Light Start – The A Team: FitBit Alta, Alto’s Adventure, Audi’s ad, and advertising assistance

In case you don’t like Blaze-ing it, Fitbit intros the fashion-conscious Alta

It’s pretty safe to say that the world at large wasn’t that fond of the Fitbit Blaze, though we have it on good authority that the wearable looks better in person. No matter, though, as Fitbit have come out with the Alta. The new wearable is set to go on sale for $130 (R2,100) and you’re going to want to buy one if you care about the look of the thing. It’ll do much the same as other Fitbit devices but it’ll look good while doing so, with a sleek design, stainless steel or leather straps and a lack of heart rate monitor and GPS being its main features. It’s more of a fashion statement than a full-featured tracker. And that’s okay.

Source: Fitbit UK

Alto’s Adventure arrives on Android on 11 February – and it’s free

The best thing about an endless runner is that it’s… well, endless. And there’s a brand new one heading to Android after launching first on the snooty platform, iOS. Alto’s Adventure lets players take control of a skier, clearing various obstacles and challenges in a world that looks like part Journey, part Monument Valley. So, gorgeous then? Yes. The best bit, for Android users, is that it’ll be free instead of costing you around R50. What’s not so great is the reason why: “Piracy on Android is a much bigger issue on the platform especially in the case of premium iOS titles that charge more than $0.99.” Piracy is just one reason but the upshot is that Alto’s Adventure will be free-to-play on Android. You can pay if you like, to remove some ‘features’ and unlock some real ones. But that’s on you.

Source: via The Verge

Audi’s Super Bowl ad goes to the moon 

Oh, the feels in this one. This is Audi’s Super Bowl ad, for their R8, and it has a lot to do with Alexander the Great. More or less. You see, the ad features the Commander, who was an astronaut in his youth. Growing old, there isn’t much that can match up to the past. Unless, Audi claims, you hop into an Audi R8 and punch it. The concept’s a bit overblown but it’ll still slug you at an emotional level. If it does that to us poor Earth-bound Saffas, imaging what it’s going to do the the over-patriotic Yanks.

Source: Audi (YouTube)

Google Chrome will be saving you from deceptive advertising (and yourself)

Google Chrome, in case you haven’t already seen the large red screen, will be taking some of the fun out of web browsing. They will also be helping the less technologically-inclined by “…expanding Safe Browsing protection to protect you from such deceptive embedded content, like social engineering ads.” Safe Browsing is supposed to keep you, well, safe and the new social engineering avoidance feature could prevent a whole lot of malware being installed by grandparents because they clicked something disguised as something else. False installation prompts, fake download buttons, and the like will all set off Chrome’s protections – personally we’ve turned it off but we like the challenge.

Source: Google