Dark Souls-inspired Another Crab’s Treasure is the first crustacean Soulslike
Developer Aggro Crab revealed its next game, an adventure inspired by Dark Souls called Another Crab’s Treasure ,, in which players play as a hermit and attempt to recover its shell. This was shown during Nintendo’s Indie World stream. The hermit crab can find armor from the ocean, including cups and cans.
Like Aggro Crab’s debut game Going Under, a satirical take on the dungeon crawler set in the “cursed ruins of failed tech startups” where office junk served as weapons, Another Crab’s Treasure will goof on the “Soulslike” genre. (That is the brand of action games inspired by FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne.) Aggro Crab jokingly called its new game a “Shellslike” during its reveal, which showed a heroic hermit crab battling other crustaceans armed with, and decked out in, manmade sea trash.
Another Crab’s Treasure will maintain the challenging difficulty of Soulslike games, its creators says, as players battle ocean fauna with forks, knives, chopsticks, and over 50 potential scavenged items that can serve as temporary shells. The combat-heavy game of Crabs is made possible by their built-in weapons, the pinchy claws and natural strafing ability.
Another Crab’s Treasure will be released sometime in 2023, and will be available on Nintendo Switch and PC.
Apple boosting trade-in credit on select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Watch models this month
Is it time for an upgrade? From now until May 31, you can receive between $10 to $50 extra trade-in credit on eligible devices. This deal is for customers in both the US and the UK. However, just days ago, Apple lowered trade-in values for Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch models.
Get extra trade-in credit when you trade in an eligible iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch and purchase a new Apple device through May 31. The extra trade-in credit may range from $10 to $50 for iPhone, $10 to $50 for iPad, $10 for Mac, and $20 to $40 for Apple Watch. Additional terms from Apple or Apple’s trade-in partners may apply.
You can refer to Apple’s website for the exact terms and conditions regarding trade-ins to see if your device is eligible for additional value. Devices can either be traded in for a new model or for an Apple gift card. Like usual, the value of your device may vary based on its condition, year, configuration, and more. If the device isn’t eligible for trade-in, you can recycle for free at an Apple Store or by mailing it in.
This promotion comes just before WWDC 2022 when Apple’s rumored to be announcing a redesigned MacBook Air, iOS 16, watchOS 9, and more. 9to5Mac will keep you updated as more news comes from Apple’s upcoming event.
Indie puzzle-platformer ElecHead is coming to Nintendo Switch
Indie developer Nama Takahashi’s simple, clever, and brilliant puzzle-platformer ElecHead is coming to Nintendo Switch this summer, the developer announced during Wednesday’s Indie World showcase. ElecHead was released on PC this past October, to glowing praise from the creators of the developers behind VVVVVV, Celeste, Spelunky, Downwell, and others.
ElecHead stars Elec, a tiny robot who can electrify platforms, activate switches, and power machines just by touching them. Elec’s head can be thrown around to reach faraway objects and charges them up. But there’s a catch: Elec will short circuit and explode if his body isn’t reunited with his head within 10 seconds. Avoid deadly fireballs and spikes as well as other booby traps. You should watch this trailer.
With shades of Mega Man, BoxBoy, Decap Attack, and other beloved 2D platformers, ElecHead might just be the small-dose puzzle platformer you need to spark up your summer.
If you can’t wait, and ElecHead has escaped your awareness until now, the Windows PC version is available through Steam and itch.io.
Android 13 Beta 1 is now available for download for the Oppo Find X5 Pro and Realme GT2 Pro
Not too long ago the Oppo Find X2 series was among the first to get the Android 11 beta, the next year the Find X3 Pro was similarly quick in getting Android 12 beta. Their successor, the Oppo Find X5 Pro, is among the first non-Pixel devices in the queue to receive Android 13 beta.
The news is from Google I/O. This big event for developers from Google, which takes place every year. This new ColorOS release is a Developer Preview and is based on Android 13 beta 1. It is not suitable as a daily driver and is instead intended to give developers and opportunity to prepare their apps for the upcoming release.
Installing the Developer Preview requires wiping the phone’s storage (so if you’re going to do it, make sure to back up your data first). This version also has a lot of known issues related to the camera, connectivity (5G, Bluetooth, web browsing) and others.
This page will give you instructions on how to install the software and warnings of what might go wrong and how to go back to Android 12. For more information, you can visit this post on Oppo’s Chinese forums.
Regular customers will need to wait until the public release of the new ColorOS, which is expected soon (no timeframe was provided).
There is a similar story over at Realme. The Realme GT was one of the first to experience Android 12 Beta 1, now the Realme GT2 Pro gets early access to Android 13. This preview is only for developers, and it is not recommended to regular users.
Known issues include having to wipe the internal storage, no update path forward (you will have to downgrade before installing the stable release), the UI is incomplete, some apps and features are missing and the software is unstable. This is how things work with major updates. Sill, if you are a developer and want to get a head start on your Android 13 work, check this page for step-by-step instructions on how to update (and later roll back to Android 12).
What is Android 13 all about? It will improve privacy and security with features like more granular permissions for access to media files, it will introduce APIs for themed app icons, quick setting tile placement, setting the display language per app, Bluetooth LE Audio capabilities, MIDI 2.0 support over USB and more.
Memories of the iPod: A device that transformed our relationship to music
It’s official: Apple’s groundbreaking portable music player is no more. We are left only with our memories of the iPod and maybe that last model we will keep for ever.
The decision was obvious. The decision was obvious. Most people now listen to music on their iPhones or streaming services. Apple’s iPad has effectively replaced the iPod Touch in its other function, which was to be a mobile device that could be used by children who don’t have phones. All the same, it’s still a somewhat sad moment …
A bunch of us here at 9to5Mac last year shared our early memories of the iPod, on the 20th anniversary of the launch of the device. It would be fun to reflect on the experiences I have had with the iPod over the years and invite others to do the same.
Life before iPod
I’ve loved music since childhood, so even though the initial Sony Walkman was expensive, I couldn’t resist getting one.
It’s hard to believe now just how innovative this device was. We had our first portable music player that was so light and compact that we could take it everywhere.
The big drawback, of course, was that it was limited to a single album at a time. Still, that was good enough for everyday use, and mine was indeed used every day. Later, I upgraded to a Discman as CDs began to take over.
As an early adopter of gadgets, it surprised no one when I bought the first ever mp3 player: the MPMan F10 (above right). The tiny amount of flash storage meant I was still limited to one album at a time, and swapping out music was less convenient than switching tapes, but it was way smaller and lighter, and hey, it was a gadget.
Buying an iPod on launch day in 2001
I was ecstatic when the iPod was revealed. A thousand songs in my pocket? That was irresistible!
I happened to be in New York the day it went on sale. I’d always promised myself I’d fly Concorde one day, and managed to get two of the last discounted tickets available before British Airways announced the upcoming retirement of the service, and only full-fare ($5,000 one-way!) Tickets were still available. After I had secured the deal, my girlfriend and I set about finding suitable hotels. She was able to secure a Waldorf room. A mix-up with our booking resulted in a swift apology and an upgrade to a suite. This trip was going well! The icing on top would be adding an iPod to the equation.
I remember that we had to walk half-way across Manhattan in order to find a store with stock. Getting one was a huge accomplishment. Even though I was only in New York for five days and had a lot to see, I did spend a couple of hours at our hotel transferring music, much to the amusement of my other half, who is not a techie. It wasn’t as though I would be listening to music until my return flight, even though we were traveling together. However, it was still an amazing new device that I needed to test and set up.
The user interface was genius! To have a thousand songs on the device (I of course had to test the claim!) It felt magical to be able quickly to select which one I liked. I managed to resist the urge to leave my girlfriend and listen to my music on my flight back. After that, it was rare indeed for me to leave home without it – and I think it was many months before it ceased to feel like magic.
30GB iPod Classic in 2003
My next upgrade was to the 30GB model in 2003. At that point, I had become greedy. I felt like I had a thousand songs, but the fact that it was possible to save a large portion of my music library on the device was just too tempting.
This model also changed the way I listened to music at home. To get the same music access I had when I was on the go, instead of listening to CDs, the model connected to my hifi to allow me to instantly connect to it.
This was also the point at which I had to admit that I was no audiophile. The quality of mp3 files available then was significantly lower than CD quality. When I listened to the same track back-to-back in each format, the mp3 version sounded noticeably muddier. However, while I could easily tell the difference, and would choose CDs for active listening, my everyday background music was played on theiPod.
Resisting other models
Another models were introduced. The iPod Mini. The iPod Shuffle (so cute I wanted one, but had no excuse for one as my Classic still went with me everywhere). The iPod Photo. The iPod Nano. However, Apple did manage to sell me one more…
160GB iPod Classic in 2007
Finally, Apple made a device with enough space to store my entire music collection. This was the holy grail. It was no longer necessary to choose music while I’m on the go, but having instant access to all of it at any time, from anywhere. I cannot begin to tell you how happy that made me!
I kept that model for years and years. Indeed, even when I’d switched to listening to music on my iPhone – the convenience of a single device with easy(ish) music swapping finally outweighing the joy of having all my music all the time – I still kept it. It became instead my car music player, permanently wired into power and car stereo AUX port. I then had all my music in the car.
I did sell it when Spotify became my main music source and I was able to listen again, anytime, anywhere. I still wish that it hadn’t happened, but a part of me wishes so!
Today
Today, my iPhone and my iPhone are the primary audio devices in my home. I can ask Siri for what music I need, but my iPhone plays my music on my phone. Both Spotify and Apple Music are my subscriptions. The former is for Tango, while the latter is for all other music. This arrangement allows both Spotify and Apple Music to suggest the right genre music for me. I was too afraid to mix them, fearing that they would become confused.
Those are my iPod memories – limited exclusively to the Classic – what about yours? Please share your stories in the comments, we’d love to hear them!
Razer Viper V2 Pro is one ultra-lightweight wireless gaming mouse
Razer remains a formidable brand when it comes to computer peripherals and accessories. We know Razer for its pure-performance mouse, keyboards, speakers, and webcams. Now we’re introduced to a new wireless mouse that is very lightweight and powerful.
The Razer Viper V2 Pro weighs 58g, and for a gaming mouse, that’s light and efficient. It’s ideal for those into esports who want an optical mouse that is fast, thanks to the Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensor and Optical Mouse Switches Gen-3 technologies. In addition, the mouse was designed with consideration of feedback from esports professionals.
The mouse is lighter by 20% than the Viper Ultimate. The new Viper V2 Pro boasts improved battery life and speed to deliver top-notch mouse performance. So yes, the new Razer mouse is lighter, faster, and even deadlier.
Head of Razer’s PC Gaming Division Head Chris Mitchel said, “We carefully considered each gram of the Viper V2 Pro to ensure that, in exchange for a lower weight, it wasn’t at the cost of other features. The new mouse design doesn’t just have reduced weight because every surface and corner has been optimized.” It actually seems like an extension of the body as you can almost not feel the mouse.
Razer has implemented a new Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensor, which results in 99.8% resolution accuracy. There are also AI functions like Asymmetric Cut-off, Motion Sync, and Smart Tracking. The Razer Optical Mouse Switches Gen-3 feature which is what makes the no debounce delay and zero double-clicking issues.
The Razer Viper V2 Pro also boasts a more tactile feel. A longer click lifespan can also be expected (up to 90 million clicks!). That’s about 25% longer than the lifespan of the previous model. The mouse comes with more customization features like a lift-off or landing distance. The Asymmetric Cut-off feature has been improved to support up to 26 granular levels of height adjustment.
The Razer gaming mouse costs $149.99 (159.99€) and is now up for purchase. This lightweight wireless gaming mouse can be available in either white or black. It’s also rechargeable now, so there is no need for batteries. There is the DPI control button for flexible sensitivity and a Razer Speedflex charging cable. There is no RGB lighting, unfortunately.
Razer seems to be advancing in the business not only in terms of technology but also in product design. The Razer Naga Pro Mouse arrives with swappable shortcut modules for customization. There’s the limited edition Pikachu earbuds coming with a Pokeball charging case. The Razer Kishi Controller snaps the sides of your phone. The Razer Turret Gaming Keyboard remains a favorite of the key-gods.
Sony Xperia 1 IV pre-orders now open, EU shipping to begin on June 11
The Sony Xperia 1 IV unveiled earlier today is already up for pre-orders in Europe. It comes in two memory configurations – 12GB/256GB and 12GB/512GB. But it’s only the base variant you can pre-book right now, which is priced at £1,299 in the UK and €1,399 in Europe.
The Xperia 1 IV can be pre-ordered in the UK through Sony’s official website, with the shipping beginning on June 16, while customers in the rest of the European countries can pre-book one through Amazon, which will begin deliveries starting June 11.
Sony Xperia 1 IV
The key highlights of the Sony Xperia 1 IV include the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, 6.5″ 120Hz 4K AMOLED screen, and 5,000 mAh battery with 30W wired charging.
The smartphone features a side-mounted fingerprint reader and has five cameras onboard – a 12MP selfie shooter on the front and a quad camera system on the rear comprising 12MP primary, 12MP telephoto, 12MP ultrawide, and 3D ToF units.
You can read our Sony Xperia 1 IV detailed review here to learn more about it.
One of the Honor 70 models certified with a 4,800mAh battery and 66W fast charging
The Honor number series is on a twice a year release schedule and it has been six months since the 60-series launched. Signs that the sequel is nearly here include a new device being certified by the 3C, which revealed battery stats, while rumors filled in other blanks.
FNE-AN00 is one of the Honor 70 series models, insiders say. It’s not clear which one, however, this generation we are expecting the Honor 70, 70 Pro and 70 Pro+. The 60-series topped out at ‘Pro’, so this time around we should see a true flagship.
As for the AN00, it will have a 4,800 mAh battery and will support 66W fast charging (11V at 6A). Those are essentially the same specs as the Honor 60/60 Pro. Although there is some talk about a faster charger for the Pro+, it will only be available to Pro+ users.
Based on rumors, the Honor 70 will be powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 (which may be announced next week). It will have a BOE-made AMOMLED panel, 10-bit 120 Hz. And it will feature a 108MP main camera, an 8MP ultra wide and a 2MP auxiliary module. Chipset aside, this sounds quite close to the vanilla 60 model.
The Honor 70 Pro is expected to switch over to Team MediaTek with a Dimensity 8100 chipset. It will upgrade to an LTPO panel (1-120 Hz) and change the camera makeup to a 50MP main (IMX766), 50MP super ultra wide and an 8MP camera with OIS (telephoto?). The batteries on the 70 and 70 Pro are expected to be the 4,800 mAh/66W seen in the 3C certification.
The Honor 70 Pro+ should be a proper flagship. It is expected to use the Dimensity 9000 chipset and it will support 100W fast charging (with battery capacity dropping a bit to 4,600 mAh). The fourth camera will go up to a 12MP sensor, but its function is still unknown (again, probably a telephoto).
Honor has confirmed that the Magic4 series will go global on May 12 (tomorrow), however, it is unlikely that the Honor 70 series will attend that event. We should start seeing a lot of teasers as the launch draws near – the Honor 60 is a big part for the company’s meteoric rise in its home market, so the launch of the 70-series should arrive with fanfare.
Apple’s CSAM troubles may be back, as EU plans a law requiring detection
Apple’s CSAM troubles may be back, after controversy over the issue of scanning iPhones for child sexual abuse materials led to the company suspending its plans.
A report today says that the European Union is planning a law that would require tech giants like Apple to detect, report, and remove CSAM, and that we’ll see a draft of the new law as early as this week …
Apple’s CSAM troubles
Most cloud services already scan for child sexual abuse materials. Any examples detected are reported to law enforcement.
Apple wanted to do the same, but at the same time wanted to do the scanning in a manner which protected user privacy. It therefore announced plans for on-device scanning in a way that meant only confirmed matches would ever be viewed by a human moderator.
Apple downloads the CSAM database hashes to your iPhone (digital signatures of CSAM images, not actual images, obviously).
An on-device process looks for matches with hashes of your photos.
If fewer than 30 are found, no action is taken.
If 30+ matches are found, low resolutions of your photos are manually examined by Apple.
If the photos are found to be innocent, no further action is taken.
If manual review confirms them as CSAM, law enforcement is informed.
However, experts and campaigners immediately pointed out potential flaws in the approach – something Apple should have expected, but apparently didn’t.
Concerns have been raised by cybersecurity experts, human rights organizations, governments, and Apple’s own employees. Four main concerns have been raised, explained here:
Accidental false positives could ruin someone’s reputation. (Apple addressed this one by setting a threshold of 30+ matches.)
Deliberate false positives (aka collision attacks) could be created to achieve the same goal.
Authoritarian governments could add political posters and similar to the database.
The same hash-based on-device searches could be later applied to iMessage.
The company then said that it was going to take some time to rethink its plans. That was in September of last year, and eight months have passed without a single word on the subject from Apple, leading some to suspect that the company intended to simply pretend it had never happened for as long as it could. But that may not be possible for much longer …
Planned European law on CSAM detection
Politico reports that the European Union is planning on announcing a new law requiring tech giants to scan for CSAM. That would leave Apple having to figure out how to comply without reigniting the controversy.
The Commission is expected to release a draft law this week that could require digital companies like Meta Platforms, Google and Apple to detect, remove and report illegal images of abuse to law enforcement under threat of fines.
According to a leak of the proposal obtained by POLITICO on Tuesday, the Commission said voluntary measures taken by some platforms have so far “proven insufficient” to address the misuse of online services for the purposes of child sexual abuse.
The rulebook comes as child protection hotlines report a record amount of disturbing content circulating online during the coronavirus pandemic. Europe is a hot spot for hosting such content, with 62 percent of the world’s illegal images located on European data servers in 2021.
We’ll need to wait until the draft law is published to see exactly what it requires, but one way or another, Apple will have to solve the problem.
The situation is likely to get messy, as one of the key proponents of the new law appears to be opposed to end-to-end encryption. Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said:
Abusers hide behind the end-to-end encryption; it’s easy to use but nearly impossible to crack, making it difficult for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute crimes.
We’ve been pointing out for many years that it is impossible to simultaneously protect user privacy with end-to-end encryption while also creating backdoors for law enforcement.
Samsung Display teases a future filled with foldable and slidable devices
We are so dependent on screens and displays these days, even just for looking at content. Most of the things we need to see every day are often displayed on computer monitors, TVs, and our phones. With more content and more data coming into our lives, it’s almost like we can’t have enough screens around us. In the somewhat distant future, every surface might indeed have a display, an interactive display even, but there are still plenty of technological and psychological hurdles before we get there. In the meantime, Samsung is more than happy to fill our world today with screens that can fold, roll, or even slide in order to give us as much display real estate as we need without forcing us to carry large backpacks or briefcases just to fit a 12-inch tablet.
It isn’t time yet for a new foldable phone, but it’s Display Week 2022 in sunny San Jose, California, and Samsung isn’t going to miss out on the opportunity to show off what it has been cooking behind closed doors. Then again, some of these aren’t particularly new to our eyes, given how they’ve been prefigured by patents and even revealed by Samsung a few months ago. And given how these are already on display for the public to see, they’re more likely to arrive in the next few years rather than the next decades.
Fold it Your Way
Foldable phones are no longer alien to us now, but they’re still novel enough to be seen with some suspicion and apprehension. As marvelous as these may be from an engineering point of view, we’ve barely scratched the surface. Earlier this year, Samsung showed off its Flex G and Flex S foldable screens in action, and this week it’s reminding everyone who will listen to what these flexible displays can offer, presuming they actually become products.
The Flex G, for example, can either be a large screen that folds down twice into a more bag-friendly form, or it could be a makeshift laptop, with one-third of the screen as the keyboard and the other two-thirds for the display. The Flex S, on the other hand, can fold in opposite directions, forming a Z or S shape, and it’s easy enough to imagine it as a phone that transforms into a true tablet or vice versa. Both designs have been spotted before, both in patents and in prototypes, but Samsung might be more confident now to move forward and bring these displays to commercial products.
Let it Slide
The newest member of its gallery, however, is its “slidable” screens. Technically a combination of a sliding mechanism and a rollable display, this technology allows a device to expand its screen space without drastically changing the form of the device. A phone, for example, can remain a phone while its top slide out to show a bit more content. Given how tall smartphones are these days, that’s not exactly a big leap in form factors.
Similarly, an 8.1-inch tablet that suddenly has its sides slide out to expand to a 12.4-inch screen won’t drastically change the way you use the device. You just have more space for content or possibly more apps side-by-side. This kind of shape-shifting device might be a bit more approachable to consumers compared to foldables since it doesn’t require them to switch between modes or mindsets. Whether these are more robust than folding screens, however, remains to be seen.
For the Rest of Us
Truth be told, only a small fraction of today’s smartphone-using population has embraced foldables. There are a variety of reasons to hold off from those, with durability and price being the strongest deterrents. Until Samsung and other manufacturers have sufficiently addressed those concerns, foldables, rollables, slidables, and other -able displays will remain novelties and luxuries that could eventually die off as fads.
Of course, Samsung hasn’t completely forgotten about common people and has a few of its more normal but more usable innovations also on display, no pun intended. Amusingly, its latest QD-Display technology also stands as a testament to how technology, marketing, and even design go back and forth like a pendulum. The display market swings between LCD and OLED technologies every so often, sometimes with different marketing names and tweaks like MicroLED and Quantum Dots, in an attempt to get buyers’ attention and money. Samsung’s QD-Display TVs and monitors are just about to roll out to the public, so we’ll see soon enough what that buzz is all about.
