BfB Labs!

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Credit: Shiftdesign.org.uk

Credit: Shiftdesign.org.uk

 

This week we had the guys from BfB labs down for a chat through their products which help with “emotionally responsive gaming for better mental health”  Now, BfB Labs is a new social venture created by a company called Shift Design that is setting out to bring Emotionally Responsive Gaming to the world. Which is a games which respond to a gamers emotional response to those games and reward those who are exceptionally good at them.

The games are challenging in three different ways, physically, mentally and emotionally training gamers in emotional control, building resilience and promoting wellbeing in the user.

Now you may be wondering how our emotional/physical response to said games be recorded? Well the BfB labs record this via an ear clip monitor which monitors a users emotional state by tracking their Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

Their first title in their library is Champions of the Shengha, a fantasy card battling game. Challenging you to defeat opponents with a combination of strategy and self control to becoming an ultimate Shengha Warrior. With regular play the user will learn how to control stress, anxiety and frustration rewarding them as they go throughout the game.

To support the guys over at BfB labs please click here! 

To listen to the guys chat with the guys from Bfb Labs please click here!

Bionic Bird!

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Bionic Bird is a half drone, half bird gadget that is absolutely incredible! All controlled via the ultra sensitive flying app on your smartphone and fly with a range of 100m!

The drone is designed in the shape of a bird and flies just like a bird, to create a unique flying experience. that is close to nature as possible! It has incredible amounts of technology built into it furtive and biomimetic the Bionic Bird is packed with patented with micro-technologies!

Included in the app is a guide showing you how to fly and control the bird, as well as the numerous ways to control and fly the bird such as holding your device with one hand and tilting the phone or like a steering wheel and holding the smartphone sideways and control it like a wheel.

We loved it here at How To Kill An Hour, even if we had a bit of trouble flying it at first we soon got to grips with it and killed an hour with it! We even had to prize it away from Marcus’ hands at one point!

Buy the Bionic Bird here!

Download the Bionic Bird App here! 

 

Anki OverDrive!

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Remember Scalextric as a kid and how much fun that was pretending to be your favorite racing driver as you weave in and out of the dining room table legs before eventually crashing at the corners, because you didn’t listen to your Dad and went full speed all the time?

Well, get prepared to have some incredible nostalgia, this week on How To Kill An Hour we got to play with Anki Overdrive (video above) and this is Scalextric for the 21st Century! Each car is driven by the Anki app on your iOS or Android device and is driven on long, wide pieces of plastic track which can be altered however you want, there’s accessories that you can buy to make banks, bridges and even a cross over section for impending crashes! What’s even more impressive is there is Mario-Kart like abilities where you get to shoot down the other cars!

Also, each Supercar is a self aware robot that is driven by incredible artificial intelligence with the ability to learn whatever track that you build. So you don’t even have to have someone racing with you, you can race the other cars! Wherever you drive the artificial intelligence cars will chase you down! You don’t even get a chance to out run them because the better you become the better they become!

With constant software updates the game will always be fresh, coupled with the ability to customise weapons, swap cars and build new tracks there’s hours that you could kill playing this!

Also there’s much more to Anki OverDrive than just racing:

(Information pulled from AnkiOverDrive Official website)

  • RACE

    The first to the finish line wins, so step on the gas.

  • BATTLE

    Take aim at your opponents, score big, and win big.

  • TIME TRIAL

    Put your driving skills to the test in a race against the clock.

  • KING OF THE HILL

    Chaotic fun as players battle for the crown to see who rules the road by holding the lead position the longest.

Buy Anki OverDrive here!

Download the free Anki OverDrive App Here: Apple / Android

Price: £149.99

Moov Now!

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We love apps and gadgets/technology to help us get healthier and fitter and we have come across something really cool, the Moov Now! A wearable sports fitness band much like FitBit or Apple Watch but what makes this so unique is that it is a “multi-sport wearable coach, that talks to you as you work out” how cool is that!?

How does this work I hear you ask, well we shall tell you:  (Pulled from Moov Now’s website)

“Land softer!”
Moov watches out for you to minimize injuries.
“Bounce. Guard.
Jab-Jab-Cross!”
Moov guides you.
You can’t improve what you can’t measure.
Motivation at a glance.
As well as talking to you as you work out the Moov Now also has plenty of features to help you with your workout and track your health utilising the Moov’s 9-axis Omni Motion™ sensor it captures alot of your movement which is why it can tell you so precisely what you need to do next or what you need to stop doing to help make you become a better healthier person. For example by monitoring your form the Moov Now is able to monitor your form and landing impact and range of motion to minimize injury.
To listen to the guys talking about the Moov Now please click here!

To Buy the Moov Now please click here!

Price: £50+

Playable Pizza DJ Boxes!

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Do you remember when Pizza Hut were releasing to select restaurants a playable DJ Pizza Box?

Well we played it this week!

Check out the video below to see Rinse FM’s DJ Vectra play the world’s first playable Pizza Box, which is what Marcus and Nick got a play with when Pizza Hut came by!

To listen to us talk about our experience with the Pizza Hut DJ Pizza Box on this weeks show please click here!

 

 

WhatsApp Annoyance!

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Are you part of a group chat? We’re assuming that the answer to that question is a yes. The group chat is the place where banter is thrown around and no one is safe, nights out are a nightmare to organise and, as with most group chats we’re sure, if left alone you return to hundreds of messages!

So to combat the constant bleeping and flashing of your phone, you mute the chat. Simple solution! Right?
Well WhatsApp have become that annoying little brother who just WON’T leave you alone. It’s introduced you an ‘@’ feature to highlight a specific message where a user wants to signal a user.

Of course our friends will just use this feature to annoy us and not how its meant to be!

To Download WhatsApp please click here!
To Listen to Dev talking about this WhatsApp Feature please click here! 

Say more on Twitter!

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News that is like music to Producer Bill’s ears – Twitter now allows for more characters for Tweets!! YAY!

Don’t fret they aren’t going to be doing the crazy 10,000 character limit that was thrown around at the start of the year. It’s just characters are going to be freed up! Now no longer will Photo’s, Videos, Gifs, Polls and Quote Tweets will count towards the magical 140 characters.

So go crazy out there guys!

To download Twitter please click here!

To hear the guys talking about it on the most recent podcast please click here! 

iPhone 7 Problems?

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Marcus has recently purchased himself a shiny new iPhone 7, which we all know by now doesn’t include the 3.5mm headphone jack and only has one Lightning connection. What makes that a problem?

 

No more charging and listening to music at the same time!

 

Hooooowever, there are a couple of ways that, that problem can be addressed, whether they are practical or not remains to be seen, but we do have some solutions to your charging and listening problems:

To buy iPhone 7 Stuff please click here!

 

belkin-rockstar

The Belkin Lightning Audio + Charge Rockstar retailing at £34.99 is the simple way to get charge to your new iPhone while listening to music just plug the cable into the iPhone and then connect one end ot your Apple earphones then the other end into the power brick!

 

apple-iphone-dock

Apple has the iPhone Lightning dock which allows you to charge and listen to music but this time via the 3.5mm audio jack. So shying away from the lighting earphones and returning to the trusty 3.5mm “old” style headphones to get around this problem. Available in Silver, Gold, Rose Gold and Black this dock is available for £49.99!

There is always the Earpods that Apple want us to buy:

screen-shot-2016-09-20-at-14-11-30

With a £159 price tag these beauties aren’t cheap, but with Apple’s own wireless technology allowing connection to your phone as soon as you take them out of the charging case these aren’t to be scoffed at! With 5hrs battery life on one charge, the 24hr total listening time from the charging case and 10M of range, hopefully the sound quality will match the price when they come out in ‘Late October’

Maybe Apple is pushing for a fully wireless age with the removal of the headphone jack and inclusion of Siri compatibility with the Airpods. Will we think the removal of the 3.5mm Jack was detrimental or will it lead the way for electronic makers to come!? Only time will tell but Samsung are apparently already planning to follow suit!

To get your hands on your own iPhone 7, please click here!

To hear the guys talking about it on the most recent podcast please click here! 

Bestival Festival App

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Funk Butcher recently DJ’d at Bestival and had the time of his life, he even sipped a bit of Jaegermister (Funk doesn’t drink) and while he was there he downloaded the Bestival App which helped him out a lot! What is the Bestival App, will I even be able to use it with phone signals and why do I even need to use an app at a festival?! I hear you ask!

Well the app definitely works and you get full signal while at Bestival and the reasons you are going to NEED this app and not want are as follows:

  • IF you managed to not get to Bestival Red Bull TV stream all the madness straight to your phone, from the Mainstage to the Big Top if its there you will see it!
  • Your own customisable schedule so you can never miss one of your acts and you can decide which one to go see if they clash with artist profiles!
  • A site map so you don’t get lost! Thank goodness for GPRS!
  • Connect your Spotify so you can get tailored suggestions!
  • Social side of the app allows you to connect with other festival goers about the artists available to see.

To download the Bestival App please click here!

To hear the guys talking about Bestival App on the show please click here!

Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal

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Do you ever struggle counting your calories? Whether you guys are trying to gain weight or lose weight, sometimes counting up those pesky calories can become quite a chore! Well here at How To Kill An Hour we have found THE way to make your life a lot lot easier when it comes to calories and your nutrition! The “Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal” is a FREE app from MyFitnessPal, (Powered by UnderArmour) with an option to go premium which offers no ads and a bunch of extra features like more detailed nutrition break downs and more detailed meal nutrition.

It is really simple to use, just create an account and log in, then use the camera on your phone to scan the barcodes of the foods that you are eating and the app does all the work for you. Using their 5,000,000 food database (which is constantly growing!) you can be sure that the details that the app is giving you is correct. If the food isn’t in the database you can always go through and add in the data yourself manually. No Cheating now! With goals listed at the top there is no reason why you cannot achieve your fitness goals as fast or slow as you wish!

To download Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal please click here!

To hear the guys talking about this app on the show please click here!