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Nintendo To Be An Entertainment Business Rather Than A Gaming One

At the annual GeekWire Summit in Seattle, held earlier this week, Nintendo America’s President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime debated lots of topics. He discussed how Nintendo would be defined. According to Fils-Aime, Nintendo wants to be an entertainment business rather than a gaming one.

Nintendo America’s President and COO explained his statement by presenting how the company runs, at the moment, three distinct, separated areas of business. Namely, Nintendo operates video gaming business, mobile gaming, and theme parks and movies.

Next, Reggie Fils-Aime pointed out that, beyond Nintendo Switch and 3DS, other efforts were the company’s significant drivers. He gave Super Mario Run as an example of how they plan to deliver its IP to consumers in different ways.

Nintendo Wants To Be An Entertainment Business Rather Than A Gaming One

“That’s our vision for mobile: to deliver our intellectual property in compelling ways to consumers who may not have experienced those properties before. A belief that they’ll come back, maybe buy a Mario T-shirt, eat that Mario cereal, or buy a Switch, because of affiliation and affection they have with that IP,” said Fils-Aime.

According to Nintendo America’s President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo intentionally slowed down its mobile games rollout and direct ports. He said that Nintendo thinks that building unique experiences for mobile platforms is crucial and the Japanese company struggled to come up with the best methods for monetizing their apps.

“Home system games, if transplanted to a mobile device, wouldn’t transfer as well. We needed to work through monetization as we’re driven to make money. And we needed to work through how to be effective on platforms and marketplaces that we ourselves don’t own. That took time,” added Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo America’s President and COO.

In other news, Nintendo plans on releasing a new, updated Nintendo Switch next year.

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News Tech

WhatsApp Pip beta Update Available to Download Android Users

WhatsApp PiP or picture-in-picture is finally available for Android beta users. Beta testers were previously not allowed to use this version of the app because it was not fully developed. Now that it is, according to WABetaInfo, the PiP mode can now be accessed on WhatsApp Android beta version 2.18.301. Users can now watch Instagram, Facebook and Youtube videos in the WhatsApp app itself.

If you are a WhatsApp Android beta tester and you, unfortunately, can’t access this feature even though you got the app updated to the 2.18.301 version, then you can try reinstalling the app after getting the chat history backed up in case you do not want to lose important messages. iPhone users can use WhatsApp PiP too because it is available for them as well. A small window will be available in the WhatsApp itself so you can watch videos while waiting for messages.

Now with every link from an Instagram or Youtube video that you receive, you can watch it directk=ly where you got it sent, and it will not open in a different window. The small window will pop up in the chat window you received the link. You can pause or play the video as you like and also close and fullscreen controls. You can increase or decrease the video bubble’s size and even move it around the screen of the phone. You can play with it and customize it exactly how it is best for you.

The sad news is that Android beta users can’t really use this properly right now. It has some errors like the window closing, the bubble not opening but we are pretty sure that this issues will be soon solved.

Android beta users, you will just need to wait for that.

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Tech

iOS 12.1 To Bring 70 New Emojis To Spice Up Your Messages

Apple announced 70 new emojis in iOS 12.1. Among the new emoticons, we’ll have new redhead characters, as well as others with gray or curly hair. Also, a new emoji for bald people would be available. The catalog also welcomes new animals, sports, and foods emojis. As for the smiling faces, we’ll have new emoticons, as well.

Emojis have become in recent years one of the most loved elements in instant messaging apps around the world. They are used by people all over the world to transmit their reactions without having to type.

With these 70 new emojis in iOS 12.1, which Apple has already announced during the World Emoji Day, it will be easier to find the right emoji to represent you better, as well as your favorite activities and your reactions. In iOS 12.1 you would have more emojis where to choose from, such as new clothes, symbols, food, new expressions, and mythical creatures, among others.

iOS 12.1 to bring 70 new emojis to spice up your messages as never before

The new emoji designs, created based on characters approved in Unicode 11.0, include even more hair options to better represent people with red hair, gray hair and curly hair, a new emoji for bald people and new smiling faces that give more expression to your messages, including cold appearance, party face, pleading look, and face with hearts.

The sports fan would also be happy with the new emojis in iOS 12.1, as Apple added emojis for softball, frisbee, and lacrosse. For their part, adventurers and nature lovers will enjoy new icons such as the compass and mountain boots.

In this new set of emojis, there are also animals such as a llama, a swan, a raccoon and a mosquito that join the kangaroo, lobster, parrot, and peacock already presented by Apple during the World Emoji Day. The bagel and the salt shaker join the new food emojis along with cupcakes, mango, and a green leafy vegetable, although it is hard to tell if it’s either lettuce, chard or spinach.

The new emojis in iOS 12.1 would also be available in the first iOS 12.1 Public Beta.

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Games Tech

New Nintendo Switch Rumored For 2019 – Here’s Everything We Know About It!

According to the online media The Wall Street Journal, Nintendo is preparing a new Nintendo Switch console for 2019. It would be the same console but updated and with an improved display. According to the before-mentioned news portal, that would be an effective way for Nintendo to boost its sales for the console.

While it is more likely for Nintendo to use LCD technology, there is a small chance that an OLED display will be introduced. Thus, using an improved display, the screen thickness would be lowered, battery consumption would be improved, and weight would be reduced.

However, Nintendo did not offer any details, so we can’t know just yet what kind of hardware the rumored Nintendo Switch 2019 console would include. It might not even be a whole new generation of Nintendo Switch, but it could be only a hardware-upgraded version of the current Nintendo Switch console.

Nintendo plans to release a new Nintendo Switch in 2019

According to Wall Street Journal, the new Nintendo Switch console would come out around mid-2019, even though Nintendo didn’t offer an exact date. This information has been revealed by a group of experts close to Nintendo’s suppliers, who shared the rumors with the before-mentioned news portal.

The problem we think about right now is whether or not the currently Nintendo Switch games would be compatible with the new Nintendo Switch 2019 variant. In case they’re not, as it happens with PlayStation or Xbox games when a new console arrives, Nintendo might not register as many sales as they expect. Therefore, according to the fans, Nintendo should opt for an upgraded version but still compatible with the current Nintendo Switch games.

However, many Nintendo fans expect a Lite/Slim version of the Nintendo Switch console that would still be compatible with the games of the current console and that, at the same time, is cheaper. But, almost unanimously, most Switch gamers agree that the new Nintendo Switch 2019 variant should boast a better battery for higher autonomy.

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Tech

Amazon To Launch New Fire TV Products for Canadian Markets

As it’s expanding its services in Canada, Amazon plans to roll out new Fire TV products for Canadian markets later this month. According to the official announcement, Amazon would release the new Toshiba Fire TV Edition TVs, Fire TV Stick 4K, and the Alexa Voice Remote. Also, Alexa functionality would be added to all the Fire TV devices across Canada.

Toshiba Fire TV Edition TVs

Toshiba Amazon Fire TV Edition smart TVs come with 4K UHD, 1080p, and 720p resolutions at 32-inch, 43-inch, 49-inch, 50-inch, and 55-inch display sizes, depending on the resolution you choose.

However, regardless on which model you opt for, you’ll have pre-installed Amazon Fire TV and Alexa Voice Remote.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

Compared to the regular Fire TV stick launched in 2017, the new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K boasts a higher resolution and also supports both HDR10+ and DolbyVision HDR standards.

The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K turns your TV with an HDMI input into a streaming station for Netflix, Amazon Prime Movies, and Hulu.

Alexa Voice Remote

Alexa Voice Remote provides you with voice control over your Amazon Fire TV device. Besides its TV-related functions, such as launching, playing, pausing, and stopping movies, music, TV shows, and so on, Alexa Voice Remote relies on your voice commands to help you place orders on Amazon or check the weather.

Prices of the new Fire TV products for Canadian markets

As we speak, the new Amazon Fire TV products for Canadian markets are only in their pre-order phase. The Toshiba Fire TV Edition TVs are already available for pre-order on Amazon at prices starting from $549.99. Shipments would commence on October 19th.

On the other hand, the new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and the Alexa Voice Remote bundles are available for pre-orders at $69.99m, while they would be delivered to customers starting with October 31st. Alexa Voice Remote alone costs only $39.99.

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