Premier League tells fans to stop posting GIFs and Vines of goals
After becoming the go-to network to upload replays of goals scored during the recent World Cup, Vine could soon become the subject of a domestic copyright clampdown. With the new season commencing tomorrow, the Premier League has told the BBC that it’s developed new ways to track unofficial uploads of goals and other related footage, including GIF crawlers, Vine crawlers and working with Twitter directly, in a bid to stop users from stepping on the toes of rights holders.
You see, Sky and BT paid over £3 billion to secure live coverage of Premiership matches, while The Sun and The Times have put down a lot of cash to grab the online rights. Fans must pay to watch both, but can access goal replays (within minutes of them being scored) and full match highlights on their mobile or online. But while the Premier League is attempting to address a legitimate concern, users can’t argue with free. We’ll almost certainly continue to see Vines and GIFs shared to Twitter, but those in charge might have more to say about things this season.
[Image credit: wonker, Flickr]
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: BBC Newsbeat
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Grade-school gamers test the foundation of DARPA’s next training software
Inside the University of Washington’s Center for Game Science (CGS), there’s a department that is making video games for children, and it’s funded mostly by DARPA. If you’ll recall, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency is the part of the US Department of Defense that looks into emerging tech and its potential use by the armed forces — things like robots, for example. But in order to gauge software components, the educational titles developed at the CGS cultivate “adaptive learning” tech that could be employed for military training. With tools that foster school-age students’ STEM skills, researchers can test a game’s adaptive teaching abilities and potential for use in other learning scenarios. Developers examine how AI that changes to suit education level could be leveraged for real-world use, which moves beyond the DOD to include science and biochemistry queries. In fact, it was the CGS’ game Foldit that crowdsources scientific research through protein puzzle solving that caught the attention of DARPA in the first place. You can have a look at that particular title on the other side of the break.
[Photo credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images]
Filed under: Gaming, Robots, Science, Software
Source: Vice
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Google Chrome will start flagging misleading downloads
Not surprisingly, Google wants to keep everyone on the internet as protected as possible — after all, it has to stay true to its “don’t be evil” ways. Today, in an effort to continue guarding you from virtual harm, the search giant has introduced a new feature that’s part of its Safe Browsing initiative. According to Google, the goal with this expansion is to protect people “against additional kinds of deceptive software,” something like a malware program that may be looking to make abrupt changes to a computer. On the Chrome browser, soon you’ll start seeing a warning every time a third-party tries to lure you into downloading a piece of software — ultimately, though, it’s up to you to determine whether or not to install it. Naturally, Google’s blog post does emphasize that you should always beware of the sources you trust, but you already knew that, right? Life 101, folks.
[Image credit: Shutterstock/bioraven]
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Source: Google
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PlayStation’s push for indie games is epitomized by ‘The Tomorrow Children’
“It’s important to me to be able to express what I want to express.” These words come from Dylan Cuthbert, “Game Designer/Programmer/Anything” at Q Games, as he explains how his team came up with the back story for The Tomorrow Children. The forthcoming title is — by Cuthbert’s own admission — a little bit “out there;” a mix of Minecraft-esque collaborative building, social economics and a Soviet Union-themed post-apocalyptic dystopia. It’s definitely a little on the fringe. Multiplayer shooters and herculean protagonists have their place, but, as Cutbert alludes to in his gambit above, it’s probably not here. Indie doesn’t mean small though, and The Tomorrow Children, I learn, is an example of how companies like Q Games can keep to their own script (or lack of), and still benefit from the considerable support afforded by a partnership with Sony.
Earlier, during a preview session for The Tomorrow Children, the game is described as a “Marxism simulator.” The backstory? An experiment to unite all human consciousness went terribly wrong, destroying society. Over the following decades the few survivors try to rebuild humanity. Your role is to venture out into “the void” (the empty space left by the experiment,) and build a new world. Oh, there are also giant creatures to contend with that you kill and mine for materials. Y’know, all that usual stuff.
The off-beat storyline is accompanied by equally expressive artwork. Cuthbert tells me it’s inspired by sources as diverse as (among other things) old Czech puppetry, and the 1960s British drama The Prisoner. The result is cinematic, in a vintage French art house kind of way. Cuthbert is keen to point out that a lot of these decisions weren’t planned up front (as would be required by a AAA studio,) and that one of the main privileges of being independent is being able to, basically, do what you want.
But there’s a paradox. The Tomorrow Children is an indie title in spirit, but Sony is financially involved with the project. So, how does this reconcile with Q Games’ approach to game making? According to Cuthbert, it’s not only not a problem, it’s for the greater benefit of (his company’s) indie games.
“I think it doesn’t matter what size the game is [financially], as long as it’s an expression of the creator… and it hasn’t been meddled with… We just really enjoyed creating the technology [for the game], and obviously to create that technology we needed a bigger project to kinda buoy it up.”
“From the start, Sony was positive, said start experimenting and they were hands off. They just let us do anything we wanted basically.” And the result speaks for itself. How many other blockbuster titles have you opening Matryoshka dolls to collect DNA to rebuild your population? “In this game we’ve explored more ‘different’ ideas than we ever have before” says Cuthbert. Suggesting that despite dealing with suits doesn’t have to mean compromises. So, perhaps money and indie spirit aren’t so mutually exclusive after all?
The Tomorrow Children will be available in the coming months on PlayStation 4.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Sony
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YouTube refreshes television app for set-top boxes, game consoles and smart TVs
If you use YouTube’s app on your TV, get ready for a new UI (finally!). The app has a much cleaner look now, in line with Google’s Material Design, and includes features that you’re used to seeing on your computer, smartphone and tablet, such as a guide that pops up on the left side, latest videos from your subscriptions and curated channels. The refreshed interface should pop up soon — it’s available now with Xbox One, and Google plans to roll it out to other devices within the next few weeks.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Google
Source: YouTube
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Humble Bundle finally has the Android app it deserves
As great as Humble Bundle is at bringing content to your devices on the cheap, it’s worth pointing out that its Android app has been a bit lackluster — at least until today. Even though the application wasn’t completely terrible per se, there’s no doubt its looks and functionality could benefit from a makeover. The good news is there’s a new Humble Bundle app on Google Play, featuring a redesigned, cleaner user interface and some novel tools for fans of the service to use. In addition to the fresh, more intuitive design, the app now lets you sideload APKs with more ease and, for the first time, download e-books and music directly to it. It’s also easier to keep track of your purchases, including old and new, which is definitely a good thing if you often get in on the Humble deals. Let us know in the comments below if you’re liking the new app so far.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile, Google
Via: Android Police
Source: Google Play
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Activision’s dipping its toe into indie gaming with ‘Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions’
Activision creates and publishes a small group of blockbuster video games aimed at mainstream consumers. The world’s largest game publishing company handles some of gaming’s most culturally impactful titles: the Call of Duty franchise, this year’s Destiny, and the entire Blizzard catalog. This week at Gamescom 2014, Activision announced its first smaller effort in many years with Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions. As the name implies, Dimensions is the third entry in the Geometry Wars franchise — a beloved series that debuted as a minigame within the first Xbox console’s Project Gotham Racing 2. People like it so much in that completely unrelated game that it spawned into its own series.
Sadly, the studio behind the originals (Bizarre Creations) was shuttered after a commercial flop with the critically-lauded racer Blur. Some of the folks from Bizarre are back on Dimensions, now part of a new studio named Lucid. But this isn’t the return of Activision’s expanded portfolio, says Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg.
“I wouldn’t read too much into it in terms of a sea change in our business strategy,” Hirshberg told us in an interview. “It’s a passion project, a skunkworks project that we’re excited about, but it doesn’t signal an overall shift in our approach to the business.”
So, no, the move to re-launch Sierra as a label within Activision — while neato — is not part of a bigger push into the burgeoning indie game movement. Hirshberg also pointed out that some of his company’s tentpole franchises, such as the mega-popular kid’s series Skylanders, started out as “small, scrappy” projects rather than intended from the jump as the monsters they’ve become.
Activision’s taking a cautious approach with the new initiative, even. Hirshberg stressed that his company isn’t “taking our eye off the ball” of the prize: blockbuster games aimed at mainstream folks. For now, Hirshberg said Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is “a cool passion project to hopefully make some gamers happy and do something we think is cool.” As far as we’re concerned, as long as there’s more Geometry Wars to play, everyone wins.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Sony, Microsoft
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Berlin bans Uber to protect passengers and its taxis
It’s safe to say that Uber has become a victim of its own success, provoking the ire of the global taxi industry and also its fellow ridesharing competitors. While it’s enjoyed some leniency in the US, European regulators have put the boot into the app, with Berlin becoming the latest city to ban Uber cars from its roads. In a statement, Berlin’s State Department of Civil and Regulatory Affairs said that Uber puts passenger safety at risk by using “unverified drivers in unlicensed vehicles,” and threatened to levy a €25,000 ($33,400) fine each time it violates the ban. Drivers won’t escape action either, receiving €20,000 ($26,750) fine if they’re caught pursuing passengers.
Given the rise of unlicensed taxis in European cities, Berlin’s ruling does address a legitimate concern. However, the state department has acknowledged that the “protection of the taxi industry” was also a key factor in its decision. Uber says it intends to challenge the ban and has vowed to continue operating while it contests the ban in court. It’s not all doom and gloom for the company, however: by bringing the case before a judge, Uber can seek a review of antiquated taxi laws, allowing it to operate freely if it gets the ruling overturned.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Via: BBC News
Source: Berlin State Department
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Humin adds context to your contacts for a smarter smartphone
Our phones have changed so much since the early days of the smartphone. We can now take amazing photos with them, play video games on them, track our health and fitness on them and of course use them to surf the internet. But the humble contacts app — you know, the thing that stores all those phone numbers — hasn’t changed much, if at all. For one thing, it still lists all those contacts alphabetically. That works if you’ve got a great memory, but what if you want to find that person you met at a party last week and can’t quite recall their name? A normal contacts list would be useless. Launched on the App Store today, Humin plans to change all that, not only by replacing your contacts app but by replacing your phone app as well.
Humin aims to do so by adding one key ingredient to contacts: context. Instead of just looking up your contacts by name, for example, Humin lets you look them up by relationship or employer or the time and place you met them. So if I wanted to find that person I met last week, I’d enter in “met last week” in the search field and voila, I’d be able to find him or her much easier. And if that party was on my calendar, I could say something like “met at last week’s party,” and it’d narrow the search down even further.
“The problem we needed to solve wasn’t the contacts problem,” says Ankur Jain, Humin’s co-founder and CEO. “It was the search problem.” He recalled the internet of the late 90s, where sites like Yahoo and Lycos tried to alphabetize the web in lists and categories. Then search engines like Google came along and you could finally search for things the way our brains actually think. “We’re taking that concept and applying it to people.”
Here’s how it works. When you first launch the app, it’ll ask to hook up to your phone’s contacts and your calendar. You can stop there, but in order for Humin to really flex its contextual muscle, you’re encouraged to connect Humin to Facebook and your email account as well (either your Gmail or your Exchange account will do). It’ll also ask for your LinkedIn info if you have it, which is especially useful if you use your phone for doing business. This is how it gathers data like the people you know in common, their occupations and how frequently they contact you.
And if you really want Humin to replace your phone app entirely, you can. If you go through a few activation steps, you can have it so that all of your missed calls and voicemails will go to Humin. Jain tells us they’ve actually worked with all the major US carriers to develop this technology. “In order for Humin to really have an impact on your everyday life, it has to be one of the core services that you use on an everyday basis,” says Jain as a reason behind the integration.
To be honest, it all feels rather invasive, but Jain assures us that privacy is of the utmost importance. “We keep all of that data on your phone locally … your email never goes to our servers.” As an experiment, Jain encouraged us to use Humin with Airplane mode on, and indeed, it still managed to do those contextual searches without any connectivity (Of course, this was after we had already fleshed out our all contacts with info gained from Facebook, LinkedIn etc.). Further, the app won’t contact anyone unless you want it to. Which, by the way, you might actually want if you’d like your contacts to have the most updated info. To do so, you can send a verification request to a contact via the app itself.
After you’ve incorporated all that information, Humin really comes into its own. The main Contacts tab, for example, will show all of the contacts who are in the same city you are, as well as the folks who are in your upcoming calendar meeting. This is potentially useful if you’re travelling — if I fly to New York, it’ll immediately show all the people I know who are in the New York area so that I can instantly send off a quick text to them to let them I know I’m in town. Also, whenever I add a new contact to Humin from now on, it’ll remember when and where I met them, and it’ll automatically add in the person’s name if it’s associated elsewhere. For example, when I entered Jain’s phone number into Humin, it automatically added his name and the ten people we know in common.
The app also automatically surfaces the people you’re most likely to add to your Favorites list by seeing how frequently you interact and their relationship to you. For me, my co-workers and friends were at the top of the pile, followed closely by family members, which makes sense because most of my communications with family are offline rather than online. In order to quickly call or text one of your Favorites, you hold down on their image and either swipe left or right.
Still, if Humin sounds intriguing to you, iPhone users can go ahead and download the app right now. It’s US-only for now but it should arrive in UK stores shortly. Android users will have to wait a few more weeks, and we even hear that Google Glass might get it at some point.
“One of our goals is to put technology into the background of your life,” says Jain. “The phone app is the most background app that you have … we want you to keep that existing user behavior but bring it to the 21st century.”
Source: App Store
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Shazam restores Spotify sharing and tests Beats Music for good measure
After unexpectedly dropping the ability to listen to tagged tracks on Spotify in the UK and other countries, Shazam has re-added the service to its free app in most locales. The original issue came about thanks to a deal with Deezer, which replaced Spotify in in Germany, Mexico, the UK and Brazil (the premium paid app always worked). On top of adding Spotify back to the latest iOS and Android apps, Shazam is also reportedly testing Beats Music integration on iOS, giving users the ability to stream entire tagged tracks. The iOS Shazam app already works with iTunes for previews, and Shazam will soon power Siri tune recognition in iOS 8 — so Beats could be a tit-for-tat. As for Spotify, we’re still not sure why it’s back, but we wouldn’t be surprised if metrics dropped or money was involved at some point. Meanwhile, we’ve reached out for more information.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software
Via: 9 to 5 Mac
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AIVAnet 