Dec 22
We’ll be filling out our tax returns next year on a postcard — not.
Dec 22
Earlier this year, Microsoft launched its own alternative to Sony’s PlayStation Now subscription, and it’s called Xbox Game Pass. With Xbox Game Pass, subscribers get access to more than 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games, which are streamed over the Internet in the same way that Netflix streams movies. Xbox’s streaming game subscription is usually $10/month, but a promotion … Continue reading
Dec 22
Apple might now be regretting its decision to formally admit a course of action that has earned it not just criticisms but now a lawsuit as well. Geekbench and Reddit earlier speculated that Apple was intentionally throttling down the performance of older iPhone models with older batteries. The company then admitted to the act but defended it as a safeguard … Continue reading
Dec 22
Image credit – Touch Arcade
The other day it was reported that a fake copy of Studio MDHR’s popular indie game Cuphead had found its way onto the iTunes App Store, where the game not only looked pretty convincing in its listing and screenshots, but also had a website that mimicked the developer’s own website.
To top it off, the game was priced at $5 and given the popularity of Cuphead, we can only imagine how many gamers were excited enough to go ahead and make the purchase. The good news is that if you were one of those who paid for the game, you might want to check your email because according to reports, Apple is refunding users who purchased it.
While we suppose it would be right and expected that users who were tricked into purchasing a fake game to get refunds, some are praising Apple for being so proactive about it, although at the same time some are also questioning Apple for how they even allowed such a game to make it past the review stage in the first place especially given how strict Apple can be with their apps and guidelines for posting apps onto the iTunes App Store.
In any case the refunds should be going out as we speak, so if you did purchase it, keep an eye out for Apple’s email or your bank/credit card statement for the refund.
Apple Refunding Customers Who Purchased Fake ‘Cuphead’ Game , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Dec 22
There are plenty of jobs that could benefit from replacing humans with robots. This is because robots are more efficient, they never tire, and most importantly they’re consistent. That being said, could baristas around the world start to worry about their job security? Maybe in Australia, because a cafe in Melbourne has debuted its own robot barista.
The robot in question is dubbed Rocky and it belongs to a local cafe called Once Alike. Now we should point out that robot baristas aren’t new per se because earlier this year, a cafe in San Francisco called Cafe X launched its own robot barista. However as Broadsheet points out, the difference is that Cafe X’s robot is more of an arm that fetches cups made by an automated coffee machine, whereas Rocky acts more like a full-fledged barista.
In the video above, you can see Rocky grind beans, tamp them, and even pull espresso shots. It can then pour the drinks into a cup to go, cap it, and be ready for its next order. Unfortunately the downside to Rocky is that it takes anywhere between 2-6 minutes to make a single cup, longer than the average barista would take, a much longer for a more experienced barista.
According to Liam Wilkie who is one of the engineers behind Rocky, “When you’ve been in the industry so long, you realise the most important things are quality and consistency. People want their coffee the same every time they go back to a cafe that specialises in coffee. There are limitations to having a human behind the bar. We get stressed and emotional in busy periods. It’s not fun to make 1000 lattes on a Saturday – it’s really hard work.”
Will this ultimately replace baristas? There are some who argue that a good cup of coffee comes not just from the beans, but from the person who makes it as well, just like cooking where a good chef will no doubt be able to extract more out of their ingredients than a novice.
There’s A Cafe In Australia Where You Can Be Served By A Robot Barista , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Dec 22
Have you wondered how hard it is to DJ in a club? On the surface it might seem easy, where you just play track after track, maybe adding a few effects in every now and then. However there is more to DJ-ing than you might think, such as being able to beat match songs, choosing the right songs, watching how the crowd responds, building anticipation, and so on.
This might seem overwhelming to some, but is it something that a robot could do better? Over in a club in Prague, the Karlovy Lazne Music Club, a robot DJ has made its debut. The robot in question is more or less like a giant arm with a pincer. The pincer is used to grab discs from a rack to put them into the machine, with a software teaching the robot how to choose music.
Speaking to Reuters, club manager Adam Lipsansky said, “People are excited (about the robot), because they haven’t seen anything like this around Europe, and I am not sure if there is something similar in the world.” However while the novelty is no doubt a huge factor, some of the club’s attendees weren’t too impressed because like with most robots, it lacks “emotion” and the human touch.
Marcia Lopes, 24, a tourist from Mexico said, “I don’t like the robot. It can’t feel what the people want to dance to. There is no emotion behind the music. When there is a real person, they know, what fun is like.” There has been a bit of debate surrounding robots in certain jobs and whether or not they might be better suited for the task. Recently in Australia a local cafe introduced a robot barista that could make a cup of coffee from scratch.
Robot DJ Makes Its Debut In A Club In Prague , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Dec 22
If you love football and just can’t get enough of it, you might have been pretty pleased when it was reported that NBC gained the rights to stream Sunday Night Football on mobile devices starting next year. This means that sports fans on the go will still be able to enjoy the game, but that’s not all.
It seems that ESPN is also interested in mobile streaming and has recently announced that they too will have managed to obtain the rights to stream Monday Night Football games on mobile. “ESPN has reached an agreement with the National Football League that expands its live streaming of Monday Night Football (MNF) for ESPN subscribers to mobile phones. The expanded mobile rights also include NFL highlights and extend through the duration of ESPN’s existing NFL agreement (conclusion of the 2021 NFL season).”
According to ESPN, this will be kicking off in 2018 where the first game to be streamed is the upcoming NFL Wild Card weekend that starts from the 6-7th of January, 2018, and the Pro Bowl which begins on the 29th of January, 2018. Prior to this, Monday Night Football was already available for streaming via the likes of the Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, and more, so this announcement basically means that availability has been extended to mobile devices as well.
ESPN Lands Mobile Streaming Rights For Monday Night Football , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Dec 22
Several days ago Nintendo promised that ARMS would be getting one last update before the year ends, and that the update to version 5.0 is expected to bring about a new character that was teased in a video ahead of its release. The good news for ARMS players is that it looks like the update is live along with the game’s latest character.
This character comes in the form of Dr. Coyle and she is the latest addition to the ARMS roster. Nintendo has been steadily increase the number of playable characters in the game, and Dr. Coyle is the latest one. In fact it was just last month that a new character and map was added to the game, and presumably Nintendo has plans for more content to be added to ARMS at a later date.
With a new Super Smash Bros. title having yet to be officially revealed, it seems that Nintendo is using ARMS to help promote the Switch as a competitive gaming platform. Various ARMS tournaments have been held over the world since the game’s release, although whether or not it’ll reach the heights of Super Smash Bros. remains to be seen, especially given that the game is less than a year old.
That being said, the update for ARMS is now live, so just fire up your Switch console and the game should start updating itself.
Nintendo Reveals ‘Dr. Coyle’ Is The Latest Character For ARMS , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Dec 22
ASUS has listed a new 27-inch WQHD HDR professional monitor ‘ProArt PA27AC’ on its product page. Ideal for graphic designers, photographers or anyone looking for high color accuracy, this new 27-inch IPS LED-backlight monitor (w/ 100% sRGB color saturation) supports a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and provides 100 million:1 ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio, 400 cd/m2 brightness, 5ms (GTG) response time and 178/178 degree viewing angles.
Utilizing ASUS’ ProArt Calibration Technology – offers advanced adjustments including a 14-bit lookup table for color accuracy and 5×5 grid uniformity testing, the ProArt PA27AC comes equipped with built-in stereo speakers (2Wx2 Stereo RMS) and provides 2x Thunderbolt 3 (1x In, 1x Out) ports, 1x HDMI 2.0 port, 1x DisplayPort 1.2 port and 2x HDMI 1.4 ports.
Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing yet. [Product Page]
The post ASUS ProArt PA27AC 27-Inch WQHD HDR Professional Monitor appeared first on TechFresh, Consumer Electronics Guide.
Dec 22
Check out this affordable Fitness Tracker Bracelet. Compatible with Android (4.4 and above) and iOS (iOS 8.0 and above) devices, this waterproof bracelet (IP68) is equipped with a 0.66-inch 64 x 48 OLED display, a heart rate sensor on the back for real time heart rate measurement, a built-in 105mAh battery (up to 7 days of standby time) and Bluetooth connectivity.
Not only that, it also comes with G-Sensor, Pedometer, Distance Tracker, Calorie Counter, Call Reminder, Sedentary Reminder and Sleep Monitor. Backed by a 12-month warranty, this Fitness Tracker Bracelet will set you back just $18.62. [Product Page]
The post Affordable Fitness Tracker Bracelet For You To Grab appeared first on TechFresh, Consumer Electronics Guide.
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