Hasta La Gadget!

Wi-Fi meshes are now the hot thing in home networking. Once just a feature in offices and more sophisticated environments, home networks have become just as complicated to require their assistance. There is no shortage of Wi-Fi meshes from popular router and networking equipment makers, but, while more open and flexible, they may not always work with ISPs proprietary technologies. … Continue reading

Image credit – Emojipedia

The disparity in Android updates amongst Android devices is pretty well-known, resulting in a fragmentation of the Android market where the bulk of Android devices are typically running on updates that are a couple of years old. This makes it challenging for developers to try and create apps that run across all versions, but sometimes it cannot be helped.

So much so that Twitter has decided that enough is enough and have launched their own set of emojis to help deal with a small part of the problem. According to a report from Emojipedia, Twitter on Android has launched their own set of emojis which should solve emojis from not displaying properly on Android.

Like we said, the difference in Android versions means that some features work on some but don’t work on others, and emojis are one of those things. Instead of relying on Android, Twitter’s own emojis means that regardless of which version of Android you’re running, you should be able to see the emojis properly displayed.

According to Emojipedia, these new emojis are targeted at users running on Android 7.x and below, which last we checked represents almost half of all Android devices in the market today, so obviously these changes should be useful to more than a few users.

Twitter Launches Own Emojis On Android To Deal With Disparity In Updates , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

When it comes to games based on the battle royale system, Fortnite and PUBG are probably two of the biggest names up there. However as you might have heard, Treyarch is also including a battle royale mode in the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and they are aiming for it to be better than the competition.

Speaking to Finder, the publication managed to speak to game designer Matt Scronce and senior producer Yale Miller about the “Blackout” battle royale mode that will be coming to the game. Asking about how Blackout will compare to the competition from Fortnite and PUBG, it seems that Treyarch is confident that they will be able to do better.

According to Scronce, “We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t think we could do it best and better than everybody else. We’ve got a huge library of content, ten years of history, we’ve got the best gunplay out there, we’ve got the best movement, so we’re not too worried about it.” He also adds, “What we’re doing is going to be different. Some players will gravitate to us and people may gravitate towards other games. We’re making something that, when we play it, we have a whole lotta fun and I think we can grow out from that.”

At the moment there isn’t much details available about Blackout. While the developers did state that it would be considerably bigger than the iconic Nuketown map, it seems that some features have yet to be set in stone, namely how many players it would be able to support, but hopefully we’ll have further confirmation and details leading up to its release.

Treyarch Aiming For Black Ops 4’s Battle Royale Mode To Be Better Than Fortnite, PUBG , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Comcast today is officially launching its own Wi-Fi extender devices called xFi Pods that help to address problems with weak Wi-Fi signals in parts of a customer’s home due to things like the use of building materials that disrupt signals, or even just the home’s design. The launch follows Comcast’s announcement last year that it was investing in the mesh router maker Plume, which offers plug-in “pods” that help extend Wi-Fi signals.

The company said that it would launch its own xFi pods that pair with Comcast’s gateways to its own customers as a result of that deal.

Those pods were initially available in select markets, including Boston, Chicago and Denver, ahead of today’s nationwide launch.

The pods themselves are hexagon-shopped devices that plug in to any electrical outlet in the home, and then pair with Comcast’s xFi Wireless Gateway or the xFi Advanced Gateway to help Wi-Fi signals extend to the hard-to-reach areas of the home.

The pods work with the Comcast Gateways to continuously monitor and optimize the Wi-Fi connections, Comcast explains, while its cloud-based management service evaluates the home’s Wi-Fi environment to make sure all the connected devices are using the best signal bands and Wi-Fi channels. Plus, the devices are smart enough to self-monitor their own performance, diagnose issues and “heal” themselves, as needed, says Comcast.

However, early reviews of Plume’s pods were mixed. CNET said the system was slow and the pods were too expensive, for example. But Engadget found the system had the lowest latency, compared with competitors, and helped devices roam more easily and accurately.

Comcast has addressed some of the earlier complaints. The pods are now much more affordable, for starters. While they’ve been selling on the Plume website for $329 for a six-pack, Comcast’s six-pack is $199. A three-pack is also available for $119, instead of the $179 when bought directly from Plume.

More importantly, perhaps, is that Comcast’s system is different from the pods featured in earlier reviews.

While Plume technology is a component of the new pods, they are not Plume devices, Comcast tells TechCrunch. Instead, Comcast licensed the Plume technology, then reconfigured some aspects of it in order to integrate xFi. It also designed its own pods in-house.

In addition, Comcast’s engineers developed new firmware and new software in-house to make it easy to pair the pods with a Comcast Gateway.

The Comcast xFi pods can be bought from its own website, the xFi app and in some Xfinity retail stores.

The xFi app (for iOS and Android) is also how customers can manage and view the connection status of the pods.

Comcast says it will make buying pods even easier later this year by offering a monthly payment plan.

The company has been upgrading its Wi-Fi offering in recent months as a means of staying competitive. Last year it launched the Xfinity xFi platform to help customers better manage their home Wi-Fi network with features like device monitoring, troubleshooting, “bedtime” schedules for families, internet pause and other parental controls.

Comcast declined to say how many pods were sold in its first trial markets, only that the response so far has been positive and boosted the company’s Net Promoter Score as a result.

Image credits: Comcast

It’s been about a year since Comcast started revamping its Xfinity home internet services under the xFi brand. As part of the changes the company has been making, it started testing a simple way to build an in-home mesh network. After partnering with…