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Walyou

Using The Sims 4 to Recreate the Show ‘Friends’
5 Need to Know Announcements from Apple’s Big Reveal
Microsoft Prepares to Acquire Majong, Minecraft’s Maker for $2B
Google Buys Lift Labs, Maker of Tremor-Canceling Smart Spoon

Using The Sims 4 to Recreate the Show ‘Friends’

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Sims 4, recently released by EA Maxis, isn’t that different from the previous installations in the series of life simulators. Better graphics, better social interactions. That’s it. You either love the game or you don’t.

Obviously, if you put the effort and time into it, you can create some incredible things. Like what? Like recreating the set of Friends, which includes the two apartments (Monica’s place and Joey/Chandler’s apartment), the coffee shop where they all hang out and also Phoebe’s home.

Is this important to the world? In a way, yes. Friends has been off the air for a very long time, but re-runs are everywhere, and people still haven’t grown tired of the show.

It’s also an excellent way to get people who aren’t that in-love with the video game by trying a different appeal. And it would be fun controlling the lives of the six Friends, at least on a computer screen.

Hat Tip

5 Need to Know Announcements from Apple’s Big Reveal

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 05:00 AM PDT

Yesterday, Apple showed off lots of new, shiny, electronic wares but with so many announcements you may have missed some! Here are all the need to know facts.

Ah, Apple, like the predictability of that burning globe of fire and gas that we call the Sun, we can depend upon the well-known tech company to have a whole host of new reveals for us each and every year. We already had one back in June when they took to the stage of WWDC to show off iOS 8 to the developers preparing to make apps and such for us but Tuesday's press conference is where they wheeled the big guns out. No operating systems and coding info here, oh no, just some impressive stats, some impressive features and a (slightly mixed) bag of new gadgets to play with. There's been lots of talk about what Apple did or didn't say and with the conference running for almost two hours straight, you probably didn't watch it live now did you? Not to worry as we have a list of all the things that you need to know right here.

1. iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus

First of all, there were the iPhones. They are what so many people gathered in that massive auditorium to see Apple talk about and by Jove did Apple deliver. Somewhat unexpectedly, Apple revealed two new iPhones – the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.

The iPhone 6 Plus is the flagship as it will be an inch and a half bigger than the iPhone 5S, will be 50% more energy efficient and it will even be 25% more powerful than its predecessor. In addition to those impressive stats the phone also comes with an 8 megapixel camera that lets more light into photos, has a 'Best Photo' mode and optical image stabilisation too which means that your photos will look as lovely as ever.

The iPhone 6, meanwhile, is the cheaper, smaller version. 4.7 inches in size, the phone does almost everything the iPhone 6 Plus does except it doesn't have the optical image stabilisation feature. It's still a worthy handset though and the price difference will certainly make it a worthy contender.

Both phones go on sale on September 19th.

2. Apple Pay

One of the extra bonus features that Apple surprised us with is Apple Pay. Both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus come with NFC (Near Field Communication) capabilities and what this means is that you can now pay for things wirelessly. Walked into a shop without your wallet? Well that's alright as if you've connected your card and any other relevant payment details to Apple Pay, you can now purchase goods in real life with the press of a button.

Apple are saying that their phones will ultimately replace physical money altogether, which is a pretty bold claim even for them. However, many of their Android competitors have already allowed for this so they could be onto something.

3. Apple Watch

Shockingly, the Apple smartwatch that we all knew was coming isn't called the iWatch! Arguably, Apple Watch is a poorer name in comparison but poorer still is what the smartwatch offers.

Apple talked up the Digital Crown of the Apple Watch that lets us navigate, zoom in, zoom out and use Siri but this appears to be the device's only killer feature. There are games coming to the platform too but is a gimmicky arm wrestling app really worth the money? Furthermore, the Apple Watch is said to suffer from some serious battery issues that people will have to iron out before the 2015 launch, so this is something to think about when forking over the $350 asking price.

4. iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C; Even Cheaper Than Before

Despite the Apple Watch's rather disappointing pricing though, where Apple have gotten it right on the cost front is with last year's iPhone 5S and 5C.

US retailer Walmart recently made headlines by offering the iPhone 5C for under a dollar and now Apple is going one better as consumers can now get the iPhone 5C for free. The iPhone 5C will set you back by $99, not unlike Walmart's pricing, but if you really want to to get the phone and don't think you'll be able to afford the many hundreds of dollars of the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, this is an absolute bargain. As always, you'll be subject to a two year contract, so keep that in mind too.

5. iOS 8 Release Date

We've heard tales of its buggy beta all year but now that the kinks have been rolled out like the smoothest of pastry, iOS 8 is ready to be downloaded by the masses.

As explained before, iOS 8 will have a health and fitness focus (in line with the Apple Watch) signalled by its Health app. Health will combine all of the data from your sleep tracking, diet tracking and workout tracking apps, sticking it in one handy, readily available space for you to peruse and check up on your body. Gym goers are certainly catered too then while everybody else will make use of iOS 8's new practical features such as Siri's new fluency in 22 languages and the fact that the Home screen will now become landscape depending on how you hold the phone.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories, Apple Reveal Why They Reject So Many Apps, Apple Watch Gets Unveiled, Is Surprisingly Unsurprising

Microsoft Prepares to Acquire Majong, Minecraft’s Maker for $2B

Posted: 10 Sep 2014 01:51 PM PDT

In the Minecraft universe, anything’s possible, and Microsoft seems to be well aware of that, as it is in talks for buying Majong, the Swedish company behind the bricks-and-mortar video game.

Two billion dollars may sound like a lot of money, especially since Majong only reported a revenue of $360M last year. The thing is that Microsoft couldn’t care less about how much Minecraft’s developer is making a year. The Redmond giant is more interested in the 50 million-strong user base that global phenomenon Minecraft is currently having. Sure, the Xbox One is great, and ensures a respectable audience, but surely the tech giant wouldn’t mind if it got 50 million more, right? Microsoft adopted a similar tactic in 2011 when it bought the (also Swedish) Skype.

Ironically enough, if Microsoft actually manages to buy Majong, it won’t be getting a developer that makes its games exclusively for PCs, as an Xbox One version already exists. The price varies, the one for mobile being $7, while the PC version is $20. On Xbox One, where Minecraft is a bestseller, the game sells for $20, sign that the Swedish makers were more forgiving with console users.

It should be noted that while not extremely impressive, Majong’s revenue for 2013 was 38% higher than the year before. Now that’s a remarkable progress, and Microsoft probably hopes that the trend will continue next year. The problem is… the game is already extremely popular, so the growth won’t be that spectacular from now on.

What people fear is that as soon as Microsoft buys Majong, Minecraft will no longer get free updates. In other words, all future updates would come in the form of DLCs people would have to pay for, and everything that’s currently appealing about the game would turn to dust.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s new CEO, said about gaming that it is the “single biggest digital life category, measured in both time and money spent, in a mobile-first world.” That could mean that Microsoft intends to shift its focus from consoles and PCs to its tablets and Windows Phone. I’m a bit skeptical about Microsoft’s success in attracting the young crowd to its unappealing mobile OS, but that remains to be seen after Microsoft’s acquisition of Majong, which should take place this week.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Minecraft Star Wars: Episode IV opening sequence, and the Minecraft King’s Landing built by avid Game of Thrones fans.

Google Buys Lift Labs, Maker of Tremor-Canceling Smart Spoon

Posted: 10 Sep 2014 01:23 PM PDT

As proven again and again, Google is genuinely interested in the wellbeing of people suffering from various diseases. By buying Lift Labs, the maker of a tremor-canceling spoon that minimizes the symptoms of some neurodegenerative diseases, Google X gives Parkinson sufferers a reason to hope.

Google X, the search giant’s research lab specialized in moonshots, acquired Lift Labs in the hope that it would help expand its involvement in the biotech industry. The acquisition was announced on Google+ by Lift Labs: “We have news — we’re excited to be joining Google[x], Google’s moonshot factory. We will continue to sell our Liftware system, and Google will enable us to reach even more people living with Parkinson’s or essential tremor who could benefit from using tremor-canceling devices every day.?” Google X later confirmed the deal.

The Liftware system the startup referred to in its announcement is actually a tremor-canceling spoon equipped with sensors that detect such reactions and cancel them by up to 70 percent. Needless to say, people with Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor could benefit a lot from using such devices.

Mountain View isn’t interested only in helping patients cope with the symptoms, but also in preventing diseases, altogether. At least that’s what Baseline, one of the Google X project focusing on the study of the human body, suggests. Calico, another Google X project, looks to find the secret of immortality. I doubt it that if found, such secrets would be shared with the common folk, but at least it’s nice to see that Google gets involved in this field, as well.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is the one who spends more time on such moon shots. This last acquisition might have been stimulated by the fact that Brin’s mother suffers from Parkinson’s and Sergey himself has a genetic mutation that increases his chances of developing the disease.

After buying Lift Labs, Google will obviously allow them to continue to function. On top of that, Google will use its own technology that, along with Lift Labs’, will enable the exploration of additional ways in which neurodegenerative disease patients could be helped.

This is an example that should be followed by companies that have left the impression that they’re only after our money, and don’t care that much if we’re suffering or not.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the smart fork that prevents you from overeating, and the smart contact lens developed by Novartis and Google.