Technology

Asphalt 8: Airborne Usually Gameloft has tried to ape PC games, bringing their distinct console flavour to smartphones, though with mixed results. However, with Asphalt 8: Airborne, Gameloft has a clear winner. It is extremely hard to believe that this game is just given out for free. You will probably never notice the microtransactions, and as casual gamers you can easily launch the app, race and get out quick. With its visceral sense of speed, easy-to-use controls, beautiful tracks and licenced cars, Airborne hits all the right buttons. Real Racing 3 If Asphalt 8: Airborne is too arcadey for you, and you want something more serious and simulation-like to bring out the motoring aficionado in you, then Real Racing 3 is the best game for you. With jaw dropping visuals that demand a well-equipped Android device and realistic driving along very real circuits and campaigns, Real Racing 3 lives up to its name, literally. Blood Brothers Until the popular battle card game on iOS...

If you have Siri set to speak in English, she will not understand the word "gracias." But Google on Thursday updated its Google Now voice search and assistant app so it can quickly switch between multiple languages on the fly, CNET reports. Rather than select a single language setting from Google's list of about 50, Google Now can now recognize and understand the speaker's language and allow users to switch up to seven different ones on the fly. According to Google, you'll have to pre-select your secondary languages, but after that the feature will work automatically. In an interview with CNET, Google said "seemingly simple language-recognition tasks are much harder than they appear," and that it's still working on making Google Now a true linguist by understanding complex accents and minimizing ambient noise. Simultaneous multi-language support will roll out to Google Now users within "the coming days," Google said.

Apple has already stepped into the health and fitness tracking market with its Health app for iOS. Now, the company could be upping the ante with its upcoming iPhone New code spotted by developers who spoke with 9 to 5 Mac indicates the iPhone 6 could have a barometer built in. See also: 10 Better Alternatives to Your iPhone's Native Apps An integrated barometer would track altitude and air pressure and could infer temperature readings, too. Existing apps already perform many of these tasks, but they use the iPhone's GPS and motion chips to do so. A piece of dedicated measurement hardware is likely to provide better performance. 

Intel wants to inject passion and excitement into mobile chat through a new app that relies on face-tracking technology to assess facial expressions and mood. With Pocket Avatars, users can chat with friends using animated three-dimensional avatars, but there’s a twist. A camera on a mobile device tracks a user’s face and expressions, and those emotions are reflected on the avatar during a chat. The avatar serves as an alter-ego for those who don’t to put their real face on screen, said Mike Bell, vice president and general manager of the New Devices Group at Intel. “It’s just a fun thing on top of standard messaging,” Bell said. Emoticons have been a standard tool for expressions in text messaging. An animated chat that reflects a real person’s mood is more engaging, Bell said, adding that if a user is angry or happy, the avatar will show it, Bell said. The camera captures moving faces, lighting conditions and a range of emotions such as smiles, blinking eyes or kiss...