Itching for some fresh fun with your Android phone? Look no further, because our weekly Five to Try column rounds up the week’s biggest new app and game releases, as well as the most impactful updates. In fact, it’s the updated version of Minecraft that leads this week’s roundup, as the new Play Together edition connects various platforms with both solo and multiplayer benefits.
Elsewhere, XOutOf10 is a freebie gag app that mimics the upcoming iPhone X’s rather distinctive top screen notch, MyNBA2K18 turns basketball into a competitive card game, Apple Music adds some needed features, and Terra Battle 2 offers up an even larger fantasy role-playing adventure to dive into. Hit the Play Store and check these apps out this weekend!
IDGFind busy online servers with ease via the new update.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition isn’t the Pocket Edition anymore—it’s just Minecraft ($7). Why? Because now there’s parity between the Android version and the other computer and console editions available today, as they’re sharing the same codebase. And more importantly, now they’re all connected together via the new Play Together update.
Released this week, Play Together links together several versions of the game, including Android, Windows 10, iOS, Xbox, and VR, with Nintendo Switch support on the horizon. Now you’ll be able to start your game on one device and pick it up on any other, plus the unified approach makes it easier to get online and play with lots of other people on public servers. It’s still the familiar Minecraft at core, of course, but now it seems a whole lot larger on Android.
IDGThe “notch” might not look perfect on every phone, but… well, you don't really want to use this all the time, do you?
The upcoming iPhone X looks to be Apple’s larger threat against high-end Android phones, more so than today’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, but there’s something a bit… odd… about the screen. It’s the notch. Apple’s phone has a new front-facing camera system with an infrared sensor, and it needs a decent chunk of space on a phone that’s otherwise all-screen on the front—so Apple wrapped the screen around an empty, black notch at the top.
And now you can simulate Apple’s curious notch with the XOutOf10 app, which puts a constant faux camera array at the top of your screen. Why ever would you want such a thing? You wouldn’t, practically, but as a simple (and free) gag app, it’s pretty funny. Use it to playfully taunt (or dissuade) any pals who are holding out for iPhone X.
We’re still waiting for NBA 2K18 to hit Android after launching on other platforms this week, but if you’re a big hoops fan, at least you can check out MyNBA2K18 in the meantime. Its main attraction is a card-based game that lets you amass a team of NBA stars and then try to outmatch other players in head-to-head battles. Amusingly, you’ll see the cards on the court (not the players), but they'll still block shots and nail audacious dunks. The whole thing is strongly freemium, however, and you’ll need to spend plenty of time and/or money to find success here.
If you play NBA 2K18 on a console or PC, then the app also serves a second purpose as a companion for the main game. You can use it to snap your photo to create a custom player, for example, or earn extra in-game currency to use in the console experience.
IDGApple Music is now more fully-featured on Android.
This week’s release of iOS 11 brought a bunch of new features and tweaks to iPhones and iPads, but Apple also took the opportunity to enhance its Apple Music app on Android. The latest version brings a couple of pretty significant updates that address previous omissions. For example, now Apple Music has voice search, letting you say “OK Google” or hold your phone’s home button to request songs, artists, and more.
The new update also adds an optional home screen widget, plus it brings some new social functionality that lets you link up with friends to share playlists and see what they’ve been listening to. It’s not exactly a revival of Apple’s reviled Ping feature from iTunes years back, but really more akin to what Spotify offers for paired-up pals. All told, however, this is a pretty meaty update for Apple’s streaming music app.
IDGGet tactical with this new fantasy role-player.
Hironobu Sakaguchi created the original Final Fantasy 30 years ago, spawning one of the most beloved franchises in all of gaming. These days, his Mistwalker studio has found another success on mobile with Terra Battle, a streamlined, free-to-play take on tactical role-playing. After notching more than 2.5 million downloads of the original, Terra Battle 2 is here with some tweaks to the formula.
As before, the head-to-head fights take place on a grid-based battlefield using character tiles, which you’ll move around to trigger attacks and abilities. But now there’s an open world map outside of combat, letting you explore the environment and find new fights as you please, as well as freely arrange your characters for a strategic edge in battle. It’s still a free-to-play game, but the first one found plenty of fans, and there’s been some solid hype surrounding this sequel.
By Seth G. MacyHave you ever heard the saying, “There's no such thing as bad pizza?” No matter what, pizza's good by virtue of being pizza. A similar thing could be said for the many different versions of Minecraft. There really isn't such a thing as “bad Minecraft,” just versions that aren't as good as the others. That's why, in spite of its many shortcomings, the New 3DS version is still an enjoyable Minecraft experience, even though it's not a great version.
Fitting Minecraft onto the New 3DS is not without its sacrifices, and if nothing else, those sacrifices make up the biggest problems with this new portable version. Graphically, it's unmistakably Minecraft, but draw distance takes a major blow. I found my time in my Minecraft world almost claustrophobic, even on the surface. I had to make sure to pay close attention to my map early on because if I got a few dozen blocks away from my shelter, it would disappear into the fog. Draw distance looks to be about five chunks, putting it on par with the Vita version. It definitely hindered my desire to explore my surroundings and risk being unable to find my way back home.
Controls in this version also take some getting used to. The jump button isn't easily tapped when maneuvering with the New 3DS's right stick, but thankfully there's an auto-jump option in the menu. Moving around with the right stick feels odd at first, and it never really settled into a place that felt great. Shoulder buttons control actions, like using crafting tables and swinging a pickax, which allows movement while performing actions. Like all the other console versions, the guesswork is gone from crafting thanks to a provided list of items you can create. I feel like this takes away some of the magic of Minecraft, but for the benefit of at a glance convenience.
There are so many different ways to play Minecraft, and the 3DS version fails to set itself apart.
All of the crafting and inventory management is handled on the touchscreen, and it’s exciting that this version takes advantage of that when the Wii U port didn’t. It definitely streamlines the process of moving and crafting things in the inventory, but the small screen size makes it feel cramped. To fully see what's in a chest requires scrolling down, and double chests require double the scrolling. Oddly, if you aren't showing an empty row on the screen, it won't allow you to put more items into the chests or inventory even if there's room. I found this frustrating when managing my items after a mining session, as I just wanted to dump off my stuff and get back to the search for diamonds.
There are also two huge, head-scratching omissions from the New 3DS version of Minecraft: the Nintendo skins and texture packs that were included on the Switch version. It's especially odd given the fact there are other skins and texture packs included: Biome Settlers Packs 1 and 2, Redstone Specialists, Journey to the West, and the Holiday Skin Pack from 2015. While I definitely enjoy being able to fight back the zombie hordes in a full Santa Claus outfit, it would have been better to battle and mine as Waluigi. The two texture packs included, Plastic and City, are also an unusual fit.
Perhaps the most disappointing feature missing from Minecraft for New Nintendo 3DS is the lack of 3D. It would be amazing to feel a sense of depth in the Minecraft world, and would be the only official 3D version – unless you count VR on the PC. Supposedly, it's going to be added in a future patch, and having that feature alone could do a lot to help make up for its other current shortcomings.
Another rough part of Minecraft on New 3DS is the auto-save system, which pauses gameplay entirely as it writes to the MicroSD card. Thankfully, you get plenty of warning beforehand, with messages not much different to playing on an online server, but it’s still annoying to have the flow of playing interrupted every 20 minutes. Additionally, since it writes to the MicroSD card instead of the system or cartridge memory, saves are tied to the system itself.
The Verdict
I've been playing Minecraft in one form or another, sometimes several at once, since version 0.6 on PC, so I'm happy to report Minecraft on 3DS is still, at its core, Minecraft. It didn't take me too long to settle into a familiar pattern of harvesting, mining, and crafting as I build a shelter I'd inevitably abandon for greener pastures. But there are already so many different ways to play Minecraft, and the 3DS version fails to live up to the standards set by the other versions. It’s not a bad slice of pizza, but there are so many better choices.
The Oregon Trail is perhaps the most beloved educational game ever made — and soon it’ll be getting a new life in schools thanks to Minecraft. A blocky rendition of The Oregon Trail is now available for Minecraft: Education Edition, a version of the game tailored specifically for classrooms. The new Oregon Trail was created by educational publishing company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and features the complete storyline from the original release, as well as a number of new activities that span everything from fine arts to STEM subjects.
It’s also just one of several new partnerships aimed at expanding the educational aspect of Minecraft. Microsoft also partnered with the Roald Dahl Estate recently for a writing competition aimed at elementary and middle school-aged children. The story that won — called Fluffletopolis — is now available as an explorable world in Minecraft. Similarly, the Smithsonian is also contributing to the game, with a new series of lesson plans that utilize Minecraft. “These lesson plans are designed to stimulate STEM activities in a variety of settings,” the institution explains.
“Microsoft Monday” is a weekly column that focuses on all things Microsoft. This week, Microsoft Monday includes details about Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition, a document scanning feature in the Pix app, new privacy controls coming to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, PWAs coming to the Windows Store, full HD capture coming to the Xbox One and much more!
Minecraft Is Now Available On Nintendo Handhelds
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Minecraft for New Nintendo 3DS
Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition is now available on the Nintendo eShop. Plus a physical version will be coming soon. You can play Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition on the New 3DS, New 3DS XL and New 2DS XL. But it will not work for the original Nintendo 2DS, 3DS and 3DS XL. The new Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition has creative mode, survival mode, five skin packs and two texture packs. On the lower touchscreen, you can access the crafting, inventory and mapping tools.
“We want to stress that the game is only on the New Nintendo 3DS series, and we've used all the technical might of the dual-screened wonder machine to give you world sizes of 2016×2016 and 128 blocks high! Multiplayer won't be available at launch but we'll have more to share on the feature later. This edition's closest equivalent is 0.15.4 of Minecraft: Pocket Edition, and we'll be continuing to update from there!” said Mojang in a blog post.
New GIX Building In Bellevue Named After Steve Ballmer
Microsoft is a founding partner of the Global Innovation Exchange (GIX), which is a partnership in science and technology between the University of Washington and Tsinghua University. And Microsoft announced $40 million in financial support when the partnership was announced in June 2015. By providing support, Microsoft was able to decide the name of a new GIX building in Bellevue, Washington. And Microsoft decided to name the building “The Steve Ballmer Building” in honor of former CEO Steve Ballmer.
The Steve Ballmer Building will be welcoming a 44 student batch later this month. And at the grand opening of the Steve Ballmer Building, current CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith were in attendance.
At the building opening, Nadella told a story about when he first met Steve Ballmer in 1992. “Steve stopped by my desk and gave me one of the infamous high fives that only he can do,” said Nadella via GeekWire. “He expressed his immense enthusiasm for me joining Microsoft. I was an entry level guy at that time at Microsoft and here was the CEO walking by my office and sort of giving me this high five. In some sense, I was a changed person after that.” Nadella added that it was a privilege to learn from Ballmer and witness his “contagious ability to create energy in everything he does, the passion with which he approaches all of his work.”
At the event, the GIX also revealed eight members of the new Academic Network: École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Indian Institute of Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, National Taiwan University, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Tecnológico de Monterrey and the University of British Columbia. And there are new members of the Industry Consortium: ARM, Baidu, Boeing HorizonX, and T-Mobile. Plus Hainan Airlines is signed up as a “Valued Partner.”
Microsoft Pix App Can Be Used To Scan Documents
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Pix app update
Microsoft has updated the Pix camera app for iOS to detect when photos of whiteboards, business cards and documents are being taken. Then the app uses artificial intelligence to improve the images by cropping the edges, boosting the color tones and sharpening the focus. The algorithms used in the Pix app are similar to what is used in the Office Lens app. And then you can save the files in OneDrive or convert it into editable files for Word and PowerPoint.
“We have data that shows people are taking a lot of whiteboard photos at work, they are doing a lot of document scanning,” said Josh Weisberg, a principal program manager in the Computational Photography Group at Microsoft’s research group in a blog post.
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update To Include New Privacy Prompts For Apps
According to The Verge, Microsoft is adding some privacy improvements to the Windows 10 privacy controls. In the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, users will be able to see the full privacy statement during setup. And there will be a “learn more” section for every privacy setting during the setup — which will be more understandable. Plus Microsoft will be extending a dialogue box to apps in regards to location-based data. And the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will show prompts for gaining access to the camera, microphone, calendar, contacts and other personal data.
New Redstone 4 Update Reveals Features Coming To Windows Next Year
Last week, Microsoft rolled out a new version of Redstone 4 (Build 16362) to Windows Insiders — which previews some of the features that will be coming to Windows next year. For those of you in the Skip Ahead part of the Windows Insider’s fast ring, you will notice that several improvements have been added to the Windows 10 boot experience, the Windows Shell, the Edge browser, Narrator and the gaming experience.
The lock screen will now display how you personalized it with details like Windows Spotlight, the Calendar, Cortana status, etc. You can customize the Lock Screen under Personalization within Settings. And you can opt out of the personalization feature within the Privacy section of the Sign-in options.
There are also new choices for controlling Narrator. The Narrator feature speaks highlighted text on the screen. You will be able to select the audio channel for Narrator speech output under the Narrator section of Settings. In that section, there is a new option called “Sounds you hear.”
Microsoft Edge has several new improvements like a bug fix that causes multiple apps to crash if users log into Facebook. In some instances, Edge seems to crash after some users try to pin websites to the Start menu. And the build also fixes a number of bugs in the Windows Shell such as issues that affects Action Center and Start.
Progressive Web Apps To Launch On The Windows Store
According to Windows Central, Microsoft announced at the Edge Web Summit 2017 that it will be bringing Progressive Web Apps (PWA) to Edge next year. Microsoft will actually crawl the web for PWAs and add them to the Windows Store. Microsoft Teams will be one of the first PWAs to arrive in the coming months. PWAs can function offline and it has support for Live Tiles and the Action Center.
Xbox One To Be Able To Capture Streams In Full HD
Soon the standard Xbox One Game DVR will be getting an increase to 1080p from 720p at 30 fps. And you will be able to save those full HD recordings to an external hard drive. This is advantageous because it will save storage on your Xbox One and external hard drives previously only worked for saving games and apps.
Currently, this feature is limited to Alpha Insiders. The full HD recording feature should be fully rolled out later this year.
Microsoft To Fix Windows 10 Game Stutter Problem
There are many Windows 10 users that have reported that they are experiencing a stuttering problem while playing Mass Effect, Overwatch and Rocket League. Fortunately, Microsoft is aware of the issue and is actively working on fixing it.
“We have been analyzing the traces from your feedback and have identified several different problem sources surfacing as stutter in games. We have a fix for one of them in the Windows Insider build that flighted to the ‘Fast' ring (build 16273 and above),” said a Microsoft engineer in the Feedback Hub via Neowin. Build 16273 was released on August 23rd and it seems most likely that a patch will be issued to fix the problem shortly after the Fall Creators Update is released on October.
Beware Of Phishing Scams On LinkedIn
According to researchers at Malwarebytes, hackers are actively running a phishing campaign against LinkedIn users. The hackers are using compromised LinkedIn accounts to send messages containing malicious links to victims in order to steal personal information. So far, the hackers were successful at hijacking several LinkedIn users, including many Premium accounts. The malicious files often appear as a Google Drive link in the form of a shortened URL.
Once the user clicks on the link, they will see a login screen that looks similar to the real version of the website. If the user actually enters their Google, Yahoo! or AOL login information, then that information could be captured by the hacker. It is believed that about 250 people clicked through the phishing link so far.
Google Hires Former Skype Engineers In Stockholm
Back in March, Microsoft announced it would be shutting down the Skype office in Stockholm. Variety learned that Google is hiring a number of those former Skype engineers. And most likely, Google will have those engineers work on its messaging apps such as Duo video chat and the Meet video conferencing service.
Bill And Melinda Gates Release Goalkeepers Report
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has released the first annual Goalkeepers report, which will be published every year until 2030. The Goalkeepers report highlights public health milestones and acknowledges that there is a lot more work to do. On the plus side, there have been significant declines in poverty, childhood mortality and HIV infections. But equality for women and family planning has a lot of room for improvement.
“It’s a huge challenge to reach children in countries in conflict or in remote regions hours away from any infrastructure whatsoever. But it’s doable, and it’s more doable now than ever before,” said Melinda Gates in the report.
Bill Gates said that in the early 2000s, the world made a “huge investment” to address the AIDs crisis. However, the outlook for prevention is concerning because the rate of decline in new infections has been slowing down. AIDs has taken the lives of 35 million people, which Bill Gates says the “worst humanitarian disaster” in his lifetime. “A 10% cut in funding for HIV treatment could cost the lives of an additional 5.6 million people,” said Bill Gates in the report.
Microsoft Says There Are 330 Million Active Monthly Edge Devices
“Microsoft Edge users are active on 330 million monthly devices!” said the Microsoft Edge development team in a tweet. During a webinar, Microsoft also said that this number more than doubled since the Edge summit last year. It is unclear what these numbers are based on because it is unknown what the definition of “active” is in this case. And Microsoft used the words active monthly devices instead of active users.
Xbox One Games Will Not Require A Full Download To Play
According to GameSpot, Microsoft is designing a way to play Xbox One and Xbox One X games while using less hard drive space. The new system is known as Intelligent Delivery and it will essentially split game content into select chunks. And the players will be able to decide which chunks they want to play the game rather than downloading the whole game. This will especially come in handy so users do not have to download substantial 4K digital content for the Xbox One X after buying a game.
Another storage savings opportunity has to do with games with multi-language support. For example, players do not have to download audio assets in languages that they do not want. This is a big storage savings opportunity especially for sports games.
It is unknown when Intelligent Delivery will be arriving. But most likely, it will be released shortly after the Xbox One X launches on November 7th.
Microsoft To Combat Fake News With ‘Fact Check’ Label On Bing
Microsoft is adding “Fact Check” labels to Bing in order to combat fake news. The “Fact Check” labels will inform visitors whether certain news stories have been debunked. This label will either be applied to individual articles or certain websites as a whole.
Microsoft will utilize schema.org ClaimReview markup when scanning pages and stories to determine whether to apply the “Fact Check” labels.
Halo will finally land on a Nintendo platform – in the shape of the Microsoft franchise's Minecraft mash-up pack.
The skin and texture pack has been available in Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of Minecraft for years – but has never been appeared on a rival console.
That will change later this year when Minecraft's new cross-platform version – cunningly just dubbed “Minecraft” – launches.
This iteration of Minecraft is the one Microsoft has dubbed the Better Together Update, which will let Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows 10, Android and iOS, Oculus Rift, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung Gear VR owners all play together. (Sony turned down PlayStation's invite to the party.)
The Halo Mash-up Pack will be available to all of these platforms.
Minecraft's platform-specific DLC has, until now, been a big question mark. It is listed by Microsoft in a recent blog update as something it is “still working on”.
“Custom skins are awesome, and we know you love them! Getting them to work on consoles requires some work on the platform holders' side to enable things like this,” Microsoft wrote. “We're working with them to get everything in place to enable this in a future update.”
The most high-profile example now Halo is sorted is perhaps the Mario Mash-up Pack available in Minecraft on Wii U and Nintendo Switch. Would Nintendo allow it on other platforms? It seems unlikely… but with Halo appearing on Switch, perhaps anything is possible.
In-world advertising is always a fun tactic for gaming brands. And now, Minecraft has gotten into the act, enlisting ad agency 215 McCann to build a giant machine inside the Minecraft world—whose mismatched components serve as marketing for a special update to the popular building game.
For years, the various versions of Minecraft—mobile, Xbox One, PCs—haven’t been compatible with each other. If you build your world on platform, and a friend builds a world on another platform, you can’t visit each other.
For the first time in the history of Minecraft, tens of millions of players will be united across different platforms and devices and able to play together regardless of whether they’re playing on mobile, Xbox One, or Windows 10 PCs.
It’s probably the most significant update we’ve made in Minecraft’s recent history – we’re releasing a new version of the game that lets players on Xbox, mobile, VR and Windows 10 play together!
And not only that! It lets you access oodles of player-made goodness on Marketplace! It lets you take that Marketplace goodness from one device to another! It lets you play your Realm on console (for example), hop off, then pick up where you left off on your phone! It lets you join massive servers, with communities numbering in millions of players and eccentric minigames to suit every taste!
The new update to the game is called “Better Together.” And to help market it, 215 McCann built a colossal in-game machine—which players will soon be able to visit—that embodies this sense of togetherness. The “Togetherness Machine” uses claws to grab pieces of the game’s separate platforms and brings them together in a unified village.
The point is to remind players that they can engage with building and breaking cities in real time with other players on different platforms.
Here’s footage of the Togetherness Machine:
It’s great placement, as the cross-platform capability is good news for existing players at least as much, or not more so, as it is for would-be players. The machine will be available in-game in about a month.
CREDITS Client: Microsoft Xbox Title: “The Togetherness Machine” Agency: 215 McCann Chief Creative Officer: Scott Duchon Creative Director: Neil Bruce Copywriter: Andy Holdeman Art Director: Zach Lepine Editor: Carson Bell Producer: Sarah Sweeney Director of Integrated Production: Alex Spahr Business Director: Peter Goldstein Account Director: Drew Porter Account Executive: Sam Brody Group Strategy Director: Brian Wakabayashi Strategy Director: Cassidy Wilber Communications Strategist: Amy Tucker Production Company: Blockworks Recording Studio: One Union Recording Mixer: Joaby Deal Original Music: Robot Repair
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