Netflix has a lot of shows around games like Floor Is Lava, The Circle or Squid Game. Well now they are giving you games. As long as you have a Netflix sub, and Android phone, and want to play some games then you are in business.

I downloaded a couple and because Netflix is on my phone it auto-logged in and asked me which profile I wanted.

so we’re very excited to announce that Netflix has taken the first step in launching games on mobile globally with today’s launch of five new mobile games:

• Stranger Things: 1984
• Stranger Things 3: The Game
• Shooting Hoops
• Card Blast
• Teeter Up

Please find bellow all the details so you can start playing right away:

• Access – All you need is a Netflix subscription — there’s no ads, no additional fees and no in-app purchases. (Don’t let the demogorgon tell you otherwise.)
• Android friendly – Our mobile games are currently available on Android devices when you log into your Netflix profile.
• Languages – Our mobile games are available in many of the languages we offer on service, so your games will automatically default to the preference set in your Netflix profile. If your language is not yet available, games will default to English.
• Multiple devices – Members will be able to play games on multiple mobile devices on the same account up to your device limit.
• Adults Only – These games are not available on kids profiles. If users have set up a PIN to prevent kids from having access to adult profiles, that same PIN will be required in order to log in to Netflix and play the game on a device.
• Online vs offline – While some mobile games may require an internet connection, others will be available to play offline, to make those long trips and areas with bad Wi-Fi a lot more tolerable.
• Different player abilities – Just like our series, films and specials, we want to design games for any level of play and every kind of player, whether you’re a beginner or a lifelong gamer. 

The post Netflix Games has launched on Android appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

After the confirmation that OPPO is sponsoring the glorious and majestic Nix I bet you thought the year was done. I mean what news could be bigger than that? It’s the most important thing that could happen this year. And if you are reading this in the future son, you being born was a bigger deal. I mean not really, but really.

But back on topic, OPPO has announced their new ColorOS. ColorOS 12 built on… Android 12.

ColorOS 12 aims to provide a seamless experience that’s closer to stock Android 12. It will introduce an all-new inclusive UI, smoother performance, and rich features that help boost your everyday productivity. And hopefully help you achieve a better work-life balance.

So far it is going to release on Find X3 Pro in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. OPPO plans on expanding to more models covering more countries and regions in the coming months.

As to when this hits for NZ, we don’t know yet.

Check out the full unveiling video below. Or the long detailed blurb below that.

Inclusivity Now a Central Theme

Having its presence across 68 countries, touching the lives of 440 million users around the world, Inclusivity has been a central theme in the creation of ColorOS 12. Building on top of OPPO’s Infinite Design concept, which is lightweight, clean and richly and very customizable, the new OS provides a more inclusive experience and comes packed with softer icons, animations and information framework that are friendly to different languages and cultures, and an adaptable framework with different phone formats.

Smoother, Seamless Experience Powering Greater Productivity

Giving users a smooth and seamless experience, the new ColorOS 12 emphasizes both comfort and endurance.

ColorOS 12 has made some achievements in addressing lags and stutters after prolonged usage. They have focused on anti-fragmentation and intelligent resource allocation. This leads to a low 2.75% system aging rate in 3 years, an average of 30% lower memory occupation. This and a 20% lower battery consumption.

Catering to your visual intuitiveness, the Quantum Animation Engine adopts more than 300 improved animations to achieve the animated effects that are lifelike. By imitating physical habits of resistance, inertia and rebound, the feature makes the overall experience smoother and more aligned to the cognition and habits of the human brain so that the experience is more realistic, and intuitive.

Practical features such as PC Connect, 3-Finger Translate powered by Google Lens, FlexDrop and Phone Manager allow ColorOS 12 users stay productive through multiple scenarios.

Prioritized Privacy: Cutting the gimmicks and focusing on the basics

OPPO has been listening to its user feedback and prioritizing privacy on ColorOS. The ColorOS 12 comes packed with all the improved security and privacy features from Android 12. This includes Privacy Dashboards, Approximate Location Sharing and Microphone and Camera Indicators. You are empowereds to be the masters of your own privacy with clear, visualized menus and buttons. On top of that they have introduced the well-received features developed within the OPPO team. These include a Private System, Private Safe, App Lock and others.

Being aware that privacy to users is all about keeping transparency, OPPO has been improving the data compliance through storage and process.

Holding privacy certifications from authoritative organizations such as ePrivacy and ISO27001, the company deploys third-party supervisor in the data security filed to make sure everyday process compliance.

An OS that’s open to the Android developers

Oppo shares the common value of a healthy mutual exchange with our Android partners and contributing on building a culture of openness and technological exchange to enhance both platforms. Of course ColorOS has incorporated many stock Android features, similarly, ColorOS has inspired the customizable trend in Android 12, like the Wallpaper-based Theming system in Material You, which you would be able to find a similar self-developed feature in previous ColorOS editions. Another fine example of this exchange is the App Cloner from ColorOS that now features in Android 12.

OPPO’s ColorOS aims to become a more Android developer friendly OS. In addition to the free camera SDKs covering OPPO’s most advantageous camera capabilities – including Ultra Steady Video Shooting, HDR, Super Wide-Angle, etc., OPPO has further opened its HyperBoost, Color Vision Enhancement to benefit Android app developers and enhance the Android ecosystem. 

ColorOS 12 Rollout Plan

OPPO will first roll out ColorOS 12 public beta today in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. This starts with just the Find X3 Pro 5G. Rollouts will then continue step-by-step in other countries and on additional devices through the rest of 2021 and 2022. The company aims to bring ColorOS 12 to over 110 models with 150 million users.

OPPO’s Exclusive Upgrade Policy

For the very first time, OPPO is also announcing a major update policy. OPPO devices releasing from 2019 and onwards the company will guarantee a certain number of updates. This comes to three major Android updates for the Find X Series devices, and two Android updates for the Reno/F/K and some of the A Series and a single Android update for the low memory A Series models. Together with four years of regular security patch updates for the Find X Series, and three years for the Reno/ F / K/ A Series.

The post OPPO has unveiled ColorOS 12 appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

The new social media app Go has launched in Auckland.

The social media app can only launch in a place like Auckland at the mo because the idea is you put up your free time and you friends can make plans to go and do stuff.

You know, using your phone’s social features so you can social not on your phone…

Don’t mind this confused old man, just check it out.

You can download it on Android here or iOS here.

The app enables users to:

• See your available friends at different times of the day by sharing if/when you’re free
• Easily make plans in the real world without the complexity of juggling different services by simply selecting available friends in-app
• Curate your feed based on your chosen areas of interest: from coffee and crafts to music
• Trust the platform with your data. Go respects your data and takes many steps to ensure that it is only shown to other users who you want to see it. Any personal data that you share with us is only used to power the platform; it will never be sold to any other company

You can check more out at their website, or if you’re in Aucks download it and start planning your activities.

I wonder if I can block out all my free time for video games….

The post The new social media app Go has launched in Auckland appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Avast, a global leader in digital security and privacy products, has identified a wave of malicious mobile applications in the Google Play Store targeting gamers, particularly fans of the popular Minecraft video game.

These so-called “fleeceware” applications offer new skins, colorful wallpapers, or modifications for the game, but disproportionately charge users hundreds of dollars per month. Avast has reported seven of these apps to Google, but as of this publication they are all still active.

Fleeceware, a relatively new category of cybercrime, offers users an attractive service, usually for a short free trial period of three days. After that, the application will automatically and subtly begin charging excessive costs, up to USD $30 (AUD $40/NZD $44) per week.

Fraudsters expect the user to forget about the installed application and its short trial, or fail to notice the real subscription cost. The reviews will have many 1 or 5 star reviews but nothing in the middle, with a low star rating overall.

“Scams of this nature take advantage of those who don’t always read the fine print details of every app they download. In this case, young children are particularly at risk because they may think they are innocently downloading a Minecraft accessory, but not understand or may not pay attention to the details of the service to which they are subscribing,” noted Ondrej David, malware analysis team lead at Avast.

“We urge our customers to remain vigilant when downloading any app from unknown developers and to always carefully research user reviews and billing agreements before subscribing.”

If you have installed an app that you suspect may be fleeceware, it is not enough to uninstall the app; you must also cancel the subscription directly in the Play Store (Play Store → Menu in the upper left corner → Subscription).

Examples of these apps, and how much they cost the average consumer, are below. For more information, see Avast’s website.

The post Avast warns of fake Minecraft apps appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Let’s be fair; you pay for an antivirus because you value your safety and privacy, and are maybe a teensy bit paranoid. And who can blame you; the world is a scary place, and the internet is CRAZY.

Well, if you’re going down that route, Norton LifeLock isn’t a bad option at all.

First things first; why would you pay good money for an antivirus when Avast is right there, perfectly fine in its free version?

Because you get what you pay for. Obviously.

Don’t you pretend to be me

Norton is a household name when it comes to malware protection, but what’s a LifeLock? Well, Norton and LifeLock are now both part of Symantec, the parent company, and yes that’s too many names.

Look, LifeLock is a cool little bit of identity theft protection, and have been around for years making sure people don’t get financially catfished. While I doubt anyone wants to be me, it’s nice to know there’s a buffer.

With Norton 360 feat. supporting artist LifeLock, you basically get all the stuff you want to protect your privacy mixed together in one big jug. It’s a delicious medley of safety features, and surprisingly easy to navigate.

Hiding all away

Norton 360 allows you to protect all your devices with a patchwork quilt of privacy features. Parental controls, cloud backup, password managers, and VPNs all arrive in a neat little package designed for peace of mind.

That’s right; this version of Norton comes with a built in virtual private network or VPN. Obstensibly these are for hiding your identity when accessing potentially dangerous networks like Starbucks or your local human-hunting club, where there could be some dodgy characters hungry for your details.

It can also be used for less legal things but, ya know, don’t do that.

Handily, this is also available on mobile, where it is arguably more important. I’ll never understand why people don’t have antivirus on the device we do the vast majority of our internetting, but yeah, you need it.

There’s a Password Manager you could use, if you’re unsatisfied with Google storing all your passwords, or if LastPass seems like too much effort. Again, Norton doesn’t really break the mold here, offering much the same as the competition; syncing between multiple devices, generating inexplicably complicated passwords that would probably summon Cthulhu if read aloud, and storing card details for all your MightyApe or Amazon needs online shopping.

It works, though, and that’s all that matters to me.

Wait, isn’t this an antivirus?

Why yes it is, reader. It is an antivirus. But it’s also, to quote Rowan Atkinson, so much more. And all I can tell you is that, while I’ve been using Norton, I haven’t yet gotten a virus… or a warning for one. But I’d chalk that up to be being boring more than them not being picked up.

Running a quick scan was, well, quick. Running a full scan? Put on a pot of coffee and get some ice; I was exceptionally concerned by some of the noises my poor little laptop was making while running the big fella. This was weird, as there was no noticeable slowdown from the other features, even the browser stuff, but the malware scan really went batshit on the processing power.

If you’ve got kids, Parental Controls looks handy, keeping your family safe or, if you have some sort of demon child, protecting the world from your family. This wasn’t really relevant to me, as my cats are unlikely to do anything on the internet I wasn’t already prepared for, but for people with human children this could be good for y’all.

Can’t someone else do it?

Overall, yeah, you COULD get most of what Norton is offering here for free, by cobbling together a bunch of debatably secure programs that will almost definitely require a ton of fiddling around to get working in something resembling harmony. If you want to be the AntiVirus Frankenstein (which, OK, sounds cool as hell), then go for it. But you may not get full protection that way.

For the rest of us, it comes down to budget. Norton 360 with special guest LifeLock is worthwhile, but is it worth what they charge? In my opinion, yes. I’m fundamentally lazy, and simply installing this takes all the guesswork and nitpicking out of securing my data and devices. It’s as close to plug and play as you’re likely to get with this sort of thing, and I’m the sort to pay for convinience. Other features aside, count your devices. That’ll inform what version you should get. Your mileage, and perception of value, may of course vary.

Norton 360 with LifeLock is probably the most complete antivirus slash identity protector you can get. And while that sounds niche, they really do go hand in hand.

The post Norton 360 review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Finally, it’s happened! Sky TV has announced major changes to Sky Sport with sport-specific channels and also completely transformed Fan Pass.

Effective from 1 August, Sky Chief Executive Martin Stewart has announced that all Sky Sport customers will get 12 dedicated sport channels, including:

• Dedicated homes for Rugby, Cricket, Golf and Football – and channels that strongly feature Netball, League, Motorsport and more
• A new Sky Sport News channel
• The two ESPN channels

All 12 channels will be in HD, offering our customers a brilliant viewing experience.

There will be more great features and documentaries, highlights through the Sky Sport Highlights app, and continued access to On Demand sport via an enhanced and improved Sky Go.

There will also be additional pop-up channels for major events like the Australian Tennis Open and Tokyo Olympics Games.

Martin Stewart said “We’re supercharging Sky Sport. The enhancements are designed for the millions of New Zealanders who love sport.

“We already have nationwide reach and a reliable service that we know our customers value. By enhancing the channel line-up we’re giving them even more sport, better content discovery, and in glorious HD as well.

“The depth and breadth of our sports offer is second to none, and we continue to add more. We were delighted to announce our six-year deal with Cricket Australia last week, including the iconic Boxing Day Tests back for the first time since 1987, and there’s more to come.

“Delivering the best sport to our customers and helping our sports partners grow their sport is what we’re here for.

“The Sky Sport News channel is an exciting new initiative. We will have daily news from New Zealand and around the world, expert opinion and analysis, exclusive interviews, and a raft of features to keep every keen sports fan ‘in the know’.”

Sky Sport News will be live from 1 August, and our special local shows will start on 2 September.

The full new channel line-up is:

• Sky Sport News
• Sky Sport 1 – Rugby 24/7
• Sky Sport 2 – Cricket 24/7
• Sky Sport 3 – Home of Netball
• Sky Sport 4 – Home of Rugby League
• Sky Sport 5 – Home of Motorsport
• Sky Sport 6 – Golf 24/7
• Sky Sport 7 – Football 24/7
• Sky Sport 8 – Best of The Rest
• Sky Sport 9 – Best of The Rest
• ESPN
• ESPN 2

That’s not all though, from 14 August Fan Pass will be no more. In its place will be Sky Sport Now offering every single Sky Sport channel available to stream (about time!). And in further good news Sky will allow Sky Sport Now subscribers to watch all their sporting goodness on their TVs.

“Sky was the first company to bring sport streaming to New Zealand, first with Sky Go and then Fan Pass. Fan Pass has efficiently streamed four sports channels 24/7 for the last 4½ years, but we know sports fans are looking for more.

“Today we are supercharging it. We have already delivered cheaper pricing for it, and from 14 August we will replace it with our new sports app, Sky Sport Now” commented CEO Martin Stewart.

“I announced last month that we are accelerating our focus on streaming services. Sky Sport Now is the first evidence of that strategy. It’s a superb sport streaming offer, and we want it to be in hands of every Kiwi sports fan, wherever they are.

“Sports fans are increasingly mobile, and often time poor. Young fans in particular are looking for a range of experiences. Sky Sport Now is one way we can make sport more accessible, exciting and appealing

“We want to delight our customers every day, and we want to be in hands of every New Zealander.”

Sky Sport Now will be available from 14 August, and can be purchased for:

• Week Pass $19.99
• Month Pass $49.99
• 12 Month Pass $39.99 per month

The post Sky goes full stream ahead with major changes to Sky Sport and Fan Pass appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Earlier this morning Apple held one of their live, special events direct from the Steve Jobs Theater. Over the last week Apple has sent out press releases to announce updates to the iPad, iMac and AirPods but it used the beloved purpose built Theater for their biggest announcements of 2019 so far; Apple is attempting to become your one stop shop for TV, Movies, Games and News.

Let’s start with the biggest announcement. The one that will see Apple attempt to take on the likes of Netflix.

Apple TV+

Apple TV+ is being billed as the new home for the world’s most creative storytellers featuring exclusive original shows, movies and documentaries, coming this spring. Apple TV+, Apple’s original video subscription service, will feature a brand new slate of programming from the world’s most celebrated creative artists, including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Octavia Spencer, J.J. Abrams, Jason Momoa, M. Night Shyamalan, Jon M. Chu and more. On the Apple TV app, subscribers will enjoy inspiring and authentic stories with emotional depth and compelling characters from all walks of life, ad-free and on demand.

“We’re honoured that the absolute best lineup of storytellers in the world — both in front of and behind the camera — are coming to Apple TV+,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re thrilled to give viewers a sneak peek of Apple TV+ and cannot wait for them to tune in starting this spring. Apple TV+ will be home to some of the highest quality original storytelling that TV and movie lovers have seen yet.” 

Additionally, Apple debuted the all-new Apple TV app and Apple TV channels coming in May 2019. The all-new Apple TV app brings together the different ways to discover and watch shows, movies, sports, news and more in one app across iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, smart TVs and streaming devices. Users can subscribe to and watch new Apple TV channels — paying for only services they want, like HBO, SHOWTIME and Starz¹ — all on demand, available on and offline, with incredible picture quality and sound; enjoy sports, news and network TV from cable and satellite providers as well as purchase or rent iTunes movies and TV shows all within the new, personalised Apple TV app. 

Beginning in May, customers can subscribe to Apple TV channels à la carte and watch them in the Apple TV app, with no additional apps, accounts or passwords required. Apple TV channels include popular services such as HBO, Starz, SHOWTIME, CBS All Access, Smithsonian Channel, EPIX, Tastemade, Noggin and new services like MTV Hits,with more to be added over time around the world.

The new Apple TV app personalises what viewers love to watch across their existing apps and services while developing a secure and comprehensive understanding of users’ viewing interests. The app will offer suggestions for shows and movies from over 150 streaming apps, including Amazon Prime and Hulu, as well as pay-TV services such as Canal+, Charter Spectrum, DIRECTV NOW and PlayStation Vue. Optimum and Suddenlink from Altice will be added later this year.

Additionally, the Apple TV app will become the new home to the hundreds of thousands of movies and TV shows currently available for purchase or rent in the iTunes Store.

Availability

• Pricing and availability for the Apple TV+ video subscription service will be announced later this spring. 
• The all-new Apple TV app is coming to iPhone, iPad and Apple TV customers in over 100 countries with a free software update this May, and to Mac this spring. 
• Through Family Sharing, users can share Apple TV+ and subscriptions to Apple TV channels. 
• The Apple TV app will be available on Samsung smart TVs beginning this spring and on Amazon Fire TV, LG, Roku, Sony and VIZIO platforms in the future. 
• Later this year, customers with eligible VIZIO, Samsung, LG and Sony smart TVs will be able to effortlessly play videos and other content from their iPhone or iPad directly to their smart TVs with AirPlay 2 support.

Pricing is yet to be revealed so it will be interesting to see what this cost when it hits New Zealand. It is worth noting that most of the TV channels mentioned in the announcement are unlikely to come to New Zealand due to rights agreements, etc, etc. We’ll keep you posted on what Kiwi’s can expect form the service as more information continues to come through.

Apple Arcade

This is the one that is most likely to resonate with Kiwi’s due to the App Store not necessarily having the same restrictions placed on them as Movies, TV and News.

Apple Arcade will be a game subscription service that will feature over 100 new and exclusive games, including original releases from renowned creators Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ken Wong, Will Wright and dozens more. Apple Arcade games will redefine gaming and be curated based on originality, quality, creativity, fun and their appeal to players of all ages. Apple Arcade will give customers the freedom to try any game from its handpicked collection of titles that are all-you-can-play, have no ads, ad tracking or additional purchases, and respect user privacy.

Free games, supported by advertising or in-app purchases, are enjoyed by hundreds of millions of players around the world. Paid games are often critically acclaimed and beloved by the people who play them, but competing with free is hard, so even the best of these games have only reached a smaller audience. With the simplicity of a single subscription, Apple Arcade will bring games like these to the App Store’s more than 1 billion gaming customers. Apple Arcade is the perfect complement to the already enormously popular catalog of free games on the App Store, making iOS the premier gaming platform for players of all ages.

Apple is not just handpicking the games in Apple Arcade, but also contributing to the development costs and working closely with creators to bring the games to life. Made by some of the most critically acclaimed game developers in the world, Apple Arcade games will entertain customers with incredibly fun gameplay and immersive stories, while capturing imaginations with original art and music. The service will feature games from Annapurna Interactive, Bossa Studios, Cartoon Network, Finji, Giant Squid, Klei Entertainment, Konami, LEGO, Mistwalker Corporation, SEGA, Snowman, ustwo games and dozens more.

“The App Store is the world’s biggest and most successful game platform. Now we are going to take games even further with Apple Arcade, the first game subscription service for mobile, desktop and the living room,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We are working with some of the most innovative game developers in the world to create over 100 new and exclusive games to play across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Apple Arcade games will be great for families, respect user privacy and will not have ads or require any additional purchases. We think players of all ages are going to love Apple Arcade.”

Apple Arcade will introduce an innovative way to access a collection of brand new games that will not be available on any other mobile platform or in any other subscription service. Rather than pay up front for each game, a subscription to Apple Arcade will give players the opportunity to try any game in the service without risk. Since every game includes access to the full experience, including all game features, content and future updates, no additional purchases will be required. Every game will be playable offline, and many games will offer support for game controllers. Because subscribers can play Apple Arcade games across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, they can pick up where they left off in a game, even if they switch devices. New games will be added to the service on a regular basis.

Apple Arcade will launch in spring 2019 in more than 150 countries from a new tab on the App Store across iOS, macOS and tvOS. Pricing has not been released but it will be interesting to see where Apple goes with pricing. Microsoft have their Xbox Game Pass available for $10.95 a month but I wouldn’t expect Apple to go that cheap with Apple Arcade, if I had to guess I’d say $19.99NZD but that is purely a guess. In any case it is an exciting development for Apple’s mobile developers and consumers alike. I personally tend to stick to free games, despite seeing what admittedly looks like some seriously quality paid mobile games in the App Store. Having an all you can eat subscription model to the games in the App Store could be enough to tempt me.

Apple News+

So here’s the one that kicked off the special event but the one I’, talking about last and for good reason. The News App isn’t available in New Zealand, there’s no word on when/if it will come to New Zealand and lastly News+ hasn’t been announced as coming to New Zealand. But for those of you who have their iDevices set to a region that has News support then this one is for you.

News+ will be a subscription service that brings together over 300 popular magazines, leading newspapers and digital publishers into a beautiful, convenient and curated experience within the Apple News app. Available in the US and Canada, Apple News+ presents the best and most relevant articles to meet any range of interests from renowned publications such as Vogue, National Geographic Magazine, People, ELLE, The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.

Apple News+ adds an even more expansive collection of high-quality stories to the free experience of Apple News, which is the No. 1 news app and delivers current events coverage from trusted sources.¹ All Apple News users in the US, Canada, UK and Australia can continue to enjoy the free news experience within the app on iPhone, iPad and Mac, including access to Top Stories, Trending Stories and a personalised feed of articles.

“We’re committed to supporting quality journalism, and with Apple News+, we want to celebrate the great work being done by magazines and news outlets,” said Lauren Kern, editor-in-chief of Apple News. “We think the breadth and quality of publications within Apple News+ will encourage more people to discover stories and titles they may never have come across before.”

Apple News+ subscribers can access current and past issues and individual articles from magazines such as The Atlantic, Better Homes & Gardens, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, ELLE, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN The Magazine, Esquire, Food & Wine, Good Housekeeping, GQ, Health, InStyle, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, O, The Oprah Magazine, Parents, People, Real Simple, Rolling Stone, Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Travel + Leisure, Vanity Fair, Vogue, WIRED and Woman’s Day.

In addition, Apple News+ includes The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper. Apple News+ also provides access to premium online publications such as theSkimm, The Highlight by Vox, New York Magazine’s sites Vulture, The Cut and Grub Street, and Extra Crunch from Verizon Media’s TechCrunch.

Apple News+ showcases magazines in richly designed layouts, featuring animated covers, vivid photography and bold typography optimised for iPhone, iPad and Mac. It makes reading articles even more fun, immersive and convenient. In the Today and News+ tabs, subscribers will be presented with individual article and issue recommendations based on both editorial curation and personalised suggestions that maintain user privacy.

“Apple News+ validates the power of premium content from great and trusted brands, and being a part of it makes good business sense,” said Tom Harty, president and CEO of Meredith. “Apple News+ will be an extremely valuable mass platform to attract new paid subscribers to our titles.”

“At Hearst Magazines, we are hyperfocused on creating consumer value through our storied brands, high-quality content and great experiences,” said Troy Young, president of Hearst Magazines. “Apple News+ amplifies our ability to do this in a premium environment with a key audience, elevating the digital magazine experience for millions of iPhone, iPad and Mac users.”

“We’re constantly innovating how we connect with our audiences and bring them the content they crave on the platforms they use every day,” said Bob Sauerberg, president and CEO of Condé Nast. “Apple News+ represents an exciting opportunity to bring a premium experience to millions more readers, so they can enjoy the conversation-shifting journalism, influential points of view and unparalleled visual storytelling they’ve come to expect from our brands.”

“We are proud to work with Apple, a company that believes in the profound importance of journalism and journalists,” said Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp. “The Wall Street Journal is certainly the most trusted newspaper in the US and its coverage of politics, business, economics, national news and lifestyle issues is nonpareil. We expect through the Apple platform, our journalism will reach and inform many more millions of readers, viewers and listeners around the country and the world.”

“Apple News+ provides a perfect platform for our expanded coverage of news, analysis and opinion,” said Norman Pearlstine, executive editor of Los Angeles Times. “We share a world vision that is informed by our California roots and by our common commitment to innovation and excellence.”

Pricing and Availability
Apple News+ is available today in the US for $9.99 a month and in Canada for $12.99 a month. Customers can sign up for a free one-month trial, and the plan automatically renews after the trial ends. To sign up for Apple News+, customers must update to iOS 12.2 or macOS 10.14.4. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share one Apple News+ subscription. Apple News+ will be available in the UK and Australia later this year.

This is the one I’m least excited about. I’m not really a big news/magazine guy. Even if News+ (or News) was available in New Zealand I’m just not sure I would use it much and I can’t see myself paying a subscription fee for it. Why? Because I prefer browsing the web for my news and stories. Why pay for something that I can get for free?

And that’s it folks, which services are you most excited for? Tell us in the comments below.

The post Apple Announces Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and Apple News+ appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

In alarming news, Symantec has revealed that they have found eight apps on Microsoft’s app store that mine the cryptocurrency Monero without the user’s knowledge.

In January, Symantec discovered several potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) on the Microsoft Store that surreptitiously use the victim’s CPU power to mine cryptocurrency. Symantec reporting these apps to Microsoft and they subsequently removed them from their store.

The apps — which included those for computer and battery optimisation tutorial, and video viewing and download — came from three developers: DigiDream, 1clean, and Findoo. In total, we discovered eight apps from these developers that shared the same risky behaviour. After further investigation, it is believed that all these apps were likely developed by the same person or group. Possessing these cryptocurrencies can be a very lucrative practice to become involved in, as you can then begin to trade these virtual commodities on online trading platforms such as cryptoevent.io. However, it is usually very costly to mine these cryptocurrencies, which is why many people will revert to less conventional means of mining them.

Users may get introduced to these apps through the top free apps lists on the Microsoft Store or through keyword search. The samples found run on Windows 10, including Windows 10 S Mode.

As soon as the apps are downloaded and launched, they fetch a coin-mining JavaScript library by triggering Google Tag Manager (GTM) in their domain servers. The mining script then gets activated and begins using the majority of the computer’s CPU cycles to mine Monero for the operators. Although these apps appear to provide privacy policies, there is no mention of coin mining on their descriptions on the app store. If you own any cryptocurrencies and you’re worried that yours may be hacked and stolen from you, you may want to look into your own personal cryptocurrency offline wallet as an added layer of security.

Mitigation

Stay protected from online threats and risks by taking these precautions:

• Keep your software up to date.
• Do not download apps from unfamiliar sites.
• Only install apps from trusted sources.
• Pay close attention to the permissions requested by apps.
• Pay close attention to CPU and memory usage of your computer or device.
• Install a suitable security app, such as Norton or Symantec Endpoint Protection, to protect your device and data.
• Make frequent backups of important data.

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Huawei has announced the release of the EMUI 9.0 update to Huawei smartphone users in New Zealand following the launch of its latest flagship smartphone chipset Kirin 980. Based on Android Pie that was introduced earlier this year, the new OS update will introduce a customised next generation user experience.

“We are excited to launch this new update in New Zealand, as one of the leading smartphone manufacturers in the global market, Huawei’s latest EMUI 9.0 update contains the newest features to make the user experience on the Mate 10 and P20 Series even better than before.” says General Manager of CBG Huawei New Zealand, Gavin Cheng.

The enhanced UX and high-speed performance of EMUI 9.0 enable an unmatched OS for Huawei phones that are intuitive and simple. EMUI 9.0 is now available on Huawei P20 Pro, Huawei P20, Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Huawei Mate 10. The beta version will be available on Huawei Nova 3i, Huawei P10 Plus and Huawei P10  users who register to join using the HiCare application.

The EMUI 9.0 achieved another milestone with a wide range of incredible features. With a concept to ‘enable a quality life’, this unique user interface (UI) system is improves the usability and experience through the numerous breakthroughs, including the following highlights:

Enhanced and Intuitive User Experience

• Seamless gesture navigation – To streamline and optimise the smartphone experience, Huawei has introduced a new and improved gesture-based navigation system for an even more intuitive navigation experience. The gesture-based navigation gives users the ability to swipe either left or right for a seamless ambidextrous experience. Additionally, Huawei has redesigned apps such as the world clock and photos to implement advanced single-handed control features, allowing users to easily control apps from the top to the bottom of the screen without overextending their thumb.

• Less is more – The EMUI 9.0 update reduces the number of setting items by 10 per cent, taking it from 940 to 843. This makes it easier for users to enable all location services with one touch, instead of enabling GPS, WLAN, and mobile location services separately, streamlining the process and saving time. Reducing the number of items has ultimately led to a more superior user experience.

• Natural and immersive – EMUI 9.0 brings nature into the home of Huawei users by incorporating nature-inspired sounds. All new alarm ring tones include natural ambient sounds ranging from the sound of water flowing to birds chirping. EMUI 9.0 leverages the Smart Colour Picker to improve the contrast and vibrancy of the UI as well as the readability of text, creating an immersive and natural experience. The new system focuses on a faster and smoother animation, minimising the possibilities of lagging between the usage of different apps and functions.

• Digital Wellbeing – The update includes features that are designed to improve quality of life when it comes to smartphone usage. Colors & Eye Comfort offers options for a paper-like viewing, a customized viewing, or an Eye Comfort viewing for more comfortable reading at night. The update also comes with a variety of settings to achieve true digital balance with the ability to access a comprehensive break down of their screen time, as well as how often users unlock their devices. Users also have the ability to set boundaries with the option to restrict screen or app time without limiting the device from performing essential tasks such as Messaging and Dialer.

High-speed Performance

Speed is everything to Huawei and that is reflected in the EMUI 9.0 update. Not only is Huawei one of the first handset makers to launch a custom OS based on Android Pie, but the new system also boasts a smoother performance with 12.9 per cent improvement from its predecessor.

The app launching time has also shortened by a noticeable amount. It can launch popular apps such as Instagram 12 per cent faster and Spotify 11 per cent faster as well.

One of the heavyweight features of EMUI 9.0 will be its GPU Turbo 2.0 technology, the second generation of Huawei’s innovative graphics processing acceleration technology. GPU Turbo 2.0 can enhance touch controls in games and works in tandem with the App Assistant feature to deliver a smooth, premium mobile gaming experience. These features all allow for a more efficient user experience while operating the phone.

EMUI 9.0 is now available on Huawei P20 Pro, Huawei P20, Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Huawei Mate 10. People with Huawei Nova 3i, Huawei P10 Plus and Huawei P10 will be able to register for the EMUI 9.0 update by the end of March.  

Updating to EMUI 9.0 can be easily done by following the below steps:

1.  Find the Huawei HiCare application
2.  Check the “update” in QUICK SERVICES.
3. Register to join EMUI 9.0

The post EMUI 9.0 Comes to Huawei Mate 10 and P20 Series appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

New Zealand’s biggest impartial price and product comparison service, PriceSpy, has introduced ground-breaking new technology to offer Kiwi consumers the ability to look at price forecasts ahead of new product launches. Starting with the latest Apple iPhone Xs, Apple iPhone Xs Max and Apple iPhone XR.

Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett, New Zealand country manager for PriceSpy, says: “Our website currently offers consumers insights for 95,000 indexed prices, 1,840,000 products and 4,130,000 product features. Having access to such a large volume of prices and products means we also retain a lot of historical data.”

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), PriceSpy has developed a method that provides consumers the ability to look at future price trends, based on historical price information that it has collected, analysed and drawn conclusions from. Using this tool, PriceSpy hopes to give shoppers an even better ability than before to research when the best time is to buy.

PriceForecast is first being introduced alongside the latest iPhone release.

PriceSpy is also introducing PriceTrend, a similar feature for products that are already available to purchase.  This will initially be available for mobile phones, laptops, headphones and TVs, before being rolled out more widely across the site over the coming months.

Liisa continues: “PriceForecast will display our price predictions for six months beyond the current date and PriceTrends for two months.  Each aim to offer consumers a guide to how we expect the product’s price development to continue. With key shopping periods coming up as we near the end of the year we hope shoppers find this tool useful as part of their shopping research.”

PriceForecast and PriceTrend are available on PriceSpy’s mobile web and desktop service.

The post Pick the best time to get your new phone with PriceSpy Price Forecast appeared first on 8-Bit Island.