There’s going to be a sequel to ‘Evil Genius’

If you were a fan of the 2006 cult PC classic game Evil Genius, you’re going to like this newest announcement from Rebellion, the game developer behind the Sniper Elite series. The company’s CEO Jason Kingsley announced that Evil Genius 2 is in the works. And he claims the game isn’t just a remaster of the original game but a “fully-fledged sequel.” Kingsley was quick to point out that it won’t be a free-to-play game.

Rebellion acquired the rights to Evil Genius after its developer Elixir Studios shutdown. The game developer tried to bring it back a few years ago as a free-to-play Facebook game but it wasn’t well-received. Evil Genius is a base-management-style game where you have AI-powered minions to manage and defend your base against the good guys. Your end goal is to build a doomsday device to blackmail the entire planet.

Source: Kotaku

LG outs tablet as light as a soda can in South Korea

LG isn’t marketing its tablets outside of its home base as much but if you’re curious about what the South Korean company is up to, then we have some news for you. LG launched a new 8-inch tablet aptly called the LG G Pad IV 8.0 FHD. From the name itself, you can glean that it has Full HD display. The company is marketing it towards “young people” and banks on its portability and lightness to attract attention. Weighing in at only 290 grams, it seems to be just as light as that soda can in the photo above.

Internally, it’s not that much of a powerful slate but it should be enough for some users. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (expandable up to 2TB via microSD), 3,000mAh battery, and Android 7.0 Nougat. It also comes with 5-megapixel rear and front-facing camera setup and LTE connectivity. As mentioned in the title, it’s only available in Korea and comes in Dark Brown for KRW 325,000 (around CA$365). LG is also selling a PlusPack accessory that serves as a stand, external battery, and speaker. The PlusPack goes for KRW 82,000 (around CA$90).

Source: Android Authority

Kangaroos are confusing Volvo’s self-driving cars

Volvo seems to have run into trouble with a certain marsupial as they test their self-driving cars in Australia. The car maker has discovered that kangaroos are both a nuisance and a source of confusion for its self-driving vehicles. This isn’t the first time Volvo’s detection system has been exposed to large animals. In Sweden, it’s responded to deer, caribou, and elk. But the unusual pattern that kangaroos move seems to have thrown these machines into a loop.

“When it’s in the air it actually looks like it’s further away, then it lands and it looks closer,” Volvo Australia’s Technical Manager David Pickett explains to ABC. Kangaroos aren’t just wreaking havoc with Volvo’s cars, these marsupials have been the cause of vehicle collisions in Australia. But it’s a good thing that this was detected early on to avoid any catastrophic run-ins with the creature somewhere down the line. But it does seem to delay Volvo’s plans a bit. Or at least make things a bit more challenging as they aim to sell autonomous driving vehicles by 2021.

Source: Engadget + The Verge

These are the rumoured specs of the Moto X4

Tipped to be the first non-Google-branded Project Fi-ready smartphone, the Moto X4 is said to be a pretty decent mid-range device. Evan Blass (@evleaks) shares some of the rumoured key specs of the device over at VentureBeat. It’s said to run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 octa-core processor running at 2.2GHz, Full HD display, 4GB of RAM, 64GB internal storage with microSD expansion support, and a 3,000mAh battery. The X4 will said to have an IP68 certification to prevent water and dust ingress. Its focus will be on getting great photos with a dual-rear setup with an 8-megapixel and 12-megapixel setup at the back and a 16-megapixel front camera. The phone will also reportedly have a front-mounted fingerprint sensor that doesn’t just unlock the device, it can also supposedly recognize simple gestures to duplicate the functions of some on-screen navigation buttons. The Moto X4 is tipped to come out in the fourth quarter, which is just in time for holiday shopping season.