Announcement
DC5m United States software in english 27 articles, created at 2016-12-23 18:01
1 Apple's new MacBook Pros fail to receive Consumer Reports' recommended rating for the first time
(1.02/2) Apple may like to boast about the all-new Touch Bar, but its latest range of MacBooks Pros have just received a more unwelcome first: the three machines failed to achieve “recommended” ratings from Consumer Reports. 2016-12-23 08:30 2KB www.techspot.com
2 Capcom is porting six 'Mega Man' games to Android and iOS (but they may suck) Capcom put a smile on my face this past April when it revealed plans to develop and publish mobile games based on some of its most popular franchises. As a huge Mega Man fan, I knew I had something to… 2016-12-23 11:30 2KB www.techspot.com
3 Wolfprint 3D raises $500K to bring scanning pods to an airport near you 3D body scanning isn't very exciting right now - you can't really use your scan anywhere except maybe on Thingiverse where people and print you out and create.. 2016-12-23 11:21 1KB feedproxy.google.com
4 Microsoft is now selling the Lumia 735 for just $129 on its online store The online Microsoft Store has begun selling its Lumia 735 for just $129, which is $70 off of the regular price of $199. It's still $9 more expensive than what Verizon sells it for. 2016-12-23 11:20 1KB feedproxy.google.com
5 Microsoft is offering over £200 worth of free accessories with Surface Books in the UK Microsoft is giving buyers of all but the entry-level Surface Book model a free bundle of accessories worth over £200, which includes the Surface Dock, Arc Touch mouse, and Wireless Display Adapter. 2016-12-23 11:04 1KB feedproxy.google.com
6 ABC launches a suite of local news apps for Fire TV Disney-ABC is going after cord cutters with the launch of a suite of streaming TV apps for the Fire TV, aimed at bringing ABC stations' local news to those.. 2016-12-23 11:00 2KB feedproxy.google.com
7 The Dodo is alive and well with 1 billion monthly video views Looks like people really do like animal videos. The team at The Dodo (an online publisher focused on those aforementioned animals) told me their videos were.. 2016-12-23 11:00 2KB feedproxy.google.com 8 Microsoft offers troubleshooting tool to help users easily fix issues with Windows updates Microsoft is trying to make it easier to address issues that arise while trying to install Windows updates, by offering a troubleshooting tool to walk users through steps to resolve those problems. 2016-12-23 10:38 2KB feedproxy.google.com
9 Apple gives iOS app developers more time to encrypt communications The iOS App Transport Security (ATS) will not become a requirement on Jan. 1, as previously announced 2016-12-23 10:34 3KB www.infoworld.com
10 Plane almost diverted after someone names Wi-Fi network 'Galaxy Note 7' In the midst of the exploding Galaxy Note 7 saga, the federal aviation authority took the sensible decision to ban the combustible handset from all US flights. But it seems the infamous smartphone is still causing problems, after a Wi-Fi… 2016-12-23 10:30 2KB www.techspot.com
11 Baidu and KFC’s new smart restaurant suggests what to order based on your face Baidu is demonstrating some of its most recent tech advancements in novel ways, including a partnership with KFC China (yes, the fried chicken KFC). The.. 2016-12-23 10:22 2KB feedproxy.google.com
12 Save on Steam Gaming Gear With These Active Discounts - Deal Alert If you're into Steam Gaming, or know somebody who is, you should consider these deals currently active on Steam gear. 2016-12-23 10:18 1KB www.techconnect.com
13 Get this Cisco Complete Network Certification Training for just $59 via Neowin Deals With today's deal you can save a chunk off a Cisco Complete Network Certification Training. Master the gold Standard for moving up the IT career ladder--Prep for three essential exams! 2016-12-23 10:10 2KB feedproxy.google.com
14 Best Windows 10 apps this week Two-hundred-and-ten in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Two-hundred-and-ten in a series. Welcome to this week’s overview of the... 2016-12-23 10:05 4KB feeds.betanews.com
15 SD Times GitHub project of the week: Project Wycheproof Named after a tiny mountain, this open-source project aims to help teams test crypto libraries against attacks 2016-12-23 10:00 3KB sdtimes.com 16 UK’s Nutmeg pulls in an extra £12m for its Series D from Taipei’s Fubon bank Hit UK FinTech startup Nutmeg has raked in another $14.6m (£12m) for its Series D round, bringing the total to $51m (£42m). The £12m comes from the Taipei.. 2016-12-23 09:57 1KB feedproxy.google.com
17 30% off Veepeak USB Rechargeable LED Motion Sensor Light for Closet with Magnetic Mounting - Deal Alert The Veepeak USB Rechargeable Motion Sensor Light offers a simple solution to lighting any area inside your home. The portable and detachable design makes it versatile enough to be used as a night light in hallways and bedrooms or as a cabinet or closet light for dim areas 2016-12-23 09:57 1KB www.javaworld.com
18 Barnes & Noble's $50 Nook Tablet 7 shipped with spyware pre-installed Barnes & Noble in mid-November joined the low-cost tablet race with its Nook Tablet 7. At just $50, the slate was strategically positioned to wage war this holiday season against similar entry-level devices like Amazon’s 7-inch Fire tablet (which can… 2016-12-23 09:30 2KB www.techspot.com
19 Most Autopilot features could come to Teslas with updated hardware next week Newer Tesla Model S and Model X owners get a big benefit vs. their predecessors – all the sensors and computing power onboard needed to achieve full.. 2016-12-23 09:25 2KB feedproxy.google.com
20 Virgin America flights disrupted as 'Galaxy Note7' Wi-Fi hotspot sparks safety scare A passenger who changed the name of the Wi-Fi hotspot on their device to 'Samsung Galaxy Note7_1097' sparked a mid-air safety scare, during which the captain threatened to make an emergency landing. 2016-12-23 08:06 3KB feedproxy.google.com
21 Watch the International Space Station on Christmas Eve The International Space Station orbits the Earth 15 times a day, but you'll only spot it occasionally, including on Christmas Eve where it'll look just like Santa's sleigh. Here's how to track the ISS it and see it for yourself. 2016-12-23 07:48 5KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk
22 : When is the Queen’s Speech on? We explain how to watch the Queen’s Christmas Message online or on TV. 2016-12-23 07:28 2KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk
23 Canada declares High Speed Internet essential for quality of life The Canadian Radio-television and Telecom Commission has declared that broadband internet is now a basic telecommunications service. While most Canadians live close to the US border, there are still many in remote locations where internet connectivity is either slow or… 2016-12-23 07:15 2KB www.techspot.com 24 Microsoft's ChakraCore adds WebAssembly support Version 1.4 of the JavaScript engine core adds experimental support for the WebAssembly portable code format 2016-12-23 07:00 2KB www.computerworld.com.au
25 | Pokémon GO news & updates: The Apple Watch app is here at last! Latest app update includes Apple Watch app. Plus new Pokémon are hatching from eggs, and there's a Christmas Pikachu! The complete guide to Pokémon GO: Pokémon GO news, Pokémon GO updates, Pokémon GO accessories, Pokémon GO Plus. 2016-12-23 06:59 55KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk
26 These are the best PS4 accessories to take your gaming to the next level The PlayStation 4 is a fantastic console out of the box, but that doesn't mean that it can't be improved. There are plenty of accessories out there to add to the experience, both from Sony itself and third-party manufacturers, ranging from headsets and... 2016-12-23 06:53 4KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk
27 : Google and NORAD trackers are live with advent mini games until 24 December With the reindeers gearing up for their trans global jaunt, we show you how to follow Santa's progress online. 2016-12-23 06:28 4KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk Articles
DC5m United States software in english 27 articles, created at 2016-12-23 18:01
1 /27 Apple's new MacBook Pros fail to receive Consumer Reports' recommended rating for the first time (1.02/2) Apple may like to boast about the all-new Touch Bar, but its latest range of MacBooks Pros have just received a more unwelcome first: the three machines failed to achieve “recommended” ratings from Consumer Reports.
Apple’s latest machines have become the first MacBooks to miss out on the publication’s coveted rating. After evaluating the laptops, the organization concluded that while the displays and performance levels “did very well,” the inconsistent battery life meant it couldn’t recommend them.
Both consumers and reviewers have complained about the Pros’ suspect battery life, calling it inferior to previous generation models. Apple’s estimate that they will allow 10 hours normal usage is said to be slightly optimistic – some users have reported only being able to use the MacBooks for three to four hours before the battery ran down.
Consumer Reports found the battery life varied dramatically in the 15-inch MacBook Pro and the two 13-inch laptops. In three consecutive tests, the Touch Bar-sporting smaller device ran for 16 hours, 12.75 hours, and 3.75 hours. The 13-inch model without the Touch bar ran for 19.5 hours in one test, then 4.5 hours in another. The 15-inch Pro's life varied from 18.5 hours to 8 hours.
The tests used fully charged machines with screen brightness set to 100 nits. A series of ten pre- selected web pages were then downloaded over Wi-Fi using Safari. The trials ran until the laptops shut down. Consumer Reports noted that laptops’ battery life usually varies by less than five percent between tests.
The machines were tested again after being upgraded to macOS Sierra 10.12.2, but results were the same. Last week, it was reported that Apple had removed the ‘time remaining’ battery life estimate in this newest version of Sierra, claiming it was too hard to produce an estimate in laptops that use Intel’s latest processors.
Consumer Reports contacted Apple about the tests, but was told “Any customer who has a question about their Mac or its operation should contact AppleCare.” Apple's new MacBook Pro is the first to miss out on Consumer Reports recommendation cnbc.com
2016-12-23 08:30 Rob Thubron www.techspot.com
2 /27 Capcom is porting six 'Mega Man' games to Android and iOS (but they may suck) Capcom put a smile on my face this past April when it revealed plans to develop and publish mobile games based on some of its most popular franchises. As a huge Mega Man fan, I knew I had something to look forward to in the near future.
My suspicions were immediately aroused, however, when reading in the press release that each of the six games will be optimized for mobile devices with “adjustments to game speed.” Hrm, what could that mean?
Then, I saw the video and my heart sank. As you can clearly see in the clip, the gameplay is running at a painfully slow framerate and the onscreen controls look pretty clunky. Did I mention how laggy the game is? Compare it to the video below and you’ll see what all the fuss is about.
Judging by the 193 dislikes versus just 16 positive votes, I’m not alone. Capcom Mobile even went so far as to disable comments on YouTube. Ouch.
Before writing it off completely, consider this. Is the Capcom Mobile account on YouTube a true account run by Capcom or is a third-party in charge? Considering the low view count (less than 3,500 as of writing), the fact that there are only three videos in total linked to the account and its lack of a “verified” icon, it’s entirely possible that the account isn’t legitimately Capcom's and thus, the video might not represent what we’ll see come January.
If the account is indeed the real deal, it’s perhaps possible that something went wrong during the upload process that resulted in the laggy framerate.
Android Police notes that some commenters accredit the choppiness to the games not being true ports of the original NES versions but instead, ports of games that were made for cell phones during the 2000s. Given the limitation of mobile hardware at the time, the games had to be neutered for performance sake. If this is what Capcom is doing, it’s incredibly disappointing for fans of the series. Then again, Capcom’s hands may be tied legally if Nintendo decided it didn’t want Capcom porting the originals to mobile devices.
2016-12-23 11:30 Shawn Knight www.techspot.com
3 /27 Wolfprint 3D raises $500K to bring scanning pods to an airport near you 3D body scanning isn’t very exciting right now – you can’t really use your scan anywhere except maybe on Thingiverse where people and print you out and create a shrine to you (hint hint!). Wolfprint, however, wants to bring 3D body scanning to the masses by putting their pod-shaped scanners in airports and malls, allowing you to create 3D avatars of yourself for use in video games and VR.
According to 3DPrintingIndustry , the Estonian company raised $500,000 to do this job – not much, honestly, but enough to get a few more 3D scans into the hands of gamers and artists.
The company has already scanned 5,000 people and they hope to do more by putting their pods in public places. The scanners cost $8,000 and can bring in about $50,000 in yearly revenue.
Interestingly the Estonian company raised the cash using SeedInvest, an equity crowdfunding platform. This mode could be the de facto way for small companies like this one to grab some cash in early stages and, given that it’s far more popular in Europe where the VC scene is arguably truncated it looks like an interesting way to build and grow.
The company claims to have partnerships with Nike and Paramount in the works so we’ll see how soon you’ll be able to scan yourself at the local Niketown.
2016-12-23 11:21 John Biggs feedproxy.google.com
4 /27 Microsoft is now selling the Lumia 735 for just $129 on its online store The Microsoft Store has marked down the Lumia 735 to just $129, which is 35% off of the normal price of $199. There's no indication that the price cut is temporary, but Verizon Wireless has been selling the handset for $120 since August , so it would seem that Microsoft is just keeping up with that. While it's still just a bit more expensive at the Microsoft Store, keep in mind that Verizon won't sell it to you without a service plan. It's an unlocked phone - as all LTE Verizon Wireless devices are, by law - so you might want to take it over to your preferred carrier, such as T-Mobile or AT&T. Note that you'll want to double-check the LTE bands before you do so.
It's worth noting that while the Lumia 735 didn't launch on Verizon until about a year and a half ago , the handset originally came out in September, 2014. You will be getting two-year-old hardware with this device, including a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 chipset.
It was also among the first handsets to include a rear camera with an aperture larger than f/2, it has a 4.7-inch HD OLED display, and a 5MP front camera. You can grab the Lumia 735 from the Microsoft Store right here. It was sold out just a few days ago , so there may be limited stocks.
2016-12-23 11:20 Rich Woods feedproxy.google.com
5 /27 Microsoft is offering over £200 worth of free accessories with Surface Books in the UK Microsoft is currently offering up to 25% off on a range of Surface accessories in the UK - but for those who purchase its Surface Book there, the company is going even further.
Until January 9, Microsoft is giving a free accessory bundle worth over £200 (even after the current discounts on some of those accessories) with purchases of all but the entry-level model in the Surface Book range.
The bundle includes:
The total value of these freebies would ordinarily add up to £274.97, but even with the discounts, it would still cost just under £220 to purchase them separately, in addition to the price of the Surface Book.
Recent data from AdDuplex shows that Surface Books now account for 6% of Microsoft's Surface devices running Windows 10 around the world.
Source: Microsoft Store
2016-12-23 11:04 Andy Weir feedproxy.google.com
6 /27 ABC launches a suite of local news apps for Fire TV Disney-ABC is going after cord cutters with the launch of a suite of streaming TV apps for the Fire TV, aimed at bringing ABC stations’ local news to those who don’t pay for cable. The company this week launched eight apps that cover all its ABC-owned stations, each delivering local news to that market, along with weather, community news, an evening video digest with the day’s top stories, and even a “Feel Good” section with upbeat, inspiring stories to take the edge off.
The launch includes all the ABC-owned stations, including WLS-TV/Chicago, WABC-TV/New York, KABC-TV/Los Angeles , WPVI-TV/Philadelphia, KGO-TV/San Francisco, KTRK- TV/Houston, WTVD-TV/Raleigh-Durham, and KFSN-TV/Fresno. In addition, the company brought its Freeform (previously ABC Family) app to Fire TV, alongside the new ABC apps.
The move is a notable investment on ABC’s part to reach the cord cutting audience, who are often lacking for local news.
Without using a digital antenna to capture free, over-the-air stations, many cord cutters simply forgo watching local content when streaming through apps on their connected media players. But the station apps are free, and don’t require a subscription to use, notes ABC, which will allow them to attract a wider audience.
Of course, ABC’s main app also offers live local news programming, but the new local apps are focused on offering a different type of experience. Instead of live streams, the apps’ navigation lets viewers browse through sections like “Quick Catch Up,” or “Latest Update,” depending on what sort of news they’re looking for at the time.
But because these curated news stories are not live streamed, some viewers may be frustrated that the content doesn’t feel as current as it could be.
The company said the decision to launch these apps was prompted by the sizable increases Disney-ABC has seen on connected devices in the past year. By launching on Fire TV, it’s hoping to capture those lost viewers who are no longer tuning into their local news channels.
The new apps are available for download from the Amazon Appstore. 2016-12-23 11:00 Sarah Perez feedproxy.google.com
7 /27 The Dodo is alive and well with 1 billion monthly video views Looks like people really do like animal videos.
The team at The Dodo (an online publisher focused on those aforementioned animals) told me their videos were viewed 1 billion times in November. That’s an increase of more than a tenfold from January, when Dodo videos received a mere 80 million views.
The Dodo follows a “distributed” media strategy, which means that the majority of those video views aren’t happening on its website, but rather on social media — mostly Facebook. President YuJung Kim also told me that the publisher just launched on Snapchat this month, which means that there should be a healthy bump for December.
“The average across our videos was 2.6 million views,” Kim said. “So we’re not looking a stream of memes and GIFs that get 100,000 views and then that one viral hit that gets 200 million, and that somehow gets us to 1 billion. It’s that steady efficiency per video.”
What does “steady efficiency” involve? Kim acknowledged that The Dodo has learned many of the same lessons as every other publisher social media — things like having “a strong opening shot.” But she said it’s really been about finding animal stories that resonate with people.
“Our videos are designed to be shared,” added founder Izzie Lerer. “They have to pack a punch and, most importantly, mean something to people. Whether it’s a video of a dog having the time of his life, or an elephant orphanage, the idea is that our videos can present a way to connect with animals.”
Getting views is one thing — the other challenge is making money, particularly when those video views are happening on someone else’s platform. Kim said the focus for now is on growth rather than monetization, but as business models evolve, The Dodo needs to “equip ourselves and be nimble.”
It’s also part of a larger organization now, namely Group Nine, a company formed from the recent merger of Thrillist, NowThis Media, Discovery’s digital network Seeker and The Dodo. (At the time of the merger in October, Group Nine said it was getting 3.5 billion video views across all its properties.) The Dodo still operates as a separate brand, but Lerer said that as a result of the deal, the team is now planning to create Dodo content for TV.
2016-12-23 11:00 Anthony Ha feedproxy.google.com
8 /27 Microsoft offers troubleshooting tool to help users easily fix issues with Windows updates If you've ever encountered an issue while trying to install a Windows update, you'll probably know what a frustrating process it can be to diagnose and resolve the problem.
Microsoft's support documentation for dealing with the error codes generated by such issues isn't always helpful; and information shared by the user community on its support forums can be useful, but is often undermined by conflicting (and sometimes ill-informed) suggestions. Web searches for info on error codes are often a waste of time, and regularly lead to 'solutions' that do more harm than good.
So it's certainly welcome to see Microsoft try to make this whole process a bit easier to deal with, by offering a troubleshooting tool to help users address issues that arise when trying to install Windows updates.
As Microsoft explains:
The troubleshooter offers support for Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, but notes that "if you are using Windows 8, you need to upgrade to Windows 8.1 because Windows 8 is no longer supported. "
The tool will take you through various steps to try to fix the problem - such as downloading and running the Windows Update Troubleshooter, installing the latest update manually, or more complex suggestions - before eventually advising that "you need to reset or reinstall" Windows if none of its other recommendations are successful.
Source: Microsoft Support via MSPoweruser
2016-12-23 10:38 Andy Weir feedproxy.google.com
9 /27 Apple gives iOS app developers more time to encrypt communications Apple has backtracked on a plan to force iOS developers to encrypt their app communications by the end of the year.
The company had previously announced at its Worldwide Developers’ Conference in June that all apps submitted to the App Store will need support the App Transport Security (ATS) feature starting January 1st, 2017. It has not yet set a new deadline. ATS is a feature first introduced in iOS 9 that forces apps to communicate with internet servers using encrypted HTTPS (HTTP over SSL/TLS) connections. It's an improvement over the third-party frameworks that developers previously used to implement HTTPS because it ensures that only industry-standard encryption protocols and ciphers are used.
Even if ATS is enabled by default in iOS, on a technical level app developers can disable some of its features or can opt out of it entirely through various exception settings that ATS makes available.
A recent study performed by security firm Appthority on the top 200 apps present on iOS enterprise devices showed that 97 percent of them bypassed at least some ATS requirements and weakened the default and recommended configuration.
Apple planned to include ATS compliance as a requirement in its App Store review process starting next year and to require reasonable justifications for any exceptions. However, as the Appthority study showed, many developers are unprepared to fully enable ATS in their apps.
"At WWDC 2016 we announced that apps submitted to the App Store will be required to support ATS at the end of the year," Apple said in an announcement on its developer site Wednesday. "To give you additional time to prepare, this deadline has been extended and we will provide another update when a new deadline is confirmed. "
There are many reasons why developers might not be ready or even able to encrypt all of their apps' traffic. For example, many apps integrate with third-party advertising, analytics and media hosting services and the adoption of HTTPS by those services is not something that app developers can control.
As of December 22, the 3 percent ATS readiness figure among iOS apps had grown to only 5 percent, the Appthority researchers said Thursday in a blog post. "We assume that Apple, too, realized that an unacceptably high number of apps would fail to meet the ATS deadline unless it was extended. "
The researchers believe that even if Apple hasn't abandoned its plans for full ATS compliance, this is not something that can be achieved very soon, which is probably why a new deadline hasn't been announced yet.
"In light of this new development, we recommend that enterprises track the state of apps’ ATS compliance and consider alternatives to apps that access sensitive corporate data and don’t secure their network connections using ATS," they said.
2016-12-23 10:34 Lucian Constantin www.infoworld.com
10 /27 10 /27 Plane almost diverted after someone names Wi-Fi network 'Galaxy Note 7' In the midst of the exploding Galaxy Note 7 saga, the federal aviation authority took the sensible decision to ban the combustible handset from all US flights. But it seems the infamous smartphone is still causing problems, after a Wi-Fi hotspot named “Galaxy Note7_1097” almost resulted in a plane making an emergency landing.
The BBC reports that the incident occurred on Virgin America flight 358 from San Francisco to Boston. Passenger Lucas Wojciechowski discovered the worryingly named hotspot when he opened his laptop.
Open my laptop on the plane and notice a Galaxy Note 7 wifi hotspot https://t.co/y1csn9gOsZ pic.twitter.com/9Z5IJULuPs
Once the crew suspected one of Samsung’s recalled devices could be on the aircraft, an announcement went out for the owner to press their call button. When nobody responded to the request after 15 minutes, the cabin crew announced: "This isn't a joke. We're going to turn on the lights and search everyone's bag until we find it. "
After another 15 minutes, the pilot threatened to divert the plane to Wyoming unless the person responsible came forward. "I don't know if you've ever been diverted at 3am," Wojciechowski said in a Tweet. "Let me tell you, it is terrible. There is nothing open in the terminal. Nothing. "
The owner eventually came forward, at which point it was discovered that there was no Galaxy Note 7 on the plane. He or she had only been using its name in their SSID, possibly as a way of trolling other passengers. Wojciechowski believes that no action was taken against the owner.
After the plane had landed, iMore editor Serenity Caldwell tweeted that the ruckus had resulted in the cancelation of the following flight. But Virgin America said no flights were delayed or canceled.
“The U. S. Department of Transportation has banned the transport of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 onboard all U. S. aircraft, and Virgin America actively informs guests that they should not bring these devices onboard. As such, when our InFlight Teammates see potential evidence of this device onboard, they take it seriously. In this case, there was no such device – the safety of the passengers and crew was never in question. And to clarify in your article, no flights were canceled or delayed as a result,” the company said in a statement.
2016-12-23 10:30 Rob Thubron www.techspot.com
11 /27 Baidu and KFC’s new smart restaurant suggests what to order based on your face Baidu is demonstrating some of its most recent tech advancements in novel ways, including a partnership with KFC China (yes, the fried chicken KFC). The search giant sometimes referred to as the ‘Google of China’ partnered with KFC to open a new “smart restaurant” in Beijing, which employs facial recognition to make recommendations about what customers might order, based on factors like their age, gender and facial expression.
The restaurant also offers up augmented reality games via table stickers, but these are also deployed at 300 other KFC locations in Beijing. The facial recognition tech is unique to this one location, though Baidu has previously worked with KFC on another type of smart restaurant at a pilot location in Shanghai, where a robot customer service agent can listen for and recognize orders made by customers using natural language input.
Baidu’s tech in this new restaurant, however, is all about guessing what you want before you can even ask; image recognition hardware installed at the KFC will scan customer faces, seeking to infer moods, and guess other information including gender an age in order to inform their recommendation. Baidu says in a press release that the system would tell “a male customer in his early 20s” to order “a set meal of crispy chicken hamburger, roasted chicken wings and coke for lunch,” while “a female customer in her 50s” would get a recommendation of “porridge and soybean milk for breakfast.”
Customers might not love the implications of the suggestions the system comes up with, but these are just suggestions, after all. And the setup also has built-in recognition, so if you’re a return customer, it can ‘remember’ what you ordered before and suggest your past favorites. Of course, the idea of a fast food restaurant retaining my image for recognition purposes, tied to an actual order history, is more than a little unnerving. But then again, KFC China is really damn good – better than its North American counterpart.
This is just a single restaurant so Baidu and KFC are only toying with the idea, but if you feel exhausted at the thought of having to make up your mind in the fast food checkout line, you can always hope it catches on.
2016-12-23 10:22 Darrell Etherington feedproxy.google.com
12 /27 Save on Steam Gaming Gear With These Active Discounts - Deal Alert The Steam Link allows existing Steam gamers to expand the range of their current gaming set up via their home network. Just connect your Steam PC or Steam Machine to your home network, plug into a TV, and stream your games to the Link at 1080p. It's a #1 best seller on Amazon where it averages 4 out of 5 stars from 800 people, and its typical list price of $50 has been discounted to $20.
The Steam Controller is an innovative input device that allows you to play games from all genres, including traditional gamepad-style games as well as games usually reserved for play with a mouse and keyboard. The Controllers are wireless and feature dual trackpads, HD haptic feedback, dual-stage triggers, back grip buttons, and fully-customizable control schemes. Find your favorite mappings in the Steam Community, or create and share your own. Currently discounted from $50 down to $35.
If you need a replacement receiver, or could use an extra one, Amazon has it listed at a discount. Its typical list price of $13 has been reduced to a little over $9. Steam controllers can pair to multiple receivers, so it may be more convenient to have one in any location you play.
You have a wireless controller and a receiver, so you probably need a case, right? Well that too is discounted 30% on Amazon right now. Its $20 list price has been reduced to $14.
2016-12-23 10:18 DealPost Team www.techconnect.com
13 /27 Get this Cisco Complete Network Certification Training for just $59 via Neowin Deals Today's highlighted deal comes via our Online Courses section of Neowin Deals , where you can save 92% off the recommended retail price* of a Cisco Complete Network Certification Training. Master the gold standard for moving up the IT career ladder--Prep for three essential exams!
If you’re an IT engineer or technician, it's time you take your career to the next level. This elite training bundle is brimming with all of the information you need to learn to sit for Cisco CNNA, CCNP, and CCENT certification exams. And a certification from Cisco will up your value in the industry, as you’ll be able to help any company grow at the rate it wants to. This bundle will take you through more than 150 modules in order to master how to build and scale wireless networks, troubleshoot, and improve network resilience.
For full details, terms and instructor info, click here .
This Cisco Complete Network Certification Training course normally represents an overall recommended retail pricing* of $775, but it can be yours for just $59 for a limited time , a saving of $716.
First time buyers are also eligible for a further 10% discount when you subscribe for email updates; be sure not to dismiss the popup offer on the deals page in order to profit!
In addition, if you refer the deal via social media, or email which results in a purchase, you get $10 added to your Neowin Deals account .
Get this deal or learn more about it | View more offers in Online Courses
That's OK. If this offer doesn't interest you, why not check out our giveaways on the Neowin Deals web site? There's also a bunch of freebies you can check out here.
Or try your luck on The Google Pixel XL Phone Giveaway. All you have to do is sign up to enter for this giveaway.
How can I disable these posts? Click here .
Disclosure : This is a StackCommerce deal or giveaway in partnership with Neowin; an account at StackCommerce is required to participate in any deals or giveaways. For a full description of StackCommerce's privacy guidelines, go here. Neowin benefits from shared revenue of each sale made through our branded deals site , and it all goes toward the running costs. *Values or percentages mentioned above are subject to StackCommerce's own determination of retail pricing.
2016-12-23 10:10 News Staff feedproxy.google.com
14 /27 Best Windows 10 apps this week Two-hundred-and-ten in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days.
Check out the best Windows 10 apps of 2016 listing in case you have missed it, as it highlights great apps for the operating system.
As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all deals. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games are listed below. Check out the previous post in the series for past offers that may still be valid.
New Windows apps and games
AliExpress Shopping App
The official AliExpress application for Windows 10 is a wrapper of the site's mobile version. Since it is that, it supports the same functionality that you get when you connect to it including searching, browsing and buying items on the site directly.
Beefense
Beefense is a great tower defense game in which you protect your bee kingdom against flees, hornets and other insects that attack you.
Apart from placing and upgrading towers along the paths, you are also commanding bees to collect nectar and pollen, the two resources in the game.
You need those to recruit additional bees, and to make sure your bees are powerful enough to fight the enemy.
Another interesting mechanic the game introduces is that towers need to be manned by bees before they are effective when it comes to fighting the enemy.
Disko Ultimate
Disko Ultimate is a duplicate file cleaner for Windows 10 that you can use to reclaim disk space.
It scans the system for large files and duplicate files, and displays its findings in its interface afterwards.
You can add custom folder locations that you want scanned, verify the findings, and remove none, some or all of the files found by the application.
Disney Emoji Blitz
Disney Emoji Blitz is a match-three type of game with Disney characters.
The game plays exactly like other games of its type: match three, four or five icons of the same type to remove them from the board. If you match at least four, extras appear that you can use for extra clearing actions.
Disney added a collection of over 500 emoji to the game to give it something that other games of its type don't offer.
Lego Pull-Back Racers 2.0
Control three Lego vehicles in this new racing game. Pick up power ups, speed boosts and coins, and avoid obstacles on the racing track.
Controls are super easy, all you do is move lanes using the arrow keys. The game itself is not difficult, but the camera view could be better as you won't see some obstacles before it is too late.
Lego Speed Champions
The second game Lego released this week is also a racing game. This is more of a classic Lego racing game.
You control your car and may move it freely around on the track as you try to collect Lego pieces, stars, and speed ups, and avoid other vehicles and oil on the road which slows you down.
Telnet Manager
Telnet Manager is a free ad-driven application that enables you to establish telnet connections.
It handles basic telnet and terminal functions well, supports advanced configuration options such as selecting custom ports, favorites for quick connects, and more.
Titans Tower
This is an interesting endless running, or shall I say climbing, game.
It features the same single-tap or click control mechanics as most endless running games, but changes things up a bit by letting you climb instead of run.
Tap once to move from one wall to the other, and try to avoid all the obstacles the game throws at you while collecting coins at the same time.
Notable Updates
Dropbox updated with full support for Xbox One and new UI adapted to TV screens.
Instagram update brings live video support and self-destructing images/video messages.
Minecraft for Windows 10 out of beta and Ender update.
Photo Scan , OCR application updated with interface improvements, new light theme support, and bug fixes
2016-12-23 10:05 Martin Brinkmann feeds.betanews.com
15 /27 SD Times GitHub project of the week: Project Wycheproof There’s a tiny hill located in the plains of Australia, dubbed Mount Wycheproof. Though it be little, it is registered as the world’s smallest mountain.
A group of members of the Google Security Team wanted to set a small, easily-achievable goal, so it was fitting to name their newly open-sourced project after the tiny mountain; a mountain that doesn’t take much effort to climb.
The team calls it Project Wycheproof, and its job is to test crypto libraries against known attacks. Although it is named after something small, the project itself helps developers in a pretty big way. The Google Security Team wrote on its GitHub page that Google relies on third-party cryptographic software libraries, and sometimes they can have mistakes that end up causing major pitfalls for teams.
The team understands that implementation guidelines for libraries are hard to come by, which is why they created Project Wycheproof: a collection of unit tests that detect known weaknesses or check for behaviors of cryptographic algorithms.
According to its GitHub page , Google relies on third-party cryptographic software libraries, which can often have mistakes that end up causing major pitfalls for teams. Google Security Team members found a way to fix cryptographic loopholes, similar to how software engineers fix and prevent bugs with unit tests.
Project Wycheproof is not complete, but right now it is a collection of unit tests that can detect weaknesses and provide tests for most cryptographic algorithms, including “RSA, elliptic curve crypto, and authenticated encryption,” according to the GitHub page.
“Cryptographers are also constantly discovering new attacks. Nevertheless, with Project Wycheproof, developers and users now can check their libraries against a large number of known attacks, without having to spend years reading academic papers or become cryptographers themselves.”
Project Wycheproof detects whether a library is vulnerable to attacks like invalid curve attacks, biased nonces in digital signature schemes, Bleichenbacher’s, and more. Overall, the cryptographers have 80 test cases, which have uncovered 40 bugs, including the ability to recover the private key of widely used DSA and ECDHC implementations.
The first set of tests are written in Java, and the team is converting more tests into sets of test vectors to “simplify porting the tests to other languages,” according to the GitHub page.
Side note: Although Project Wycheproof was developed by several members of the Google Security Team, it is not an official Google product. More coverage of the project is available here.
Hmm…something appears to be broken GitHub’s trending “this week” tab has been broken and/or slow these last couple of weeks. No worries; we listed some trending projects of the day instead.
2016-12-23 10:00 Madison Moore sdtimes.com
16 /27 16 /27 UK’s Nutmeg pulls in an extra £12m for its Series D from Taipei’s Fubon bank Hit UK FinTech startup Nutmeg has raked in another $14.6m (£12m) for its Series D round, bringing the total to $51m (£42m). The £12m comes from the Taipei Fubon Bank, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s second largest financial services firm. Last month it announced a £30m raise led by Convoy, Hong Kong’s largest listed independent financial advice firm and existing backers including Balderton Capital, Pentech, Armada Investment Group and Nigel Wray.
Nutmeg, which has now raised $86.8m (£71m) to date said the funds will be used to “fuel Nutmeg’s innovation, expansion and to maintain its growth trajectory”.
Martin Stead, CEO of Nutmeg, said: “There is a very significant market opportunity before us, in the UK and beyond, and we are going to capture it. With these new funds, we will continue to invest in product innovations which disrupt the industry and deliver a better deal – and a better experience – for customers. And, we are going to expand into new categories and new territories.”
Nutmeg now manages approximately £600 million AUM on behalf of 25,000 customers.
2016-12-23 09:57 Mike Butcher feedproxy.google.com
17 /27 30% off Veepeak USB Rechargeable LED Motion Sensor Light for Closet with Magnetic Mounting - Deal Alert The Veepeak Rechargeable Motion Sensor Light offers a simple solution to lighting any area inside your home. The portable and detachable design makes it versatile enough to be used as a night light in hallways and bedrooms or as a cabinet or closet light for dim areas. Installation is a breeze, the magnetic strip with 3M adhesive allows you to quickly mount wherever you need extra light. This light is motion activated and will automatically turn on once it detects motion; when no movement is detected for about 20 seconds, the light will automatically turn off. This LED light is powered by built-in Lithium battery which can be charged with included USB cable by a phone charger or PC USB port. No electric wire, no need to replace batteries and one full charge provides up to 500 times of sensing at full brightness. This light currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars ( read reviews ) and is discounted 30% down to just $13.99. For more information and buying options, see the discounted LED Motion light on Amazon.
2016-12-23 09:57 DealPost Team www.javaworld.com
18 /27 Barnes & Noble's $50 Nook Tablet 7 shipped with spyware pre-installed Barnes & Noble in mid-November joined the low- cost tablet race with its Nook Tablet 7. At just $50, the slate was strategically positioned to wage war this holiday season against similar entry-level devices like Amazon’s 7-inch Fire tablet (which can now be had for under $40, FYI).
Trading a Ulysses S. Grant for a Nook Tablet 7 seemed like a solid deal although according to a recent report from Linux Journal , buyers got a bit more than they bargained for.
The publication notes that Barnes & Noble’s new slate shipped with a program called Adups pre- installed. Adups, if you recall, is the same bit of spyware that was found to have infected an unknown number of budget Android smartphones including the BLU R1 HD. In fact, it was the R1 HD that led a security researcher from Kryptowire to discover Adups’ nefarious activity.
Kryptowire said at the time said Adups was capable of capturing and transmitting all sorts of sensitive user data including contact names, call and text logs, IP addresses and more, all without disclosure or user consent.
Barnes & Noble addressed the matter directly with 9to5Google , stating that by the time the Nook Tablet 7 went on sale on November 26, the device automatically updated to a newer version of Adups (5.5) that has been certified as complying with Google’s security requirements (when first connected to Wi-Fi).
What’s more, Barnes & Noble states that Adups confirmed with them that it never collected any personally identifiable information or location data from the Nook tablet, nor does it plan to do so in the future. Nevertheless, Barnes & Noble said it is working on an update that will remove Adups from the Nook Tablet 7 entirely. Said update should arrive in the coming weeks according to Barnes & Noble Chief Digital Officer Fred Argir.
Lead image courtesy 9to5Google
2016-12-23 09:30 Shawn Knight www.techspot.com
19 /27 19 /27 Most Autopilot features could come to Teslas with updated hardware next week Newer Tesla Model S and Model X owners get a big benefit vs. their predecessors – all the sensors and computing power onboard needed to achieve full self-driving when the software’s ready. But they also had to deal with a temporary inconvenience, since they shipped without the majority of Tesla’s current Autopilot features, which provides advanced semi-autonomous driving for use on highways, including automated steering for lane-keeping, and adaptive speed for maintaining distance with other cars. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that owners of so-called “Hardware 2” Tesla vehicles won’t have to wait long to get their functioning Autopilot update, however.
The update has required additional time because it’s actually different from the original Autopilot system, and takes advantage of new on-board computer vision capabilities made possible by the changes to the sensor and computer hardware.
Musk notes that “most of” the original Autopilot functionality will be pushed via this update, but he doesn’t specify exactly what. The major features still not present in HW2 vehicles include emergency braking, blind spot detection, smart cruise control, auto steer and auto lane change, but other features also still need to be added to reach parity.
Again, owners of the newer Tesla hardware stand to benefit in the long run – only their cars will eventually be able to drive fully autonomously, after all, and in the meantime Autopilot improvements that aren’t possible using the old sensor loadout and computing stack will probably make it to their vehicles, too. But those in possession of the new cars are probably happy that Tesla appears to be on track to deliver an end-of-2016 treat with the addition of some of these highlight features.
2016-12-23 09:25 Darrell Etherington feedproxy.google.com
20 /27 Virgin America flights disrupted as 'Galaxy Note7' Wi-Fi hotspot sparks safety scare Samsung's recall of the Galaxy Note7 continues to drag on, and in the United States - as in some other markets - the company is now working with carrier partners to expedite that process. Multiple incidents in which the handset's battery caught fire and exploded led to the full recall in October.
Safety concerns surrounding the device prompted the US Department of Transportation to ban passengers from bringing a Galaxy Note7 with them onboard any flight, following an incident in which one handset caught fire on a Southwest Airlines jet. And now, it's emerged that those concerns caused disruption on a Virgin America flight this week, after a hoax involving a Wi-Fi hotspot name sparked an onboard safety scare.
As BBC News reports, Passenger Lucas Wojciechowski was travelling on Virgin America flight VX358 from San Francisco to Boston, during which a Wi-Fi hotspot was visible on his device with the name 'Samsung Galaxy Note7_1097'. It appears that a flight attendant had also noticed the name of the hotspot, and - aware of the potential safety issues surrounding the device - informed the pilots.
The captain of the flight made a series of announcements to the passengers, informing them that if the owner of the Galaxy Note7 did not identify themselves immediately, he would order a search of passengers' carry-on baggage until it was found. Alternatively, he warned, the flight may have to divert and make an emergency landing.
Eventually, a passenger did come forward, and admitted that they didn't actually own a Galaxy Note7, but had simply changed the name of their Wi-Fi hotspot to match that of Samsung's fiery flagship. The captain subsequently made an announcement to inform the other passengers that there was nothing to worry about and that the flight would continue to its intended destination.
But after the disruption caused by the hoax, the aircraft's late arrival in Boston led to the cancellation of the next flight that the plane was due to operate. Serenity Caldwell, managing editor of iMore, happened to be at the airport, and tweeted about the cancellation - and the many irate passengers whose travel plans were ruined.
Meanwhile, Samsung has now completed its internal investigation into the problems on the Galaxy Note7, but it hasn't yet made its findings public. An independent investigation recently alleged that the device had obvious design flaws , claiming that Samsung had made insufficient considerations in its slim design for the natural 'swelling' of batteries in regular usage.
Source: BBC News
2016-12-23 08:06 Andy Weir feedproxy.google.com
21 /27 Watch the International Space Station on Christmas Eve The International Space Station is set to pass over the UK on Christmas Eve again this year, and it could quite easily be mistaken for Santa's sleigh by excited children awaiting the arrival of their presents. We know that it went down a real treat for some of the kids (and adults!) here in the PC Advisor offices when it 'flew' over our skies last Christmas. Here, we show you how to track the ISS so you and your kids don't miss it.
You'll also like: The ultimate guide to Christmas tech gifts If the sky is clear on Christmas Eve, the ISS will be visible over the UK for a few minutes at around 4.10pm ( the time will differ depending on your exact location but we'll explain more about that in a moment), but it's not always easy to spot straight away.
This year's timing and path is not as good as the past two years either - it might not be quite dark enough to see it and even if it is dark enough the path isn't directly overhead but rather lower in the horizon. It's wise not to promise your kids too much just in case you don't quite catch a glimpse of it, but we recommend using the app to find a time when it will be dark and overhead (such as Wednesday 1 February 2017) to show them the Space Station and explain what it really is, because that's super cool too. (Find out more about the Space Station by reading on).
To get the ultimate experience, you'll want to use an ISS tracker , which you can download onto your smartphone. We've found the following apps to be the most accurate and useful.
Read next: The best Christmas countdown apps
Since last year, the GoISSWatch app for iOS has been updated and is now the best app to track the International Space Station with on iPhone. It's intuitive and easy to use, and utilises the compass in your iPhone to help you know exactly which way to face to spot the ISS passing over head.
Plus, GoISSWatch can notify you five minutes ahead of each passing so that you don't miss it.
An alternative app that work almost as well is the ISS Finder app , although its bright white design isn't as ideal in the dark conditions you'll be using it in – light pollution isn't your friend when you're trying to spot things in space! Thankfully, there's a Night Mode that you can enable but we still find that a bit tricky to see as it puts a sort of dim red tinge over the screen.
We prefer the GoISSWatch app's 3D illustration that helps you determine where to look in the sky – ISS Finder's is less obvious so it'll take you a little longer to spot it.
What's good about ISS Finder, though, is that it offers star ratings to help you determine which date and time offers the best visibility of the ISS, at least when it comes to its position in the sky (there's no built-in weather forecast). There's also information about the Crew onboard the ISS, which we found very interesting to read.
Both of the apps above are iOS-only, but we've also found a good Android ISS tracker called ISS Detector Satellite Tracker. It shows you a countdown to the next ISS passover, which we found to be quite useful, and has a 3D tracking diagram that's similar to the one used by GoISSWatch, with an elevation guage that works really well. You'll also find that it offers weather forecasts so you'll know whether it's likely to be visible or not. You can quickly and easily turn on notifications to help make sure that you don't miss the ISS, too. It does have ads, though, which can be irritating but do mean that you get the app for free (as with the other apps listed here).
If you'd prefer not to use a smartphone to track the ISS, Nasa has a dedicated website that lets you sign up for email alerts or text messages when the ISS is going to fly overhead, and also offers some advice about how to spot it in the sky.
NASA notes that the Space Station is the third brightest object in the sky, and it initially looks like a fast-moving plane, until you notice that it doesn't have any flashing lights. Alternatively, it can be initially mistaken for a very bright star until you spot how fast it's moving.
The ISS actually passes over the UK every day. In fact, it orbits the Earth 15 times every day, but some of those passes are during daylight and others can be tricky to see depending on the ISS's orbit pattern. If you miss the ISS on Christmas Eve, you can use the same tracking apps to watch it another day.
2016-12-23 07:48 Ashleigh Macro www.pcadvisor.co.uk
22 /27 : When is the Queen’s Speech on? The Queen’s speech on Christmas day is a mainstay for many UK families. It has been broadcast since 1932, but Queen Elizabeth II has read it herself since 1952. Here’s how to watch The Queen’s Speech online or on TV.
See also: Best TV to watch this Christmas
As ever, the message will be pre-recorded and broadcast in the UK and to all 52 member countries of the Commonwealth.
In the UK, the Queen’s Royal Christmas Message, as it is officially called, is broadcast at 3pm on BBC One, ITV, Sky 1 and Sky News. It is also broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (92-95FM and 103- 105FM).
Shortly after the TV broadcast, you will be able to stream the Queen's speech online via iPlayer. Note that you now need a valid TV licence to watch programmes on iPlayer.
The speech lasts around 10 minutes and typically looks back on the past year’s highlights and major events. Last year the Queen encouraged us to find hope in moments of darkness, referring to the natural disasters and terrorist attacks. She also included the birth of Princess Charlotte.
This year she is likely to mention the UK referendum result and possibly even the US election. There has been a lot of celebrity deaths in 2016, but while these may be major events for friends and families, are not the subject of the Royal Christmas Message.
Of course, the true meaning of Christmas is the birth of Christ and the Queen usually makes reference to this, and last year likened the hardships experienced by Mary and Joseph to the trials we face in the modern world:
“Although it is not an easy message to follow, we shouldn't be discouraged; rather, it inspires us to try harder: to be thankful for the people who bring love and happiness into our own lives, and to look for ways of spreading that love to others, whenever and wherever we can.”
Expect 2016’s message to be recorded at Buckingham Palace.
2016-12-23 07:28 Jim Martin www.pcadvisor.co.uk
23 /27 Canada declares High Speed Internet essential for quality of life The Canadian Radio- television and Telecom Commission has declared that broadband internet is now a basic telecommunications service. While most Canadians live close to the US border, there are still many in remote locations where internet connectivity is either slow or non- existent. The CRTC estimates that roughly two million households do not have access to connections at acceptable speeds. Their new timeline has that number dropping to zero in the next 10 to 15 years.
The ruling orders the country's internet service providers to start working on bringing internet service to these rural and isolated areas, as well as increasing the speed of many inadequate connections. Before the CRTC's ruling, landline phone service was the only thing regulated as basic or essential. The CRTC's chair Pierre Blais has set these ambitious goals in the hopes of connecting all Canadians for the 21st century. The new baseline for internet speed will be set at 50Mbps download and 10Mbps upload. Unlimited data must also be an option offered by providers.
The Canadian government is taking internet connectivity very seriously. In order to achieve these numbers, ISPs will be required to contribute to a $750 million infrastructure fund over the next five years. Other efforts include a $500 million federal investment for high speed broadband, and various programs to increase the nation's cell coverage and reliability.
While the ruling doesn't mention anything about pricing, many in the United States hope the FCC will pass similar legislation in the future. As Trump prepares to take office, Net Neutrality will undoubtedly be an issue his administration is going to face. It definitely appears like Canada is heading in the right direction so it will be interesting to see who follows next.
Lead photo credit Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press
2016-12-23 07:15 William Gayde www.techspot.com
24 /27 Microsoft's ChakraCore adds WebAssembly support ChakraCore, the open source core of the JavaScript engine powering Microsoft's Edge browser , has been upgraded with experimental support for the WebAssembly portable code format for browsers and cross- platform JIT compilation capabilities.
WebAssembly, which has been backed by browser vendors like Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Apple, is a highly touted portable bytecode technology intended to improve web performance .
The upgrade, known as version 1.4.0, also adds JIT support on Linux and MacOS, and out-of- process JIT support for Edge. This change adds support for hosts to optionally supply Chakra with an external process to act as a JIT server, which can support the running of any number of Chakra runtime clients.
Described as a "minor release" by a Microsoft representative, ChakraCore 1.4.0 also enables async functions by default and enhances time-travel debugging, which allows developers to look at faulting code within the full fidelity of the debugger with runtime context preserved. It works on a record-and-playback principle, with the record mode creating a trace file during execution that can then be played back.
For memory reduction, version 1.4.0 leverages function body redeferral. This covers redefer function bodies that are not currently being executed and are eligible for deferred parsing, Microsoft said.
JSRT (JavaScript Runtime) String APIs have been updated but are in an experimental phase; ChakraCore backs JSRT APIs for embedding ChakraCore in Applications. Version 1.4.0, also enables ShareArrayBuffer, once again under and experimental flag.
More about Apple Google Linux Microsoft Mozilla
2016-12-23 07:00 www.computerworld.com.au
25 /27 | Pokémon GO news & updates: The Apple Watch app is here at last! Here's our complete guide to Pokémon GO, covering everything from Pokémon GO news and Pokémon GO updates to Pokémon GO accessories and the Pokémon GO Plus. We explain how to play Pokémon GO, including how to find Pokémon, how to battle, how to train, how to evolve EeVee, how to get Pikachu and more. Also see : Pokémon GO review | Pokemon GO troubleshooting | How to catch Ditto in Pokemon GO
Latest update: The latest app update (0.51.0 on Android and 1.21.0 for iOS) is out and (finally!) includes the Apple Watch app. You will be prompted when launching the iPhone app for the first time to allow PoGo to write data to Apple Health, and you will need to do this in order for it to work properly. Make sure the app is open on your iPhone before launching the mini app on your Watch as this will help the initial pairing. We found it took a few attempts before our stats were synced with the Watch. Here are the features of the Watch app:
Special event: Until 29 December there will be limited edition Pikachu appearing "everywhere" with a Christmas hat. This evolves into Raichu and both will keep their Christmas hat after the event.
How to use Nearby feature: This has now rolled out to many areas, which shows a photograph of the PokéStop where nearby Pokémon are hiding. To use it, tap the three paw prints icon which will reveal on the map where that PokéStop is. It will also highlight it in pink so you can more easily navigate to it. You'll get a notification if the Pokémon flees before you get there.
Top tip: If you are going to be playing Pokémon GO you are probably going to need a power bank. We highly recommend the Anker PowerCore 10,000 or Zendure A2 - pocketable, high- capacity batteries that charge your phone fast and are also pretty tough. If you're taking out young kids who have tablets but not phones, it's also worth considering Mi-Fi (mobile Wi-Fi routers).
Read next: Pokemon Sun and Moon review
• When you first launch Pokémon GO you need to select the clothing for your avatar. A recent update allows you to customise this, which is handy if you want your clothes to match the colour of your team.
• You are then offered three Pokémon, of which you get to choose one to try to catch. Tap on the Pokémon and your camera app will open showing the Pokémon somewhere near you. Find it, then try to catch it. This is achieved using a PokéBall, which you flick at the Pokémon aiming at the circle that appears over its head. The smaller the circle the easier the Pokémon will be to catch, but the better your aim will need to be. A green circle means the Pokémon is relatively easy to catch, orange is medium difficulty and red is hard.
• The ultimate aim of the game is to catch all the Pokémon. You can hold 250 Pokémon in your inventory without upgrading it; likewise, you can hold only 350 things (such as PokéBalls) in your items without upgrading your bag.
You can get Pikachu as your starter Pokémon if you are the patient type. To do so, ignore the starter Pokémon you are offered and walk away. Do this four times and you should eventually be offered Pikachu.
• Now it's time to go out and about to find Pokémon in the wild. Pokémon GO displays a map of your surroundings, and nearby Pokémon are shown in the bar at the bottom right with a photograph of the PokéStop closest to them. If the Pokémon is greyed out then it is one you haven't seen before and is not yet in your PokéDex.
• You'll find different Pokémon in different areas. For example, near a lake or river you might find water Pokémon, and in towns and rural areas you'll likely find a lot of normal Pokémon. In our experience some of the most common are Pidgeys and Rattatas, but both can become quite powerful when powered up fully and then evolved. Don't worry if certain Pokémon are never in your area - you can still hatch them via eggs.
• Crowdsourced maps were available that could help you to find certain Pokémon. These Pokémon Go maps included Pokémon Go Nests Curated Map and PokéRadar and PokéVision , while the PokeDetector app for Android was able to run in the background and tell you when a Pokémon was in the vicinity. Unfortunately, many of these have recently been pulled offline.
• A new phenomenon termed 'nests' is another way to find Pokémon in the wild. Nests are where Pokémon of a certain type cluster and are regularly found in close proximity. There are nests scattered across the UK and beyond, and you'll find a full list of nest locations on Reddit and a curated Pokémon GO nest locations map here.
• For every Pokémon you catch you'll get 100 stardust and 100 XP points. If it's a Pokémon you haven't seen before you will get an extra 500 XP when it is added to the PokéDex. You can also earn extra XP by completing a nice throw. You also get a number of candies which are required when you power up or evolve a Pokémon; the exact number depends on the Pokémon you catch.
• Soon enough you will run out of PokéBalls. You can collect more from PokéStops, which are usually found in towns and cities or places of interest. Alternatively, PokéBalls are among the items you can buy with coins in the Shop; you will receive some coins for levelling up, or you can make an in-app purchase.
• You can see which Pokémon you have at any time by clicking the PokéBall at the bottom of the screen and choosing Pokémon. The aim of the game is to power up your Pokémon so they are sufficiently powerful to win gym battles, which become accessible from level 5.
• Our best tip is to power up Pokémon in their first stage as far as you can before you evolve them, and you will get a much higher combat rating in return - however, be selective about which Pokémon you power up as stardust is like gold. If you have a Pokémon with a low combat power that has already been evolved it's not worth keeping. You can power-up, evolve or trade a Pokémon by selecting the PokéBall icon, tapping Pokémon and then choosing the Pokémon in question and scrolling down to choose one of those options. If you trade a Pokémon you cannot get it back later, though you will get one candy in return. (Note that the Trade option has now been moved to a separate menu - view the Pokémon you want to trade and tap the three lines icon at the bottom of the screen and choose Trade.)
• Until you hit level 11 the number of XP you need to progress through each level goes up in increments of 1000XP. After level 10 you need 10,000 XP to progress to each new level, and this gradually increases. For example, to progress to level 20 from 19 you'll need 25,000 XP, 50,000XP to hit level 21 and 75,000XP to hit level 22.
EeVee is able to evolve into a Vaporeon, a Flareon or a Jolteon in Pokémon GO. A special trick is said to allow you to select which evolution you get, but it works only once per account. It has worked for thousands of players, but it is possible that this trick has now been removed, since another member of the editorial team tried it last week without success.
If you want to give it a go, simply rename EeVee and then restart the app before you evolve it. For a Vaporeon rename EeVee as Rainer, for a Flareon rename EeVee as Pyro, and for a Jolteon rename EeVee as Sparky.
Just bear in mind that this works only once for each of the three evolutions, so you may want to wait until you have an EeVee with high Combat Power (say over 600). If you use the trick with low-power EeVees, then you will not be able to specify which Pokémon EeVee evolves into later on - it will be random even if you rename it.
• Once you hit level 5 you get to choose your team: Team Instinct (yellow), Team Mystic (blue) or Team Valor (red). You will be prompted to do so when you first visit a gym. Choose carefully: you can't change your mind later. The team leaders have now been announced for each team: Team Valor is Candela, Team Mystic is Blanche, and Team Instinct is Spark.
• You'll see four types of gyms on the map: grey, yellow, blue and red. Grey gyms are unclaimed, but you can't walk straight up to these and add a Pokémon because the person who just took down the gym has a while to put their own Pokémon in the gym.
• If a gym matches the colour of your team you can enter and train your Pokémon in order to increase the Prestige of the gym (which makes it more difficult for rival teams to win). If you level up the gym through training you will also be able to leave behind one of your Pokémon to help protect that gym from rival teams.
• To begin training in a friendly gym you enter and press the glove icon. Battle will commence, and you will use six Pokémon to beat as many of the Pokémon defending that gym as possible, so it makes sense to choose your strongest Pokémon against the defending Pokémon (for help as to what Pokémon to choose see Pokémon Matchups ). However, you will add more prestige points to the gym if you can defeat the defending Pokémon with one that has a lower CP than it. Tap your opponent to fight (but be careful not to tap too fast or the game may glitch), and long- tap to perform a special move. If you know your Pokémon you'll know some types are better at fighting certain types than others - you can pick which Pokémon you take into battle by tapping on it and selecting a new one before the contest begins.
At the end of the battle, whether you win or lose, the gym's prestige will increase and you will earn XP. However, your Pokémon will also lose HP. You can increase its health with a Potion, Super Potion, Hyper Potion, Max Potion or Revive, which can be picked up from PokéStops or when you level up and are found in your Items (click the PokéBall and choose Items). If you manage to level up the gym, click the icon with the plus to add a Pokémon of your choice.
• If a gym is not friendly and you want to battle in an attempt to take it over, visit the gym and scroll left and right through the defending Pokémon to see whether your Pokémon are powerful enough to take it on. If you think you can do it, press the star icon to begin. You get to choose six Pokémon to take into battle with you, and if you manage to take out any of the Pokémon defending the gym you will lower its prestige. Again, your Pokémon will lose health, so you may need to revive them in between battles. When the gym's prestige hits level one a win will turn the gym grey, or neutral. At this point it is free to anyone, so get in there quick to add your Pokémon before the rival team beats you to it.
• When you win your first gym go immediately to the Shop and click the shield at the top of the screen where it says Collect now. You'll get 500 stardust and 10 coins, and your 21-hour countdown will begin. At the end of this time you'll receive rewards for however many gyms you are holding, regardless of whether you have held them for the full 21 hours.
• If you can hold on to a gym for 21 hours you will receive stardust and XP in return. If you don't regularly visit an area where there are lots of Pokémon to catch, for instance a city centre, this is probably the second easiest way to gain stardust (the easiest is through hatching eggs).
See also: How to remove a location, business or venue as a Pokémon Go gym or PokéStop .
Pokémon GO now gives you a daily bonus for catching a Pokémon and visiting a PokéStop. If you get this bonus for seven days in a row, you will get bigger bonuses. You're eligible for the next day's bonus from midnight onwards.
Bonus for catching a Pokémon each day:
Bonus for catching a Pokémon every day for 7 days:
Bonus for visit ing a PokéStop each day:
Bonus for visit ing a PokéStop every day for 7 days:
Some people (including us) have had problems collecting the 7th day bonus. Items are shown on screen, but only three or so are actually registered on the Journal and in the bag. Niantic hasn't responded to this yet, but we hope it's a temporary glitch.
A new update to Pokémon GO allows Team leaders Candela, Spark and Blanche to appraise your Pokémon. This can be handy in terms of choosing which Pokémon to keep when you have multiples of the same type, and also which to enter into battle.
Appraising your Pokémon is easy: you simply open the Pokémon menu and select a Pokémon, then tap on the circular three lines icon at the bottom of the screen and choose Appraise. Tap the screen to move through the appraisal dialogue.
The tricky part is interpreting the Team leader's predefined responses. @PokemonGoNews has published this handy guide (via Games Press). Click/tap to view at full size.
A PokéBall is the ball you use to catch wild Pokémon. You can collect more PokéBalls from PokéStops, when you level up or from the Shop.
A PokéStop is a place from which you can win rewards simply by visiting. You might get PokéBalls, potions and revives, for example. You need to be near the PokéStop in order to access it - a blue circle will appear around it when you are close enough. When you have visited that PokéStop it will turn purple, and you need to wait a few minutes before you can visit it again. The PokéDex is a catalogue of all the Pokémon you have caught, plus any that you have seen but not managed to catch. The aim of the game is to catch them all.
There are neutral, friendly and rival gyms. You can claim a neutral gym by adding your Pokémon. In friendly gyms you can train up your Pokémon to increase the gym's prestige and to earn XP; if you level up the gym you can leave behind a Pokémon to help defend it. In rival gyms you can battle Pokémon in an attempt to lower the gym's prestige and eventually take over that gym.
You need to level it up through training first. A level one gym needs to be level two before it can accept a second Pokémon; a level two gym needs to be a level three gym before it can accept a third Pokémon and so on.
If you have all but defeated your opponent but it refuses to die, this is a server issue. If it won't let you walk away, restart the game and try again. Try tapping slower on your opponent to prevent it glitching.
You can get more PokéBalls at PokéStops, by levelling up or in the Shop.
Stardust is earned by catching a Pokémon- you'll get 100 stardust for each Pokémon you catch. A faster way to earn stardust is to leave Pokémon in as many gyms as you can. For each Pokémon you manage to keep in a gym for a day you will earn 500 stardust. Note that the time limit is an overall limit - when it gets down to the last few minutes you need to adding Pokémon to gyms everywhere in order to get the most benefit. You can also earn stardust hatching eggs.
Candies are earned when you catch a Pokémon, though the number you receive depends on which Pokémon you catch. You can also earn one candy when you trade a Pokémon, and candies when you hatch an egg. New is the ability to also earn candy by selecting one Pokémon as a buddy to walk with you. Candies are specific to a Pokémon type, so you can't use Rattata candy with a Pidgey, for example.
Coins are earned by levelling up and by leaving your Pokémon in a gym for a full day. It takes a while to earn them, so you can also buy them in the shop if you're prepared to spend real money.
XP is earned for basically everything you do. You'll earn 500XP for evolving a Pokémon, 50XP for visiting a PokéStop, and a minimum of 100XP for catching a Pokémon (you'll get 500 bonus XP if it's a Pokémon not currently in your PokéDex). When you earn enough XP you will progress a level, and get various goodies in return.
When your Pokémon either train or battle in a gym they lose health. This can be restored using a potion, super potion, hyper potion, max potion or revive. A potion restores the Pokémon's HP by 20 points, a super potion does so by 50 points, a hyper potion by 200 points, and a max potion by whatever is the Pokémon's max HP. A revive restores a fainted Pokémon, and now works when a Pokémon faints in training as well as in a gym battle.
Incense, available in the Shop or when you level up, draws nearby Pokémon to your location for 30 minutes. Only you benefit from it.
A lure works like incense, drawing out nearby Pokémon. However, it must be used at a PokéStop, and all players can benefit you'll spot one by the pink and purple petals coming out of it. Be warned that the lure will be visible on the map to all players, so for your own safety it's probably not a good idea to use one in a dodgy area when you are alone if you want to keep your phone.
A lucky egg earns double XP for 30 minutes. For a quick way to level up, collect as many rattatas and pidgeys as you can, then activate the lucky egg and evolve those Pokémon. You'll get 1000 XP for each one you evolve. You can get lucky eggs by levelling up or in the shop.
You'll get Pokémon eggs at PokéStops, but you can hold only nine at once and, at the moment, it is not possible to delete eggs you don't want (for example 2k eggs to make room for 5- and 10k eggs).
To hatch an egg you will need an incubator, which you can sometimes find at PokéStops or you can get them when you level up or buy them in the Shop. Bought incubators are three-uses only. To hatch an egg, click the Pokémon icon, choose Pokémon and slide across to the Eggs tab. Pick an egg. To hatch it you will need to walk a certain distance, which is shown below the egg. Longer distances are likely to return more powerful Pokémon. Add it to an incubator, then get moving to hatch that egg. Distance is tracked via GPS, and if you move too fast it won't be counted, so no cheating by getting in the car.
A Great Ball is like a PokéBall but better, and has a more successful catch rate than a standard PokéBall. If there's a Pokémon you really want to catch, use a Great Ball instead of a PokéBall. This is achieved by tapping the bag icon mid-capture attempt. Later in the game you also get Ultra Balls, which are bigger still.
Razz Berries can be fed to tough Pokémon in order to make them easier to catch on your next throw. You can pick them up when you level up and at PokéStops.
We'll keep a list here of all the special events.
The first was the 2016 Halloween celebration: From 27 October until 1 November you could earn double candy for every Pokémon you catch or trade, and you had to walk your buddy just a quarter of the usual distance to earn a candy. Plus: Ghastly, Haunter, Gengar, Drowsee, Hypno and others were out in force. It was noted that certain other Pokémon appeared with increased frequency, such as Cubone and Marowak.
We expect Niantic to do another special at Christmas, and then at Easter 2017. Watch this space for news.
We had hoped the new Pokémon coming on 12 December would be the full set of 2nd generation. However it appears that Niantic is going to release these slowly, starting with the babies. To get them, you'll need to collect eggs from PokéStops and walk to hatch them.
Here is the full list of new Pokémon which are now hatching: (you can see their outlines in the Pokédex if you have their evolved forms)
The latest update introduces a catch bonus whereby trainers are rewarded for catching more Pokémon of a certain type by making them easier to catch in future. This means the medals you earn will finally mean something. The update also allows you to take six Pokémon rather than one into a friendly gym for training, making it easier to earn that gym Prestige points. One of the more exciting updates is more accurate reflection of distance travelled, which should make it easier to hatch eggs and earn candy from your buddy, plus decreased evolution time which makes it easier to fit in more evolutions during one lucky egg spree.
This update also adds new Pokémon to the 'seen' part of the PokeDex when you view them in a gym. Previously you needed to see or attempt to catch these Pokémon in the wild for them to be added to the PokéDex, but this update makes Pokémon Go more like other Pokémon games. Once you have seen them, you have seen them, regardless of whether or not you have had the opportunity to catch them.
Version 0.37 introduces the buddy system (see Complete guide to Pokémon Go buddies ) and blocks rooted devices (also see How to play Pokémon GO on a rooted phone ). As rumoured, the buddy system will allow you to select a Pokémon to walk with you. (Note that at the moment they do not actually walk with you on the map.)
Here's the full changelog:
It has been confirmed that Pokémon GO is in the process of being updated to version 0.35.0 for Android and 1.5.0 for iOS. Among the new changes are "Implemented Pokémon Appraisal", whereby Team Leaders Candela, Blanche and Spark will offer Trainers more info on a Pokémon's attack and defense capabilities and which has the most potential for battle.
Other changes include minor bot fixes and "several new and exciting features to come in the future of Pokémon GO".
Pokémon GO has received another update (0.33.0 Android, 1.3.0 iOS) in which the company has again tweaked the Nearby feature. It's also re-enabled the battery saver mode in iOS, f ixed a bug that prevented Nice, Great, and Excellent Poké Ball throws from awarding the appropriate XP bonuses, and enabled Trainers to change their username (but you can do so only once). Read more below.
Pokémon GO was updated to version 0.33.0 for Android and 1.3.0 for iOS on 8 August. The new update includes a tweak to the Nearby feature, which now shows Sightings of Pokemon nearby ( but this feature is about to get a lot more exciting ). It's also re-enabled the battery saver mode in iOS, f ixed a bug that prevented Nice, Great, and Excellent Poké Ball throws from awarding the appropriate XP bonuses, and enabled Trainers to change their username (but you can do so only once).
Here's a full list of the changes:
- Added a dialog to remind Trainers that they should not play while traveling above a certain speed; Trainers will have to indicate they aren’t the driver - Fixed a bug that prevented ”Nice,” ”Great,” and “Excellent” Poké Ball throws from awarding the appropriate XP bonuses - Enabled the ability for Trainers to change their nickname one time, so please choose your new nickname wisely - Resolved issues with the battery saver mode on iOS and re-enabled the feature - Other fixes
Pokémon GO was updated to version 0.31.0 for Android and 1.1.0 for iOS at the end of July. The new update introduces several bug fixes, but the most notable changes include the ability to customise your avatar and the removal of the footsteps from the nearby feature. The update also adds warnings when you first launch the game, such as to not play while driving and not to enter dangerous areas.
If you're using iOS note that the new update has removed the battery saver mode (in which case you may want to hold off updating), but it's still working fine for us on Android. Niantic has since confirmed: “We had removed this feature as several users were experiencing it to be buggy, but we are fairly confident that a fix for this should roll out within the next several days.”
Here's a full list of the changes: - Avatars can now be re-customized from the Trainer profile screen - Adjusted battle move damage values for some Pokémon - Refined certain Gym animations - Improved memory issues - Removed footprints of nearby Pokémon - Modified battle damage calculation - Various bug fixes during wild Pokémon encounter - Updated Pokémon details screen - Updated achievement medal images - Fixed issues with displaying certain map features - Minor text fixes
There is evidence that interest in Pokémon GO is waning. Apptopia stats published by Bloomberg show the game peaking in July with around 45 million users, but since then having dropped down to around 30 million.
We're hearing reports of the relatively rare European-exclusive Pokémon Mr Mime spawning all over London, as well as in Norwich, Cardiff and Bath today. The fact that general rare spawn and regional spawn rates have increased has also been confirmed as one of several server- side updates by @PokemonGoNews. Other changes include new movesets for some Pokémon, faster egg hatches and increased potion drop rates.
Update: Niantic has written a blog post confirming that those who cheat WILL have their accounts terminated.
Pokémon GO creator Niantic Labs has issued a statement claiming that if you cheat, you're out! After a raft of users publicly (and others not so publicly) demonstrated how they could just sit indoors and trick the game into thinking they were outside roaming the world, Niantic is attempting to crack down on the players supposedly gaining an unfair advantage.
The list, here , says reasons for players being banned " includes, but is not limited to: falsifying your location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon GO clients or backends in an unauthorized manner including through the use of third party software. "
So, if you're doing any of the above, don't be suprised if one day your Poké pals take a hike. You can submit a ban appeal , but if you want to be safe, just get outside, we say.
Apple's virtual assistant, Siri, has a load of new responses to the question: 'Do you like Pokémon GO?' Most are positive, for example "I like playing peekaboo with Pikachu" and "Of course. That's what it's all about. Oh, wait, that's the H oké Pokémon. " But we also like: “Snorlax. Zzzz. Sorry, what was the question?”
Pokémon GO has wiped the floor with previous launch-month earnings records held by Clash Royale and Candy Crush Saga, grossing over $200m revenue in its first month. By comparison Clash Royale made $120m in this time frame, and Candy Crush Saga about $25m.
It is now possible to change your Pokémon GO username, but you can do so only once. Tap on the PokéBall on the main screen and select Settings. Scroll down to and select Change Nickname. You'll receive the message: 'Do you want to change your nickname? You can change your nickname only once. It will be displayed to other Trainers, so please choose carefully!' Select Yes or No to continue.
Helper apps such as PokéVision were taken offline at the end of July, and combined with the new updates (see above) a huge number of players are not happy. This is what the developer had to say via its official Facebook page :
" Trainers, As many of you know, we recently made some changes to Pokémon GO.
- We have removed the ‘3-step’ display in order to improve upon the underlying design. The original feature, although enjoyed by many, was also confusing and did not meet our underlying product goals. We will keep you posted as we strive to improve this feature.
- We have limited access by third-party services which were interfering with our ability to maintain quality of service for our users and to bring Pokémon GO to users around the world. The large number of users has made the roll-out of Pokémon GO around the world an... interesting… challenge. And we aren’t done yet! Yes, Brazil, we want to bring the game to you (and many other countries where it is not yet available).
We have read your posts and emails and we hear the frustration from folks in places where we haven’t launched yet, and from those of you who miss these features. We want you to know that we have been working crazy hours to keep the game running as we continue to launch globally. If you haven’t heard us Tweeting much it’s because we’ve been heads down working on the game. But we’ll do our best going forward to keep you posted on what’s going on.
Be safe, be nice to your fellow trainers, and keep on exploring.
The Pokémon GO team"
Yang Liu, creator of PokéVision, responded with an open letter. We've outlined some of the highlights below:
" I write this not as one of the creators of Pokevision nor as player who has gone through the past few turbulent days in Pokemon Go; instead, I write this as a fan of Pokemon ever since I was 8 years old. "
"T he world became captivated by Pokemon Go. People absolutely fell in love. We saw stories of elderly learning about Pikachu for the first time. My parents that could care less beyond who the yellow mouse looking thing was 20 years ago, started asking what the other Pokemon were. It was phenomenal. "
"You’ve simply captured all of our hearts with Pokemon Go, Niantic. But then, you broke it all too quickly. "
"When the game broke every few hours or so and wasted our lucky eggs, we stood patiently, excusing the huge growth and thus, strain on servers, as the cause. We were happy to wait it out with our fellow trainers knowing that it’s worth waiting for. No one got mad.
"When the in-game tracking “broke,” we all stood idly by, patiently, waiting for the game to update and fix.
"Along came Pokevision. We made Pokevision not to “cheat.” We made it so that we can have a temporary relief to the in-game tracker that we were told was broken. John, at SDCC, you said that you guys were working on “fixing the in-game tracker.” This made everyone believe that this was coming sometime soon. We saw Pokevision as a stop gap to this? - ?and we had every intention in closing it down the minute that Pokemon Go’s own tracker restored functionality. "
"After 3 weeks though, we started seeing that you guys seemed to not want to talk to us (the players). Pokevision, at this time has grown to almost 50M unique users, and 11 million daily. " That's a pretty strong argument as to why people want PokéVision and why it should be available, but th e developer has once again defended its decision in an official update on its website :
"Running a product like Pokémon GO at scale is challenging. Those challenges have been amplified by third parties attempting to access our servers in various ways outside of the game itself... We blocked some more of those attempts yesterday. Since there has been some public discussion about this, we wanted to shed some more light on why we did this and why these seemingly innocuous sites and apps actually hurt our ability to deliver the game to new and existing players. The chart below shows the drop in server resources consumed when we blocked scrapers. Freeing those resources allowed us to proceed with the Latin America launch... In addition to hampering our ability to bring Pokémon GO to new markets, dealing with this issue also has opportunity cost. Developers have to spend time controlling this problem vs. building new features. "
While the map apps are no longer available, many Pokémon GO players are still taking advantage of third-party utilities to enhance their gameplay. For example, Poke Assistant offers an IV Calculator and Evolve Calculator.
If you think Pokémon have been proving harder to catch lately then you are correct. On Friday 5 August the developer admitted that there is a bug and that it is working on a fix.
Nintendo's value has more than doubled to over $42bn making it more valuable than Sony.
Such is the popularity of Pokémon Go, people are buying and selling high-level accounts for hundreds of pounds. We recently received an email from LeagueOfTrading.com which said one of its users had sold their account for $2,000!
Hacking group OurMine has claimed responsibility of taking servers down, but we (and Niantic) are not sure it has been anything other than the sheer demand from millions of users. Another hacker group, PoodleCorp, has threatened to take down Pokémon Go on 1 August.
The Pokémon Go panel at San Diego Comic Con gave us more insight into what to expect from the future of Pokemon GO .
Somebody has already caught all available Pokemon (142 of 150) in game (screenshot below).
There have been reports of players holding legendary birds Articuno and Moltres (but not Zapdos), yet it's not clear whether or not this is a hack or just a hoax. Read more at Reddit (screenshot below).
A lawsuit has been brought against the makers of Pokémon GO for trespassing. Despite a new warning that pops up when you launch the game, it seems some Pokémon GO users have been trespassing in order to catch Pokémon. The BBC reports how a man in the US has said strangers have begun lingering outside of his home with at least five people knocking on his door. The lawsuit seeks class action status for others who have had Pokemon stops and gyms placed on their property. It accuses the defendants of having "shown a flagrant disregard for the foreseeable consequences of populating the real world with virtual Pokemon without seeking the permission of property owners".
Following the launch, some clever soul indulged in a bit of ‘data mining’ - that’s not a hack, just a way of studying the code of a game to find out things hidden within. Pokémon Fortress reported some of the supposed findings, which may go some way to explain the barriers some players are coming up against, and clues as to why certain Pokémon are proving elusive.
Some of the highlights of the (as of yet unconfirmed) findings are that Trainer levels are capped at 40. Supposedly, it takes five million experience points to go from level 39 to 40 - ridiculous considering 1 to 40 is the amassing of 20 million. Alongside that, eggs cap at level 20, so if you get an egg at a level higher than that, it will hatch at just the same as if you were on level 20. So basically, stop trying so hard.
Interestingly, wild Pokémon were found to cap at level 30, so any players over that level will all find the same max CP critters and you’ll have to spend candy to upgrade them.
On the Pokémon side of things, Farfetch’d is keeping true to its name. It is out there though, along with the famously elusive Ditto, everyone’s favourite shape shifting pile of smiling goo. Mewtwo has a base attack of 284, and there is definitely a Master Ball hidden in the game somewhere. Better keep playing to find out where!
You can read all the results of the data mine here.
Yelp recently launched a new feature/filter allowing users to browse for local businesses that double up as Pokestops. This allows users to comfortably relax at a shop like Costa or Starbucks and regularly cash in on new Pokeballs, Razz Berrys and more - and is even more rewarding when a Lure is active, drawing Pokemon to that Pokestop for 30 minutes. Simply access Yelp via the app or desktop and toggle the 'Pokestop Nearby' filter on to access the feature.
We debated Pokémon GO in the UK Tech Weekly podcast, and you can listen right here below!
Pokémon GO began rolling out to devices in Australia, New Zealand and Japan on 6 July 2016, on 7 July to the US, and on 13 July to Germany. As of 14 July it became available in the UK via Google Play and the App Store. The app has since been rolled out in Hong Kong, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Canada.
If it isn't appearing for you, you want to install it in a different country or it is showing the message 'this app is incompatible with all your devices', click here for details on how to get Pokémon GO now .
If you're trying to install Pokémon GO on an iPhone, also see our sister site Macworld for instructions on How to get Pokémon GO on iPhone .
Pokémon GO is free to download and play, but it is possible to buy PokéCoins that will unlock special items within the game. PokéCoins are the in-game currency, and they are available without handing over real cash, but you'll pick them up at a slower rate than you might like during the early stages of Pokémon GO.
You can buy PokéCoins at the following prices:
100 PokéCoins: £0.79 550 PokéCoins: £3.99 1,200 PokéCoins: £7.99 2,500 PokéCoins: £14.99 5,200 PokéCoins: £29.99 14,500 PokéCoins: £79.99 Pokémon GO Plus costs $34.99 and is now available to pre-order , although it has been delayed in the UK until September. Click here for more details on Pokémon GO Plus. You might also like: 8 best mystery subscription boxes for nerds
Also see: Nintendo Classic Mini NES release date, specs, games and features.
While Pokémon GO is now officially available in many countries, including the UK, there are still places where it is unavailable, such as Brazil. Niantic is working hard to bring Pokémon GO to these places, but in the meantime if you're desperate there is a workaround. R ead on for details of how to sideload and install the Pokémon GO APK.
Do note, though, that as soon as the official app becomes available in your country you should find it in the App Store or Google Play and click Update. This will ensure you automatically receive later updates.
We've outlined a quick route and a long route to installing Pokémon GO below. The quick route sees you download the Pokémon GO APK from a filesharing site, while the longer route sees you download the APK directly from Google Play. Most people will opt for the shorter solution, but we've also provided the longer option following warnings of malware hiding in some Pokémon GO APK files offered online.
This is the fastest, easiest way to install Pokémon GO via an APK file. However, there are concerns that malware has been found in some Pokémon GO APK files available online. Click here for a slightly longer method that lets you download the Pokémon GO APK from Google Play.
Download Pokémon GO from APKPure.com or another APK download site, either directly on your phone or on to a PC (it's a 58.1MB file).
If you're using a PC then attach your phone to the PC via USB and drag the downloaded file to your Downloads folder. On your phone go to Settings, Security and enable the installation of apps from unknown sources. Now tap on Pokémon GO in your Downloads folder to install Pokémon GO. Also see: Pokémon Co-Master UK release date , Pokemon Sun and Moon UK release date , and Best Android games 2016.
If you'd rather avoid downloading and installing an APK file from a third-party site, there is an alternative that lets you download it directly from Google Play, but it's a little more long-winded.
If Pokémon GO isn't displaying in Google Play on your device, click here in a desktop browser - we're using Chrome since it supports extensions.
If you don't already have one you will need an APK downloader extension, for example Direct APK Downloader. These are regularly removed from the Chrome extensions store, so if you can't find it just search for 'APK downloader' and pick another one.
This particular APK downloader requires you to install a Device ID app on your phone or tablet in order to log into the service. You can download this from Google Play. Open the app and note down the Android Device ID displayed in the top line.
Return to the new window that has popped up in Chrome and enter your email, password and the Device ID you just noted down to add APK Downloader to Chrome. Now refresh the Google Play page in the your browser and you'll see a new 'Download APK' button. Click this.
Connect your phone to the PC via USB and drag the downloaded file to your Downloads folder.
In order to install this APK on your phone you need to go to the Settings, Security menu and enable the option to allow installation of apps from unknown sources.
Now open your downloads file and tap the Pokémon GO APK to install it on your device.
Before you read the next section, we've also put together a digital magazine, The Complete Guide to Pokémon Go. Click here to view the mag and download it , it's only £7!
Pokémon GO is insanely popular, and its servers appear to be struggling with demand at peak times, often giving the error message 'Our servers are experiencing issues. Please come back later'. Things seem to be getting easier, but as a tip, we've found it easier to get online in the morning while the US is still asleep. You can check the status of Pokémon GO here.
If you'd like something a little more in-depth than a yes/no answer, you might want to take a look at ispokemongodownornot.com - we know, what a name! The site provides users with information such as whether Google/PTC are down, and in what region, along with an estimate of whether it's worth activating a lure at any given time.
Pokémon GO is a mobile game for Android and iPhone developed by The Pokémon Company and Niantic, a former Google startup that has since branched out on its own and is known for its earlier augmented-reality mobile game Ingress. Nintendo is also contributing with the development and manufacture of the companion Pokémon GO Plus (see below for more details on that).
Pokémon GO is a mobile app that you download to your Android smartphone or iPhone , but play in the real world through augmented reality.
John Hanke, founder of Niantic, said: "For the first time, Pokémon will roam free in the real world. Pokémon GO will allow players to capture Pokémon who inhabit parks, shopping areas, sidewalks and the countryside all around the world. Imagine discovering a Squirtle hiding along the waterfront in San Francisco, a Bulbasaur at Shinjuku Station or a Pikachu beneath the Eiffel Tower. "
In Pokémon GO the aim is to locate, catch, battle and trade Pokémon, and you are encouraged to connect with other nearby Pokémon GO players as you do so.
See also: Gemma Correll's funny Pokémon Go characters are ones you don't want to find .
"Get on your feet and step outside to find and catch wild Pokémon. Explore cities and towns around where you live and even around the globe to capture as many Pokémon as you can. As you move around, your smartphone will vibrate to let you know you're near a Pokémon. Once you've encountered a Pokémon, take aim on your smartphone's touch screen and throw a Poké Ball to catch it. Be careful when you try to catch it, or it might run away! Also look for PokéStops located at interesting places, such as public art installations, historical markers, and monuments, where you can collect more Poké Balls and other items," writes The Pokémon Company on its official blog. Also see the Pokémon GO video trailer at the top of this page.
One of the most exciting new features added to Pokémon GO is an update to the Nearby feature that shows pictures of PokéStops where certain Pokémon are hiding nearby.
Pokemon GO developer Niantic recently unveiled future plans for Pokemon GO during a panel at San Diego Comic Con (or SDCC). Following the world-wide popularity of the app, the Pokémon Go panel had to be moved to a larger venue at the event.
The panel was called “Re-Imagining Reality: Bringing Games Into the Real World With Ingress and Pokemon Go” and the aim was to "examine the past, present and future of extending games beyond the screen and re-imagining reality through the lens of Ingress and Pokémon GO. " So what was announced, and what can we expect from Pokemon GO in the future?
First things first, the leaders of the three Pokemon GO teams were revealed – Candela leads Team Valor, Blanche heads up Team Mystic and Spark leads Team Instinct. But why is this so important? Niantic said that the idea was always to have users interact with their team leader, but they weren’t quite ready when the game launched last month. That has changed apparently, and the leaders will be on their way soon, offering advice to players amongst other things.
Trading was a core component to the original Pokemon games as we all know, but it is yet to make an appearance on the app. This is due to change according to Niantic, who referred to trading as a “great social thing” and claimed that the company was working on bringing the feature to Pokemon GO in the future. Hopefully this can be done over large distances, enabling trainers to “catch ‘em all” without having to travel all over the world.
The developer also suggested that Pokestops could be customised in future, although we’re not quite sure how at this stage. McDonalds has struck up a deal with Niantic, changing 3000 restaurants in Japan into gyms, and there could be more deals like this coming in future. There’s also talk of Pokecenters making an appearance in the game, which are essentially Pokemon- orientated hospitals where you can take damaged and KO’d Pokemon for some much needed TLC.
Those who carried on playing Pokemon beyond Yellow, Red and Blue will be happy to know that Niantic also plans to introduce more Pokemon in future, expanding beyond the original 150 Pokemon. The developer also teased that there are still hidden features in the game, and that these are yet to be discovered by users. Exciting.
One thing that did get dismissed was the idea of breeding, possibly by using Ditto – a Pokemon that is yet to make an appearance in-game. Breeding became popular in Pokemon Gold and Silver by pairing up a male and female of the same Pokemon to produce eggs containing that Pokemon, and could have been an interesting form of currency in the game. But no, for now, there are no plans to bring breeding to Pokemon GO.
In other news, the Dubious Pokémon GO Rumour Of The Week Award goes to… this screenshot:
The whole world and his mother are looking for a hot take and a leg up following extreme Pokémania, and this may also be a fake screenshot. An unofficial GO Facebook page uploaded this image suggesting that players will soon be able to battle each other in-game. As of yet, this isn’t a feature. Note the lower case, unaccented ‘pokemon’ – this does smell of fake. Didn’t stop us getting all excited though, so fingers crossed it turns out to be something more. If there is anything else announced about Pokemon GO in the future, we’ll be sure to update this section.
When you first sign into Pokémon GO you need to pick your avatar, and at the moment this cannot be altered later.
You'll then get a choice of three Pokémon to catch to get you started. And that's pretty much as far as the tutorial goes.
PokéStops are places you can get new items, such as PokéBalls. You need to be within close range of a PokéStop to benefit - when a blue circle appears around it you are close enough. Tap on the PokéStop and spin the wheel to get your goodies. The PokéStop will turn purple for a few minutes afterward, and you need to wait for it to revert to blue to hit it again. A PokéStop with pink and purple petals flying out on it has a Lure Module attached to it - these draw nearby Pokémon to the stop for 30 minutes, so hang around for a bit if you can.
At any time you can tap the menu at the bottom left to see which Pokémon are nearby, and how close they are (shown by one, two or three footsteps). When you spot a Pokémon on the map, tap on it.
To catch the Pokémon you need to throw a PokéBall at it, and hit it within the circle that appears around its face. The higher the CP (combat power) the harder it will be to catch, although your ability to catch better Pokémon increases as you level up, and later in the game you can also use Great Balls (big PokéBalls).
If you don't want the Pokémon you can transfer it to the Professor in return for a candy, although you can hold up to 250 Pokémon so there's no need to decide at once.
An alternative to transferring the Pokémon is to Evolve it - provided you have the required amount of candy to do so. We strongly recommend you power up the Pokémon in its primary stage as far as possible in order to get higher combat power when it evolves.
At any time you can click the PokéBall at the bottom of the screen and choose Pokémon to see your current Pokémon. A slide to the right will also show you any eggs you have incubating.
Other options here include the Shop, where you can buy incense, potions, more PokéBalls and the like, and the PokéDex, which is a catalogue of all the Pokémon you have seen or caught so far.
When your Pokémon are ready you can take part in battles at gyms. You can train in a friendly gym to increase its prestige - if you level it up you'll be able to leave your own Pokémon behind to help defend it. Battles take place in rival gyms in an attempt to lower their prestige and hopefully claim that gym for your own team. You can see on the map when a battle is taking place at a gym by the whirlwhind, sparks and smoke coming out its top.
Below is a list of the Pokémon confirmed to be in the PokéDex so far, although there have been no confirmed sightings of Farfetch'd (083), Ditto (132), Articuno (144), Zapdos (145), Moltres (146), Mewtwo (150) and Mew (151).
001. Bulbasaur 002. Ivysaur 003. Venusaur 004. Charmander 005. Charmeleon 006. Charizard 007. Squirtle 008. Wartortle 009. Blastoise 010. Caterpie 011. Metapod 012. Butterfree 013. Weedle 014. Kakuna 015. Beedrill 016. Pidgey 017. Pidgeotto 018. Pidgeot 019. Rattata 020. Raticate 021. Spearow 022. Fearow 023. Ekans 024. Arbok 025. Pikachu 026. Raichu 027. Sandshrew 028. Sandslash 029. Nidoran F 030. Nidorina 031. Nidoqueen 032. Nidoran M 033. Nidorino 034. Nidoking 035. Clefairy 036. Clefable 037. Vulpix 038. Ninetales 039. Jigglypuff 040. Wigglytuff 041. Zubat 042. Golbat 043. Oddish 044. Gloom 045. Vileplume 046. Paras 047. Parasect 048. Venonat 049. Venomoth 050. Diglett 051. Dugtrio 052. Meowth 053. Persian 054. Psyduck 055. Golduck 056. Mankey 057. Primeape 058. Growlithe 059. Arcanine 060. Poliwag 061. Poliwhirl 062. Poliwrath 063. Abra 064. Kadabra 065. Alakazam 066. Machop 067. Machoke 068. Machamp 069. Bellsprout 070. Weepinbell 071. Victreebel 072. Tentacool 073. Tentacruel 074. Geodude 075. Graveler 076. Golem 077. Ponyta 078. Rapidash 079. Slowpoke 080. Slowbro 081. Magnemite 082. Magneton 083. Farfetch'd 084. Doduo 085. Dodrio 086. Seel 087. Dewgong 088. Grimer 089. Muk 090. Shellder 091. Cloyster 092. Gastly 093. Haunter 094. Gengar 095. Onix 096. Drowzee 097. Hypno 098. Krabby 099. Kingler 100. Voltorb 101. Electrode 102. Exeggcute 103. Exeggutor 104. Cubone 105. Marowak 106. Hitmonlee 107. Hitmonchan 108. Lickitung 109. Koffing 110. Weezing 111. Rhyhorn 112. Rhydon 113. Chansey 114. Tangela 115. Kangaskhan 116. Horsea 117. Seadra 118. Goldeen 119. Seaking 120. Staryu 121. Starmie 122. Mr. Mime 123. Scyther 124. Jynx 125. Electabuzz 126. Magmar 127. Pinsir 128. Tauros 129. Magikarp 130. Gyarados 131. Lapras 132. Ditto 133. Eevee 134. Vaporeon 135. Jolteon 136. Flareon 137. Porygon 138. Omanyte 139. Omastar 140. Kabuto 141. Kabutops 142. Aerodactyl 143. Snorlax 144. Articuno 145. Zapdos 146. Moltres 147. Dratini 148. Dragonair 149. Dragonite 150. Mewtwo 151. Mew
Several sites have been posting their first impressions of Pokemon Go.
Slashgear writes: "This game is fantastic. Not in the same way a visually spectacular game like Fallout 4 or DOOM are fantastic, but in a new way. A way that's not like any game I've played before. Pokemon GO is a real game-changer. "
Digital Spy was les complimentary, stating: "We can't get away from the fact catching a Pokemon with the real-world surroundings behind it felt awesome – especially as someone who's been playing Pokemon games for 20 years. Hopefully when the game launches in full, there'll be more Pokemon, more trainers and more notifications. Otherwise it's going to take us a very long time to become a Pokemon master. "
On the whole first impressions are very good, with some applauding the game for encouraging them to get up and walk around to find Pokémon, but others voicing their concerns about the idea of encouraging children to wander off.
IGN writes: "I definitely agree that this game promotes exploration, but I’m curious to see what that means for a game that’s primarily aimed at kids. And don’t get me wrong; I don’t mean that in a pejorative way. I’m an adult (kind of) and will pour dozens of hours into this game. But for kids, it’s a very different proposition to wander into new areas to try to take down a Gym or catch a Pokemon that popped up at the edge of the map a few streets over. For that matter, even for adults, wandering around with your phone out and exploring streets you’ve never been on can lead to all sorts of problems. "
Pokémon GO is to be applauded for its encouragement of people getting up off their backsides and exploring their surroundings, getting some fresh air and some exercise as they do so. However, it's also a concern that it may encourage youngsters to wander off, or lead to an increase in phone thefts as we walk about with them permanently on show.
Darwin police station in Australia, which features as a Pokestop, has already had cause to issue a warning to early Pokémon GO players telling them not to attempt to enter the station in order to catch a Pokémon. It's also requested that they remain aware of their surroundings at all times.
"For those budding Pokemon Trainers out there using Pokémon GO - whilst the Darwin Police Station may feature as a Pokestop, please be advised that you don't actually have to step inside in order to gain the pokeballs.
"It's also a good idea to look up, away from your phone and both ways before crossing the street. That Sandshrew isn't going anywhere fast," it said in a statement.
Pokémon GO Plus is a companion device that is either clipped on or strapped to the wrist and worn like a watch. Pokémon GO functions without the Pokémon GO Plus, but the device is expected to enhance enjoyment of the augmented reality game.
Pokémon GO Plus was developed and manufactured by Nintendo, and launched in the UK on 16 September at a price of £34.99/$34.99. It's available to order now from the Nintendo Store , but the first stocks have already gone and new orders won't ship until late October.
Pokémon GO Plus lets you play Pokémon GO without looking at your phone by delivering haptic feedback and flashing LEDs in a series of colours. It encourages players to look not only at their phones and Pokémon GO, but to experience what's going on around them in the real world.
Pokémon GO Plus connects to your phone over Bluetooth and notifies you about events within the game, such as a nearby Pikachu. A button on the front of the Pokémon GO Plus also lets you perform simple actions such as throwing a Poké Ball and catching Pokémon.
The Pokémon GO Plus isn't the only Pokémon GO accessory on the horizon. GamerReality LLC has developed a kinetic motion controller for Pokémon Go that you physically throw to catch a Pokémon in the app. It's on KickStarter right now, and you could have one in December 2016 if you pledge $35.
There's also the Pokémon Go Aimer, which sits on top of your phone screen and improves your throw accuracy, which should result in fewer lost PokéBalls. The Aimer is available in black, pink, blue, red or white and costs $9.99 direct from PokemonAimer.com .
Thanks to Plusnet for the following infographic:
Read next: Best new phones coming in 2017
Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter
2016-12-23 06:59 Marie Brewis www.pcadvisor.co.uk
26 /27 These are the best PS4 accessories to take your gaming to the next level The PlayStation 4 is a fantastic console out of the box, whether you buy the regular/Slim or Pro version. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be improved though, and there’s a massive market for PlayStation 4 accessories designed to improve your gaming. From new controllers to headsets, VR to SSDs, there’s no shortage of ways to take your PS4 to the next level.
Also read: Best PS4 games We’ve rounded up a few of our favourite PS4 accessories to make things a bit easier for you. Some add new functionality to the console, some simply improve on the stuff that’s already there, but all of them should give your gaming a boost.
The PS4 comes with a headset for the sake of voice chat while you’re playing online, but it’s a pretty lightweight piece of kit, with a single in-ear headphone and in-wire microphone. Sure, it’s good enough to get the job done, but if you’re looking to do any serious online gaming or record some audio for streaming, you’ll probably want an upgrade.
The best place to start looking is the official PlayStation Wireless Stereo Headset (known in the US as the PlayStation Gold headset). It boasts 7.1 virtual surround sound, an internal mic, and various pre-set sound modes for games, movies, and music. Sony promises the rechargeable battery will last for eight hours at a time, and there are changeable faceplates in case the stock colour scheme doesn’t do it for you.
Speaking of going wireless, wouldn’t it be nice to get rid of those irritating charging cables for your controllers? The official PS4 controller charging station lets you dock two DualShock 4 controllers at a time to charge, saving you from both the (admittedly minor) hassle of plugging in the cables and the mess of wires all over your living room.
There are some third-party charging stations out there too, but since this is Sony’s it’s made in the same matte plastic as the controllers and console, so it won’t look out of place next to the rest of the system.
The official PS4 headset is a solid improvement on the free one, but there’s still room for improvement, and that’s where third-party headsets come in. The SteelSeries Siberia 650 one- ups the official headset in a few ways: there’s the retractable external microphone, noise- isolating memory foam earcups, and even Dolby surround sound.
It even boasts programmable, customisable lighting, and a Sound Share port so that you can send the audio to a second headset too. The only downside? It’s almost three times the price of Sony’s own set, so it’s only for the committed.
There are a few little reasons to grab the PS4 Camera, and one really big one. First up, it’s the easiest way to use your PS4 to record video of you, making it a great, quick solution for anyone looking to make Let’s Play videos or stream over Twitch. It also gives you some nifty facial recognition and voice control tools, as well as the ability to play the existing PS Camera games.
But none of those are why you’re likely to buy one right now. The big reason to grab it is pretty simple: you need it if you want to use the next item on our list: PlayStation VR.
If you already own a PS4, then the PSVR is the cheapest way to get into high quality virtual reality by a long way. Sony’s backing all but guarantees strong developer support, and while the launch games have mostly been simple, fun diversions, there are more expansive experiences on the way in the future.
Also read: Best PlayStation VR games
Just remember, the £349 price doesn’t quite cover everything you need. You’ll definitely also need a PS4 console (either regular or Pro, though you’ll see smoother performance with the latter) and the PS4 Camera. You might also want to grab a PlayStation Move controller or two, but these aren’t necessary.
2016-12-23 06:53 Dominic Preston www.pcadvisor.co.uk
27 /27 : Google and NORAD trackers are live with advent mini games until 24 December Each Christmas Santa amazes us all with his global fulfilment service capabilities (Amazon is fast catching up though). We think Father Christmas has enough public support to survive, and of course no one wants to get on his naughty list. In the current spirit of invasive digital surveillance it's easy to track Santa on your PC , tablet , or smartphone.
The cynical will be quick to point out that Google knows pretty much everything about everything these days. Well, why not use that knowledge to spread a little happiness this festive season? On the Google Santa Tracker site there's a different activity for each day in December, counting down to Christmas Eve.
When it's the big day, you'll see Santa's location and how far he is from you, and the precise number of gifts he has delivered. On the right will be a live blog of his journey. And the best thing is that there's no app to install and it works on PCs, phones and tablets. What more could you ask for? Well, if you want a nice 3D view with animated reindeer, try Norad's tracker below.
To those of a certain age NORAD will conjure up images of a fresh faced Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy bringing the world to the edge of world war three just so they can play the latest video game. In the 1983 classic War Games, the final scenes of potential global disaster are played out in the mountain stronghold of NORAD, where generals track any nuclear missile attacks from aggressive nations (well, back then it was the Soviet Union).
Today, at least online, NORAD has turned its considerable monitoring abilities to geo-locating Father Christmas, who presumably must reach some incredible, missile-like, speeds while traversing the skies. That, or it sees him as a threat to national security. After all, he does still predominantly wear red. Actually the NORAD Tracks Santa site is a glorious celebration of Father Christmas and just a fun place for kids (and adults) to waste a little time. While the primary function appears to be watching the Santa express blaze its trail across the skies, as that all happens at night (when most of us are asleep) the builders of the site have opted to include a few other distractions. These include a collection of Christmas themed songs, just like Google's tracker.
Plus, like Google's tracker, there are arcade games to play throughout December, one unlocked each day on an advent calendar.
The tradition of NORAD tracking Santa's flight began back in 1955 when a misprint in an advertisement ended up with children calling NORAD (or rather it predecessor CONAD) by accident to ask where Santa was. Colonel Harry Shoup, showing a considerable good grace, had his staff check to see where the sleigh currently was, and another Christmas legend was born.
If you prefer a more journalistic approach to the sleigh preparations and social conditions in Santa's toy workshop, then Santa Update is the place for you. This site covers the news that somehow gets missed by the wider media outlets, including radio interviews with well informed elves speculating about a strange, large building with no name in which Mr Christmas is storing something mysterious.
Santa update has also broken several stories regarding sleigh flight testing in Malaysia, speed trials through Russian airspace, and random sightings over Japan where St Nick is thought to be conducting reconnaissance missions. Any disgruntled elves out there that wish to blow the whistle on any Santa scandals can also send their reports directly to the site for publication. The real highlight though is the live radio broadcast set to take place during the big night, which Santa insiders have revealed is being called 'Operation Merry Christmas' by big beard himself.
Part of Santa Update is Elf HQ, which handles messages to Santa and the elves online.
There are email addresses on the site for you to contact St Nick directly and ask him his true intentions. While you're there can you put in a good word for us too? We have been really, really good this year, and would love a Microsoft Surface Pro 4.
2016-12-23 06:28 Martyn Casserly www.pcadvisor.co.uk
Total 27 articles.
Created at 2016-12-23 18:01