Windows 8.1 will welcome back the start menu, Facebook lets you share your location with friends, Minecraft will let you construct your own worlds, and Google Street View travels back in time. Check out this week’s hottest software news in the Softonic Minute.
The next major update to Windows 8.1 will be in August, and will include the lost but not forgotten start menu. Along with Windows 8.1 updates, details of the upcoming Windows 9 have been leaked as well. Continue reading…
Facebook launches Nearby Friends
Facebook has launched Nearby Friends, a new feature for its mobile app that lets you find friends who are close by. As always, you can choose whether or not you want to activate it, as well as which friends can see you, and which friends you want to see. Both friends must agree to be able to share their location.
The latest video showing the next planned update to Minecraft 1.8 introduces the terrain generator, known as World Customization. While you can’t sculpt worlds manually, you can control the parameters the games uses to create worlds. Watch video.
Google Maps has added an option that lets you see the evolution of a location. You can now see all images taken from 2007 to today, although the new feature currently only works with Chrome. Continue reading…
Broforce is a fast-paced action shooter with a cast inspired by the best American action movies ever made. Rambo, Barracuda, Chuck Norris and even Bruce Willis: stars from the 80s and 90s are ready to kick some pixellated butt.
Default player
<!–
By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and C
found at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/.
–>
<!–
This script tag will cause the Brightcove Players defined above it to be created as soon
as the line is read by the browser. If you wish to have the player instantiated only after
the rest of the HTML is processed and the page load is complete, remove the line.
–>
brightcove.createExperiences();
Attention: this list of characters, features and upgrade requirements apply to the Broforce Beta that was released on April 7, 2014. Some elements could change with the release of the final version of the game or subsequent updates.
Rambro
Inspired by: John Rambofrom the Rambo movies (played by Sylvester Stallone)
Inspired by: John Matrixfrom Commando(played by Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Unlocked after: 1 hostage freed
Main attack: Rocket-launcher
Special attack: 6-shot rocket
B.A Broracus
Inspired by: B. A. Baracus from The A-Team (played by Mr. T)
Unlocked after: 3 hostages freed
Main attack: Flamethrower (unlimited fuel)
Special attack: Exploding grenades
Brodel Walker
Inspired by: Cordell Walkerfrom the series Walker, Texas Ranger (played by Chuck Norris)
Unlocked after: 5 hostages freed
Main attack: Shotgun (5 short-range bullets per shot)
Special attack: Air strike (5 missiles)
Bro Hard
Inspired by: John McClane from the Die Hard movies (played by Bruce Willis)
Unlocked after: 8 hostages freed
Main attack: Uzi(continuous shots, medium-range)
Special attack: Blinding grenades
Mac Brover
Inspired by: MacGyverfrom the MacGyver series (played by Richard Dean Anderson)
Unlocked after: 8 hostages freed
Main attack: Dynamite (medium explosion zone)
Special attack: A turkey stuffed with dynamite (trigger by remote control by pressing the special attack button a second time)
Brade
Inspired by: Blade from the Blade movies (played by Wesley Snipes)
Unlocked after: 15 hostages freed
Main attack: Sword (very short range)
Special attack: Bradeis propelled forward, destroying everything in his path (blocks and enemies)
Bro Dredd
Inspired by: Judge Dreddfrom the movie Judge Dredd (played by Sylvester Stallone)
Unlocked after:20 hostages freed
Main attack: Semi-automatic pistol (medium range)
Special attack: Remote-controlled missile (moderate damage)
Bro In Black
Inspired by: Agent J from the Men In Black movies (played by Will Smith)
Unlocked after:25 hostages freeds
Main attack: The Noisy Cricket (strong recoil, long range)
Special attack: the Neuralyzer(long-distance beam that stuns enemies)
Snake Broskin
Inspired by: Snake Plissken from Escape from New York (played by Kurt Russell)
Unlocked after:31 hostages freed
Main attack: Sniper rifle (long-range, slow, significant damage)
Special attack: Molotov Cocktails
Brominator
Inspired by: Terminator from the Terminator movies (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Unlocked after:37 hostages freed
Main attack: Gatlinggun (rapid fire, strong recoil)
Special attack: Temporary invincibility
Brobocop
Inspired by: RoboCop from the RoboCop movies (played by Peter Weller)
Unlocked after:46 hostages freed
Main attack: Semi-automatic pistol(medium range, fire several shots at once by holding down the attack button)
Special attack: Homing bullets
Indiana Brones
Inspired by: Indiana Jones from the Indiana Jones movies (played by Harrisson Ford)
Unlocked after:56 hostages freed
Main attack: Flare gun (medium range, low damage, inflame enemies)
Special attack: Whip (can reach elevated areas)
Ash Brolliams
Inspired by: Ash Williams from the The Evil Dead movies (played by Bruce Campbell)
Unlocked after:65 hostages freed
Main attack: Sawed-off shotgun, significant damage, slow, 5 bullets per shot)
Special attack: Ash Brolliams is propelled forward and kills enemies with his chainsaw
Bro Anderson
Inspired by: Neo from the Matrix movies (played by Keanu Reeves)
Unlocked after:74 hostages freed
Main attack: Punches (very short range, can dash by pressing attack button)
Special attack: Bounces bullets back to the shooter for a short period
The Boondock Bros
Inspired by: Conner and Murphy MacManus from the movie The Boondock Saints (played by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus)
Unlocked after:86 hostages freed
Main attack: Automatic pistols (if one of the two brothers dies, it fires more quickly)
Special attack: When the two brothers are alive, the special attack summons The Duke, a 3rd character who copies the player’s actions. When one of the brothers is dead, the special move resurrects him.
Brochete
Inspired by: Machete from the Machete movies (played by Danny Trejo)
Unlocked after:98 hostages freed
Main attack: Knife throwing (medium range, fast, significant damage)
Special attack: Ultra-rapid knife throwing (medium range, super-quick, significant damage)
Bronan the Brobarian
Inspired by: Conan from the movie Conan the Barbarian (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Unlocked after:113 hostages freed
Main attack: Sword (very short range, charge sword to deliver a devastating blow by pressing and holding the attack button)
Special attack: Bronan strikes the ground with his sword and destroys everything within a large range (enemies and blocks)
Ellen Ripbro
Inspired by: Ellen Ripley from the Alien movies (played by Sigourney Weaver)
Unlocked after:130 hostages freed
Main attack: Pulse Rifle(medium range)
Special attack: Flame thrower (long range, significant damage)
The Broforce heroes have no more secrets to hide from you. Now it’s time to choose your favorite, and let the pixel power flow!
Too impatient to wait for the game? Want to get down to the serious business of being a hero? Luckily for you, the Broforce developers have chosen to let players try the game for free on their website, so now you have no excuse not to have a go.
The next update to the Android operating system, 4.4.3 is in development, and one persistent rumor about it is a redesign of the dialer.
The concept for the new dialer is to make it look more in line with other Google apps, which means a new look interface. So the new dialer will use colors to differentiate contact cards unless the contact has a photo, and gets a new blue bar for making calls and accessing call history.
This design is a huge change, and it’s a surprise that it might be included in 4.4.3, which we would not expect to be a major update for Android.
Although there have been no official announcements about Android 4.4.3, it’s expected that the Nexus family of devices will be first to receive it.
Personnel changes in a company don’t normally interest us, but Vic Gundotra leaving Google has some big implications for users. Gundotra was the head of Google+, and it is rumored that his leaving signals a change in strategy. Could Google be about to roll back the forced integration of Google+ into its products?
TechCrunch spoke to anonymous sources who said the search giant is downgrading the importance of Google+, and moving the teams who work on Hangouts and Photos to Android. Google has denied the rumor, but it’s undeniable that Google+ has failed to catch on with users, and its integration into YouTube was a PR disaster.
Sources say that Google+ is not ‘dead’, but moving resources away from it doesn’t look good for its future. Google has lots of very successful products, but Google+ has never caught on and has even become the butt of jokes on mainstream television.
There have been user backlashes every time it has been integrated into another product, which peaked last year when YouTube’s comment system was moved to Google+. Google presented the change as a better way to manage comments and conversations on YouTube, but many users resented being pushed into using a Google account with the video site.
It has seemed like Google’s tactic was to steam ahead with integrating its social platform across its products regardless of user feedback, but Vic Gundotra’s departure could see an end to that.
A recently discovered bug has stopped FaceTime from working on devices running iOS 6. An expired device certificate has rendered Apple’s video chat service unusable for some. Apple has responded with a fix, which is to update to iOS 7 if your device supports it.
While most users have updated to iOS 7, there are some users who may not want the dramatic changes introduced in the new operating system. Those with devices capable of running iOS 7, must update to fix FaceTime.
If you have a device that doesn’t support iOS 7, you’ll need to update to iOS 6.1.6 to fix the FaceTime bug. The update was released in February so if you haven’t updated, now’s the time.
Apple hasn’t provided a way for iOS 6 users with iOS 7 compatible devices to update to 6.1.6 to avoid the new OS.
It’s odd that Apple doesn’t just issue new device certificates to fix the issue and allow users to continue using iOS 6. While 87% of iOS devices are already using iOS 7, 11% of users are still running iOS 6. Users may have legitimate reasons for staying on iOS 6 but for now, Apple is not providing a solution.
Today, the Linux Foundation announced a mutli-million dollar initiative to fund open-source projects. The Core Infrastructure Initiative will help raise and distribute funding to open-source projects that are critical to the internet. OpenSSL, the open-source encryption software library responsible for Heartbleed, is the first project under consideration for funding.
The Linux Foundation hopes to provide more resources to open-source projects that are critical to the internet. In the past, the OpenSSL project received just $2,000 per year in donations. Understaffed and underfunded projects like OpenSSL could lead to catastrophic bugs in the future.
Big names like Google, Amazon, and Facebook have all pledged to be part of the Core Infrastructure Initiative. “We believe that an open-source approach to online security will ensure that code is constantly improving, making the web a safer place for us all,” said Chris DiBona, Director of Engineering for Open Source at Google. All web companies benefit from this initiative as there are universally used open-source technologies.
Users can help donate to the Core Infrastructure Initiative as well. You can contribute via the Linux Foundation’s site.
For more about the Heartbleed bug, you can find all our coverage here.
Facebook has purchased yet another company. The fitness and activity tracking app Moves will be joining the Facebook family today.
Moves will remain as an independent product, announced the company in a blog post. Much like Instagram and WhatsApp, Moves will continue to act as a standalone app and there’s no plans to share data with Facebook.
What makes Moves a unique fitness tracking app is its ability to track where you go, even if you’re not exercising. This historical location data offers a useful look into where you go and what activities you could be doing instead. While apps like UP and FitBit are focused on tracking exercise, Moves is more of a diary of your activities and movement.
Recording so much location data inevitably leads to questions of privacy and security. Our editor Suzie spoke with Moves CEO Sampo Karjalainen about how it keeps user data private and safe. Data sent to Moves’ servers is always encrypted and doesn’t share data with third-parties. Karjalainen says Moves has taken “every reasonable precautionary measure” to secure user data.
Facebook has not announced what it plans to do with Moves yet but the app’s location data could prove valuable. Facebook Places, the social network’s check-in service, has struggled to take off but Moves could provide Facebook with location data in the future. By locating users, Facebook can serve more relevant ads and can anticipate a user’s needs.
Check out our story on fitness apps and location tracking for more on Moves.
My.com has launched an new mobile only email service that uses the @my.com domain name. You can download the myMail app and sign up for a free email account. It is only accessible through mobile apps, and uses codes sent via SMS when you need to sign in, instead of passwords.
A myMail account gives you 150GB of free storage, and can be accessed using the myMail app, which was launched in November 2013, for Android and iOS. You can also use this app to sync with your current email accounts.
The unusual thing about @my.com email is that you don’t need a password. Mail.Ru CEO Dmitry Grishin said he wanted to look at email with a fresh perspective, and one of their conclusions was ‘no passwords.’
As almost 50% of email is now checked from a mobile device, myMail decided that it could be tied to your device like WhatsApp. When you sign up for an @my.com account, you supply your phone number. You then get a code to sign into your app, and any subsequent time you want to sign in, you will be sent another code.
My.com says this is more secure than a traditional password, and will keep you safe from phishing and hacking scams. All email traffic going through myMail is also encrypted.
While myMail takes a different approach to security, it’s worth remembering that as with all free services, there is a hidden cost, and that is how the company uses your data.
You can sign up for a myMail app through the Android and iOS apps.
Softonic’s App of the Week highlights some of the coolest, unique, and most interesting mobile apps for iOS and Android. Frontback joined iOS users by arriving on Android last week, and it seems like the double selfie photo app is finally ready to make waves.
You may be wondering what exactly a double selfie photo app means. Well, more than just another mobile photo sharing network, Frontback lets you take two photos and meld them into one: one photo with the phone’s front camera, and one with the back camera, pretty self-explanatory given the name. Once the photo’s done, you can share it on Frontback, as well as a ton of other social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.
The fun of Frontblack lies in the creative ways that you can take and combine photos. If you swipe your finger across the screen when taking a photo, you can change perspective to use either the front or back camera to take both shots. You can also play with camera angles to create some really interesting photos. The beauty also lies in the fact that you can’t import photos– it’s all about what you’re doing right now, and it doesn’t offer filters. As a result, it’s more immediate than Instagram, but less direct than Snapchat.
As far as photo sharing apps go, Frontback has been able to creatively add a new twist on conventional photos, and people’s love for selfies makes Frontback a good contender for the next big social network.
WhatsApp, Telegram, LINE, BBM… there are many apps that regularly tell us how many users they have. We saw this yesterday with WhatsApp’s announcement that they now have 500 million users. But these announcements don’t always reflect the reality of how many people are actually using the apps.
Lots of people try out new apps, but few keep them for very long, especially if that app replicates another service, as with the communication apps above. Users download, install, test and then remove most apps.
LINE, for example claimed 300 million users at the end of 2013. But as the Wall Street Journal writes, when you look at monthly active users, that figure is 175 million, while WhatsApp claims 465 million active users. Similarly, Viber had 200 million users in May 2013, but only half of those are active.
It’s important to note the difference between users and active users, because so many of us sign up to free services to try them out, and then don’t user them. What the current data shows is that WhatsApp is really well established, with a high percentage of active users, whereas much of the competition is actually struggling to keep users active after they sign up.
Rambro
