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Engadget Daily: 3D motion capture, the tough reality of sapphire displays and more!
Today, we take a look at the history behind 3D motion capture animations, scratch-test a nearly indestructible sapphire display, watch iOS users join the AR war of Ingress and learn about a $20 chip that detects diabetes. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Google's augmented reality game Ingress invades iOS
Android smartphone devotees have been playing a pretty cool augmented reality game since it launched in late 2013. It's called Ingress, and it's a funky real-world adaptation of the "hack the planet" game mechanic that seems to come back into style every few years -- the latest example of this being the recently released Watch Dogs. Now, Ingress is infecting iOS devices as well, which opens the game up to a massive number of new players. Ingress makes you pick between two large factions, both of which are vying for control of a strange and powerful new energy source. Your real-world neighborhood is the battleground, and you need to secure and capture territory to help your faction succeed. Living in a small midwestern town here in the U.S., the number of Ingress players around me seems to be rather slim, but if you're based in a larger population center, there's a good chance you're sitting in the middle of a hotly contested war zone without even knowing it. Ingress is free, and it's available right now.
Augment reality and seize territories with Google's Ingress on iOS
If you see your hometown as a capture-the-flag game just waiting to happen, then Google's Ingress might be for you. Having built up its player base on Android, the augmented reality game is available now for free on the App Store for iPad and iPhone. The alternate reality world of Ingress is fought between two teams that you can align with, namely The Enlightened and The Resistance. The two parties are vying for energy sources locked within real-life locations, and so it's up to you to find these sources with your mobile in hand. By jetting around town you can capture locations, unearth energy, build up skills, and co-ordinate larger-scale virtual assaults with other players. With Ingress, you'll never need to look up from your phone during those boring museum visits and dreary sightseeing trips with loved ones. To check it out, head to the App Store. [Image: Engadget]
Google's augmented reality turf war, 'Ingress,' arrives on iOS
Google's Niantic Labs grew the potential audience for Ingress in a big way late last year, when it put out the finished Android version of its augmented reality game. Today, the studio is taking the next (if fairly obvious) step toward grabbing more players: it's releasing the long-promised iOS edition. Both iPad and iPhone owners can now capture territory ("portals" in Ingress-speak) and build up their virtual skills by visiting real locations. The experience will be very familiar if you've played before; missions give you an incentive to keep coming back, while faction chats let you coordinate turf battles and meet fellow players. There aren't any major tweaks or upgrades that we've seen. The game ultimately remains an excuse to explore new places, but that's not a bad thing if you're tired of visiting the same old haunts -- hit the App Store if you're willing to give it a spin.
James Frey and Google team up to fuse interactive teen novels with AR games
We knew Google's Niantic Labs was planning to use its Ingress tech to power other augmented reality games, but we didn't expect this. In an announcement today, Niantic announced it has teamed up with publisher HarperCollins to create a location-based game for ENDGAME, a new book trilogy for young adults by bestselling authors James Frey (of A Million Little Pieces fame) and Nils Johnson-Shelton that has already been optioned by Twentieth Century Fox. Niantic will play a significant part in the interactive project, which is lovingly referred to as an "innovative omni-platform endeavor," by developing a virtual-meets-real-world game that allows mobile users to solve virtual puzzles to advance parts of the story. Google's involvement doesn't end there, either. The company has secured the rights to exclusively distribute six of 15 original e-books on the Play Store and will also use YouTube videos, search and image results and maps to build the story, mirroring elements of Niantic's Ingress campaigns. So when can we expect the project to bear fruit? HarperCollins says the first first book in the trilogy, ENDGAME: THE CALLING (yes, it appears someone's Caps Lock got stuck), will be published on October 7th, along with Niantic's official iOS and Android games. To mark the occasion, gamers will be asked to solve a virtual puzzle to claim a quantity of gold secured inside a bulletproof glass case. If that's got you excited, there is a catch -- the case is on public display and Google plans to stream the event live on YouTube.
Google's Ingress to become a platform for other augmented reality games
Eventually, Google's Niantic Labs will have to wind down Ingress' storyline. However, that won't be the end of the developer's augmented reality efforts. Niantic tells The Verge that it's working on programming kits that would let aspiring coders build their own games with chat layers, location info and (if necessary) in-game ads. Jut don't expect to write your own title any time soon. Niantic doesn't yet know when the tools will be ready, and their availability may depend on the kind of flexibility that the team wants to offer. If the developer plays its cards right, though, Ingress fans will have a lot more to look forward to than just the beta's end or iOS support.
Google's Ingress augmented reality game exits beta December 14
It's been just over a year since Google's Niantic Labs launched Ingress, an alternate and augmented reality turf war game, as a closed beta. Last Friday, the game ditched its invitation requirement, and today Niantic announced that Ingress will lose its beta tag on December 14. So, in just over a month, anyone with an Android phone can join in the search for XM and start battling for control of the world's portals by downloading the app from Google Play. The good news isn't just for new players, either. Ingress agents who've been playing awhile can now earn the new Founder Medal badge if they reach level 5 in the game before the beta ends. Lastly, Niantic is announcing the Ingress Elite Agent challenge for all players, which starts today and runs until December 14. Players who have the best Ingress performance stats and submit "a creative social media submission" will get a free trip to California next February to work with Niantic Labs on the ever-evolving Ingress story. Want to know more? The Google plus source link's got all the details you need.
Ingress beta for Android now open to all augmented reality fans
For the past year, the Ingress beta has been as much an exclusive club as it is an augmented reality game -- you've had to request an invitation to play. Google and Niantic Labs must want more of us to join the party, though, as they've quietly dropped the invitation requirement. Any Android user interested in virtual turf wars now just has to download the beta from Google Play to start claiming territory. The promised iOS version still isn't available, although Niantic Labs' Brandon Badger recently told AllThingsD that the port should be available sometime in 2014. While that's a long time to wait, iOS players will at least have plenty of opponents once they arrive.
Google's 'Ingress' coming to iOS in 2014
Google's popular mobile augmented-reality game called Ingress will be coming to iOS in 2014, reports AllThingsD. Ingress product manager Brandon Badger confirmed the iOS port to the tech site last week, and while Badger couldn't divulge an exact release date, iOS fans of the Android game will be happy to know that it is at least on its way. Since its launch in a limited beta for Android last November, Ingress has already racked up over one million players worldwide. In the game, players use their mobile phones to physically search for clues in the real world that will help the unravel the story of a mysterious energy that has been unearthed by a team of scientists in Europe. Players can choose to join "The Enlightened" who seek to embrace the energy's power, or "The Resistance" who seek to defend humanity. From the game's Google Play description: The World is the Game Move through the real world using your Android device and the Ingress app to discover and tap sources of this mysterious energy. Acquire objects to aid in your quest, deploy tech to capture territory, and ally with other players to advance the cause of the Enlightened or the Resistance. Strategy The struggle is being played out globally. Track the progress of players around the world, plan your next steps, and communicate with others using an Intelligence map. What is the Niantic Project? Is this just a game? An Investigation Board (http://www.nianticproject.com) filled with cryptic clues and secret codes awaits. The story evolves everyday. Powerful secrets and game tech are there to be unlocked. Form Alliances The struggle to save the planet spans the entire world. Groups of people acting together can be more effective than individuals acting alone. Cooperation across neighborhoods, cities, and countries will be needed to achieve the ultimate victory. Though you would think Google would be reluctant to release such a popular game on iOS, AllThingsD points out that because of the sheer number of iOS users, no gaming company -- even Google -- can afford to not be on Apple's platform. In 2014 it is expect the number of iOS devices in the wild will surpass 1 billion.
Google's Ingress adopts achievement system, awards badges
It's been a while since we have heard any news about Google's mobile alternate-reality MMO Ingress. But that silence has broken: A new update is rolling out and should be available to all players in the course of a few days. This update includes scanner performance updates as well as a new system of badges that players can earn to show off their achievements. This new achievement system -- not unlike the famous merit badges earned by scouts -- awards players for such things as exploring, building, and hacking. Ingress also recognizes players for more unique achievements with such badges as Mind Controller and Seer. [Thanks to SpaceCobra for the tip!]
Google's mobile MMO Ingress gets badges for monitoring player progress
Massively multiplayer games are all well and good, but what's the point of anything without merit badges, really? The latest upgrade to Google's covert mobile game Ingress brings a new achievement system that lets players track their own progress (and the progress of other players) and earn up to ten badges, including the likes of Explorer, Pioneer and Liberator. The update will be hitting accounts over the next few days. More info in the source link below.
Motorola Droid Ultra unveiled with unibody Kevlar design, reaches Verizon on August 20th for $199
As expected, the star of the show is here: Verizon has unveiled the Motorola Droid Ultra at its New York City press event. The 5-inch smartphone is "all about thin," according to Moto, and sports a glossy, unibody Kevlar shell that makes it thinner (7.18mm) yet stronger than its predecessors. It's also speedier: a new dual-core X8 Mobile Computing System delivers about 24 percent faster processing power than the previous generations, graphics that are twice as quick and dedicated chips for both contextual computing and language processing. It sports the software tricks we've seen in leaks of the Moto X, such as hands-free voice control, Active Display notifications and Quick Capture. Google's augmented reality game Ingress comes preloaded for more adventurous owners. The Droid Ultra ships August 20th for $199, and pre-orders are starting today.
MMObility: What needs to happen to make the mobile market shine
I've recently written about what the MMO future might look like, but in case you haven't read that piece yet, I can sum it up for you. Essentially I see the new generation being so used to gaming and communicating on portable yet powerful devices that the sit-down keyboard and mouse setup might very well be doomed. Even major PC manufacturers and sellers are noticing the trend. Take a visit to your local Gamestop or equivalent game shop and you will notice that the chains have started to sell tablets as well. All of this tablet gaming might wound the current style of MMOs. I suspect that within the next decade or two it will all come full circle back to massive three-dimensional worlds on tech that becomes even more powerful and common, so we have to look at what the mobile market can do currently to keep MMOs in the lineup.
MMObility: Fifteen fun free MMORPGs for your tablet or smartphone
Mobile MMORPGs are still hard to come by. Sure, there are a ton of pseudo-MMOs and developers who claim to have created an MMO, but the fact is that persistence -- a key to defining what an MMO is -- is often gone from many of these games. I want to be able to log out of the game while the rest of the digital world goes on without me. Or better yet, and in the case of most MMORTS titles, I want to log out of the game and continue to have an effect on the world through trades, wars, or the fallout of diplomacy. Even though the market is often bare, there are still quite a few MMOs out there. Many of them are fun as well! I know, I know, I am making it seem as though the smartphone or tablet MMO market is empty of all content, but the truth is that for its age, it's doing very well. There are more and more coming out all of the time, and hopefully I'll be there to cover them. In the meanwhile, enjoy a list of the specific titles that rest on my Nexus 7 3G tablet, just waiting to be played anywhere and any time!
MMObility: Google's Ingress shines light on the good and bad of ARGs
If you're turned on by augmented reality gaming or games that occur at least in some part within the real world, then you have probably heard about Google's latest experiment, Ingress. Google has been in the MMO game before. Years ago the company created a sort of social sandbox called Google Lively. It was a very interesting project, but its disappearance did not exactly fill me with confidence that Google could pull off another one. Still, this is one of the country's largest experimentation-driven companies with some of the smartest people and greatest access to information, so an ARG might just be the perfect fit. I was just given access to the current stage of the game; be aware that everything I talk about or show you is most likely going to change over time.
Introducing Ingress: The MMO by Google
Google has joined the MMO scene. The company revealed its new massively multiplayer online alternate reality game, Ingress, yesterday. Players of this new game will be able to capture and defend virtual control points known as portals, but they have to actually get themselves to the proper meatspace location in order to do so. According to the game's trailer, which you can check out just below the cut, scientists have unleashed havoc on the world in the form of a mysterious energy source that gathers around certain locations -- and it's up to players to choose a faction and try to set things straight. Ingress is currently in closed beta and available only to Android users at the moment. There are plans for an iOS version to come. You can sign up for a beta invite and get more details at the official site.
Google wants to change your reality with Ingress, a mobile game played out in real life
All the viral ads courtesy of Niantic Labs told us something was coming, and now its here -- an alternate reality game from Google called Ingress. The theme is one of worldwide mind control, and it'll be played out in real life, where you'll be a part of one of two teams which either embrace or fight "the power" -- The Enlightened or The Resistance, respectively. With a companion mobile app installed, you'll venture out into the world collecting energy known as "Exotic Matter" (XM), found at real locations. This can then be spent claiming, stealing or reinforcing "portals," which are positioned at key public places. Teamwork will be essential, as the goal is to create zones controlled by your faction, and attacking those occupied by the enemy. One team will eventually win, although this end point is expected to be a year to 18 months down the line. John Hanke of Niantic Labs said some of the inspiration for Ingress came from JJ Abrams, and hardcore Lost fans may remember a similarly cryptic internet 'game' focused around the show. The Ingress app is available on Google Play today, with an iOS version in the pipe, and if you want you play, sign up at the source below to request access. Your mobile device will provide you with an overview of your local battlefield when you're out and about, but a web client can keep you up to date on the global war while you're sat at a computer. Check out the video and app screenshots below, and if you're still confused as to what it's all about -- well, that's how they want you to feel.
