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Walyou

Amazon Buys Double Helix Games, Paves the Way for Its Gaming Console
AT-AT Walker Sled: The Best Transport In Hoth
Fin Is a Ring That Makes a Touch Interface Out of Your Palm
Flappy Bird Shoots To The Top Of Every App Rank
Philly Police To Combat Park Spot Hoarders With Memes

Amazon Buys Double Helix Games, Paves the Way for Its Gaming Console

Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:30 AM PST

The e-tailer somehow confirmed its intentions of launching a video game console in the near future by acquiring Double Helix Games, the studio behind Killer Instinct, among other games.

Why else would Amazon buy a game developer? Having been founded in 2007, Double Helix Games is not among the old ones in this industry, but its team includes people with a lot of experience. This developer is best known for Killer Instinct, a fighting game that was among the launching titles for Xbox One.

As part of the deal, the 75 employees of Double Helix Games will continue their journey through space and time on board of the Amazon spaceship. Since this company resulted from the merger of two Foundation 9 studios, respectively The Collective and Shiny Entertainment, it means quite a lot to have experienced programmers by your side, especially since their portfolio includes such classics as Earthworm Jim, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Sacrifice.

Amazon and Double Helix Games were planning to host a joint recruiting event on February 13th, and that’s when they would have let the world know about this acquisition. In a statement that Amazon made for TechCrunch, the e-tailer said that “Amazon has acquired Double Helix as part of our ongoing commitment to build innovative games for customers.”

Where does Microsoft stand in all this? Well, the Redmond company announced that it would continue working with a new developer to create sequels to the Xbox version of Killer Instinct.

As for the console secretly developed by Amazon, VG247 reported that the e-tailer had a meeting with publishers in which popular Android and iOS games were shown running on a sub-$300 device. The Android-running console will reportedly enable people to both download and stream games. Obviously, the entertainment part wouldn’t be neglected, so expect to have video and audio playback and streaming.

Considering the rumors surrounding this device, I’m not sure if Amazon goes against Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, or against the Steam Machines, which are currently focusing on gaming, with audio/video streaming to come soon. Anyway, it’s interesting to see the direction Amazon will be going with its console. One sad thing about Amazon’s own products is their international availability, but hopefully that will change too.

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AT-AT Walker Sled: The Best Transport In Hoth

Posted: 06 Feb 2014 06:00 AM PST

Just when you thought it couldn’t get better than the AT-AT Walker unit’s sturdy legs when traversing the surface of snowy planets like Hoth, then this happens.

Lansing, Michigan has an incredible tradition of having Annual Cardboard Classic contests, where people can submit their sleds & creations for a prize. Well, the 8th annual contest was held on January 25th, 2014, and on said date, this massive AT-AT walker that doubles as a sled was introduced. The masterminds behind it? Doug Brewbaker, Garret Geiger, and James Groves.

Source: Technabob

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Fin Is a Ring That Makes a Touch Interface Out of Your Palm

Posted: 06 Feb 2014 05:30 AM PST

Bearing some similarities to Tolkien’s One Ring (in that it can control everything), Fin is a wearable that means to become the ultimate gesture based control device.

The hunt for new types of interfaces is never over, and the prevalence of wearable tech certainly helps push things forward. Of course, the main focus is on smart glasses and smartwatches, but rings haven’t been neglected either. Some come with NFC, others with integrated displays, but Fin does more than that. It is actually able to control smartphones, smart TVs and even car radios, provided that they support Bluetooth connectivity.

Here is how the company describes its own product: “Fin is a real life buddy for every individual to do their digital interactions as natural as possible. Fin is a trendy gadget you can wear on the thumb and make your whole palm as a digital touch interface.”

More than a fashion accessory, Fin also acts as a security authenticator. It is waterproof, dust proof and durable, so wearers shouldn’t worry about breaking it. The ring includes a microUSB port used for charging, and I assume that the port is somehow covered to make the product waterproof. The Li-Ion battery is meant to last up to one month, but that shouldn’t be surprising, given the energy requirements of this little gadget.

Rohildev Nattukallingal, founder of the Koch-based RHL Vision Technologies, the developer of the Fin ring, explained the new for a new way of interacting with our gadgets: “People in today’s world are becoming more busy, but still they are wasting a lot of time interacting with their smart devices. Fin removes this interaction gap by allowing users to quickly interact with those devices.”

RHL Vision Technologies is looking for funding on Indiegogo, and set a goal of $100,000. Till now, they’ve raised $24K, and there are 17 days left. As for how much you need to contribute to make sure you get a Fin ring, there are several options: $79 gets you a developer edition with only 5 gestures, while $99 secures a ring for early birds. Various combos and bundles are available for more.

The following video even explains how Fin could be used to help visually impaired people to interact with technology:

Given the high number of blind people in India, the country where this product was developed, emphasizing such features is completely understandable.

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Flappy Bird Shoots To The Top Of Every App Rank

Posted: 06 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST

There’s a new app in town, and it’s blowing everyone’s mind with its quick success. It’s name is Flappy Bird, and some users have called it the “Dark Souls of casual gaming”.

Both Google Play Store and the iOS store have the same app currently topping the charts: the video game Flappy Bird. Its success has taken everyone, even the author, by surprise and is an unprecedented event. What is the app exactly? Well, it’s basically an app with pixel art reminiscent of Super Mario Bros on its SNES incarnations, but with gameplay akin to that of Jetpack Joyride, except that with an extremely, unprecedented level of difficulty. The game was released for iOS in May of 2013, and is now more popular than ever. Creator Dong Nguyen is as surprised as we all are by the level of success and said “Press people are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never [wanted],” Well, just enjoy it Mr. Nguyen!

Source: IGN

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Philly Police To Combat Park Spot Hoarders With Memes

Posted: 06 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST

The Philadelphia police has, apparently, found a way to communicate with the citizens it is meant to protect via the use of memes. In this case, the classic “all your base is belong to us”.

While some might claim that the police is sinking too low with this, and catering to the most common denominator, others might say this is a sign of the times, and that they understand how to reach people.Whatever your stand might be, the Philadelphia police decided to use some classic internet memes when tweeting about blocking parking spots.

And indeed, no matter how snowy it is, you shouldn’t block spaces with comes, or the police are gonna confiscate them and tweet about it. So, now you know! Don’t say we didn’t warn you.