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  • Best Credit Cards in 2018

    Best Credit Cards in 2018

    From huge sign-up bonuses to generous rewards, there is a lot of factors to consider when you are choosing a credit card. The best credit cards will pay you cash back, offer luxury perks, provide travel rewards, and help you quickly pay off existing balances.

    Our experts analyzed  credit cards to find the best credit card offers  Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the best credit cards for various rewards and purposes. Without further ado, let’s look at the best credit cards in 2018! Explore our top picks and start getting rewarded.

    Best Credit Cards in 2018

    Citi Double Cash Card

    The best credit card for flat-rate cashback, the Citi Double Cash card is a good deal if you keep your monthly balances at zero. You earn one percent cash back on every dollar you spend, which is pretty standard. The cool thing? The 18-month, zero-percent interest period on balance transfers made in the first four months.

    Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card

    As for the best hotel rewards card, this Hilton Honors card is the way to go. You get all the expected benefits for Hilton hotels, but you also get rewards points for normal purchases! That’s literally win-win. Oh, you get access to certain airport lounges, too! Who could pass that up?

    British Airways Visa Signature Card

    This card is easily the best for airline rewards. While Americans might question what they’d do with a British Airways card, don’t get hung up on the name. You can book American Airlines flights through Avios, so there’s no need to worry! Besides, the rewards you get with this card are stellar, no matter who you fly with.

    Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express

    The best tiered-reward cashback card, the Blue Cash Preferred offers a number of really great benefits for cardholders. The first, and most obvious, is the tiered cashback. It offers 6 percent cashback on purchases made in grocery stores, which makes it a very easy to use reward card. You buy groceries, right? Then this is the card for you!

    Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

    The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is by far the best travel rewards card. If you spend a good deal of time traveling, this is the card for you. You can spend the reward points you earn through the card on hotel and airline rewards, or in the Chase portal. As for how you get points, you get two points per dollar you spend traveling or dining while traveling. Well, that’s hard to beat!


  • Microsoft Seeks to Break into Retail Stores, And Kinect May be Involved

    Microsoft Seeks to Break into Retail Stores, And Kinect May be Involved

    Remember Kinect? It seemed like Microsoft trying to infringe on Nintendo’s turf at the time. If you remember the distant epoch of 2010, the Wii was still riding on some serious popularity. Motion-controlled gaming was huge, and Microsoft wanted a slice of that pie. So, to compete, they released a camera and microphone combination called Kinect.  

    The real wonder of the technology wasn’t the camera, though, it was the software powering it. Fast forward to 2018, when AI is a breath away from being a reality, and Microsoft is reviving the once-dead Kinect software in some innovative ways. And one is the elimination of checkout lines and cashiers. 

    Amazon’s Influence 

    The influence of bookseller-turned-juggernaut Amazon on the face of technology is hard to overstate. One example is Amazon’s cashier-free convenience store, Amazon Go. If you missed it, the first Amazon Go opened in Seattle last year and has a truly unique business model.  

    There are no cashiers, and there is no checkout line. Instead, you scan in past a turnstile with your Amazon Go app, which has your credit card info on file. Then you grab the stuff you want and technology in the store tracks what you have. When you leave, the app bills you for whatever stuff you have in your bag. Simple, right? Well, it’s powered by a pretty complicated suite of technology.  

    So complicated, in fact, that many traditional retailers are made quite nervous by it. How could they afford to implement such a complex change in their stores to stay competitive? Amazon is certainly saving costs by not having cashiers, and customers love the convenience. Could this spell doom for traditional retailers? 

    Not if Microsoft Has Anything to Say About It 

    Enter Kinect’s new lease on life. Microsoft is currently working to help implement technology like Amazon’s in traditional retail store like Walmart and Target. While details are currently slim, the move makes sense. Retailers scared of becoming irrelevant can pay for Microsoft’s Kinect AI and stay competitive. Microsoft, in turn, keeps up with Amazon without having to invest in any inventory or construction.  

    At the moment, it’s not set in stone. There are currently no announcements as far as roll-out or implementation of this technology. It’s still in the planning phase. However, if it materializes, it could spell the end of a lot of retail jobs. Hopefully the retailers affected would find other positions for the employees losing jobs. 

  • The Best Wireless Home Security Systems

    The Best Wireless Home Security Systems

    Sadly we live in a world where  wireless home security systems are not just a necessity but vital. There are a lot of options for wireless home security systems, even do it our self options. Do-it-yourself setups are ideal for homeowners on a budget because they can save you a bundle on installation charges and subscription fees. Then there are the professional systems. The nice thing about professionally installed systems is you don’t have to lift a finger; after you’ve placed your order a technician will come to your home, set everything up for you, and show you how the system works. When it comes to my home and my family I want a professional wireless home security system. Lets take a look at the 3 best options available today.

     

    1.ADT Pulse

    ADT formed in the 1800s as American District Telegraph, the world’s first telegraph-based alert system. They are not number one for being the oldest, they are also by far the best. With features like  Wireless or Hardwired options, Professional instillation, Doorbell monitors, Intrusion Protection, Medical Response and state of the art  Home Automation. Just having the sign in your lawn reduces your risk of intrusion by 63%.

    The cost is manageable, and miniscule for piece of mind. ADT home security costs can range from $9/week * to $14/week * based on your monitoring package. However, an ADT home security cost depends on which monitoring package best fits your needs. The ADT monthly fee for the standard Essentials package starts at $36.99/month

    2.SimpliSafe

    This solutions is making a big splash. Using small and efficient IoT enabled devices and 24/7 live human monitoring they offer a complete protection package. Utilizing, Entry and motion sensors, Glassbreak detection, Video security.  Heads up burglars, start running. Being totally wireless, Its easy to install your self and customer service is just a quick call away. It’s like having your own personal security guard with a direct line to the police. Video equipment with instant live link anytime an alarm is triggered lets you see whats happening when you are not at home. You can Arm and disarm SimpliSafe with just a single touch on those incidental false alarms.

    3. Vivint

    Vivint the solution for All-wireless security. All your home controls on one app. Vivint Smart Home helps you live more and manage less. THey have a wonderful small sensor that can be placed at any entry point. This sends you a wireless alerts anytime a door or window opens. With a total control app you can manage your security entry points, Smart Locks, Doorbell Camera, Outdoor Camera, and Element Thermostat.

     

    The Wireless Home Security Systems Final Thought

    All of these will secure your home, protect your family and significantly reduce the chance of a home invasion. They are all very low cost and almost completely  hassleless. With all the threats we have looming, wireless home security systems are a non-negotiable for any homeowner.


  • Looking to Start Investing? Our Ten Picks for Best Investment App

    Looking to Start Investing? Our Ten Picks for Best Investment App

    Investing in the Stock Market can be daunting. There are a ton of moving parts and the big players all seem like Wall Street types. The good news is, the age of the smartphone has made investing super simple and easy. Where once you might have had to contact a broker to be your proxy on the exchange, you can now just use an app. There are a ton of options out there, though. How do you know which investment app is the best? Well, we’ve got our ten favorites for you to check out! 

    Bloomberg 

    Photo Credit: Bloomberg 

    A well-known name in money management, Bloomberg’s app is great for investing. Combining breaking money news and investing tips, Bloomberg has it all. The app even offers personalized news, so you can watch the companies you invest in.  

    If you’re as interested in the “why” of the stock market as you are in making money off of it, try Bloomberg. 

    Benzinga

    Photo Credit: iTunes 

    Benzinga is great for investors who want insatnt information. By opening the app, you get immediate stock quotes, no need for waiting or skimming over news you don’t want. Acting as something of a punchy investment app, Benzinga is good for those who want to forge their own way. It has social media options, too, letting you share trending stock info to sites like Twitter.  

    Benzinga can also give you push notifications when news relevant to your investments breaks. It also offers some premium features for those who want a more in-depth experience. If you get the subscription you access features like live analysts to answer questions and audio news. 

    CNBC

    Photo Credit: DownloadMyMobileApp.com 

    CNBC is a great news app for those who want to see a little bit from every source. Their app is clean and user-friendly, presenting data in an immediate, digestible format. Many investors swear by the process of synthesizing news from as many sources as you can stand to read. CNBC’s app is a fantastic way to achieve such wide-ranging research without having to dig across the internet. A great resource for novices and veterans alike! 

    Fidelity Investments

    Photo Credit: iTunes 

    Fidelity Investments’ app is great for more experienced investors looking to move to something more in-depth. The app offers in-depth charts and daily video coverage of market trends. It also offers notifications for when prices go above or below certain thresholds. It has a comprehensive news section and offers multiple money-management tools. This is a great choice for those who have become more adept in their online investing! 

    Motif Explorer

    Photo Credit: The Divided Ninja 

    Motif is a cool way to introduce the stock market to people who are curious about the exchange. The app’s creators track various world events to see which could cause the market to shift. Portfolios, or motifs, based on those observations are generated. For instance, they might have a profile on clean energy, and if you invest in that motif your money would be invested in various clean energy companies. The app works to find which motifs are trending upwards and help you invest accordingly.  

    While Motif Explorer isn’t the best for large, serious investing, it is interesting for newcomers. Consider this one if you’re interested in dipping your toe in investing. 

    TD Ameritrade 

    Photo Credit: TD Ameritrade 

    This app gets a nod for being a great, bare-bones app with no frills. If you’re looking to not have your hand held and just start investing, check this one out. It offers real-time view of the stock exchange, mobile trading, fund exchange and other basic features.  

    Most notably, this app has a feature called Snapstock. This feature lets you use your phone camera to take a picture of a barcode. Then, the app pulls up the company that makes the product that barcode is attached to. That way, if you see an item in a store and think “this is going to be huge,” you can find them and invest on the fly from your phone. 

    Yahoo! Finance

    Photo Credit: Geeky Gadgets 

    Surely, you’ve heard of these guys? Jokes aside, Yahoo! Finance has a great app for beginner investors. The app has a gorgeous, clean design reminiscent of Apple’s native iPhone stocks app. The design is personalized to your investments and offers a great dashboard to see what stocks are trending. It also features news and trending stocks at a glance. All in all, this app is great for those just starting out who want to get their stock info at a glance.  

    Stock Market Simulator

    Photo Credit: APK-DI.com 

    This mock investment app is a stress-free simulator to show newbie investors the ropes. You start with $10,000 in virtual money with no value and can mock invest in an echo of the real stock market. The echo updates fifteen minutes behind the real exchange. While this isn’t meant to be a tool to predict actual investment trends, it is useful to show newcomers what the exchange looks like. It allows them to experiment without risking their actual money. 

    SigFig

     

    Photo Credit: Apptentive 

    This investment app is quite good for newcomers. SigFig offers advanced optimization tools for portfolios, helping you manage your money. You take a profile quiz to tell the app the ways you like to take risks with your money. You get a personalized investment plan, put money in the account, and off it goes. It’s like a digital broker! 

    The app also offers investment advice for first-time investors. The only downside is that it only shows you three years back of your investment, where most apps opt for five- or even ten-year retrospectives. That said, this is still an awesome choice for newcomers. 

    Our Favorite Beginner Investment App: Acorns

    Photo Credit: Cult of Mac 

    The Acorns app is pretty awesome. This investment app works by investing your loose change into a diversified portfolio. The idea is that you set it up with your credit or debit card, and then the app rounds up your regular purchases and invests the small amounts of money in accounts recommend by Harry Markowitz. Markowitz, for his part, has won a Nobel Prize for his work as an economist, so you know your money is in good hands. 

    Acorns is meant to be a “set it and forget it” service, in their COO Jeff Cruttenden’s own words. The service does have a small monthly fee, but as long as you keep small amounts of money in it, you probably won’t notice it. This service is great for those who’d like to invest but don’t know where to start. 

  • Tech Throwback: America Online

    Tech Throwback: America Online

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today we have not just a tech throwback, not a device or toy, but an internet revolution. The name even says it all… America Online, and that is just what happened. America went on line.

     

    And so it was America On Line or AOL as we came to designate this revolution first started out in 1983 as an online video game service for the Atari 2600. Shortly after that founder and CEO  Bill von Meister wanted to converge in to a music on demand service. The idea was squashed by Warner bros music department…

    Later in the decade, these innovative thoughts and dream has merged into an online portal for the commador 64 and apple II, called q-link. Then in August 1988, Quantum launched PC Link, a service for IBM-compatible PCs developed in a joint venture with the Tandy Corporation. After the company parted ways with Apple in October 1989, Quantum changed the service’s name to America Online. Case promoted and sold AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers, in contrast to CompuServe, which was well established in the technical community.

    Its now 1991 and AOl Charged its users an hourly fee, mostly gamers where using the platform and it hosted 2 exclusive dungeons and dragons, title called Neverwinter Nights from Stormfront Studios; which was one of the first Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games to depict the adventure with graphics instead of text. Gaming was still the backbone of America Online.

    America Goes on Line With America Online

    In 1996 America Online changed its billing and pricing from an hourly rate to a 19.95 monthly fee. America responded. During this time, AOL connections would be flooded with users trying to get on, and many canceled their accounts due to constant busy signals.

    What We Remember

    BEEEEEEEE DEEEEE DEEEEE. We all remember the sound to connect, the little guy running across those little boxes to get on the line. They after a few eternal minuets, You’ve got mail… With only a handful of boxes to click on, we were blown away by all the endless information we now had at our finger tips.

    Then the Chat Rooms, oh we spent weeks of our lives during the late 90s in those rooms. The connections we discovered to random people validated our very existence. We had reached a pinnacle of society and were all now connected.

    And all those free trial disks and cds. We collected them, used them to create new account for temporary or incognito service, then

    The World at Our Finger Tips

    America Online brought us on the line, all of us, on the line. Now we are all here, what do we do with this unprecedented power? Globalization. AOL is the backbone of our world today, it set it up and paved the way for Amazon, Ebay, Napster and all of the internet companies that could turn minuet transnational profits to worldwide unimaginable wealth.

     

    The Final Thought

    It would take the world almost a decade to catch up to Americas latest boom. Instantly, due to our ingenuity, desires and “why cant we” bravado made another giant leap in society. Much like everything else in america, their was a meteoric rise, unprecedented success, and the world was forever changed overnight. The following year would see mergers and purchases, evolving in to a giant conglomerate. Today AOL is nothing more then a small branch in Telecom giant Verizon’s portfolio, but for a time it was a revolution.

     

  • Too Old For Tinder? Try These Adult Dating Apps

    Too Old For Tinder? Try These Adult Dating Apps

    If you’re an older person trying to find a decent dating app, you might have noticed that there aren’t too many great options. It seems like the apps are mostly geared towards young adults trying to just hook up. Where are the apps for adults who are actually trying to date? Well, we have good news. We’ve got a roundup of the best dating apps for older folks! 

    Stitch 

    Photo Credit: iTunes 

    Do you like to meet people based on what you have in common? Are you a fan of dates that involve activities like going to a coffee shop or going to a concert? You might like to try Stitch. The best part is, Stitch is a great place to find anything from a new friend to a new relationship!

    Stitch is an app that focuses on connecting users over 50 based on their shared interests. Travel is a big one, and the app even helps find discounted rates on rooms! You can connect with people over any interest, though, including music, movies, and taste in food. There is a free version of the app, but you can also opt for a premium paid membership. The paid version costs $80 per month, but gives you access to calling other members, direct messaging and community features. If you’re looking to connect with someone over mutual interests and shared activities, try Stitch! 

    OurTime.com 

    Photo Credit: Ask Men 

    Our Time is a great site for those over 50 looking for a relationship. The site actually boasts a higher ratio of women than men, which is a welcome change from most dating sites. The site also has an iPhone and Android app that offer Tinder-like swiping!  

    You can get a paid subscription, but the free version allows for viewing profiles and matches. You also can see who views your profile for free! The paid subscription allows for seeing when your messages are read and highlighting your profile in searches. You can even see who’s interested in you! Our Time is worth checking out if you’re looking for a relationship. 

    Plenty of Fish 

    Photo Credit: YouTube 

    Popular dating app Plenty of Fish gets a nod for just how many people use it. The name of the site is actually quite accurate! If you don’t mind filtering through a large number of people to try to find good matches, Plenty of Fish can be great. The best part is, the wide user base means you’re bound to find someone you connect with!  

    The site does a good job matching you with people you’re looking for thanks to its algorithms. If you tell it you want to meet people your own age, it can filter for that! That way you’re sure to meet people who are at the same place in life as you, leading to more genuine connections. 

    Senior People Meet 

    Photo Credit: iTunes 

    This popular app has a very large user base and intuitive interface. If you’ve used Tinder, you know what to expect! You swipe left or right on profiles based on whether or not you’re attracted to the person based on their profile. The focus, however, is on senior people, as the name suggests. With this app, you can be certain that your matches will be people your own age, not kids! This makes it an excellent alternative dating app to Tinder for older users.  

    That said, it does hide a number of features behind a paywall. Seeing who is interested in you, who has read your messages, and being able to send and receive email is all behind a monthly subscription. That said, messaging and viewing profiles is free, as is seeing who likes your profile. If you’re in for a Tinder-like experience with mature adults, check out this app! 

    Our Favorite Dating App: OK Cupid 

    Photo Credit: PC Mag 

    You’ve likely heard of OK Cupid. It has millions of users and an in-depth question and answer section. The questions help to filter your matches to people who have compatible personalities and values, which is great! The site also has some great features for paid subscribers, like seeing who likes your profile, disabling ads and using advanced search functions.  

    OK Cupid is great because it focuses on who you are, not just how you look. Other dating apps can be quite superficial, but OK Cupid is not that way at all! It’s an excellent choice for older people looking for a more thoughtful dating app. The iPhone and Android apps both have great ratings for their usefulness and design. OK Cupid comes highly recommended! 

  • Beau’s Number 1 App Review: Twisty Arrow!

    Beau’s Number 1 App Review: Twisty Arrow!

    Beau’s App series. Each week, I install whatever is the No. 1 bestselling app on the iOS or Android store and review it, to save you the effort in case it’s total waste of life. This week a game called Twisty Arrow is in the top spot and we are gonna talk about it. Why isn’t it No. 1? not sure, its a very simple and basic game but it’s free. So let take a look and see what has this game rocketing to the top of the charts.

    Twisty Arrow is a simple tapping game. Shoot arrows at the spinning circle target but don’t touch the other arrows. Use the right strategy to improve your accuracy and hit the bullseye on the circle as it twists every time. The more arrows you shoot, the harder it is to be accurate and hit the bullseye. Can you beat this impossible rotating wheel? What level can you get to? Download right now and spin the wheel to find out.

    The Basics of Twisty Arrow

    • Tap your screen to shoot arrows at the spinning wheel
    •  Hit the bulls eye with the arrows without touching other arrows
    •  Each level requires a certain amount of arrows to hit the bulls eye to complete
    •  Different levels spin, twist, and rotate in different directions and at different speeds

    Highly Addicting

    I started playing for just a few mins just to get an overview next thing 6 hours is gone. Gone, hours ill never get back. Wasted? yes immensely. This should be a five minute game, yet somehow here we are. Its very repetitious and very simple, it gets frustrating and you start to doubt your self worth when you fail at something this simple. I wish there was more to say than its just a arrow into a spinning circle, in black and white.

    The Final Thought

    This is the most uninspired and basic game or app I have ever played. I can not comprehend why this made it to the top of the app store chart. However, it did and now with their incessant ads the creators are essentially printing money, Congrats to the guys a tasty pill. Capitalization on peoples boredom, what a time to be alive.

  • Top AARP Benefits: Should You Join?

    Top AARP Benefits: Should You Join?

    When you start to get past age 50 or so, the jokes start rolling in.

    Shouldn’t you get a discount here? Are you going to get the Early Bird special? Very fun, everyone; but, seriously, there are some good discounts for being older! Jokes aside, you might be considering joining AARP for a similar reason: the benefits! Today we’re looking at ten of the top AARP benefits you get for the modest $16 per year membership. Let’s see how it all stacks up!

    Top AARP Benefits

    Insurance>

    Some people find that AARP’s car insurance policy is more affordable than other insurers’ plans. This could vary from person to person, but they are often the most affordable option for people over 50. It’s worth asking for a quote from AARP and making a decision based on that. If the switch would save you more than $16 per year, it’s sort of a no-brainer to get an AARP membership just for that!

    You Can Join at 50

    Most senior discount programs don’t start until you hit 55. AARP, however, lets you join when you’re fifty. That means you can start reaping the benefits sooner, rather than later! You’re more than entitled to the discounts and savings by the time you’re fifty. Don’t let pride or vanity stop you from hopping on: there’s no shame in being 50, 60, 70 or whatever age. All it brings is wisdom and perspective!

    If You Are Married…

    If you join AARP and you’re married, good news! Your spouse is a member for free. That means that married people get double the value from their membership! It’s like a buy-one, get-one free deal! If you’ve been on the fence about joining and you’re married, you can be assured it’s a good value, as it practically doubles your benefits.

    If You Aren’t Married…

    Maybe you don’t have a spouse to share your membership with, but no worries! Members can join the AARP dating site as part of their membership. The best part about it is that you know you’ll be matched with people in the same stage of their lives as you are! There’s nothing quite as exhausting as sifting through tons of profiles of people who are half your age. You can cut that whole process out with an AARP membership!

    You Get AARP’s Magazine

    Your membership also includes a subscription to AARP’s magazine. While it’s not the biggest perk in the world, it does contain a ton of helpful articles detailing the deals you can take advantage of. Nothing quite like saving money while you’re saving money, huh? The articles are also top-notch and well worth the low cost of the membership by themselves! There are articles on personal finance, travel and a ton more. What’s not to love?

    AARP Travel Center

    Between deals on flights, parking and more, the AARP Travel Center is a huge plus for members. Most people think of AARP members are boring older people, but that’s pretty far from the truth. Going on fun vacations and traveling are some of the perks of having an established nest egg! Why not save while you travel? The AARP Travel Center will make sure you’re taken care of.

    Cruises

    You’ll often find better rates on cruises from Norwegian, Grand European and Windstar through the AARP’s Travel Center. There’s nothing quite like sailing the high seas on a luxury cruise liner! And it’s hard to beat some of the deals you’ll find on them through the AARP discounts.

    Rental Car Discounts

    Most rental car companies offer discounts to AARP members. In fact, all AARP members get a 30 percent discount on a Zipcar membership. AARP is a great deal for those who love to travel! Not having to worry about what you’re going to drive on your vacation is a pretty big load off your shoulders!

    Hotel Discounts

    To round out the awesome travel deals, you’ll also get access to great deals on hotel rates. Between the flights, hotels and rental cars, the AARP pretty much has you completely covered on vacation discounts. If you travel often, it’s hard to find reasons not to have an AARP membership!

    Other Discounts

    You also get discounts on nearly any and everything you can think of. It’s hard to keep track of how many ways you can earn back your membership fee through saving. Angie’s List, Dunkin Donuts, Outback Steakhouse, Kohl’s, AMC Theaters, Verizon and many more places all offer discounts. Really, it’s harder to find places that won’t offer you a discount for being a member!

    The Most Important Benefit

    The biggest benefit for being an AARP member is knowing that you’re supporting an organization that lobbies lawmakers on your behalf. Rules and regulations that affect seniors are lobbied on by the AARP to help keep you safe. The quality of life of every member is made better by the legislation that the AARP helps to lobby. That’s a benefit that’s pretty hard to pass up!


  • E3 Conference and What You Need To Know

    E3 Conference and What You Need To Know

    Its that video game-glastic time of the year were we get a glimps of the future of our obsession. gaming. This year the E3 conference is slated for a slew of great and exciting news, loaded with games and consoles to set our hearts and minds racing like the first time we played Donkey Kong. Lets take a look at whats up

    E3 Conference Schedule

    Saturday, June 9

    Electronic Arts — 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET)

    Sunday, June 10

    Microsoft — 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET)

    Bethesda — 6:30 p.m. PT (9:30 p.m. ET)

    Monday, June 11

    Square Enix — 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET)

    Ubisoft — 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET)
    PC Gaming Show — 3 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET)
    Sony — 6 p.m. PT (9 p.m. ET)

    Tuesday, June 12

    Nintendo (livestream only) — 9 a.m.

     

    For us Fanboys If you are in L.A. you can head down to the L.A. Convention center and for $250 hang out all weekend with a 3 day E3 conference pass. The general pass for people in the games industry is free.

    What We Are Expecting at E3

    Consoles.. Both the Xbox one and PlayStation 4 are 5 years old now. They got some upgrades and tweaks in the past year but we need a step forward. usually we get an announcement 18 months before a commercial release of a big box console. This means Both Sony and Microsoft vould announce a new console in development at the E3 for Q4 2019 release. Seems plausible. At the very least a price slash on the current line up is due.

    Nintendo is riding high on the success of the Switch console. At the E3 conference 2018, we may get to hear about a purported new Star Fox game, a possible Fortnite port, and more details on the next version of Super Smash Bros.

    Games: Rocksteady

    There are a few we are waiting and looking out for. Rocksteady is the developer Im most interested in hearing from. They have been tightliped about a game for a few years now, but speculations have it being a Superman game in the mode of the Arkham series. We may even have a possible title leak. Superman: Worlds Finest… Mind blown, ill put my vacation request in now and start stocking up on hot pockets, I wont be leaving the house for at least a week.

    “World’s Finest” isn’t just a cool subtitle. Those two words together carry a lot of weight, going back several decades in DC Comics history. World’s Finest is the tag team moniker used to describe Superman and Batman when they work together, and has been the title for several volumes of comic book issues.

    We are most likely going to see game announcements for Hitman 2, Gears of War 5 and Crackdown 3

    EA

    EA is looking to make a big splash this year. They are arriving early for their own pregame rally. EA has already confirmed that, as you’d expect, fans will get the chance to see and play the latest EA Sports titles such as Madden 19, FIFA 19, NHL 19 and NBA Live 19, and that the new Battlefield game will make an appearance though we still don’t know anything about what the game will actually involve.

    We also have a solid rumor that the MLB is coming back to EA. I would love to see them bring back Triple Play Baseball..

    Cyberpunk

    CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 has been a white whale of ours for a better part of the decade. Since the game’s 2012  reveal, the studio has gone on relative radio silence regarding the project, instead (and understandably) focusing on The Witcher 3. However, now that Geralt’s story is done, it finally seems like it’s time for Cyberpunk 2077 to come out of hibernation.

    The Final Thought

    Im still giddy at the thought of a Superman game.. Im super excited for this weekend, I’ve played video games for 35 years. I don’t have any hobbies or interest that can make that claim so its nice to see a big extravaganza involving my oldest hobby.

     

     

  • Full Cadillac Line and Other Luxury Car GM Brands to Incorporate Super Cruise

    Full Cadillac Line and Other Luxury Car GM Brands to Incorporate Super Cruise

    Self-driving tech is red hot at the moment. Cars equipped with self-driving functionality are in the news constantly. Many car makers seem convinced that the technology is on the brink of being ready to release to consumers. GM’s take on the driverless technology is called Super Cruise, and the auto maker plans to incorporate it in to their luxury car brands, name Cadillac, by 2020.  

    Super Cruise 

    The 2018 Cadillac CT6 was the first car to incorporate Super Cruise. Super Cruise is designed for divided highways and can operate as a mostly hands-free self-driving suite. GM’s technology uses advanced driver monitoring to make sure the driver is still paying attention to the road. For instance, if the technology senses the driver’s attention drifting, it can give visual and audio warnings to the driver.  

    In an emergency situation, Super Cruise can even pull the car over and call OnStar for assistance. All in all, GM’s driverless technology is rather advanced and works well for its niche. However, it’s hardly the “true” self-driving technology that many are anticipating in the coming years. While Super Cruise uses similar technology to Tesla, with lidar and advanced mapping, it encounters many of the same issues as that technology. 

    Which Luxury Car Lines are Getting Super Cruise? 

    GM has stated that they intend to incorporate Super Cruise into the full Cadillac line by 2020. Their other luxury car brand names, like Buick and GMC, are likely to see the technology next. GM has been investing heavily in driverless tech and has expressed plans to commercialize the technology by 2019. This would make the Detroit-based auto maker one of the first to market with the technology. 

    While driverless tech still has a number of kinks to work out, it is still a nice addition to otherwise luxurious rides. Specifically, GM’s luxury brands all feature quiet, peaceful cabins and high-tech amenities. Super Cruise is a welcome companion to other features, like parking assist and blind spot monitoring. GM has stated that we can expect to see driverless technology incorporated across all their cars by 2023.