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canthefbitrackavpn · 1 year ago

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does a hotspot carry vpn connection

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does a hotspot carry vpn connection

Hotspot VPN functionality

Hotspot VPN functionality is a crucial aspect of ensuring online privacy and security in today's digital age. A hotspot VPN, or Virtual Private Network, allows users to create a secure connection to another network over the internet. This technology encrypts the data transmitted between the user's device and the VPN server, protecting it from prying eyes and potential cyber threats.

One of the key functions of a hotspot VPN is to mask the user's IP address. By doing so, it adds a layer of anonymity, making it difficult for websites and online services to track the user's online activities. This is particularly important when using public Wi-Fi networks, which are often vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Furthermore, hotspot VPN functionality enables users to bypass geographical restrictions and access content that may be blocked in their region. By connecting to a VPN server located in a different country, users can appear as if they are browsing the internet from that specific location, opening up a world of possibilities for accessing restricted content.

In addition to enhancing privacy and bypassing geo-blocks, a hotspot VPN can also improve overall online security. By encrypting data transmissions, it reduces the risk of sensitive information being intercepted by malicious third parties, such as hackers or data thieves.

Overall, hotspot VPN functionality plays a vital role in safeguarding online privacy, enhancing security, and enabling unrestricted access to online content. As internet users become increasingly conscious of the importance of protecting their digital footprint, utilizing a hotspot VPN has become a popular and effective solution.

VPN integration with mobile hotspot

Title: Enhancing Security and Privacy: VPN Integration with Mobile Hotspot

In an era where cyber threats lurk around every digital corner, safeguarding your online activities has become paramount. One effective method to bolster security and privacy while using your mobile device is by integrating a Virtual Private Network (VPN) with your mobile hotspot.

A mobile hotspot allows you to share your device’s internet connection with other devices, such as laptops or tablets, via Wi-Fi. While convenient, using a mobile hotspot comes with inherent risks, as your data could be intercepted by malicious actors. Here's where a VPN steps in as a crucial ally.

By integrating a VPN with your mobile hotspot, you encrypt all data transmitted between your device and the internet. This encryption creates a secure tunnel, preventing hackers from intercepting sensitive information like passwords, financial data, or personal communications.

Moreover, VPNs offer the added benefit of anonymity by masking your IP address. This means that even your internet service provider (ISP) won't be able to monitor your online activities. Whether you're accessing public Wi-Fi networks or utilizing your mobile hotspot, your digital footprint remains concealed.

Setting up a VPN with your mobile hotspot is relatively straightforward. Most VPN providers offer user-friendly apps compatible with both Android and iOS devices. Simply download the app, log in, and connect to a server of your choice. Once connected, all internet traffic from devices connected to your hotspot will be encrypted and routed through the VPN server.

In conclusion, integrating a VPN with your mobile hotspot provides an extra layer of security and privacy for your online endeavors. Whether you're browsing the web, conducting business transactions, or simply staying connected, a VPN ensures that your data remains safe from prying eyes. So, before you tether your device's internet connection, consider fortifying it with a trusted VPN service.

VPN-enabled mobile hotspot

A VPN-enabled mobile hotspot is a powerful tool that offers security and privacy benefits for users on the go. This innovative device combines the convenience of a mobile hotspot with the added layer of protection provided by a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

When using a VPN-enabled mobile hotspot, all data transmitted between your device and the internet is encrypted, making it virtually impossible for hackers or other cybercriminals to intercept and steal your sensitive information. This is especially important when connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, which are notoriously susceptible to security breaches.

Furthermore, a VPN-enabled mobile hotspot allows users to bypass geographic restrictions and censorship by masking their IP address and routing their internet traffic through servers located in different regions. This means you can access region-locked content, such as streaming services or websites, no matter where you are in the world.

In addition to enhancing your online security and privacy, a VPN-enabled mobile hotspot can also improve your internet speed and performance by reducing network congestion and latency. By creating a secure tunnel for your data to travel through, VPN technology can help optimize your connection and ensure a smooth browsing experience.

Overall, investing in a VPN-enabled mobile hotspot is a smart choice for anyone looking to protect their digital privacy, access restricted content, and enjoy a faster, more secure internet experience while on the move.

Securing hotspot with VPN

When it comes to connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots, security should always be a top priority. Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a smart and effective way to secure your internet connection and protect your data from potential cyber threats.

A VPN works by creating a private network from a public internet connection, encrypting your data and masking your IP address. This means that even if you are connected to a public hotspot, your online activities remain secure and private.

One of the main advantages of using a VPN on a hotspot is that it prevents hackers and cybercriminals from intercepting your data while you are connected to an unsecured network. By encrypting your internet traffic, a VPN ensures that sensitive information such as passwords, credit card details, and personal messages remain safe from prying eyes.

Additionally, using a VPN allows you to bypass any censorship or restrictions that may be imposed on public Wi-Fi networks. This is especially useful when traveling abroad or accessing content that may be blocked in certain regions.

In conclusion, securing a hotspot with a VPN is essential for anyone who values their online privacy and security. By investing in a reliable VPN service, you can enjoy the convenience of public Wi-Fi without compromising on safety. Stay safe, stay secure with a VPN!

VPN connection through mobile hotspot

A VPN connection through a mobile hotspot provides an additional layer of security and privacy when accessing the internet on the go. By using a virtual private network (VPN) on your mobile device connected to a hotspot, you can encrypt your internet traffic and protect your data from potential cyber threats.

When you connect to a public Wi-Fi hotspot, such as those found in cafes, airports, or hotels, your data is vulnerable to hackers who may try to intercept your sensitive information, such as passwords, financial details, or personal messages. However, by using a VPN connection, your data is encrypted, making it unreadable to anyone trying to spy on your online activity.

Setting up a VPN on your mobile device through a hotspot is easy and convenient. There are many VPN applications available for download on both Android and iOS devices, which allow you to connect to a secure server and establish a private connection while using a hotspot. This way, you can browse the internet anonymously and securely, without worrying about your online privacy being compromised.

Whether you are traveling, working remotely, or simply want to ensure your online activities remain private, using a VPN connection through a mobile hotspot is a smart choice. It offers peace of mind knowing that your data is protected, giving you the freedom to browse the web safely wherever you are. Stay secure and safeguard your privacy by utilizing a VPN connection on your mobile device while connected to a hotspot.

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govindhtech · 1 year ago

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iOS 18: What to Expect from Apple’s Game-Changing Update

Apple ios 18

Apple is focusing on iOS 18, which may boost iPhone sales in 2019. The situation was so urgent that Apple had to halt development on all of its next software versions for a week to fix bugs. Apple is unfazed and plans major iOS features.

ios 18 release date

iOS 18, the upcoming major update for your iPhone, is going to change the game! Bloomberg claims that Apple is developing the biggest software update ever. The greatest benefit is that everyone can get it by year’s end when the iPhone 16 is released. WWDC 2024 in June will unveil all the exciting new features. Great things are on the horizon!

iOS 18 features

Introducing iMessage in iOS 18, a revolutionary messaging app

Fantastic news! Apple has officially announced that the iOS 18 update will bring about a significant update for iMessage. It will now support the RCS protocol, enabling extremely smooth messaging between iOS and Android devices. Multimedia files, audio messages, and other things can be easily shared. The catch is that, despite this wonderful update, texts from Android users will still appear as green bubbles, which will continue to fuel the ongoing debate between blue and green bubbles.

The Power Boost for Siri: AI Developments

Apple is attempting to enhance Siri’s capabilities with generative AI that mimics ChatGPT, which is an exciting development. There were rumors that Apple was developing a generative AI model of its own, but a new report from 9 to 5Mac indicates that they may use OpenAI’s GPT technology which is comparable to Copilot for future AI features on iPhones. Prepare for generative AI in the music and note apps as well as AI-powered photo and video editing, influenced by the newest features from Samsung and Google.

Apple updates

Not only that, but Apple is also introducing app sideloading to Europe with the iOS 17.4 update. There’s talk that iOS 18 could go global. Should this occur, downloading a third-party app store from Apple’s App Store would be necessary to access both signed and unsigned apps. This is a significant departure from Apple’s previous policy, which prohibited sideloading without jailbreaking your iPhone. Apple users are in for an exciting future!

Apple software

We have exciting news! The iOS 18 update may include a third-party app subscription payment gateway. This might result in a sizable reduction in purchase or subscription fees possibly as much as 30% less. Well-known companies like Epic and Spotify have already entered the market and are creating iPhone payment gateways. This feature may launch in Europe at first, but the iOS 18 update may bring it to other regions.

iOS enhancements

ios 18 update

Not only that, but the iOS 17.4 update will free developers from having to rely on Apple’s WebKit, a core web browser framework, to build their web browsers. Companies like Opera are getting ready to release web browsers with AI capabilities that resemble desktop browsing. And what do you know? This protocol may be widely adopted by iOS 18, allowing third-party developers to create unique web browsers free from the standard WebKit restrictions. Ahead for iOS users are exciting times!

Users of iPhones are expected to have a revolutionary experience with the upcoming release of iOS 18. Working together with market leaders Epic and Spotify to introduce third-party payment gateways guarantees a more flexible and reasonably priced approach to app subscriptions. Concurrently, the widespread acceptance of app sideloading marks the beginning of a new era of liberty and personalization, freeing users from earlier constraints.

iOS 18 is more than just an update; it’s a big step forward that offers a customized digital experience and conforms to user preferences. Get ready for an iPhone that can intelligently adjust to your needs in the future, making every interaction more enjoyable and personalized.

Find out how iOS 18 could transform app subscriptions by integrating third-party payment gateways, which would result in lower fees. Leading this shift are businesses like Epic and Spotify. Explore the huge global change that occurs when iOS 18 allows for widespread app sideloading, which may make it easier to download and install third-party apps on iPhones.

FAQS

iOS 18 Price

Similar to previous iPhone OS upgrades, iOS 18 will be offered without charge.

What are the features of iOS 18?

AI-enhanced Siri is one of the new features in iOS 18, which suggests Apple is emulating Google and Microsoft, who both have AI-based chatbots. AI might be able to assist with Apple Music playlists and iPhone troubleshooting in iOS 18.

Is iPhone 11 eligible for iOS 18?

Generally speaking, iOS 18 will be released for iPhone models 11 and above. All things considered, however, the lower bracket is a little enigmatic.

Which iPhones will get iOS 18?

iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max iPhone XR iPhone SE

Read more on Govindhtech.com

#iOS18 #Appleios18 #softwareversions #iPhone16 #Apple #Siri #technews #technology #govindhtech

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rafi420 · 1 year ago

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Thoughts after Vision Pro: Where has China’s VR/AR industry gone?

In the past half century, every innovation of Apple has opened up a new hardware paradigm. There is also a huge incremental market HE Tuber behind it. The launch of Apple Vision Pro has detonated the entire VR and AR industry. So, what kind of radiation effect will its appearance bring to domestic VR equipment such as PICO?

In April this year, PICO also officially launched the all-in-one VR machine PICO4 Pro, which has been optimized to a certain extent in terms of chips, optical components and experience. Xiaomi also continues to accumulate strength in this field and launched its first AR glasses in February this year. In the future, the signal of Vision Pro will definitely accelerate the development of the VR industry. Not only that, it will also create opportunities for the industry chain of VR equipment.

Imagine being able to watch movies and play games on a 150-inch screen at home. What was once imagined in science fiction movies will soon become a reality. However, the high price of Vision Pro brings people back to reality. This also means that it is not very close to AR/VR entering thousands of households. But for the entire industry, it was a very influential start.

And through Apple’s phenomenal product, it is also a good reference and future direction for the Chinese VR/AR industry on the other side of the ocean.

Apple, an “AR Empire”

The birth of Apple Vision Pro opened the "post-iPhone era."

It can be said that Vision Pro is a milestone. The MR mixed reality it presents can superimpose the virtual world on the real world, and only requires eyes and gestures to complete the operation. There are many highlights worth discussing in the Vision Pro launched by Apple, which have far-reaching significance for the VR and AR industries and the upstream and downstream supply chains.

First of all, the first highlight is the chip. This time Vision Pro not only uses Apple’s self-developed M2 chip, but also adds an R1 chip. The combination of the two chips directly brings the computing power of Vision Pro to the level of a regular computer.

Among them, M2 is the latest chip used in Apple computers and is responsible for processing daily data; R1 is a chip specially used for head-mounted display devices and is responsible for processing data received by cameras and sensors.

It is the combination of the M2+R1 chip that makes the cameras, sensors and microphones on Apple's headset more sensitive and reducing latency as much as possible.

It is understood that Apple has developed at least three chips from scratch for Vision Pro. In the process of developing the Vision Pro chip, a chip for Macbook - M1 was also born.

The second highlight of Vision Pro is the implementation of mixed reality through 12 cameras and 5 sensors. These cameras and sensors translate the surrounding environment onto the screen in real time and can continuously track facial expressions and gestures. The latest Vision Pro only requires eyes and gestures to complete the operation.

The final effect is that by wearing Vision Pro

you can see the "world" on your mobile phone and computer in the real world, thereby realizing mixed reality. What Apple wants to do is bring the future world imagined in science fiction movies into reality. For example, people can use a 150-inch screen to watch movies and play games at home, and enjoy the unique experience brought by the cinema. They can also open office software in the virtual world by raising their heads on an airplane, etc.

With the arrival of Vision Pro, Apple also designed a new operating system for it - visionOS.

This is the most revolutionary highlight of this time. It's no secret that every new piece of Apple hardware comes with a new operating system. This visionOS also inherits this tradition, which Apple calls "the first operating system designed for spatial computing."

At the architectural level

visionOS shares core modules with macOS and iOS, but adds a "real-time subsystem" for processing interactive visual effects on Apple Vision Pro.

Unlike Apple's other operating systems, visionOS gets rid of the boundary restrictions of traditional displays and uses a three-dimensional interface design so that applications can appear side by side in different proportions. Moreover, through the reflection of natural light, users can feel a sense of distance from the application.

In the visionOS system, users will first enter the "shared space", which is similar to the desktop on tablets and mobile phones. When the user focuses on an application through his eyeballs, the image will turn from flat to three-dimensional.

On this basis, users on the new operating system can also use

Apple’s App ecosystem specially created for Vision Pro, including applications such as Adobe, Microsoft Teams and Zoom. In addition, Apple has designed a developer tool suite to allow third-party developers to design personalized applications for Vision Pro.

Although visionOS is still in its infancy, the maturity of the operating system can be seen from the scale of developers. We learned from Apple officials that visionOS is an operating system built on Apple’s 36 million registered developers.

It takes ten years to sharpen a sword. Behind Vision Pro, Apple spent eight years and invested tens of billions of dollars in this effort. It not only developed its own equipment, but also selected multiple exclusive suppliers such as Sony and TSMC. At the recent WWDC23 conference, Cook finally used the term "revolutionary product" again.

Since Zuckerberg acquired Oculus in 2014, Apple has continued to expand the research and development of AR/VR projects. According to late reports, Apple acquired a total of 11 AR and VR companies in eight years from 2015 to 2023, and invested US$1 billion every year.

Apple’s VR headset not only chose the self-research route for key

components such as operating systems and chips, but also selected multiple exclusive suppliers for other aspects. Among them, Micro OLED displays are exclusively supplied by Sony; precision lenses are supplied by Mitsubishi Chemical Company; and TSMC, the world's largest chip manufacturer, completed chip foundry for Vision Pro; Changying Precision is the main supplier of casings; camera modules It is exclusively supplied by Gaowei Electronics; the external power supply and acoustic unit are exclusively supplied by Goertek; and the assembly is exclusively completed by Luxshare Precision.

From a global perspective, the launch of Apple's Vision Pro has brought hope to some electronic parts manufacturers. In fact, relevant industry figures have expressed concerns about cthis. Although for Asian suppliers, sales have increased significantly, the market will gradually pick up. But the recovery of suppliers depends on the overall VR/AR market environment. In recent years, the industry's performance has been somewhat disappointing.

#HETuber #Music #Gaming #Entertainment #Sports #Science And Technology

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onlineshwe · 2 years ago

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The Philips Hue Bridge boasts a sleek and unobtrusive design

The Smart Home Revolution

In an era where technology seamlessly integrates into our daily lives, the concept of a "smart home" has evolved from science fiction into reality. One of the pioneers in this movement is Philips with their Hue lighting ecosystem. At the heart of this ecosystem lies the Philips Hue Bridge, a device that connects and controls your smart lights, creating a personalized, automated lighting experience.

This in-depth review will delve into the Philips Hue Bridge's features, performance, and integration capabilities, shedding light on its role as the central hub of your smart home lighting system. We'll explore every facet, from its design to its ability to work with other smart devices, aiming to provide a comprehensive view of its capabilities and limitations.

Product Features

Design and Build Quality

The Philips Hue Bridge boasts a sleek and unobtrusive design. Its compact rectangular shape and glossy white finish ensure it can fit discreetly into any home environment. The device measures just 3.5 x 3.5 x 1.0 inches, making it easy to place on a shelf or tuck away in a corner.

The build quality is impressive, with a solid feel and durability that promises years of reliable service. Its unassuming appearance belies the power within, as it serves as the control center for your entire Hue lighting network.

Setup and Installation

Setting up the Philips Hue Bridge is remarkably straightforward. Out of the box, you'll find the Bridge, an Ethernet cable, and a power adapter. Simply connect the Bridge to your Wi-Fi router using the Ethernet cable, plug it into a power source, and you're ready to start the setup process.

The setup can be completed via the Philips Hue mobile app, which guides you through the process step by step. It's user-friendly and can be completed in just a few minutes, even for those who aren't tech-savvy.

Connectivity and Compatibility

One of the standout features of the Philips Hue Bridge is its wide range of compatibility. It supports various connectivity protocols, including Zigbee, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, ensuring that you can connect a multitude of Philips Hue smart lights and accessories.

Moreover, it's compatible with both iOS and Android devices, making it accessible to a broad range of users. Whether you have an iPhone or an Android smartphone, you can easily control your smart lights from anywhere.

Control and Automation

The real magic of the Philips Hue Bridge lies in its control and automation capabilities. Once your lights are connected to the Bridge, you gain full control over their brightness, color temperature, and color, all from the Philips Hue app.

Automation is where the Bridge truly shines. You can create schedules to have your lights turn on and off at specific times, simulate presence when you're away, or even sync your lights with music, movies, or games for an immersive experience.

Security and Privacy

Security and privacy are paramount in any smart home setup, and Philips takes these concerns seriously. The Philips Hue Bridge features robust encryption protocols to protect your data and ensure that your smart lights remain secure from unauthorized access.

The device also enables you to set up user profiles and assign different levels of access to family members or housemates, giving you full control over who can manage your lighting system.

Performance

Lighting Control

The primary purpose of the Philips Hue Bridge is to control your smart lights, and it does this exceptionally well. The app's intuitive interface makes it easy to adjust the brightness, color, and color temperature of your lights with a few taps on your smartphone.

The ability to fine-tune your lighting to suit different moods and occasions is a game-changer. Whether you want warm, relaxing lighting for a movie night or bright, energizing light for work or exercise, the Philips Hue Bridge delivers.

Responsiveness

One of the common concerns with smart home devices is responsiveness. No one wants to wait for their lights to turn on or off, and the Philips Hue Bridge delivers near-instant results. Commands sent from the app or voice assistants are executed swiftly, ensuring a seamless experience.

App Functionality

The Philips Hue app is the command center for your smart lights, and it doesn't disappoint. It offers a user-friendly interface with intuitive controls for all your connected lights. The app's dashboard provides a quick overview of your lighting setup, allowing you to control individual lights, rooms, or scenes effortlessly.

Additionally, the app continually receives updates, introducing new features and improvements. This commitment to software development enhances the overall user experience and keeps your smart lighting system up to date with the latest advancements.

Integration with Smart Ecosystem

Philips Hue App

The Philips Hue app, available for both iOS and Android, plays a pivotal role in managing your smart lights. It allows for seamless control of your lights, scenes, and schedules. Furthermore, it offers features like geofencing, which can automatically turn your lights on or off based on your location, enhancing convenience and energy efficiency.

The app's compatibility with voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit elevates the user experience. You can control your lights with simple voice commands, adding an extra layer of convenience to your daily routine.

Voice Assistants

The Philips Hue Bridge's integration with popular voice assistants opens up a world of possibilities. Imagine walking into a room and saying, "Alexa, turn on the living room lights," or "Hey Google, set the lights to movie mode." With voice commands, you can effortlessly adjust your lighting to match your needs and preferences.

The Bridge's compatibility with these voice assistants extends beyond basic control. You can create complex voice commands that trigger specific lighting scenes, making it feel like you have a personal lighting concierge at your beck and call.

To continue reading Philips Hue Bridge

#Philips Hue Bridge #philips hue #trevor philips #Hue bridge

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isthatmanahimbo · 3 years ago

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Today we bring to you a console classic from the 16-bit era: Sabin Rene Figaro!

Sabin is a main player character in Final Fantasy VI, first released in 1994 for the SNES (released as Final Fantasy III in North America). It has since been released to many major systems, ranging from the Playstation to the Wii and even to iOs, and most recently remastered in a 2.5D style in February of 2022. Hailed as one of the greatest games the series has to offer, Final Fantasy VI begins the series' lean into sci-fi as well as fantasy, and boasts the largest selection of playable characters of any mainstream Final Fantasy to date.

Sabin is one of a pair of twins, with his brother Edgar having taken over the role of king of their kingdom, Figaro – sick with grief at the death of their father, rather than chafe under the societal expectations of a king Sabin fled the country to pursue the life of a mountain hermit instead of co-ruling with his brother. He plays the role of Monk in the party, equipping light armor and fist weaponry, and his special combat command is called Blitz, which he learned under his master Duncan.

That last part is important, because it is with Blitz that this author must begin their assessment of Sabin as a himbo. If you have been following this blog for a little while, you know this author likes to begin with Buff when applicable, and it is here that this author would like to bring up the thing for which Sabin is most well-known: he fucking Suplexes a train. This is not hyperbole or metaphor, mind you – using the Blitz command, the player can input the proper combination of keystrokes to ensure that during a boss battle with the Phantom Train, Sabin can pick the fucking thing up and slam it onto the ground over his shoulder. Even if Sabin were not toked as fuck (he is), the ability to do so being not just canon but encouraged (as it is Sabin's party specifically which encounters the Phantom Train shortly after learning the Suplex command) renders all discussion of Sabin's Buffness moot. Sick wrestling moves aside, it is also notable that Sabin is required at one point in a timed story quest to hold up a house for several real-life minutes – but is it really a FF6 playthrough if you don't Suplex the Damn Train? This author doesn't believe so.

Blessedly, Final Fantasy VI knows what it's doing with its character archetypes, for as strong as every muscle on Sabin's body is, we find his decision-making to be a little lacking. Indeed, when the options Think and Act are placed on a table before him, every single time Sabin will smash down that Act button before the situation can be explained to him – we see examples of this as early on as immediately after his introduction, when he joins the Returners while vocally admitting he does not understand their mission statement, and less than an hour later when Ultros attacks the party and begins to swim away Sabin dives into literal white water to give pursuit. Sabin is happy to do the literal heavy-lifting so long as he has someone to consign the actual hard work of thinking to (usually his intellectual brother, in whom he places ultimate trust).

And although Sabin is particular in whom he places his trust, once he's in, he's all in baybee. His very first appearance we learn that his immediate peer, and son of his master, Vargas has killed his father, and Sabin takes a moment in the middle of battle to weep for his beloved master before wrecking ass. Indeed, as touched on before, Sabin's huge heart full of love and loyalty is the impetus for his mountain man excursion – so bereaved by his father's death, so disillusioned by the public's apparent lack of compassion, Sabin flees society. His big heart is apparent even in his more antagonistic moments – humorously, he has a bit of a rivalry with party member and feral child Gau, finding the child infuriating, but upon learning that the boy's father abandoned and mistreated him Sabin promptly chewed him a new asshole (and had to be physically restrained from laying him out). And upon joining the Returners, he is a valuable and trusted teammate for more than just his muscles – when returning to the fray after the end of the world, Celes is heartened by Sabin's attitude after they save a child together, finding the strength to carry on through his boisterous proclamation that the end of the world couldn't possibly keep him down.

Truly, that's a himbo we can count on to be by our side.

Total Himbo Score: 21

#is that man a himbo?#whoa mama! rating: himbo #final fantasy #final fantasy vi #final fantasy 6 #sabin rene figaro #sabin final fantasy #sabin ff6 #sabin ffvi

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lunamagicablu · 3 years ago

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La consapevolezza non può mai essere un oggetto. Non si può percepire come fenomeno. Essere coscientemente coscienti della consapevolezza non è un’azione che si possa compiere!La visione profonda è semplicemente un aprirsi. Quello che state cercando è già successo. O meglio, non è mai successo: è anteriore a ogni accadimento. E’ già così. Ma c’è un movimento a cui diamo credito, che dice: “Ancora non ho veramente capito”. Prima o poi vi renderete conto che questo io che voleva capire era esso stesso l’ostacolo apparente, perchè creava un senso di separazione.Uso i concetti per eliminare i vostri, di concetti; quando sia i miei che i vostri si annullano, rimane quello che è già qui e ora, più prossimo del contatto, più intimo dell’intimità. A dire il vero non è nemmeno qualcosa di intimo, perchè l’intimità implica comunque una distanza, mentre la verità non ha distanza. Si cerca con la mente, ma la mente è solo capace di cercare oggetti. Come fa la mente a trovare quello in cui essa stessa appare come un oggetto? Se al momento non capite bene questa cosa, non è un problema. Non c’è bisogno che abbia un senso compiuto. Basta intuirlo. State cercando qualcosa, ma quella cosa è il punto stesso da cui state cercando. Chi lo capisce?

Mooji

art by josh-pierce-

***********************

Awareness can never be an object. It cannot be perceived as a phenomenon. Being consciously aware of awareness is not an action you can do!Insight is simply an opening. What you are looking for has already happened. Or rather, it never happened: it precedes every event. It's already like that. But there is a movement that we give credence to, that says, "I still don't really get it." Sooner or later you will realize that this self that wanted to understand was itself the apparent obstacle, for it created a sense of separation.I use concepts to eliminate yours, of concepts; when both mine and yours cancel out, there remains what is already here and now, closer than contact, more intimate than intimacy. To tell the truth it is not even something intimate, because intimacy still implies a distance, while the truth has no distance. One seeks with the mind, but the mind is only capable of seeking objects. How does the mind find that in which it itself appears as an object? If you don't quite understand this at the moment, it's not a problem. It doesn't need to make complete sense. Just guess it. You are looking for something, but that thing is the very point from which you are looking. Who understands this?

Mooji

art by josh-pierce-

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itsadamcole · 4 years ago

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frenemies

fem!reader x kyle o’reilly

reader is a member of the Undisputed Era and is a guest on Adam’s stream with the rest of the boys, but there’s been a tension building between reader and Kyle that implodes while on stream ...

word count: 5.6k

warnings: angsty, full of smut (hehe), kinda fluffy at the end

— i began writing this pre-ue break up and finished it post-ue break up :) —

masterlist || request an imagine here

~ 18+ content below - read at your own risk ~

Adam convinced you to come over to play video games on his stream. Accepting that offer was your first mistake. You knew Kyle would be there as soon as Adam said, "The boys and I were gonna stream today on my Twitch if you wanna join us." You should've said no, but you didn't put two and two together.

For weeks, somethings been going on with Kyle, and you don't know why. He's been acting more distant from you and when you actually talk to him, he makes short comments and barely says three words to you. You don't understand why and you've never been good at confrontation. Kyle was your closet friend in the Undisputed Era, but he's been cold toward you for weeks.

On Thursday at one, you pull up to Adam's house. Roddy's car is here but Kyle and Bobby aren't here yet. You grab your phone and turn off the car before getting out and walking up to the door. You knock three times and wait for someone to answer.

Britt Baker answers the door. "Hey! Y/N, glad you're here. I wondered if Adam invited you," she says, greeting me with a hug. "I guess you're going to be on stream, huh? You're not here to hang with me and Marina."

You laugh and say, "Maybe I'll stay a little bit after the stream is done to hang out with you and Marina. Roddy brought the whole gang over I'm guessing."

With that said, Marina appears in the foyer and says, "He did. He thought that I should hang out with Britt while the stream is going on. Troy is in the living room watching some of his father's favorite matches.:

"Of course," you say, smiling. "Let me go greet the guys and I'll sit with you guys until Adam says it's time for the stream to start."

Britt lets me walk past and I greet Marina with a hug before strolling over to Adam's game room. I can hear his voice and Roderick's voice coming from the room as I pop my head in. "Hey, losers," you say. Adam and Roddy both look at you and both men smile.

Adam says, "Hey, Y/N. I'm just explaining everything to Roddy. I'll catch you up when Bobby and Kyle get here."

Your heart skips a beat at the mention of Kyle. You keep a smile on your face as you say, "Great. I'm excited. What are we playing?"

"I was thinking some Wii Bowling," Adam says. "Or something Wii related. Maybe some VR games as well. I have Beat Saber, which is fun to play."

You sit in Adam's gaming chair and say, "Wii sounds fun. It's been a while since I've played Wii."

Roddy and Adam both laugh as Adam finishes up.

Bobby gets here about fifteen minutes after you and Troy run in after him, crawling onto your lap on Adam's chair. "Aunt Y/N, what are you gonna play with daddy, Uncle Adam, and Uncle Bobby?" he asks, curious. You smile and hold on on your lap.

"We haven't figured that out yet," you say. "I'll let you in on a little secret though." You lean into Troy's ear and your voice drops to a loud whisper. "I'm gonna beat your dad and your uncles."

Adam, Roddy, and Bobby all look at me and Adam goes, "Hey! I'm the professional gamer here."

You stick your tongue out at Adam and say, "I'm a professional Wii player."

Troy giggles and says, "Yeah! Aunt Y/N is gonna kick your butts."

You laugh and that's when another voice chimes in. "Who said that Aunt Y/N is gonna kick our butt?" You turn your head and look at the doorway.

Kyle. He's finally here.

"Uncle Kyle!" Troy says, scrambling off your lap and running over to Kyle. Kyle hugs the little man and picks him up.

Roderick looks at you then looks at Troy in Kyle's arms. "Alright, buddy," Roddy says. "Time to go sit with mommy and Aunt Britt. Maybe they'll give you a snack if you listen to them."

Kyle puts Troy down and he runs into the living room with Marina and Britt. Kyle closes the door behind him and turns to his Undisputed Era brothers and "bro hugs" them. Then he turns to you and you open your mouth to say something but Kyle says, "Surprised to see you here, Y/N. I didn't think Adam would invite you."

Adam looks at Kyle and says, "Bro-"

You cut Adam off and say, "I'm a member of the Undisputed Era too, Kyle. Or do you not remember saving me from an assault by Toni Storm then helping me secure the NXT Women's Championship against Io?"

Roddy, Bobby, and Adam all stare between you and Kyle as Kyle says, "You're only a member by storyline, Y/N. You're not an actual member."

Your eyes widen and Roderick jumps in saying, "Woah, Kyle. Dude, she's a member of the Undisputed Era. Storyline or not."

Adam says, "Alright before things get out of hand, let's get this stream started. You guys ready?"

Everyone nods. You keep your eyes on Kyle though, trying to figure out why he's making so many hurtful comments. Adam sits in his chair in front of the greenscreen and puts his headset on. You stand beside Roddy while Bobby and Kyle stand behind you too. Adam's going to make introductions. This is a surprise to his Twitch community that you're all going to be on. It's his 200th stream, and it was Adam's idea to bring you all onto the stream.

He looks at the camera and says, "Alright. It looks like I'm live. Is my early crew here?" He pauses and smiles. "It is the 200th stream, you're right. I have a surprise for the 200th stream but I want to wait for more people to get in here before I tell you guys what the surprise is."

You sigh and Roddy says softly, "You seem nervous, Y/N. You nervous?"

Shaking your head, you whisper, "No. I'm fine."

Adam says, "Alright. There's a decent amount of people in here now. Do you guys want to know the 200th stream surprise? It might, how do you say it, shock the system." He smirks and winks a few times at the camera before waving you over first. "Okay, so first we have Miss L/N."

You jump into the frame behind Adam and smile. "Hey," you say before glancing at the chat. "Woah, hi, everyone. Looks like chat is excited."

He laughs and says, "Y/N isn't the only surprise. We got the whole gang here. Roddy, Kyle, Bobby." The three of them join you in standing behind Adam. The chat goes wild and the viewership goes up by a couple thousand. Adam looks at the four of you behind him before looking back at his chat. "Woah, it's going by so quick. So many gifted subs and bits, holy crap."

"Is this a PG stream?" Bobby asks.

Adam nods and says, "Yeah."

You and Roddy both laugh because Bobby likes to curse so much. All of you have to remind him to stop cursing while in the ring sometimes. It's crazy how much he likes to curse, but you like to too so you can't say anything.

That's when Kyle takes his first on-stream jab at you. "Y/N, you better watch your mouth," he warns you. "Adam won't be happy if you start dropping f-bombs on his stream."

To get back at him, you say, "You better watch your mouth before I kick your butt in whatever game we're about to play."

Kyle glares at you and Adam says, "Alright, so I was thinking of games we can play and it's recently been brought to my attention that Y/N is a professional Wii player so let's put that to the test and see just how good she is. Y/N? Game options?" He looks back at you and you begin to think.

"Wii Sports," you blatantly say. "I wanna beat Kyle's butt just because I can."

The group laughs, except for Kyle. You look over at him and smirk. Roddy puts a disk into Adam's Wii console and hands remotes to all of us. Kyle doesn't get one because only four people max can play Wii Sports.

Kyle says, "What about me? I didn't get a remote."

Bobby looks at all of us as we connect our remotes then says, "Maybe you can share with Y/N. I'm sure she wouldn't mind bowling every other frame."

Mentally you groan but physically you say, "Yeah, just pick up your spares, O'Reilly." All of you pick the Miis that you made before the stream. You and Kyle are third to go, and you both decided to throw every other frame. You'd get even frames and Kyle would get odds, so he starts off the game for you both.

Roddy misses a spare in the first, Adam strikes, Kyle picks up his spare, and Bobby gutters then knocks down seven pins on the second shot.

Half the game passes and you're having fun with your doubles partner. Kyle doesn't make any snide remarks toward you and actually cheers you on when you make a spare or strike. In the eighth frame, he actually gives you a high-five.

As Kyle throws the ninth frame, you lean and whisper in Adam's ear while he's out of frame, "You set this up, didn't you? Making Kyle and I team up like this?"

Adam shrugs as Kyle strikes. You get excited and actually hug Kyle. You're now right behind Adam in scoring. Bobby has no chance at winning the game, Roddy isn't that far behind you, and you are just seven pins behind Adam.

You watch as Adam throws his tenth and final frame. He strikes and picks up his spare. Now you're twenty-seven pins behind the leader of the Undisputed Era. He threw a 156 game. You and Kyle can get a 159 if you get all three strikes in the tenth. Technically, you just need two strikes and eight pins on the third shot to beat Adam with a 157 game.

Kyle watches as you get the first strike in the tenth. He cheers for you. You sigh and get ready for your second shot. You strike again. Eight more pins and you beat Adam.

Then it happens. Kyle has had all game to do something to you and he does it just as you throw the ball. It over hooks and you only knock down three pins. You lost by four pins because Kyle decided to yell, "Let's go, Y/N" at you and he scared you so much you jumped, affecting what the ball does on the screen.

The look on Kyle's face was priceless when you turned to him. He looked terrified. "I had it, Kyle!" you shout, kind of annoyed at him. Then you snap. "You just love when I prove myself wrong, don't you? I don't get it. We were so close and all of a sudden, you start acting differently. It's like I did something to you and I don't know what I did."

"Y/N-" Kyle starts.

You cut him off and say, "Save it, O'Reilly." You shove the remote at him and leave the game room. You walk into the kitchen, needing a glass of something to keep you from absolutely losing it.

He didn't need to yell it. He could've done anything else except yell it. It scared you so much that you messed up the winning shot.

Britt and Marina walk into the kitchen and Britt asks, "What happened? You stormed out of there and you looked angry."

After chugging a glass of water, you say, "Kyle happened. Again. He's been up my ass for months and I don't know what I did to deserve this. We were like best friends and he was so excited when I joined the Undisputed Era. Now all of a sudden he's saying the only reason I'm in the group is because of storylines and he's making sure that I prove myself wrong. I say I can beat the guys and he yells something, scaring me, so I mess up the shot and losing to Adam."

Marina sighs and says, "You need to talk to him, Y/N. This pent-up frustration isn't going to do either of you any good."

"I'm not good at confrontation, Marina," you explain. "I never have been."

There are footsteps that come into the kitchen and you look behind the girls to see who it is. It's Kyle. You roll your eyes and try to ignore him even as he says, "Y/N, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that it would scare you like that. I wouldn't have done it if I had thought-"

You snap and say, "You haven't been thinking, Kyle. Not recently, anyway. These comments you're making hurt me. It hurts when you tell me I'm only in the group because of a storyline when you all welcomed me into the group a few months ago."

The girls leave the room, leaving me and Kyle alone. You sip off another glass of water as Kyle says, "I felt like things were changing with us, Y/N. That's why I started acting the way I have been. I pushed you away because I was scared."

Annoyed, you ask, "Scared of what, Kyle? Scared I was going to do something that would risk our friendship? I noticed it too and I was scared too, but I didn't start making rude comments toward you." Finally, you meet Kyle's eyes. They're full of sincerity and regret.

Kyle says, "Come back to the group. I'm sorry for yelling and making you mess up your shot. I promise I'll be good."

"I don't trust you," you say. You have every right to not trust him. Every time he tells you he'll stop making comments, he does it again. He does it multiple times. "You say that then break your promise. It's happened several times at this point, Kyle."

He looks kind of hurt at your comment. Then something inside Kyle snaps and he says, "Such a hypocrite. You tell me that you'd never make hurtful comments but then you say you don't trust me."

You put the glass down and say, "Maybe you understand what I've been going through for the past few months now, Kyle." Tears sting your eyes as you stare at Kyle. "Do you know how many times I've been alone in a room after you've left and I've just cried? Do you know how many times I've wondered what I've done wrong that has made you treat me this way?"

Kyle almost shouts, "It's nothing you did, Y/N! You haven't done anything except being the kindest and the most caring human being toward me for years. I just started to fall for you and it scared the hell out of me so I just pushed you away."

Your jaw drops. You had noticed that your friendship may have been treading into the more than friends territory but you didn't know that Kyle was falling for you this entire time.

The man in front of you is the most vulnerable than he's ever been. He just told you the one thing he was terrified of telling you at risk of ruining your friendship with him.

He avoids eye contact with you as you leave your spot by the sink and walking over to Kyle, who stands on the other side of the kitchen island counter. He doesn't look at you when you approach his eyes and look up at him.

You'd be lying to yourself if you didn't admit that you might have been falling for Kyle as he was falling for you. Kyle's always been so sweet. He cares for you and the boys, and he's never afraid to show his soft side. Sometimes that side of him shows up on television, and you're guilty of trying to coax that softer more adorable side of him out in front of the cameras.

Whenever you and Kyle would be together, it felt like the world around you stopped. Whether that was having a conversation in your shared locker room with Adam, Roddy, and Bobby or just hanging out at your apartment or his house. It was always you and him against the world, and you just want that back.

Kyle still avoids your eyes as you examine his face as he looks at his hands on the counter. You rest one of your hands on Kyle's and he finally looks over at you. He stands at almost six foot but you're at five foot six so he doesn't tower over you. It would be so easy to just lean up and kiss him.

Fuck it, you think before you grab the collar of his shirt and pulling him down to you. Your lips crash to his and both of you gasp as your lips make contact. You're hesitant with kissing him at first but you slowly gain confidence, pressing your lips harder to his. Kyle pulls back and looks at you, panting slightly. "I don't want your pity kisses, Y/N," Kyle says to you.

"Who said it was a pity kiss?" you question, raising your eyebrows at him as you look up at him.

He sighs and says, "Y/N-"

You shake your head and say, "No. I'm not going to let you talk yourself into it being a pity kiss because it wasn't, Kyle. It was anything but a pity kiss. If your dumbass didn't start pushing me away then it could've happened sooner."

Kyle looks down at you and says, "I don't know what you mean."

Sighing, you say, "I noticed our friendship changing too, Kyle. I mean it. I was ready for you to possibly take the next step by asking me on a date or by kissing me. Then you started treating me differently and I thought it was all in my head. Maybe if you just talked to me instead of saying hurtful comments then maybe I would have kissed you before right now."

"So," he sighs. "That wasn't a pity kiss?"

You smile and shake your head. "That wasn't a pity kiss," you confirm. You slide your hands from the collar of his shirt to his cheeks, where you cup his face. "That was the farthest thing from a pity kiss."

Kyle asks, "Do it again?"

Laughing, you get on your toes and kiss him softly. This kiss is slower but more passionate than the last. Kyle actually touches you, resting his hands on the sliver of bare skin exposed between your loose black crop top and your light blue high-waisted ripped jeans. Kyle turns and presses you against the counter before he reaches down and sits you on the counter. You hold Kyle close, scared to let him go.

Your heart races in your chest. This is everything you've wanted for so long. You've wanted to call Kyle yours for months. After today, maybe he will be.

You pull Kyle closer to you and he leans forward, almost pushing you back onto the kitchen counter. That's when you pull back and giggle, "I don't think Adam would like the fact that we're making out on his kitchen counter. I'm sure he and Britt eat here."

Kyle smiles and kisses your jaw softly before he says, "He has an extra guest room upstairs. I don't think he'd like it if we did anything in his house but I think he'd prefer a bedroom than his kitchen counter."

Smiling, you lean your head back a bit as he kisses your jaw and says, "I'd prefer a bedroom than the kitchen counter too."

"Then let's go," he says, taking your hands. You smile and hop off the counter. "We can't make a lot of noise though because Adam is doing a PG stream right now and the walls in this house aren't exactly thick."

You nod and look up at Kyle. He's almost glowing since he told you how he felt. You feel so happy that everything is out in the open. You don't like how he pushed you away instead of telling you how he felt, but you can get over that if it means that everything can go back to how it was.

Kyle smiles and walks out of the kitchen. The stairs are in the living room, which means you have to walk past Britt and Marina to go upstairs. This is going to be interesting.

You and Kyle walk into the living room hand in hand. Britt and Marina look over at the two of you and Britt's eyes widen. Marina points and says, "That was not a thing a few minutes ago."

Your face gets all flustered and you look up at Kyle. He says, "Well, it's a thing now. And if you excuse us, we need to make up for some time. Upstairs. We'll be quiet."

He leads you upstairs and Britt says, "Keep the sheets clean, please. Condoms are in the bathroom." Kyle chuckles as you both get up the stairs.

"The guys could have heard that," you gasp as you reach the top of the stairs. Kyle cups your face with his hands and presses you against the wall.

You stare up at Kyle as he says, "They'll just be jealous that I'm finally getting everything I want." You grab at Kyle's shirt and hold him close to you.

He kisses your forehead and you close your eyes, asking, "Everything?"

Kyle nods and says, "You're all I want, Y/N."

Your eyes open and you meet his eyes. His face is close to yours and you lean your head up, lips barely touching his. "You're all I want too, Kyle," you say in almost a whisper. "You're all I've wanted for months. There's a reason why there was no one else after I broke up with Murphy a few months ago. It's you. You're it for me, Kyle."

He pushes your hair back out of your face and he says, "He never treated you right, Y/N." He tilts his head, almost kissing you.

"You will?" you ask.

Kyle nods and says, "One hundred percent I will treat you better."

You grow tired of being close to Kyle without him kissing you so you get on your toes, kissing him. The kiss is quick and needy. Kyle stumbles with you to the guest bedroom and kicks the door closed with his foot. You're pressed against the door, kicking off your sneakers while Kyle runs his fingers over the exposed skin on your stomach. You shiver under his touch before you pull at his shirt. Kyle pulls back from the kiss and pulls off his shirt. You run your fingers over his tattoo and see the thing on his arm that monitors his blood sugar levels.

"Are you okay to, you know?" you ask, trailing off.

Kyle glances at his arm monitor and says, "Yeah. I took my meds and I ate so I'm okay. For at least the first round, anyway."

You giggle and say, "Mr. O'Reilly, you don't plan on keeping me for the rest of the day and the night, do you?"

He attacks your neck with kisses before he says, "One round and cuddles then we gotta join the boys to finish Adam's stream. We can negotiate what happens afterward later."

Your fingers run through Kyle's hair and you sigh, "Less talking, Kyle. Please."

Kyle smiles against your neck and walks back to the bed. You pull off your crop top, exposing your black Calvin Klein bra. Kyle's eyes are on your body as he sits on the bed. He kisses your stomach and unbuttons the jeans you're wearing and you watch his fingers. He pulls the jeans down, leaving you in nothing but your underwear.

You slide down to your knees in front of him and pull down his loose sports shorts, leaving him in his boxers. You look up at him with innocent eyes and run your fingers over the bulge in his underwear. He sighs softly and leans back on his hands.

It's been a while since you've been with someone, but it's Kyle. Your nerves were shot just kissing him.

Kyle says, "I can see the wheels turning in your head, Y/N. If you don't want to do anything then we don't have to."

You say, "I want to. I want ... you."

He sits back up and pushes a loose strand of hair behind your ear before he says, "You have me."

With that finally said, you smile and leave soft kisses on his knee and thigh. Kyle smiles and you trace over his hardened member in his boxers for a second before you hook your fingers in the waistband. You hesitate for a second before you pull the thin fabric off his body. His erect dick pops out and you gasp at the sight. He's bigger than you thought it was, but you definitely won't complain about it. "Shit," you sigh.

Kyle laughs and watches you. You take his member in your hand and stroke him a few times. Kyle whines softly and lays on his back as you kiss the tip. You nestle yourself between his knees as he legs hang off the bed. Slowly, you begin to take him in your mouth. Kyle gasps and runs his fingers through your hair. Your hands move to his thighs as you bob your head up and down, sucking occasionally.

Soft noises leave Kyle's lips and they go straight to your core. You slip one of your hands into your panties, rubbing yourself to relieve yourself a bit. You moan softly and Kyle gasps, "Keep doing that and I don't think I'll last as long as we both want."

You slowly pull away from Kyle's member, wiping away some saliva that has rolled down your chin as you sucked Kyle off. Kyle sits up and kisses you hard. His hands are on your face as he pulls you up. You straddle his waist and he rolls so he's hovering over you, not breaking the kiss. Your tongue slips into Kyle's mouth as the kiss intensifies.

Kyle's fingers slide down your body until they get to the waistband of your panties. He hesitates before you take his hand and guide it into your underwear. His fingers make contact with your slick folds and you gasp. Kyle pulls back from the kiss and says, "Already so wet for me, baby."

"Only for you," you gasp as his pointer fingers circles your sensitive clit. Kyle kisses down your body and pulls off your panties. He throws your legs over his shoulders and your core is completely exposed to him.

He kisses your inner thighs, close to your soaked sex. You whine and look down at Kyle. He kisses closer to your core. You shiver with anticipation as he finally runs a finger through your folds. You gasp and lay your head back on the bed. "Kyle," you sigh. "Please. I've waited long enough. Tease me later."

Kyle looks up at you and asks, "So there will be a later?"

You look down at him between your legs and you say, "Only if you do something now and don't tease me."

He bites his lip softly for a second before he finally dives in, kissing and sucking on your clit. You let out a soft moan as his tongue circles the sensitive bud. You grasp onto the blankets and smile as he makes you feel euphoric and full of bliss. His finger dips into you and you gasp, not expecting that. Kyle moves his finger in and out of you as you are pulled closer to an orgasm.

Once Kyle adds a second finger and continues to suck on your clit, it's basically over for you. Your legs shake as you are literally seconds away from your pending orgasm. "Kyle," you cry out as he curls his fingers slightly. "Kyle, baby, I'm about to cum."

"Let me taste you, Y/N," he says before continuing to suck on your clit.

Seconds later, your toes curl and you cry out Kyle's name as you release all over his fingers. Kyle hums softly as he tastes your juices and cum. You pant as he gets on his knees and licks his lips. You watch him and try to catch your breath.

He made you cum in minutes just from his mouth and fingers. You begin to wonder how long you'll last when he finally fucks you.

You sit up and leave a few soft kisses on Kyle's chest. Your hands are on the side of his body, holding him close to you. Kyle runs his fingers through your hair and says, "I need to grab something, Y/N, and you need to let me go so I can go get it." Pouting, you let him go and he climbs off the bed. "I promise I'll be quick." He leans down and pecks your lips before putting on his boxers and walking out of the room. You scootch back on the bed a bit as you bite your lip gently.

Kyle returns with a little silver package and closes the door. He walks toward you on the bed but you say, "Lose the boxers before you get on this bed, O'Reilly."

"So demanding," Kyle teases, stripping out of his boxer shorts. "I kinda like it."

Smirking as he crawls toward you, you giggle, "You would." Kyle smiles and hovers over you as you lean back so you're laying on your back. Your hands cup Kyle's face and you stare up at him.

His eyes scan your naked body beneath him and you get a little self-conscious. "You're so beautiful, Y/N," Kyle sighs. "I don't know how I went this long without touching you or kissing you. I really was a dumbass, wasn't I?"

You say, "You were, but I can forgive you for that." You smile and lean up, kissing Kyle. He props himself up on his arms and kisses you back. You wrap your arms around his neck and hold him close.

Kyle pulls back from the kiss after a second before he opens the little package. He slides the contents on himself and you watch as he hovers over you again.

Kyle kisses you and you quickly slip your tongue into his mouth. You smile against his lips and you feel his tip run through your folds. You sigh and slide your fingers into his hair.

You hold Kyle close before he pulls back and asks, “Are you sure you want this?”

Nodding, you say, “I want this. Please.”

He smiles and he sets himself up at your entrance. You take one of his hands and hold it as he slides into you. You whine and gasp as his length fills you. Your eyes squeeze shut and Kyle asks, “Okay?”

“Yeah,” you sigh. “I’m okay. Keep going.”

Kyle continues to slowly slide himself into you. You grip his hand until he’s completely inside of you. He lets you adjust and you nod when you’re ready for him to move.

He begins to thrust slowly, making you sigh softly. You wrap your legs around his waist, holding him close as he picks up speed.

Soon, the room is filled with your moans and the sound of skin slapping. Kyle’s thrusts are hard and fast into you. His lips are on yours as he tries to silence your moans.

His lips leave yours and attach to your neck. Your back arches off the bed and you sigh, “God, you make me feel so good. I love how good you make me feel.”

Kyle mumbles, “I love you, Y/N.”

You smile after Kyle’s words. His tip finds your g-spot and you cry out, “Fuck, right there. Oh, God, don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

“I would never even think of stopping,” Kyle pants as he fucks you.

Moments later, your legs begin to shake and a pit forms in your stomach. Your lips are on Kyle’s again, passionately kissing him as he thrusts hard into you.

Kyle’s movements get sloppier and your whole body seems to shake as you’re pulled closer to an orgasm.

You whine, “Kyle.”

He says, “Cum for me, baby. I wanna feel you cum again for me.”

Soft whines and moans pass your lips as the pit in your stomach bottoms out and you release on Kyle’s length inside you. He cums into the condom. He helps you both ride out your highs before he collapses onto you.

Both of you are sweaty and panting as you recover. Kyle smiles and buries his face into your neck.

“Worth the wait,” he pants.

You giggle and look at him. “Did you mean it when you said you loved me?” you ask.

He looks up at you, meeting your eyes before he says, “Of course I did. I’ve been falling in love with you for weeks. I didn’t just say it and didn’t mean it, Y/N. I would never say it and not mean it.”

You lean your head up and peck his lips before you say, “I love you too, Kyle. Does this mean that we’re together?”

Kyle smiles and says, “Let me take you out on an official date then we’ll talk about it.”

#kyle o’reilly imagine #kyle o’reilly x reader #kyle o’reilly smut #wrestling imagine #wrestling smut #wwe imagine #wwe smut #nxt imagine #nxt smut #imagines #imagine #nswf imagine #smut #smut imagine

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thesevenseraphs · 5 years ago

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Building a Viable Future in Destiny 2

TL;DR

Destiny 2 is too large to efficiently update and maintain.

The size and complexity of the game are also contributing to more bugs and less innovation.

Instead of building a Destiny 3 and leaving D2 behind, each year, we are going to cycle older, less actively played content out of the live game and into what we’re calling the Destiny Content Vault (DCV).

This will allow us to add to and support D2 for years, including the three new annual expansions we announced today, starting with Beyond Light this fall.

The DCV will include all content from Destiny 1 and anything that cycles out from Destiny 2.

We will bring back (or “unvault”) activity and destination content from the DCV each year.

Unvaulting starts in D2 Year 4, with the Cosmodrome coming back, as well as its three strikes and the return of the Vault of Glass raid.

The primary D2 content leaving the game and going into the DCV this fall are the destinations – Mars, Io, Titan, Mercury and Leviathan – and their supported activities.

There will be new ways to earn the Exotics originally linked to content that has entered the DCV.

When Beyond Light ships, the Director will have the following destinations:

Europa (new)

Cosmodrome (unvaulted)

Moon

Tangled Shore

Dreaming City

European Dead Zone

Nessus

This approach allows us respond to player feedback more rapidly, enable more innovation, and will keep Destiny 2 and your characters thriving for years to come

.More details to come soon and throughout the year.

Building a Viable Future in Destiny 2

Earlier today, we laid out a vision for Destiny's future, built right inside of Destiny 2. A future where we maintain your characters, accounts, and continuity with our game systems and build on each of them for years. This fall ushers in a new era in Destiny's journey, launching off a trilogy of expansions where your Guardians will explore the true nature of Light and Dark:

Put plainly, we are investing in Destiny 2 for years to come. But to continue your Guardian’s journey and deliver on this roadmap, we need to make some changes to our ever-growing world so it can flourish.

THE LIMITS OF GROWTH

Over the past couple months, we’ve mentioned the problems that come with maintaining a game the size of Destiny 2; and we’ve said that it cannot grow infinitely. After three years of non-stop growth, the scope and complexity of Destiny 2 has ballooned to unprecedented scale.

As of this writing, Destiny 2 features nine destinations, 40 story missions, 54 adventures, 42 Lost Sectors, 17 strikes, 31 PvP maps, 12 one-off special activities (like Menagerie or Zero Hour), seven raids, six Gambit arenas, three dungeons, many, many quests, patrols, public events, and of course, thousands of associated rewards. All of that, plus hundreds of game systems which layer on top of that content.

This unrelenting growth has resulted in a game that requires players to download up to 115GB to play, as well as huge patches tied to frequent updates. And those numbers are rising rapidly, as we’ve been adding approximately 25GB of content each year to Destiny 2 since launch. Those sizes not only stress hard drive capacity but also push the limits of patching capability. It also makes the time to generate a stable update for the game after all content is finalized, tested, and ready to go balloon to literal days instead of hours.

Worse still, that 115GB includes a lot of content that isn't relevant anymore – and can't remain relevant – as we evolve the world and introduce new experiences that will take center stage instead. For example: Warmind’s campaign represents only 0.3% of all time played in Season of the Worthy and yet the Warmind Expansion accounts for 5% of our total install size. This dramatic imbalance between player engagement and overall cost to maintain is found in a lot of our legacy content.

IMPACT ON THE LIVE GAME

Maintaining that much content in perpetuity slows down our ability to update the game with fresh experiences, reduces our ability to innovate, and delays our reaction to community feedback. The test surface alone is massive, to say nothing about how it impacts our designers, artists, and engineers trying to make cool new stuff every day under the weight of the crushing complexity of our scale.

Unfortunately it also means that we sometimes ship content that doesn’t meet the quality bar we’ve set for ourselves and that our players have come to expect. Recent examples are the issues with Felwinter’s Lie quest or when we had to perform our first-ever rollback of player progress due to a bug.

Our ambition is for Destiny 2 to be the best Action MMO in the world and that means being far more agile and nimble than we are today. But the simple fact is that our game's size and complexity prevents us from improving Destiny as fast as we – and you – would like.

THE “DESTINY CONTENT VAULT”

With Destiny 1, we solved the “ever expanding, exponential complexity” problem by making a sequel in Destiny 2. We left behind all of Destiny 1’s content and many of the features players grew to love. We believe now that it was a mistake to create a situation that fractured the community, reset player progress, and set the player experience back in ways that took us a full year to recover from and repair. It’s a mistake we don’t want to repeat by making a Destiny 3. We don't believe a sequel is the right direction for the game and for the past two years we have been investing all of our development effort into new content, gameplay, and new engine features that directly support a single evolving world in Destiny 2.

To create a sustainable ecosystem where the world can continue to evolve in exciting ways, and where we can update the game more quickly, we're going to adopt a new content model that we're calling the

Destiny Content Vault (DCV)

. Each year, usually at the expansion boundaries, we will cycle some destination and activity content out of the game (and into the DCV) to make room for new experiences.

The first cycle of Destiny 2 content going into the DCV begins this fall, with the appearance of the Pyramid ships in Season of Arrivals and the Beyond Light expansion, which we revealed today. Those events will usher in dramatic changes to the Destiny universe, affecting characters, destinations, and Guardians for years to come.

To set a new maintainable foundation for the game this fall and to create room for Beyond Light and the future roadmap, the first Destiny 2 deposit into the DCV will be larger than those to come in the future.

CURATING THE VAULT

Content that goes into the Destiny Content Vault may return in the future, altered (if necessary) to fit the new state of the universe. Furthermore, we consider all Destiny 1 and 2 destinations and activities part of the new DCV and we’re going to be pulling from that archive – revisiting some of the most interesting places in Destiny’s history – from now onwards. It’s why the original Destiny 1 Raid – the Vault of Glass – will be returning to Destiny 2 in Year 4.

Going forward, our explicit goal will be to try to keep the scope and scale of Destiny 2 at a relatively consistent size in order to increase our agility and to be able to properly support and maintain the game. Over the course of each year, the game’s content scope will grow as we add new destinations and activities in our expansions and Seasons. As we approach the next expansion, another cycle of content will go into the DCV to make way for a new influx of destinations and activities.

We will always do our best to give early notice of what's being cycled into the DCV, to help you and your friends plan around how you want to complete your collections and build up your account before the new Destiny year starts. The vast majority of content we choose to vault will also be from destinations and activities that have been free for all players for several months prior to their departure. For example: the Curse of Osiris campaign, which has been free since Shadowkeep launched in October 2019, and part of the Destiny 2 experience since December 2017, will go in the DCV later this year.

YEAR 4 DESTINY CONTENT VAULT PREVIEW

Here is an early preview of some of what’s going into the Destiny Content Vault (DCV) and what’s returning in Year 4.

RETURNING FROM THE DCV

On September 22, 2020:

Cosmodrome as a selectable, explorable destination (but not yet at full Destiny 1 parity on 9/22).

Note: We’re looking to leverage Cosmodrome’s initial return to expand the new Guardian origin story to the world of Destiny. Veteran players will be able to experience that story as well.

Cosmodrome’s Will of Crota strike will also be added to the strikes playlist for all players.

During Season 13:

Cosmodrome will be fleshed out to roughly Destiny 1 Year 1 parity.

Cosmodrome’s The Devil’s Lair and Fallen S.A.B.E.R. strikes return.

During Year 4:

Destiny 1’s first raid, Vault of Glass, returns.

HEADING TO THE DCV

On September 22, 2020:

Io, Titan, Mercury, Mars, and Leviathan will be cycled out and no longer be accessible.

This includes all PvE activities (including campaigns) on those destinations.

OTHER KEY YEAR 4 DETAILS:

There will be three raids playable this fall, including a new one set in the Deep Stone Crypt on Europa as part of the Beyond Light expansion.

There will be new ways to earn Exotics originally tied to destinations and activity content that have entered the Destiny Content Vault.

Available strikes will be based on a pool of possible strikes from active destinations. When a destination goes into the DCV, so too will its strikes.

The PvP Map playlist will remain a curated ‘best of’ mixture of maps from Destiny 1 and 2.

Gambit and Gambit Prime are being merged into a single mode, with their original armor visuals available to earn from the Drifter.

To be clear, the DCV does not apply to any weapons and armor in a player's inventory or vault. The DCV is about activities and destinations. We know you will have a lot of questions about how this will work. We will share more updates about our content plans throughout the summer. This includes a detailed overview of everything changing via patch notes, extensive DPS articles that will help break down what’s changing and when, as well as lots of opportunities for you to ask us questions along the way.

A NEW BEGINNING

This fall, we will begin delivering on the future of Destiny by making way for new adventures, locales, and stories dreamed up by our creative team, and forging the truly evolving world that it was always meant to be. These changes allow us the freedom to finally weave an overall experience for the Destiny universe that can truly live, starting with Beyond Light. We can now fit puzzle pieces we haven’t been able to pick up since the beginning of the original Destiny – including the true nature of the Darkness and Light and how such power will change you as a Guardian. We can now bring some of the greatest experiences in Destiny to the forefront of the current game alongside new ones to come.

The past six years, we’ve seen the Destiny universe grow and our community along with it. We want our quality of service to grow in kind, to be able to react to community feedback quicker, to innovate more often, and to continue to tell new stories with your characters. We’re excited to continue that journey with you.

– Destiny 2 Dev Team

#long post #spoilers

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rafi420 · 1 year ago

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Thoughts after Vision Pro Where has China’s VR/AR industry gone

In April this year, PICO also officially launched the all-in-one VR machine PICO4 Pro, which has been optimized to a certain extent in terms of chips, optical components and experience. Xiaomi also continues to accumulate strength in HE Tuber this field and launched its first AR glasses in February this year. In the future, the signal of Vision Pro will definitely accelerate the development of the VR industry. Not only that, it will also create opportunities for the industry chain of VR equipment.

And through Apple’s phenomenal product, it is also a good reference and future direction for the Chinese VR/AR industry on the other side of the ocean.

Apple an “AR Empire”

The birth of Apple Vision Pro opened the "post-iPhone era."

It is the combination of the M2+R1 chip that makes the cameras, sensors and microphones on Apple's headset more sensitive and reducing latency as much as possible.

It is understood that Apple has developed at least three chips from scratch for Vision Pro. In the process of developing the Vision Pro chip, a chip for Macbook - M1 was also born.

The final effect is that by wearing Vision Pro, you can see the "world" on your mobile phone and computer in the real world, thereby realizing mixed reality. What Apple wants to do is bring the future world imagined in science fiction movies into reality. For example, people can use a 150-inch screen to watch movies and play games at home, and enjoy the unique experience brought by the cinema. They can also open office software in the virtual world by raising their heads on an airplane, etc.

With the arrival of Vision Pro, Apple also designed a new operating system for it - visionOS.

At the architectural level, visionOS shares core modules with macOS and iOS, but adds a "real-time subsystem" for processing interactive visual effects on Apple Vision Pro.

On this basis, users on the new operating system can also use Apple’s App ecosystem specially created for Vision Pro, including applications such as Adobe, Microsoft Teams and Zoom. In addition, Apple has designed a developer tool suite to allow third-party developers to design personalized applications for Vision Pro.

Apple’s VR headset not only chose the self-research route for key components such as operating systems and chips, but also selected multiple exclusive suppliers for other aspects. Among them, Micro OLED displays are exclusively supplied by Sony; precision lenses are supplied by Mitsubishi Chemical Company; and TSMC, the world's largest chip manufacturer, completed chip foundry for Vision Pro; Changying Precision is the main supplier of casings; camera modules It is exclusively supplied by Gaowei Electronics; the external power supply and acoustic unit are exclusively supplied by Goertek; and the assembly is exclusively completed by Luxshare Precision.

From a global perspective, the launch of Apple's Vision Pro has brought hope to some electronic parts manufacturers. In fact, relevant industry figures have expressed concerns about this. Although for Asian suppliers, sales have increased significantly, the market will gradually pick up. But the recovery of suppliers depends on the overall VR/AR market environment. In recent years, the industry's performance has been somewhat disappointing.

#HETuber #Music #Gaming #Entertainment #Sports #Science And Technology

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arya-usa · 4 years ago

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How to successfully outsource for your small business?

Over the years IT maintenance and development costs have skyrocketed. That’s why it is no brainer to fathom, why companies outsourcing their IT needs to third-party vendors that help them to save a hefty amount without lagging behind the competition.

Large corporations like DuPont cracked a deal with Computer Science Corp. and Andersen Consulting for a whopping $4 billion to manage its IT.

But this trend is simply not being followed by only big companies but small and medium scale businesses are also chipping in and catching up with the trend and taking up advantage of IT outsourcing companies, smaller and mid-cap companies hiring third party vendors for web development, digital marketing, customer support, human resource, etc.

There are thousands of companies out there in the market but blindfolded pick and choose any company to handle your IT operations could cost dearly and there are a handful of companies in the market which actually stand up to the expectation of clients. Our visionary team at Aryavrat Infotech puts collective effort to deliver the project beyond the client’s expectations.

Our holistic approach sets the stage for your product and services to keep you one step ahead in the market.

In this fierce competition where every company seeks attention through overly hyped marketing, we focus on delivering the project which cuts through all the noise and becomes the center of attraction through quality and ability.

Why you need to outsource

Reduce monthly expenses

Training your employees always costs a large chunk of your monthly budget but outsourcing can not only save you money but allows you to gain more productivity via experienced resources. don’t need to spend to develop extra infrastructure.

Team size

When a particular project is outsourced you don’t need to hire or recruit people of a specific skill set which does help you to keep your team size small.

The small team requires less workspace and eventually brings down the monthly expenditure. Around the clockwork in all time zones, you can assign the work, sit back, and relax.

Support Issue

Providing 24*7 support is a tough ask for a small and mid-cap firm but it plays a crucial role as well in business growth.

Having an offshore support team can be very handy & easier to handle. Language barriers can be easily overcome.

Services that we offer at Aryavrat Infotech Inc-

IT services (web – Mobile – Enterprise solutions )

Digital Marketing ( SEO, SMO, PPC)

Customer support ( BPO team )

Human resource ( staffing Case study)

Digital Marketing

We have worked on a score of digital marketing projects (SEO, SMO, PPC) and various others for well-recognized firms.

Our thorough research and white hat SEO practices do help to achieve organic rankings and increase visibility search.

On-page off-page optimization and google result tracking and some other important practices attract the bulk of leads and a higher conversion rate than any of our competitors in the market.

We bring the ideas into the state of being whether it is a tiny or long-term project we give equal importance to each one of them.

Our team at Aryavrat has worked on plenty of projects ranging from short to long term projects.

Web Development

Every company wants its strong appearance in the digital world whether in the form of a website or a mobile application; we have a team of experienced web developers who manifest the client’s imagination into reality.

Aryavrat concentrates on making web applications and websites which can get along with all modern browsers and devices.

We focus on providing an intuitive user experience through our websites and applications.

We are living in an era where technologies are changing at a rapid pace so the user requirement, that is why content management is essential for a website, we make sure to update and maintain the website timely.

The functionality of an app plays a significant role in attracting potential customers, so an agile approach is needed to align the web and application engagements with larger business demands.

Mobile Application Development

We here at Aryavrat Infotech develop highly impactful mobile applications with unparalleled design and execution.

We build advanced and robust mobile applications to bring ideas from conception to completion.

Our Mobile App Development for:

Banking sector

Healthcare sector

Food sector

Travel sector

E-commerce sector

Education sector

Logistics sector

We always believe in making impactful and transformative solutions for our clients and take every challenging project to the chin.

We have developed innumerable Mobile applications and Web Solutions for platforms like Android, iPhone/iOS, using a wide range of technologies like NodeJS, Angular JS, Kotlin, PHP – Symfony2, MYSQL, Oracle, Magento, Drupal.

Customer Support

As they say in the customer support industry “your mess for less” so choosing an inexperienced and less capable team can create a mess.

We have an excellent team of customer support executives who are available 24/7 to lend support. Separate team for each process to improve accuracy and quality.

Available for all timezone and geographical locations.experienced blokes in every single team to counter technical difficulties.

Human Resource

Human resource plays a crucial role in recruiting a highly talented team that determines the success or failure of any project.

Our recruitment team has years of experience in recruiting highly skilled individuals for a number of organizations. whether you need a small team or an entire department we have got the bases covered. whether you need a full-time employee or on a contract basis, our team puts all-out effort to meet your requirements in no time.

Our work speaks for itself, The Success story of one of our client’s product named flex force-

“Flex Force is all about Integrity Staffing Solutions is one of the largest industrial staffing firms in North America. and they really took the time to test all aspects of a very complex system.

I have both web and mobile app development and again both were excellent.”

How you can avoid outsourcing failures

Unclear Expectation

Before heading in rightly assessing the project requirements and scope in a comprehensive manner, hazy objectives or unclear expectations could lead to a deadlock so it’s important to have a clear vision of the project.

Lack of Communication

Time to time dialogue between client and partner is really essential for the success of any project, sometimes lack of communication leads to delays in the timeline and various other issues that can badly affect the project.

Detailed Service Level Agreement (SLA)

SLAs are an integral part of any outsourcing contract before making any commitment with your partner to pen down all the benchmarks and sign a detailed contract to prevent any misconception in the future.

A detailed contract with the service provider lays out all the services that a client is expected to receive. Apart from the services and responsibilities of a service provider, an ideal SLA should include the metrics to measure the quality and services.

Low on Budget

Cost and quality go hand in hand, having high expectations but low on a budget don’t go well, you will always have to compromise on either side.

Right Outsourcing Partner

In order to find out the most suitable partner check the past track record and choose the one who has handled or worked on a project which is similar to yours, lack of expertise in the required field can be disastrous so making the right choice, in the end, matters the most.

Why we are the Best –

❏ With a well-coordinated team of highly experienced and fresh minds, Aryavrat address every requirement with a different mindset.

❏ Aryavrat tries to walk in client’s shoes in order to understand the needs regardless of their domain, geographical location, and organizational specifics.

❏ Profound expertise in Software development, staffing, human resource, and customer support reflects in our work,

❏ Aryavrat has years of hands-on experience in managing and carrying out intricate projects of IT services and digital marketing.

❏ Whether you are a newbie or a well-established company. Our services will empower you to reimagine the way you do digital.

Area of Expertise

RFID

Every organization regardless of its size faces difficulties to manage its human assets but RFID fits perfectly to administrative prerequisites. RFID is intended to help you to deal with your workforce. With this anywhere anytime, Separate repository for storing all the input and employee data.

Transparency using Desktrack

Employee Monitoring Software like Desktack helps to maintain transparency within the team. Helps to generate invoices based on working hours. You can track everyday progress by using an activity tracker. Allows tracking of every single activity by an employee.

Conclusion

We have catered to many prominent brands across the world; client satisfaction does matter the most to us, skilled designers, developers, HR, and excellent support staff; we pride ourselves on having the individuals who breathe life into the ideas; That’s why we have the highest client retention rate. our offshore software development services help to turn your ideas into result by a Trusted IT outsourcing company

#outsourcing software development #outsourcing development services #outsourcing software

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lunamanar · 5 years ago

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Off-the-Cuff First-impressions Review: Trials of Mana

I got Seiken Densetsu 3/Trials of Mana in the mail today and am surprised by just how excited I am about it. After the admittedly predictable letdowns of the Secret of Mana “remake” and the FFVIII “remaster,” not to mention the iOS revision of the former, you’d think I’d be jaded at this point.

But! FFVII remake is Actually Good, and so far it looks like Trials of Mana is, while certainly lower budget, also Actually Good. The voice acting is kinda meh, but not bad enough to detract from the game in my opinion, and considering they are working with SNES-era scripts (the dialogue is 99% word-for-word the same as the more recent translation of the original SD3 game, so it’s going to be a bit stilted anyway) it’s really not bad at all.

Besides, the actual meat of the game--the world, character and monster design, and the gameplay--is extremely solid and I have had very little trouble acclimating to it. It’s fun to play, it feels good to run around and explore the world and the battles are both very simplistic in a way that is familiar to an old fart like me and very satisfying in the way they function. One of the biggest weaknesses the original game had was absolutely horrendous input lag in some areas due to 1. the sheer size of the loaded map section, such as Rolante/Laurant, 2. The number of on-screen instructions the SNES had to process during battles, particularly during fights where you had massive sprites taking up the entire screen (the awful awful wall-guardian “Genova” [harhar] is probably the single hardest boss in the game purely due to input lag/drops; when you attack an enemy, even assuming your weapon swings when you tell it to, and that’s a big ‘if,’ the monster you are attacking is actually in a state which is several frames ahead of whatever state it visually appears to be in on-screen, making it extremely difficult to time your attacks properly to both defend and do optimal damage to what should have been a relatively minor “miniboss” fight). Trials of Mana, on the other hand, has none of those problems, simply thanks to more modern technology. So far every fight I’ve engaged in has been smooth and responsive as well as very visually appealing.

And wow is this game pretty. It’s not the most amazing example of the best graphical advances in gaming history, to be sure, but I genuinely don’t think that matters, as it’s still beautifully detailed and really does look like they took the original graphics and magicked them into more modern models. The re-imaginings of each area and monster are very faithful to both the aesthetic and the layout of the original design while at the same creatively expanding on them; I've had no trouble finding my way around familiar maps or identifying the bestiary, but I have found a lot of added depth to them, such as the ability to jump down on rooftops and find hidden nooks that were just static backdrops or otherwise out of sight in the original. The areas are more layered and interactive, but very importantly, nothing is missing. Not even the dogs and cats, who still bark and meow at you if you talk to them. I feel like I’m being allowed to see and explore the original maps from angles I didn’t have access to in the past. It really makes the 16-year-old in me unbelievably happy, to be able to finally, actually see and do these things I could only wish for back then. For people who have never played it, it’s probably a very pretty, if otherwise unremarkable experience, but for me it’s the granting of a wish I’ve had for a long time, but never expected to happen.

Similarly, I think a lot of people will look at the plot for this game and go, “...what?” Because it really doesn’t seem to have been changed at all from the SNES version, aside from a few little tweaks to the dialogue here and there to ease the transition between some sections or correct for differences in game mechanics (of which there are only a few; again, this is definitely a remake--it remains the same game with the same mechanics at its core). This can lead to some pretty awkward interactions between characters, and at times it seems pretty clear that the voice actors weren’t given a lot of direction about the context of their lines. It’s not a bad story, but it’s a very simply told one, and feels more like it’s targeting 12~16 year-olds (which it probably is, to be fair) who might not care so much about nitpicking the semantics of the plot and character motivations. Which is to say, most of the characters who are not main protagonists or villains are painfully cardboard-flat. They do what they do and say what they say because it advances the plot for them to do and say those things. Elliot falls for a “trick” that I’m pretty sure most 4-year-olds would see through. The Bad Guys are 1-dimensionally evil, wanting to either destroy or take over the world, with the possible exception of Lugar and Koren who have slightly more complicated “I’m your rival” reasons. That leaves the complexity up to the protagonists to shoulder, and while I haven’t played that far into the game yet, thus far is is beat-for-beat and shot-for-shot the same as the original, so I expect that character-building will be left largely up to the player to mentally write in, especially since the game features light/dark class-changes as a feature of its progression. (I do kiiiind of hope that your choice in class changes has a more material effect on the ending’s outcome, but I think that might be asking a bit too much from a remake of this sort.) But the somewhat archaic plot and character arcs are not surprising and for me don’t take away any of the game’s charm. Nikita is still the best, the shop owners still dance inexplicably, the fact you can play a werewolf is badass, rabites are still cute, Don Perignon is still kind of a jerk. I’m very nervous/excited to get Busukaboo and Flammie and hope they’ll be as much fun now as they were then. And the whole world is so damn pretty, I’m just glad to be there.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the music. I’m not sure how much of a hand Hiroki Kikuta actually had in this remake, but the synth-orchestral arrangements of his originals are excellent so far. They’re both accessible/adaptable to the game’s sudden scene transitions (”Nuclear Fusion” starts and ends just as cleanly) while being a richer version of the themes, keeping close to the original sound while making better use of all the instruments that the SNES just wasn’t capable of emulating well. It blends very well with the rest of the game and I hope that continues to be true.

I do have nitpicks; while I know it’s a popular mechanic, I don’t like the “shift-lock” sort of dash using the left analog stick as both directional and a button. I think the camera controls are solid, but I do wish there wan a toggle-option to have the camera just follow over your shoulder wherever you run until you either run into a battle or turn it off. The character models don’t seem especially affected by anything except the most intense/pervasive lighting and sometimes feel oddly out of place, like I’m watching one of those old movies where an animated character comes into the Real World. Some of the monster designs seem cute-ified more than I’d like. And I can’t help but think that if the game can be this nice as a third-tier title for SE, what could it have been if they’d but the resources behind it that they obviously did with FF7? I understand why they didn’t, but it’s hard not to wonder what it could have been if they had. Seiken Densetsu is one of the most fraught series in the history of home video games and the fact that it’s even still around is something of a miracle, in my opinion. After the last...four?...titles following Legend of Mana, and the disappointment that was SD2′s (second!) remake, I really didn’t go into Trials of Mana with high hopes. I have been really, honestly pleasantly surprised. Even if you’re a diehard old-schooler who really doesn’t like modern JRPGs, if you have any nostalgia left for this series, you should give this one a go. I think it translated really well to 3D models, and what little it loses in the switch, it makes up for in playability. It’s not hard to pick up, it’s easy on the eyes and ears, it’s less grind-y than the original, and it doesn’t try to be more than what it is. I’ll probably always prefer the original, of course; there are too many memories attached to it for me, too many things that were groundbreaking at the time that are now old news or completely obsolete nowadays, and the new game certainly doesn’t push any modern boundaries. But it’s worth checking out, and especially if you’ve spent 20 years feeling let down by the Mana series, this might actually be the game you were hoping for, albeit maybe a decade late.

#other games #seiken densetsu #seiken densetsu 3 #sd3 #trials of mana #sd3 remake #long post #i have not proof read this at all #wysiwyg #opinion

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jochemjong-blog · 5 years ago

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On the shoulders of giants

(the following story was not written by me. It is from the game “Stellaris” but it reminded me of the whole space ork thing so I thought I would share it. I have changed a few minor elements, mainly removing the gamey parts from it and added a few headers to make it work a bit better. None of the actual story elements have been changed)

Ours is a history of oddities and inconsistencies. We have found ancient city ruins older than some archaeological excavations of primitive villages. We have unearthed saws, axes and even rifles which far pre-date stone-tipped spears and bows.

A peculiar history did not, however, prevent us from stepping readily into a futuristic era of spaceflight. We have now managed to truly escape the gravity of our home planet, aiming for other planets and bodies in our solar system, and beyond.

However, we had scarcely left the atmosphere before the oddities emerged anew; strange signals of alien origin coming from within our own solar system…

Extra Terrestrial Research Department: Report on investigation of anomalous signals on Luna.

Lead scientist: Veldanura.

A string of strange anomalous readings is emanating from the surface of Luna, our very own moon. We have decided to launch a surface excursion to find out more.

Log 1: The first, small step

A base of operations has been set up on the surface of the moon, and several teams are now en route to the various anomaly sites that our scanners picked up.

The significance of this mystery is simply unparalleled, and the scientific community is absolutely buzzing with theories and anticipation over what we might uncover.

Log 2: Tracking the signal

Most excursion teams have reached their destinations and reported back.

Artifacts buried in the ground have been uncovered. Lead Scientist Veldanura describes them as “highly accurate, galactic laser pointers” – ancient machines that are emitting a strong, tight ultraviolet beam out into space for purposes unknown.

It is a bittersweet discovery; the profound, exhilarating importance of alien artifacts countered by their seemingly arbitrary purpose.

Log 3: It’s a dud

Despite our best efforts, the excavation and analysis of the alien indicators on the surface of Luna have failed to deliver any relevant result.

The archaeological teams have calculated and followed the paths of the alien signal beams, but nothing is being pointed at other than empty space.

Lead Scientist Veldanura has requested more time; convinced that something has been missed.

Log 4: Wind back and Proceed

Breakthrough!

Study of the surface has revealed that Luna was hit eons ago by a small asteroid. The impact of this asteroid was not enough to obliterate the moon, but did nudge it a fraction out of its original orbit. By analyzing the impact the scientists have managed to calculate the moon’s initial position and rotation, and used that data to ‘rewind’ the alien indicators to their original position.

And there it was: the alien indicator beams suddenly converging on another planet in our system: Triton, the largest natural satellite of Neptune.

Extra Terrestrial Research Department: Report on investigation of target of Luna’s alien indicators.

Lead scientist: Veldanura.

The previously discovered alien indicators are pointing at Triton, and we should go down on the surface and investigate further.

Log 1: Let’s see what we got

Our archaeological teams have started their work down on Triton. Seismographic readings quickly isolated a hollow area underground on the rough location indicated by the alien indicates previously discovered.

The underground expanse is vast, and despite its mysterious nature one thing is beyond doubt of any of our experts: it’s not natural. Someone built it with a specific purpose in mind.

Log 2: Proving grounds

The excavation crew finally reached what turned out to be a massive underground structure. Vast, angular halls and tunnels were explored. A complete lack of adornment made it difficult to establish the purpose of the structure.

When Lead Scientist Veldanura entered what appeared to be the main chamber, a deep sound suddenly reverberated. Initially just thundering noise, the sound slowly contorted until an incorporeal voice spoke a single sentence in our language:

“Are you ready?”

The booming voice was followed by deep rumble as one of the giant walls slowly slid away to reveal a dark corridor. Our archaeologists eagerly went inside.

Log 3: Trials

The dark corridor led to an empty, round chamber. Stepping inside, the disembodied voice spoke yet again, stating that “only the deserving may continue”.

Short corridors connected the round camber to three other, small rooms -each containing some kind of physics-oriented problem.

Lead Scientist Veldanura believes that these are scientific riddles that – once solved – may provoke some reaction in the structure, but it is all speculation.

Log 4: Full of Wonders

All three science puzzles have been completed in the mysterious chambers deep underground the surface of Triton.

Just as Lead Scientist Veldanura suspected, the structure responded to the correct solutions for the alien trials. As the last riddle was solved, a cloudy holographic projection exploded to life in the main chamber. It was an incredibly high-resolution depiction of our solar system, with one position indicated by a bright point of light: Venus.

Extra Terrestrial Research Department: Report on investigation of Venus following the discoveries made on Triton.

Lead scientist: Veldanura.

Following the discoveries on Triton, our scanners have picked up something deep beneath the surface of Venus.

Log 1: Sealed bunker

After a long, arduous period of digging deep into the crust of Venus the excavation team reached another underground structure.

Despite readings indicating that this structure is hollow, no entry point can be found. It appears hermetically sealed, and the protective walls are made of an unknown material with extreme structural integrity. Conventional digging equipment has so far ben unable to even scratch it.

It will require some serious effort to get through, but the project is already underway.

Log 2: Bunker debunked

After months of hard work, using a powerful beam which combines intense fusion heat with high-frequency vibration, the excavation team has finally managed to crack the underground structure.

As soon as the vault was cracked, the disembodied voice-recording spoke again. It declared that our determination had been proven, that another trial had been completed, and that we were to be rewarded accordingly.

And so, we were. The bunker contained all sorts of valuables, hitherto unknown technologies which can be investigated further, and a new set of coordinates.

Extra Terrestrial Research Department: Report on investigation of Io following the discoveries made on Venus.

Lead scientist: Veldanura.

Following the discoveries on Venus, our scanners have picked up something deep beneath the surface of Io.

Log 1: Very complex

Extensive seismographic readings have been compiled into a highly accurate visual model of the underground structure on Io.

It appears to be a vast network of angular corridors, each several kilometers long. The entire structure is mostly corridors, with the exception of one open space at the bottom of the building.

More than that cannot be interpreted until we reach and investigate the site properly.

Log 2: Endless memorial

The excavation team finally breached the underground complex, and entered the empty corridors.

The long tunnels were completely empty. On closer inspection the walls appeared to be covered in small, strange inscriptions. Translation of the alien language was a highly confusing process, until it was discovered that the writing consisted of nothing but alien names, numbering in the millions.

Archaeologists are now pressing onwards to the bottom chamber, but their effort is hindered by caved in corridors which need to be cleared.

Log 3: Admitting defeat

Our archaeological team has reached the bottom chamber of the memorial structure. There they found an ancient, and partially intact, recorded message; translation suggests this is some kind of personal debriefing:

“We failed. The Relentless cut through our entire navy without even slowing down. All is lost now. We will die here, in these walls of tribute to fallen brethren.

We fear for the lives of our wards, The Relentless will find them, and then they…”

There is no sign of a struggle. No bodies. Only empty halls and the silence of the ones who perished.

Log 4: Addendum

Lead Scientist Veldanura wanted to comb through every nook and cranny of the memorial site. It paid off: a small device was discovered in one of the corridors. A small fragment of information could be salvaged from it:

“…ould work! With their mental faculties shut off – their very intellect removed – they would pose no threat.

It must be enough. It’s the only thing left that we can do.”

The device also included some new coordinates. Veldanura would like to investigate these as soon as possible.

Extra Terrestrial Research Department: Report on investigation of Europa following the discoveries made on Io.

Lead scientist: Veldanura.

Scanner readings from orbit indicate that there is a structure down on the planet. Unlike the previous ones, this one is not buried underground.

Log 1: Last bastion

There was no need for shovels or drilling lasers this time around. Lead Scientist Veldanura and the archaeology team simply walked into the alien ruin.

The site is very old - more than a thousand years, but fairly well kept. It appears to be some kind of staging area, built for a specific purpose. There are several laboratories and large storage hangers.

The team has also found a digital archive server. It’s offline, but appears fairly intact. Hopefully it will fill in the blanks regarding our lost Benefactors.

Log 2: Desperate measures.

The science team managed to get the digital archives up and running. They exclusively contained arbitrary logs, which required some liberal interpretation.

The phrase ‘Mind-Wipe Initiative’ occurs frequently throughout these logs, and it appears to have been the specific focus of research at this location. Apparently the Benefactors developed the technology by which they could manipulate the effectiveness of mental faculties, but how or for what purpose remains unknown.

Log 3: Crescendo!

The archaeological team has found another ancient digital archive. This too consisted mostly of logs, but there was one journal entry of particular interest:

“The ship has taken off. We know they’ll succeed, but there was no sense of hope or high spirits as they left. We know that the mission and the work we’ve done here are wrong… Despicable.

But the alternative… The alternative is worse.”

This is also one of the last entries found at the ancient facility. Not much of a closure, but at least plenty of technological discoveries were made.

Log 4: Aftermath

While clearing out the storage areas, one of the workers found a small device of unknown origin. It was brought to Lead Scientist Veldanura and turned out to be a recording device. It was badly damaged, but a small snippet of dialog was saved:

“…houldn’t be forgotten – someone has to come clean and speak up for them. History may endure, but my conscience cannot”

Further investigation led to the discovery of an encrypted set of coordinates.

Extra Terrestrial Research Department: Report on investigation of Mercury following the discoveries made on Europa.

Lead scientist: Veldanura.

The coordinates point to a seemingly arbitrary spot on the surface of Mercury. Closer scans indicate nothing out of the ordinary.

Log 1: Hidden cave

The team we sent down to the surface of Mercury encountered far more obstacles than anticipated.

The coordinates we discovered on Europa pointed to an especially craggy part of Mercury, where the landscape was filled with vertical stone surfaces and deep fissures.

The team pressed on, and eventually reached the indicated location: a natural cave formation. A base of operations has been set up and further investigation will begin shortly.

Log 2: Cold, hard cache

The archaeological team that began investigating the natural cave a few months ago has reported back. They found a tremendous, abandoned stockpile of valuable resources. There were no doors, no locks and no traps – just a cave full of industrial valuables.

Lead Scientist Veldanura requests permission to investigate further still. Plentiful as it may be, the obviousness of the treasure has evoked a theory that this cache is merely a ruse – that another type of treasure is yet to be found.

Log 3: Dirty past

The resource cache was indeed just a distraction. The real treasure lay behind a hidden door: a final message, recorded by one of the Benefactor aliens.

Eons ago they were at war with a merciless alien race known as “The Relentless”. Entire civilizations had already perished in the Relentless’ wake, and the Benefactors were next. The desperate Benefactors sought their last resort, before all would be lost. They succeeded with a device that ravaged the Relentless’ neurological physique, instantaneously primitivizing an entire race.

Robbed of their bloodthirsty intellect, The Relentless became docile and harmless. The Benefactors rounded them up and exiled them to a planet we know as Earth.

The Relentless are our ancestors.

Log 4: Next step

Finally, the inconsistencies in our history have been explained, using these lost chapters from our true heritage. We had once believed that the advancement of our civilization came of our own accord – solitary and independent. Now we know that all this time, we had been standing on the shoulders of giants.

We cannot change the past. We reconcile and we move on – accepting our past not as a dark burden, but as a stepping stone on our path forward into the future.

It is our time to become giants.

#pmseymourva #humans are space orcs

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oceandetail06 · 5 years ago

Text

Next Year Innovative developments by Apple

Apple is considered to be the most innovative company in the world at present. It’s the business to which nearly all others search for guidance. When ever Apple reveals a forward thinking new design language or launches a new product, it generates ripples throughout the marketplace. Suddenly, the whole industry is crafting items in Apple’s look and feel. Nevertheless to state Apple is merely a trend-setter understates the organization’s position as arguably the figurehead of invention in customer technology. Apple isn’t just setting technology trends; Apple’s vision units precedents and starts movements that allow the developments to exist to begin with. As wonderful since it must feel to be Apple in this scenario - and as humbling as it must experience to be the many businesses copying Apple at every change - it’s not absolutely all sunshine and rainbows. Most people can claw the right path to the top of a mountain, but there’s not a lot of stable surface up there. One incorrect step and your toppling back down the mountain, undoing years of the hard work needed to get right up there. I actually don’t want to lower price Apple’s successes in 2018: Apple Pencil program for ipad tablet was a beautiful addition; iOS 12 has provided new life to iPhones as old as the 5S; Apple Watch Series 4 generally is conserving lives; and that’s just a few highlights. Looking back, though, 2018 was a fairly tough year for Apple as certain missteps ended up impacting the company’s bottom line. Among Apple’s most questionable moves in 2018, there’s one I wanted to identify for an important reason: Without second-generation iPhone SE around the corner, it seems Apple has exited the budget flagship market. In fact, I will consider it one step further: I’m certain Apple won’t be delivering any more budget iPhones, and here’s why. Apple’s products portfolio is varied. The business generates revenue from services like iTunes and Apple Music to accessories like AirPods and the Magic Key pad, from home entertainment gadgets like Apple TV 4K to personal processing devices just like the MacBook Pro. Nevertheless product sales for most of these are not that impressive (though Apple’s income unquestionably are). It is definitely the iPhone that accounts for the majority of Apple’s income. Since its debut in 2007, iPhone has pushed Apple’s income to such incredible heights that the business has become the first trillion-dollar firm ever sold. With so a lot of Apple’s revenue riding on the game-changing device, you can wager there would be a significant drop in Apple’s income if people beginning buying less iPhones. And that’s precisely what we’re discovering. After a modest 4th quarter, income for Q12019 - which, to be very clear, is made up of October, November, and December, covering the vacation shopping season - was much lower than Apple actually expected. With the cost of fresh iPhones rising, income would’ve increased also if unit sales experienced only remained constant, but there have been fewer iPhone units sold during the period. The implication is normally that demand offers waned, or it’s feasible there wasn’t very much demand for Apple’s costly new iPhones to begin with. The earliest indicator of trouble was in 2017, the year iPhone X premiered. At a starting price 50 percent greater than the prior year’s baseline model, iPhone X unit sales were reportedly flat although Apple’s income increased. How? Because even though Apple sold approximately the same quantity of products as the year before, the common cost of an iPhone had elevated. When you sell the same number of products but tag up the price, you still visit a bump in revenue. Of course, it’s not just the iPhone that’s gotten more expensive. Apple has elevated selling prices across virtually all of the company’s portfolio. But with the iPhone driving revenue, the implication is this: Whenever iPhone sales and profits remain flat or start to fall, Apple will need to keep raising the price of the iPhone every year to maintain year-over-year income gains. As you can plainly see, it’s not really a coincidence Apple has decided to stop reporting iPhone unit sales publicly. Actually if 2017 was an outlier, the release of new iPhones in the fall is meant to give Apple a shot of income adrenaline in the final stretch, enabling for a solid finish as the business crosses the economic finish line. But also for the second yr in a row, that did not happen. Doesn’t it appear possible, if not likely, that increasing the costs for brand-new iPhones has led to lower demand? In regards to a week ago, Apple CEO sent a document to shareholders. You can browse the document for yourself on Apple’s webpage, but it warns traders that Apple’s 1Q2019 revenue will be $9 billion less than was originally projected. The letter mainly blames China’s overall economy for almost all the year-over-year iPhone income decline while also indicating that individuals remain adapting to the termination of carrier financial assistance. In a recent interview Cook explained many of the same reasons to describe lower-than-anticipated iPhone sales. Beyond slowed development in developing marketplaces and the lack of subsidized pricing through carriers, Cook pointed to iOS 12 and the $29 battery substitute plan seeing that having encouraged users to hold their old iPhones rather than ordering new ones. As you may recall, Apple launched the battery alternative program in late 2017 in wish of masking the stench of the battery controversy, which had garnered allegations of designed obsolescence. According to Cook, many with old iPhones didn't upgrade since they could get brand-new batteries for inexpensive. This would take away the efficiency caps that Apple got imposed to them, restoring their iPhones to their previous glory, especially when paired with iOS 12. In fact, Apple visited lengths to ensure that iOS 12 would make older iPhones faster, so Cook is likely right in hoping the electric battery substitute program and iOS 12 factored in to the weaker sales of 2018 iPhones. Nevertheless, Cook mentioned that complicated trade relations between the US and China was eventually the biggest factor. China represents a huge amount of untapped sales prospect of Apple, so there’s most likely some truth to that, too. You can view the full interview in the video below if you want to hear more of what Cook has to say about it. In the mean time, critics and analysts possess suggested poor iPhone sales are a indication of marketplace saturation; at this stage, most people who would like an iPhone already have one, and that’s a hard hurdle to overcome, specifically with buyers modernizing much less frequently. It’s even certainly possible that Apple valued the 2018 iPhones from the developing markets the company claims to be targeting. After all, if you reside in China and need it a new smartphone, are you going to buy an iPhone XS for $1,000 (¥6800) or more, or are you going to get the most recent Vivo or Xiaomi Android smartphone that’s produced locally and can do essentially nearly anything iPhone XS can do at a portion of the price? And in addition, Cook largely sidestepped this issue of ballooning iPhone prices - an obstacle that we have found across the majority of Apple’s products for that matter - which has been among the primary criticisms of latest iPhones. Latest Asking Price Increases Price boosts for the iPhone used to end up being pretty rare. In fact, after carriers stopped offering subsidized prices on smartphones, forcing us to start paying complete MSRP if we wished to buy brand-new iPhones, we're able to at least count on a constant starting price from calendar year to year. That starting cost used to be $649. With the launch of iPhone 8 in 2017, it leapt to $699, a unsatisfying increase, but it was not too surprising. It had been only a $50 increase after generations of a constant price, a lot of people gave Apple a pass. And, actually at the higher price, iPhone 8 seemed really cheap compared to the $999 price tag on the brand new iPhone X. However apparently, the purchase price increase for iPhone 7 set a precedent because in 2018, the price jumped again. Matching the enhance from iPhone 7 to iPhone 8, the 2018 iPhone lineup began at $749 for iPhone XR. You may argue that iPhone XR is a much better device than iPhone 7 and justifies the excess $100, but value is subjective. While some might say iPhone XR will probably be worth its $749 starting price, especially compared to Apple’s more premium models, many customers will fixate on how each new era of iPhone is more costly than the one before. And at this time, can you blame them? To make matters worse yet, as iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR were being unveiled in stage during Apple’s fall 2018 event, iPhone SE was being discontinued. So not only are iPhones getting a lot more expensive, but Apple has now eliminated the only budget option we had. So if you’re looking to get a fresh iPhone in 2019, there’s very little choice anymore. Buyers are mainly having to simply accept Apple’s higher beginning price in the absence of a true budget iPhone. Naturally, consumers and critics as well are getting more vocal within their demands an iPhone SE successor. Overwhelming Unforeseen Value Apple revealed the iPhone SE , which means Particular Edition, in March 2016 at a particular spring event. Both for consumers and the industry at large, iPhone SE was a very un-Apple device for Apple to release. The iPhone 6 had simply jumped in proportions and received a completely new style from the previous generation. Then iPhone SE was released, featuring a smaller, compact type with its design virtually indistinguishable from the previous-generation iPhone 5. Even more surprising was the fact that iPhone SE remarkably featured the majority of Apple’s up-to-date, front runner-level technologies in spite of the reduced starting price; for $399, you got the same custom A9 processor as iPhone 6S in addition to a 12 MP camera with 4K video recording and a bigger battery. In fact, the just significant compromises were the lack of 3D Touch and the usage of first-generation TouchID instead of the faster second generation. But, again, considering its low starting price (which eventually settled to $349), the iPhone SE provided uncharacteristically great value for a product made by Apple. The challenge was that iPhone SE didn’t turn into a top-selling iPhone. In the course of its lifetime, its defining characteristic was that it provided an affordable point of access to the iOS ecosystem although it eventually gained relatively of a cult pursuing among particular Apple fans. Obviously, after iPhone SE had been the baseline of the iPhone lineup for two years, potential customers were prepared for the customary refresh. Though iPhone SE offered an excellent cost-to-performance relation in 2016, a refresh would connect the overall performance gap that developed as iPhone SE’s A9 processor chip was succeeded and replaced, first by the A10 Fusion chip in iPhone 7, on the other hand by the A11 Bionic in the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X . Patiently Waiting for Apple's Latest Launches Affirmed, we heard that Apple was working on a fresh version of the spending budget iPhone. Details varied, but the iPhone SE successor - alleged to be called possibly iPhone SE 2 or iPhone X SE (with suffix and modifiers very carefully arranged)- appeared to have the same purpose as the initial, which was to become a compact, low-cost iPhone offering great performance and most of the latest features. Much of the disagreement encircling the naming theme for the iPhone SE 2 was due to unclear stories concerning whether the gadget might retain its iPhone 5-era style or whether it could embrace the new iPhone X visual. Some insisted (or possibly hoped?) iPhone SE 2 would appear to be an iPhone X from the front with a almost bezel-less, edge-to-edge display. These stories were mainly informed by supposed styles for display protectors and cases; if legitimate, the implication was that iPhone SE 2 would have a bezel-much less, notched display equivalent to iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. Of training course, the notch would become among the defining characteristics for 2018 cell phones overall as its was imitated by almost every smartphone manufacturer following the iPhone X debuted in late 2017; nevertheless, for Apple’s purposes, the notch just exists to house biometric sensors for Apple’s proprietary FaceID. Therefore the implication was that iPhone SE 2 would feature FaceID although the high price of FaceID components made it an unlikely inclusion in virtually any budget iPhone. Following these reports, renders were made to show how the device might appear if it turned out to be real. Assuming the case styles and resulting renders were accurate, iPhone SE 2 would’ve been a truly fascinating gadget, the lovechild of the bygone iPhone 5 and the more futuristic iPhone X. Provided Apple could keep creation costs and, by extension, the MSRP down, iPhone SE 2 could’ve easily outsold the original iPhone SE, possibly learning to be a top seller like the original iPhone SE never could. These weren’t simply the pipe dreams of iPhone SE enthusiasts and anyone who wanted cheaper iPhones; reviews from Apple’s own suppliers all but confirmed programs for iPhone SE 2, supplying estimates for possible production schedules and ship dates. In early August 2017, Wistron Corp. - a low-volume manufacturer located in Taiwan that Apple recruits when iPhone demand can be high - was working on expanding its creation base to accommodate a fresh compact Apple smartphone, which many presumed to end up being an updated iPhone SE. After that came a tentative ship day: In late November 2017, Economic Daily News in Taiwan reported Apple had been eyeing a release date in the first half of 2018 for the iPhone SE 2, which would’ve been consistent with the spring release of the initial iPhone SE. January 2018 brought another report of iPhone SE 2 launching in 2018. Shortly thereafter, there was a rumor iPhone SE 2 would include a glass back panel, suggesting the addition of the wireless charging features that the iPhone has had since 2017. Just as rumors pointed to Apple gearing up for the release of a next-generation iPhone SE, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI Securities who is known for predicting Apple’s products with uncanny accuracy, planted among the 1st seeds of doubt. In late January 2018, Kuo reported iPhone SE 2 had hardly any chance of being released because Apple had exhausted its assets on the three flagship versions to be released in 2018. Of course, those three models finished up being iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. Nevertheless, rumors persisted - though at a slower pace - in spite of Kuo’s doubt. For instance, there have been specifications and other information on the iPhone SE 2 reported in April 2018. Relating to these leaks, Apple intended to keep creation costs (and, by expansion, the eventual retail price) down by omitting the 3.5mm headphone jack and using iPhone 7’s A10 Fusion chip rather than the A11 Bionic chip found in iPhone 8 and iPhone X. For all intents and reasons, the axe was decisively dropped in July 2018 as BlueFin Research told MacRumors that Apple had nixed all programs to proceed with iPhone SE 2. We’ll probably never know for sure whether iPhone SE 2 was ever actually in the pipeline; however, also if it was planned originally, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever get an iPhone SE 2 at all. It’s been four a few months since the release of the 2018 iPhones, an event that coincided with iPhone SE being removed from Apple’s lineup, which, in and of itself, allegedly happened because Apple retired its A9 processor chip. So aside from Apple quickly unloading the last iPhone SE units at a discounted $249 price, which took only 24 hours, iPhone SE is gone from Apple’s catalog, and anyone waiting for a next-generation iPhone SE has little cause for hope. In the event that you ask me, the composing is on the wall structure: Apple won’t be making another budget iPhone. No More Budget iPhone? Spending budget smartphones, or smartphones that price roughly $300 or less, are pretty common today. In some cases, these budget devices offer great value for your money. Some of the more recent notable examples include the Moto G6 for $240, LG Stylo 4 for $250, Huawei Mate 20 Lite for $290, and, of course, the amazing Pocophone F1 for $299. If you have a tad more to spend, you can find a used or refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 for barely over $300. Or you may get the new Nokia 7.1, an Android One gadget with the design and nearly all of the features that top-shelf Android flagships possess for the discount price of $350. I’m not sure where in fact the phrase originated, but I completely agree: “Good cell phones are receiving cheap, and cheap mobile phones are getting good.” Of program, you might’ve noticed that the smartphones mentioned above are Android smartphones. How about iPhones? When carriers did aside with subsidizing smartphones, we had to start paying full retail cost for new smartphones. So Apple’s decision to create the iPhone SE was extremely timely: Instead of paying $649 or more, you could buy an iPhone for under $400 without producing a huge amount of compromises. Suddenly, individuals who favored iOS to Android had their personal Pocophone. From September 2016 to its discontinuation in September 2018, iPhone SE was never a top-selling iPhones. Even at its peak, iPhone SE hardly ever accounted for more than 11 percent of iPhone sales as the third-best-selling iPhone, and only by a thin margin. Meanwhile, both iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus almost tripled the product sales of iPhone SE during that period, accounting for 28.5 percent and 29.5 percent of iPhone sales, respectively. After September 2017, iPhone SE sales dropped substantially, remaining somewhere within 5.5 percent and 8 percent until the device was taken in fall 2018. Suppose you’re Tim Cook seeking at these numbers. Everybody has been asking for a second-generation budget iPhone, but sales numbers display that whenever a lower-cost option is available, the majority of customers keep buying the more expensive iPhones. If customers are willing to pay even more for high-end iPhones, does it make sense to make a cheaper device that, at best, no more than one in ten customers will be interested in buying? With some context, positioning the iPhone more as a luxury item starts to create sense. Like voting on a ballot, Apple’s consumers have already been casting their votes on higher-end iPhones, therefore we can’t actually blame Apple for leaving budget smartphones that do not sell well. If you’re miffed about the loss of life of iPhone SE 2, there are, actually, cheaper iPhones available for individuals on a budget. But you’re not going to discover them in retail stores. Current Market Conditions Apple gave customers the lower-cost iPhone they’d long been asking for, but most of them decided not to buy it. So if you’re Apple, do you produce a second era knowing the first era didn’t sell well, or perform you ditch the budget-iPhone idea altogether? It seems Apple chose the latter. However, it doesn’t eliminate from the actual fact that spending budget iPhones are already available, not to mention plentiful. Specifically, I’m talking about used iPhones on the market. The gray market refers to the investing of used iPhones on the secondhand marketplace. It’s comprised of the countless people selling their utilized gadgets after upgrading, which essentially creates an unofficial marketplace of budget iPhones. Therefore all those listings for iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, and iPhone 8 on eBay, the Amazon Marketplace, providers like Swappa, and yard-sale applications like LetGo are the gray market for iPhones. Apple doesn’t have to spend money on R&D, sourcing parts, production, and distribution for a budget iPhone because we curently have access to all the discounted iPhones we're able to ever want in the secondhand market. And every year when new iPhones are released, millions more iPhones will revitalize the secondhand marketplace as users who upgrade to brand-new iPhones sell their old ones. Plus, any post-2016 iPhone models in the gray market could have better specifications than iPhone SE, and some of these used iPhones would be cheaper than investing in a new iPhone SE from Apple for $349. Basically, Apple doesn’t have to sell a budget iPhone since the current-generation iPhones purchased at complete retail cost today become budget iPhones as consumers utilize them and eventually sell them to on the gray market if they upgrade. And even more devices are shown on the gray marketplace every day, so as long as Apple is offering smartphones, the gray market is a renewable resource for budget iPhones. Of training course, the gray market isn’t the only method to get an iPhone on the inexpensive. Depending about how you consider it, Apple actually offers new spending budget iPhone options every year. With the state unveiling of new iPhones each year, the MSRP of each preceding generation still in creation is decreased. For example, when iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X were announced in the fall of 2017, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus became previous-generation products, which warranted price cuts.

The iPhone SE was still in production when iPhone 7 got its lessen price, so if you wanted a fresh iPhone but didn’t want to invest $699 or more for iPhone 8 or iPhone X, you could choose iPhone SE from $349, iPhone 6S from $449, or iPhone 7 from $549. Though $349 isn’t exactly chump change, it’s certainly more palatable than iPhone X’s thousand-dollar starting price. With iPhone SE discontinued, the least expensive iPhone available is iPhone 7 for $449, meaning the cheapest iPhone available today is $100 a lot more than last year. To be fair, iPhone 7 was a great device at release, and it’s still a compelling option today, specifically for the price. Though it was divisive as Apple’s 1st iPhone without the apparently requisite 3.5mm headphone jack, iPhone 7 is otherwise a full-presented flagship. But if you’re searching for a new iPhone on a spending budget, which would you rather buy: a 2016 iPhone for $449 or an iPhone SE 2 with the latest A12 Bionic processor chip for $100 less? Regarding iPhone SE 2 not materializing, maybe knowing what could’ve been is what makes this thus disappointing for some. Even though the info suggests a restricted audience for spending budget iPhones, there will always be situations in which a low-cost iPhone with current-generation efficiency hits the sweet spot. Where Should Apple Go From Here? It’s a great time to become a lover of tech, particularly cell tech as spending budget and mid-range flagships are slaying in the Android smartphone market. Though priced higher than a $349 iPhone, the OnePlus 6T is usually a primary example of how exactly to offer flagship-level specs, design, and performance at a reduced cost. For better or worse, Apple appears to have evacuated the budget smartphone sector after just one single attempt. Granted, Apple hasn't actually catered to budget-minded customers with almost all the company’s equipment starting at $1,000 or more and a shrinking amount of products, like iPods and iPads, priced lower than that. That is why it was so unusual for Apple to make a budget iPhone to begin with. The problem is that it seems Apple is now trying to close a door that probably the business never should’ve opened to begin with. After all, when you’re offering this inexpensive iPhone on the lineup, all of the flagship iPhones seem that a lot more expensive by comparison. Whether or not there’s a fresh iPhone SE in the future, the prices attached to Apple’s products are climbing. In many markets, Apple is coming dangerously close to pricing the iPhone as well as most of Apple’s other items out of reach. For customers who can’t (or don’t need to) pay such exorbitant prices, the actual fact that Apple offered inexpensive options previously but no longer offers those options now will undoubtedly leave a bad taste in people’s mouths, nearly like biting into a rotten apple. Honestly, I hope I’m wrong concerning this, but if Apple really wants to curb the decline in iPhone demand and for product sales to resume an upward trajectory, 1 of 2 things will need to happen, and sooner instead of later. Apple needs to either lower the margins on iPhones to make them less expensive (or even just less costly), or there needs to be a fresh budget option so consumers in least have the illusion of choice. Because as the figures show, most buyers go for the premium iPhones in any case, but if Apple puts a budget model up for grabs, at least they won’t feel like they’re being forced to pay the ever-growing Apple tax. Apple’s current pricing structure gives consumers only high- and higher-priced models to pick from. But it appears buyers are starting to understand there’s still one other option, which is to save themselves the trouble, and possibly some buyer’s remorse, by not buying new iPhones at all.

#cellphones

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