J.J. Abrams’s film production studio, Bad Robot, is getting into video games.

The side venture, Bad Robot Games, intends to develop both indie and AAA games based on the company’s cinematic IPs, which include the likes of Lost, Cloverfield and modern reboots of both Star Wars and Star Trek. No specific titles have been announced as of yet.

The studio is planning a ‘unique, co-development approach’ to game-making, utilizing creative talent from across its existing film production divisions. Tim Keenan will be leading the new studio as Creative Director.

Great things to come?

Games are reportedly being planned for mobile, PC, and consoles, with a helping hand from Chinese media giant Tencent, who will hold all rights to distribution across China. Tencent are a major player in the online gaming market and hold significant stakes in developers such as Riot Games, Epic Games, and Activision Blizzard.

While making movies and making games are very different businesses, this move from Bad Robot isn’t entirely surprising. Keen gamers may remember Bad Robot working on content for Team Fortress 2 back in 2016 – helping to create a sports-themed game mode for the popular PvP shooter. 

J.J. Abrams has also been very public about his love for video games, and has been in talks to make a feature film adaptation of Valve’s cult puzzle game Portal for several years. 

Bad Robot has worked on a impressive catalogue of IPs, so we may well see some of their titles form a foundation for their first gaming ventures.

http://www.techradar.com/news/jj-abrams-production-company-to-start-making-video-games

Joshua Higgins from Carphone Warehouse has been crowned the winner of Shop Idol 2018.

Kettering-based Higgins beat out competitors from every major UK retailer to be hailed as the country’s top mobile salesperson at last night’s Mobile Industry Awards 2018.

The announcement took place during last night’s ceremony, with Higgins getting the biggest cheer of the evening from the 400 guests in the room at London’s The Brewery.

The annual competition, sponsored by Alcatel and now in its 14th year, takes place over six months and features mystery shops, votes, live challenges, tests and interviews to find the ultimate mobile sales person.

As well as the top prize, Shop Idol also recognised five runners up, with April Marzuoli and Sean Taylor, both also representing Carphone Warehouse, rounding out the top three. 

They were joined by Daniel Nutt (O2), Jackie Newman (Vodafone) and Matthew Clarke (EE), all of whom were also recognised for their excellent work and service in this year’s competition.  

http://www.techradar.com/news/shop-idol-2018-the-winner-revealed

With consumers and critics alike, the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro have proved incredibly popular alternatives to the Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone ranges since they were launched just over two months ago. In our reviews the P20 scored an impressive 4 stars and the P20 Pro an outstanding 4.5 stars – that’s quite an achievement by Huawei.

One reason these phones have shoppers flocking is because, compared to their more expensive flagship competitors, Huawei P20 deals are so darn cheap – and somehow this week, they’ve gotten even better still!

You can now get either the P20 or P20 Pro for a mere £18 per month. That’s way better than any of the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S9 or iPhone 8 can manage. In both cases, the Carphone Warehouse-owned Mobiles.co.uk is responsible for the massive price cut, and both handsets are on Vodafone, with 1GB monthly data allowance.

We know that won’t suit everybody, but Mobiles has also just sorted out some deals on the P20 and P20 Pro that get you more data. You can either use our comparison chart at the bottom of this page, or simply sift through our favourite deals for each handset below.

Our top 3 best Huawei P20 deals:

Our top 3 best Huawei P20 Pro deals:

http://www.techradar.com/news/these-pound18-per-month-huawei-p20-and-p20-pro-deals-are-absolute-bargains