[Update: Early access begins] Amazon takes on Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA with new Luna cloud gaming service

Update (10/21/2020 @ 06:00 AM ET): Amazon Luna early access is now live. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on September 25, 2020, is preserved below.

In a bid to capture a slice of the steadily growing cloud gaming pie, Amazon today announced a new cloud gaming service called Luna. The service takes on similar offerings from Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, and gives users the option to play the latest games without any additional hardware requirements. Luna is currently available in early access exclusively in the U.S. on compatible Fire TV, PC, Mac, and iOS devices. Amazon plans to add support for Android devices in the near future.

As with other cloud gaming services, Amazon is offering a Luna+ subscription at an early access pricing of $5.99 per month. As part of the subscription, you will get access to unlimited hours of play, a growing library of AAA games, up to 1080p/60fps gameplay (4K/60fps coming soon), and the ability to stream on two devices simultaneously. During early access, Luna+ includes games like Resident Evil 7, Control, and Panzer Dragoon; adventure games like A Plague Tale: Innocence and The Surge 2; platformers like Yooka-Laylee and The Impossible Lair and Iconoclasts; and fan favorites like GRID, ABZU, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

 

Along with the Luna+ subscription, Amazon has partnered with Ubisoft to offer a new gaming channel. Players who subscribe to this channel will get access to their favorite Ubisoft titles in 4K resolution, mobile gameplay support, and access to new Ubisoft titles as soon as they launch. This will include upcoming titles like Assassins Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Immortals Fenyx Rising, which will go live on the service the same day they are launched. Furthermore, Luna will offer players native Twitch integration, giving them access to game streams from the platform right on their device.

 

Amazon Luna subscribers will be able to play their favorite games with the controller of their choice, as the service supports both keyboard/mouse input and Bluetooth controller input. Amazon is also releasing its own Luna Controller with Cloud Direct technology, which features Alexa integration and a multiple-antenna design for low latency gaming. Amazon claims that its first-party controller can reduce latency by 17-30 milliseconds compared to other supported input devices. The Luna controller is available at an introductory price of $49.99 during the early access period.

If you’re in the U.S. and you’re interested in trying out Amazon Luna, you can request an early access invitation by following the link below.

Request an invitation to Amazon Luna

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Update: Amazon Luna early access is now live

In a recent blog post, Amazon has announced that it will begin granting invitations to a small set of early access applicants in the US starting today. Those who receive the Amazon Luna early access invitation will get access to the following:

• Amazon Luna
• The Luna+ Game Channel — For $5.99/month during the early access period. Includes 50 games, with more to be added over time.
• The Ubisoft Channel — Coming soon.
• The Luna Controller — For $49.99 during the early access period.

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Source: Amazon blog

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Netflix to host 2-day free trial StreamFest event in India

Over the last few months, Netflix has tried a couple of things to get more users to subscribe to its service. The company launched a new affordable mobile-only plan in India, tested a Mobile+ plan with PC support and HD streaming, and even offered a few original shows for free. While these new plans and offers may or may not have attracted new subscribers, Netflix doesn’t seem to be stopping with such promotions anytime soon. As per a recent report from Protocol, the company is now planning to host a 2-day free trial event in India to promote its service.

Evidence of this new promotional event was first spotted in the latest version of the Netflix app for Android, which included mentions of an event scheduled for December 4th called StreamFest. During the company’s Q3 2020 earnings call, COO Greg Peters then shed more light on the event and said:

“We think that giving everyone in a country access to Netflix for free for a weekend could be a great way to expose a bunch of new people to the amazing stories we have…Really creating an event, and hopefully getting a bunch of those folks to sign up.”

A Netflix spokesperson has since confirmed the company’s plans to Protocol and added that “We’re always looking at different marketing promotions to attract new members and give them a great Netflix experience.”  If the event proceeds as teased in the app’s code, Netflix StreamFest will be available for all users in India across all supported devices. And users won’t have to enter their credit card details to access free streaming. But anyone who wishes to watch after the two-day event will have to sign up for a regular account.

An in-app text string notes that “Netflix StreamFest is at capacity,” which suggests that there might be a limitation on the number of people able to access the platform during the promotion. Since Netflix regularly tests new features with a small subset of users, limiting access could be a way to compare StreamFest metrics against other forms of promotion. Based on the event’s popularity during its initial run, Netflix may host similar events in other regions as well.

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Source: Protocol

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Netflix to host 2-day free trial StreamFest event in India

Over the last few months, Netflix has tried a couple of things to get more users to subscribe to its service. The company launched a new affordable mobile-only plan in India, tested a Mobile+ plan with PC support and HD streaming, and even offered a few original shows for free. While these new plans and offers may or may not have attracted new subscribers, Netflix doesn’t seem to be stopping with such promotions anytime soon. As per a recent report from Protocol, the company is now planning to host a 2-day free trial event in India to promote its service.

Evidence of this new promotional event was first spotted in the latest version of the Netflix app for Android, which included mentions of an event scheduled for December 4th called StreamFest. During the company’s Q3 2020 earnings call, COO Greg Peters then shed more light on the event and said:

“We think that giving everyone in a country access to Netflix for free for a weekend could be a great way to expose a bunch of new people to the amazing stories we have…Really creating an event, and hopefully getting a bunch of those folks to sign up.”

A Netflix spokesperson has since confirmed the company’s plans to Protocol and added that “We’re always looking at different marketing promotions to attract new members and give them a great Netflix experience.”  If the event proceeds as teased in the app’s code, Netflix StreamFest will be available for all users in India across all supported devices. And users won’t have to enter their credit card details to access free streaming. But anyone who wishes to watch after the two-day event will have to sign up for a regular account.

An in-app text string notes that “Netflix StreamFest is at capacity,” which suggests that there might be a limitation on the number of people able to access the platform during the promotion. Since Netflix regularly tests new features with a small subset of users, limiting access could be a way to compare StreamFest metrics against other forms of promotion. Based on the event’s popularity during its initial run, Netflix may host similar events in other regions as well.

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Source: Protocol

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YouTube Music in Android Auto adds a playlist button and lets free users play uploaded songs

Google Play Music is on its last few breaths, as the service expected to be sunset by the end of this year. Meanwhile, YouTube Music is racing to gain feature parity, adding in a slew of features in recent weeks, such as finally letting free users download playlists containing uploaded songs. Now, YouTube Music is taking a few more steps forward in that direction, allowing users on Android Auto to play uploaded songs on the free tier, and also adding in a playlist button.

A Reddit user spotted that YouTube Music on Android Auto now allows users to play their own uploaded songs if they are on the free tier. This was something that was missing for free users, which is not very surprising considering that the free tier on the service is very poor in comparison to other alternatives such as Spotify and even the erstwhile Google Play Music. This change is another step towards the service playing catchup, and users will surely appreciate it. To access it, you can speak the command, “Okay Google, play my <name of playlist> playlist on YouTube Music” or specify the song.

Similarly, another user on Reddit spotted that the Android Auto app now displays a button for user playlists.

The feature addition might appear small, but it was missing nonetheless. Another welcome change.

There’s still a lot of catching up that YouTube Music needs to do, such as improve its music discovery, increase the bitrate cap from 256kbps, better playlist sorting options, and more. There’s also the fact that music videos on YouTube are also part of the music streaming service, which often leads to other YouTube videos also sneaking their way into a music playback session. Hopefully, the service can keep improving over the months and years before getting replaced by another alternative from Google.

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YouTube Music - Stream Songs & Music Videos (Free, Google Play) →

The post YouTube Music in Android Auto adds a playlist button and lets free users play uploaded songs appeared first on xda-developers.

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YouTube Music in Android Auto adds a playlist button and lets free users play uploaded songs

Google Play Music is on its last few breaths, as the service expected to be sunset by the end of this year. Meanwhile, YouTube Music is racing to gain feature parity, adding in a slew of features in recent weeks, such as finally letting free users download playlists containing uploaded songs. Now, YouTube Music is taking a few more steps forward in that direction, allowing users on Android Auto to play uploaded songs on the free tier, and also adding in a playlist button.

A Reddit user spotted that YouTube Music on Android Auto now allows users to play their own uploaded songs if they are on the free tier. This was something that was missing for free users, which is not very surprising considering that the free tier on the service is very poor in comparison to other alternatives such as Spotify and even the erstwhile Google Play Music. This change is another step towards the service playing catchup, and users will surely appreciate it. To access it, you can speak the command, “Okay Google, play my <name of playlist> playlist on YouTube Music” or specify the song.

Similarly, another user on Reddit spotted that the Android Auto app now displays a button for user playlists.

The feature addition might appear small, but it was missing nonetheless. Another welcome change.

There’s still a lot of catching up that YouTube Music needs to do, such as improve its music discovery, increase the bitrate cap from 256kbps, better playlist sorting options, and more. There’s also the fact that music videos on YouTube are also part of the music streaming service, which often leads to other YouTube videos also sneaking their way into a music playback session. Hopefully, the service can keep improving over the months and years before getting replaced by another alternative from Google.

---

YouTube Music - Stream Songs & Music Videos (Free, Google Play) →

The post YouTube Music in Android Auto adds a playlist button and lets free users play uploaded songs appeared first on xda-developers.

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Android’s augmented reality features are now available on the ASUS ZenFone 7, LG Wing, and others

Google Play Services for AR (formerly Google ARCore) is a software service that enables applications to create augmented reality experiences on devices without the need for any dedicated AR hardware. While the service uses a device’s existing cameras and sensors for the AR experience, Google has to work with OEMs to create custom calibration profiles for each device. This ensures that AR features work properly on the device and users don’t face any issues. Due to the fact that several new Android devices are released each month, Google regularly adds new smartphones to the list of supported devices. Since our previous coverage earlier this month, Google has added support for 16 new devices.

The following devices now officially support Google Play Services for AR:

• ASUS ZenFone 7
• ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro
• Google Pixel 4a 5G
• Google Pixel 5
• LG Wing 5G
• Realme 7i
• Realme V5 5G
• Realme X7 5G
• Realme X7 Pro 5G
• Samsung Galaxy A20e
• Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G
• Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
• Samsung Galaxy Tab A7
• Sharp AQUOS Zero5G Basic
• Sharp AQUOS Zero5G Basic DX
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S

It’s worth noting that the Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G, and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G already supported the ARCore SDK out of the box, and Google has just updated its list of supported devices to reflect the same. The other new entries on this list, however, are actually new. In case you own any of the aforementioned devices, Google Play Services for AR should automatically be pushed to your device and you can start using AR applications right away. But if you haven’t received the update yet, you can force it by sideloading the APK yourself.

Once you have Google Play Services for AR installed on your device, you can try out an app or feature that offers AR capabilities. If you’re new to the augmented reality realm, we’d suggest checking out the Live View feature in Google Maps, the AR+ Mode in Pokemon Go or its new Reality Bending feature, 3D animals in Google, etc.

It’s also worth noting that while you can sideload the Google Play Services for AR APK on an unsupported device, you might face occasional glitches due to the lack of proper calibration. So make sure you check the full list of supported devices before sideloading the APK on your phone.

Google Play Services for AR (Free, Google Play) →

The post Android’s augmented reality features are now available on the ASUS ZenFone 7, LG Wing, and others appeared first on xda-developers.

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Android’s augmented reality features are now available on the ASUS ZenFone 7, LG Wing, and others

Google Play Services for AR (formerly Google ARCore) is a software service that enables applications to create augmented reality experiences on devices without the need for any dedicated AR hardware. While the service uses a device’s existing cameras and sensors for the AR experience, Google has to work with OEMs to create custom calibration profiles for each device. This ensures that AR features work properly on the device and users don’t face any issues. Due to the fact that several new Android devices are released each month, Google regularly adds new smartphones to the list of supported devices. Since our previous coverage earlier this month, Google has added support for 16 new devices.

The following devices now officially support Google Play Services for AR:

• ASUS ZenFone 7
• ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro
• Google Pixel 4a 5G
• Google Pixel 5
• LG Wing 5G
• Realme 7i
• Realme V5 5G
• Realme X7 5G
• Realme X7 Pro 5G
• Samsung Galaxy A20e
• Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G
• Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
• Samsung Galaxy Tab A7
• Sharp AQUOS Zero5G Basic
• Sharp AQUOS Zero5G Basic DX
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S

It’s worth noting that the Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G, and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G already supported the ARCore SDK out of the box, and Google has just updated its list of supported devices to reflect the same. The other new entries on this list, however, are actually new. In case you own any of the aforementioned devices, Google Play Services for AR should automatically be pushed to your device and you can start using AR applications right away. But if you haven’t received the update yet, you can force it by sideloading the APK yourself.

Once you have Google Play Services for AR installed on your device, you can try out an app or feature that offers AR capabilities. If you’re new to the augmented reality realm, we’d suggest checking out the Live View feature in Google Maps, the AR+ Mode in Pokemon Go or its new Reality Bending feature, 3D animals in Google, etc.

It’s also worth noting that while you can sideload the Google Play Services for AR APK on an unsupported device, you might face occasional glitches due to the lack of proper calibration. So make sure you check the full list of supported devices before sideloading the APK on your phone.

Google Play Services for AR (Free, Google Play) →

The post Android’s augmented reality features are now available on the ASUS ZenFone 7, LG Wing, and others appeared first on xda-developers.

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