Routine
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Alexa users can share their Routines with others
Have you crafted a useful Alexa Routine that helps you get out of bed, remember to finish certain tasks or have a more effective workout? Amazon has made both sharing and discovering Routines easier with shareable URL links for customers in the US, the company announced today. You can share a Routine you’ve created by accessing the Alexa app, selecting the Routine you want to share, then choosing whether you want the routine sent via text, email or social media.
Thor wants to help you with those 2019 health goals
You might chalk up actor Chris Hemsworth's ripped physique to perfect genetics and unlimited access to the best personal trainers in the world. However, for a price, Thor is now willing to share one of those advantages in a small way with an app called Centr. It works as a fitness and nutrition guide, giving you access to Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky, along with his personal trainer, stuntman Bobby Holland and many, many other experts. "My goal was to build a program that takes the guesswork and excuses out of training, eating and living well," he wrote on Instagram.
Amazon's Echo Buttons now perform whole routines with a tap
Amazon's Echo Buttons are now useful for considerably more than playing party games. The company has enabled support for performing Alexa routines by tapping a button. You can turn on the lights without talking to your speaker, or let guests cue music without having to remember the specific commands. In that sense, it's a more flexible alternative to the Hue Tap -- so long as you live in Amazon's ecosystem, of course.
Google Home can now schedule routines
When Google introduced routines to Assistant, it promised that you'd eventually have the option to schedule those routines instead of having to invoke them yourself each and every time. That feature is finally here -- Google has confirmed a Droid Life report revealing that scheduled routines are now reaching users. If you have an Assistant-equipped smart speaker, you can use the Home app to make multi-step actions repeat on specific days. You could adjust your lights and play music when you get up for work on weekdays, for instance.
Alexa Routines can now include music and podcasts
Amazon launched Alexa Routines last year and they let users set up a list of automated smart home actions that can be triggered with a simple command. For example, "Alexa, good morning," could launch a Routine that turns on the lights, reports the weather forecast, reads news briefings and starts the coffee maker. Missing from the Routine capabilities, however, has been music. Well, no longer, because Amazon is now rolling out the ability to add playlists, podcasts and radio shows to your Alexa Routines.
Google Play now offers speed control and bookmarks for audiobooks
In January, Google launched its Play Store audiobook category and today, the company has released a handful of updates that will improve the user experience. Now, you'll be able to bookmark parts of your audiobook that you'd like to return to. Just tap the Bookmark icon and you can easily come back to it whenever you'd like. You'll also be able to control the speed at which your audiobook plays. Slow it down to as low as half the speed or bump it up as much as three times faster.
The Daily Grind: Are you a creature of habit?
To some extent, I think that most of us are creatures of habit when it comes to our lives and our gaming. We go through an experimental phase, we learn over time what works for us, and then we settle down into a comfortable routine from then on. There's a reason why adults tend to stick with the same haircut after age 28, kids. Speaking for myself, I definitely have my comfort zones in MMOs. I prefer theme parks over sandboxes, I like hybrid and pet classes most of all, I almost always go with a short race if given the option, and I am quite happy soloing most of the time. But lately I've been trying to challenge myself to try new things, to go through a new experimental phase, and see what I might be missing. I'm giving myself permission to break the habits and enjoy new flavors and new vistas. I'm curious today if there are any others out there that recognize the comfortable routines and choices they've established, and if, like me, you've decided to venture outside of the bubble to lands you've long rejected. Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Routine coming in 2013, Oculus Rift support and scary robots in tow
Lunar Software has finally given us terrestrials our first glimpse into the in-game world of Routine, its moon-based first-person horror game that originally debuted at last year's Gamescom. Aside from giving us a healthy dose of the game's neo-80s post-VHS visual aesthetic, this trailer also reveals that the game will be released on Steam at some point in 2013, and that it'll support the Oculus Rift. Look, we're going to be honest: We're not entirely sure we could handle something like this in conjunction with the Oculus Rift. We like space and suspense and atmospheric isolation as much as the next group of touched individuals, but we also enjoy how consistently dry our pants are at all times.
'Routine' takes players to the moon (and maybe not back)
Routine is, according to its website, a "first person horror exploration" game. It's the first project from three-person UK indie dev Lunar Software, and while we don't know when it's going to come out or for what platforms, we do know that the above teaser trailer tickles a very specific part of our fancy (we've asked, so hopefully we'll know more soon).Set in an abandoned Moon base, Routine tasks players with uncovering the truth behind the mysterious disappearances of every person stationed there. There's no HUD, no points to collect or targeting reticle assist with aiming. In fact, there aren't even health packs or continues: Routine is a perma-death game, meaning that when you die in the game, you die for real. Okay, well, not in real life, but you do have to start all over. Which is worse, we ask you?
Storyboard: Out of the rut
Every day it's the same thing. You wake up, you go to work, you convince your boss that you're actually working for eight hours or so, you go home, and then you log into your game of choice for some roleplaying. Except lately, that's been feeling like just as much of a routine. If your characters are supposed to be like people, it's not surprising that sometimes they'll wind up in the middle of a boring routine just like anyone else. Granted, depending on your roleplaying, that boring routine might involve several betrayals, affairs, and potential murders, but a routine is a routine. The point is that your character can get stuck in a rut. No matter how much you might like a character, it's no fun to keep running through the same basic stories again and again. You need to kick your character out of that rut, preferrably without destroying the elements you like about the character in the first place. So how do you get out of stagnant waters and start churning things up again?
