For the first time, one of the tech giants of the world, Microsoft, is actually getting into the gaming business instead of letting third party companies get all the money and fame. At first, Microsoft tried (and did) to make a game creation software of kids to urge them into the business. It was relatively successful, and Microsoft even put on a US Kodu Cup, a competition for kids to submit their Kodu games. But, the software had a blocky feel and not the best user interface. Even though Microsoft ended up not following up on Kodu, they did continue in the game creation business, eventually coming up the idea for a game called Project Spark.
The Spark Logo
Project Spark is also a game creation software, except a million times better than Kodu. Spark is also not only for kids. It’s smooth and intuitive way of quickly allowing you to create an amazing game that otherwise would need a lot of coding and graphics experience. Which brings up another virtue of Spark, it’s graphics. Microsoft must have spent a lot of time perfecting Spark’s graphics engine, since it is so complex, as you will see. Here are some of the main features of Spark that I will go over: (remember, it is still in the Beta/Alpha stage, so it has a ways to go before it will be released)
Terrain
The terrain tools in Spark are a very important feature, making up almost all of what separates Spark from the other game creating softwares. The tools are pretty simple; there is the cylinder tool, the roughen tool, the hill tool, the tunnel tooland much more. All these tools are design so that you can bend and shape the starting blank terrain the you get at the very beginning of you game. There is just your avatar and this flat, greyish land. Those tools I mentioned plus many more are a easy and new way to create the landscape of your game. You can make paths, rivers, cliffs, hills, canyons, and anything else you can imagine.
The paint tools in Spark are also as inventive and easy to use as the landscape tools. There are a couple options (more will probably be added) in which you can change you blank starter-terrain into a fully fledged game terrain. The paint tools are pretty simple. You just size up and down the area you want to change, and start painting. The great thing about Spark’s tools are that they adapt to you game. If you want your cliff to be a desert cliff, the only the flat parts of the cliff will be painted with the classic desert paint. The rest of the cliff would be painted in a sandstone cliffy feel like it would actually be in the real world. This goes with all of the paints, giving your game a great, real feel.
The Basic Edit Screen
The Brain
The brain function of Spark is pretty much the heart and soul of the game. Without it, it would just be a game where you can create your own terrain. With the brain, you have complete control over every little detail, every prop, every character. Basically, the brain is made of basic game programming, very similar to the kind of programming you would see in other anti-programming softwares. The classic When/Do code. You can add something in the When section, such as “detects player”. Each word you add in is easily selected out of many different options that Spark automatically loaded in. Microsoft has been using the “pet rock” example in their demonstrations, which is a very easy brain command. They added the “detects player” line into a rock’s mind, which was previously empty, and then added “follow player” into the Do section. This can be easily set up, changed, scaled, painted, and added to so that your game is completely yours. There is a brain gallery, just like the terrain gallery or the prop gallery, for less experienced players to have a starting point.
The Brain Screen For The Rock Prop
Props
Props are an easy way to add very important elements to your game. There is a huge prop gallery in Spark, covering everything from weapons to effects like sparkles or fire balls. Each prop has a brain, and you can easily go in and change it. Some of the most used props are houses, weapons, coins and more. You can easily add an objective to your game using props, such as getting the coin or finding the end spot. Another great feature of props are that you can mush them together with the ground and other props. If you only want the top half of the prop showing, you can just move it so that the other part is underground. You can also glue props together, in such a way to give the impression of a whole new prop. You can even add props such as rocks and house part on your avatar to give your self armor. It really just depends on what you want to do.
An Action Shot Of Spark
There is so much more amazing tools, props, effects, and brain function to Spark, and even more that they haven’t released yet. The Spark team has done a brilliant job making the perfect “create your own game” game. What’s even more amazing about Spark is the level of detail you can go into and how easily you can just start playing and start testing your game. The game has already generated a ton of excitement, and even more is sure to come when it is released. Unfortunately, they have not given a release date, but if you want to get early Beta access, you can go to Spark’s website and apply. Spark can also be played on the Surface and the Xbox 360 and One.
Learning a language is always hard. Especially after the age of about 14, you mind hardens, making it harder for other information to make it’s way in. Fortunately, technology has it’s way of making most of life easier, including learning languages. Since you probably grew up only using one language, it is hardwired into your mine. Just the fact that I am writing this right now is amazing, considering how many words I have memorized over time, if you think about it. Everyone does, but how much information you mind has been storing for thousands of years longer than computers have is astonishing.
Enough philosophy. A common program that is bent on helping people learn new languages is the famous Rosetta Stone. It’s a computer program that drills the language into your brain having you fill in sentences, with pictures underneath to give you a hint. It is perfectly fine….besides the fact that it is over $100. Very expensive. So otherwise you wanted to take lessons, it is pretty much your only option. Until now.
The Duolingo Owl
Duolingo is a free app for iOS and Android that has same objective as Rosetta Stone, yet a slightly different approach. As part of the lessons, Duolingo the picture approach, but only for filling in the word and gender for current languages, German, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Most of the Duolingo lessons are set in packets, such as basics, plurals, animals, and number. These packets are each set in a way so that you know sufficient information to fill in the rest of the sentence, while also learning the new words. Inside the packets, there are lessons, with each lesson teaching about 5-6 words. Each lesson is made up of a couple of different types of problems such as translating the sentences (with hints), repeating sentences using the microphone, and probably the most common, translating sentences by picking words out of a batch. There are many others, and this variety makes you learn every aspect of the language to move on. There are just enough hints so that if you don’t know it, you don’t pass. In each lesson, there are 20 questions, with which you only have 3 lives. If you lose all your lives, you have to start over again.
Sample Duolingo Problems
The great thing about Duolingo is that it is very social. Every time you correctly complete a lesson, you earn 10 XP, plus 1 extra for remaining lives. Your XP is tracked by day, week and month so you can track your usage and learn curve, and once you get a certain amount, you go up a level. You level is your rank in Duolingian society, and the higher rank you have in the most languages the better. You can even compete with your friends and see who has the most XP overall, in the week, and the month.
The Learning Tree Part Of My Home Screen
Even though Duoling is a great app, they also made a computer version for people really into it. It is built right into the browser, and you can complete lessons and packets just like on the mobile version. The only difference is that the online version has many other side-features that can be very useful. For instance, you can go over the words you have mastered and see which ones are overdue for a revisit, which is easily done, and have discussions about Duolingo and give feedback with other users. Another unique feature in Duolingo is that immerse yourself in article in your language, and even translate them. All these features give Duolingo a step ahead of any other language program.
Duolingo is always growing. Now that Duolingo has started the Incubator, anyone can sign up to contribute to a growing course. Right now, most growing courses are English in another language, such as Russian or Japanese. Sooner or later, though, there will be more languages so that you can try out as many different languages as possible and see how they all connect. But just starting the Incubator shows how much Duolingo cares about the public, and how they get the best experience possible.
Music and apps have been the two big advantages of mobile technology (in general). Another basic use of the smartphone has become popular only in the last decade: Podcasts. The ability to record a couple of people discussing a certain topic, such as technology, news, and comedy is relatively new. You can also record programs directly from radio stations, such as NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me or This American Life (with their permission). Podcasts have become a mainstream thing in the last couple years with Apple giving easy access from iOS.
The App
Even with Podcasts becoming popular, there hasn’t been one single super-amazing podcast app that everyone uses. One of the best is Pocket Casts, which recently updated their app for iOS 7, the first podcast to do so. So, currently, Pocket Casts is the most attractive option for podcast listeners. Pocket Casts easy downloading and subscribing interface is much better than Apple’s app, which appears less functional and stylish by comparison.
The Pocket Casts Logo
Pocket Casts great iOS 7-like set-up makes it very easy to access tons of podcasts. On the “add podcasts” page, all the podcast album covers are formatted into a nice grid, from which you can get a description of the podcast by tapping on it. Many of the podcasts you may have already heard of because they are sections of a radio station, but most of the are probably new. Once you’ve found a podcast you like and have subscribed (all free, they get their money from advertisements), you automatically get the first cast, and every future one. You can also fill up your time by listening to past ones, which are also free.
Pocket Casts On A Samsung Device
Easy and free access to podcasts if pretty new for the 21st century. But to do it in a good fashion to is almost irresistible. The elegant design of the home screen, playing screen and adding podcasts screen fits well with the rest of the OS. If you are looking for a Podcast app, I recommend Pocket Casts. If you have never tried podcasts, they are a really cool way to get information on whatever you are interested in.
After all those concepts, leaks, concepts, previews, developer releases, reviews, releases, more reviews, and now finally, the real thing. The software we have aaaaaalllllllll been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen, here is iOS 7!
Ok. If you followed iOS 7 at all, you probably have seen that video before. It was shown at the 2013 WWDC, and was followed up by the introduction videos for both iPhone 5c and 5s in the same style. But, to be honest, the final product was not changed that much since the WWDC. Small details, app icons, that sort of thing. More importantly, it is still iOS 7, the revolutionary operating software that completely changes how you use your phone. It practically makes it a new phone.
Some New Screens In iOS 7
Apparently, Jony Ive really likes flip down/up bars, because there are now 3 on iOS 7. First of all, the well anticipated Control Center bar was added. To open Control Center, all you have to do is flick up from any screen. The semi-opaque bar comes up, and from that, you can access most of the stuff you actually use in Settings. You can turn on WiFi (but to change the station, you have to go into settings), Airdrop, Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb, mute, change the brightness and the sound level, and access Airplay and any connected Bluetooth items. Control Center is probably the most useful of the added bars.
A Comparison Of A Concept iOS 7 and the Real iOS 7
The second bar is actually just the search bar redesigned. In all the previous iOS’, the search is in the far right page. In the new iOS, the search bar is just a flick away. To access it, you just flick down in the middle of the home screen on any page. A little search bar pops up, an you just type whatever you want just like the old search. The last bar, the old notification bar, hasn’t been changed that much. The leathery texture of the old bar has been removed, like the rest of iOS 7, and replaced with a black-ish opaqueness.
The Classic Home Screen In iOS 7
There couple other small features that weren’t explained very thoroughly in the 2 conferences releasing iOS 7. For instance, a couple swipe gestures have been added. For instance, if you are in an app, and you want to get out, you could either hit the home button, or you could pinch in with all your fingers. The app will close, but it will do so in way that makes it look like a ripple. Very Apple-like.
Control Center Being Shown Off For The First Time
Overall, iOS 7’s new and insightive design is certainly a great leap up from anything Apple has attempted in the past. Getting rid of the textures and shiny-3D app icons was a big risk, but it will probably pay off. The big features that have been changed are: Notifications, the search bar, the dock, all the app icons, the text, the colors, the lock screen, Siri, and much more. iOS 7 definitely works well with the new iPhones and iPad Mini, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Apple can come up with in their new style.
When Apple announced their new iPhones at the company’s recent September 10th event, a number of innovations were introduced into the new 5s line, led by the “Touch ID” fingerprint scanner. Afterward, Touch ID received some uncertain feedback from podcasters, bloggers and tech fanatics, many of whom questioned its overall security. Of course, Apple wouldn’t (shouldn’t) release it unless they know it works most of the time and is safe (or they just have a good lawyer).
The Setup Success Screen
One concern was that thieves, for some crazy reason, would want to get into your iPhone so bad they would cut off your finger to get the fingerprint. This concern spread about, prompting Apple to address it: “The technology is built in a way that the (fingerprint) image has to be taken from a live finger,” says Sebastien Taveau, chief technology officer at Validity Sensors. “No one in biometrics wants to talk about cut fingers and dead bodies, but at the end of the day we are still asked to remove the fears of consumer and make sure that they understand that (a severed finger) will not work.” The way it does that is by using radio frequencies to detect “sub-epidermal” layers in your skin which only work if you are alive. So, if you were worried that someone would cut off your finger to look at your worthless emails and wickedly change your Facebook status, you’re thankfully wrong. In other words, it appears Touch ID is safe after all. Then again, who knows how easily someone could hack into it, but let’s not worry about that right now.
When you get a phone, you know it may not last very long. You can easily drop it or leave it somewhere. Many companies offer cases to protect it, but most just don’t look good, and the look is half a phone’s worth. Plus, even if you do make it for a year or two, a new model will come out and you’ll throw yours away. That creates a lot of “electronic waste” that crowds landfills. This is the problem that Phonebloks is supposed to help fix.
Phonebloks is a interesting concept for a phone that can last a very long time, because it has easily replaceable parts. But before I go into the actual design, remember that it only at concept stage, and is not yet designed to look as slick and as thin as possible. Anyway, the main design for Phonebloks consists of three layers. Of course, the first is the screen. In the middle, there is the motherboard, base, or whatever you prefer to call it. Third is the layer that sets Phonebloks apart from other devices.
The Three Layers
On the back of the middle layer, there are holes, similar to breadboards for you engineers out there. For the device to work, you have to snap in little blocks that make up the whole of the phone. Each block represents a different part of a smartphone, and when you snap them in, the smartphone works. So whenever your phone slows up, or the screen shatters, you can just replace the block. Also, different companies make their own blocks, so you could (conceivably) get a Apple camera, a Samsung battery, and Nokia form factor.
All The Capable Blocks
Another great capability of Phonebloks is that you can customize your phone. If you love to take pictures, upgrade your camera block while keeping your processor and storage the same, if you just upload your photos, anyway. Or, if you like to surf the internet or Instagram constantly, improve your antenna and Wifi blocks. You decide for yourself. Overall, it is an interesting concept/prototype, with good intentions, despite a potentially high cost and questionable implementation. We can just hope it actually comes to this crazy phone market and sells.
Recently, Apple had a conference to announce the well-awaited iOS 7 and the iPhone 5s and 5c. Most was as expected, such as the plastic 5c, champagne 5s, and almost everything about previously-announced iOS 7. Though, as always, Apple surprised us with a few design tweaks to go along with iOS 7 and the 5c’s style. Also, iOS 7 has been changed slightly to go along with the style of the specific phones.
iPhone 5c
The iPhone 5c is pretty much as we expected. In case you didn’t know, the “c” stands for color. It comes in white, red/pink, green, yellow and blue. Like a iPod, except with the internal and capabilities of a iPhone. Technically, it has the internals of the discontinued iPhone 5. The plastic case has reverted back to the 3G’s rounded edges, making it better to hold than the slick sides of the 5S. It has the new iSight camera, which has many different features. First of all, it’s better than the last one. Obviously. But, it also has 2 new features, and they are sort of alike. The first one is that you can take very slow-mo pictures, which some real cameras can’t do, and pick your favorite. The second one is that you can take a video, then choose a portion of the video you want to play in 4th speed, for action shots. Also, they added a flash for low-light shots. To complement the 5c, Apple made slick-yet-debated colored cased, with holes in the bottom to complement the starting color. Overall, I think the iPhone 5c will be a big success, because of the shape the color, and the price.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyarolYre3M
iPhone 5s
The iPhone 5s is pretty much what you would think the next high-end iPhone would look like. Like the past iPhones, it has a sleek, reflective covering the middle of the back. They will come in 3 new colors only, Space Grey, which is like black with light black, the well-anticipated champagne gold, and a new silver. Like the 5c, the 5s has the new camera and flash, but has the next-generation chip and motion compressor, which allows it to run 2 times faster than the iPhone 5c or 5. The biggest and best addition to the 5s is Touch ID. If you looked close enough, you could have seen that Apple changed the home button on the 5c. The square in the middle is no more. Instead, it has a ring around it. They did that because when you turn on your phone, you can unlock it by using your fingerprint. It is supposedly pretty good, like faster than typing in a password. Also, you can pay for apps and music using your “super-safe” code. If Apple were going to make that big of a jump, I think they would have a decent security on it to avoid being sued. It’s all going to make a great phone for someone who is either bland and wants the slick look, or someone who is obsessed with technology and wants Touch ID. Either way, it’s definitely going to sell, but probably not as much as the 5c.
Both these iPhones look completely capable of surviving on the market. Both are high-tech, one more so than the other, but not some big peice of junky machinery. Apple’s specialty is perfectly designing the details. The iPhone 5c shows that. Paired along with the completely redesigned iOS 7, Apple is sure to rack in some cash. The iPhone 5s is $199 for 16gb, $299 for 32gb and so on. The 5c, on the other hand is $99 for 16gb and $199 for 32gb. But don’t be mistaken, without a plan, it’s $550 and $650. Both these phones, and iOS 7, will be coming out on September 20th, so stay posted!
On September 10th, Apple will be having a big conference, probably to release their new iPhone, the iPhone 5S. The biggest change in the 5S is that they reportedly have added the long-awaited fingerprint scanner in the home button. No more awkwardly hiding your phone when you type in your password, people! Also, like always, the specs, camera and processor will be upgraded. Another interesting change is that you can reportedly (and by leaked photos) buy a champagne /light-gold color iPhone 5S.
The Champagne iPhone 5S
Apple are going on a streak! If they’re going to change something, they might as well change all of it. They will, along with the 5S, will be coming out with a iPhone 5C, a low-end iPhone. This iPhone will have a plastic cover, but still run the same retina display, specs and processor as the 5S. The 5C will come in many colors to, such as the leaked blue, yellow, pink-ish, white and probably more. This will benefit the younger market whose parents don’t want them breaking a $400 phone. Sort of like a iPod Touch/iPhone hybrid, the iPhone 5C will be an interesting product, for which we will just have wait and see if it is successful or not.
Four Of The iPhone 5C Colors
And of course, both these devices will be running on the new iOS 7 that will be coming out. The new iOS, released at the latest WWDC, will be the most drastical change ever. All the textures will be completely removed, along with the curve and shine of app icons, and will be replaced by flat colors and thin text. It will go very nicely with the 5C’s colors and design. This will be one of the most interesting conferences ever, so stay tuned for my review of the released products.
Motorola have finally come to their senses. Recently, they announced the making of their new phone, the Moto X. After previously selling their very, ah, unique Droid Razr, something new will certainly be a money jackpot for Motorola. And from what we know, it would probably be a money maker anyway.
On the outside, the Moto X looks a lot like a HTC One, except a little bit more dull, rather than silver and shiny. Also, Motorola gave it a more rounded look, with rounded corners, curved glass on the edges and a slightly curved back. That gives is a smooth and easy-to-hold feeling while using it. A classic Android looking phone.
And guess what? It is Android!!!!! Well, more specifically, it will come out with Google’s Jelly Bean 4.2.2. For all you Android people out there looking for a new phone, this might be for you. Having goods specs and a good design, it might be one of the top Android phones out there.
There are many great products out there to help make life easier and do certain chores for you, such as the thermostat Nest. But, none really cover all the small things, like turning off the sprinklers when you walk by. Not surprisingly, Kickstarter holds one candidate to fix that, WigWag. WigWag goes even farther than that, though.
The Logo
Physically, WigWag is a combination of sensors built in a way to be able to use any of them. It is built in a square casing, slightly smaller than your hand. That is the perfect size (it could always be smaller) to fit under beds or any other place for the main set. Smaller sensors or decor can be added on or connected to, like lights, so that WigWag can regulate more of your house.
The Body Of WigWag
The software (i.e. the iPhone app) for WigWag works a lot like IFTTT (If This Then That). Except WigWag, it is When/Then. There are many (more if you add your own sensors) option for both When and Then. An example is When motion detected, Then brighten lights. This includes things like Tweet and Text, because we could always use a little bit more time on Twitter.
Different Sensors It Can Connect To
Overall, WigWag is a great tool to make our lives simpler. If you want your own WigWag, you have to get it before August 18th when it goes off Kickstarter successfully (it has already passed it’s goal by 100,000). Hopefully it can follow through on it’s purpose, because people don’t want to have to do things, they want to Wag it.
TOTW: Google's Project Ara Modular Phone May Be The Future Of SmartphonesOctober 30, 2014
