YouTube comment sections are a dark place that you should only visit when you’re inebriated – or maybe not at all. But now the YouTube creators have a bit more control over their comment sections – if they haven’t turned comments off altogether.
Pinning Comments
Creators can pin their favorite comments to the top of the feed. You can either highlight great fan comments or your own comment filled with important information.
Show The Love
You can also give a “heart” Twitter-style to your favorite comments as well. This is an easy and fun way to let your viewers know you’ve actually read through the comments.
Usernames
When you comment on your own channel, your username will have a colorful border around it. Viewers will be able to tell that your account is the legitimate one in case someone else has made a fake account in your name. Verified creators will also have the recognizable checkmark next to their names too.
Moderators
As a creator of a YouTube channel you already have the ability to designate trusted people as moderators. This lets you focus more on content creation and less on the vitriol of negative commenters.
Blacklisting
The blacklisting feature could be thought of as a type of parental filtering. You’ll be able to block certain words and phrases from appearing in your comments. Add them to the box next to Blacklist and use a comma to separate words and phrases.
Comments that closely match these will be held for your approval, unless they were written by someone in your approved user list. You can even block certain links from appearing in comments as well. This should limit spammers.
These tools will be gradually rolling out over time, but if you want to submit your channel to try them out ahead of time, fill out this form.
Google is giving developers a bunch of new tools and programs in the Play Developer Console. These tools can help increase user engagement, and hopefully more revenue as well.
The new tools/programs include:
New subscription promos
Pre-registration
Early Access
Recognizing art and innovation from indie developers
Fair Play
Subscription Promos
In an age of app saturation, it’s becoming increasingly harder to extract more and more revenue from apps and games. Enter the subscription model. This is the fastest growing business model on Google Play and developers can now offer promotion subscribers.
Coming soon (no time range given) developers will be able to create an introductory price for new subscribers. This will last a certain period of time before the regular price sets in. For example, you could offer a promo of $0.99 for the first two months before the regular price – say $2.99/month takes over.
Pre-registration
In early 2016 Google worked with certain developers to let their users pre-register for big upcoming titles on Android like Clash Royale and Candy Crush Jelly Saga. So far this has created a surge of 30 million people to download these games.
With a simple tap of a “pre-register” icon, users will be able to give developers a rough measure of how many people will be interested. Once a person pre-registers, it will automatically set an alert that will go off once the app or game is available.
Early Access
Early Access is an open beta program for Android users to test drive apps and games before the final release. The Early Access feature itself has been in a beta with a select number of developers. Over the past several months, more developers have been able to use this tool.
The feature doesn’t seem to be fully rolled out yet. You’ll have to fill out a form to “nominate” your app or game to be part of the Early Access program. You can find that form here.
Indie Innovation
Indie developers bring wonderful art and other innovations to their games, and Google wants to officially recognize their hard work. There are programs like Indie Corner to showcase indie games, and bigger events like the Google Play Indie Games Festival.
To nominate your indie app for inclusion in the Indie Corner, you can fill out this form here. Google will pick the best indie games that best showcase quality of the experience, as well as “exemplary” use of Google Play game services.
Fair Play
A big part of being creating a game is managing the in-game economy. Game economies are becoming increasingly more complex. A part of this is players who try out the game and request a refund. So Google is releasing a new API – in beta for now – that helps developers see which players request refunds. This lets the devs manage their economies better, and hopefully create a better experience for everyone.
Developers interested in signing up for this new API can do so here.
Have you ever wanted to attend the NBA Finals or the World Series, but for one reason or another you never could? Well then you’ll be excited to hear that Cricket Wireless and ESPN are teaming up to make your dream come true.
All you need to do to be eligible to join the Bucket List promotion is visit the dedicated page and enter the required information. Users can also sign-up by heading out to a Cricket Wireless store and handing over their Scan Card along with a valid email address. Scan Cards will be distributed by sponsor street teams at events and at Cricket Wireless retail locations.
Now what does the grand prize actually include you might be asking? Here it comes:
Two tickets to a Bucket List sporting event hosted within continental US
Round-trip, economy class air transportation for winner + one guest
Round-trip transportation from the airport to hotel
Minimum of three days and two night housing at standard hotel accommodation
$500 spending money
If you don’t end up winning the grand prize, don’t be discouraged. Cricket and ESPN also offer a slew of first prizes and second prizes.
Not so long ago Huawei was an obscure smartphone manufacturer in China, but in recent years the company has truly blossomed. Last year, Huawei partnered up with Google for the Nexus 6P while in 2016 the device maker released impressive models like the P9 which quickly became quite popular with consumers. But Huawei wants more. According to a new report coming out Reuters, Huawei aims to become the world’s second smartphone vendor.
It’s not an impossible dream given that the company is currently the world’s third largest smartphone vendor, just behind titans like Apple and Samsung.
Huawei recently hosted a media event in Munich, Germany where it announced two, new premium handsets, the Mate 9 and Mate 9 Porsche Design – a Limited Edition model. During the event the company’s Huawei CEO, Richard Yu expressed that he sees Huawei becoming the second largest smartphone producer in two years.
The device maker it’s gearing up to take down Apple and innovation is its biggest weapon. Chances are it will succeed. Customers might just forget about iPhones when they take a look at the two gorgeous, new Mate 7 phones. Both come with incredible sets of specs, but the prices are to match. However this shouldn’t be a problem for iPhone buyers, as Apple’s products are quite expensive themselves.
The Huawei CEO claims the future will bring lots of opportunities to undermine Apple’s authority. Yu bets on artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and the myriad of opportunities they open.
Speaking of which, the Mate 9 is said to be equipped with a novel type of AI system that can learn about a user’s habits and then display the most use apps within reach. The phablet is also compatible with the Daydream View VR headset, so Huawei and Google are still working closely together.
The Mate 9 made a debut into the wild with a 6.96-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and a new Kirin 960 processor with Mali G71 GPU. The phone features a “co-engineered” Leica dual-camera setup which employs a 12MP RBG sensor with 12MP monochrome sensor.
The phone also boasts 4GB or RAM, 64GB of internal storage, an 8MP selfie camera, 4,000 mAh battery and Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box with EMUI user interface plastered on top.
With such a solid device out on the market, Huawei feels confident it can dethrone Apple in two years. Yu says Apple is struggling to come out with innovative, new designs while Samsung is busy killing off its flagship products. In the meantime, Huawei seems to be thriving.
Seldom does a week go by without anything interesting happening in the mobile world, but the past week was especially rich in smartphone announcements. We’ve seen a few premium handsets make a debut in the wild, but also really affordable ones. So before you go off to enjoy your week, we invite you to take a look at some of the hottest smartphone that have made it out in the past few days.
Meizu M5
We start off with an extremely affordable phone that looks quite beautiful. The Meizu M5 will be sold for just $105 which is pretty amazing. The handset will be made available internationally with the Android-based version of Flyme UI. Here’s what to expect from the M5:
5.2-inch display with 720 x 1280 resolution
Top panel features a layer of 2.5D curved glass
Octa-core MediaTek MT6750 chispet with Mali T860 GPU
2GB/3GB of RAM
16GB/32GB internal storage
13MP/5MP camera combo
Fingerprint scanner
Hybrid dual-SIM/microSD slot
3,700 mAh battery
Flyme UI on top of Meizu’s Yun OS for China version
Mint Green, Glacier White, Champagne Gold, Sapphire Blue and Matte Black
Meizu Pro 6s
This week Meizu also unveiled a more premium offering, the Meizu Pro 6s. The phone will be launched in China for $399, but hopefully the company will offer it outside the country too. The Pro 6s is an improved version of the previous Pro 6. It uses an aluminum unibody with curved edges which gives it a very stylish look. Here’s the complete spec list:
5.2-inch AMOLED display with 1080 x 1920 resolution with 3D Press capabilities
Deca-core MediaTek Helio X25 with (2xA72 at 2.5GHz, 4x A53 at 2 GHz, 4xA53 at 1.4 GHz) with Mali-T880MP4 GPU
4GB of RAM
64GB of internal storage (non-expandable)
12MP/5MP camera combo
3,046 mAh battery
Supports mCharge 3.0 charging via 24W charger
Android OS with the latest Flyme OS launcher on top
Gray, Gold, Silver, Rose Gold
Lenovo Phab2 Pro
The Lenovo Phab2 Pro is a special phone because it’s actually the first Project Tango phone to make it on the market. The Lenovo phone aims to become your augmented reality companion and sells for $499 a pop in its unlocked form. Google also said 35 AR apps are ready and waiting for Phab2 Pro users in the Google Play Store.
6.4-inch display with 1,440 x 2,560 resolution
Octa-core Snapdragon 652 SoC with Adreno 510 GPU
4GB of RAM
64GB of internal storage (expandable)
16MP with Phase Detection Auto Focus/8MP camera combo
Fingerprint scanner on the back
4,050 mAh battery
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Gunmetal Grey and Champagne Gold
Huawei Mate 9
Huawei had a great year in 2015. It managed to score a Nexus deal and it launched several handset models that became very popular. Well Huawei continues to sediment its position in the mobile market well into 2016 by launching a new premium phone called the Mate 9 that could very well appeal to ex-Galaxy Note7 users. The device will initially hit Europe for €699 ($775), but will make it out into the States later on.
5.9-inch display with 1080 x 1920 resolution
New octa-core Kirin 960 four Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and another four Cortex-A53 cores ticking at 1.8GHz with ARM Mali-G71 MP8
4GB of RAM
64GB of internal storage (expandable)
Dual camera setup (Leica-branded 20MP monochrome + 12MP RFB f.2.2, OIS plus 8MP selfie snapper)
Capable of 4K video shooting
4,000 mAh battery with Super Charge with a 5A charger
Fingerprint scanner on the back
Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.0
Space Gray, Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Mocha Brown, Ceramic White and Black
Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design
Huawei really wanted to wow mobile users this time around, so it also unveiled the Mate 9 Porsche Design model. Mind you, it’s not the first time the fashion-focus subsidiary of the legendary car maker partners up with a smartphone maker, but it’s the first time it does so with Huawei. The Mate 9 Porsche Design is a bit above the Mate 9 spec-wise. Expect the phone to be available in Porsche Design Stores worldwide (not the US though) and select Huawei stores in Asia, Middle East and Europe for a whopping €1,395 ($1,547) a pop.
5.9-inch display with 1,440 x 2,560 pixel resolution
Octa-core Kirin 960 chipset
6GB of RAM
256GB of internal storage (non-expandable)
Dual camera setup (Leica-branded 20MP monochrome + 12MP RFB f.2.2, OIS plus 8MP selfie snapper)
Capable of 4K video shooting
4,000 mAh battery with Super Charge with a 5A charger
Fingerprint scanner on the back
Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.0
Samsung W2017
Think that clamshell phones are outdated? Well some users really love them and for them Samsung rolled out the W2017 also known as “Veyron”. Unlike most flip phones on the market this is a high-end device boasting pretty great specifications. No details on the pricing just yet, we just know it’s going to be launched in China initially.
Dual 4.2-inch Super AMOLED displays with 1,080 x 1,920 pixel resolution (internal and external)
Snapdragon 820 chipset
4GB of RAM
64GB of internal storage (expandable)
12MP/5MP camera combo
2,300 mAh battery
Fingerprint sensor
Support for Samsung Pay
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
Black, Gold
ZTE Cymbal-T
Samsung unveiled a high-end flip phone, but ZTE launched a budget model called the Cymbal-T this week with a $99 price-tag attached. It features mid-range specs and if purchased from TracFone (via BestBuy) comes with 1 year of service with 1200MB of data, 1200 minutes talk-time and 1200 messages throughout the period.
3.5-inch touchscreen display plus secondary mini display for notifications
After the Galaxy Note7 fiasco, Samsung embarked on a quest to recapture consumer trust. But the Korean tech giant isn’t concerned only about its image, it also cares about the environment. So this week, Samsung announced it’s in the process of reviewing options in order to limit the negative environmental impact brought about by the death of the Galaxy Note7.
The truth is, Samsung was coerced into taking this step by a Greenpeace statement issued a week earlier asking the smartphone maker to find ways to re-use certain rare materials like cobalt, gold, palladium and tungsten which are to be found in the faulty Galaxy Note7 model, Samsung is asking customers to return.
According to a report coming Reuters, Samsung said:
“We recognize the concerns around the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7 and are currently reviewing possible options that can minimize the environmental impact of the recall in full compliance with relevant local environmental regulations.”
Samsung is doing itself a favor by issuing this statement. After all a lot of customers might be put off by a careless approach regarding the matter.
According to an article dating back to October from Motherboard, a Samsung spokesperson said that the company has a process in place in order to safely dispose of the phones. But how does one go about destroying around 2 million Galaxy Note7 smartphones without leaving an environmental footprint?
It’s a question that Samsung will eventually have to give an answer to. For the most part it is expected the phones won’t be recycled, although given the large phone quantities to be disposed of recycling seems like the smart thing to do.
It turns out that we’re really bad at recycling smartphones with most of the precious elements in phones like Galaxy Note7 ending up lost. And it’s these rare elements that are the most environmentally destructive and labor-intensive to mine. Hence Greenpeace’s concerns.
The Galaxy Note7 debacle is estimated to have cost the Korean tech giant a whopping $19 billion. Samsung is just starting to get back on its feet and a bunch of environmental accusations wouldn’t help its recovery.
VR has yet to penetrate mainstream awareness, but major companies like Google strongly believe in its potential. Earlier this week the search giant announced its Daydream View VR accessory will start shipping out to customers November 10. But so far, not a lot of content has been released for the headset. But fear not, NFL has just announced something exciting for Daydream View users.
Starting this month, NFL will offer a 9-part series filmed in 360-degree VR to YouTube, but the content will be making its way to Google’s Daydream headset too later this year. Google hopes that football will give people a taste of VR and leave them craving more.
The first episode of the new NFL series will air on November 24 just in time for Thanksgiving Day. The series will be produced by NFL’s film studio in collaboration with Google Jump, the search giant’s impressive 360-degree video capture 16 camera rig.
The series explores life in and around NFL, so viewers will be allowed to peek inside the lives of players, coaches, executive, cheerleaders and fans themselves.
The partnership between NFL and Google is an exclusive one, so it means you won’t be able to watch the series if you’re using one of the competition’s headsets like the Oculus Rift. Which is certainly an advantage for Google and its Daydream View.
The series is NFL’s first serious attempt to produce VR, although the company did experiment with it last year around the time of the Super Bowl.
Apart from the NFL series, Daydream View users will also have the option of tapping into other apps including Hulu VR, Tiny Tee Gold, Gunjack 2, YouTube VR or Wall Street Journal VR.
Google’s first VR headset is available at the Google Play Store, Verizon and Best Buy if you want to place a pre-order. Shipments will begin as soon as next week.
Earlier this week, we told you that Samsung’s new Gear S3 smartwatch popped up at Best Buy marked as “Coming Soon”. This can only mean one thing – the wearable in both its Classic and Frontier variants will soon be available for purchase from the online retailer. But while we wait on that, AT&T just announced it has just opened pre-orders for the smartwatch today.
If you like the Classic version you will have to wait until BestBuy makes it available, because AT&T only offers the Frontier model. The carrier doesn’t mention when it will start shipping out the wearable, but we have to assume it will coincide with Samsung’s release on November 18.
The device is said to be bundled with NumberSync technology which will allow the sending/receiving of texts and calls via a smartphone connected on the carrier’s network. The wearable will also offer support controls for DirectTV and Digital Life.
Customers who are looking to buy the Gear S3 off AT&T have two options available for them. They can opt to pay $49.99 while jumping onboard a 2 year agreement when purchasing a Samsung Galaxy smartphone on AT&T Next or AT&T Next Every Year or they can choose the AT&T Installment Plan and pay $17.50/month for the next 20 months.
The watch comes with a 1.3-inch round AMOLED display with 360 x 360 pixel resolution. The Gear S3 boasts a rotating bezel which helps with app navigation and sending messages.
Samsung has nestled a dual-core 1GHz chipset under the hood of the device combined with 768MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage for music and video.
We should also note the battery inside has been beefed up to 380 mAh, compared to the predecessor, so it should last you longer. The wearable comes with Samsung’s homegrown Tizen OS onboard not Android Wear.
If you’re thinking of getting this beautiful wearable, maybe you want to consider some of these interesting analog watch faces to go with it.
Mobile games have always been my antidote to boredom for as long as I can remember. I remember sitting in math class, playing Phoenix on my TI-83 calculator. Let’s be real, what teacher is going to punish you for “using” your calculator in math class? This was the perfect cover and the real reason why I didn’t learn anything in algebra.
Let me introduce you to VirCities, an economic and political simulator for mobile platforms. It is a complex game that gives you the freedom to make all the decisions you would make as a citizen in a fictional society.
This is one of the most complex mobile games I have ever played. VirCities is a virtual world run completely by the citizens. The first thing you’ll do is to choose what city you want to be a citizen in. The cities have different languages so it is imperative to choose English, if you only know how to speak English. There is always the option of changing cities later but it will cost you.
There are limited things that you can do when you first start the game. The main focus in the earlier stages of the game will be to level up your character and make money. This will be primarily done through finding a job. The options are fisherman, scientist, builder, farmer, worker, cook, miner, and lumberjack. I chose scientist, which is fitting because that is the profession I chose in real life.
It will cost you energy to work and you will be rewarded with money and experience. You can increase your skill set by working more, which will increase your salary. Your salary is also dictated by the economy. For example, during a war, the highest paying jobs will be in the weapons factories.
Another way to make money is to fight off criminals in your city. This part of the game brought back nostalgic memories of playing Mafia Wars six years ago. The mechanics are very similar in that you spend energy to fight and will win or lose based on the strength of your character. You can work out in a stadium to increase attributes or equip your character with weapons.
As you progress throughout the game, there are a variety of activities you can participate in. This is where the complexity of the game comes in. You can open businesses, fight neighboring cities, join political parties, and open a newspaper. Trading centers are available to trade goods to other players to make a profit.
There are in-app purchases that range from $0.99 to $99.99. These in-app purchases are only to buy vGold which is a special currency in the game. There are special options such as moving to a new city that only cost vGold.
Impressions
The developers designed this game for the hardcore players who want to be able to control every facet of the game. The concept of the game is very interesting. I like that the players control every decision in the game, including how the city is run. However, my biggest criticism is that they made this game too complicated to even begin playing. Usually a game will have a tutorial or introduction phase. The developers decided to opt out of a tutorial because they wanted to keep a minimal text interface. I spent a majority of time in the beginning of the game, clicking aimlessly trying to figure out what I was supposed to do.
The developers decided instead to write a guide, which is actually quite helpful. This leads to my second issue with the game. I chose the English mode because I only know how to speak English. However, many parts of the game are in different languages. The chat room and news section of the game have many posts that are in Russian. There were various sections in the guide which were in different languages or just had a blank page.
Despite all the issues, I had a pretty fun time playing this game once I got familiar with it. This is a game that I would not get bored very quickly because there are an abundance of things to do. The high replay value of this game makes it worthwhile to play. The game needs to be refined to make it easier for new users to play. It took me an hour of reading the guide and researching what to do to figure out how to play the game. The majority of players are not willing to spend that amount of time and will uninstall due to frustration.
Conclusion
Mobile games will continue to be very popular because it is such a good way to kill time. VirCities is an economic and political simulator for mobile platforms. The game lets you control a citizen who can make all the decisions you make in real life. You can choose a job, open a business, or write for the newspaper.
If you need to relieve some pent-up rage, you can go fight off street criminals and make your city safer. This game has the potential to be a great game, but the developers need to fix the language issues and introduce a tutorial to benefit the new player. This game is perfect for users who are tired of endless runners, or games that offer no real gameplay options.
Motorola has smartphones like the Moto Z Play that relies on a modification system called Moto Mods. With Mods you can enhance one or more aspects of your phone, like the speakers or camera. Now Motorola is teaming up with Indiegogo.
Right now, Motorola has four Mods to sell. The company created a Moto Mods Development Kit (MDK) to enable developers everywhere to build their own Mods. But Motorola isn’t done yet. By partnering with Indiegogo, developers will be able to raise money to help fund their Mod development.
Starting November 3 and through January 31, 2017, you can enter the Moto Mods Developer contest. Share your best idea for a Mod for a chance to win an MDK and a Moto Z. The prize is a trip to Chicago to meet with the Moto Mods executive development team, where they can help you bring your Mod idea to life.
Hackathon
Motorola will also host a number of Moto Mods hackathons around the United States. These give developers a chance to get input from others for their ideas. People who create Moto Mods during a hackathon can still participate in the Indiegogo campaign. The first hackathon will be in New York in December, while the second hackathon is in San Francisco in January. Visit ModTheFuture for more details, and to register.
Lenovo Capital has even set aside $1 million for particularly impressive Moto Mods. If your Mod is selected, the Moto Mods team will invite you to pitch to Lenovo Capital for investment funding.
We start off with an extremely affordable phone that looks quite beautiful. The 
The first episode of the new NFL series will air on November 24 just in time for Thanksgiving Day. The series will be produced by NFL’s film studio in collaboration with 
