon on Artificial Intelligence. Reiterating the fact that Siri is “with you all the time,” and that Siri’s next word prediction has gotten “a lot smarter.” Another big growth area is augmented reality, and Cook concedes that Apple is “doing a lot of things” behind the scenes on developing the technology. Not to mention all of those secret purchases of firms — 63 since late 2013 — including a few AI firms like Turi and an AR company called Metaio.
Source: Washington Post
The incredibly intricate badges of Def Con
Three days before the 24th annual Def Con hacker event, badge designer and builder 1o57 (aka Ryan Clarke) had a problem. “The lion’s share of the 20,000 badges showed up this year not programmed,” he told Engadget. He gathered up a team and they went into “hell mode” to hand-program blinking pieces of electronic riddled with cryptographic puzzles.
When the conference opened last week, every one of those robot skull-shaped pieces of electronics found their way onto a lanyard and around the neck of an attendee. For Clarke and other badge makers, it was the end of a long building process: time to see how their months of hard work would be received by the hacker masses. The excitement on the faces of the attendees as they start posting photos online of their newly acquired gadget is proof that this community will only continue to grow.
Because of DARPA’s AI hacking competition, Def Con’s theme this year was “Rise of the Machines.” That informed the Terminator-esque skull design, but the conference badge was more than just a bunch of blinking lights and a homage to a 1980s action film. In addition to the quickly discovered Konami/Contra cheat code that could be entered into the eight buttons above the eyes, each variation of the badge (Human, Press, security Goons, Artist, Vendors, CFP (the folks that pick the speakers), Contest and Speaker) had specific clues and cyphers printed on them.
Clues are also hidden around the conference. “I permeate all the aspects of the conference. I’m on the lanyards, in the program, on the wall signs.” Clarke said. “Anywhere creative I can think of to stick puzzles, hints, clues, games that kind of thing, I can get injected all throughout the conference.”
The prize for solving the conference badge is free attendance for life, but more importantly, the coveted Black Badge. This year’s included an articulating eye worm that popped out of a black skull that Clarke designed with Hollywood special effects artist Rick Galinson.
Clarke became the main designer/builder in 2012 after the success of his annual Mystery Challenge badge contest. When the conference founder Dark Tangent (aka Jeff Moss) recruited him, nearly every security conference was doing an electronic badge and Moss wanted something to set Def Con apart. Thus the Tick/Tock cycle was born.
One year there is an electronic badge (like this year’s); the next, there’s an analog badge. Last year the badge was a vinyl album. Previous years were playing cards on PCBs and titanium. There’s still a contest — it just involves less soldering and flashing lights. But even in non-electronic years, there’s no shortage of technology around attendees’ necks.
By the end of the conference, many attendees will have multiple badges. It’s like a sea of very nerdy Mr Ts. Nearly every subset of Def Con has its own badge: Queercon, Tiaracon, Telephreak, car hacking and others. Each one is a custom designed and typically built by a team of like-minded individuals who are happy to give up their free time to wow their peers.
This year’s Queercon cephalopod badge was especially beautiful, with flowing trace lines and expressive eyes. These octopi could be hooked together to mate and share patterns. Plus thanks to the installed radio, nearby badges would light up when two were connected together. It created a system that forced people to interact with one another.
But for every badge that makes it, there are untold others that stalled. Evan MacKay, a hardware designer of the Queercon badge, says that some would-be badge makers don’t realize how much work and costs goes into it. “Many badge teams get caught off guard and end up failing to make it happen, or come out with partly finished badges,” he said.
Even the ones that do make are forced to make compromises. 1057 wanted the Def Con badge to be four layers thick so the only way to find some clues would be to sand off the top layer or x-ray it. “There are people every year that actually do x-ray the board and it was going to be the year for those guys.” he said. The typhoon in Taiwan made it impossible to have ready in time.
The Queercon badge was supposed to have a thermal printer that output your stats. But it was damaged in transit and the team was unable to get it repaired in time. These setbacks are part of the process, though.
Clarke says that he starts thinking about aspects of the next year’s design while still working on the current one. One of the designers of the Telephreak badge, who goes by ch0l0man, said that the team started working on its analog badge during the drive home from Def Con 23. The Queercon team started working in October.
And even with all the long hours, last minute adjustments, fear of the TSA stopping you because of all the electronics in your bag and typhoons halting production, you can expect more teams to express their technical and artistic abilities. It’s now an ingrained Def Con tradition that brings all the teams together. “Everyone is very enthusiastic and open about sharing info about the design process and their associated woes,” MacKay said.
Plus Def Con is getting bigger. IT has already outgrown the Paris and Bally’s conference and is moving to Caesar’s Palace next year. “Defcon has had a growth spurt in the last couple of years so I expect to see more groups creating their own badges,” ch0l0man said.
But the hacker conference isn’t just getting bigger. Twenty-five years of Def Con is a major milestone. Clarke is already musing about what next year’s badge and contest will entail. But he’s not alone. Back in their homes researchers, hackers and artists are already sketching out their ideas. Maybe it’ll be for a large group of hackers, maybe it’ll be five or six handmade pieces of electronics for their crew. Either way, as the hacking event grows so does its badge culture.
Six designs that bust e-waste
By Cat DiStasio
Many modern gadgets seem like they were designed to be disposable, forcing consumers to buy a new model instead of repairing their old one. This leads to an enormous amount of waste, and it’s difficult to find places that recycle the tech we no longer need. Fortunately, a new wave of product design is surging: devices that are made from sustainable materials and can be easily repaired, often by the end user. These new designs range from smartphones with swappable modules to circuit boards that dissolve in hot water and automated kiosks that dispense cash in exchange for electronics. With the new trend on the rise, we can look forward to a world where fewer gadgets are destined for landfills.
Circuit board dissolves in water, freeing reusable components
It’s no secret that electronic components aren’t biodegradable, although some engineers have attempted to develop more eco-friendly versions over the years. A team of researchers at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory took on the challenge and wound up creating a circuit board that dissolves in hot water. The device melts away after being submerged, leaving 90 percent of its resistors and capacitors available for reuse. Compared to traditional circuit board recycling, which salvages only two percent of the electronic components, this is a major breakthrough in reducing e-waste.
Google’s LEGO-like Project Ara smartphone
Leave it to one of the world’s largest tech companies to bring a modular smartphone to market. Google’s Project Ara is a smartphone composed of individual modules that can be swapped and replaced, so you can repair or upgrade the phone instead of having to throw it out and buy a brand new one. The futuristic handset is expected to go on sale next year, and Google has designed six different modules that snap together like LEGO bricks, each with its own special function. Reportedly, a developer model will be released later this year, with a consumer version slated to arrive in 2017.
Apple’s iPhone rapid recycling robot
Apple, the tech giant with nearly a billion devices in use around the world, has developed a robot named Liam that disassembles old iPhones so the components can be reused. Liam works quickly to tear down the unwanted handsets, and the robot is sort of the mascot of the new Apple Renew program, which invites consumers to send in their Apple gadgets using a prepaid label provided by the company. Making it easier to dispose of broken or outmoded electronics, and having a fast-moving robot to take them apart, is one way Apple is working to minimize the environmental impact of our high-tech world.
Fairphone 2 is an ethically sourced, low-waste smartphone
The second edition of the Fairphone, originally launched in 2013, is a handset that cuts down on electronic waste while also ensuring that its components are ethically sourced. The Fairphone 2 features a modular design that can be easily repaired by the end user. That feature allows consumers to upgrade their unit or replace malfunctioning parts without replacing the entire device. Additionally, the phone’s makers source conflict-free tin and tantalum from The Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is something not all smartphone makers can say.
ecoATM trades cash for unwanted gadgets
In a world of disposable electronic devices, just about everyone you know has had an old phone or dysfunctional MP3 player lying around at some point, as it can be a challenge to figure out what to do with them once they’re no longer needed. A finalist for the 2013 Index Design Award, the ecoATM offers one clever solution. The unmanned machine accepts unwanted small electronics in exchange for cold, hard cash. Sort of. Essentially, the ecoATM helps you sell your old phone, tablet or MP3 player, for an average price of around $25. With its headquarters in California, the company already has 350 stations in 24 states so it’s pretty easy to turn your unwanted gadget into a little extra pocket change.
3D printer built from reclaimed components
Finding new uses for electronic waste is one smart way to deal with the growing problem. In perhaps the ultimate display of eco-friendly electronics design, this $100 3D printer was built entirely from e-waste. Kodjo Afate Gnikou, a resourceful inventor from Togo in West Africa, collected unwanted parts from broken scanners, printers and computers to create a working 3D printer that rivals commercial models with thousand-dollar price tags. The ingenious scavenger harvested parts from a nearby landfill, but it’s easy to imagine how electronic components could be collected separately and diverted to factories, where new devices are built from the discarded guts of old gadgets.
HTC’s new Desire phones reportedly releasing later this quarter
HTC is hard at work on a new pair of new Desire smartphones that are reportedly releasing later this quarter.
The new phones will be branded as the Desire 10 Pro and Desire 10 Lifestyle. This new info comes care of an insider with information on what the company is planning, shared with VentureBeat.
The Desire 10 Lifestyle will be a 5.5-inch smartphone with a variety of different colors, each with a special metallic trim on the edges and around the camera lens, flash and antenna cutouts. Matte and solid colors are the name of the game when it comes to design.
When it comes to specs the phones should be running Android 6.0 Marshmallow skinned with HTC Sense. The Lifestyle phone is supposedly the lower-tier version of the line, with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 720p resolution. The rear main camera is said to be 13-megapixel with single LED flash, while the front camera offers 5-megapixel resolution. Both are capable of 1080p video recording.
Supposedly the phones will be launching at the end of September, but there are no definitive dates or prices for either model just yet, nor specs for the Desire 10 Pro. Either way, they both seem like pretty svelte models that would serve any smartphone user well.
Via: VentureBeat
‘Maguss,’ the game that definitely isn’t ‘Harry Potter Go’
“It’s a little bit complicated,” Ondrej Tokar says with a laugh.
Tokar is the creator of Maguss, an augmented reality mobile game that transforms players into wizards wandering around a world of spells, potions, duels and fantastical creatures. But let’s get one thing absolutely clear: It’s not a Harry Potter game. Tokar has to emphasize this fact because his team has already been contacted by someone claiming to represent the Harry Potter brand, asking them to distance Maguss from JK Rowling’s world, or else.
Strangely enough, this is precisely what Tokar wants.
Tokar’s dream is to create the Harry Potter Go game that fans have been clamoring for since Pokemon Go busted down the doors of mainstream, mobile AR experiences. Maguss has been in development for two years and it currently occupies an original world of magic. Much like Pokemon Go, it features digital creatures to find scattered around real-world maps, plus it has quests, crafting, the ability to duel other players, factions to join, spells to learn, potions to make and ingredients to hunt down. And, the team is building an actual wand peripheral that connects to the app via Bluetooth, allowing players to flick and swish just like they’ve always dreamed.
Though Maguss is already far along in the development process, Pokemon Go’s success in July presented fresh marketing opportunities. Tokar and his crew began positioning Maguss as the Harry Potter Go solution that many fans wanted. They branded its social media posts with things like, “#HarryPotterGo” and “#Potterheads,” and even wished JK Rowling and Harry Potter a happy birthday alongside Maguss tags.
They knew they were walking a fine legal line. They were careful to never say Maguss was an official Harry Potter game, while still blatantly marketing the idea to Harry Potter fans. This wasn’t just a way to get more people excited about the game: Tokar wanted to get Warner Bros.’ attention, even if it came in the form of a cease-and-desist.
“We think there’s a huge market for it and we also think that we went quite far to get to the point that we are now, and we’re not far from launching,” Tokar says. “We just need Warner Bros.’ permission to make it Harry Potter themed.”
Maguss developers did hear from someone claiming to represent Warner Bros., but it arrived in an unlikely form: a Twitter direct message. The DM came from the @HarryPotter_UK account, whose bio says, “The Harry Potter Film Twitter feed for United Kingdom.” It reads like an official account might, though it isn’t verified.
Tokar isn’t sure if the person who contacted him is truly a legal representative for the Harry Potter brand. They moved the conversation from Twitter to email, where Tokar explained the situation: He wasn’t selling Maguss as an official Harry Potter app, but he would love to talk with Warner Bros. about a potential partnership.
This is where things turned fishy for Tokar. The representative refused to identify herself and, at one point, she told Tokar that he would never have the rights to a Harry Potter game. This set off alarm bells in his head: He questioned whether she had the power to make that claim for the entire Harry Potter ecosystem. Once Tokar raised concerns about her legitimacy as a legal representative, she stopped responding entirely.
Please be all aware, that @MagussWand is not holding any Harry Potter rights nor licenses.Please read our disclaimer:https://t.co/TsZKamz8hL
— MagussWand (@MagussWand) August 1, 2016
But, to be safe, the Maguss team notified fans that it had to stop mentioning Harry Potter altogether, and it added a disclaimer on its website.
“We did all the precautions to be safe, but we are not sure if that is the person that is really legal,” Tokar says.
Engadget has reached out to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment about its stance on third-party developers and whether it would be open to working with a project like Maguss. We’ll update this story if and when we hear back.
Maguss has been in development for two years. Meaning: It isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to Pokemon Go’s success or the recent online movement calling for a Harry Potter version. It’s a passion project for Tokar, who’s a huge Harry Potter fan in his own right.
In 2014, his girlfriend surprised him with a Harry Potter themed trip around the United Kingdom for his birthday. They visited the studios in Leavesden where the films were produced and rode the Jacobite steam train — or, as fans know it, the Hogwarts Express. During this trip, Tokar, a developer by day, imagined how he could bring this magical world to life. The wand seemed like a good starting point and pairing that with a mobile AR game made the most sense.
Tokar, based in Denmark, teamed up with a colleague from Portugal and they got to work on Maguss, a game steeped in magic and fantasy but completely separate from the Harry Potter brand — or any other fictional wizarding world, for that matter. They launched a Kickstarter campaign in August 2015 that featured a wand peripheral powered by a motion sensor and IR LED, which connected to a receiver shaped like a coat of arms that the player attached to their clothes. The receiver then transmitted players’ movement data to a smartphone. It was an inelegant system — likely one reason that the Kickstarter didn’t receive enough funding. Tokar raised roughly $24,500 of a requested $53,000.
“And we know why,” Tokar says. “It just wasn’t high-quality enough. We know it. And right now, I think we are proving that it’s much, much better.”
Today, Tokar has a full team of artists, developers and marketing professionals helping to build a new and improved version of Maguss. The wand uses Bluetooth, negating the cumbersome coat of arms receiver, and the interface looks better overall. Players don’t have to use the wand either, and can instead trace spell glyphs right on their phone screen.
“That is to target people that are shy to run around swishing their wands, or for people that want to play the game somewhere in public or in public transport, for example,” Tokar says.
Plus, with Pokemon Go’s success this year, the project is a much easier sell. However, this level of awareness also has a downside. Pokemon Go has made mobile AR games more viable in the public eye, but that means other companies are ready to pounce on this fresh industry. A Russian company making a magic-themed mobile AR game already tried to poach one of Tokar’s artists in the last few months.
“Fortunately he told me,” Tokar says.
And then there’s Warner Bros. itself. What if that company, with all of its funding, access and legal rights, decides to develop its own version of Harry Potter Go?
“I have invested lots of money into this project, lots of time,” Tokar says. “On one hand, I would be very happy to see a game like that. On the other hand, we would be happy to be the ones developing the game.”
Maguss is roughly halfway complete. Tokar plans to launch another Kickstarter project in mid-September, hoping to raise enough money so his team can finish it off. Right now, he’s funding the development on his own.
“It’s quite rough, but it’s working out well now,” he says.
There’s a mountain of landmines in front of Maguss, from legal concerns to copycats to official designs, but Tokar isn’t giving up. He still hopes to get in touch with Warner Bros. and talk about turning Maguss into an official Harry Potter Go app, whether that contact comes through the Kickstarter, Twitter, Facebook or articles like this one. Or, perhaps, by magic.
“We would still like to speak with Warner Bros. to make it Harry Potter themed, but we are going our own way right now,” Tokar says. “But still, if we have the opportunity, we will take it.”
The Engadget Podcast returns!
In 2014 we said the Engadget Podcast was going on hiatus to “retool.” Well, we haven’t been sitting on our laurels. Over the last two years we’ve rethought our editorial mission, completely redesigned the website and, now, we’re launching a new and improved podcast.
If you’re looking for the Engadget podcast – we’re currently taking a break to re-tool it and make it more awesome for you. Stay tuned!
— Engadget (@engadget) June 27, 2014
This isn’t simply the old Engadget Podcast with a shiny new logo, no. We’re approaching it in a whole new way, and it will continue to evolve as we hear from you, our loyal listeners, readers and viewers. At its heart this is still a show about tech news, but one that is fast paced, informative and, most importantly, fun. You’ll hear editors debate the news of the week, get a peek inside the machine that is Engadget and enjoy deep dives on the stories that have changed our world (for better or worse).
We’re also making sure that you can enjoy the show in as many ways as possible. We’ve got a beautiful landing page where you’ll find every episode in audio or video format, plus a text transcription for the hearing impaired. You can watch us on YouTube, Facebook Live, listen on SoundCloud or subscribe through your podcast service of choice. You’ll currently find the show on iTunes, Google Play Music, Stitcher and Pocket Casts.
In Episode One: Your Racist Friend, editors Cherlynn Low, Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham join host Terrence O’Brien to debate iPhone rumors, explore the perks of renting gadgets, and express their utter exasperation at Snapchat’s racist filters.
Relevant links:
- Bloomberg: iPhone 7 gets new home button, drops headphone port
- HP Chromebook 13 review: a great laptop that doesn’t come cheap
- Why the Olympics need GIFs
- Yes, ‘No Man’s Sky’ has a few issues
- Snapchat’s racist yellowface filter lands it in hot water
- Snapchat’s 420 Bob Marley filter is just digital blackface
You can check out every episode on The Engadget Podcast page in audio, video and text form for the hearing impaired.
Watch on YouTube
Subscribe on Google Play Music
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe on Stitcher
Subscribe on Pocket Casts
T-Mobile drops the HTC 10 after less than three months
HTC just can’t catch a break. The company’s smartphone sales are down, fuelling consecutive quarterly losses. To bounce back, HTC needs its latest flagship, the HTC 10, to pick up steam — and fast. But that’s unlikely to happen now that T-Mobile, one of the biggest carriers in the US, has quietly dropped the Android handset. It’s not clear exactly when the smartphone disappeared from store shelves, but a Reddit post has it pegged at July 21st. That’s only two months since the phone went on sale at the so-called “un-carrier.” The more worrying part is that barely anyone seemed to notice.
The HTC 10 is a phone the company can be proud of. The aluminium shell (one we’ve grown fond of since the M7) is supported with a fairly clean Android experience and some decent hardware under the hood. The camera is greatly improved too, although it doesn’t offer quite the same picture quality as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Still, it’s a phone that stands shoulder to shoulder with the LG G5 and other Android flagships. But, it would seem, a solid all-rounder just isn’t enough. Especially when OnePlus has a similar offering for almost a third cheaper.
Look hard enough and you might find a HTC 10 gathering dust in a T-Mobile store. These “limited quantities” are just that, however, and won’t be replenished in the weeks or months ahead. It’s a blow for the Taiwanese manufacturer — to survive, it’ll need to bank on sales coming from other carriers and countries. Otherwise, there’s always the next phone (maybe a new One A9?) provided HTC has the financial reserves to make it.
Via: Reddit, Android Police
CVS launches its own mobile payment system
CVS, which has yet to adopt Apple Pay and other NFC-based payment services, has launched a mobile payment solution of its own. It’s aptly called CVS Pay, and it shows a barcode on the phone screen that the pharmacy can then scan to ring up your purchases, so long as you link a credit or a debit card to it. You can also present the barcode to pick up prescriptions that you can refill and manage in-app, as well as to rack up loyalty points. No need to present your physical rewards card at the counter anymore.
You also don’t have to physically hand over your phone for a drive-through pick-up, since the service generates a five-digit code you can tell the personnel. CVS Pay lives within the company’s Pharmacy app. If you’re in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, you either have to download the app or update it to start using the payment service. You’ll still get access to the feature even if you don’t live in any of those locations, though you might have to wait a few months, as it’s not scheduled for a nationwide rollout until later this year.
Via: TechCrunch
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