Facebook knows when you visit a store because of its ads
Facebook’s already offering retailers ways to convert ad views into sales online, but now it has a way to see if those views generate in-store traffic. To gauge how effective a retailer’s ads are in getting folks to make a trip to a physical location, Facebook will track when users visit a shop after seeing its ad on the social network. The company says that the numbers are an estimate though, based on if the user has location service enabled on their mobile device. That feature is rolling out “over the coming months.”
If you’re worried about privacy, Facebook says all user data will be anonymous and it will only hand over the info that shows if ad buys did indeed turn into store visits. What’s more, Facebook will also allow ad buyers to include store locators in the advertisement itself. This means that when you see an ad for a restaurant, for example, you can get directions, hours and more with a swipe rather than having to tap over to another page. It will be particularly useful for a business with multiple locations when you need to get the details for the one that’s closest.
Via: Wired UK
Source: Facebook
There’s more money in on-demand taxis than going to Mars
NASA’s annual budget for the 2015 fiscal year is $18.5 billion, a figure that you should bear in mind when we talk about the ride-hailing app business. It’s because Didi Chuxing, more commonly known as the Uber of China, is now worth $28 billion, or 1.5 2016 NASAs. The ride-hailing service you only know about because Apple invested in it has recently closed yet another funding round. This time, it’s convinced investors to pump a further $7.3 billion into its war chest, setting itself up nicely for the transportation arms race that’s to come.
In the other corner is Uber, which is now valued at $62.5 billion (or 3.37 NASAs) and has also spent this month adding to its war fund. On June 1st, it secured $3.5 billion in cash from Saudi Arabia in what’s being called the largest single investment made into a private company. Now, the firm is looking to raise a further $2 billion in long-term loans, putting its estimated cash hoard at around $10.5 billion. That’s a lot of moolah for a service that lets you hail a ride when you’ve spent too long in the bar.
All of this cash is going to be spent pursuing a single goal, which is to make sure that whenever you want a ride, it’s with one of these two. Both will likely attempt to hire more drivers, cut ride fees and generally make sure that nobody else can compete with them. The Guardian reports that, when Uber wanted to “conquer” London, it handed out a £99 ($140) a week stipend to encourage drivers to ditch their current employer. Cynics might also add that Uber’s (alleged) playbook of dirty tricks, previously used to undermine Lyft, could also get trotted out again.
The goal here is dominance in China, with a booming population, sheer size and money makes it a worthy prize for the winner. Uber’s Chinese division has raised $1.2 billion in funding on its own, although that’s dwarfed by the size of Didi’s new fighting fund. Oh, and it’s also worth noting that this battle is a proxy war that’s being fought by the tech industry’s biggest names. After all, Uber is backed by Baidu, Google Ventures and Microsoft, while Didi is bankrolled by Alibaba, Tencent and Apple. Imagine how hotly-contested this battle will get when self-driving cars, a passion for many of these businesses, finally hit the streets.
Source: WSJ, Ft
‘Breach’ adds a smart, stylish mode to the new ‘Deus Ex’
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided lands in mere months, and while we got to tackle a relatively fully-finished Dubai level (it’s definitely a glossier, bigger sequel to Human Revolution), instead I’m going to talk about Breach, an additional arcade(ish) mode that will launch for free within the main game. You’re a hacker who’s using VR technology — of course — to hack security nodes and get information. Security includes humanoid robots that’ll shoot you and kick you out, and it cam also change the rules of the game as you play. Fortunately, you can break some of those rules.
Following that simple hacker vs. security premise, the developers took the opportunity to shed the detailed (realistic) graphics of the Deus Ex series, instead going for soft simplified polygon-esque frames for the weapons, enemies and the environment itself. It’s funny: this style would have been cutting edge graphics on the advent of 3D graphics, but the creators also infused it with light shading, textures, and more to ensure it takes on the polished sheen more befitting of a game made in 2016. The result is crisp, cool, original-looking shooter.
Judging from what I played at the E3 demo, levels are also far more simplified than the environments you’ll find in Mankind Divided. They are not, however, easy. Enemies, turrets, navigational hurdles and more make up the challenges facing each stage, while you’ll have finite equipment that you can take along with you. The rest of your stash (other weapons, augments and more) will rest on servers. You can choose what you take with you — but you can’t take everything. There’s strategy involved, and depending on your speed and efficiency, good performance results in more experience and more cash for upgrades.
Yes, you’ll be able to install augments that are both the same and different to the usual upgrades the main game offers its protagonist Denton. That’s predictable enough, however the system you’re attacking also adapts. As soon as you’ve completed your task of leeching from multiple data loads, the system/ level will go into lockdown. For me, this meant my routes of escape were suddenly blocked and there was now tougher security on my way to my extraction point. You’re also able to carry your own hacks with you (double speed or double hit points, for example), so in a pinch you can reverse your fortunes easily.
That said, levels are (pretty easily) overcome. The challenge (and the thrill of repeat play) is the competitive angle. The game will host leaderboards and you’ll be able to send challenge requests (staking your in-game cash on the gambit). If the challenger wins, they get your money. If they don’t: more money for your upgrades. It’s a shrewd way of combining two hugely popular gaming methods: competition and speed runs. Once you’ve finished Mankind Divided, there’s likely to be a possibly longer-life challenge still waiting.
Kratos finds his humanity in the new ‘God of War’
It was never in question that God of War would return. The franchise is one of Sony’s most successful exclusives of the last decade, and the main trilogy of games were both critically acclaimed and hugely popular. But the ending of God of War III seemed to put a pretty definitive end on the series, while the relatively lackluster prequel God of War: Ascension that came a few years later showed that Sony had pretty much run out of ways to continue telling the story of its anti-hero, Kratos.
That is, unless developer Santa Monica Studios made a break from the series’ past, changed the gameplay, left Greek mythology behind and, most importantly, show us a more human side of Kratos than we’ve ever seen before. Judging from the preview of the forthcoming God of War that kicked off Sony’s E3 event, that’s exactly what’s happened, and it completely reinvigorated my interest in a series that felt like it had nothing left to say.
Just don’t call it a reboot. In a conversation I had with God of War mastermind Cory Barlog, he made it clear that this is indeed the same Kratos whose fate was up in the air at the end of God of War III, but he’s in a radically different place in his life. “As a writer, I think the interesting thing to do is to take the challenge of somebody who has a very difficult past, a very difficult image and put the audience in the position that they’re going to root for them,” Barlog says. “And they’re going to root for them because they’re failing — because they’re getting back up. You’re not inspired because they succeeded, you’re inspired because they succeeded after a thousand failures.”
That sense of redemption permeated the new God of War that Sony showed off this week at E3. Kratos is watching his son, and that makes the former Spartan far more sympathetic. It felt like there was more character development in the God of War preview than there was in the previous trilogy, and it doesn’t just come in cut scenes. It comes in small moments of exploration and discovery between the big battles and more in-depth story moments.
The old, one-dimensional, rage-filled Kratos is an important part of the story. He was once the petulant child of Zeus, and but now he’s a father again, trying to reign in his worst qualities while still being true to himself. “Kratos was the Hulk all the time,” Barlog says. “I think watching The Avengers and hearing [Mark] Ruffalo’s line: ‘The secret is I’m angry all the time’…” After taking a pause, Barlog continues: “That was so powerful because it did make me realize that is Kratos, but he doesn’t have the connection with his Bruce Banner. The kid pulls the humanity out of him.”
The child is truly the anchor of this game, and while Barlog says you don’t play as him, he will be a constant companion for the majority of God of War. For lack of a better word, there’s a “child” button that will bring him more fully into whatever you’re doing at a particular moment. “He’ll open a door, he’ll participate in a cooperative puzzle with you, he’ll go over and attack somebody,” Barlog explains.
But the child’s importance goes far beyond gameplay: He’s what keeps Kratos from being the wrathful God of War. In the gameplay demo, the child disobeys Kratos while trying to hunt a deer, and you can see some of Kratos’s trademark Spartan rage begin to show, but he manages to pull it back and teach instead of scream. He’s still cold and distant, unable to bring himself to comfort the boy after helping him kill that first deer up close with a hunting knife. But, when the boy is unable to make the killing cut himself, Kratos takes his hand and guides the knife in with him. He’s not perfect, but he’s showing more empathy and care in a 10-minute demo than we saw in an entire trilogy.
“That, to me, is parenting… and that’s being a kid,” Barlog says after noting that he put more of himself into this game than any other he’s done thus far. “I failed all the time, my relationship with my parents is so weird, and my relationship with my kid is the same thing. I see in him all the weird facets of myself that I wish I could change, but I can’t. But I can help make his next day better, and that’s where Kratos is at.”
The idea of Kratos trying to help make someone’s next day better is entirely foreign, and that’s what makes the new God of War so enticing. We have no idea what the actual story narrative will be thus far, but there’s a lot to be hopeful for. It doesn’t hurt that the new combat system looks like a blast — you can throw Kratos’ axe, fight with your bare fists, and then magically recall the ax to your hand at any time. And despite the series’ new camera angle that to put you right behind Kratos’ shoulder, the action still feels familiar and fluid.
Between the new camera and fighting styles, the signature massive monsters and the undeniably gorgeous visuals, there’s a lot to be intrigued about here. But what’s most interesting to me is the story and the mystery: What happened to Kratos between his destruction of ancient Greece and its pantheon of Gods and his new life in the north? (Barlog says the game doesn’t fill in all the blanks, but will address what happened after God of War III in some capacity.) Who is this kid, anyway? Is Kratos a friend of the Norse gods, an enemy, or something else entirely? It’s going to be a while before we find out, but for the first time I’m more excited about a God of War story than the action.
Beta Testers Discover Possible ‘Dark Mode’ Buried in iOS 10
Despite announcing a handful of new additions to iOS 10 earlier in the week at WWDC, Apple kept silent on whether or not a much-requested “Dark Mode” would be coming to its mobile operating system this year, although it did announce a similar feature would be hitting Apple TV.
Yesterday, developer Andrew Wiik shared a few screenshots of what appears to be an early form of Dark Mode running on the first beta of iOS 10 inside Xcode. Wiik’s tweet shows darkened versions of Messages, while a responding user corroborated his finding with pictures of Clock, Safari, and iTunes.
The Clock app is known to have gotten a darkened redesign in iOS 10, and a shot of iBooks is also included, but a reading-enabled “Night Mode” has been around since iOS 8. iTunes also presently uses a darkened scheme in its iOS app but, according to beta tester Mac Aficionados on Twitter, the system wide Dark Mode provides a unified darkened hue across all apps in comparison to what used to be an app-specific colorway with varying levels of black.
In a Reddit post sharing the screenshots, Wiik mentioned that “Apple has implemented the feature it just isn’t available for us users yet.” He went on to hope that “this won’t be an iPhone 7 exclusive.”
The potential for Dark Mode’s inclusion in iOS has been around for a while now, but picked up steam thanks to speculation in a few concept videos shared earlier in the Spring. Closer to WWDC, possible hints from a few evasive Siri responses — alongside additional concept images — fueled more rumors than ever that the feature would be announced by Apple during its keynote.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
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Cambridge Awards Jony Ive With Honorary Degree in Science for Design Work at Apple
The University of Cambridge has awarded seven “distinguished individuals” with honorary degrees — known as the highest honor bestowed by the University — in fields like law, business, and medical science. One of those honored was Apple’s own Jony Ive, who received a doctorate in science for the “elegance, purity and beauty” he brought to personal computers in his time at the company.
The man credited with introducing elegance, purity and beauty to the design of personal computers as Apple’s chief designer was also honoured. A doctorate in science was conferred on Sir Jonathan Ive, Chief Design Officer at Apple, in recognition of his impact on the world of computing and in making technology approachable through design.
Cambridge won’t be the only esteemed university giving Ive an honorary degree, as Oxford plans to bestow a similar honor onto Apple’s chief design officer next week. The Oxford ceremony recognizes ten figures from similar fields as Cambridge, including theology, law, economics and, in Ive’s case, science.
At Oxford, Ive will be named a “Doctor of Science,” alongside neurobiologist Dr Cornelia Bargmann and physicist Mildred Dresselhaus. The honorary degrees will be given out at the University’s annual Encaenia ceremony on June 22.
Tag: Jony Ive
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iOS 10 Concept Simplifies Lock Screen With Collapsed Notifications
Apple previewed iOS 10 earlier this week with new rich notifications that enable iPhone users to view photos and videos, listen to audio, or respond to messages directly within notification bubbles. If you receive an iMessage, for example, you will be able to reply to the conversation without leaving the Lock screen.
Apple has also provided developers with the ability to update existing notifications with new information, or delete them, which should help declutter the Lock screen and Notification Center. But many apps still generate multiple notifications, such as every photo, video, or message you receive on Snapchat.
MacRumors forum member chrf097 explains:
The problem with this current system is that notifications become easily cluttered. An active group chat can result in hundreds of individual notifications. For example I’m in a group chat of friends with about 12 active people, and I have to leave it muted anytime I choose not to participate, due to the amount of notifications that collect. In addition, this means that important information can get lost in the sea of notifications.
The solution, as seen in his concept below, could be to follow in Android’s footsteps by collapsing notifications on a per-app basis.
The new design would save valuable screen space and allow you to glance at your Lock screen or Notification Center notifications much quicker. But collapsed notifications could inhibit the rich notification experience, so it would work best if collapsed notifications could be toggled on or off on a per-app basis in Settings.
Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 10 to developers earlier this week, and a public beta will be available in July. The free software update will officially be released in the fall for most devices compatible with iOS 9, excluding the iPhone 4s, iPad 2 and 3, original iPad mini, and fifth-generation iPod touch.
Apple could introduce collapsible notifications in a future iOS 10 beta, although changes will more likely be limited to minor tweaks and enhancements.
Tags: Concepts, notifications
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New LG X phones last longer, run faster and look better, here’s what you need to know
LG has already established its X phone series of handsets to tempt the mid-range fans, and now that group has grown. The LG X Power, X Mach, X Style and X Max have all been announced by the company to target everyone’s individual needs.
READ: LG X Series starts to roll out: LG X cam and LG X screen
First up, the LG X Power. As the name suggests this is all about battery life. As such, despite being 7.9mm thin, this handset packs in a hefty 4100mAh battery. It also uses PE+ fast charging which LG says will get the battery charged twice as fast as a normal charger. This has a 5.3-inch HD display, 1.3GHz quad-core with 2GB RAM plus 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras.
Next is the LG X Mach, which is all about speed. This features the latest Cat. 9 3CA LTE connectivity backed by a 1.8GHz hexa-core processor and 3GB of RAM. Since everything will be zipping along so quickily it needs to be shown clearly hence this phone’s 5.5-inch QHD Quantum Dot display. This also feature a 12.3-megapixel camera with 1.55μm sensor in the rear for low light snaps and an 8-megapixel selfie camera in the front.
The last two handsets are just being teased right now. There’s the LG X Style which features an extra slim body and “gracefully curving lines”, says LG. Finally the LG X Max has the largest display of the bunch.
Further details on all the handsets including pricing and release dates should follow soon.
LG
READ: Best smartphones 2016: The best phones available to buy today
OnePlus 3 official cases in pictures: Bamboo, Karbon, Sandstone and more
The OnePlus 3 has finally arrived bringing with it impressive specs for the £309 pricetag. But now we know about the 6GB of RAM, the 16-megapixel camera and that Dash fast charging, it’s time to decide what look is best.
OnePlus is offering a selection of official rear protector cases specifically for the OnePlus 3. There are five in total, each made of varying materials for a unique look and feel.
The cheapest, at £16 is the Sandstone Case, the rest are £20 each and include Bamboo, Black Apricot, Karbon and Rosewood. Each case pops on and off the handset and hugs the edges for rear and corner protection, the protrusion at the front should also offer some face protection if the handset were to fall flat.
Materials vary but largely consist of kevlar. The Karbon case is pure kevlar while the Bamboo, Rosewood and Black Apricot are all part Kevlar. The Sandstone is listed as “PC” and weighs in at the most at 18g while the others are all listed as 12g.
Check out the entire range options in our gallery of photos above to see what they look like in the real world so you can pick the one, or ones, that best suit you.
READ: OnePlus 3 is official, equipped with huge 6GB RAM and an all-new all metal finish
Moto Z vs Moto X: Force, Style, Play compared
Lenovo-owned Motorola announced its latest flagship smartphones at the beginning of June in the form of the Moto Z and Moto Z Force.
The two devices succeed the Moto X range of devices, of which there were three announced last year, but what else is different aside from the letter change?
Read on to find out how the Moto Z and Moto Z Force compare to the Moto X Play, Moto X Style and Moto X Force.
Moto Z vs Moto X: Design
The Moto Z measures 153.3 x 75.3 x 5.2mm, while the Moto Z Force measures 155.9 x 75.8 x 7mm. Both therefore offer super slim designs, with the Moto Z taking the crown for the slimmest of these handsets and the rest of the Android flagship bunch.
The Moto X Play is the smallest in terms of footprint measuring 148 x 75mm with a curve between 8.9mm and 10.9mm. The Moto Z Force has the largest footprint, with the Moto X Style following closely behind at 153.9 x 76.2mm offering a curve of 6.1mm to 11.1mm.
The lightest device being compared here is the Moto Z at 136g, followed by the Moto Z Force at 163g. The heaviest device is the Moto X Style at 179g, while the Moto X Play and Moto X Force both hit the scales at 169g.
The Moto Z an Moto Z Force both have premium metal designs, while the Moto X Play, Moto X Style and Moto X Force all have a more plasticky finish. The two new devices also have snap on accessories called Moto Mods, which include Style Shells, a loudspeaker, projector and powerpacks, with more Mods coming in the future.
Moto Z vs Moto X: Display
The Moto Z and Moto Z Force both come with a 5.5-inch display. This puts the new devices in the same size bracket as the Moto X Play, larger than the 5.4-inch Moto X Force and smaller than the 5.7-inch Moto X Style.
A Quad HD resolution is found on the Moto Z, Moto Z Force, Moto X Style and Moto X Force. The difference in size means the Moto X Force has the sharpest display in terms of numbers however, offering a pixel density of 544ppi compared to the Moto Z and Moto Z Force’s 534ppi. This is not going to be noticeable to the human eye though.
The Moto X Play has a Full HD resolution, meaning a pixel density of 401ppi and resulting in the softest display of the devices being compared here. It also uses LCD technology, as does the Moto X Style, while the other three devices opt for AMOLED. Typically, AMOLED offers richer and more vibrant colours, but they can be a little more unrealistic compared to LCD.
The Moto Z’s display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, while the Moto X Play and Moto X Style both have Gorilla Glass 3. The Moto Z Force and Moto X Force both have a ShatterShield protection however, hence their names. If you’re prone to smashing your smartphone’s screen then these might be your best option.
Moto Z vs Moto X: Cameras
The Moto Z has a 13-megapixel rear camera with an aperture of f/1.8 and features including optical image stabilisation and laser autofocus. The front camera is 5-megapixels with a wide-angle lens and an aperture of f/2.2.
The Moto Z Force has the same front camera capabilities as the Moto Z, but it ups the rear camera resolution to 21-megapixels, sticking with the same f/1.8 aperture. It also adds phase-detection AF to the mix too.
The Moto X Play, Moto X Style and Moto X Force all have 21-megapixel rear cameras but with a narrower aperture of f/2.2 compared to the Moto Z and Moto Z Force. This should mean the newer devices are better in low light conditions. All the three Moto X devices have 5-megapixel front snappers and all the devices being compared here have a front-facing flash, except the Moto X Play.
Moto Z vs Moto X: Hardware
The Moto Z and Moto Z Force feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 under their hoods, supported by 4GB of RAM. They come in 32GB and 64GB storage options and both the Z and Z Force have microSD support for storage expansion.
The Moto X Play has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 610 chip, supported by 2GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB storage capacities. The Moto X Style features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of storage. The Moto X Force opts for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM and is available in 32GB or 64GB storage options. All Moto X models have microSD support.
The largest battery capacity sits within the Moto X Force at 3760mAh, while the smallest is within the Moto Z at 2600mAh. The Moto X Play has a 3630mAh capacity, the Moto Z Force has 3500mAh and the Moto X Style has 3000mAh. All come with turbo charging abilities.
The Moto Z and Moto Z Force also lose the 3.5mm headphone jack in favour of USB Type-C only and they add a fingerprint sensor. The three Moto X devices are charged via Micro-USB, keep the headphone jack intact and don’t offer a fingerprint sensor or any other kind of security sensor.
Moto Z vs Moto X: Software
Moto devices are known for offering a very close to vanilla Android experience with very little bloatware. The Moto X Play, Moto X Style and Moto X Force all launched on Android Lollipop and featured just a few extra apps. They have since been updated to Android Marshmallow.
The Moto Z and Moto Z Force will launch on Marshmallow when they arrive, again offering a very close to pure Android interface so all these devices should offer a similar user experience.
Moto Z vs Moto X: Conclusion
As you might expect, the Moto Z and Moto Z Force offer a number of improvements over the previous Moto X devices. Their designs are not only more premium, but there are those attachable accessories we were talking about, as well as advancements in plenty of other areas.
The camera capabilities appear to have been enhanced, especially in the case of the Moto Z Force, and performance should see a jump too with the extra RAM and faster processor.
It’s the Moto Z Force that sees the best specs on paper compared to the other Moto devices being compared here, but whether it will be the best Moto device to buy remains to be seen. We will update this feature as soon as we have reviewed the latest two devices.
