sway
Latest
Sway is a slick meditation app that makes sure you relax
Sway is a smartphone-based meditation (kind of) game, that comes from Ustwo, the company behind acclaimed mobile hit Monument Valley. No, this isn't a dreamily designed puzzler, but the same gentle aesthetics and attention to detail are definitely found in this app's DNA. I got to test Sway a few times earlier this week, and it's a cleverly distracting way to get into mindfulness — something I've been wrestling with over the last few months.
Microsoft puts AI to work in Office 365
Microsoft isn't just trying out artificial intelligence through bots and voice assistants -- it's going all-in. The crew in Redmond has revealed that Office 365 is wielding cloud-based AI to automate many tasks. Tap for Word and Outlook surface relevant content from your company to help finish a project, for instance. PowerPoint and Sway will have a QuickStarter feature that gives you curated outlines for given topics, saving you the trouble of creating the foundation of a presentation from scratch. Excel, meanwhile, will have a way to turn raw geographic data into Bing-based maps.
Skype video and voice chats come to Office and Outlook on the web
You can already have Skype text chats while you're collaborating on Office Online docs or checking mail at Outlook.com. But wouldn't you rather talk to your colleagues and keep your hands free for, you know, work? You're about to get just that: Microsoft says it will bring Skype's video and voice chats to everyone using Office Online and Outlook.com, starting in November. On top of this, it's trotting out a Chrome extension that lets you quickly work with Office and Sway content in the browser, whether it's stored on your PC or in the cloud. All told, you don't have to worry quite so much about leaving Office's native apps behind.
Microsoft's Sway presentation app hits Windows 10, leaves preview
Sway, Microsoft's app for building well-designed presentations on the web, is beginning to seem like more than just a mere experiment. Today, Microsoft announced that it's bringing the app out of preview mode (the company's designation for a beta test), and it's launching a dedicated Sway app for Windows 10. On top of that, Sway is also one of the services Microsoft has integrated into Docs, its new online document sharing service. That's a surprising amount of progress for an app that initially seemed like a less capable PowerPoint for the web. In a nutshell, Sway lets you create stylized presentations that are easily viewable across phones, tablets and computers. Much like Edge, the company's new Windows 10 browser, it's as if Microsoft went back to the drawing board and came up with a new type of presentation app for our multi-device age. In many ways, it's also like a modern Content Management Service like those offered by Squarespace and Medium, allowing you to just plug in content and get a beautiful final product.
Microsoft's document sharing service, Docs, is available to everyone
Sure, you can technically use OneDrive and other cloud services to share your Office files, but wouldn't it be nice if there were a dedicated site for that? Apparently, Microsoft agrees -- it quietly launched the public beta for Docs, a dedicated website (this was previously a Facebook-only service) that simplifies sharing your Office files, PDFs and Sway presentations. Think of it as a parallel to offerings like SlideShare or Scribd, where the focus is more on preserving the formatting of your work than anything else. You can comment on and download documents, but you'll have to turn to other tools to collaborate on that upcoming report. You only need a Microsoft account to give Docs a spin, so it won't hurt to sign up.
Microsoft's supercharged presentation app arrives on iOS
Last year, Microsoft expanded its Office 365 productivity suite with Sway, a service that gave users a simple way to create and publish content on the internet. The only caveat was you could only use it via a web app. As of today, however, those of you with an iPhone or iPad can start using Sway to build, edit and share a bunch of content -- including, but not limited to, interactive reports, presentations and personal stories. It's all free too, so there's no need to worry about having an Office 365 subscription. Microsoft also revealed Sway for Windows 10 will be coming this summer, around the time its new operating system launches across the world.
Engadget Daily: Windows 10 preview, the deal with vape modding and more!
Wondering what all the e-cig hullabaloo is about? Today, we take an in-depth look at the birth of vaporized nicotine and its growing, mod-addicted community. That's not all we have on deck though -- read on for our news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Microsoft's Sway lets you share ideas on the web without any design skills
Sharing ideas on the web is tricky. You probably want something more persuasive than a social network update, but it's usually overkill to design a whole web page just to get your point across. Microsoft may have reached a happy balance between the two with Sway, a new part of the Office portfolio that lets you publish content in a slick, web-native format without knowing a thing about code or design. All you do is write and pull in content, whether it comes from your device or internet sources like Facebook, OneDrive and YouTube; Sway automatically organizes it all into polished web layouts that adapt to any screen size. You can switch layouts to fine-tune your work and update projects over time. Think of this as a Medium-like authoring tool that handles much more than just articles -- it's possible to publish daily photo diaries, non-linear presentations and other pieces that would typically require a dedicated web editor or a specialized app.
Virgin Mobile Canada getting Samsung Galaxy 5, Bold 9780, and more this quarter?
If only Virgin Mobile were this cool in the States, right? The company shares little more than a name with its American doppelganger, but the fact remains that Sprint's subsidiary could probably learn a thing or two from its buddy to the north (Samsung Intercept notably excepted). MobileSyrup says that the Android-powered Galaxy 5 (not to be confused with the much higher-end "S" line) with a 2.8-inch display will be hitting on November 12 for free on contract, while the still-unannounced Bold 9780 -- specifically identified as a "refresh" here, presumably to the 9700 -- is in the cards for CAD $149 ($147). There are also low-end LG Sway and Flick feature phones that you'll be able to hook up for free... but now that the Galaxy 5 promises to bring the era of free Android into the fold, it'll be interesting to see if manufacturers can keep these dumbphone offerings compelling enough to stick around.
WWDC 2010: Illusion Labs' Foosball HD
I finally got to meet up with the guys from Illusion Labs at WWDC last week. I've been writing about their apps for a little while (their most popular title is Touchgrind, but I really enjoyed Sway as well), so it was great to meet them in person and talk about what they've been up to on the App Store. Their latest app is Foosball HD, a very well-polished and intuitive foosball table for the iPad. It's their first original iPad venture (they brought Labyrinth and Touchgrind over right at launch), and they said that foosball was an idea that vibed well with their theme of making metaphorical games -- "we make more simulators than games," they told me. The app is clean and easy to play, and there are even little touches like projected shadows below the figures and some physics on the ball that Illusion was very proud to implement. The app's available now for US$2.99 as an introductory price. We also talked about social gaming networks, both third-party networks and Apple's Game Center. The developers said that they'd never been interested in adding third-party code to their apps, just because it usually required that they split branding, and that they couldn't integrate the UI in a way that appealed to them. They did admit that they were "more likely to use Apple's Game Center," but even so, their ideal solution is probably just to build something in-house rather than rely on anyone else. Finally, we chatted about handset compatibility, and how they'll react to yesterday's iOS 4.0 release. At the time we talked, they hadn't determined what to do yet, but they said that yes, they would probably end up dropping support for the first generation iPhone and iPod touch, just because it wasn't worth the trouble. Especially with the free updates, Illusion says it's a reasonable expectation for users to be upgraded from the original version. Again, very good to speak with them -- we'll look for more from this standout iOS developer in the future.
Our favorite iPhone games of 2009
The first full year of the App Store is coming to a close, and so let's take a look back at our favorite games of 2009. Note that these aren't best-selling, most important, or even the best games of the year -- we'll leave those lists to other sites. But these are our favorite games -- the games we played this year that we feel stand out as our favorite experiences on the App Store. The list begins after the read more link below, and be sure to agree, disagree, or share your own favorite games as usual in the comments.
Illusion Labs goes to the big screen
This is only slightly Mac-related but it is really cool. We've posted about two of Illusion Labs' popular iPhone games here on the site: Touchgrind is a 3D simulation of a touchboard, and Sway is a really fun little platformer-esque swingathon that has you swinging from side-to-side using the touchscreen. Both games are pretty original in how they use multitouch controls, and so when Illusion Labs got their hands on a big tabletop touchscreen, there was only one thing to do: blow the games up and play them in a big way.You can see how it looks above -- seems like a lot of fun. And it makes you think, too -- multitouch seems to be where its at for the future of user interfaces, and the iPhone is really a breeding ground for testing out the technology and coming up with new ways to use it. It may be a long time before we all have huge multitouch screens like this in our kitches and living rooms, but considering how ubiquitous the iPhone already is (and the fact that almost anyone with some time, $100, and an idea can publish an app on the App Store), we can start seeing the kinds of applications that will live on those screens right now.
Sway releases a free version
If you haven't yet tried Sway, the game from Illusion Labs and ReadyFireAim, now's the perfect time to do so. They've released a free version of the game that limits you to three levels and just two characters, but it's enough to try out the really unique control scheme. Back when I first posted about the game, I hadn't tried it yet, but it's now been on my iPhone for about a month, and it's excellent. Each of your thumbs is a "hand" on your characters (i.e., to grab something with your left hand, in game, you just touch your thumb to the left side of the screen), and then once you've grabbed something, you can swipe that thumb back and forth to sway the character around. It gets pretty complex, but practice makes perfect, and a few stages in, you'll be swinging from grip to grip with the greatest of ease.The full version still costs $4.99, and if you enjoy the free version, I highly recommend it: there are many more characters that you can pick up and choose from, and the stages actually get really tough, as there's a lot of precise swinging that you'll have to do to explore the whole area and find everything there is to find. Sway might be a sleeper hit for the iPhone -- it took me a little while to figure it all out, but once I did, I found a control scheme that's delightfully original. If you haven't tried it out yet, definitely take advantage of the free version.
Illusion Labs wants you to Sway with them
Illusion Labs is probably best known for their first app, iPint, but have been making splashes since then with interesting apps that make great use of the iPhone's features and touchscreen. I tried out their Touchgrind app, and while it was a fascinating demo of how to combine an in-game physics system with the sensitive touchscreen controls, it was a little too tough for me to use (you have to really be a skateboarder, since the app really is a fingerboard, basically).But Sway looks much more casual, and still puts the touchscreen and tilt abilities to great use. Like Rolando, it's a cartoony, physics-based platformer, but unlike Rolando, the mechanic here isn't rolling, but swinging. You swing the little characters around, and then use the touchscreen to grab onto various parts of the environment while exploring it.Very intriguing. Like Touchgrind, the controls might be a little too sophisticated to appeal to all players (it looks tough coordinating which hand is which and exactly when to grab and let go), but we'll have to see how it works out -- if it starts out in an accessible way, Sway might be really impressive. Illusion Labs didn't tell us a price yet (their two other paid games are $5 and $7), but the game is set to hit the App Store soon.
Verizon gets official with Motorola VU204, Rapture, and Samsung Sway
As expected, Motorola's VU204 and VU30 flips have teamed up with Samsung's Sway slider for announcement on Verizon today, bringing an interesting range of new hardware from the low to the upper midrange. Unfortunately, this is a case where "interesting" isn't necessarily a good thing; for example, we find it "interesting" that the Sway (pictured right) runs a cool 70 bucks on contract after rebate yet doesn't feature EV-DO, a feature we'd assume was now standard in a handset of this price. At any rate, it's got a 2-megapixel cam and a media player with microSD expansion, so we'll cut it some slack. On the Moto side, the VU204's an ultra-basic piece that "meets everyday, on-the-go needs" (that's code for "ultra-basic," by the way) with a VGA cam and Bluetooth; it runs just $29.99 on activation. The Rapture VU30 (pictured left) does a 2-megapixel camera, touch-sensitive external display, and EV-DO, running a stiffer $129.99 on contract. The Sway and VU30 are available now, while the VU204 follows on come October 14.Read - Samsung SwayRead - Motorola Rapture VU30
Samsung Sway, Motorola Rapture get dates and prices on Verizon
A reasonably attractive pair of phones that have been in the wings for a while now on Verizon are finally hitting next week -- October 6, to be exact. The Motorola VU30 Rapture is the first of the pair, a glossy flip set to do battle with Sprint's VE20 featuring a 2-megapixel camera, touch-sensitive external display (Verizon calls it "vanishing"), GPS, and EV-DO for $179.99 on a two-year contract or $299.99 with no Hancock required. Next, we have the Samsung u650 Sway, a silvery slider coming in at 0.47 inches thick and a feature list eerily reminiscent of the VU30's, right down to the 2-megapixel cam -- though EV-DO is strangely missing, as far as we can tell. Where they got the name "Sway" for a slider, though, is beyond us. Look for this one to run $119.99 on a two-year, $239.99 contract-free.%Gallery-33132%
Verizon pushes Motorola ZN4 to October, Nokia 7205 to next year?
Jeebus, Nokia, what's going on with your stupid flip phone over there? Not to harsh on you too much -- we love you, really we do -- but we're not exactly talking about an N96-caliber device here. If an updated view of Verizon's Mobile Email launches is accurate, it seems that the launch of Nokia's CDMA-equipped 7205 will now come no earlier than January of 2009, which would put it a full year after the first spy shots leaked. We also see here that LG's VX5500 and VX8360 are both tracking for late October, while the mysterious VX9600 should be hitting in November if all goes well. From Motorola, the VU30 has been pushed out to the end of this month and the MING-esque ZN4 is looking like it's trying to break out in time for Halloween. Samsung is offering the u810 global phone later on this month, while the u650 "Sway" sneaks in somewhere in October. Altogether a promising autumn for Big Red's dumbphone line -- but we've seen enough date slips at this point to be fooled into believing there won't be a few more.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
New Verizon rebate forms uncover fresh Motos, Samsungs, LGs
Krave? Knack? New phones listed on Verizon's latest rebate forms has us believing that we may be approaching the product marketing End Times where naming conventions reach a level of silliness never before fathomed. Take, for example, the ZN4 Krave from Motorola -- a phone previously known as the Blaze -- or the Sway and Knack from Samsung, the former being the u650 slider with a 2-megapixel camera. Why can't we just call that one "u650," Verizon? We'd be totally cool with that. Returning momentarily to the land of sanity, LG nabs the VX8360 and VX5500 on the lower end, a market segment where neither real nor made-up words bother finding their way onto the labels. Kind of refreshing, we think -- especially if the alternative is "Knack."
