The Next Web |
- Xbox One to get Twitch game streaming on March 11, just in time for Titanfall
- Microsoft reportedly wants a piece of Dailymotion’s video pie
- Outread now helps you speed-read from your iPad
- BlackBerry returns to its roots with new enterprise security features for BBM
- Add an eyecatching finish to photos with Macphun’s new Focus 2 Pro for Mac
- Last-minute night out app YPlan arrives in San Francisco with Noise Pop partnership
- Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX tablets go on sale in China, priced from $278
- BlackBerry announces Q20 and Z3 smartphones, arriving this year
- Spotify’s Windows Phone app is finally getting a refresh, while free version is coming soon
- Line says it added 2m users and saw ‘record’ growth in US/Europe following WhatsApp outage
| Xbox One to get Twitch game streaming on March 11, just in time for Titanfall Posted: 25 Feb 2014 04:10 AM PST  Twitch will bring video game streaming to the Xbox One on March 11, according to the Associated Press (AP). The feature, which is already available on the PlayStation 4, will coincide with the release date for Titanfall in the US, one of the most anticipated titles for 2014. The report says the service will allow players to set up their own streams, quickly join broadcasters' sessions and trigger their own broadcasts with Kinect-enabled voice commands. In addition, Xbox One owners will be able to archive game footage from sessions that they've streamed on Twitch. "It's exciting because we've never had the ability to broadcast from a console like this with such a deep level of integration," Emmett Shear, co-founder and CEO of Twitch told the AP. "The concept of being able to join a broadcasters' party is really cool, and it's another step in the direction of interacting more closely with broadcasters." Yesterday, Microsoft announced it would be dropping the price of the Xbox One by £30 in the UK, and offering the same price for a console bundle that included a pre-order of Titanfall. Given the hype surrounding the game and its exclusivity to Microsoft platforms, it's vital that Microsoft is able to market its quality and broad appeal as effectively as possible. With Twitch streaming, it'll now have millions of potential players who can do just that. Read Next: Xbox One review: A multimedia extravaganza that also plays games / Twitch hits 900k unique broadcasters, 12m minutes watched and 6m video game streams each month Image Credit: Miguel Villagran/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Microsoft reportedly wants a piece of Dailymotion’s video pie Posted: 25 Feb 2014 03:54 AM PST Almost one year after the French government reportedly blocked Yahoo from procuring a majority stake in video-sharing site Dailymotion, Microsoft is now reported to be sniffing around the company. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Orange – Dailymotion's largest stakeholder – is in talks with Microsoft with a view towards entering a partnership. Orange Chief Executive Stephane Richard apparently made the remarks on Tuesday, during an interview with French TV channel BFM TV. The Paris-based company claims to be the second biggest video-sharing service on the Web behind – you guessed it – YouTube. Full details of what the deal will entail – if it comes to fruition – isn't yet clear. ➤ Orange CEO Says in Partnership Talks With Microsoft for Dailymotion This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Outread now helps you speed-read from your iPad Posted: 25 Feb 2014 02:49 AM PST  Last month we brought you news on Outread, an iOS app that takes a slightly different approach to other speed-reading apps such as ReadQuick, by displaying a full page of text and highlighting words as your eyes scan across the page. Now, version 1.1. has hit the App Store bringing in a handful of updates – perhaps most notably, Outread has been optimized for iPads. This should prove popular for those who like to catch up with their Pocket, Instapaper or Readability articles on the move. Also, while OutRead initially adopted a yellow highlighter to make key text stand out on the page – this has now been replaced by a dimming function that makes the words on the rest of the page less prominent instead. Other notable enhancements include AirDrop sharing, and an import option for Word, .rtf and .txt documents. And while it's not an enhancement as such, when we first went hands-on with Outread it was priced at $2.99 – this has now been ramped up to $4.99. Related read: 16 apps to help you read on the move This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| BlackBerry returns to its roots with new enterprise security features for BBM Posted: 25 Feb 2014 12:52 AM PST  BlackBerry is going back to its enterprise roots after it announced a set of new security features for BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) that cater to the needs of its corporate users. The company has pushed BBM as a consumer product for some time — launching Android and iOS apps last year — but it says that the 'the eBBM Suite,' which launches this summer, will enable more secure level of communications which corporate customers require. The first feature from the suite is BBM Protected, which BlackBerry says provides end-to-end message encryption of messages, public-private signing and other advanced security technologies. Yesterday, Nokia announced a partnership to put BBM on its Windows Phone devices, emphasizing BlackBerry's consumer play. With 80 million active users, BBM trails WhatsApp and other chat apps, but the enterprise space remains a strong spot for the service. ➤ eBBM Suite: Finally – A Mobile Messaging Platform for the Security Conscious [BlackBerry] Related: BlackBerry announces Q20 and Z3 smartphones, arriving this year Headline image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Add an eyecatching finish to photos with Macphun’s new Focus 2 Pro for Mac Posted: 25 Feb 2014 12:01 AM PST  Macphun Software—maker of Snapheal and FX Photo Studio—has launched a pro version of its Focus 2 photo app for the Mac, designed to enhance the lens blur and tilt shift features photo editors are familiar with from its recent version 2 release. The Pro software will sell concurrently with the standard version, but for $40 as opposed to $12, reflecting a target audience that Macphun hopes will benefit from the new version's additional features. Both Focus 2 products aim to direct the viewer's eye toward the part of the image the photographer wants to emphasize. Such effects are optimally achieved during the initial photo shoot, with an assist from an assortment of lenses. In post production, achieving the same result in Photoshop or Aperture generally require a higher level of editing skill, not to mention some additional cash. The Focus 2 apps offer simple mouse- or gesture-based sliders within a straightforward interface that lets anyone go back and adjust the focus of their photos with real-time previews.  Adjust the size of the blur and the gradual falloff to spotlight the most important part of the photo. The new Pro version also assumes that some users will already own high-level image editing software. Thus, the first change you'll see upon launching Focus 2 Pro is the prompt to install plug-ins to Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Lightroom, and Photoshop Elements, as well as Apple Aperture. In each instance, the plug-in is an adjunct accessed within the host program and launches into its own interface. Plug-in installation is a quick button click—no dragging and dropping files. This new app boosts version 2′s functionality by several orders of magnitude. Alongside new plug-in support, the program features new advanced motion blur algorithms such as motion, radial, linear, and twist and increased control over depth of field (bokeh). You can further fine-tune blurred parts by adjusting the amount, vignette, saturation, highlights, and contrast. Additional controls for the sharp parts of the image include brightness, sharpen, clarity, and vividness. Like the previous version, Focus 2 Pro supports raw images up to a 16-bit.  This tilt shift effect was opened as a Photoshop plug-in, and looks the same as in the standalone program. As with the standard version, Focus 2 Pro contains five major aperture settings targeted to specific types of shots, including Portrait, Nature, Architecture, Macro, and Tilt-Shift. In each module, users visually set and adjust the focal point, blur amount, and falloff parameters. But don't take the software at its word—instead check out all the parameters on your photo to see which one gives the best result. A Custom Focus setting provides even greater control by letting you draw in a mask with an adjustable brush to indicate which parts of the image stay sharp and blurred.  The custom module blurs the entire frame, and you use the masking tool to carve out the sharp focus. Each preset works the same way. There's a pre-defined primary focus and a gradual-falloff focus, and both are adjustable. The Custom setting works the opposite of the other presets: Choosing it applies a blur to your entire photo, and you then selectively paint a mask over the areas where you don't want the blur to appear. Focus 2 Pro removes some adjustments and enhances others. For example, version 2 Pro removes the Auto Fix command, which is a good thing. The crop tool is more intuitive than in the previous version. However, removing the mask in the custom tool still requires a trip to the main menu. It would also be nice if there could be an even smaller brush diameter for delicate mask selections. All the Pro improvements come at a price. Whereas Focus 2 is now $12, you'll have to fork over $40 for the Pro version, a rather large price difference. Focus 2 is still available via the Mac App Store. The Pro version is available via the vendor's website. However, current owners of Focus 2 can upgrade to the Pro version for $20 via the Macphun website. The software will also be available from camera retailers on SD cards by the end of March. Pros: Specialty focus lets you concentrate on composition and artistic rendering, swift performance, a variety of controls, easy to use for both amateurs and pros. Cons: Custom masking is still somewhat unintuitive, smallest brush diameter is too big, large difference in price between standard and pro versions. Image credit: Shutterstock This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Last-minute night out app YPlan arrives in San Francisco with Noise Pop partnership Posted: 25 Feb 2014 12:01 AM PST  YPlan, an app for planning a last-minute night on the town, has announced an expansion into San Francisco, following successful launches in London and New York. In order to make some (pardon the pun) noise as it arrives in SF, YPlan has partnered with the Noise Pop music festival to book tickets, including a couple of exclusive events. Similar to its New York expansion, YPlan has hired a local team in SF to curate events on the app. Designed to answer the question "What should we do tonight?," YPlan offers users a choice of several events that they can purchase tickets to.
As it grows, YPlan is decreasing the time between new city launches. It took roughly a year to expand to its second city, and now it needed just five months for its third. The company has also been successful at reaching locals, with over just 10 percent of users coming from out of town, according to YPlan co-founder and CEO Rytis Vitkauskas. "The scaling model is already starting to work," he said in an interview. "When we decided to go into SF, we only needed to hire a couple extra guys." YPlan launched in 2012 and raised a $12 million Series A last June. It has achieved over 500,000 total downloads and boasts 20 percent penetration among smartphone users in London. The company got its start in London because its founders already had a network of potential hires and investors from working in the city, but Vitkauskas and his co-founder are now mostly based in New York. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX tablets go on sale in China, priced from $278 Posted: 24 Feb 2014 11:58 PM PST  Amazon has launched its Kindle Fire HDX — the latest version of its Kindle tablet — in China, as the company seeks to build on its recent success, which includes topping the Android tablet marketplace. Amazon finally brought its Kindle devices to China in June last year, after plenty of rumors and repeated delays. This time round, Chinese customers haven't had to wait that long for the Kindle Fire HDX to land in the country — Amazon announced it only in September last year.
The tablets, which come in 7- and 8.9-inch sizes, are being featured prominently on Amazon's Chinese website now. The 7-inch tablet Kindle Fire HDX is retailing from CNY1,699 ($278) while the 8.9-inch one costs upwards of CNY2,999 ($491). Comparatively, in the US, the 7-inch model starts at $229 while the 8.9-inch variant costs upwards of $349. The Kindle Fire HDX tablets run an updated version of Amazon's Fire operating system and are powered by a 2GHz quad-core processor from Qualcomm. The screen is a beyond-HD display, with a pixel density of 323 ppi for the smaller version and 339 ppi for the 8.9-inch version. The tablets also boast 100 percent sRGB color accuracy and dynamic image contrast. In addition to being around one-third lighter than their predecessors — Amazon says that at just 374 grams, the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX is the lightest large-screen tablet – the new devices have an 'all-day' battery. In real terms, Amazon says that should give up to 11 hours of mixed use and 17 hours of reading time. Amazon has also introduced the upgraded version of its Kindle Fire HD in China today — which features a faster processor with an HD display and a new lighter and slimmer design, similar to the Kindle Fire HDX. This lower-cost variant retails from CNY1,099 ($178). Headline image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| BlackBerry announces Q20 and Z3 smartphones, arriving this year Posted: 24 Feb 2014 11:43 PM PST  BlackBerry's recently appointed CEO John Chen has revealed that the company plans to launch two new smartphones this year in the form of the BlackBerry Z3 – codenamed 'Jakarta' – and the BlackBerry Q20. The company made the announcement at Mobile World Congress on Tuesday, confirming that the Z3 is first set to go on sale in Indonesia in April this year and is set to cost less than $200. The 3G version of the device will then be offered more widely, with an LTE model planned for release at a later date. The 5-inch display-equipped Z3 will arrive running BlackBerry 10.2.     The second device announced today is the Qwerty-equipped BlackBerry Q20, a follow up to its Q10 device released previously. Chen said the aim of the Q20 was to "return productivity to the professional". He also said the device will go on sale before the end of the calendar year. In pursuit of this, the company is integrating the 'Menu', 'Back', 'Send', 'End' buttons and trackpad to be "an integral part of the device and user interface, enabling fast, precise navigation and a natural workflow within and between apps". In addition to announcing the two mid-range models, Chen did confirm that the company was working on new high-end devices too, but couldn't share any details at this stage. When quizzed over the possibility of the company introducing wearable devices, Chen said it wasn't in BlackBerry's immediate future, or "at least not yet". Featured Image Credit – Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Spotify’s Windows Phone app is finally getting a refresh, while free version is coming soon Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:15 PM PST
The update, announced today, will see Spotify's Radio, Browse and Discover features finally landing on the Windows Phone app — which means users will get to listen to personalized radio stations, browse through what is hot and new on the service, and gain access to various ways to discover new music. It will also bring "significant improvements" — presumably to the user interface — and a brand new design. The updated app will only be available for Spotify Premium subscribers at the beginning, but the company says that its recently-announced free, ad-supported and shuffle-mode mobile streaming service — which is available to all users — will come to Windows Phone soon. Image via Mario Tama/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Line says it added 2m users and saw ‘record’ growth in US/Europe following WhatsApp outage Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:58 PM PST  Telegram appears to be the early winner of WhatsApp users fleeing following its proposed sale to Facebook and four-hour outage this weekend, but it seems there are also beneficiaries in Asia too. Line, a chat app from Japan that claims 360 million registered global users, says it netted two million new users and saw "record-breaking" growth outside of Asia within the 24 hours that followed WhatsApp's downtime. Though not as impressive as Telegram, which bagged 5 million downloads in one day and has topped app stores in 48 countries, the details revealed by Line are interesting for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Telegram models itself on WhatsApp. The user experience, the features and more follow the same pattern, only with a stronger focus on security — as its Twitter account bio testifies.
Those similarities make Telegram an obvious WhatsApp replacement, but Line is less similar and goes well beyond a basic messenger. WhatsApp just announced plans to add voice calls, but Line has long offered voice/video chat, Vine-like short video capture, stickers and more. Aside from those chat features, it also provides a games platform, an opt-in to get messages from brands, and it is dabbling in e-commerce. Secondly, it appears to be making ground in new geographies. Line is strongest in Asia — it is dominant in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand — but it says that "new daily register users spiked at a rate of five times more than usual in North America, South America and Europe." Without raw figures its difficult to know whether this bump was anything more than growth from a small user base. That said, any increase in the US market is notable since it remains unclear whether Line's more complicated, 'Asiafied' user experience will appeal to smartphone owners there. We know from talking to the executive in charge of its international expansion plans that Line is focusing its efforts on Europe and Latin America right now — while it is still growing in Asia — so any progress it can make in the US at this point will be a bonus. A statement from Line focused on the service's reliability, which was recently illustrated in Korea when Line downloads jumped after dominant Korean app Kakao Talk suffered an extended outage. A Bloomberg report published today suggests Japanese operator Softbank is interested in investing in Line at an estimated $14.9 billion valuation, while the company has long been tipped to go public. Either option could provide funding to further the company's international expansion plans. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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