Intel’s first ‘Skull Canyon’ NUC has Core i7 power

If you’re considering an Xbox One or PS4 for gaming and entertainment, Intel has another proposition for you: The first Skull Canyon NUC (next unit of computing) mini-PC. It fits a sixth-gen Skylake Core i7 CPU, Thunderbolt 3, DDR4 RAM support and dual M.2 SSD slots into an 8.5-inch long case. The Iris Pro graphics 580 may turn off gamers, though Intel points out that you could add a high-end discrete graphics card like the AMD R9 Fury by attaching a Razer Core expansion box to the Thunderbolt 3 port. For use as an entertainment device, you can easily hook up a 4K monitor — three of them, in fact.

Price-wise, it’s a large step up from the latest gaming consoles, though. The bare NUC is $650, and Intel says a typical build with 16GB RAM, a 256GB SSD and Windows 10 would run $999. Should you go for external discreet graphics via the Razer Core (now on pre-order for $500), and an NVIDIA GTX 970 graphics card (the minimum for an Oculus Rift and HTC Vive) you’re in for another $850. That makes the total investment $1,850 and you could easily build a better PC yourself for that price.

However, NUCs do have their place. If you don’t have a lot of space and are fine with the Iris Pro graphics, you’ll get a reasonably powerful gaming PC and extremely competent media server. The NUC goes on pre-order at Newegg in April for $650 and will ship in May 2016.

Source: Intel

Swimming like a penguin is a different kind of virtual reality

This week in “People Looking Awkward in VR tech” features me in a headset and giant, fluffy, penguin wings. Part of a VR showcase touching on the potential applications of what everyone’s talking about, this is an elaborate penguin robot controller. A penguin bot, located miles away, floating in an aquarium tank, will flap its fins when you do, so once you get the rhythm down, you can swim like a penguin. (And make a robot do the same — if connectivity holds.)

The wings/fins/controller is covered in a fleece material and, alongside the head-mounted display, you get strapped into it before the fun starts. The company running the event, Recruit, is supporting a university student team, TryBots. The students had already built a functioning penguin robot, and with Recruit’s help, have added cameras and these fleece remote controls.

Because it’s a sensation we haven’t experienced, it cleverly avoids the pitfalls of still-developing VR tech.

Behind the facade of adorable penguins,this a telexistence demo — the real-time sensation of being at a place other than where he or she actually exists as well as being able to interact in that environment. However, unlike other demos we’ve seen that try to broadcast a human presence, here you’re a penguin. Swimming in water, trying to chase a yellow fish. As is de rigueur for HMDs, you can swing your head around to take a look at the entire aquarium. (Fortunately, there’s no real, actual penguins for me to bump into or freak out.)

Because it’s a sensation we haven’t experienced, it cleverly avoids the pitfalls of still-developing VR tech. And because you’re “swimming” in water means response times matter slightly less, and the tension built into the wings as you flap them offers resistance, whether it’s accurate or not. Without anything similar to compare the experience to, it feels less jarring than other VR setups that can be easily compared to real-life ones — like riding a bike.

There are gyroscopes built into the wing unit mean that steering is done by arching your body, and your movement path is similar to a jet fighter, curving through the water. You can also flap a single wing but I didn’t progress much when I tried… and possibly why penguins use both.

Source: Advanced Technology Lab

Google Docs lets you limit access with an expiration date

In business, many people collaborate with clients, contractors and other small companies for a short length of time. You might want to give them access to some of your documents — a list of your team’s contact details, for instance — and then revoke access once the job has been wrapped up. Well, Google is now starting to offer that feature to Google Apps customers that use Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides. So when you share a file with someone, you’ll also get the option to set an expiry date. Handy.

There is one caveat, however — the person that’s limited by the expiry date can only have view access. So if you want to given them permission to actually edit a Google Doc, you’ll still need to go in and lock them out the old fashioned way at the end of the project. Still, for enterprise customers this should be a useful tool, and one more reason to consider Google’s productivity suite over Microsoft Office. We just hope this eventually rolls out to all Google users, and not just those with Google Apps accounts.

Source: Google Apps Update (Blog Post)

This is how HTC will sell the Vive to the British public

HTC’s Vive VR headset is almost upon us. Pre-orders went live on February 29th and the first units should be heading to early adopters’ doorsteps on April 5th. One question has long lingered in the back of our minds, however. How does HTC plan on selling this product to the masses? Well, aside from gaming conventions and traditional advertising, the company is organising some hands-on booths inside brick-and-mortar stores. In the UK, that involves a few Currys PC World locations (Leeds, Reading and Tottenham Court Road in London) and PC specialists Overclockers (Newcastle-under-Lyme) and Scan Computers International (Bolton).

Of course, we had to go and check one out for ourselves. In London, we walked to the back of Currys PC World — the same location that houses the Google Store — and found a small area cordoned off with enormous Vive posters. A HTC employee took us through three games — Job Simulator, Google’s Tilt Brush and Space Pirate Trainer — for roughly 15 minutes. (Your experience might vary if there’s a long queue in the store). Once we finished the taster, there was an opportunity to ask questions about the Vive’s PC requirements and the physical space that’s needed to play.

While you can pre-order a Vive, that’s not the sole purpose of the booth. The demonstrations will, for many people, be their first exposure to VR, so there’s also an educational aspect. If Vive is to succeed, HTC needs to show what a premium VR experience is capable of, and why it’s worth £689. It’s a tough ask, but if virtual reality is going to take off, it’s these hands-on experiences that will ultimately prove and sell the concept to skeptics.

Apple GPU Supplier Imagination Technologies Announces Cuts Amid Slowing iPhone Sales

British microchip designer and major Apple supplier Imagination Technologies announced additional cost cuts this morning, following a significant restructuring program unveiled by the UK firm only last month.

The company, which supplies the PowerVR graphics architecture in Apple’s iPhones and iPads, said it would reduce its cost base by an additional £12.5 million ($18 million) by April 2017, on top of the £15 million in cost cuts announced in February. Two hundred staff now face redundancy as a result, adding to the 150 job cuts announced last month.

Tough trading conditions and a slowdown in iPhone shipment growth is said to be behind the decision, after the company posted an operating loss for the year to the end of April.

“This swift and decisive action will put us back on a sound financial footing and will enable us to have the necessary resources to further strengthen our three core businesses,” the company’s interim chief executive Andrew Heath said in a statement. “The ongoing operational review will identify clearly where we need to focus, building on our current strengths and allocating the right capital to ensure growth and attractive returns.”

Imagination Technologies has reported financial difficulties for several years, despite repeated expectations that iPhone sales would boost its revenues. Shares dropped 10 percent last year when the company reported a first-half loss, and nosedived as much as 18 percent when the restructure was announced in February. The company has also put its digital radio business Pure up for sale.

Apple has been a licensee and stakeholder in Imagination Technologies since at least 2008. The two companies have worked closely together over the years, with Apple being a key investor in the graphics firm since it raised its stake to roughly 10 percent in mid-2009. In 2014 Imagination announced an extended licensing agreement with Apple. However, it has been under pressure to reduce its dependence on Apple since at least 2012 because of declining average royalty rates.

Imagination announced the next iteration of its PowerVR Rogue graphics architecture at this year’s CES in January. The PowerVR Series7XT Plus builds on the Series7XT GPU used in the iPad Pro, with a focus on improved camera and vision processing capabilities for photography-based applications.

It remains to be seen whether the new chips will appear in Apple’s rumored ‘iPad Pro’ branded 9.7-inch tablet set to launch next week, the iPhone 7 expected this September, or indeed in any other future Apple devices.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Buyer’s Guide: iPad Pro (Buy Now)
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‘Apple Events’ Launches on Apple TV App Store Ahead of Monday’s ‘Let Us Loop You In’ Event

Apple today released a new “Apple Events” app on the tvOS App Store, which will be used to live stream its upcoming “Let Us Loop You In” media event set to take place on March 21 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. This will be the first Apple Event live streamed since the fourth-generation Apple TV was released in October.

Apple Events app on fourth-generation Apple TV App Store (Image: hrhnick/Reddit)
Unlike on previous Apple TV models, the Apple Events app must be downloaded from the tvOS App Store on the fourth-generation Apple TV. As usual, second- and third-generation Apple TV users will likely have to wait until the Apple Events app automatically appears on their home screen. No software update is required.

The live stream will also be available on Macs and iOS devices through Apple’s event website. iOS 7 or OS X 10.8.5 with Safari 6.0.5 or later is required.

Apple’s spring event is expected to see the debut of the 4-inch “iPhone SE,” which is rumored to look nearly identical to the iPhone 5s. It will include an A9 processor, an improved camera, and NFC support for use with Apple Pay. The 4-inch iPhone will be Apple’s first small screen iPhone since 2013.

Also expected is a new 9.7-inch iPad, which may be branded as an iPad Pro instead of an iPad Air. It is rumored to be adopting features from the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, including a four-speaker design, a Smart Connector for connecting accessories, and display improvements for Apple Pencil support. New Apple Watch bands will likely be introduced. Existing bands will be available in new colors and there may be new product lines, like a rumored nylon band and a Space Black Milanese Loop.

MacRumors will provide live coverage of the event, both on MacRumors.com and through the @MacRumorsLive Twitter account.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Tag: tvOS
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
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Potential ‘iPhone SE’ Packaging Confirms 16GB Base Storage and NFC for Apple Pay

A new photo has surfaced on Chinese microblogging service Weibo that appears to confirm the iPhone SE name and that it will feature 16GB base storage. The alleged packaging also indicates the new 4-inch iPhone will have NFC, lending credence to multiple rumors claiming the device will support Apple Pay.

MacRumors rendering of possible iPhone SE design based on rumors
The packaging, which could feasibly be photoshopped, also lists a Lightning to USB cable and EarPods in the box, meaning that the device will likely retain a 3.5mm headphone jack as expected. The iPhone SE should also unsurprisingly support LTE on both CDMA and GSM networks around the world.

Alleged photo of iPhone SE packaging (Source: Weibo via iPhone-Ticker)
Multiple sources have claimed the iPhone SE will feature 16GB and 64GB storage options. Our recent Twitter poll (for the iPhone 7) shows that only 2 percent of over 7,500 voters, or roughly 150 people, would prefer a 16GB model, while 45 percent said they would opt for 64GB. 36 percent of voters want at least 128GB storage.

What would be your preferred iPhone 7 storage size? Rumors hint at a new 256GB model → https://t.co/EgITmY1uC9

— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) March 16, 2016

Apple is expected to announce the iPhone SE at its “Let Us Loop You In” media event commencing on Monday, March 21 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific. The smartphone’s design will likely resemble the iPhone 5s, and other features could include A9 and M9 chips, a 12-megapixel rear camera, a slightly larger battery compared to iPhone 5s, VoLTE calling, Bluetooth 4.2, and Live Photos, but no 3D Touch.

(Thanks, Burak!)

Related Roundups: Apple Pay, iPhone 5se, iPhone SE
Tag: NFC
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New Nike+ App Will Focus on a Customized Shopping Experience

At the Nike Innovation Summit yesterday in New York, popular athletics company Nike revealed a new addition to its line of Nike+ software, simply called the Nike+ app, which will focus on a personalized shopping experience similar to Apple’s own Apple Store app. Nike+ will integrate with the company’s previously existing Nike+ Running [Direct Link] and Nike+ Training Club [Direct Link] apps, but is mainly billed as an information-centered hub for Nike’s mobile software world.

According to Nike, the “plus” in the title “now equates to ‘personal,’” thanks to the customized springboard experience of Nike+. The first tab in the app will showcase an always-updating list of stories — from training tips to product releases — that will become more personalized over time the more Nike+ is used. The My Store tab will let users purchase Nike products from within the app, while the Services tab will guide them to the nearest physical Nike store and even let them book a 1:1 product reservation.

Starting in June, the new Nike+ app becomes athletes’ all-access pass to Nike’s most coveted products and events via one seamless sign-on. The “plus” now equates to “personal,” and the app connects members simply and swiftly to the Nike+ Run Club, Nike+ Training Club and Nike+ SNKRS apps. It also offers members a personal store stocked with performance product recommendations and reserved invitations to their favorite sneakers. Combining these offerings, the app serves every step of an athletic life — from competition to training to sport-style — propelling members towards their potential.

Thanks to an integration with Apple’s Wallet app, Nike+ will let its users “skip the line and get personalized service at Nike stores and events,” with the use of a QR code saved into Apple’s first-party app. The Inbox section of Nike+ rounds out the experience with a basic influx of the latest news directly from the company and details on upcoming events nearby.

A specific launch date was not given, but Nike said its new Nike+ app will debut on iOS in June 2016. Those who are interested in the new app and aren’t yet Nike+ members can sign up for the service today.

Tag: Nike+
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Fitbit Blaze review: Trailblazer or fitness failure?

Fitbit is well known in the activity tracking field. In fact, with claims of almost 80 per cent of this market, it is probably the company most people will have at least heard of when it comes to devices for monitoring how much you move. Despite this, however, one of its newest devices – the Fitbit Blaze – arrived to a very mixed reaction.

The Blaze moves in a different direction compared to previous Fitbit devices, bringing a coloured display and smart notifications to the activity tracking party in a much larger, more prominent format. When we first briefly saw the device at the beginning of 2016, we weren’t sold.

Did Fitbit get it wrong, or is the Blaze and its apparent aesthetic simply misunderstood? Having lived with the Blaze “smart fitness watch” for the last few weeks, it’s come some way to changing our minds. Here’s why.

Fitbit Blaze review: Design

The Fitbit Blaze is a tricky one to place. It sets out to be a stylish and smart fitness watch and, for the most part, it achieves this.

A slim silver frame houses the small, square black tracker and its colour LCD display, making the Blaze much more watch than a rubber band typical of this area of the market. The frame appears and feels plasticky despite being stainless steel, but there are various straps available for extra cash to help the Blaze smarten up, including three leather options at £60 each or a metal link option at £90.

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The tracker is 36.7mm wide on its own, and 42.3mm with the frame. It clips in and out very easily, making it simple to switch between bands, and there is a reassuring click when the tracker is secure. The left and right-hand sides of the tracker sit flush to the frame to ensure the buttons work, while a small gap is present between the frame and the top and bottom of the tracker. These gaps are super at collecting dust, but they also make the design a little more interesting than what could have been a boring square.

The Blaze is very light, weighing just 44g, resulting in a comfortable device to wear – here with the blue classic band finish. This particular model sports the same elastomer material as the Fitbit Charge and Charge HR and is also secured with the same standard buckle as those devices, made from the same stainless steel used for the Blaze’s frame. A plastic Fitbit-branded loop secures the strap in place and as per the Charge HR, so the Blaze feels very secure during any kind of activity.

It does take some getting used to, even if it offers a slim design that is significantly less bulky than the Fitbit Surge. The Blaze sits nice and low to the wrist so despite being bigger than many of the other Fitbit devices, it doesn’t feel chunky. The only bulk comes from the bump at the bottom of the tracker where the built-in optical heart-rate monitor lives.

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It is a device that will replace a watch rather than accompany it. However, like other Fitbit devices it still isn’t waterproof – the Blaze is water resistant up to 1ATM, though, so while rain and sweat are fine, it’s not recommended to shower while wearing it, with swimming or a bath both absolute no-nos.

Fitbit Blaze review: Display

The Fitbit Blaze’s colour LCD touchscreen display is stunning. The colours are rich, vibrant and they really pop, making it a pleasure to view. Which is fairly unusual for a fitness tracker. Images are also lovely and crisp and bright conditions don’t pose a problem to viewing at all.

It isn’t an always-on display so it remains black until one of the buttons is pushed or the wrist is raised. The lifting of the wrist activation is a little temperamental but it works fine most of the time and it can be turned off in the settings menu on the watch if you wish.

Brightness control can also be found in these settings too, with options comprising auto, dim and max. Unlike some smartwatches, however, the Blaze’s display can’t be turned off by covering it with a hand, for example. Instead it’s a waiting game until it turns off on its own. This isn’t a huge problem but the display is bright so if worn at night, it will glow with no means to turn it off and even dim mode is too bright in such a situation.

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The touchscreen control means the Blaze is easy to navigate. Swiping right or left goes through the various menu options including exercise, settings and alarms – each of which is selected with a tap. A swipe down from the top of the home screen presents music and notification controls, while a swipe up from the bottom shows received notifications.

The buttons to either side of the display are also used for certain selections so it’s not all about touch, which is good news as the Blaze’s display isn’t the most responsive touchscreen we’ve come across. Swiping is fine, but there is some delay when selecting.

The singular button on the left returns the Blaze to the home clock face screen or takes you back one step when in a section, while the two right buttons are for selecting activities, pausing and completing them. These two buttons also pull up notifications and music controls when in exercise mode.

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Holding down the top button for three seconds presents music and notification controls, where notifications can be turned on or off and music can be skipped, paused and played from playlists including Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music. Once in the music control, both right-hand buttons will adjust volume. Holding down the bottom button will pull up recent text messages, missed call notifications and calendar alerts.

One last thing to mention on the display: it doesn’t return to the home screen by default so it presents the last viewed screen, whether that’s settings or a summary of a workout. A small thing, but a notable thing nonetheless.

Fitbit Blaze review: Smartwatch features

The Fitbit Blaze is a smart fitness watch, not a smartwatch, which is important differentiation to make. It’s not competing with Android Wear or Apple Watch so notifications are much more limited than such devices. The Blaze vibrates with incoming calls, text messages and calendar alerts, but there is no support for third-party applications like email, WhatsApp or Facebook.

Incoming calls can be accepted or rejected from the Blaze using the buttons on the right, but this will just answer or reject the call on the smartphone it is connected to – meaning there will be no wrist-speaking with this device. Probably for the best.

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When it comes to text messages, most of the message is visible on the Blaze’s display unless it is particularly long, in which case you’ll get an ellipsis tapering off the message. Even clicking on the message won’t allow you to see the full message so, again, it requires the smartphone to be pulled out.

We found the notifications useful at times, but we didn’t miss them when we turned them off. Incoming call alerts are good – well, when they worked, which wasn’t always – but text messages are pretty pointless for us as we rarely receive SMS anyway. The  crisp display makes reading them easy though, even if they most are just from Vodafone telling us how much we had supposedly saved on our bill when travelling that month.

Fitbit Blaze review: Activity tracking & heart-rate monitoring

The Fitbit Blaze’s main function is not notifications though – it’s monitoring activity, which is clear based on how much better it is at this. Like the Charge HR, the Blaze will measure steps, distance travelled, calories burned, floors climbed and continuous heart-rate using the PurePulse optical heart-rate sensor (the same as found on the Surge and Charge HR). All of this data can be found in a dashboard summary, which is similar to the Fitbit app but called Today on the Blaze. It is accessed with one swipe left from the home screen and a tap to dive into the section.

Another swipe left will present the exercise screen, which when tapped allows you to select one of seven activities – from walking to yoga – showing off the Blaze’s ability to track multiple sports. There are a total of 18 that can be chosen through the Fitbit app to appear within this exercise section. There is also a feature called SmartTrack which recognises activities automatically after 15-minutes so it’s not the end of the world if an exercise isn’t selected.

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Different exercises measure different metrics but many of them, including elliptical and stair stepper, will record duration, calories burned and heart rate at the very least. Walking, running and cycling also pull in the connected GPS feature to present a map of the route taken in the Fitbit app after completion. Sadly the Blaze doesn’t have full GPS capabilities like the Fitbit Surge so it requires you to bring their smartphone on any runs or bike rides if you want a mapped route.

It’s also worth mentioning that allowing the SmartTrack feature to kick in for these three activities rather than starting them manually on the Blaze will mean the connected GPS won’t work. The Blaze will still record duration, distance, calories burned and heart rate, but a map of the route won’t be available.

During any of the exercise modes, it’s possible to see different metrics such as heart rate, distance or the actual time by swiping down from the top of the display. As the Blaze stays on the screen last viewed, each time you lift your arm in exercise mode, you will see the measurement last viewed. It’s a handy feature as it allows you to access whichever metric is most important without any unnecessary tapping or swiping.

Swiping left past the Exercise screen will present the FitStar option, which comprises three workouts: Warm It Up, 7 Minute Workout, and 10 Minute Abs. The display shows an image of the exercise you should be doing, after which a countdown appears. The Blaze buzzes when it is time to stop and move onto the next exercise, monitoring heart rate throughout the duration of the workout.

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A further three swipes left past the FitStar option will present Timer, Alarms and Settings, in that order. From Settings you will need to start swiping right to get back to the home screen or hit the singular button on the left, as mentioned previously.

Automatic sleep tracking is also on board the Blaze but there is no information regarding sleep on the Blaze itself. Instead, sleep data can be found within the Fitbit app and as with other Fitbit devices, which includes time asleep, time awake and time in restless sleep.

Fitbit Blaze review: Performance and accuracy

Overall, the accuracy of the metrics measured by the Blaze is largely on par, as we’ve come to expect from Fitbit.

Steps counted were within a few steps of actual steps taken when counted in our tests, but distance was a lot better when the connected GPS feature was activated. Without the connected GPS, the Blaze measured 5.21km, while MapMyWalk measured 7.98km using our smartphone’s GPS. We know the route is about 8km, so the Blaze’s distance tracking without connected GPS is definitely not as accurate as it should be.

In terms of heart rate, we wouldn’t recommend relying on the Blaze for training using heart rate zones, even if it offers a good ballpark figure. The resting heart rate measurement seemed accurate enough and the same applies for higher intensity but it is no match for a chest strap. During one elliptical workout, the Blaze dropped our heart rate randomly at one point, but it was consistent on other occasions.

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Compared to the heart-rate monitor on the elliptical machine at the gym, the Blaze was within 3bpm throughout the duration of our workouts, although the machine’s accuracy can’t necessarily be relied upon either. We found the reading from the Blaze better when it was worn a little higher up the arm. In a nutshell – and although the Blaze seems to perform well enough when it comes to heart rate – if training using this metric, use a chest strap instead. It is also worth mentioning that the Fitbit platform doesn’t support any third-party chest straps, nor does it offer one, so if heart-rate tracking is your thing then Fitbit isn’t the platform for you.

The FitStar workouts are good (albeit basic) and we feel Fitbit could have done more here, such as increase the amount you do in seven minutes as you improve, for example. They are handy to have on board, but more workouts would be welcome and something to keep you motivated or encourage you to do them more often, such as incorporating them into the Challenges section of the Fitbit app.

Sleep tracking on the Blaze, or any Fitbit device, doesn’t offer the same richness of data as Jawbone. The Blaze does a good enough job, even if we did feel it knocked off a couple of hours compared to what our Withings Aura Sleep System recorded, but it isn’t the most advanced activity tracker when it comes to sleep tracking. It offers silent alarms, like many activity trackers do, but unfortunately Fitbit doesn’t use the sleep data it collects to its advantage. Withings and Jawbone will both wake you based on when in a light sleep and the parameters set for when wake-up time. Fitbit doesn’t do this – so while it collects the sleep data and offers the vibrating alarms, they don’t complement each other.

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The Blaze is said to have a five-day battery life and we found this to be pretty accurate. We got four days if we were exercising every day, but we were able to get six days on the weeks when we weren’t at the gym everyday. Fitbit doesn’t opt for recharging its devices via traditional Micro-USB though – so if you are travelling then the special Blaze charger will need to make its way into your suitcase.

The tracker pops out of the frame and inserts into the plastic square casing that closes around it. The Blaze doesn’t take too long to recharge so you won’t be without it for long but the extra-special cable is a pain.

Fitbit Blaze review: App

The Fitbit platform is one of the best out there. It’s clear, simple and everything is easy to navigate. The Blaze syncs via Bluetooth and it is a much faster and slicker experience than it can be on competitors like Withings.

We tested the Blaze with the iOS app but it is available on Android and Windows Phone too. There are four tabs within the Fitbit app, with Dashboard being the main one and the one seen first. It presents all the data collected for each day from food intake (if entered), to the number of steps taken.

For those unfamiliar with the Fitbit platform, each metric has a bar below it that moves from red to orange to green as you gets close to a set goal, meaning it’s easy to see if you need to move more. Tapping on each of these metrics will also present data in more detail.

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The order of the Dashboard can be edited so if you want heart rate to be at the top, followed by steps taken and calories burned, then this isn’t a problem. It’s also possible to turn metrics off so they are not seen on the dashboard by unticking them when in the edit screen.

Above all the measurements in the Dashboard is the Fitbit activity tracker. Clicking on this will bring up your account, which is also accessible via the Account tab at the bottom of the app. Within the Account section, you can change goals, setup another Fitbit tracker (something that can’t be done with Withings), as well as access other settings like adding a customary heart rate zone. There is also a link to see which compatible apps there are within Fitbit, such as MyFitnessPal, which is great for tracking diet.

Another range of settings are accessed by clicking on each specific tracker setup within the account section. For example, tapping on Blaze here will allow you to change the clock face to one of the four available, set silent alarms, choose a main goal, and toggle each of the three notifications on or off. This is also where the seven exercise shortcuts are selected.

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The other two tabs are about keeping you motivated. The challenges tab has four challenges available that can be selected to keep you moving at the weekend or start a competition with a Fitbit friend to see who will take the most steps in 24-hours. This is where we would like to have see the FitStar workouts incorporated.

Last but not least, the friends tab allows you to add contacts who also use Fitbit and see where they are on the leaderboard in terms of steps taken. Clicking on a name within this section will allow users to “cheer”, “taunt” or message them, as well as see what badges they have earned. It gamifies activity, which is fun, especially if you have some competitive Fitbit friends.

Verdict

The Fitbit Blaze is has plenty going for it, but is more niche than the company’s other trackers, filling in a crack that perhaps didn’t need to be filled.

It is described as a smart fitness watch, which it is in both senses, but this goes both in its favour and against it. The smart features aren’t smart enough to replace or even compete with smartwatches, yet those same features make the Blaze larger and altogether less subtle than the likes of the Charge HR – meaning you are required to replace your watch.

The Blaze’s display is beautiful and the Fitbit platform is fantastic, though, it’s not going to be a product for everyone. It has some great features, including the Multi-Sport tracking, automatic activity recognition and the FitStar workouts, even if the last of those could be further expanded to be better. The price is much higher than the Charge HR though – and you don’t get a whole lot extra functionality for your money.

The Fitbit Blaze is an good device for those who are happy to put a more prominent activity tracker on their wrist. Don’t confuse it as a wannabe Apple Watch and there’s plenty to gain – but it doesn’t quite make a compelling enough case for itself against the Charge HR.

Windows 10 apps will come to the Xbox One this summer

It feels like Microsoft has been dangling the “Windows will come to Xbox” carrot for the longest time, but now it appears the company isn’t too far away from actually delivering. Speaking with Business Insider at GDC 2016, Xbox product manager Jason Ronald revealed that the company will begin opening its PC and gaming ecosystems to over the course of the year, with Windows 10 apps coming to the Xbox One in the summer.

Microsoft’s plan is to merge the Xbox Store and Windows Store, which will host apps that can be run on a smartphone, tablet, PC or console. We know this as the Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform, or UWP, which has been blasted by Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney. He believes the company will monopolize game development by only offering advanced development tools to developers that only create apps for what he calls the “locked-down UWP ecosystem.”

Microsoft dismissed those concerns, but appears to be listening to feedback on its new app platform. Currently, titles published on the Microsoft Store don’t support SLI or CrossFire on NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards and are forced to utilize features that impact the performance of a game. Ronald says that UWP apps will “open up” in the coming months, in order “to run the more advanced graphics settings that PC gamers demand.”

In the last year, Microsoft has slowly begun merging Windows and Xbox features, allowing gamers to do things like stream console games to their PC. We don’t know how the merged store will operate or whether Microsoft will curate its new store or allow developers to submit their apps at will. However, we expect the company to reveal more at its annual Build conference, which is now less than two weeks away.

Source: Business Insider