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Instagram can turn question stickers into live Q&As
Instagram's question stickers have at least one main problem: you have to be patient while awaiting the answer. Now, however, you might just get some instant gratification. The social network is introducing an option to respond to a question in a Story by going live. This could be most helpful for creatives who want to start an impromptu Q&A (say, a beauty blogger offering makeup tips), but it should also be handy for answering deep questions or anything else where a Story would be too short. Broadcasters can share photos and videos from their camera roll, too.
Google countdown teases Android O reveal during solar eclipse
Google is capitalizing on the solar eclipse hype to tease out the latest version of Android. On Monday at 2:40 PM Eastern, the internet juggernaut says we'll "meet the next release of Android and all of its super (sweet) new powers." Given that the final beta shipped last month, this could mean a few possibilities: either the name will be revealed (my money is on Oreo), or we'll learn update's release day. After months of previews and non-final builds, at least we won't have much longer to wait for when we'll actually be able to download and install the new OS.
Microsoft extends Xbox One bundle deals through Christmas
Citing their sales successes on Black Friday/Cyber Monday, Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it will extend its $300 console bundle deal through December 26th. This $50 price drop reportedly applies to every Xbox One bundle including the Halo 5: Guardians Bundle, the Elite Bundle and 1TB Holiday Bundle. What's more, from December 27th to January 7th, Microsoft is also running its Countdown digital game sale with more than 200 discounted titles.[Image Credit: Getty]
Report: Destiny DLC countdown locking out players on PS4
The PlayStation 4 version of Bungie's online multiplayer FPS Destiny is currently unplayable for a handful of users who have purchased the upcoming expansion The Dark Below, reports from Reddit indicate. When booting up Destiny after purchasing the content, affected users see a timer counting down to the launch of The Dark Below. The screen reportedly prevents players from starting the game or accessing existing Destiny content. Reddit user Grit45 confirms that deleting and re-installing Destiny fixed the issue in their case. While others remain locked out of the game even after restoring their PS4 system licenses, the issue could potentially resolve itself when the countdown concludes and The Dark Below launches on December 9 at 1:00 a.m. PST. [Image: RamiBlack]
Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #40-31
MMO main themes hold the potential to be some of the most powerful and magical pieces of music, partly because we associate them with particular games more than anything else. A great theme will dredge up intense memories or euphoria by the third note, and I see composers putting in their all with many of these themes. A long time ago I did an MMO theme countdown of 20 tracks, but since then I've heard a lot more and have wanted to do the list all over again. So this week in Jukebox Heroes, we're kicking off a countdown of the top 40 MMO themes -- in my opinion, of course. I listened to over 150 themes and spent hours ranking them to create this list. Because these choices are bound to be a little controversial and stir up debate (which is encouraged!), I set down a few rules that I wanted to share here. I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So no points added or subtracted based on the love of the game; I'm counting down the best music, period. Let's see what numbers 40 through 31 have in store for us!
Countdown for iOS keeps track of everything important to you
Countdown (free) is one of those "I should thought of that" apps. It's simple in concept, but useful all the time. Countdown has an attractive UI for adding upcoming events that are important for you to keep track of. A birthday, a vacation, a deadline for a payment... anything really. You enter the events into Countdown and can even pick an appropriate photo of a person or place to make the screen more useful or attractive. After that, you're done. The countdown clock starts timing months, days, minutes, even seconds if you like, until the event. You can set reminders for each countdown, have the app play a selected tune from your library when an event occurs, or share countdowns on Facebook and/or Twitter. Yes, your iOS calendar and Reminders app keep you on top of events too, but I like that Countdown puts all the events in one place with timers, and you can order those events by date to figure out what's urgent and what's not. If you run out of photos in your library, there are some in-app purchases of other themes, but I don't think they are really necessary. It's pretty easy to find something on the web that will work for you with a quick image search, save the image to your camera roll and then use that image. It would be nice if Countdown automatically scoured your calendar for upcoming events so you don't have to re-enter them, but that's the only downside I can see to the app. Countdown is a handy and free app, and you might find it as useful as I have. Consolidating all your to-do's into a page with timers is going to be pretty useful for a lot of people. Countdown requires iOS 7.0 or later. It's optimized for the iPhone 5.
Daily iPhone App: Timeless is a colorful, multiple stopwatch and timer app for iOS
Timeless (US$0.99) for iOS is a heavy-duty timer and stopwatch app with some interesting features and a colorful, clean design (taking some inspiration from the upcoming release of iOS 7). Offering up to 10 simultaneous countdown timers / stopwatches, you'll have no problem keeping track of multiple, timed items to the second with Timeless. Timeless has a simple and stylish interface with a variety of colored themes that can be applied to each timer, so it's easy to keep track of and identify unique timers from a glance. Furthermore, with a double-tap, timers can be labelled as required, like "bread in oven" or "coffee break." To add a new timer, simply swipe to the left. To apply one of those unique colors, swipe up to reveal the theme settings menu and sample the styles until you find one you like and select it. If you can't find a color theme you like, there are additional theme packs available via in-app purchase ($0.99 - $2.99), which you can try before buying. Once you've selected your theme, swipe to the right to navigate back through your other timers. %Gallery-196040% Alongside a unique color theme and label, each timer can be assigned a custom notification tone. There are plenty to choose from (8-bit, done, echo bell, attention, etc.), and like the color themes, additional notification tone packs can be sampled and selected via in-app purchase, including zen, summer and digital. Tones and sounds in Timeless are intuitive and fun, making it easy to engage with and navigate the app from an auditory perspective. Timeless has a few additional and interesting features too. For instance, turn your iDevice clockwise to view all your timers in an easy-to-see list format. Tap and hold on a timer in the list to rearrange them in any order you see fit. Turn your iDevice counter-clockwise to get a large, clear view of a given timer. You can swipe through to other timers in this view, too. Start or stop a timer with a double-tap anywhere on the screen. If you're the kind of person who uses the Pomodoro Technique, saves water by timing your showers or uses a timer when hard-boiling eggs, for example, then Timeless, combining great design and functionality in a utility app, is well worth checking out. If you want to try Timeless before taking the $0.99 plunge, there's a free version of the app here, which has just two timers, color themes and notification tones. The free app can be upgraded to the paid app via in-app purchase at the same price.
Daily iPhone App: 22 Days is a versatile countdown timer
22 Days is one of my favorite countdown timers. This useful app is even better now that a recently released update brings a redesign and a bucketload of new features. Version 4.0 of the app now includes a main screen and a detailed view of your events. You can switch between the two views using a swipe gesture. The main screen is the focal point of the app. You can create new events and access the settings from here. The main screen is also your navigation hub and gives you one-tap access to your upcoming events, your past events and birthdays. There's also a new reminders section that shows only those events with a notification attached to them. This straightforward layout allows you to track your events with ease. 22 Days conveniently lets you create a repeating event so you can keep track of your monthly meeting or your weekly class schedule. There's also an option to set three different notifications per event. This latter option lets you schedule reminders so you can be notified one month, one week and one day before your relative's big birthday party. The app is sociable and allows you to share events with your Twitter followers and Facebook friends. When you socialize, 22 Days lists both the event and the amount of time before it happens, which is useful for reminding people that your birthday is right around the corner. It's a handy countdown timer with a clean look and an easy-to-use UI, but there are two minor gotchas. One, you have to add a picture to an event before you can save it. It's a small quibble, but sometimes I don't want to take the time to select a picture; I just want to quickly add an event and have the app choose a default picture. Secondly, you can't add birthday events manually as the birthday event list is populated using birth date information stored in your contacts. The developer reached out to me to let me know that you can manually create birthday events. You just have remember to tap the gift icon when you create a new event. Tapping the gift automatically turns the event into a birthday. You can also automatically create birthdays using the information stored in your contacts. Overall, 22 Days is a nice little app. It's not one you would use everyday for task management, but it is handy to have around to remind you of life's big events. 22 Days is available for US$1.99 in the iOS App Store.
Star Trek Online teaser site starts a countdown
Something very interesting will either happen or be revealed for Star Trek Online on March 21st. We know that not because of our new psychic intern, Francesca, but because the teaser site for STO's May content update now has an exciting-slash-ominous timer counting down to that date. The teaser picture also has been updated to change from the Romulan symbol to a murky picture of warbirds among the stars when you mouse over it. The image caption reads, "Our shadow will dim the stars." Will this be the reveal of a playable Romulan faction, as many have suggested? Or will it be the rise of a prominent adversary in the form of new mission content? Or could it be something as of yet unforseen? We'll just have to wait with the rest of you until all is revealed on the 21st. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
HTC teases off-focus glimpses of its new smartphone, goes heavy on the lens flare (video)
In case you hadn't heard, HTC's warming up for another phone launch, readying events in both New York and London. The UK arm has now offered up a countdown clock (six days to go!), but with an extra soupçon of tease -- some ever-so brief glimpses of its M7 device, rumored to land as the HTC One. Fortunately, someone's managed to track down all the teaser clips and stitch them together -- we've added it after the break. Alongside plenty of blinding light, we get a better peek at what seems to be a machined metallic edge around the device, as well as a single shot of the camera lens -- HTC does love its imaging tech. You can also glean that the device will arrive dressed white, just like its predecessor, the One X.
Square Enix countdown teases The World Ends With You announcement
Square Enix has posted a new countdown site at the URL "http://www.square-enix.co.jp/subaseka/" which, for many reasons, suggests some kind of new The World Ends With You content. For one thing, the "subaseka" URL is a shortened version of the DS RPG's Japanese name Subarashiki Kono Sekai. The font of the countdown is familiar, and the music that the site plays is from the World Ends With You soundtrack. The background of the site appears to be the silhouette of the game's Shibuya setting.In fact, reader Amelia set her computer's clock ahead one day at a time, causing the site to play a more complete snippet of music each day, and the Shibuya background to become clearer.It's pretty clear that whatever this countdown is, it has something to do with The World Ends With You. Of course, we don't want to jump to the conclusion that it's a sequel yet – it could be a port to a new platform, some kind of mobile spinoff, or even an anime or manga. Let's keep our expectations in check by remembering the last time we saw these characters, it was in a Kingdom Hearts game.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Nokia 808 PureView arrives fashionably late in India, 41MP in tow
After initially announcing it would come in May, and then dropping a countdown red herring, the PureView is finally opening its big 808-eye in India today. The 41MP camera (and phone!) lands with a 33,899 Rupee ($600) MSRP, depending on your barter skills. The PureView might not be a spec heavyweight, with its single-core 1.3GHz chip, 512MB RAM and 360 x 640 display, but we still found it hummed along smartly with its nimble Symbian Belle OS. For those of you who've already set the cash aside, might be time to call that Indian friend.
Nokia PureView 808 is running 124 hours late, due in India June 5th
A countdown timer has appeared at an official-looking Indian PureView site, indicating that the 41-megapixel camera (with a twist of smartphone) should arrive in that country on June 5th -- or equally the 6th if you're in that time zone. The last we heard it was scheduled for initial release in India and Russia sometime in May, but being late is surely okay when you give a firm ETA.
Baldur's Gate teaser site gets a countdown and a soundtrack
BaldursGate.com just appeared back at the end of February with naught more than a poem and a rumor, and it's lain dormant since then -- until now. Just this evening, a countdown has appeared on the site, along with a tune (more on that in a second), both that seem to be hinting at a big reveal coming up in just about twelve hours from now, at 11am Pacific on Thursday morning. The music, which is reminiscent of the theme from the legendary singleplayer RPG (and sounds great) is indeed linked to a file on Beamdog.com, which is former BioWare designer Trent Oster's website, and has previously published an enhanced remake of BioWare's MDK2. Considering that the sound file is actually located at "files/overhaul/theme.mp3," it's probably a good bet that the announcement is some sort of Baldur's Gate remake from Oster's studio, Overhaul Games. For exactly what platforms however (PC, iOS, or even consoles), we'll have to wait until the official word arrives. The good news is that there's not too long to wait. If you hurry, you can listen to the minute-long theme music about 720 more times before the big reveal arrives.
Official Assassin's Creed 3 site begins snowy countdown [update]
The official Assassin's Creed 3 website has begun a rather short and mysterious countdown, set to expire in a little under two days, which also happens to be when the 2012 Game Developers Conference begins.The countdown hovers in front of a snow-covered field, potentially of the "battle" variety, which is stylistically consistent with the terrain and locations seen in the purported screenshots that leaked yesterday. By the time the clock reaches zero, we expect this field to be filled with soldiers in formation, lead by a cowled assassin riding a moose, armed with a smaller, wrist-mounted moose.Update: The countdown has finished, revealing a new trailer and a Wii U version, among other tidbits! [Thanks, Brian!]
Motorola teaser counts down to ICS event date, ends a few hours early (video)
Motorola just unleashed a countdown clock for its Daft Punk-esque tease: Faster. Thinner. Smarter. Stronger. We already knew the Spyder was on its way, but we noticed that the clock stops dangerously close to the Google / Samsung Ice Cream Sandwich event set for this Tuesday, missing the mark by only seven hours. We can't say for sure that Motorola is trying get in on the Google magic, but if it wants to push its news during the same business day, it makes sense for them to reveal their goods ahead of the event's 10pm showtime. The teaser's epileptic flash of buzzword images doesn't tell us much, but it ends with a speedy bullet smartly slicing through the event date. Hit the break to see for yourself, we'll let you make your own connections between that date-slice happy bullet and the Droid HD's alternate names. [Thanks, Robert]
The countdown to Oneiric Ocelot begins, Ubuntu 11.10 arrives October 13th
A whole new world? A whole new computer? Those are some pretty epic promises coming from the folks at Canonical, especially since we've seen the most recent beta and Ubuntu 11.10 and, while its packed with welcome improvements over Natty, it's not exactly revolutionary. Still, we're excited that on October 13th the final release of Oneiric Ocelot will be hitting the web with an improved Dash that integrates search Lenses, new default apps, a spiffed-up app switcher and application syncing across multiple devices. There are plenty of other little tweaks and improvements that add polish to the popular Linux distribution -- more than we could possibly cover without inspiring a string of TLDR comments. If you're the adventurous type you can download the second beta now, but we suggest you wait till the timer at the source link reaches zero. If you want to spread the Gospel of Ubuntu you'll also find a printable flyer at the source with a QR code and tear-off URL strips that lead to ThisIsTheCountdown.com.
Namco Bandai teases new 'Tales of' title
Tales of Xillia and its Ayumi Hamasaki theme song has only been available in Japan for a few days, but that won't stop Namco Bandai from diverting money attention away from its new release and onto an even newer, less available and yet more mysterious entry in the Tales series by way of countdown website. Since the website is registered to a .co.jp address, we figure the reveal will most likely be a new entry in the series, rather than a US release for Xillia or other stateside news. Also, the big sparkly glowing "New Tales of" is kind of a dead giveaway.
Namco Bandai and Tecmo Koei count down to new collaboration
Bandai posted a teaser site today featuring a countdown to a "Namco Bandai Games Inc. X Tecmo Koei Games Co., Ltd." game. Being a teaser site, no other information, let alone platform or game type, is offered. It's easy to come up with dream collaborations between these two companies, like, say a Ninja Gaiden fighter by the SoulCalibur team, or Tales of Rygaria. But ... it's probably just a fourth Dynasty Warriors Gundam game. Officially, we'll find out in seven days. Famitsu leaks usually tip us off well in advance of these countdowns, though. [Thanks, Andreas.]
Nokia N9 countdown timer removed, confusing calendars everywhere (update: here's why)
Psych. It was too good to be true -- Nokia's Swedish site had begun an official countdown for the Meego-laden N9, instilling hope within our souls that the gorgeous device would show up on at least a few shelves by September 23rd. Now, the timer is nowhere to be found, leaving disappointment, depression, and confusion behind in its tracks. Was it briefly taken down due to maintenance issues? Has the N9 been delayed -- or worse, cancelled? Perhaps it's the victim of some rare good luck and is getting bumped up to a sooner date? Until more answers come our way, the only thing we can do is sit and wait... and hope. And continue frantically clicking the "refresh" button. [Thanks, Mark] Update: We were just sent a link to Swedish website Tech Again, which notes they talked to Nokia Sweden's press officer about the situation. Apparently, the timer was removed because it insinuates a guarantee that operators and retailers will have the phone exactly at the moment the timer gets down to zero. The N9 is still expected to reach customers on the 23rd, but the specific time of launch may vary depending on the retailer. [Thanks, Joel]
