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Untappd puts Foursquare-like beer recommendations front and center
The beer-focused app Untappd is a handy way to keep track of what you've tasted, what you liked and what your friends are drinking. This week, the suds social network completely redesigned its mobile software to add a bunch of new features. On top of a revamped UI, the app's directory of Foursquare-like events, venues and beer recommendations is now a central focus. Each time you fire up the app or go to check in a beer, you're greeted with those options in addition to trending beers, top rated brews, a global feed and trending locations.
Unofficial Belgian beer emojis use the appropriate glassware
As craft breweries explode in popularity across the US, more and more people want to express their love of specialty beers in the form of emojis -- rather, emoji. There's just one standard beer emoji (plus a "cheers" emoji that uses the same image) on Android and iOS, even though there are more than 100 styles of beer, some of which are meant to be served in specific ways. Here's where the Belgian Brewer's Association comes in. The group's latest marketing scheme is an iOS and Android emoji board featuring 60 tiny images of Belgian beers, all served in their appropriate glasses.
Catching up with BioWare cofounder Greg Zeschuk
Greg Zeschuk, the man that co-founded BioWare and shepherded the development of now classic franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, left the gaming industry for good more than two years ago. Yet, despite that apparent retirement, he was back on the show floor at GDC in San Francisco to show off Biba, one of his many part-time side projects. Don't worry. Zeschuk's main passion remains beer, beer and more beer. But he's also committed to using his influence and financial resources for more altruistic endeavors.
Making a beer selection at happy hour has never been easier
Even the most experienced beer drinker comes across selections they aren't familiar with, especially when traveling to a new locale. To help analyze the selections on a bar's suds list, just snap a picture with your trusty smartphone and let SipSnapp do the rest. The app will sift through the available selections and provide you with a list of crowd-sourced ratings and reviews from RateBeer. Now, you'll have little excuse when that IPA you ordered isn't quite up to snuff.
BrewBit: the remote temperature monitor for homemade barley pop
Temperature is everything when it comes to fermenting beer. Thanks to a surprise heatwave, our last batch of homebrew went from lager to ale to horrible once we could finally taste it. If the BrewBit Model-T reaches its $80,000 Kickstarter goal, Inebriated Innovations could have the solution to hobby brewers' wort woes come next March. Each black box has dual power outlets as well as two temperature probes, allowing for independent control of heating and cooling. If you're so inclined, the open-source software and hardware means that you'll have an easier time hacking it to suit your needs. As of now, the company is just over halfway to its funding target, with 15 days to go. The early backer donations have already been claimed, but you still have a couple of weeks to snag either the single probe ($160) or dual probe ($175) model. We recommend you save the waiting for your suds' aging period.
