In a market where meme coins have captured the imagination of investors, Crypto All-Stars is emerging as a promising contender, having now raised over $750k in its presale.This project presents an exciting opportunity for investors looking to diversify their portfolios and potentially earn substantial returns.With its innovative staking platform and strong community support, Crypto All-Stars has the potential to become a major player in the meme coin space.As Bitcoin holds strong, Crypto All-Stars emerges as the next big investment with a $750K presaleThe cryptocurrency market is ever-evolving, with new projects continually entering the scene and competing for investor interest. As Bitcoin remains strong, trading above $60,000, the hunt for the next lucrative investment is relentless.Investors are now looking beyond Bitcoin, seeking out projects that offer substantial earning potential, particularly those with innovative staking platforms that provide passive income.One such project gaining attention in the crypto community is Crypto All-Stars, a new meme coin promising revolutionary utilities and impressive returns.This new meme coin is quickly gaining traction, thanks to its innovative approach and the excitement surrounding its presale. Within just a few days, Crypto All-Stars has raised over $750,000, a testament to the growing interest in this project.You can explore what the future holds for Crypto All-Stars with our$STARS price predictionshere.Maximize gains with Crypto All-Stars, offering 3,000% APY and triple rewardsCrypto All-Stars distinguishes itself with its groundbreaking MemeVault, a revolutionary platform enabling the staking of popular meme coins such as Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and even Pepe.The concept is straightforward yet powerful: the longer the stake, the greater the rewards. Additionally, holders of the native $STARS token receive triple rewards, making it an attractive proposition for investors.This approach not only adds real value to these internet sensations but also unites the meme coin community on a single platform. The presale for Crypto All-Stars is already generating significant buzz, with over $700,000 raised in less than a week.This rapid success is further bolstered by predictions from top crypto influencers, who are forecasting potential returns of 100x on this project.The current entry price for the presale is just $0.0014022 per token, but as more investors join, the price is expected to climb, making early participation crucial for those looking to maximize gains.One of the standout features of Crypto All-Stars is its offering of an annual percentage yield (APY) of over 1,935% on staked tokens. This represents a significant return on investment, especially in the current market.However, its important to note that as more participants join the staking pool, the APY will decrease. Therefore, earlier participation leads to larger potential rewards, incentivizing early adoption and adding an element of urgency for those interested in the project.How to get involved in Crypto All-StarsInvesting in Crypto All-Stars is straightforward. As the project is built on the Ethereum network, an ERC-20-compatible wallet is required to participate.After securing a wallet and funding it with ETH or USDT, proceed to the official Crypto All-Stars presale website and connect the wallet. The process is simple: select the desired number of tokens, double-check the details, and confirm the transaction.Once the presale concludes, $STARS tokens will become available, allowing staking to begin for rewards. Crypto All-Stars is rapidly gaining recognition, transitioning from a meme coin to a rising star, capturing headlines across the cryptosphere.Meme Coin Prices Bounce Back as Crypto All-Stars Raises Over $500K in Presale @all_stars_coin https://t.co/kPHOSFq7fZ Bitcoin.com News (@BTCTN) August 20, 2024From Twitter trends to in-depth coverage in publications like Cryptonews, InsideBitcoin, Techopedia, Bitcoin.com, and others, Crypto All-Stars is captivating the crypto community.This buzz isnt just about hyperenowned crypto analysts and YouTubers are joining the conversation, intrigued by Crypto All-Stars unique offerings that distinguish it from the competition.This surge in attention is generating substantial investor interest, further fueling the projects momentum. Potential investors can visit our guide on how to buy Crypto All-Stars tokens here.ConclusionCrypto All-Stars is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about projects in the meme coin space. With its innovative utilities, potential for passive income, and a dedicated development team, it offers investors a unique opportunity to capitalize on the next big thing in crypto.The presale is still ongoing, and those who act quickly can secure tokens at a favorable price before they skyrocket. If youre looking to make significant gains in the coming months, Crypto All-Stars should be on your radar. To take part in the $STARS token presale, visitcryptoallstars.io.RelatedNew Meme Coin Presale Crypto All-Stars Transforming Staking with the First-Ever MemeVaultHottest Unified Meme Coin Staking ICO Raises $600k Best Crypto Presale to Invest In?The post Why Crypto All-Stars Could Be the Next 100x Meme Coin in Your Portfolio appeared first on ReadWrite.

In 2016, Konami released a pachinko machine based on Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater that featured remakes of the game's iconic cutscenes. For series fans that had been hoping for full remakes of the classics--especially in a post-Kojima Konami--this amounted to a gut punch. It was the slightest hint of what a modern take on Snake Eater could look like, but to see it you'd have to be seated in a pachinko parlor instead of getting the lengthy, cinematic Metal Gear Solid experience we had come to expect.Eight years later, the dream of a proper remake is being realized with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Announced via a 2023 Playstation Showcase, questions immediately arose about what we could expect from this update. Hideo Kojima has long been absent from anything Metal Gear, and his signature style of storytelling and game direction is perhaps the series' defining feature. This first glimpse lacked the humor, flavor, and "Kojima factor" that fans expected from MGS trailers. Was Delta destined to be a soulless corporate remake of the 2004 classic?After playing the entire Virtuous Mission (essentially the game's prologue) at a recent Konami event in London, I'm happy to report that all signs point to Delta being the Snake Eater remake that fans have wanted for years. Unlike the polarizing Twin Snakes remake of the original Metal Gear Solid--which featured fully re-recorded VO and an egregious amount of "artistic license"--Delta seems far more interested in preserving and updating your memories of Snake Eater rather than presenting its own dramatically altered version of it.Continue Reading at GameSpot

The Wing Diver in Earth Defense Force 6 is the Valkyrie of the battlefield. They're the only class with the ability to fly (without using a vehicle, of course) and the vast majority of their weapons are energy-based instead of using standard ammunition. Because of this, Wing Divers must keep an eye on multiple things at all times to stay alive, such as their positioning, energy level, ammo count, health, and more.

When Konami announced Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater on PlayStation 5, you could almost hear the iconic ! alert ring across the gaming worlds collective ears. A remake of the stealth genre classic Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater originally on PlayStation 2 coming our way? With a wealth of updates and enhancements? Theres no place for Snake to hide the entire planet is watchingI got to play a short demo of MGS Delta, as well as talk with the games producer, Noriaki Okamura, on how the game is shaping up to be much more than simply solid.The right team for the jobIts no small feat to remake a revered classic like MGS3. Which is exactly why Komani and Virtuos Studios combined development team has a mixture of talent new and familiar to the original, combining fresh eyes and safe hands.We had to sift out some old dev documents, but thanks to the expertise of some of the veterans who worked on Snake Eater we didnt have to spend too much time figuring out preparation, says Okamura. Were also aware that theres an entire generation who have never played a single Metal Gear Solid game before.Revamped controls with traditional optionsKeeping with the vital but tricky philosophy of ensuring Delta appeals to all, a strong focus has been on the controls. Traditionalists to MGS3 will feel right at home, but theres also an option that will feel natural to modern audiences. So if you prefer to play with a third-person camera on the right stick while being able to move and fire simultaneously via an over the shoulder viewpoint, youve got it.Initially our goal was to keep things as close to the original as possible, explains Okamura. But obviously over the course of 20 years, the way people play games has evolved and changed. So we looked at modern action games to ensure Delta was on par with some of those, so it doesnt detract from the experience.This definitely had a desired effect on my playthrough of the demo, where the changes to Delta created a satisfying illusion of how I remembered MGS3 controlled even though it wasnt. The transition felt natural, smooth and fun.Accessibility considerationsThe number of quality-of-life improvements also extend to a modernized menu design and a variety of accessibility options that will invaluably make the game better to play for a wider audience. This includes the ability to tweak how you ready and use your weapons/equipment, removing the need to hold down a button when grabbing enemies, and the chance to change visual elements such as color correction and the center dot display.Utilizing Unreal Engine 5Of course, the general presentation doesnt fall short of upgrades, either. Unreal Engine 5 gives Delta an incredible visual punch. We didnt want new players coming to the game feeling that its old or retro, says Okamura.Its an impressive feat. All the directorial flourishes remain, whether its taking in the deep detail and staggering background distance of the Tselinoyarsk jungle, or using the camera during a real time cutscene to zoom close enough to see the pores on Snakes skin.Visually blending the old with the newJust like any Snake mission, however, such improvements dont come easy. Initially we thought we could just change the basic outside skeleton of the models, laughs Okamura. But once we saw them move around in the game with the old character movements, we noticed they didnt quite blend that well anymore. So we had to tweak them it was important to keep the player in the experience but also as close to the original way the characters moved and breathed, and still make it seamless.Showing off the battle damage systemCreating new looks that also feel familiar isnt just around cosmetics, either. Konami has already highlighted that any wounds Snake picks up over his missions will be visible throughout the game, which led me to seeing how bloody Snake could get after being discovered by some guards. The answer? Well, lets just say Snake was practically crimson by the time I was finished.While cagey about how much this extends to the gameplay, Okamura confirmed that this will noticeably affect Snake, accentuating the originals battle damage system. Want to keep Snake sharp? Better treat his breaks and fracturesPlaying in the Camo Index dirtAnd then theres the ever-intricate Camouflage Index System. Different uniforms, face paints and disguises help improve Snakes chances of remaining unseen during his mission, but this is given a new dimension with the improved visuals. Roll around in dirt and mud and Snake will get convincingly covered in it, increasing his camouflage.To test its enhanced faithfulness to the original MGS3, I dunked Snake into the Dremuchij Swampland mud, fully enveloping him (admittedly, this was after accidentally drowning him in an earlier attempt). His entire face and body became dripping wet brown, his hair sludgy and slicked and his Camo Index maxed out, rendering him practically invisible to nearby crocodiles.Fighting expectations old and newIf there was one final thing that was just as clear as some of Metal Gear Solid Deltas improvements, its how seriously Okamura and the team take the task of reviving Snake Eater. Theres only pressure all the time, every day, he says.We have a lot of veteran staff at hand but theyre also aging out as well, so it might be the last chance for some of the critical members to work on these titles while theyre still at the company. But its our duty to make sure these games are still playable not only to current players but future generations as well.Although the demo finished all too quickly at the fabled Boss bridge scene, it was enough to ensure to me that Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is going to do justice to its original and the lofty expectations placed on it. Youll be able to experience it for yourself on PS5, with a release date to be revealed later this year.

My hands-on demo for Sid Meiers Civilization 7 ended at the turning point of a decisive military operation. At arms length from the station, I continued clicking the mouse as I stood and packed my bag, desperately trying to claim the capital of Ashoka, leader of the Maurya Empire. Like in any promising Civilization campaign, I didnt want to stop playing, but this particularly bullish rampage was an effort to get closer to the most profound change Firaxis Games has made to the Civilization formula in some time: the introduction of Ages.Civilization 7 campaigns occur across three distinct Ages Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern a change made to better represent the undulating tide of history. Each players actions contribute towards an Age Progression metric, and at a certain point, this will result in an Age Transition, a crisis-laden period where youll decide what to inherit from your existing empire and deal with barbarians at the gates. Youll keep the same leader across all three ages, but the civilization they control will change at each transition, your options determined by your choices so far, as well as geographical and historical connections.Check out PolygonsGamescom 2024 hub pagefor all our coverage of the worlds biggest games event.For example, players may pair the Pharaoh Hatshepsut with Egypt to begin, but if they amass three horse resources during Antiquity, they can transition to Mongolia for the Exploration Age. Specific resources, civics, technologies, buildings, units, wonders, and even game systems are age-specific, and the map will expand as you enter a new age, allowing for the introduction of new Independent Powers: Civilization 7s humanizing take on barbarians. Theyre now villages scattered across the world which can grow into formidable city-states, potentially creating a buffer between your civilization and a hostile empire.The thesis is history is built in layers, said Dennis Shirk, executive producer at Firaxis Games. With Rome, for example, the entire world, especially in North Africa and Europe, has seeds of Rome woven into their societies, culture, and people. Eventually, people change, absorb, and grow, and thats just the natural state of things. But instead of having a straight line from Point A to Point B at the end, Ed [Beach, creative director on Civilization 7] wanted to try exploring that space.Across the river from my appointment at Gamescom, the ruins of a Roman villa could be found in a car park underneath the distinctly Gothic Cologne Cathedral a compelling real-world example of the Firaxis theory in action. In that sense, Civilization 7s layered approach is thoughtfully archaeological, and, in theory, it will allow players to finish a game with a unique stratigraphic profile of their empire, one that speaks to their choices across history both visually and mechanically. A presentation pained to illuminate all of this tantalizing historical interplay, but unfortunately, I couldnt get a sense of how this works in practice, as my demo was limited to the Antiquity Age.Playing as Augustus, I could have chosen Egypt, but I picked Rome instead and built my capital a few hexagons from the coast a cute and bountiful geographical coincidence. My scouts charged into the unknown, causing hexagonal monoliths to rise and fall, revealing glossy sea tiles blooming with underwater flora. The plant life painted a delicate mirage on the waters surface, one of many visual flourishes I noticed in the game, details that reflect what the games art director, Jason Johnson, calls readable realism. Another example was a glut of bubbling mud spreading through my farmlands, resulting from an inclement flood that arrived on the turn I discovered Irrigation.The next thing that caught my eye was the lack of builder units. As Rome expanded, I physically chose the next tiles to grow towards and the associated improvements. This change helped streamline turn time, at least compared to Civilization 6. On the other hand, theres Influence, a new diplomatic currency I spent on frequent pace-hindering pop-up chats with other empires and sanctions during the war, explicitly targeting Ashokas agriculture. Broadly, Civilization 7 is partial to an interruptive dialogue box, far more than its predecessor, with narrative events evocative of Crusader Kings 3 confronting you as you play. Similarly, the goody huts of yore now prompt a choice that decides the type of reward you will receive.Throughout the 30 or so turns I managed, I heard the soothing voice of Gwendoline Christie, who continues the Game of Thrones dynasty of Civilization narrators, taking over duties from Sean Bean, who lent his Yorkshire tones to Civilization 6. Initially, Civilization 7 was going to have different narrators for each age, but Christies early line reads made such an impression that Firaxis scrapped the idea. The thing that popped for us was when we were getting the first sessions back and it didnt matter how small, like a five-word quote everything was read with heart and feeling; it was like she was performing for an audience every time she read something, said Shirk.Rounding out the major changes in Civilization 7 is the introduction of Commanders, military leaders with skill trees that soak up all of the previously demarcated unit XP. You can stack six units onto a commander tile like a Trojan Horse and deploy them in a specified direction to set up a devastating gank on an opposing civs border. Or, at least, thats what I did to begin my tyrannical siege of Ashokas capital. We did it because we hated managing armies in [Civilization] 6, Shirk said. An armys biggest enemy was not the opponent; its that one hex mountain tile pass that you have to get them all through.Shirk said the team at Firaxis internally refers to the Civilization 4/5/6 style of combat as Fish Slap, in that one unit usually runs up and slaps the other with a proverbial fish, only to run away after and end the engagement. This led to the development of Civilization 7s continuous combat under combat designer Brian Feldges. When units engage, they smash together and scrap on the face of the hexagon theyre situated in, and the fighting doesnt stop until youve issued all of your commands. We wanted to establish facing so that flanking would look and feel right, and when the battles are joined, you actually have battle lines fighting in your game as youre going through and doing all of your combat, Shirk said. And then you end turn, and only then do they return to their paths.In addition to bringing a new strategic dynamic to Civilization 7, the death of Fish Slap has also allowed Firaxis to level up the contextual visual design of each unit. Quite rightly, Roman archers dont look the same as Egyptian archers this time. The visual variance extends to the individual, with certain members of each unit sporting alternative headgear, outfits, and, eventually, unique battle damage. Its a reactive approach that deepens the immersion and speaks to the core ambition of Civilization 7: to stand out compared to its familiar forerunners.When you look at [Civilization 4, 5, and 6], theyre all relatively similar to each other, Shirk said. We change the rooms, put up new wallpaper, add on a couple of different things or extensions to the house, but theyre iterative, and our fans have gotten so good at guessing what were doing. They know the order were going to do it in, whats going to be in the first expansion and Ed [Beach] didnt want to make a Civ 6.5; he wanted to do something that would make our fans have to start over. The old strategies arent gonna work. They have to open up and look at it with fresh eyes to understand how to play this game.

Weekly curated resources for designersthinkers andmakers.The genesis of agile was that we werent very good at software projects. Agile was one response to this, which became popular because it let everyone off the hooklets not think hard now; it canwait.The era of product management compounded the issue because it taught product managers to follow the customer and the money would come. The logical flaw in that argument is that customers want gold plating of your product, and they want it forfree.Were moving back to a world of higher interest rates, lower rates of return, and proper decision-making, and this story discusses how to make good decisions that dont leave value on thetable.Making good decisions By JohnDavidsonSlow Research is dead [Sponsored] Painful, Slow Research was passionate about slowing down product development, hiding in fragmented tools, hoarding knowledge in silos, and causing unnecessary friction for teams. Theyre survived by Dovetail, the leading AI-powered customer insights hub that gives everyone on the product team instant access to customer insights, at any time. RIP Painful, Slow Research. Long live shared customer understanding.Editor picksDesigners need to get good at finding the right problem Dont jump to conclusions.By TiinaGolubUX is dead. Long live UX The age of AI is an opportunity.By PatrickNeemanWhy arent there more UX sociologists out there? Balancing psychology with sociology.By JonasEngkvistThe UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about theirwork.How to improve a companyMake methinkThe relentless inevitable It was always inevitable that technology would come for designers. I am pretty sure we reached peak design jobs somewhere in 2021 and the number of design jobs will decline or stayflat.Fear as a game Theres a theory in the science of emotion that the only innate human feelings are valence and arousal. Valence can be pleasant or unpleasant; arousal can be high or low. You can map any feeling on a wheel called an affective circumplex, with the midpoint representing neutral valence and neutral arousal.Experts vs. Imitators Think of all the money managers who borrow their talking points from Warren Buffett. They might sound like Buffett, but they dont know how to invest the way Buffett does. Theyre imitators. How do you tell the difference between an expert and an imitator?Little gems thisweekWhat UX can learn from 2024 Olympics fashion By DarrenYeoDesigners: you need to read science fiction By DaleyWilhelmLets shitmix the algorithm By Dr. AdamHartTools and resourcesProgress indicator UX The use of progress indicators, from games to digital apps.By AnthonyPerrottaFigma + Rive A new workflow for UI animations.By AndreiRybinFluid typography in design systems A guide for designers & developers.ByFelixSupport the newsletterIf you find our content helpful, heres how you can supportus:Check out this weeks sponsor to support their worktooForward this email to a friend and invite them to subscribeShare open positions on our jobboardSponsor aneditionMaking good decisions, UX sociologists, a new workflow for UI animations was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

If youre looking for the Wordle answer for August 26, 2024 read on. Well share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Todays puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for August 26, Wordle #1,164! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to todays Wordle game.How to play WordleWordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if theyre correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isnt in the days secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)Ready for the hints? Lets go!Does todays Wordle have any unusual letters?Well define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it Edwin Shirdloo, like a name, and pretend hes a friend of yours.)There are four common letters from our mnemonic today. The fifth is somewhat common. Can you give me a hint for todays Wordle?As a verb, to support a plant; as a noun, an interest or share. Does todays Wordle have any double or repeated letters?There are no repeated letters today.How many vowels are in todays Wordle?There are two vowels.What letter does todays Wordle start with?Todays word starts with S.What letter does todays Wordle end with?Todays word ends with E.What is the solution to todays Wordle?Ready? Todays word is STAKE.How I solved todays WordleI started with RAISE and CHANT, assuming I wasn't looking for any additional vowels after A and E. My next guess was STALE, which left only the fourth letter to figure out. I guessed STAGE followed by STAKE. Wordle 1,164 5/6Yesterdays Wordle answerYesterdays Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was as a verb, can be done on ice or pavement and the answer contained four common letters and one somewhat common letter. The answer to yesterdays Wordle was SKATE. A primer on Wordle basicsThe idea of Wordle is to guess the days secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, youll see an empty grid of letters. Its up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word.Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word:Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and its in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then its game over.The best starter words for WordleWhat should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, thats still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isnt a single best starting word, but the New York Timess Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:CRANETRACESLANTCRATECARTEMeanwhile, an MIT analysis found that youll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:SALETREASTTRACECRATESLATEOther good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that its better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.How to win at WordleWe have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if youre a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, dont waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldnt have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.Wordle alternativesIf you cant get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after anotherDordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the days solution. Youre required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Theres one clear perk that Android has over iOS and thats variety when it comes to the phones you have to choose from. Apple has made the iPhone is the only game in town for iOS, but with Googles operating system, there are dozens of choices out there from manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus and others. But that also means it can be difficult to decide which device is best for you when it comes time to upgrade, or if you want to switch from iPhone to Android in the new year. If youre looking for a new phone and dont know where to start, weve got you covered with a selection of the best Android phones for every budget. What to look for in a new Android phone Performance When it comes to picking our favorite Android phones, the main things we look for are pretty straightforward: good performance (both compute and AI), a nice display, solid design, sharp cameras, long battery life and a significant commitment to ongoing software support. For performance, not only do we look at benchmarks and other metrics, but we also evaluate phones based on responsiveness. Regardless of whether youre reading, text messaging, scrolling through social media or playing a game, no one wants a gadget that feels sluggish. Display Sam Rutherford/Engadget When it comes to displays, we generally prefer OLED panels that can produce rich, saturated colors with at least 600 nits of brightness, though many of our top mid-range and high-end phones can hit 1,000 nits or more. And more recently, most of our favorite devices also support screens with fast refresh rates of 90Hz or 120Hz, which adds an extra level of smoothness and fluidity. Design Now we will admit there is a bit of subjectivity when deciding which phones look the best, but there are other design aspects like dust and water resistance or screen durability that can make a big difference to long-term survival. Its also important to consider things like support for wireless charging, power sharing (aka reverse wireless charging) and UWB connectivity, which can have an impact on how your phone interacts with your other devices. Cameras Obviously, for photos were looking for sharp, colorful shots in both bright and low-light conditions. And we want video clips with high dynamic range, rich audio and smooth image stabilization. Extra cameras for ultra-wide and telephoto lenses are a plus. The best cameras should also include features like dedicated night modes, support for various video recording resolutions, and additional photo modes like timelapse, slow motion and more. Battery and software Finally, in terms of longevity, were looking for all-day battery life on devices that also delivered great results on our local video rundown test (at least 16 hours on a charge, but more is obviously better). Wireless charging capabilities have become almost ubiquitous over the past few years, and most of our top picks have this extra perk. Fast-charging is available on some Android phones, too. Finally, with people holding onto their phones longer than ever, we like to see companies commit to at least three years of software support, upgrades and regular security updates. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-android-phone-130030805.html?src=rss

Check out 3D artist Cornelius Dmmrich's VFX breakdown of a macabre miniature environment from the music video for 'Menschenpark' by BastiBastiTools used include: Cinema 4D, RizomUV, Substance 3D Painter, OctaneRender, DaVinci Resolve, Fusion, Photoshop, After Effects Watch the full video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy81vkf1FsY Find more details in Cornelius Dmmrich's Behance gallery: https://www.behance.net/gallery/204548381/Menschenpark

If Apple does eventually launch some kind of home robot, it may well have a next-gen AI assistant.