The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!
Nintendo Switch
Disgaea 4 Complete+(NIS America, Tue 29th October, $49.99) When the ruling powers of Hades are revealed to be corrupt, Valvatorez must spark a rebellion to bring them down! Armed to the teeth with dynamic, over-the-top gameplay and a horde of special features, this is the ultimate Disgaea!
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD(SEGA, Tue 29th October, $39.99) Hold onto your bananas, because Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is rolling your way! Experience the magic of one of the most beloved titles in the series, now remastered in HD! Head back into the fantastical world of Super Monkey Ball and take back your bananas from the space alien pirate king, Captain Crabuchin. Race through over 100 colorful stages and challenge your friends and family to 10 fan-favorite Party Games! Feeling like the fastest, most maneuverable monkey around? Try out Time Attack mode or the grueling Decathlon endurance run! Will you make it onto the scoreboard?
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout(Koei Tecmo, Tue 29th October, $59.99) The concept of this title, the latest in the series to depict a new “Atelier” world, is “True-to-life youths that develop together, even if just a little bit”. It is the story of a girl and her friends who are about to become adults, discovering what is most important to them. To depict the story of the main characters discovering things they’ve never seen before, we’ve created fields with natural shadows that allow you to feel the breath of the world.
Close to the Sun(Wired Productions, Tue 29th October, 2019, $29.99) It’s 1897. Deep in international waters, the Helios stands still. Dark clouds loom overhead as unforgiving waves crash against the hull. Colossal effigies of gold, decorated with magnificent finery, stretch as far as the eye can see. Born of Nikola Tesla’s vision, the Helios serves as a haven for the greatest scientific minds. An unbound utopia for research, independent from state and isolated from the gaze of society.
Disney Classic Games: Aladdin And The Lion King(Disney Interactive, Tue 29th October, $29.99) Two of the most beloved Disney games of all time make their long-awaited return to modern consoles in Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King! This unforgettable package of Disney classics is filled with tons of new features, enhancements, game modes, and display options, plus multiple versions of the games!
Harvest Moon: Mad Dash(Natsume, Tue 29th October, $29.99) Go solo or take along a few friends in this fast-paced farming frenzy! Harvest, fish, milk, and more as you fulfill orders to complete each level, but watch out for molten lava, raging boars, and other obstacles! Can you and your friends try to clear all the levels to restore the broken lighthouse?
Vampyr(Focus Home Interactive, Tue 29th October, $49.99) London, 1918. You are newly-turned Vampyr Dr. Jonathan Reid. As a doctor, you must find a cure to save the city’s flu-ravaged citizens. As a Vampyr, you are cursed to feed on those you vowed to heal. Will you embrace the monster within?
Switch eShop
Resident Evil 5(Capcom, Tue 29th October, $29.99) Featuring Chris Redfield and his partner Sheva Alomar, as they venture to the heart of Africa to investigate an outbreak. Featuring single-player and co-op modes, this fully-loaded release includes all previously released DLC (Lost in Nightmares and Desperate Escape story expansions, Versus mode, extra figures and 4 costumes), No Mercy mode, as well as the new mode “The Mercenaries United” which combines the two fan-favorite modes, The Mercenaries and The Mercenaries Reunion for an even more intense experience.
Resident Evil 6(Capcom, Tue 29th October, $29.99) Blending action and survival horror, Resident Evil 6 is a dramatic horror experience that cannot be forgotten. The game spans across various areas of the globe starring multiple playable characters, including fan favourites and new faces. Jump into the fray either solo or up to 4-player co-op in 4 dramatic chapters of the campaign or head into one of multiple extra modes such as Survivor that pits up to 6-players against one another in a heated battle.
〇× Logic Puzzle 1000 !(Success, Today, $14.00) Simple but addictive! The Stick-out of brain training puzzle playing only with 〇 and ×! Simple logical puzzle with easy rules, filling 〇 and× in the cells ! There are 1000 quiz in 4 difficulties levels, try gradually the more difficult one, then fully enjoy the depth of LOGIC PUZZLE !
Anthill(Thunderful, Today, $9.99) Join the ranks of Anthill, a gorgeous strategy game from Image & Form – the studio behind the SteamWorld series! By drawing pheromone trails, you direct your ground forces to different destinations, working with streams of units rather than individual ants. Much like a tower defense game, your mission is to protect the hill as wave upon wave of enemy bugs are thrown at you.
Cat Quest II(PQube, Today, $14.99) CAT QUEST II is a 2D open-world action-RPG set in a fantasy realm of cats and dogs. Under threat from a continuing war between the cats of Felingard and the advancing dogs of the Lupus Empire, CAT QUEST II tells the tail of two kings, brought together against their will, on a journey of paw-some discovery to reclaim their thrones. Read our Cat Quest II review.
Creepy Brawlers(Mega Cat Studios, Today, $4.99) After a spectral hand pulls you out of your seat and into the silver screen, you become the underdog in an underworld championship. Lace up your gloves and get ready to duck, bob, and weave as you go toe to toe with a marathon of monsters. Better train like hell…
Dark Devotion(The Arcade Crew, Today, $19.99) Explore the secrets of a mysterious fallen temple and put your Templar faith to the test in Dark Devotion, where no sacrifice is too great in praise of your God. Measure your devotion and your bravery by journeying into deepest darkness for answers to questions that will challenge your very existence.
Dark Veer(Forever Entertainment, Today, $4.49) From the creator of Bedtime Blues and The Childs Sight “Time for bed sweetheart, it’s very late. But I won’t be able to sleep if you are away! I will be home before you wake up, it’s only for one week…” You try to sleep, but strange things keep happening.
Deep Space Rush(Ratalaika Games, Fri 25th October, $4.99) Join the DeTeam! A top-secret security force that protects the scientific space stations from virus contaminations! Take on randomly generated levels to save everyone before they all get infected. Avoid traps and monsters to survive the sweep!
Door Kickers: Action Squad(Killhouse Games, Mon 28th October, $14.99) Door Kickers: Action Squad is a crazy old school side scroller action game that puts you in the role of a SWAT trooper and sends you to deal with the bad guys in Nowhere City USA. Choose your gear, then kick the doors down and face the action.
Dusk Diver(PQube, Tue 29th October, $39.99) When an unstable dimensional rift brings together Gods, Phantoms and Humans – headstrong highschool girl Yang Yumo must step up to protect the neighbourhood. Fight alongside your guardians as part of a dynamic action-oriented combat system and expand your abilities by immersing yourself in the bustling streets, stores, personalities and even cuisines of Taipei.
Earthfall: Alien Horde(Nimble, Tue 29th October, $19.99) Earthfall is a 4-player co-op shooter where you team up with friends or play alone to save the world from invading aliens. Search for over 20 different kinds of weapons, or use 3D printers to print your own! Automatic turrets, deployable barricades, or mounted guns let you set up defenses to channel the enemy into kill zones.
Fear of Traffic(BitService, Today, $5.50) Designed to find its sweet spot among families and infants, you will have great moments with Fear of Traffic. With its colorful world and a magical soundtrack, you will play in this game where your mission will be that of finding the way out, avoiding blocked roads, animals, odd objects on the way and dramatic accidents with other drivers.
Ghost Blade HD(eastasiasoft, Today, $14.99) Ghost Blade HD is an intense Bullet-Hell top down shoot ’em up, composed by frenetic and addictive score-based gameplay. With its inspiration going back to the shooting games of the 1990s era, Ghost Blade HD ties old memories to current tones and techniques.
HAUNTED: Halloween ’86(Today, $9.99) The mind-melting sequel to our first game. The side-scrolling, platforming, beat-em-up adventure takes players back to the town of Possum Hollow on Halloween night when Harry & his haunts wreak havoc again. This time Donny has his tag team partner Tami to help kick the crap out of those mindless wastoids that stand in their way of saving the town.
Home Sheep Home: Farmageddon Party Edition(Aardman Animations, Fri 18th October, $9.99) Join Shaun the Sheep and his friends Timmy and Shirley on this epic adventure journeying through underground caverns, negotiating the busy streets of London and teleporting through outer space all in search of the green, green grass of home.
Horror Pinball Bundle(SuperPowerUpGames, Fri 25th October, $8.99) Enjoy 3 games in one with the perfect reproduction of real pinball machines, with all kinds of graphic details and sounds. Discover all the secrets, in these thrilling games, witches, werewolves and mummies awaits you.
Into the Dead 2(Versus Evil, Fri 25th October, $34.99) Journey through the zombie apocalypse in a race to save your family. Arm yourself with an arsenal of powerful weapons and do whatever it takes to survive. Maim, mow down, and massacre the Dead – anything to keep moving! In a world where no one is safe, how far will you go to make it out alive? Read our Into the Dead 2 review.
Lethis – Path of Progress(Plug In Digital, Today, $19.99) The Game: Lethis – Path of Progress is an old school 2D city builder set in a Victorian Steampunk universe called Lethis. You will have to build and manage cities, provide resources for your inhabitants while making sure there are enough workers to sustain your production lines.
Let’s Sing Country(Fri 25th October, $44.99) All begins with the first tone! Create your own spotlight with the hottest tracks in country music courtesy of Let’s Sing Country and follow in the footsteps of cutting-edge artists and perform songs like: Bebe Rexha ft. Florida Georgia Line with “Meant to Be”, Rascal Flatts with “These Days”, Chris Janson with “Buy Me A Boat”, Joe Nichols with “Sunny and 75” and more!
Party Treats(QubicGames, Fri 25th October, $1.99) Party Treats is a funny and innovative local multiplayer game that can be played by up to 4 players.
Pixel Gladiator(Drageus Games, Fri 25th October, $6.99) You’ve been sent to an abandoned planet as one of the participants of the most popular Gladiator show. Your goal is to survive as long as possible, fighting back deadly creatures in the focus of billions of viewers.
Pizza Bar Tycoon(Baltoro Games, Fri 25th October, $4.99) Look out, this pizzeria will soon become the best one in town! Well… at least that’s your plan. The clients are already standing in line, and you have to serve them as soon as you can. It’s harder than it sounds though!
Soul Searching(QubicGames, Fri 25th October, $9.99) Soul Searching is a narrative survival game where you control a lone traveler who sails from homeland to an endless sea. On the way, you’ll visit different islands, discover stories of their people, and learn about souls and dragons.
Spaceland(Ellada Games, Wed 30th October, $14.99) It is probably the most dynamic turn-based strategy in the spirit of the old school. Fewer shelters, more work to do. Land on a lost planet and show the mutants what you are made of. Shoot, kick, blow up and destroy. You will put together the most reckless team of fighters and unravel the mysteries of the mystical planet following the best traditions of science fiction.
Tennis Go(Sabec, Today, $8.99) A fun and simple to play Tennis game for everyone! Now you can play Tennis anytime, anywhere with Tennis Go. simply use the stick to control your character around the court to hit the ball and with a blend of speed and control win the crucial point and become the grand slam champion Chose between many fun characters to play with to defeat your opponent with. Tennis GO is for all ages and has been made so anyone can easily play.
Ultra Off-Road 2019: Alaska(Ultimate Games, Fri 25th October, $18.99) Ultra Off-Road 2019: Alaska is an exciting game in which you’ll have the opportunity to drive around Alaska. Take on the role of a driver who tests his driving skills to the maximum. Advanced destruction system, dynamic time flow and great routes – everything is ahead of you!
Vortex Attack EX(KaleidoGames, Today, $9.99) Galaxy is in danger with hostile ships swarming from the opening vortex. Blast the swarming hordes with huge variety of upgradeable ships. This frenetic arcade space shooter featuring worldwide leader-boards and intense local multiplayer mode will keep you playing until all ships are unlocked and galaxies saved.
Winter Sports Games(Joindots, Today, $24.99) Off to the snow! It does not matter if you prefer to ski, bobsleigh or sled down the ice rink, or relax curling the stones over the ice when curling – there is certainly something for everyone here. There are six exciting disciplines to win tournaments and master challenges.
Xeno Crisis(Bitmap Bureau, Mon 28th October, $19.99) Xeno Crisis is an arena shooter in which one or two players take control of battle-hardened marines embarking on a deadly mission to confront an alien menace and get home alive! Run and gun your way through thousands of adversaries as you explore the devastated research outpost, searching for survivors, and ultimately facing the origin of the outpost’s demise.
Activities
Enter the My Nintendo Luigi’s Mansion 3 Sweepstakes! – This year, the spookiest holiday of the year is extra spooky because the Luigi’s Mansion 3 game arrives on Oct. 31. Want to help us celebrate the game’s launch? You can enter the My Nintendo Luigi’s Mansion 3 Sweepstakes, exclusively for My Nintendo members. Redeem your My Nintendo Platinum Points for a chance to win spooky-fun prizes. The statues are incredibly detailed – seriously, check out the design of the ghost-sucking Poltergust G-00. It even matches the design seen in the game’s trailers.
So that’s your lot for this week’s North American Nintendo Download. Go on, be a sport and drop a vote in the poll above, and comment below with your hot picks!
Aside from the single teaser for the show and a couple images, we haven't seen a lot for the series, which will be arriving in the next two months. Now, new images have popped up, and there's a giant monster claw in one of them. Additionally, we get a good look at Yennefer on the series for the first time, along with Geralt's trusty horse, Roach.
Currently, the images are exclusive to Corriere Della Sera for a set visit to Italy. In the first photo, Geralt is seen in the great hall of the castle of Cintra, just staring off, looking impatient. This is followed by someone reaching out to grab a monster's claw. Could it be a dead griffin? We also get a really good look at Anya Chalotra as Yennefer. It's unclear where she's at in the photo, but it's safe to say it may have something to do with magic considering the lighting behind her. Of course, it wouldn't be The Witcher without a good shot of Geralt riding his trusty horse Roach.
During a set visit for the show, Corriere spoke with production designer Andrew Laws, he pointed out there are a lot of practical effects on the series. "I am very keen to point out that nobody is in a green room talking to a ball," he said (translated by Google). They wanted to create a show that felt as real as possible, but there is still CG on the show--for a story like this it's almost unavoidable.
Witcher stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, and Freya Allan as Ciri. If you can't wait to watch Witcher then you can always play Witcher 3 again, but this time on Switch. In his review of the Nintendo port, Jacob Dekker gave The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt an 9/10 (while the PC, Xbox One, and PS4 versions received a 10/10), and in the review, Dekker said, "Although the Nintendo Switch might not be the best platform to play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it's still a fantastic experience that shouldn't be missed. If you are looking to replay The Witcher 3 and bask in its detail and beauty, the Switch port may not quite scratch that itch. However, what makes this game excellent isn't its graphics, but the powerful stories it tells, and those are as vivid as ever on Switch."
Flash deals: Apple iPad Pros drop to $599 today only
By Christine McKee Wednesday, October 23, 2019, 11:02 am PT (02:02 pm ET)
Today only, Amazon-owned Woot is knocking up to $420 off current 11-inch iPad Pro devices. These refurbished units start at just $599 while supplies last.
AppleInsider proudly offers readers some of the best deals on Apple products year round from top retailers like Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, Best Buy, and others.
Quiller Media maintains affiliate partnerships with several of these retailers. Although these partnerships do not influence our editorial content, Quiller Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.
Flash iPad Pro deals
Now through 10 p.m. Pacific Time, Woot is discounting Late 2018 iPad Pro models by $200 to $420, with prices as low as $599. These tablets are in refurbished condition, but come with a 90-day Woot limited warranty for added peace of mind.
According to our 11-inch iPad Pro Price Guide, these iPad Pro deals deliver the lowest prices available, with models in new condition costing $75 to $170 more at Amazon.
Latest 11-inch iPad Pros (refurbished)
iPad Pro deals (new condition)
Additional Apple Deals
AppleInsider and Apple authorized resellers are also running a handful of additional exclusive savings this month on Apple hardware that will not only deliver the lowest prices on many of the items, but also throw in instant savings on AppleCare and accessories. These deals are as follows:
The Secret To WWE NXT's Success Is A Bunch Of Rowdy Floridians
At first glance, spending a Wednesday night in the suburbs of Orlando, Florida doesn't sound all that exciting. But if the particular suburb you find yourself in happens to be Winter Park that all changes. It's there that Full Sail University, the home of WWE's NXT brand, is broadcasting its weekly, live two-hour show, which showcases the talent WWE is planning to bank on for the future.
It's evident to anyone who watched the weekly NXT shows on the WWE Network, before it moved to USA, that the energy inside the small studio at Full Sail was different. To the couple hundred fans packed into the bleachers lining the walls, NXT is home. It's a brand of wrestling they'd followed since its infancy, turning out week-after-week to cheer on the wrestlers trying to make a name for themselves.
And when you're in the room as the cameras start rolling and the crowd chants "NXT" endlessly, it's hard not getting caught up in that excitement. This is a crowd that's not like the typical group of fans you'd see at a Raw or Smackdown taping. These are people who care less about the frills associated with typical WWE programming and more about the athletic contests in the ring. It's that fan, the ones that line up weekly at Full Sail, who have become the driving force in NXT finding its identity.
"I think part of it is that this was the groundswell of fans saying, 'This is what we wanted,' and we gave it to them. If you are a hardcore fan, Raw and Smackdown are very much pop music," executive vice president of talent, live events, and creative Paul Levesque (Triple H) explained. "And it's built to attract the masses. And in NXT, we want to appeal to a little bit everybody, but we're there for the passionate fan: the fan that is really into this."
Now, with NXT's transition to weekly live events on cable, that passionate group of fans is more important than ever as they are the representatives of the brand to a much larger group of viewers. Luckily, it's a task those who wrestle in NXT think the crowd is up for. After all, to NXT's superstars, the group that packs Full Sail every week is as vital to the success of the show as they are.
"I think that is maybe the most important component of NXT's success. I've had people come to NXT shows who don't watch wrestling, and they'll go there, and they'll go, 'That was so much fun. Those fans are crazy, I want to go do that again,'" NXT Champion Adam Cole told GameSpot. "That relationship, everyone here, is very aware of it and very aware of how important it is."
It's that relationship that has made those who perform in NXT, which was initially considered a show that prepared wrestlers to debut on Raw or Smackdown, see a future where they stay put on the brand. "When I went out there and I said I'm NXT for life, I meant that my heart is here in NXT. I love this place," Johnny Gargano said. "I think Full Sail and that crowd are as big a part of the show as I am, as big a part of the show as Adam Cole is, as big a part of the show as Triple H is. I think they are such a special ingredient."
Of course, that doesn't mean NXT will always keep its flag planted at Full Sail University. With Raw and Smackdown touring weekly--as well as NXT's Wednesday night competition All Elite Wrestling--it's not hard to imagine a future where NXT takes its show on the road more regularly. Until that day comes, though, Wednesday nights in Winter Park, Florida are going to continue to be very rowdy thanks to the NXT faithful and the superstars wouldn't have it any other way.
"We literally have the best fans in all of wrestling," Candice LeRae said. "They're so passionate about what we do, and it makes it so much more rewarding for us to go out there and like sacrifice everything."
iPhone 11 versus Pixel 4 — Benchmark and hands on comparison
Google’s Pixel 4 is the ideal, undiluted Android experience, and has features to separate itself from the rest of the pack. AppleInsider puts it side-by-side versus Apple’s iPhone 11 lineup to see how they compare in specs and benchmarks.
iPhone 11 Pro (left), Pixel 4 (center), and iPhone 11 (right)
Size and display
The 2019 iPhone line is split into three handsets —iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. iPhone 11 sports a 6.1-inch LCD display with a resolution of 1792by828 pixels at 326 ppi. iPhone 11 Pro has an updated OLED Super Retina XDR display measuring 2436by1125 at 458 ppi and iPhone 11 Pro Max measures up at 2688by1242 at 458 ppi.
Pixel 4 is 5.7 inches and has a 16:9 aspect ratio at full HD+ (2,280 x 1,080) and a pixel density of 444 ppi. Pixel 4 XL is Quad HD+ at 3,040 x 1,440 and 537 ppi. Both Pixels sport OLED displays.
Pixel 4 beats the iPhone 11 contrast ratio (1400 to 1) at 200,000 to 1 but falls far behind that of the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max which bost 2,000,000 to 1 contrast ratios.
For brightness, the iPhone 11 is 625 nits, Pixel 4 is 445 nits, and the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are 800 nits —though the latter two can go up to 1200 nits during HDR content playback.
Apple’s iPhone 11 has True Tone on its displays but Pixel 4 now has Ambient EQ. This is very similar in that it dynamically changes the white balance of the display to match the room it is in, but in our testing, it is so subtle we can barely tell a difference.
iPhone 11 Pro (left) and Pixel 4 (right)
The Pixel 4 also now has a new 90Hz refresh rate on the phone that kicks in when there is a lot of movement, particularly noticeable while scrolling. It does make scrolling and the OS as a whole more smooth, but most of the time it drops down to 60Hz to save on battery life —something very much needed.
But, that 90Hz isn’t universal. We’re seeing a lot of problems with stuttering in Chrome. Yes, the Android flagship browser.
Forehead versus notch
The Pixel 4 is sporting a bit of a forehead, encroaching from the top and pushing the display down. It houses hardware such as the speaker and camera system.
iPhone’s notch
The hole-punch cutout of the Galaxy S10 is less intrusive, and Apple’s iPhone 11 notch lies somewhere between. There’s little point in debating which is better, a forehead, a notch, or a hole, because they are all compromises for the sake of technology. All are better than something protruding from the top of the phone.
Facial recognition for authentication
All of the iPhone 11 models and both of the Pixel 4 units have face-based biometric authentication. Apple calls its Face ID while Google simply calls it “Face Unlock.”
Face Unlock
Face Unlock works very similar to Face ID in that it projects a series of infrared dots on your face then scans them to match against its saved 3D profile of your face. This is in stark comparison to Samsung which was able to have its facial recognition fooled by a video of a user.
Google’s Face Unlock in the Pixel 4 has one severe drawback, one that has been highly publicized leading up to the full launch —a user’s face can be used to unlock a device when the owner’s eyes are closed. That has serious security implications because a phone can be unlocked when a user is asleep, unconscious, or in the worst-case scenario —dead.
Google says that they’re fixing this “in the coming months.” There is no timetable other than that, though.
Setting up Face ID
Face ID tracks a user’s eyes and can even require them to be looking at the camera for it to authenticate. This is somewhat unnerving as apps such as banking ones can all be authenticated this way and a lapse in security in this regard can be very dangerous.
Face Unlock is exceptionally fast, unlocking before you even have to worry about whether the phone is unlocked or not because of the radar in the phone detecting when the user is moving the phone to unlock. Compared to iPhone 11, we’d say the Pixel 4 is faster —but only by a hair.
But, that lack of attention detection is a giant problem right now.
Performance
Apple is rocking its custom-made A13 Bionic processor in all three of the iPhone 11 models. It has six cores and is blazing fast. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL is outfitted with the eight-core Snapdragon 855 processor —the same as in the Samsung S10 and S10+.
Using each of the phones, you aren’t going to notice huge differences day-to-day. At this point in the smartphone story, all phones ship fast —but the real question is how long they will stay that fast. These processors aren’t built for now, they are built for a couple of years in the future when computational photography, AR, and other intensive applications start to be prolific.
When we do run these through our usual barrage of tests, the iPhone clearly wins out.
Geekbench 5 results
In Geekbench 5, our iPhone 11 garnered a 1335 single-core score and a 3523 multi-core score. That’s compared to the 641 and 2540 scores from Pixel 4.
Antutu benchmark results
In the Antutu benchmark, iPhone 11 earned a cumulative score of 452039 whereas Pixel 4 earned a 408475.
Speedometer results
Lastly, in our Speedometer browser benchmark, iPhone pulled out a 157.3 and Pixel 4 nabbed a 55.3.
If you are one of the few editing a RAW photo or exporting a long 4K video on your phone, you will notice the extra power of the iPhone 11 compared to the Pixel 4, but in daily use, you won’t see the speed benefits pay off for a year or two. At that point, the iPhone 11 will be better suited.
What we did notice, was that the battery life on the Pixel 4 was pitiful. We never made it a full day —even with normal non-benchmarking use —compared to the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max that all made it through the day with power to spare.
On an average day, we got about four hours of screen time on the smaller Pixel 4. This is less of an issue with the larger 3,700mAh battery in the XL compared to the 2,800mAh in the smaller Pixel 4 but it still barely seems like enough.
We found ourselves disabling the 90Hz display, turning on dark mode during the day, and lowering the screen brightness on the Pixel 4 to stretch it out but this isn’t something a user should have to do or even think about. We’re hoping this is software inefficiencies on the new hardware, but phones with the same processor from Samsung don’t seem to have this problem at all.
Motion Sense
One of the most headline-grabbing features of the Pixel 4 is Motion Sense. It is a new radar system built into the front of the phone that can detect motion around the phone. Google says that there is much more coming down the line for Motion Sense, and customers need to get acclimated to using it before tacking on additional features.
Motion Sense Quick Gestures
Right now, though, some applications of Motion Sense are gimmicky. Waving your hand to skip songs or navigate a podcast is excessive and when it doesn’t work, it is far more frustrating than just tapping on the next button on the display.
We like the idea behind other features, such as dismissing a call with the casual wave of a hand. But it doesn’t always work.
Where Motion Sense came into play was with its proactive features, like the display turning off when the user walks away. Of course, we don’t often set our phone down, leave it on, and walk away —but it is still a cool idea.
It also will quiet your alarm as your hand approaches the phone. And when it sees you reach for the phone, it automatically fires up face unlock. That, in part, is why Face Unlock on the Pixel 4 is so darn fast.
Apple has a similar feature with its True Depth camera system. It watches your eyes and whenever you look away and the iPhone loses your focus, it dims the screen a bit. This is in the same vein as Motion Sense but far more limited —at least at the moment.
Cameras
Cameras —a critical feature that you probably didn’t expect to be sure far down this list in the comparison. For the past several years, cameras have been a large driving factor in which phones people bought.
A ton of effort goes into diligently comparing shots on one phone versus another. In fact —we will be doing a deep dive in a future piece.
Pixel 4 camera
But, today, we will keep things short. The iPhone has three 12MP cameras —ultra-wide, wide, and tele. Google, defiantly chose not to include an ultra-wide lens like Apple and Samsung but instead added a 16MP tele lens to its existing 12.2MP wide angle.
Google says that people care more about zoom than they do going ultra-wide, and we can see its point of view. By making the tele lens 16 megapixels we can see a huge boost in quality when looking at zoomed-in shots. There is easily more detail on the Pixel 4 than the iPhone. However, it cannot take wider portrait shots nor the stylized ultra-wide variety.
We’d just preferred Google went all-in and gave it an ultra-wide lens alongside the new tele lens, but for now, it is a compromise.
Both cameras take amazing shots as it stands. Pixel 4 has its own style that you can easily recognize and the iPhone 11 attempts to be a bit more neutral.
Dual cameras on the Pixel 5
The biggest drawback of the Pixel 4 is video. It can only shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second, and is limited to only 1080P on the selfie cam. Apple can do 4K on iPhone 11’s selfie camera and 60 frames per second on the rear cameras.
Unless you are focused on video features, don’t let the camera be the deciding factor for you between these two handsets because both sets of photos are great and they take better photos than any other smartphones out there.
The best smartphones
Undoubtedly, these are the best set of smartphones we’ve compared yet. The iPhone 11 line is the most powerful, full-featured iPhone yet and the Pixel 4 is the best Android phone to hit the market if you want a 100% Google experience.
We’ve compared a lot here, but it mostly comes down to the user experience and a preference for iOS or Android.
Where to buy
Special incentives are already in effect on the Google Pixel 4, with both Best Buy and B&H Photo offering a $100 store gift card with the purchase of the unlocked device.
Those that choose to opt for the iPhone 11 can also find savings on new models at the following wireless carriers:
iPhone 11 deals
Verizon Wireless: Get up to $500 off the iPhone 11 via bill credits with select trade-in and Unlimited plan. Plus switch to Unlimited and get $200 more.
AT&T Wireless: Get up to $700 in bill credits with trade-in on a qualifying smartphone. Port-in and new line required ($300 in bill credits without port-in). Unlimited plan required.
Sprint: iPhone 11 starts at $0 per month with Sprint Flex lease and select trade-in.
T-Mobile: Save up to $700 on the iPhone 11 when you switch and trade in a qualifying iPhone.
Visible: Get up to a $200 Prepaid Mastercard Virtual Account when you buy an iPhone 11 and bring your phone number to Visible. Plus get 0% financing, no money down, no upgrade fees, and free overnight shipping for well-qualified customers.
Sam’s Club: Get a $150 Sam’s Club gift card when you buy and activate by Nov. 8.
You may already be familiar with using the ssh command to access a remote system. The protocol behind ssh allows terminal input and output to flow through a secure channel. But did you know that you can also use ssh to send and receive other data securely as well? One way is to use port forwarding, which allows you to connect network ports securely while conducting your ssh session. This article shows you how it works.
About ports
A standard Linux system has a set of network ports already assigned, from 0-65535. Your system reserves ports up to 1023 for system use. In many systems you can’t elect to use one of these low-numbered ports. Quite a few ports are commonly expected to run specific services. You can find these defined in your system’s /etc/services file.
You can think of a network port like a physical port or jack to which you can connect a cable. That port may connect to some sort of service on the system, like wiring behind that physical jack. An example is the Apache web server (also known as httpd). The web server usually claims port 80 on the host system for HTTP non-secure connections, and 443 for HTTPS secure connections.
When you connect to a remote system, such as with a web browser, you are also “wiring” your browser to a port on your host. This is usually a random high port number, such as 54001. The port on your host connects to the port on the remote host, such as 443 to reach its secure web server.
So why use port forwarding when you have so many ports available? Here are a couple common cases in the life of a web developer.
Local port forwarding
Imagine that you are doing web development on a remote system called remote.example.com. You usually reach this system via ssh but it’s behind a firewall that allows very little additional access, and blocks most other ports. To try out your web app, it’s helpful to be able to use your web browser to point to the remote system. But you can’t reach it via the normal method of typing the URL in your browser, thanks to that pesky firewall.
Local forwarding allows you to tunnel a port available via the remote system through your ssh connection. The port appears as a local port on your system (thus “local forwarding.”)
Let’s say your web app is running on port 8000 on the remote.example.com box. To locally forward that system’s port 8000 to your system’s port 8000, use the -L option with ssh when you start your session:
$ ssh -L 8000:localhost:8000 remote.example.com
Wait, why did we use localhost as the target for forwarding? It’s because from the perspective of remote.example.com, you’re asking the host to use its own port 8000. (Recall that any host usually can refer to itself as localhost to connect to itself via a network connection.) That port now connects to your system’s port 8000. Once the ssh session is ready, keep it open, and you can type http://localhost:8000 in your browser to see your web app. The traffic between systems now travels securely over an ssh tunnel!
If you have a sharp eye, you may have noticed something. What if we used a different hostname than localhost for the remote.example.com to forward? If it can reach a port on another system on its network, it usually can forward that port just as easily. For example, say you wanted to reach a MariaDB or MySQL service on the db.example.com box also on the remote network. This service typically runs on port 3306. So you could forward it with this command, even if you can’t ssh to the actual db.example.com host:
Now you can run MariaDB commands against your localhost and you’re actually using the db.example.com box.
Remote port forwarding
Remote forwarding lets you do things the opposite way. Imagine you’re designing a web app for a friend at the office, and want to show them your work. Unfortunately, though, you’re working in a coffee shop, and because of the network setup, they can’t reach your laptop via a network connection. However, you both use the remote.example.com system at the office and you can still log in there. Your web app seems to be running well on port 5000 locally.
Remote port forwarding lets you tunnel a port from your local system through your ssh connection, and make it available on the remote system. Just use the -R option when you start your ssh session:
$ ssh -R 6000:localhost:5000 remote.example.com
Now when your friend inside the corporate firewall runs their browser, they can point it at http://remote.example.com:6000 and see your work. And as in the local port forwarding example, the communications travel securely over your ssh session.
By default the sshd daemon running on a host is set so that only that host can connect to its remote forwarded ports. Let’s say your friend wanted to be able to let people on other example.com corporate hosts see your work, and they weren’t on remote.example.com itself. You’d need the owner of the remote.example.com host to add one of these options to /etc/ssh/sshd_config on that box:
GatewayPorts yes # OR
GatewayPorts clientspecified
The first option means remote forwarded ports are available on all the network interfaces on remote.example.com. The second means that the client who sets up the tunnel gets to choose the address. This option is set to no by default.
With this option, you as the ssh client must still specify the interfaces on which the forwarded port on your side can be shared. Do this by adding a network specification before the local port. There are several ways to do this, including the following:
$ ssh -R *:6000:localhost:5000 # all networks
$ ssh -R 0.0.0.0:6000:localhost:5000 # all networks
$ ssh -R 192.168.1.15:6000:localhost:5000 # single network
$ ssh -R remote.example.com:6000:localhost:5000 # single network
Other notes
Notice that the port numbers need not be the same on local and remote systems. In fact, at times you may not even be able to use the same port. For instance, normal users may not to forward onto a system port in a default setup.
In addition, it’s possible to restrict forwarding on a host. This might be important to you if you need tighter security on a network-connected host. The PermitOpen option for the sshd daemon controls whether, and which, ports are available for TCP forwarding. The default setting is any, which allows all the examples above to work. To disallow any port fowarding, choose none, or choose only a specific host:port setting to permit. For more information, search for PermitOpen in the manual page for sshd daemon configuration:
$ man sshd_config
Finally, remember port forwarding only happens as long as the controlling ssh session is open. If you need to keep the forwarding active for a long period, try running the session in the background using the -N option. Make sure your console is locked to prevent tampering while you’re away from it.
Two Point Hospital Has Been Delayed On Switch And Other Platforms
Sega and Two Point Studios’ critically acclaimed hospital management sim Two Point Hospital has been delayed on all platforms, including Nintendo Switch. The original 2019 release date is no more, with the game now scheduled to launch in the “first half of 2020”.
Two Point Studios has shared more about the delay in a blog post, saying that the team is dedicated to making the game be “the best it can possibly be”. Here’s a snippet explaining the decision:
Put simply: making a management simulation game on three consoles (and making it the best it possibly can be on all three), is a tricky programming puzzle. We have to take the game apart and figure out how to fit it into what is essentially a smaller box. That takes a bit more time and engineering work. So, we’re going to take a bit longer. We expect a new release date for Two Point Hospital Console to be in the first half of 2020 and we’ll be sure to keep you right up to date with our progress.
We know you’ll be a bit disappointed by this news, but hopefully you understand why we’re doing it: quality is the most important thing and we want you to have the very best experience.
Mark Webley, Game Director at Two Point Studios, has also shared the following in a press release:
“Our community have asked for Two Point Hospital on consoles for a while now and we want to make sure we deliver a game that can be enjoyed to the fullest on all platforms. This means we will need a little bit more time to optimise the game to ensure the best possible experience across all platforms.”
Were you hoping to get stuck into this one this year? Saddened by the delay, or happy for the date to be pushed back to ensure the game is as good as it can be? Let us know below.
2019 has been a massive year for the open source 3D application Blender. Back in July Blender 2.80 was released, perhaps the biggest release in Blender’s history. Just a few days later, Epic Games announced that they would be giving Blender 1.2M dollars as part of their Mega-grant program. Then earlier this month, NVIDIA became a Patron level sponsor, the highest tier possible. Today another company joined that tier, announced in the following tweet:
No formal details of the partnership have been announced by either Blender or AMD as of yet, but a patron level sponsorship means that AMD will be giving the Blender Foundation at least 120K Euro/month, enabling the hiring of at least two developers full time!
Learn more about this and prior announcements in the video below.
A strange thing that occasionally happens to me is that I get what I’ve referred to as Paradox dreams. Not because they are self-contradicting, but because they occur when I play too much of one of Paradox’s grand strategy games, such as Crusader Kings 2 or Europa Universalis 4.
Essentially, my brain ends up thinking of ways I can improve my position in these games via my dreams.
Pacific Fire has gotten my attention in such a way that I had one of these ‘Paradox dreams’ about it. So, what’s so special about this mobile wargame that it has kidnapped my subconscious?
A PACIFIC UN-PACIFIED
Pacific Fire does not have much in the way of astounding graphics like you may see from AAA mobile studios like the big brains behind Clash of Clans or Candy Crush (people still play that, right?), or a very engaging story, but neither are really missed. Pacific Fire knows what it is good at, and has cut everything else in favor of compelling and engaging gameplay.
You are given several scenarios to try your hand at, pushing air, land, and sea units between bases in order to complete your objectives for the scenario, generally on a strict turn limit of x amount of months. Notably, the game uses WEGO, a turn method that sees both sides make their moves simultaneously, then showing how the action played out at the beginning of the next turn. This format suits Pacific Fire wonderfully, as the Pacific theatre’s naval engagements were defined by the opposing fleets guessing the other’s position, attempting them to coax them into a decisive battle on their own terms.
This brings us to the most important element of Pacific Fire, the order in which all these moves take place. There’s a grand total of fourteen steps to combat resolution, but essentially it boils down to this: air units arrive at their destination and dogfight with enemy air units, the surviving bombers attack their respective land or naval targets. The naval forces then move to their destination, fight the enemy naval forces, and bombard any land units. Lastly, land units resolve their combat with the enemy. This turn ordering allows for clever strategists to replicate the great naval battles of the Pacific, with smartly deployed squadrons and fleets able to negate an invading army’s numbers.
In a nice touch, planes and ships have their own sets of stats, which determine how they function in battle. Generally, newer vehicles operate at a higher efficiency. On a similar note, land units have 3 stats that determine combat capability: men, tanks, and guns. Men are the overall strength of the unit, tanks help the unit in offensive battles, and the guns help on defense and help protect the unit against enemy bombers. This layer of attention to units adds a degree of thoughtfulness to how you should utilize your army, making successful actions pleasing to pocket generals
ISLAND HOPPING
That’s all very well and good, but what about the context surrounding these engagements? Pacific Fire comes with a total of 13 scenarios (1 of which also operates as a tutorial), with a focus on specific areas of the war. There are several scenarios from the Allied side that capture the struggle to survive as war broke out and the Japanese overwhelmed the British, French, Dutch, and American holdings. These make for good starting scenarios, as the map is smaller, and the Allied player needs to worry about deploying smaller numbers of units rather than the entire Pacific theatre. Even while these are certainly scenarios aimed towards a beginner, Pacific Fire is not an easy game. Leaving a base without fighters to defend it can see enemy bombers quickly killing hundreds of men, leaving the player in an unwinnable position for the scenario.
The scenarios covering the later parts of the war are generally more challenging, a particularly campaign covering the time period around the Battle of Coral Sea (still haven’t managed to beat it). Even more intimidating, there are 3 full Pacific campaigns available, with increasing complexity and difficulty. While several scenarios can be wrapped up over the course of a lunch break, these will be campaigns that take a longer stretch of time.
Disappointingly, there are less playable scenarios for the Japanese, but these are very interesting scenarios. One follows the Japanese in the Burma campaign, looking to push into China and India with 0 naval forces in this scenario (a companion to the much harder Allied version of this campaign). Another notable scenario uses the “What If” of an invasion of the Japanese home islands, using civilians to hold off the Americans until a peace can be brokered. The Japanese don’t play significantly different to the Allies, but there is one key difference. Both sides will in a scenario have an “Industry Score” that determines how many reinforcements will be deployed at the end of the turn. The Allies gain Industry Score over time, but the Japanese player’s score depends on how many bases they hold. As they control less territory, the Japanese are less able to replenish their forces, which follows the “rules” of the history well.
While Pacific Fire does a lot right, the few flaws it has are amplified by the focus that is placed on the gameplay itself. In some of the smaller scenarios, it’s easy to feel as if there is a “right” answer to unit movement and placement, making these scenarios feel more like puzzles than proper warfighting. This may not be an issue to all players, but for a game that has several solid wargaming scenarios, these can be disappointing, as one wrong move can mean that a win is impossible.
Similarly disappointing is that with a lack of multiplayer support, the game is entirely player v. AI. The AI is… interesting. It’s difficult to realty get a feel for it, as the AI deciding to sit on a base for several turns without moving could either be a cog in a larger strategic plan, or it could be the AI not properly utilizing all of its forces. It does seem easier to lure AI naval fleets into an engagement than it does to bait an army to attack, but that may be just contextual.
CONCLUSION
Pacific Fire is a surprising hidden gem. I hadn’t heard of it at all until the Editor asked me to write a review for it, and I’m very glad he did. My other mobile games have become completely forgotten in the last week as I’ve used my work breaks to figure how to withstand the Japanese assaults on Mandalay, or how to crack the defenses around Truk. Pacific Fire has some shortcomings, but is overall an excellent use of your time, both when awake and, in my case, when asleep.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-23-2019, 10:32 PM - Forum: Windows
- No Replies
Microsoft Cloud strength drives first quarter results
REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 23, 2019 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year:
Revenue was $33.1 billion and increased 14%
Operating income was $12.7 billion and increased 27%
Net income was $10.7 billion and increased 21%
Diluted earnings per share was $1.38 and increased 21%
“The world’s leading companies are choosing our cloud to build their digital capability,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We are accelerating our innovation across the entire tech stack to deliver new value for customers and investing in large and growing markets with expansive opportunity.”
Microsoft returned $7.9 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, an increase of 28% compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.
“It was a strong start to the fiscal year with our commercial cloud generating $11.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 36% year over year,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft.
Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $11.1 billion and increased 13% (up 15% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:
Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 13% (up 15% in constant currency) driven by Office 365 Commercial revenue growth of 25% (up 28% in constant currency)
Office Consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 5% (up 6% in constant currency) with continued growth in Office 365 Consumer subscribers to 35.6 million
LinkedIn revenue increased 25% (up 26% in constant currency)
Dynamics products and cloud services revenue increased 14% (up 16% in constant currency) driven by Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 41% (up 44% in constant currency)
Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $10.8 billion and increased 27% (up 29% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:
Server products and cloud services revenue increased 30% (up 33% in constant currency) driven by Azure revenue growth of 59% (up 63% in constant currency)
Enterprise Services revenue increased 7% (up 8% in constant currency)
Revenue in More Personal Computing was $11.1 billion and increased 4% (up 5% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:
Windows OEM revenue increased 9% (up 9% in constant currency)
Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 26% (up 29% in constant currency)
Xbox content and services revenue was relatively unchanged (up 1% in constant currency)
Surface revenue decreased 4% (down 2% in constant currency)
Business Outlook
Microsoft will provide forward-looking guidance in connection with this quarterly earnings announcement on its earnings conference call and webcast.
Quarterly Highlights, Product Releases, and Enhancements
Every quarter Microsoft delivers hundreds of products, either as new releases, services, or enhancements to current products and services. These releases are a result of significant research and development investments, made over multiple years, designed to help customers be more productive and secure and to deliver differentiated value across the cloud and the edge.
Here are the major product releases and other highlights for the quarter, organized by product categories, to help illustrate how we are accelerating innovation across our businesses while expanding our market opportunities.
Webcast Details
Satya Nadella, chief executive officer, Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Frank Brod, chief accounting officer, Keith Dolliver, deputy general counsel, and Michael Spencer, general manager of investor relations, will host a conference call and webcast at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time (5:30 p.m. Eastern time) today to discuss details of the company’s performance for the quarter and certain forward-looking information. The session may be accessed at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor. The webcast will be available for replay through the close of business on October 23, 2020.
Constant Currency
Microsoft presents constant currency information to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency rate fluctuations. To present this information, current and comparative prior period results for entities reporting in currencies other than United States dollars are converted into United States dollars using the average exchange rates from the comparative period rather than the actual exchange rates in effect during the respective periods. All growth comparisons relate to the corresponding period in the last fiscal year. Microsoft has provided this non-GAAP financial information to aid investors in better understanding our performance. The non-GAAP financial measures presented in this release should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this release that are “forward-looking statements” are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as:
intense competition in all of our markets that may lead to lower revenue or operating margins;
increasing focus on cloud-based services presenting execution and competitive risks;
significant investments in products and services that may not achieve expected returns;
acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances that may have an adverse effect on our business;
impairment of goodwill or amortizable intangible assets causing a significant charge to earnings;
cyberattacks and security vulnerabilities that could lead to reduced revenue, increased costs, liability claims, or harm to our reputation or competitive position;
disclosure and misuse of personal data that could cause liability and harm to our reputation;
the possibility that we may not be able to protect information stored in our products and services from use by others;
abuse of our advertising or social platforms that may harm our reputation or user engagement;
the development of the internet of things presenting security, privacy, and execution risks;
issues about the use of artificial intelligence in our offerings that may result in competitive harm, legal liability, or reputational harm; and
excessive outages, data losses, and disruptions of our online services if we fail to maintain an adequate operations infrastructure;
quality or supply problems;
the possibility that we may fail to protect our source code;
legal changes, our evolving business model, piracy, and other factors may decrease the value of our intellectual property;
claims that Microsoft has infringed the intellectual property rights of others;
claims against us that may result in adverse outcomes in legal disputes;
government litigation and regulatory activity relating to competition rules that may limit how we design and market our products;
potential liability under trade protection, anti-corruption, and other laws resulting from our global operations;
laws and regulations relating to the handling of personal data that may impede the adoption of our services or result in increased costs, legal claims, fines, or reputational damage;
additional tax liabilities;
damage to our reputation or our brands that may harm our business and operating results.
exposure to increased economic and operational uncertainties from operating a global business, including the effects of foreign currency exchange;
adverse economic or market conditions that may harm our business;
catastrophic events or geo-political conditions that may disrupt our business; and
the dependence of our business on our ability to attract and retain talented employees.
For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with Microsoft’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Microsoft’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Microsoft’s Investor Relations department at (800) 285-7772 or at Microsoft’s Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor.
All information in this release is as of September 30, 2019. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company’s expectations.
For more information, press only:
Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com
For more information, financial analysts and investors only:
Michael Spencer, General Manager, Investor Relations, (425) 706-4400
Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers, and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Shareholder and financial information, as well as today’s 2:30 p.m. Pacific time conference call with investors and analysts, is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor.
