Watch the Evo 2016 fighting game championships right here!
Need a place to watch this weekend’s Evo fighting game championships? Look no further. The event runs through Sunday, with finals for Street Fighter V starting that night at 10 p.m. Eastern live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Other games this year include Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the GameCube’s fan-favorite Super Smash Bros. Melee, Killer Instinct, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Mortal Kombat XL and Persona 4 Arena.
If you’re not in Sin City but still want to catch the action, we’ve embedded a Twitch player below. At any given moment there are a number of events happening at once though, so you’ll have to choose between a few different streams. For a full schedule of what’s going down and when, head over to Shoryuken. Happy watching!
Watch live video from srkevo1 on http://www.twitch.tv
Source: Shoryuken (1), (2) (Twitch)
How to connect a USB flash drive to your Android phone
How do I connect a USB flash storage device to my Android phone?
Say you’re going to a party and your friends have asked you to play amateur DJ. Your phone has some music on it, but there’s so much more on your thumb drive or external solid state drive. You don’t want to bring an entire laptop to the party! Why not hook it up to your phone?
Another scenario: you’re going on a long road trip or flight and you can’t imagine anything better than watching movies the whole time. Problem is, you can’t fit them all on the internal or removable storage on your Android phone. Bring your flash drive! It’s full of movies!
Connecting a USB flash storage device to your Android phone is cheap and easy. Let’s find out what you need and, finally, how to get everything connected and safely disconnected again.
- How to check if your Android phone supports USB On-The-Go
- What you’ll need to connect USB flash storage to your Android phone
- How to connect a USB flash storage device to your Android phone
- How to safely disconnect a USB flash storage device from your Android phone
How to check if your phone supports USB On-The-Go
Not all Android phones support USB On-The-Go (OTG) functionality. If you don’t have the correct guts in your phone you’re not going to be hooking anything up with OTG. Luckily, to check if your phone is compatible requires just one app download.
The Google Play Store has a great app called OTG? that you can download now on your phone. It scans your phone automatically and will let you know if you’re one of the lucky ones. If you are, keep reading.
Download: OTG? (Free)
What you’ll need to connect USB flash storage to your Android phone
Connecting USB flash storage to your Android phone is easy and cheap. Here’s what you’ll need:
A USB OTG cable
Some Android phones, like the Galaxy S7, come with a USB OTG cable in the box — but most don’t. If your Android phone didn’t come with an OTG cable, you can pick them up off Amazon for super cheap.
This cable is what allows you to hook up your phone to your flash storage device. Without it you’re pooched.
The one linked to here is made by Ugreen — it’s $5, it has a one year warranty, and it works great. The cable is six inches long, so you’ll be able to set your flash storage device and phone down any way you’d like. Can’t really beat that.
See at Amazon
A USB flash storage device
This one is largely up to you. Any storage with a USB connector will work as long as it’s formatted as FAT32. If you want a ton of storage you’ll probably want a solid state drive with a USB connector (but beware of the power draw — not all drives will work!). If you’re OK with less storage, a thumb drive will do the trick.
If you don’t already have an OTG cable or a USB flash storage device, you can purchase an all-in-one flash drive and OTG connector. The one pictured here, made by Patriot, has 128GB of storage, has USB and micro-USB male connectors, and only costs about $40. You can plug it into your computer, transfer files onto it, then plug it into your phone and stream media without the need for a separate OTG cable.
See at Amazon
How to connect a USB flash storage device to your Android phone
Plug your USB OTG cable into your Android phone.
Plug your USB flash storage device into the female connector of your OTG cable. The file explorer on your phone should automatically pop up.
That’s it! As long as your USB flash storage device is connected you’ll be able to play media from it. Be careful you don’t remove the storage device while using or transferring files.
How to safely disconnect a USB flash storage device from your Android phone
Swipe down from the top of your phone’s screen.
Tap USB mass storage connected.
Simple as that. You can now safely unplug your flash storage device without risking corruption of any files.
Are you connected?
Do you use OTG cables to connect flash storage to your Android phone? Do you use a different method? Let us know in the comments section below!
Over 70,000 ATMs in US will support Touch ID for cardless withdrawals
Even if you aren’t ready to ditch your plastic credit card, you might have no choice soon, as FIS and and Payment Alliance International (PAI) are forcing ATM goers to at least acknowledge that cardless withdrawals are a thing.
The two have announced a partnership that will allow you to withdraw money using Touch ID from over 70,000 ATMs — a sign that the end of plastic cards is upon us. FIS Cardless Cash is a QR code-based solution that lets customers withdraw funds through an iPhone app without inserting a card into the machine, while PAI is the largest operator of non-bank-owned ATMs in the US.
Their partnership (NYCE) marks the first national network to support phone-to-ATM transactions. PAI’s ATMs will be equipped with FIS and made available in stores, malls, and restaurants across the country. While they aren’t using Apple Pay, they will let you get cash out using your iPhone and QR codes combined with an app. All transactions will also require Touch ID verification.
FIS said transactions should take mere seconds and that you’ll get a digital receipt, too:
“Cardless Cash protects consumers by reducing risk of card skimming and shoulder surfing, both of which are on the rise at ATMs, according to industry data. By leveraging FIS Mobile Banking with Touch ID, customers securely access their funds and authorize the amount they want without inserting a plastic card into an ATM. The mobile banking app acts as a remote control for the ATM, providing unparalleled privacy and security for consumers. Customers using FIS Cardless Cash can complete their withdrawals in 10 seconds and get an electronic receipt on their smartphone.”
Keep in mind Bank of America announced last month that it is bringing Apple Pay to ATMs across the country. Between that integration and today’s announcement, it’s clear that cardless transactions are quickly becoming the go-to way of getting your money.
Woo! The future!
- Apple Pay: How to set it up and which stores and cards support it right now
- 30 Touch ID apps that let you unlock or pay for stuff
Turkish president interviewed via FaceTime during military coup
As Turkey’s armed forces seized control of the country today, an odd scene unfolded on CNNTurk as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared live on the screen of an iPhone. News reports indicated he was safe but did not confirm his location, while Erdogan called on the public to support him in public squares and airports. Being forced to rely on internet communications like FaceTime is particularly notable for Erdogan, who has been described as “One of the world’s most determined internet censors,” for repeatedly shutting down access to services like Twitter and YouTube.
According to the group Turkey Blocks, access to Twitter, YouTube and Facebook was disabled after the military uprising began a few hours ago (Update: two hour period of throttling). Twitter’s Policy account said that it is not blocked, but “we suspect there is an intentional slowing of our traffic in country.” The coup attempt is still ongoing, as there are reports of shots fired and hostages taken at the military headquarters in the country’s capital city of Ankara. Despite whatever blocks are in place, Periscope is very popular in Turkey, and a number of livestreams are currently showing protests occurring around the country.
We have no reason to think we’ve been fully blocked in #Turkey, but we suspect there is an intentional slowing of our traffic in country.
— Policy (@policy) July 15, 2016
BREAKING Turkish President Erdoğan blames #Gulenist network & calls on public to go to public squares and airports. pic.twitter.com/vmQlYLyv35
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 15, 2016
Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan CNN TÜRK’e açıklama yaptıhttps://t.co/C0EYdmeAz6 https://t.co/IHVrhCBVEB
— CNN Türk (@cnnturk) July 15, 2016
Google was reportedly developing a standalone VR headset
Google’s virtual reality ambitions have slowly but steadily progressed over the last few years. It started with the cheap, humble cardboard headset, but Google formally announced Daydream, a new Android-based VR platform at I/O this year. However, it sounds as if the company originally had more ambitious hardware in mind. According to Recode, Google had a full-fledged VR headset in the works that would compete with the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive — but the company shut it down in an effort to streamline its VR plans.
The shuttered project was part of Google parent company Alphabet’s experimental X lab; it’s not uncommon for initiatives in X to be shut down before making it into the real world. Instead of developing this separate headset, which would have run a new operating system, Google and Alphabet are instead focusing on the Android-based Daydream.
This report comes some months after The Wall Street Journal reported that Google was working on a standalone VR headset that didn’t need to be connected to a phone or PC to function. It’s entirely possible that earlier report is referring to this discontinued project. Obviously, the upcoming launch of Daydream indicates that Google is far from done with VR; it just seems the company is focused on using mobile devices to power the experience for the time being.
Source: Recode
Amazon Video for Android adds support for SD cards
Amazon just pushed a small, but important update to its Android video app: starting today, users can choose where downloaded files are stored. It sounds insignificant, but for heavy users, this is a really big deal — until now, Amazon Video would only store content on a device’s internal storage, severely limiting how much content one could keep on the device. Not anymore. Now, if you have an SD card, you have room for more movies. The feature is rolling out to customers in the US, UK, Germany, Austria and Japan. It’s about time.
Source: Amazon
Apple’s New Music Royalty Proposal Would Make Streaming Costlier for Free Services Like Spotify
Apple has submitted a proposal to the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board calling for a simplified way to pay songwriters and music publishers for streaming music, according to Billboard. While the change would benefit labels, artists and publishers, it would make it more difficult for streaming services like Spotify to continue offering free tiers.
Apple, which has always had a gift for creative simplicity, wants to make this process easier and more transparent, according to a copy of the filing obtained by Billboard. The company’s proposal to the Copyright Royalty Board suggests a simple, “all-in” statutory rate that would be “fair, simple and transparent, unlike the incredibly complicated structure that currently exists.”
Apple’s suggested rate is 9.1 cents per 100 plays, which would make the songwriting royalties for 100 streams equal to the royalties for a single song download. However, the change would make it more expensive for companies like Spotify and YouTube to offer free music tiers.
The current system sees streaming companies paying songwriters and publishers between 10.5 and 12 percent of their revenue using what Billboard terms a “complicated formula.” The money is then divided into public performance and mechanical royalties, which is then paid to publishers and “collected societies.” Currently, Apple and other streaming music providers don’t have to pay publishers the statutory rate set by the Royalty Board because they can negotiate their own deals. However, negotiations between publishers and streaming services would start at a different place should Apple’s proposal become rule.
The Copyright Royalty Board, which is made up of a panel of three judges, is still in the early stages of determining potential statuary rates for 2018 to 2022 so it’s unclear whether Apple’s proposal would take hold or ever come to be.
While Apple Music has garnered about 15 million paying subscribers in the year since its launch, rival Spotify has twice as many, with the company citing Apple’s entrance into paid music streaming as a boon to its business. Despite user and revenue growth, Spotify continues to operate at a loss due to expensive royalties and revenue sharing with music labels, with recent losses growing 10 percent to $195.7 million.
Tags: Spotify, Apple Music
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NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will search for signs of past life
After building out its next Mars rover in mixed-reality simulations, NASA is ready to announce the near-final design that will depart for the red planet in the summer of 2020. Unlike Curiosity, which is still on its extended tour, the Mars 2020 rover will investigate an area of the planet searching for evidence of past life, with a long-term goal to carefully collect samples of Martian rocks and return them to Earth for further analysis.
The next-generation rover (which doesn’t have an inspiring name yet), borrows a lot of its basic design from its older sibling, but with a completely new payload of instruments it will use to study the planet. One of the key directives is to determine whether future, human missions will be able to take advantage of Martian resources like water and oxygen. “These experiments,” a statement from NASA explained, “will help engineers learn how to use Martian resources to produce oxygen for human respiration and potentially for use as an oxidizer for rocket fuel.”
“Mars has resources needed to help sustain life, which can reduce the amount of supplies that human missions will need to carry,” NASA’s associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate William Gerstenmaier said. “Better understanding the Martian dust and weather will be valuable data for planning human Mars missions. Testing ways to extract these resources and understand the environment will help make the pioneering of Mars feasible.”
The rover’s rock collection subsystem has also been redesigned and now includes a coring drill and a rack of sample tubes that will be filled, sealed and left in strategic locations for future missions to collect and return to Earth. Finally, when the rover is preparing to land on the surface sometime in February 2021, an upgraded skycrane landing system will actually allow the lander to scan the surface for an ideal landing site and divert its course if necessary using a “range trigger.” Once the rover is on the ground, it will be able to build a map of potential areas to study, using the photos and data it collected on its descent.
‘Pokémon Go’ gets in your face with an unofficial HoloLens demo
With Pokémon Go fever gripping the nation, it was only a matter of time before someone took the game’s augmented reality features and evolved them, as it were, with VR and mixed reality. And CapitolaVR has done just that, creating a Pokémon Go-esque demo with a Microsoft HoloLens.
The HoloLens Pokémon game is just a concept at this point, but it does make for a fun YouTube video showing us what future versions of the game could look like when users stop staring at their phones and start wearing high-tech goggles as they chase down Pikachu and Charmander. Behold, the gesture-based, Poké ball-throwing future:
As Polygon points out, development of Pokémon Go HoloLens edition won’t go much further than this demo, since recreating the interface has apparently proved challenging. Also, a spokesman from CapitolaVR told UploadVR that the company doesn’t currently have any plants to work with Niantic Labs on a HoloLens version at this point.
Kyocera’s Hydro Shore is a waterproof phone for the budget crowd
Kyocera has announced the Hydro Shore, a budget-friendly waterproof phone available for AT&T’s GoPhone pre-paid service. With IPX5 and IPX7 certifications, Kyocera says that the Hydro Shore can survive contact with water, as well as immersion in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. The screen is also designed to allow you to operate the touchscreen while wet.
Aside from its waterproofing features, the Hydro Shore comes running Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, and packs a 5-inch 960 x 540 display. There’s also a 5MP rear camera on board, along with a 2MP front-facing shooter, 8GB of storage and a microSD card slot. The whole thing is powered by a 1.1GHz Snapdragon 210 processor and a 2160mAh battery.
The Kyocera Hydro Shore is set to go on sale starting tomorrow, July 16, for $80 exclusively at Walmart.
