MacRumors

One month after its announcement during a Nintendo Direct in late October, Nintendo today has begun rolling out Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp onto iOS [Direct Link] and Android devices worldwide, following a limited soft launch in Australia. The game was announced to be coming out tomorrow, November 22, but it has begun appearing on the iOS App Store for some users in the United States, United Kingdom, Austria, and France, and potentially other markets where it is launching.

The new game is Nintendo's fourth mobile app created in partnership with developer DeNA and follows Miitomo (launched March 2016), Super Mario Run (December 2016), and Fire Emblem Heroes (February 2017).

Similar to the latter two games, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a mobile-optimized version of its franchise's larger console games, and introduces a few new features into the traditional Animal Crossing gameplay to streamline certain actions for one-handed smartphone sessions. For example, both fishing and bug hunting are as simple as tapping on the screen, and the world that the player occupies -- centered around a campsite -- is scaled down from the villages of games like New Leaf and Wild World.

The main mechanic of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp centers on convincing animal villagers to stick around at your campsite by foraging for materials and crafting their favorite furniture. Outside of the camp, there is also a beach, river, island, and other areas that are accessible through your camper, which you can also customize and decorate to your liking. Additionally, you can visit your real friends to check out their camps to give them "kudos" on their decorations and see what items they're selling in their Market Box.

Any time you visit Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, the game will reflect the time of day and current season of the real world, and Nintendo has said it will be launching seasonal events over the holidays with exclusive furniture, outfits, and item decorations for players to collect.

Nintendo's latest smartphone game is free-to-play and uses optional "Leaf Tickets" as in-game currency, but our sister site Touch Arcade got hands-on time with the game in October and found very little reason to spend real money, thanks to gameplay systems that eventually reward players with the items they want if they put in the time to get them.

You can also spend Leaf Tickets to craft any furniture you might not have the materials for, but again, the first session of the game sprays so many of these different things at you that you're really going to need to play the game for a while before you're running low on anything.

There's other "cheater" items (and I'm saying "cheater" with the absolute most exaggerated air quotes imaginable) that you can buy with Leaf Tickets too like fishing nets and honey, which are used to catch loads of fish or bugs in one go- But, it seemed like if I wanted to invest the time I could just fish and catch bugs all day, so this seems like a real weird way to spend premium currency.

Players should note that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp requires a "persistent internet" connection -- mentioned in the game's "digest" trailer -- which seems to be similar to the always online requirement of Super Mario Run. At the time of Super Mario Run's launch, Shigeru Miyamoto said that Nintendo's reasoning behind this move is to "support security" and prevent piracy.

Looking ahead, Nintendo's next mobile game is rumored to be set within The Legend of Zelda universe, although it's still unclear exactly what the gameplay would be for that app.

For more information on Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, head to Nintendo's website, and you can download the game on the iOS App Store for free beginning today [Direct Link]. For those playing on iPhone X, the game has been optimized to support the 5.8-inch display of Apple's new smartphone.

Read More at Touch Arcade: 'Animal Crossing Pocket Camp' Beginner's Guide: Free Leaf Tickets, Getting K.K. Slider, Choosing a Personal Style and More

Update 5:27 a.m. PST: Some users attempting to play the game have been met with multiple communication errors, and it's unclear at this time what might be the issue, although it could be related to a large amount of people trying to start the game following launch.

The United States Justice Department today filed a lawsuit to stop a planned merger between AT&T and Time Warner, reports Bloomberg. The DOJ believes such a merger would result in higher bills and fewer options for consumers.

"This merger would greatly harm American consumers. It would mean higher monthly television bills and fewer of the new, emerging innovative options that consumers are beginning to enjoy," said Makan Delrahim, the head of the department's antitrust division.

According to Bloomberg, this is the first time in several decades that the DOJ has sued to block a vertical deal, aka a merger between two companies that do not directly compete with one another. The lawsuit comes following a request from antitrust head Delrahim that the two companies sell either the Turner broadcasting unit or DirecTV, which AT&T refused to do.

Given that the DOJ does not usually step in to block vertical deals, it is unclear how this legal battle will play out in court. Other similar deals, such as Comcast's purchase of NBC Universal, have gone through after certain conditions have been put in place.

AT&T and Time Warner have been in talks over a merger since late 2016, with AT&T planning to shell out $85.4 billion for Time Warner.

AT&T says the DOJ's lawsuit is a "radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent," and that it is confident the court will reject the claims and allow the merger to proceed.

Apple at one time was rumored to be interested in a Time Warner purchase and was said to have monitored the deal between AT&T/Time Warner closely, but Apple ultimately had no interest in Time Warner or outbidding AT&T.

Apple Maps now provides lane guidance in five additional countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

While navigating with Apple Maps via iPhone or CarPlay in those countries, a set of directional arrows will now appear at the top of the screen that indicate which lane your vehicle should be in to exit a freeway or complete a turn.

Apple Maps lane guidance has been available in the United States and China since iOS 11. The feature began rolling out in additional regions alongside the iOS 11.2 beta, and the countries are now reflected on Apple's iOS feature availability page.

Apple Maps still shows speed limits in the United States and United Kingdom only.

(Thanks, David!)

Spotify today launched its holiday discounts, giving new users three months of Spotify Premium for $0.99, after which they'll need to pay the traditional $9.99/month subscription cost or cancel their account beforehand. The sale is similar to discounts launched in years past, with Spotify encouraging new users to sign up to the music streaming service over the holidays.

This year, there's an additional deal for those who have signed up for Spotify Premium, but then left the service at one point in the past. Specifically, if you didn't have an active Spotify Premium account as of October 21, 2017 -- meaning you canceled your account before that date -- you can return to Spotify and get three months of the service for $9.99. Unfortunately, there isn't a deal for paid subscribers who have stayed with Spotify.

Three months of Spotify Premium that gives you access to millions of songs on demand, ad free, and high quality audio, for less than a dollar? That is what music fans can expect this season as Spotify announces two of its biggest deals of the year. Whether you are curating a list of your favorite holiday-themed tracks or compiling a playlist of the hottest songs of the year for an upcoming Holiday party, these offers will undoubtedly warm up your mood this season.

- First-time Spotify Premium users can receive three months for just $0.99 if they have not previously provided credit card information or used a 30-day trial.
- Spotify Premium users that did not have an active account as of October 21, 2017 can receive three months for the price of one: $9.99.

If you're interested you can sign up for Spotify Premium on the company's website, and you have until December 31, 2017 to take advantage of the offers. For new users, Spotify said it will check to see that you have not previously provided credit card information or used a 30-day trial of Spotify Premium in order to grant the three month price at $0.99.

For more of the latest sales going on this week, be sure to check out our Deals Roundup and Black Friday Roundup.

Nintendo on Twitter today confirmed that the company's upcoming iOS game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, will launch worldwide on November 22. The confirmation of a release date comes nearly one month after the game was first unveiled in late October, after which it soft launched on the Australian iOS App Store and climbed to the top of the charts there faster than either Super Mario Run or Fire Emblem Heroes.

When it launches later this week, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will be a miniaturized version of the main games in the series, allowing players to visit and manage a campsite in lieu of a full village. At the camp, players can decorate the location with furniture to attract certain animal characters, as well as go fishing, hunt for bugs, shop, and more to complete quests and craft items to further deck out the camp.

Just like the other games in the series, time passes in real time so when you open the app the game will reflect the time of day in the real world, subsequently affecting certain bug and fish spawns and allowing for upcoming seasonal events. There's also a social aspect that allows players to visit the camps of their friends to get inspired by their designs, and sell or exchange items with them.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will be free-to-play, and uses optional "Leaf Tickets" so players can bypass long wait times when they build structures, purchase the materials needed to craft furniture, and more. If you're interested in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, visit our sister site Touch Arcade to read some first impressions on the game ahead of its release on November 22.

The fifth review of my iPhone X Roundup series focuses on Spigen, OtterBox, LifeProof, Totallee, and Sena. If you've missed my previous posts, I'm taking a close look at iPhone X cases from a range of manufacturers. We don't often feature case reviews on MacRumors, but with the launch of the iPhone X and its new design, we felt it was worth exploring some of the available case options.

My previous reviews are below:

• iPhone X Case Review Roundup 1
• iPhone X Case Review Roundup 2
• iPhone X Case Review Roundup 3
• iPhone X Case Review Roundup 4

For all of these reviews, I'm looking at the general usability of iPhone X cases. Extreme drop tests and in-depth testing aren't covered because those factors are less important than how a case works on an average day, and it's often fairly easy to tell from design how protective a case is going to be.

Factors like bulk, button accessibility, general protection, grip, thickness, and appearance are what I focused on. All of the cases in this review roundup work with wireless chargers unless otherwise mentioned.

OtterBox

OtterBox used to be known primarily for its super bulky, ultra protective cases, but these days, OtterBox makes a lot of other cases that are still just as protective but add less bulk than the traditional Defender series.

Priced at $44.95, the Symmetry series offers OtterBox's slimmest cases. When I say slim, though, I mean in comparison to other OtterBox cases, not "slim" cases in general. The Symmetry is still a very thick case with a hard shell back and a rubber interior that wraps around all sides of the iPhone X.

Symmetry cases are not unattractive, but they're much thicker than I prefer for my iPhone. There is a thick lip that comes up over the display, and while a lip this thick protects the screen, it makes it undeniably more irritating to swipe up from the bottom of the display if you're a person who swipes from the very bottom. The mute switch is difficult to get to because of the thickness of the case, and it may not work with some docks. On the plus side, the volume and power buttons are easy to press. This is definitely a case that feels like it's going to offer a lot of protection from drops.

➜ Click here to read more...

Apologies for missing last week's iOS gaming roundup, but I've got a good reason: I was in Jordan judging Middle Eastern and North African mobile games for the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA). It's an organization that for fourteen years now has been hosting international competitions looking for the best mobile games.

I've been involved for several years now, and it's awesome actually having game awards specifically for mobile instead of how things usually go — a quick mention on the tail end of other "real" game awards that might vaguely acknowledge mobile. Submissions just started for this year's IMGA's, so if you're an iOS developer and want your game considered, be sure to submit it. Unlike a lot of game awards, submissions are totally free, so go wild.

Kicking things off is the announcement of the release date for the upcoming Reigns sequel, Reigns: Her Majesty. We'll once again be managing our kingdoms via Tinder-style right and left swiping decisions on December 7th. We got a closer look at the game back at PAX West which digs a lot deeper into what to expect than the above launch trailer.

Reigns is an unbelievably great game, and one that you can hand to both the most hardcore gamer and someone who has never played a game before and they'll both enjoy it. We've got a full review of the original up on TouchArcade, and so far it seems like the sequel is exactly what we wanted: More Reigns.

We've been closely following the upcoming global release of Animal Crossing Pocket Camp which, per Nintendo, is due out in "late November." Well, we're rapidly approaching the launch window which led us to suspect that Nintendo might be vague-tweeting a potential launch date reveal... But, in actuality, all it was is this promotional web site where Animal Crossing's Katrina reads your fortune to find your BFF in game. While it isn't a launch date, these sorts of things ramping up are a great sign that Pocket Camp is almost upon us. For what it's worth, I've got my money on it releasing early next week, so it can spread organically as everyone is playing it over family gatherings on Thanksgiving.

The curious thing about covering mobile games is sometimes you find yourself inadvertently at the center of incredibly odd situations, particularly with how ubiquitous mobile has gotten over the year. For instance, the most popular TouchArcade story of all time was when Apple removed games featuring the Confederate flag. Well, this week it came out that Russia was using mobile game screenshots to show "evidence" of US collusion with ISIS. It's a pretty unbelievable situation, but I suppose that's the case with practically everything in the news cycle these days. But, hey, the game they used, AC-130, is pretty fun to fiddle around with if you missed out playing the huge amount of these games on the App Store as they used to be very popular a few years ago.

We're also super excited for the upcoming release of Sky, the upcoming title by Thatgamecompany which Apple showed off at the last keynote. We got a quick look at the first six minutes of gameplay, which is narrated by Thatgamecompany's co-founder, Jenova Chen. The video is packed with so many insights it's hard to focus on just one, but I'm very curious to see how all the social components work out. They're born of people who played Journey, but found themselves wishing they could play with family and friends. I've got a lot of faith in Sky being very good, and I can't wait to try it out when it launches in a few months.

NetMarble's Lineage 2: Revolution launched this week. It's based on the PC MMORPG Lineage 2, and features both realtime 20 vs. 20 and 50 vs. 50 battles. They've been pulling out all the stops when it comes to promoting the game — it was featured at TwitchCon, Conan O'Brien has been playing it, and tons more. The game boasted a massive 1.5 million pre-registrations before launch, and I'm supremely curious to see if it maintains that level of excitement in the following days.

While Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) is the biggest thing ever in the PC world right now, the Chinese publisher NetEase has been up to some incredibly curious things when it comes to launching knock-offs on mobile. Last week it launched a game in China with a title that roughly translates to "Wilderness Survival" which was a supremely on the nose PUBG knock-off. It soared to the top of the charts in China, leaving Western gamers curious when they could get a crack at the Battle Royale genre on mobile.

Here's where things get weird: NetEase then released not one, but two PUBG knock-offs on the App Store. Knives Out and Rules of Survival, which at first glance appear to be the exact same game, by the same developer, with different names. We reached out for clarification to find that NetEase apparently has two internal studios that are competing for who can make the most successful PUBG knock-off? Why you wouldn't do some sort of internal play test then decide, "OK, this is the one we're launching" instead of releasing both games is beyond me. But, hey, if you're into PUBG and want to play it on your iPhone... You have your choice between two incredibly similar games made by the same company. I'm sure this makes sense to someone.

Last, but not least, South Park: Phone Destroyer also hit the App Store recently. It's a free to play card-based fighting game, which is fairly ironic considering they've run entire episodes ruthlessly roasting free to play. But, hey, whatever. For what it's worth Phone Destroyer seems to be a pretty good card battler, and we put together a guide on how to win in South Park Phone Destroyer without spending money that's worth a look if you want to avoid spending money in the game.

That's all from me this week, but there's loads more things that have happened in the world of iOS gaming the last couple of weeks, so if you're interested in this scene be sure to swing by TouchArcade where we're posting this sort of thing day in and day out.

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Mophie to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a powerstation USB-C XXL that's equipped with both USB-C and USB-A, so it can be used with a wide range of devices.

The powerstation USB-C XXL, priced at $149.95, features a 19,500 mAh battery, which Mophie says is enough juice to provide USB-C laptops (the MacBook specifically) with up to 14 hours of additional battery life.

Because it has both a USB-C and a USB-A port, the USB-C XXL can be used to charge all of your Apple devices, from the MacBook to the iPhone and iPad. The USB-C port offers up to 30W of charging, so it can fast charge your iPhone X, iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus when combined with a USB-C to Lightning cable.

With fast charging, an iPhone X, iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus can charge to 50% within 30 minutes, so that's a super handy feature to have available from a portable battery back. At 30W, this charger will work with the 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models, but the charging will go more slowly and you won't see much gain while the machines are in use.

Over a standard USB-A to Lightning or micro-USB, the powerstation USB-C XXL offers 2.4A quick charging capabilities to charge your devices faster.

Size wise, the powerstation USB-C XXL is heftier than your average iPhone battery pack, but it's still portable at 6 inches long, 3 inches wide, and an inch tall, plus it looks quite nice with its fabric-wrapped body.

We have four powerstation USB-C XXL units to give away to MacRumors readers. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (November 17) at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time through 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time on November 24. The winners will be chosen randomly on November 24 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.2 update to developers for testing purposes, four days after seeding the third watchOS 4.2 beta and over two weeks after releasing the watchOS 4.1 update.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS 4.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

watchOS 4.2 brings support for Apple Pay Cash, Apple's new peer-to-peer payment service that is designed to let users send money to one another. Apple Pay Cash can be used to send and receive money through the Messages app on the Apple Watch.

Aside from Apple Pay Cash, watchOS 4.2 appears to focus primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and security updates.