Monthly Archives: March 2015

Job Simulator, One of the First SteamVR Games Announced

Job Simulator is a new immersive virtual reality experience set in an arguably utopian future from developer Owlchemy Labs and one of the first games revealed for Valve’s SteamVR project.

Set in a future where automated society has made human occupations obsolete, the simulation challenges players with following instructions from the sentient “keeper of human history,” Job Bot, to learn how "to job."

“Robots cook, clean, service, and rule organize the world with precision and speed. Human occupations are now memories of the past; long gone are the blue collar jobs that ran the old world,” the game’s description reads. “Humans raised in our perfect automated society must not forget their useless ancient ancestors and history. This is why Job Bot was born. Job Bot created Job Simulator to teach humans what it is 'to job'. All praise to Job Bot, for he is the keeper of human history.”

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Netflix’s Product Placement Deals Revealed

Netflix may not feature traditional advertising, but that doesn't mean it's exempt from a little product placement.

Advertising Age has confirmed that global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev signed a deal to be the exclusive beer brand for the third season of House of Cards. The company will not be paying for the placement, Ad Age reports, but will supply the production with a healthy stash of Stella Artois, Budweiser and its Shock Top brands as part of a relationship that began back in Season One.

The publication also reports that Samsung has struck a deal with Netflix, which secured its devices as the tech-of-choice in House of Cards. Although there was no official confirmation of the deal, it's a rumour strengthened by a promotion earlier this year that saw Samsung offering Netflix subscriptions to consumers buying selected Samsung products.

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James Bond Mode Hidden in Tesla Model S Settings

Tesla Model S owners have discovered a secret setting that will change the car pictured on the on-screen display into the Lotus Esprit submarine from the 1977 Roger Moore Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.

Owners need only hold down on the “T” logo at the top centre of the screen (which brings up the technician login) and enter “007” as the access code.

The Easter egg is reportedly part of a Model S software update released almost a year ago.

Tesla founder Elon Musk purchased the real custom-built Lotus Espirit submersible at auction back in 2013 for £550,000 and, at the time, expressed his intention of adding a Tesla powerplant and rebuilding the vehicle so it can actually transform from a car to a sub in the way the movie depicted.

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The Past, Present and Future of Adventure Games

In Arthurian legend it’s written that King Arthur created a giant round table so that his knights could come around to the castle and chill out, drink mead, and shoot the breeze. Being round in shape meant that there was no official head; everyone who chose to sit down had an equal voice. And without having to worry about order or stature or hierarchy, he would famously say, “Dudes, it’s just Arthur here. Or Art. Even Arty will do. Actually, no. Don’t call me Arty.”

Anyone who was anyone in Camelot would come and enjoy the freewheeling conversations that took place at the Round Table – as it was cleverly known, and it was here that everything from sedimentary sword extraction to how to properly groom a horse were discussed openly. Except for Merlin, who by this point had heard the Sword in the Stone story a few too many times and took to protest by staying in his tower working on new potions.

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Power Rangers Bootleg Fan Film Back Online

Following legal disputes and outcry from fans (including original Green Ranger Jason David Frank), producer Adi Shankar's controversial Power Rangers fan film is back on YouTube and Vimeo.

According to Deadline, the gritty Power Rangers fan film is back online with the following disclaimer from Shankar:  “Deboot of the Power Rangers. My take on the FAN FILM. Not a pilot, not a series, not for profit, strictly for exhibition. This is a bootleg experiment not affiliated or endorsed by Saban Entertainment or Lionsgate nor is it selling any product. I claim no rights to any of the characters (don’t send me any money, not kickstarted, this film is free). This is the NSFW version. An alternate safe version is on youtube.”

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Fantastic Four Director Talks Johnny Storm’s Race

Fantastic Four director Josh Trank has opened up on his decision-making behind his seemingly contentious casting, and the grittier tone he's taking with his reboot.

Speaking with Empire (via JoBlo), Trank was candid about the casting of Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm aka Human Torch, a white character in the comic books, and a black character in the reboot. While some of the film's detractors are quick to call "political correctness", Trank's reasoning is much more simple: it's the 21st century, and Jordan was the right guy for the role.

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HTC One M9 Announced at MWC 15 Today

Today HTC unveiled its HTC One M9 at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona. The new phone "melds the best" design features of the HTC One M7 and M8, according to the company.

The metal edges of its new phone "combine perfectly with graceful curves for a jewellery-grade look," HTC said. It features an all-metal unibody design and is accented with a silver and rose-gold finish.

Aesthetically, it's definitely a nice looking phone, and it faces stiff competition in the looks-department from Samsung's newly announced Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, which also feature updated, sleek designs that blend glass and metal together.

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Samsung Announces Gear VR for Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge

Samsung announced the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition, its wearable VR headset for use with its newly revealed Galaxy S6 and S6 edge phones.

"Gear VR Innovator Edition lets users engage with high resolution movies, TV shows," video on demand services and photos, according to Samsung. The headset also supports VR gaming, so long as you provide the Android-compatible controller.

Samsung first revealed its Gear VR headset in September of 2014. The Gear VR went on sale in December for $200 USD and the previous version of the Innovator was only compatible with the Galaxy Note 4. The updated version is optimized for "both the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, and its 5.1- inch Super AMOLED display," Samsung said.

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Arrow: How Nyssa al Ghul’s Journey is Changing

Note: Spoilers for Arrow up through the February 25th episode "Nanda Parbat" follow.

The latest episode of Arrow found Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law) return to Starling City, where she fought and defeated Malcolm Merlyn, only to be captured herself by Oliver Queen. Thea Queen then confessed she was the killer of Nyssa’s love, Sara Lance, and freed her from her cell, with Nyssa's next move yet to be seen. But meanwhile, over in Nanda Parbat, Nyssa’a father Ra’s al Ghul was asking Oliver to take over as his successor…

So how will Nyssa, previously referred to as the Heir to the Demon, react to her father passing her over like this? Katrina Law and Arrow's executive producers gave us some ideas at a recent press Q&A.

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Samsung Announces Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, Samsung Pay

Korean electronics maker Samsung announced its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge today in Barcelona. The phones are set to launch in tandem with Samsung's new mobile payment service, Samsung Pay.

According to Samsung, the new design required "first-of-its-kind glass crafting technology," with screens made of Corning's newest Gorilla Glass 4. Today's announcement verifies a leak earlier in the month which said Samsung would release two new versions of the S6.

The all metal and glass phones will come in 32, 64, and 128GB models and have a 577ppi display, which puts it just above the Galaxy S5 as far as pixel density is concerned. Powering the phone is a 14nm Octacore application processor running Android Lollipop. The phone features a 16MP rear and 5MP front-facing camera at f/1.9, which means it's wide-open for low light capabilities.

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