The amazingly eye-catching novelty watches of Baselworld 2016

Baselworld brings together the world’s biggest watch and jewellery makers in a celebration of luxury, in the Swiss town of Basel. Naturally there’s a heavy leaning towards the traditions of the Swiss Watch industry, but there’s a growing sense of smart technology too.

The two sides of the watch world come together surprisingly harmoniously. Shouting about hundreds of years of history and showing jewel-encrusted timepieces that are incredibly rare and complicated, is as exciting as the latest silicon valley technological innovation. 

Baselworld 2016 had more smartwatches than previous years, something we expect to see in the future. With more established brands like Tag Heuer and this year Tissot moving to connect your watch to your smartphone, the industry is definitely listening and responding to the latest trends. 

But rarely do those watches catch your eye like a flying tourbillon or grand complication. The real magic of Baselworld is not in this increasingly familiar smart technology, it’s still very much in the obscure novelty. 

Here are some of the amazing watches that caught our eye at Baselworld 2016.

Tesla Model 3 should sell out fast, here’s how to guarantee you get one

Tesla is all set to take the wraps off its latest electric car, the Model 3, on 31 March. This will be the first affordable Tesla and as such is expected to sell out fast. But there is a way to make sure you don’t miss out.

Tesla has published details on how to pre-order a Model 3 on the day it gets revealed. Since the car won’t even begin production until late 2017, the waiting list will grow over time so it will pay to get in there early.

Tesla customers will get priority, so if you already own one getting to the front of the list will be easy. For those new to Tesla the next best place in the queue can be attained by going into a Tesla shop to pre-order. Lastly you’ll be able to place your reservation order online on 31 March.

But don’t just expect to be able to place that order if you’re half-heartedly considering buying a Model 3. Tesla will require you to put down a deposit of £1,000, or $1,000 in the US. The final sale price is expected to be around $35,000.

Each region will have a separate waiting list. The first place to take deliveries will be the west of North America. Tesla will then work its way east. This will be followed by Europe, APAC and right-hand drive markets.

Check back on 31 March to get full coverage of the launch event. Until then swat up on everything there is know about the Tesla Model 3 and more in the link below.

READ: Tesla: Everything you want to know about Model 3, Model Y and more

‘Halo 5’ gets cooperative Firefight game mode this summer

Apart from the odd silly weekend playlist, Halo 5 doesn’t really cater for your more casual gaming moods. You’ve got Arena matches for classic competition, and Warzone games when you’re up for grand-scale carnage. A more chilled (or not) cooperative mode is coming, though, in the form of Warzone Firefight. It’ll pit you and chums against increasingly overwhelming waves of alien enemies, similar to cooperative multiplayer modes you may have played in previous Halo titles. Over the weekend, Microsoft revealed a few more details about the new game type, as well as a trailer to get you nice and hype.

Up to eight players will work together to complete five rounds of “increasingly difficult, dynamic objectives set against a timer.” These changing objectives should make every single game a bit different, too, so you won’t just be going through the motions of slaughtering wave after wave of AI enemies. Firefight scenarios will also have the “most on-screen enemies in the history of the franchise,” from swarms of those pesky Covenant grunts right up to new, “Mythic” bosses (gulp!). And because it’s a Warzone game type, you can use your REQ Cards to summon vehicles, weapons and power-ups if/when things get a little hairy. One of the only details we’re still lacking at this point is when we’ll be let loose on the Covenant scum, though the new mode is down for release sometime “this summer.”

Source: Microsoft

Netflix raises the standard for its latest ‘Recommended’ TVs

Last year, Netflix launched its “Recommended TV” label to coax manufacturers to improve speeds on Smart TVs and, of course, push its service. This year, it’s asking for more by making them meet five out of seven criteria, including instant on, TV resume, an up-to-date Netflix version, fast app launch, fast app resume and a Netflix button and icon. Only two manufacturers have earned the logo so far: Sony models like the SD85 and XD85 from the Android 4K series, and LG TVs with webOS 3.0, including the UH8500 and UH9500. Other manufacturers, most notably Samsung, have yet to make the cut.

Netflix says TVs carrying the label perform better, since they “passed a rigorous evaluation process that we established based on the factors our members tell us matter most.” The Netflix button and easy access icon have nothing to do with speed and everything to do with Netflix self-promotion, though. Nevertheless, addicts to the streaming service may appreciate the label, and for everyone else, the instant on and fast app launch criteria should signal decent smart TV performance.

Via: Variety

Source: Netflix

Google plans to bring internet to Cuba, Obama says

Google will be one of the first American companies to help open up Cuba to the internet, President Obama announced this morning during his historic visit. “One of the things that we’ll be announcing here is that Google has a deal to start setting up more WiFi and broadband access on the island,” he said in an interview with ABC News. It’s still unclear what, exactly, Google plans to launch, but we’ve reached out for additional comment. The news comes more than a year after the US announced warmer relations with Cuba, which brought with it the possibility for American companies to do business in the country.

Early last year, Cuba also launched its first public Wi-Fi hotspots in its second largest city, but its $4.50 hourly fee was too expensive for most of its citizens. And this year, the country’s state-owned ISP also announced that it would be bringing home broadband connections to a few neighborhoods in Old Havana. Even if Cubans can afford to get online with those offerings, they’ll still have to deal with internet censorship.

Google might not be able to do much about content restrictions from Cuba, but given its infrastructure expertise, I wouldn’t be surprised if it delivers a much cheaper way for people to get online.

Via: Reuters

Source: ABC

Lenovo K3 Note picks up Marshmallow update in India

Lenovo’s K3 Note is now picking up the Marshmallow update in India. The update — weighing in at 1.65GB — brings Doze, advanced app permissions, Google Now on Tap, and March’s security updates. Also included is TheaterMax support for VR, which makes the K3 Note compatible with Lenovo’s AntVR viewer.

Lenovo’s official update tracker is yet to confirm the update for more recent launches like the K4 Note and the Vibe X3, but we’ll let you know once it becomes available. If you’re unable to download the OTA update for the K3 Note, you can grab the files from here and manually flash using recovery.

Sprint and Verizon will also give you a second Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge for free

Sprint and Verizon are now both offering a buy-one-get-one-free promotion on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Purchasing either smartphone will enable you to take advantage of a prepaid card for the price of the second handset. As spotted by Android Police, you’ll need to have both smartphones on payment plans in order to be eligible for the promotion, but once that’s squared away you’ll be able to activate the offer and save on a second flagship investment.

AT&T and T-Mobile previously announced their respective deals earlier this month, but it’s good to see the other major U.S. networks offer similar promotions. There’s one thing worth noting for Sprint, which is you cannot mix the Galaxy S7 with a Galaxy S7 edge in this deal unless you don’t mind switching out the free phone for a 50% discount on the second in its place.

Hit the links below to be taken to the respective store for more details:

See at Sprint See at Verizon

Galaxy S7 sales in China, Europe and India surpass analyst expectations

Pre-orders reportedly up 250 percent compared to GS6.

Analysts have revealed they believe Samsung’s latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, are selling extremely well in China, Europe and India. According to reports from the Korean press, sales of the two new handsets are actually surpassing expectations. It’s also stated that combined pre-orders in Europe have shown a 250% increase compared to the Galaxy S6.

The report suggests new GS7 features like removable storage and waterproofing could be behind the bump in sales.

What’s more, it’s reported that GS7 pre-orders in China broke through the 10 million mark. Samsung has been struggling to penetrate the Chinese market amidst strong competition from local vendors.

Unfortunately, while analysts can estimate how many units Samsung have sold, the company itself hasn’t yet shared exact figures.

See where you can buy the Galaxy S7

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

• Galaxy S7 review
• Galaxy S7 edge review
• Galaxy S7 edge with Exynos: A Canadian perspective
• Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
• Details on the Galaxy S7’s camera
• The SD card is back on the GS7
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums

AT&T Sprint T-Mobile Verizon

36 Twitter accounts you just have to follow right now

Twitter can be a powerful and wonderful tool. While not all of us might have jumped on board straight away, the first 140 characters were actually tweeted 10 years ago. Yes really, the social platform has been around for a whole decade now!

It can educate you, help enlighten you, make you laugh, and pretty much just keep you in-the-know. But you have to follow the right people/accounts. Otherwise, your Twitter feed can easily fill up with boring, useless tweets, and then before you know it, you’re never checking Twitter and not taking advantage of its power.

In an attempt to help get you on the right track, Pocket-lint has rounded up a list of influential, famous, and entertaining accounts to follow on Twitter right now. Some of them are notable politicians, like President Obama, who also happens to be one of the most followed on Twitter, while others are celebrities, parody accounts, etc.

Keep in mind this isn’t a complete list. We’re just trying to get you started. If you follow all of these accounts, we can guarantee that you’ll be filled in on all the latest news as well as the most random news. And in between all that news, you just might giggle or be amazed or inspired. After all, that’s what Twitter is really about.

Let us know in the comments if you think someone else should totally be included, and we’ll consider adding it to the gallery above. Also, come back in the future, as we plan to update regularly with more must-follow accounts.

Play the hidden basketball game in Facebook Messenger: Here’s how to find and share

Facebook Messenger might not be your number one communication app when there’s WhatsApp to be used, but a fun easter egg could have you using it more than ever.

Hidden in plain sight on Facebook’s Messenger app is a mini game of basketball.

Once you’re suitably bored of hearing your mate drone on about their latest play through of Fallout 4, send them a basketball emoji and get gaming.

Here’s how to get it installed and share it with others.

The first step is to make sure you’re updating and running the latest version of the app. Once that’s sorted go into a contact as if you were going to have a conversation. Then send the basketball emoji on its own. Now that emoji is in the conversation window you can tap it to start playing.

Go for a high score and enjoy the emojis that make scoring and missing almost as fun as each other. When you’re done your score will be displayed in the chat window, ready for abuse from your mate who might feel scorned you’re playing instead of chatting. Of course they have the option to play too.

Sharing the game is as easy as sending the basketball emoji and telling the person at the other end to click it to play. If they have issues be sure to tell them to update the app to the latest version. You will then be alerted to how many points the person you shared it with has managed to get. So get ready to get competitive.

Let us know your high score in the comments below.

READ: No, Twitter isn’t ditching the 140-character limit