Tech round-up for July 13: Pokemon Go, new Samsung memory cards, The Matrix in a minute, prize packs from Loot Crate

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Categories Consumer technology | Video games

This week, Pokemon Go takes the world by storm, Samsung previews new high-capacity memory cards, and details on prize packs being given away on CKNW. But first, The Matrix in a single GIF.

The Matrix in a minute

Twitter has been changing things up a bit lately, and the company recently enabled support for larger file sizes for GIFs, from 5 MB to 15 MB.

Which means that you can Tweet longer GIFs than ever before.

Including The Matrix, in abbreviated form.

New tiny memory cards have as much storage space as many laptop computers

Samsung has proven that big things come in small packages. Last week, the electronics company unveiled a new memory card that it hopes will ultimately replace microSD cards.

The UFS cards that were demonstrated by Samsung come in 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, and a whopping 256 GB capacities.

In 256 GB you can store more than 30,000 high quality MP3s or around 100 high-def movies.

The UFS cards are reported to be able to read and write quickly, too, as fast as solid-state hard drives. This would make them ideal for things like photography and videography.

UFS stands for “universal flash storage” and Samsung is lobbying for it to be the new memory card standard to replace SD cards. The company has created a UFS card reader that can also read from microSD cards, which will help with any future transition.

Samsung’s UFS cards aren’t in the world, yet, just in the company’s labs. There is no timeline for release.

Prize packs from Loot Crate and E3

This week, on Drex Live, we’re giving away prize packs with gear from Loot Crate and swag I picked up at E3.

Here’s what’s up for grabs:

  • Robocop t-shirt, Terminator 2 metal decal, Matrix puzzle
  • Lord of the Rings t-shirt, Terminator 2 metal decal, Matrix puzzle
  • Super Mario leggings and socks
  • Injustice 2 t-shirt and Fallout vinyl collectible
  • He Man t-shirt and socks

You’ll have to call in for your chance to win. We’re on air just after 9 p.m. PT on Wednesday, July 13.

Nintendo has a hit in Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go is not the first Nintendo game for smartphones and tablets. That was Miitomo, which was released in the spring, and which has been largely forgotten.

But Mittomo isn’t really a game, either. It’s more of a social network. And we’ve all got enough of those.

Pokemon, though, started out as a video game and is one of the most successful media franchises in history. Done properly, it had the potential to be a mobile gaming hit.

Which is exactly what’s happened.

In the first few days of a limited release, to Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., demand is so high that the game’s servers are repeatedly crashing. The game was supposed to roll out around the world soon after it was released in the U.S. That plan has been put on hold; we have no idea when the game will officially become available in Canada.

The instant popularity of Pokemon Go resulted in a spike in Nintendo’s share price, boosting the company’s market capitalization by some $7.5 billion.

The game was actually developed by Niantic, which started as a Google project and has become its own company. One of the developer’s first projects was Ingress, which used smartphones and GPS to get players involved in a real-time game that took place in the real world.

That experience spun into Pokemon Go, which has players searching for and capturing the “pocket monsters” in the real world.

Which can lead to some difficulties, as people are too busy looking at their phones and in danger of walking into traffic or being lured by armed robbers.

Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game in which you “see” pokemon in the real world through your smartphone, and can then “capture” them by tossing “Pokeballs”. It’s a simulation of what being a Pokemon trainer would really be like.

Players are compelled to “get them all”. There are 151 creatures available to capture, and they all have particular geographies where they’re likely to be found, and times when they’re likely to be discovered.

It’s got gamers who may otherwise be spending all their time on the couch running around, with many complaining on Twitter of their sore legs.

The game itself is free to download, but includes in-app purchases of PokeCoins, which can be exchanged for things like power ups.

It’s not a new idea. Invizimals, developed for Sony’s PlayStation Portable system in 2009, had the same gameplay. But Nintendo and Niantic have caught fire with the Pokemon franchise

Just wait until Nintendo gets Mario onto your iPhone.

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