Apple starts banning apps that reward video views and social sharing
With revamped policies in the iOS 8 App Store, Candy Crush and other apps that reward you for social sharing could soon be booted. Apps that provide users incentives for sharing on social networks aren’t the only ones to violate Apple’s latest terms and conditions for developers; those that provide in-game credit for watching videos are also under fire, along with apps that promote other apps.
Several developers have received rejections that reflect Apple’s new rules, with one individual reporting that a previously approved app was turned down even though he had only added a new skin. According to an Apple rep, his game violated guidelines around in-game credits for watching videos and promoting apps other than one’s own. Other developers have received rejection notices for using social sharing as an incentive.
Considering how common these app monetization strategies are, Apple’s policies will have a huge effect on developers. Platforms like Tapjoy, which lets you download an app instead of making an in-game payment, will clearly be affected as well. And while the strengthening of Apple’s ban hammer will help clear the App Store of the apps made just to earn cash, plenty of legit titles could be squashed as well. It’s unclear whether Apple will reinforce its ban retroactively, and — if so — how many big-name titles would be pulled.
At WWDC last week, Apple announced several improvements to the App Store in iOS 8, including video previews, developer bundles and a new “Explore” tab for browsing categories and sub-categories of apps. Search is also enhanced, with the ability to see what’s trending.
Apple clearly wants these tools to power app discovery rather than developers’ cross-promotion and social sharing incentives. Still, the company isn’t forbidding devs from promoting their apps in other ways. As an app reviewer told one developer who received a rejection notice: “You can advertise your own games via the standard ad networks. However, when you have a ‘More Games’ or ‘Other Games’ you should only market your own games.”
Filed under: Internet, Software, Apple
Via: MacRumors
Source: TechCrunch
Minecraft maker’s newest game blends cliffs, horses and Dogecoin
Markus “Notch” Persson is mainly known as the man behind Minecraft, but he’s quickly developing a reputation for eccentric games that cover everything from speed typing to existential drama. If there’s any doubt, you just have to look at his latest title, Cliffhorse. Yes, it’s as absurd as the title suggests — you play a horse pushing a giant ball around cliffs, and there isn’t more to it than that. However, that barely-there design (which took all of two hours to build) is really the point. Persson describes the Windows-only game as a jab at developers who abuse early access programs by charging money for “minimum effort” releases, where most of the content theoretically comes later. And yes, he’s aware of the irony given that he charged for Minecraft well before it was finished.
In case the silliness of the project wasn’t patently clear, Notch is only accepting voluntary Dogecoin donations as payment; you can download Cliffhorse completely for free, if you like. It’s just as well that there’s no real profit model, since there’s also “no guarantee of future updates.” You may not like Persson’s parody enough to send him virtual currency. Still, the launch may be helpful if it gets some developers to put in a bit more work before they ask gamers to pay up.
@bonzrat Two hours in Unity. Boom. Goty.
– Markus Persson (@notch) June 7, 2014
Source: Cliffhorse
What you need to know about the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)
Spring rains are ending; the R train tunnel is nearly through with repairs (after being ravaged by Hurricane Sandy); and we’re nowhere near Engadget HQ in downtown Manhattan. Alas, it’s early summer: time for the Electronic Entertainment Expo once more. The annual game industry trade event, commonly referred to as “E3,” unofficially kicks off today in Los Angeles. A quartet of press conferences start at 9AM PT, with Microsoft and Sony bookending the day’s proceedings. But wait — what’s all the fuss about? “What’s the deal with E3?” you say in your best Jerry Seinfeld voice.
In short, E3 is a big marketing event for the game industry. In reality, E3 is much, much more than that.
WHAT IS IT?
E3 — the so-called Electronic Entertainment Expo — is a three-day game industry trade show in Los Angeles, California. It draws game makers, publishers, marketing and press all into the same venue, the Los Angeles Convention Center, for an annual marketing blitz aimed at showcasing the coming holiday’s big games. It’s where the CEOs, executives and game makers of Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and many others make grandiose stage presentations announcing new hardware and software. It’s where game consoles are announced, interviews take place and deals are brokered. It’s where Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime originally said, “My body is ready,” and where former PlayStation head Kaz Hirai said, “Riiiiiiiidge Racerrrr!” It’s the place where many, many gaming memes originated.
To understand the event more clearly, you must first know that a tremendous portion of the game industry’s money is earned during holiday sales. What’s “tremendous” in this case? Try over one-third in 2013 alone. “But last year, right around the holidays, both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launched!” you protest. Fair point! In 2012, the number was even higher: Just shy of 40 percent of the game industry’s money was earned in the holiday season (Oct. 1st through Dec. 31st). That’s not an aberration; it’s the standard.
As such, the game industry cares an awful lot about making a big splash with holiday plans in… June. It might sound early, but there are just four months between June and October; for many game publishers, it’s the beginning of a final marketing push before a game’s big holiday release.
Of course, the world of video games is wide and varied; much of what you read above applies directly to the biggies: Call of Duty, Battlefield, Madden, Halo, etc. Though smaller games have a bigger presence than ever at E3, it’s still primarily a trade event aimed at showcasing blockbuster games that cost millions of dollars.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Though the show “officially” runs from Tuesday through Thursday of whatever week it falls on (the second week of June in recent years), the show really begins on Monday. This year, Microsoft’s starting the show with a press briefing at 9AM PT, followed by Electronic Arts, then Ubisoft, then Sony in the evening. None of the briefings are in the same venue, and they occasionally overlap. If you were standing outside of downtown LA’s Orpheum Theater, for instance, around noon PT today, you might find an Engadget editor scurrying out ahead of the presentation ending. They’re not just going to get more coffee; they’re heading to the next event to hold a spot in line. Such is the first day of E3.
In the case of us, we liveblog; we interview; we run from place to place while sharing our favorite Luigi death stare GIFs along the way. Heck, last year we even did live broadcasts before and after the presentations.
E3 goes “official” on Tuesday at noon PT as the doors to West and South Hall inside the LACC open. Why noon? Well, you might be wondering why Nintendo’s press conference wasn’t mentioned yet. That’s because, as of last year, Nintendo no longer holds a dedicated press briefing event, instead opting for a direct-to-consumers video presentation ahead of the show floor’s noon opening (think: Nintendo Direct). But the long and short is this: Tuesday morning used to be Nintendo’s press conference, but not anymore. It’s as simple as that.
When the doors to each hall do open, swathes of attendees flood in: Approximately 50,000 people walk E3′s two enormous halls over the three days it exists each year.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
Well, for starters, because video games are rad, but you probably already know that. The actual reasons you should care about E3 are far less esoteric. Want to know what the next major steps are from the megacorporations that make your favorite games? E3 is where to find out. How about never-before-seen games? E3 is also great for that. It’s also, occasionally, a venue for new hardware announcements. Both Project Natal (which became Kinect) and PlayStation Move were E3 announcements, as was Nintendo’s incredibly popular 3DS handheld.
In short, regardless of the marketing-driven angle, and the spectacle of two sprawling convention halls full of multi-million dollar booths erected for just three days per year, E3 is a hugely important event for both the game industry and the people who sustain it.
Also, it’s full of hilarious memes.
WANT EVEN MORE?
And who wouldn’t?! Last year, Sean Buckley wrote an incredibly thorough history of E3 — if you’re into learning more about E3, that is a must-read. For the Nate Silvers in the crowd, the body that runs E3 — the Entertainment Software Association — releases an annual statistical study of gaming, including E3 trends (PDF). And finally, Polygon’s Chris Plante made a pretty hilarious video walking through even more details about “America’s biggest video game event” (he means E3).
[Image credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong]
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
Microsoft E3 2014 Xbox liveblog!
Microsoft’s annual E3 press briefing on its Xbox business is, if nothing else, never a dull affair. Heck, last year, a car rose out of the stage! And one year, some of The Beatles showed up. What’s gonna happen today? That’s the question! We get the feeling that our friend the Master Chief will make an appearance in at least one Halo game announcement, the couch-sized men of the Gears of War universe are likely to show up, and we’ve got our fingers crossed for a hovercraft or some madness rising out of the stage this morning. We’ll get started shortly after 9AM PT/12PM ET.
Facial recognition software helps convict a robber
Watch Dogs‘ vision of a super-connected Chicago may be truer than you think. A local judge has convicted Pierre Martin of armed robbery after police used facial recognition software (NEC’s NeoFace) to match surveillance camera footage with an existing mugshot. While the cops still used witnesses to confirm their findings and make an arrest, the technology was vital to pinpointing Martin in the first place — it’s doubtful that investigators would have had time to sift through 4.5 million booking photos.
If you’re thinking that the conviction has a slightly Orwellian vibe, you’re not alone. However, it’s notable that Chicago’s software is only really useful for catching repeat criminals who already have a database presence, like Martin; it won’t help with first-time arrests. That tidbit won’t be completely reassuring given ongoing concerns about a surveillance-happy US government, but it’s now clear that the system can at least prevent habitual offenders from slipping through the cracks.
Filed under: Science, Software
Via: Sky News
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Alan Moore’s Electricomics promises to reinvent the medium, but not too much
If you’ve seen V for Vendetta, Watchmen or even The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, you’ve encountered the work of Alan Moore. He’s one of the comic industry’s most prolific and influential authors, and now he’s trying to take the medium into the modern era. Moore is building a digital comics app designed to serve as both comic itself and a collection of open-source tools for creating the next generation of digital comics. The project, due for launch in early next year, is called Electricomics — but don’t expect books published on the platform to be animated or overly interactive: Moore insists that adding digital effects to comics won’t make them better.
“It’s a very well developed technology and it’s very difficult to add to or reproduce comics in a more elegant way,” Moore tells The Guardian, speaking of the comics medium as it exists today as its own ‘technology.’ When Electricomics launches, it’ll include a 32-page collection of stories showcasing what comics can be in a digital medium, and Moore wants to keep it simple. “Avoiding whistles and bells would be one of the first tenets that digital comics should try to stick to,” he says, explaining that the gimmick of animated effects doesn’t necessarily convey a scene better than still art.
Although Moore wants to keep the comics medium unsullied by the temptations of new technology, he admits we can do more with digital comics than we’re doing now. Still, he admits he’s not exactly an expert in the medium’s digital offerings as they exist today. “I’ve got absolutely no idea because I don’t have any online capacity,” he said. Moore told The Guardian that he doesn’t have any “devices or tablets,” and that he doesn’t keep up with the comics scene these days. Even so, he wants Electricomics’ tools to give creators the same flexibility as paper while opening the medium to the new possibilities. He also hopes the platform will make the medium more appealing to today’s youth.
“Kids avoid these things like the plague,” he told The Guardian, teasing the industry’s tendency to pander to adults that grew up reading comics. “Why would a 13-year old bother reading a comic book when they have these different devices and the comics are being made not for them, but for 40 to 60 year-olds?” Moore hopes the app will give new creators a chance to break away form the superhero comics too, accusing the mainstream genre of being uncreative and dated. “Nothing lasts forever.” Unfortunately, we won’t know if Moore’s digital comics vision will pay off until 2015. Check out The Guardian for the full interview.
[Image Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy]
Source: The Guardian, Electricomics
Android 4.4.3 OTA update for the Motorola Moto G Captured
With every passing day, more devices are being updated to the latest software update available to Android, Android 4.4.3. Nexus and Motorola devices are typically the first beneficiaries of new software and this latest update is no different. The Android 4.4.3 OTA update for the Motorola Moto G has just been captured by XDA Senior Member, SamsungAdmire (ironic name noted), and is slightly larger at 169MB than the OTA updates that we’ve seen for the Nexus 7, which only come in at around 70MB. This is no doubt due to some Motorola “bloat”, however you can expect the OTA updates for other manufacturers to be even bigger. If you’re interested in giving the update a go, you can download it at the XDA forum page here.
For the OTA update to work on your Moto G, you must have stock recovery and be very close to stock conditions. It’s also important to note that the update in question was captured on a U.S. GSM device, which could make it unworkable with the global GSM devices, though that much is unconfirmed so far. It may also be possible to flash the Android 4.4.2 image of the U.S. GSM Moto G in order to make the update work. If anybody tries this method and is successful, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Have you tried Android 4.4.3 yet? What fixes are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.
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After 54 years as vaporware, the web’s oldest ancestor is released
In 1960 Ted Nelson, the man who coined the term “hypertext“, began work on his magnum opus — Xanadu. In late April, after 54 years of development, the complex document builder and viewer was finally released with little to no fanfare at a Chapman University event. The concept behind the software should seem pretty familiar: documents could be embedded with clickable links that led you to directly to the quote or referenced information within another document. Clicking wouldn’t close the primary document though, instead all of the source material is displayed simultaneously, shrinking down to stay out of the way, or scaling up for side-by-side comparisons when you need it. Had it not been for an unfortunate series of setbacks, we could have been talking about Ted Nelson as the father of the World Wide Web, instead of Tim Berners-Lee. But a lack of resources, especially money, meant that development dragged on for decades. Nelson doesn’t think Xanadu is dead on arrival, though. While it may be too late to conquer the web, he believes it could take on the mighty PDF. The color-coded links and direct connections to reference material could prove quite useful in legal or research documents. Not to mention a handy way to archive web sites.
Filed under: Software
Source: Business Insider, The Guardian, Xanadu
When a meme goes too far, someone makes a Hodor keyboard
It was Shakespeare who said “brevity is the soul of wit,” and you won’t find a better champion of that statement than Hodor. The gentle giant from Game of Thrones can express seemingly anything using only his name, and now you can be just as concise with the Hodor Keyboard. The Android keyboard replacement swaps the usual line-up of cumbersome characters out for a simple Hodor button, all for a mere $0.99 (or £0.59) — practically a gift from the gods. In other GoT-related news, the show’s officially overtaken The Sopranos as HBO’s most successful, with an average of 18.4 million viewers this season. And, they’re just the ones that watch it legally.
Raise a glass of Arbor Gold. #GameofThrones is the most popular series in @HBO history. Thanks to the worldwide realm for all your support.
– Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) June 5, 2014
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Software, Mobile
Source: Google Play (Hodor Keyboard)
[Download] Android 4.4.3 OTA Update for the 2012 Nexus 7 3G is now Available
As you may have heard, the last software update for Android, Android 4.4.3, is now available and is now rolling out to devices, most notably the Nexus devices. While the factory images for all Nexus devices are available if you like tinkering, it’s been a bit harder to track down the more easily installed OTA updates so far. Luckily though, oldblue910 over at XDA has captured the Android 4.4.3 OTA update for the 2012 Nexus 7 3G and has it available for download here.
Unfortunately, the OTA update for the Wi-Fi version of the Nexus 7 has not yet been captured, but it’s only a matter of time now before it is. The Android 4.4.3 is bringing quite a few needed bug fixes, particularly for Nexus 5 owners, though it’s surprising that this build of Android has come so close to Google I/O, essentially dampening any hope of a new software build announcement at the event at the end of June. Still, it’s always better than nothing.
Do you have Android 4.4.3 on your device yet? If so, how do you find it? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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