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Celebs are reading the first Harry Potter novel on Spotify
You can watch videos of the readings on the Wizarding World website too.
A weekend with 'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite'
Mat Smith and Dan Cooper grew up in the UK at the right age to witness the birth of Pottermania. The Harry Potter novels are firmly encoded in their very British psyches, and both are fans of augmented reality, GPS-connected mobile games. So it made plenty of sense that they spend a weekend playing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. One of them is a convert; the other, a hater, so let's watch them hash this out -- politely, of course.
'Pokémon Go' creator Niantic to develop GPS-based tourism games
It was at the helm of GPS/AR/Maps-based "exergaming" in 2013 with Ingress, saw phenomenal success with Pokémon Go, and will launch a location-based Harry Potter mobile game next year. Now, Niantic is making the natural move into tourism-focused games. In partnership with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), as part of its Travel.Enjoy.Respect program, the games company will create new experiences that encourage players to explore and discover the hidden histories of both their own neighborhoods and further afield.
'Pokemon Go' creator Niantic's Harry Potter game will arrive in 2019
Pokemon Go developer Niantic Labs said last November that it was working on a Harry Potter mobile game, which will also focus on location-based and augmented-reality gameplay. The company has now revealed it will release Harry Potter: Wizards Unite in 2019, despite expectations that the game would arrive this year.
Making magic with the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit
Like so many Harry Potter fans, I've dreamed of attending Hogwarts and learning magic with a wand, cauldron and bulging bag full of quills, ink and parchment. In the absence of real witchcraft and wizardry, I've visited movie sets and played countless video games of varying quality. While fun, none of these experiences capture the thrill of actually understanding and performing magic. There's a thrill, of course, to summoning a Patronus with a DualShock 4 controller. These spells rarely feels earned, however, because they don't require much practice or knowledge to pull off in-game.
Footage leaks of a mysterious Harry Potter RPG
You can now play Harry Potter on mobile, but if you're craving something more substantial, a new leak is sure to get your pulse racing. Redditor VapeThisBro briefly shared footage of an apparent new RPG set within J.K. Rowling's wizarding world, starring your own custom-built character. The clip was only up a short time before it was pulled from YouTube and replaced with a notice that Warner Bros. Entertainment Interactive had filed a copyright claim. Filmed in third-person, the clip showed a wand-waving protagonist battling goblins and walking through a town square scattered with NPCs. Hogwarts' famous hall also made an appearance.
Audible unveils a behind-the-scenes 'Fantastic Beasts' audiobook
Audible is launching a new Fantastic Beasts audiobook on November 16th as a companion to the movie that's showing on theaters on the same date. It's not another novel by J.K. Rowling, though -- sad to say, if that's what you were expecting -- but a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Crimes of Grindelwald. It's aptly entitled Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald -- Makers, Mysteries and Magic, and it's narrated by Dan Fogler, the actor who plays the lovable Muggle baker Jacob Kowalski in the films.
Snapchat's 'Harry Potter' Bitmoji invade the Muggle world
Snap's fondness for pop culture Bitmoji now extends to the Harry Potter universe. In sync with the titular character's birthday, Snapchat now offers a 3D Harry Potter Bitmoji Lens that brings a dash of sorcery to the Muggle realm. It's not terribly complicated (your avatar flies around chasing the Golden Snitch from Quidditch), but you might appreciate the customization -- you can choose your Hogwarts House in addition to your usual appearance. If you're bent on flaunting your Ravenclaw affiliation to your friends, it should only take a few taps.
Kano's next coding kit is a Harry Potter wand
Harry Potter fans have plenty of replica wands to choose from. Some are designed for children, with mystical sound effects and LED lights. Others hew closer to movie props with beautifully carved handles and tips. Few, however, replicate the art of learning and performing magic. Kano, a startup based in London, is hoping to change that with its new learn-to-code Harry Potter wand kit. Like the company's previous hardware, it comes with a companion app that teaches you programming through block-based logic. This time, though, the challenges produce spells that you control on screen with a build-it-yourself plastic wand.
The latest Harry Potter mobile game puts Hogwarts in your pocket
In Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, which launched today for Android and iOS, players create their own character and progress through seven years of rigorous tutelage at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They must choose their preferred House, survive potions class with Professor Snape, Transfigure themselves under the supervision of Professor McGonagall and even duel with other students. Not only that, players must also unravel the mystery as to why their in-game older brother was expelled from Hogwarts and reveal the sinister secrets he was pursuing.
'Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery' hits your phone April 25th
Warner Bros. announced its Harry Potter mobile game last December, promising that we'd all be able to experience life as a Hogwarts student, going to classes and interacting with the well-known professors in the magical school. Now Jam City, the mobile publisher tasked with making the game itself, has revealed that Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery will be available April 25th. It will also include some very famous voices reprising their roles as teachers of magic.
Visit the British Library’s ‘Harry Potter’ exhibit from your sofa
Assuming your Hogwarts letter got lost in the mail (it happens from time to time) and you still want a peek at The Boy Who Lived's coursework, Google has you covered. The search juggernaut has digitized the British Library's "Harry Potter: A History of Magic" exhibit and tossed it on the Google Arts & Culture mobile-and-web app.
Warner Bros. is making its own Harry Potter mobile game
Hogwarts is officially going mobile. From next year, Potterheads -- and muggles, should they wish -- will be able to create their own characters and experience life as a Hogwarts student in officially-licensed game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. As a witch or wizard you'll progress through school years just like Harry et al, participating in the magical classes such as Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions, with Hogwarts' iconic professors at the helm.
‘Pokémon Go’ will soon incorporate real-world weather
Pokémon Go is getting a slew of new Pokémon this week as well as a dynamic weather system later this month. The game will soon reflect the real weather around you and that will affect which Pokémon you see and how strong they are. If it's raining, for example, you'll see more water-type Pokémon than usual and they'll start out with a higher CP than they typically would.
Netflix tries out a Christmas movie with Kurt Russell as Santa
Netflix is handing Kurt Russell the role he was born to play: Santa Claus. The streaming giant is about to start rolling cameras on a festive flick, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with filmmaker Chris Columbus (of Harry Potter and Home Alone fame) producing. Child actors Judah Lewis (last seen on Netflix's The Babysitter) and Big Little Lies' resident DJ Darby Camp will round out the cast of the as-yet untitled project.
Stream every ‘Harry Potter’ film on HBO starting January 1st
HBO subscribers, we've got your New Year's Day plans sorted. The premium network announced today that all eight films in the Harry Potter franchise will be available starting on January 1st, 2018. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the latest installment in the franchise starring Eddie Redmayne, is already available on the service.
Harry Potter AR game is coming from the makers of 'Pokémon Go'
It's hard to exaggerate the success of Pokémon Go, Niantic's augmented reality game. That's why it's such big news that the company has announced the hit game's successor. Niantic Labs will once again work with a much-loved property, but this time, it's Harry Potter. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is set to launch in 2018, in cooperation with Warner Brothers Interactive and Portkey Games, reports TechCrunch.(Update: Niantic has since officially confirmed this news and released more details on the game.)
UK bookstore tweets entire 'Harry Potter' novel at Piers Morgan
J.K. Rowling is famously outspoken on Twitter, a lesson Piers Morgan is now learning the hard way. On a recent episode of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Morgan spoke in favor of President Donald Trump's travel ban, according to The Huffington Post. That prompted this tweet from the Harry Potter author, who took pleasure in the TV personality "being told to fuck off" by Maher:
ICYMI: The internet-connected chessboard of your dreams
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A Kickstarter campaign for a chessboard that uses a robotic arm underneath to magically move magnetic game pieces has surpassed its funding goal -- and let's be real, that's probably mostly Harry Potter fans. Meanwhile, an Autodesk robotic arm is 3D printing with a stainless steel welder and some great software, that video is here. If you need some Thanksgiving motivation, the dog chopping veggies video is here and the drone is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
'Maguss' wants your help bringing its mobile spellcasting to life
If you like the idea of a Harry Potter-like mobile spellcasting game and aren't that attached to J.K. Rowling's universe, you can now plunk down some cash to get it. The Maguss team has launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to bring its Pokémon Go-style augmented reality wizardry to life. Pledging at least $19 (normally $25) will get you access to the beta test when it starts on December 10th. However, you'll likely want to pay more to get the full experience -- spending $39 ($49 if you're not an early bird) gets you a Bluetooth-based physical wand on top of beta access 9 days earlier. You can contribute more if you want to either get into the alpha test (November 10th) or duel your friends.
