IBM to Invest ‘Hundreds of Millions’ in Free Data Technology

International Business Machines Corp. will invest “hundreds of millions a year” into a free data analytics technology, according to Beth Smith, general manager of the company’s analytics division.

The move, announced by the company Monday, follows the hiring of about 20 people for a new technology center in San Francisco to improve and extend a University of California at Berkeley-developed free software project named Spark, which lets people analyze large amounts of data more rapidly than with other technologies such as Hadoop. Bloomberg reported the creation of the technology center last week.

Smith said that over time she expects the center to grow to 300 people, along with other teams in the company’s laboratories around the world.

As part of the effort, IBM will make a research project named SystemML free. This lets people spot patterns in data via a technology called machine learning, on top of Spark. It bears similarities to a project called MLlib, which is backed by DataBricks Inc., a Spark-focused company spun out of Berkeley by some of the academics behind the project.

“It will not be a competition,” Smith said. “The design point is one that does not cause overlapping features, functions, projects.”

Bethesda announces new Fallout, Doom games as it jostles its way to becoming a top game maker

The video game maker announced a newly created specialized social network, and new games in its most popular franchises at a conference in Los Angeles.

There's competition to be the next big video game maker.

Bethesda Softworks, the company behind some of the most popular video game franchises in the world, is launching a specialized social network connecting game players together to compete and discuss its games, as well as share modifications they'd made, such as custom multiplayer maps.

The new software, called Bethesda.net, is similar to efforts by other major game makers such as Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard and Valve, whose social networks have helped to expand their influence.

"It will be at the heart of all our games going forward," said Pete Hines, head of public relations and marketing at Bethesda.

The new announcement is part of a larger effort by the video game maker to elevate its position within the industry. The company's major presentation kicked off E3 in Los Angeles, the largest showcase event in the video game industry.

The game maker discussed new instalments for some of its top games, including the first-person shooter Doom and the post-apocalyptic adventure game Fallout 4. The games, first released in 1993 and 1997 respectively, have become some of the most influential in gaming. Doom's last instalment was released in 2004, and Fallout's in 2010.

For Doom, the company discussed new ways for gamers to create their own levels to play with one another. The company said its new feature, called Snapmap, makes it easy to create levels and change the way monsters in the game interact with one another and the players.

For Fallout 4, six years in the making, the company said it had created intricately detailed new features to help make the latest instalment more immersive and fun. The open-world roleplaying games, set in the United States after a series of nuclear blasts nearly wipe out the population, are among the most popular in the industry. The newest title in the series will launch November 10, 2015.

One of the newest features of the new game is how it begins. Bethesda said that, rather than the traditional opening on the ruined Wasteland, the game begins in the world that existed before the bombs fell in Boston, Mass.

Todd Howard, head of the team that made the game, said the company built the game to allow players to choose however they want to progress, exploring the game's world to whatever degree they like. They can also build villages or use parts from various toys or tools they find to create up to 700 different types of weapons.

"Player freedom remains our absolute number one goal," he said. "We like to fill our worlds with thousands of items so you can interact with them, and now they have purpose."

Following a trend in the industry, Bethesda also announced a companion smartphone game with Fallout: a fully functional in-game inventory management system players can use on their phone while wandering the Wasteland.

As part of the marketing effort for Fallout, Bethesda also built a separate game for tablets and smartphones meant for managing the fallout shelters that the game's protagonists live in. "The goal of this game was to do something we want to do on our phones," Howard said. It's being released for free on Apple and Google-powered devices Sunday, he said.

WWDC Puts Accessibility On The Radar For Developers

That’s Apple’s slogan for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), and it resonates with me in a special way.

Event after event, Tim Cook makes a point to remind the audience that Apple’s ethos is to build best-of-breed products that change people’s lives. I believe Cook to be sincere for no other reason than the work the company does in supporting accessibility. In iOS and OS X. Apple has made good on their word to changing people’s lives by continually improving the tools that, quite literally, change the way a person with disabilities (such as myself) uses an iPhone and iPad.

But it isn’t only Apple who’s doing good. Third-party developers have a responsibility to incorporate accessibility into their apps as well, and that’s where WWDC comes in. Apple provides numerous resources to developers during the conference that help he or she ensure that their app(s) are as accessible as possible.

The accessibility presence at WWDC is deep and far-reaching; Apple does much to raise awareness of and advocate for the accessibility community. Apple this week granted me behind-the-scenes access to sessions, labs, and developer interviews at Moscone so as to tell WWDC’s accessibility story.

Sessions

Arguably the most important aspect of WWDC from a developer perspective are the sessions. This is where Apple engineers present information about APIs and demonstrate how developers can integrate them into their apps. As there are sessions dedicated to things like user interface design and privacy, so too are there ones for accessibility.

Sessions are helmed by a member of the respective platform’s Accessibility team. There are dedicated sessions for iOS, OS X, and new for 2015, Watch OS. In broad strokes, the accessibility sessions are about best practices for supporting accessibility. The presenter  focuses on an attribute of Accessibility like, say, VoiceOver, and demonstrate how to properly integrate it into an app, making it work with labels and images. Troubleshooting techniques and tips and tricks are also discussed.

The technical aspects of the sessions related to coding went largely over my head, but I did learn a few things that I didn’t know before. For instance, some UI mechanics of Apple Watch related to the digital crown and the Zoom feature, where a user can turn the crown to move line by line when reading text with Zoom turned on.

Framework Labs

As with the sessions, the Frameworks Labs are an integral part of a developer’s experience at WWDC. Here, developers can meet with Apple engineers to get help and ask questions about their app. Developers can demo their app to engineers, and get real-time feedback on what works and what doesn’t. Engineers are even able to look at and make suggestions for an app’s code so as to make it work as it should.

These Frameworks Labs extend to accessibility as well. Members of Apple’s Engineering and Accessibility QA teams are on hand to answer developers’ questions about supporting Accessibility. As well, there is opportunity for “accessibility audits,” where an engineer will sit down with a developer’s app and give feedback. It is during these times where an engineer will determine whether a feature such as VoiceOver is functionally properly, and give tips as needed.

Apple told me that press access to the labs was unprecedented, so I made sure to soak up every second of my time there. It was a bustling place, with people huddled at tables chattering about things like VoiceOver and Large Dynamic Type.

To me, the labs were one of the most exciting part of my visit. It seemed to me that the labs are where the action is at WWDC. Developers want to visit the labs because they’ve gone to sessions and want to implement accessibility (among other things) the right way.

The room was full of enthusiasm, which warmed my heart to see. As a person with disabilities, it’s thrilling for me to see others make concerted efforts to ensure that their apps are usable by all.

Interviews With Developers

I had an opportunity to speak with several developers, and my high-level take of our discussions is this: they care — deeply so.

What I mean by “care” is the developers I spoke to shared genuine feelings of empathy and a desire to change the world for the better for people like me. They want everyone with an iOS device and/or Apple Watch to enjoy their apps just as much as the fully-abled do.

Of the many developers I spoke with, there were three conversations that especially stood out.

First is the team behind the iOS automation app, Workflow. I’ve known about Workflow for a while and have it on my devices, but have mostly ignored it due to being intimidated by its power. Still, I jumped at the chance to sit down with Workflow’s three-person creative team: Ari Weinstein, Conrad Kramer, and Nick Frey.

In terms of accessibility, Workflow is noteworthy insofar that it’s the first app to win an Apple Design Award for accessibility. (Of note, Apple’s made the ADA ceremony available online. At the 35:00 mark is the Workflow demo, done by two Apple accessibility engineers who are blind.)

Weinstein and his team gave me a demo of their app, and explained to me that their focus, accessibility-wise, was on the visually impaired. Workflow uses VoiceOver to guide users in creating workflows by announcing selected actions and where they’re supposed to be placed in a sequence. It works very well.

Weinstein explained to me that the impetus for supporting VoiceOver was the comments he and his team received from the accessibility community. He said that many users with vision impairments were curious about Workflow and wanted to try it, and asked that the app be made accessible to them. Moreover, Weinstein stated that supporting accessibility felt like the right thing to do.

What strikes me about Workflow is not only its capability but that capability is available to the visually impaired. Here’s an app that can automate many tasks, which not only is convenient but practical. For many visually impaired users, getting directions home, for example, can potentially be cumbersome because of the visual strain required to orient one’s self to the Maps interface — e.g., find the correct buttons to tap, etc. Workflow lets you do this with just one tap.

I met with AssistiveWare founder & CEO, David Niemeijer, who demoed two of his company’s apps to me, Keedogo and Proloquo2Go.

Keedogo is a iPad keyboard designed for elementary-aged children, and has many accessible traits. (I wrote about Keedogo in more detail for MacStories last year.) Proloquo2go, also for iPad, is an app designed for non-verbal children, particularly those with autism. It’s based on the PECS system, a teaching methodology designed specifically for children with autism in order to facilitate expressive language.

It was obvious from speaking with David that he is invested in the welfare of those who use his products. He, too, wants to make a difference in the lives of people of all abilities and needs. Something David said that has stuck with me is the fact that the tools he builds are only possible because Apple built the developer frameworks in the first place. Apple’s tools, he said, are so good that it makes his job making stuff like Proloquo2go that much easier.

During Monday’s keynote, Apple showed a video featuring various developers and their apps, while also discussing the impact apps have had on the world and the iOS ecosystem.

I had a chance to sit down with one of the developers in the film, Raphael Augusto Silva. Silva is the co-founder and lead developer at the Ludwig Project.

His app, an iPad piano, stands out because he and his team wish to bring music to the hearing impaired. The idea, Silva told me, is that the hearing impaired can sense music through vibration. Tapping the keys on the iPad’s screen will register a tactile sensation on the attached wrist strap; the more taps, the more you feel. The concept is that the hearing impaired will be able to experience beats through this form of haptic feedback.

While imperfect right now, the concept is wonderfully ambitious. As someone who grew up with deaf parents, I am keenly aware of the uniqueness of the deaf community and the issues they face. Thus, Silva’s app is something I was immediately drawn to, and it was terrific talking with him.

Closing Thoughts

The comment from Cook about not always doing things for “the bloody ROI” feels not at all like an empty bromide.

My experiences at Moscone this week serves as further confirmation that Apple isn’t about lip service in this regard. While accessibility is and always will be somewhat of a niche, it’s wonderful to see Apple go to such lengths to prioritize accessibility.

We (the accessibility community) are on Apple’s radar, and, in my view at least, it feels great to be acknowledged.

YouTube to launch app, website dedicated to gamers

"This summer, we'll launch YouTube Gaming, a brand new app and website to keep you connected to the games, players, and culture that matter to you, with videos, live streams, and the biggest community of gamers on the web-all in one place," Alan Joyce, product manager, wrote in the company blog.

The new gaming service will be completely separate from the rest of YouTube, according to Google's announcement. YouTube Gaming will have more than 25,000 games that will each have their own page, as well as channels from a wide array of game publishers and YouTube creators.

Other features the service will have include high frame rate streaming at 60fps, DVR and automatically converting all live-streams into YouTube videos.

YouTube Gaming will roll out this summer in the U.S. and in the UK.

After 25 Years, Nintendo Finally Released This RPG

A CLASSIC NINTENDO game that was only ever released in Japan has finally found its way to the rest of the world. Mother, originally released on the Famicom system in 1989, is now available in the U.S. and Europe on the Wii Us Virtual Console download service, under the title EarthBound Beginnings.

The game is a unique twist on the Japanese console role-playing game from back when that genre was still a rather recent invention. You play as a young boy in a small town, using a baseball bat to fight enemies. It’s the brainchild of author Shigesato Itoi, and well-remembered by Japanese players of the era.

Mother was originally intended to be released here under the name EarthBound, but even though the game was fully translated into English, Nintendo of America scrapped it back in the 1990s. Its Super Nintendo sequel was eventually released here using that title, and that’s been the only experience that Mother fans outside Japan have had—legally. (We’re still hoping for a worldwide version of Mother 3 eventually, and hopefully today’s announcement takes that closer to reality.)

You can find it on Wii U’s eShop today for $6.99. Caveat emptor: Mother is a classic of the 8-bit RPG era in all ways, including the fact that it can be pretty difficult and require lots of grinding and dying. (Not sure if Nintendo has made any difficulty tweaks to this version, but I doubt it.)

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Minecraft Games Help Kids With Autism Develop Interaction, Concentration & Problem Solving Skills

Minecraft has been a favorite game by millions of children who are addicted to online gaming. The good news, this fun and challenging game is not restricted to children who are mentally challenged. 

According to the BBC, this block-building video game encourages children's ability to interact.

 This is supported by a speech and language expert from National Autistic Society, who reported that the said game improves a child's ability to focus and communicate. The expert also noted that it has positive influence to a child's problem-solving skills.

Dr. Randy Kulman posted in Learning Works for Kids that in his entire practice he had worked with teens and children who are very fond of Minecraft.

Dr. Kulman shared why children love the Minecraft, and the reasons are as follows:

1. The game is spontaneous

Children can play the game in the whatever way they want it be. Most games have rules, after finishing a particular stage one has to move on and play the next stage, which can be more challenging. "This is especially interesting, considering the fact that kids affected by Autism generally desire repetition, rules, and knowing what to expect," says Dr. Kulman.

A 14-year-old teen with autism even says he loves the game because he does not need to follow a particular flow of story to enjoy it.  

2. They can play it according to their whims

Kids can build walls, buildings, churches, rollercoasters in whichever manner they want too. They can kill zombies, creepers or endermen. The game is interesting because it fuels the interest of its gamers without limitation.

Aside from sparking creativity, it addresses the children with autism's interest. Dr. Kulman added that when spoke with a 12-year-old autism patient, the latter excitedly shared how fun the game was. The child even spoke about Minecraft facts so quickly, Kulman had a hard time following his words.  

3. Minecraft offers endless opportunities

Unlike other games, one can do anything in Minecraft without being wrong.  Players are not concerned when someone ruined or changed what was built. When one is killed, he can always come back.

4. Children are in control of the game

An 11-year old boy previously diagnosed with PDD has shared that he enjoyed the game because he can do anything he wants, build anything he wishes and even kick out anyone he does not want to play with.

While the game improves children's creativity and productivity, it has received mixed sentiments from parents. They admitted that their children's ability to interact with other children improved. However, their concern is that sometimes their children are so engrossed with the game, they are not willing to leave their computers anymore.

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Xbox One doubles storage to a terabyte, gets jacked-up controller

Microsoft's game console makes the leap to a terabyte of disk space, meaning more room for more games. Plus: a new controller fits in a stereo headset jack.

                                                                                              

A new Xbox One is launching next week with a slightly modified design and double the storage, putting the onus on PlayStation maker Sony to respond.

An Xbox One game console with 1TB of onboard storage will launch on June 16 in the US, Microsoft announced Tuesday. The console, which will feature twice the storage of the previous model, will also boast a matte finish across the top, rather than the half-glossy finish that previously topped the console. The 1TB Xbox One will set customers back $399/AU$549. For a limited time, Microsoft will also include Halo: The Master Chief Collection with the console.

A 1TB Xbox One was previously only available as part of the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare bundled offered last fall.

Microsoft also on Tuesday announced an update to its Xbox One wireless controller. The new version, which will ship with all versions of the Xbox One, comes with a 3.5mm stereo headset jack -- a conspicuous omission from the previous version that launched with the Xbox One. The addition means users can pick whatever headset they'd like to use with the console, rather than only those that would plug into the Xbox One's micro-USB port.

The addition of 500GB of storage to the Xbox One is likely to be well-received among the hard-core gaming cohort that plays dozens of titles. In a world where digital game downloads are increasingly popular and even disc-based titles are downloaded to hard drives, 500GB gets filled up rather quickly. With 1TB of space, gamers will have more room to keep games that are several gigabytes in size on their consoles.

The launch of the 1TB console also means that the previous version of Microsoft's Xbox One, featuring 500GB of storage, is now cheaper. Microsoft said Tuesday that the 500GB Xbox One will remain at $349 permanently. The console has been offered at $349 as a "special" price. Its official price was previously set at $399.

The timing of the announcement might come as a surprise, though a brief listing on Amazon last week gave a heads-up that change was coming. New consoles or additions to product lineups are often announced at the E3 Gaming Expo. This year's edition of the event, which is one of the biggest gaming shows of the year, is scheduled to be held next week in Los Angeles.

By making the announcement a week before E3, Microsoft is firing an early salvo against Sony's PlayStation 4, which is also rumored to be getting a 1TB version. That model is expected to be announced at E3 next week.

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Microsoft Corporation Skype Rolls Out Updates To Fix Crash Bug

Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) team behind Skype has reportedly rolled out updates for the application running on previous versions of Windows, along with Google Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating devices, and also for Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS devices.

The updates serve as a fix for the crash bug that was spotted by several users, who complained that upon receiving a string of eight text characters, their Skype applications crashed. However, this wasn’t the end of their misery as the application kept on crashing even after being restarted.

Skype announced this update through a blog post which stated: “We are aware of a problem that was causing Skype clients to crash. Our engineering teams worked hard to resolve this issue, and have released updates for all impacted Skype platforms." Reports also indicate that Skype for Mac remained unharmed by the crash bug, but developers still decided to roll out an update for Mac devices. The updated version is being stated as 7.5; however, the rest of the updates are mentioned as 5.13 for iOS, 5.4 for Android devices and 7.7 for Windows.

The response is a fairly quick one by the Skype's team, who state that users can continue to use Skype on their devices once again and securely this time, simply by updating the app to these versions. A similar crash bug was also found causing issues for the messaging application on iOS, which also forced users to reboot their devices, yet the iMessage application still remained inaccessible.

Skype’s response to the crash bug comes out earlier and quicker than Apple, which offered a temporary fix and announced that the team of developers is working on proper a fix, which will be rolled out in the upcoming days or weeks.

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My New Thoughts on Google Photos After Digging Around for a Week

Last week when Google Photos launched, I quickly tested it out and then wrote a post with my immediate initial reaction to the service. Much of my early disappointment centered around the fact that Google chose to limit the size of photos in the service to 16 megapixels. As a DSLR shooter this meant that a large portion of my library would be downsized with Google Photos. Bummer.

Flickr by contrast offers every user 1TB of free storage for your photos (which is more than what 99.999% of photographers need at present) at full original high resolution.

So in my mind this made Flickr’s free offering a vastly superior offering over Google Photo’s free offering. Flickr’s had that offer out for a while now which is why I hoped that Google would respond by offering us a similar 1TB (or more) of full high res original storage. Google Photos will let you have a terabyte of storage for your high res photos as well, it will just cost you $120 per year vs. Flickr’s free deal.

David Pogue (who works for Yahoo, which owns Flickr) wrote up a thoughtful review today comparing Google Photos and Flickr, and he made the same observation pointing to the negative of Google downsizing your original photos in Google Photos.

Despite my disappointment about Google’s decision to downsize our photos with the free version of their product, after having spent a week seriously digging into Google Photos, I’m much more optimistic about the service than I was a week ago. There’s a lot to love here.

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• The Bubble Boy is an entertaining game for kids and all age groups.
• Download this free game:
• Pop the maximum amount of bubbles without losing lives.
• Soothing visuals and engaging sounds for immersive game play.
• Choose between two difficulty settings. Easy and Hard.
• Pop the power up bubbles to earn additional points.
• Beware of the naughty bubble. If popped you will lose a life.
• No Ads while playing.