Geek News

After years of being an exclusive for Amazon hardware, the company's FreeTime Unlimited service is now available on iOS devices. The service houses thousands of children's TV shows, books, and movies. FreeTime first became available to other Android devices last year — four years after the app's initial launch. The app offers content from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, and Disney, but the experience is slightly different on an Apple device than on an Amazon one. On a Kindle, for example, parents are able to adjust the settings in a way that would keep kids from exiting the app. Apple doesn't allow third-party apps to control an entire device in that way, so parents may have to be a little more cautious if they share their iPad or other personal... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2KcBmrK ...

Amazon's kid-friendly FreeTime Unlimited first launched onto Fire devices in 2012. The curated video and book service made the jump to Android last year and has just landed on iOS . It brings with it the same features as on other platforms, including parental controls, popular characters and a monthly fee. FreeTime gives your kid unlimited access to more than 10,000 age-appropriate books, movies and TV shows with characters from Disney, PBS Kids, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., Marvel and some Amazon Originals. Parents have access to a dashboard that lets them see what their children are reading and watching for the past 90 days. There are some discussion starters, too, that will help prompt you to chat with your kids about what they've seen and read. You can create up to four different child profiles, each with its own age range, and can switch between them easily....

Valve has announced that it's shipping a new version of its experimental SteamVR "Knuckles" controllers to developers, and it's posted a lot of detail about the controllers online, including video of a Portal -themed playground for testing them. The Knuckles EV2 substantially updates Valve's earlier design, and although it's not a consumer product, it's looking more polished — and even less like the earlier Vive controller. The Knuckles controllers, originally shown off in 2016 , give users a fuller hand motion range than most VR controllers. Instead of holding them, you strap them around your hand, so you can open and close your fingers normally without dropping the controller. Capacitive sensors detect when individual fingers are... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2IiGSY8 ...

Remember how Elon Musk casually mentioned that Tesla had built a new assembly line in just three weeks to help it meet its lofty Model 3 production goals? It was more audacious than you might have thought. A combination of follow-up tweets from Musk, first-hand observations and Fremont's own approval process has made clear that Tesla built new manufacturing inside a group of several giant tents (or rather, tent-like Sprung structures ) to boost output of its high-volume EV. If you think that sounds audacious, you'd be right. Ars Technica learned that each 'tent' is 150 feet long and 53 feet high, and there's no known instance of other car manufacturers doing this before. The Fremont approval gave Tesla six months, although it could extend that permit further if it wanted. And there's a real chance it might become permanent. Musk claim...

The defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox says it will start paying back the people it owes money perhaps by next year, according to an announcement today from the exchange's trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi . The exchange grew quickly between 2010 and 2014, until an attacker slowly drained the exchange of bitcoins, forcing it to file for bankruptcy. Now, Mt. Gox's bankruptcy proceedings have been paused so that the exchange can pay off its debts. Creditors seeking to be paid back in bitcoin will receive bitcoin back, which could now be worth more than it was when Mt. Gox declared bankruptcy. At the time the bankruptcy proceedings started, bitcoin was worth $440 per token. Bitcoin is worth more than $6,100 per token at the time of writing. Kobayashi... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2Kgdy9U ...

Snapchat updated its camera-equipped Spectacles today to allow users to export video in a non-circular format. That's a massive change in how Snapchat thinks about its glasses. The company launched the sunglasses with the idea that the circular format allowed users to rotate their phone (in Snapchat) to view more of a scene. Keeping it circular in the export process limited the recorded video's appeal on other platforms, like Facebook-owned Instagram, helping to optimize the experience exclusively to Snapchat. But now, users will also have the choice to export their videos in a square or "widescreen" format. For non-circular shots, it seems that Snap just zooms into the original circular footage. Snap The update... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2KeMYe9 ...

Nearly a decade ago, I had the good fortune of being one of the last people to interview the founder of Commodore International, Jack Tramiel (famous for Commodore computers and the popular C64), before he passed away. At 83 he died from heart failure after pioneering the consumer market for personal computers and home gaming, and working toward changing people's lives for the better through technology. What few people knew, and what I discovered in our interview, was that the foundational concept driving the Commodore 64 was Tramiel's vision for a future in which the Holocaust and its concentration camps (from which Jack survived but his father did not) would never be able to happen again. In our interview Mr. Tramiel told me: I made the market for the computer youth-driven. I went around the world meeting young people in computer clubs and showing t...

A month ago, studio Dontnod revealed that its graphic adventure game Life Is Strange had sold 3 million copies -- and a sequel was on the way. Apparently it was pretty far along when they made the announcement. The first episode of Life Is Strange 2 is coming out on September 27th, with four more to follow. Episode 1 of #LifeisStrange2 will release on September 27th 2018. Further information about @DONTNOD_Ent 's #LifeisStrange2 will be revealed this August. pic.twitter.com/Jml0977VS1 — Life is Strange (@LifeIsStrange) June 22, 2018 That's all we know, but if you're itching for more of the world before then, at least the studio is releasing a free game next week, The Adventures of Captain Spirit , that was announced last week at E3 and takes place in the Life Is Strange universe. You can preorder the first episode of the sequel when Ca...

Arena of Valor was one of the biggest games at E3 this year, you just didn't know it. Like Super Smash Bros Ultimate it was featured in the Nintendo Direct broadcast , and, like Smash there was also a giant tournament featuring the game in downtown LA last week. It's also the biggest mobile game in China , free to play and backed by Tencent . Should you want in on the Switch version's closed beta that runs next week Thursday (June 28th) through July 12th -- a full two weeks -- you can sign up right here. Previously the game had a European beta, and this next test phase is exclusively for the European and North American regions. Participants will unlock an exclusive skin for fan-favorite mage Krixi. If you're the type to scoff at mobile esports, maybe you should reconsider -- last July the South China Morning Post reported the game had over 200 ...