Samsung introduces the diamond-studded Gear S2 by de Grisogono

Samsung has unveiled a new version of its Gear S2 smartwatch, created in partnership with Swiss jeweler de Grisogono. The Gear S2 by de Grisogono is a limited-edition, 41mm smartwatch that features both rose gold and black stainless steel segments. The rose gold portion of the watch features 51 white diamonds, while the black stainless steel is set with 71 black diamonds.

From Samsung:

The Samsung Gear S2 by de Grisogono channels inspiration from traditional jewelry and watchmaking, evoking the distinctive de Grisogono design heritage. The smartwatch is transformed into smart fashion with rose gold, over 100 black and white diamonds and a bracelet studded with de GRISOGONO’s signature galuchat. The diamond-set gold bezel turns freely around the dial, allowing consumers to access the Gear S2’s library of applications and features, including notifications, activity logs.

Samsung has not yet announced the pricing for this limited edition watch, which will be introduced at Baselworld 2016. The Gear S2 by de Grisogono will be available for purchase at some point this summer, both from Samsung and from de Grisogono.

Samsung Gear S2

• In-depth Samsung Gear S2 review
• Full Gear S2 specs
• Here are the phones that work with Gear S2
• Gear S2 vs. Apple Watch
• Join the discussion in our forums!

Samsung Amazon AT&T Verizon Best Buy

Uber’s newest feature lets whole families share one payment method

Uber is looking to make paying for rides for friends and family members a bit easier with the addition of Family Profiles. Family Profiles, which are only available for Uber customers in Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix for the time being, allow you to easily share payment information with others to cover the cost of their trips.

If you’re in one of the launch cities, you can set up a Family Profile by heading to the Settings menu and tapping the “Add a Family Profile” option. From there, you can select up to 10 contacts you’d like to add to the profile, and an invitation will be sent to each. Once the invitation is accepted, the invited family member can then select the Family Profile as their payment method for rides, and the organizer will automatically be billed for each ride.

While only available in Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix for now, it’s likely we’ll see Family Profiles expand more broadly in the future.

The Oculus Rift will launch with 30 VR games on March 28

When gamers finally get their hands on the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset on March 28, they will be able to get access to 30 games right off the bat. The launch titles will be joined by many more in the coming weeks and months, with over 100 more titles planned by the end of 2016.

Here’s a list of the 30 games that will be available, for various prices, for the Oculus Rift:

• AdrIft
• Adventure Time:
• Airmech: Command
• Albino Lullabye
• Audio Arena
• BlazeRush
• Chronos
• Darknet
• Dead Secret
• Defense Grid 2 Enhanced VR Edition
• Dreadhalls
• Elite Dangerous: Deluxe Edition
• Esper 2
• EVE Gunjack
• Eve Valkyrie Founder’s Pack
• Fly to KUMA
• Herobound SC
• Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
• Lucky’s Tale
• Omega Agent
• Pinball FX2 VR
• Project CARS
• Radial G
• Rooms
• Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe VR
• Smashing the Battle
• Vanishing of Ethan Carter
• Vektron Revenge
• VR Tennis Online
• Windlands

Gamers will also be able to check out the main interface for the Rift, Oculus Home:

“We designed Home from the ground up for VR, and it’s evolved significantly since its launch on Gear VR. Home is the best way to explore your library, discover new content, and connect with friends in VR.”

The Oculus Rift is priced at $599 but orders made today won’t ship until July. Pre-orders will get two games for free; the space shooter EVE: Valkyrie and the platformer Lucky’s Tale.

See at Oculus

Tidal extended its free trial by 30 days all because Kanye updated his album

We usually don’t say no to free stuff – especially if it’s an extra month of Tidal.

Tidal has begun alerting people who recently signed up for its 30-day free trial that they will now get the chance to continue using Tidal for an extra 30 days. It’s basically extending the free trial period by a month. Jay Z’s music-streaming service is offering this promotion of sorts simply because Kanye West decided to revise his latest album, called The Life of Pablo, which is a Tidal exclusive.

“Kanye West continues to deliver new music exclusively to Tidal,” Tidal said via an email to users. “Listen to the new version of ‘Wolves’ and the new song ‘Fade’ now that was just added to The Life of Pablo. Because Tidal is about discovering new music, we are extending your complimentary Tidal trial with an additional 30 days so you’re always the first to hear new music from Kanye.”

READ: Kanye is trying to make Tidal a thing

The Life of Pablo first dropped last month. West took to Twitter soon after, and in between confessing to money woes when it comes to his business ventures and begging Facebook’s CEO for help funding more of his dreams, among other things, the rapper announced he wanted to fix the song Wolves. He has since updated his new album a couple times, tweaking tunes like Famous, adding ones like Frank’s Track, and more.

To take advantage of the extended trial, log in to Tidal with the same credentials and reactivate your account. You of course don’t have to listen to West’s TLOP and can instead stream any tunes you want to hear.

Tidal

Nike is teasing new trainers that self-lace like those Back to the Future kicks

Nike plans to sell real-life, self-lacing trainers, according to both teaser video and blog post it just published.

Although the upcoming shoes don’t look like the famous pair worn by Marty McFly in the 1989 film Back to The Future II, they do function pretty similarly in that they can automatically tighten your laces for you. Called the HyperAdapt 1.0, the new trainers basically bring to life a dream that many BTTF fans have had for the last three decades: the ability to hit a sensor and have snug kicks.

According to Nike, the HyperAdapt 1.0 trainers have a sensor in the heel that auto-tightens the laces, while buttons on either side of the shoe allow you to adjust the tightness of the fit. Keep in mind these sneakers are different than the actual self-lacing Air Mag trainers directly inspired by Back to the Future. Nike gave a pair of those to Michael J Fox, who played McFly, last October.

READ: Nike to release Marty McFly’s self-lacing trainers next spring

Nike said it planned to sell them in limited quantities, but not much has been heard about them since, until now. The HyperAdapt 1.0 trainers have similar technology to what the Air Mags offer, but these will be mass-marketed to customers this year. To buy a pair however, you’ll need to be a member of the Nike+ fitness portal. They’ll also only be available during the holiday season.

Nike said it will sell them in three different colours. There’s no word yet on pricing or global availability.

Netflix’s Chelsea Handler talk show debuts May 11th

We’ve been hearing about how Netflix and Chelsea Handler would “revolutionize the talk show” for nearly two years. On May 11th, though, the streaming service’s first show to feature that format will make its debut. Each episode will be 30 minutes long and stream three times a week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. And yes, they’ll be commercial-free. We still don’t know the title of the show just yet, but that’s expected to be announced this week. Handler already debuted the four-episode comedic documentary series Chelsea Does on Netflix in January and will stream a stand-up special as well.

Here’s the announcement for my new show on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/Cqx89RkZNA

— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) March 16, 2016

Via: Deadline

Source: Chelsea Handler (Twitter)

A few insider thoughts on the future of virtual reality

Virtual reality is here to stay. That’s the resounding cry here at GDC 2016, and it’s no wonder, seeing as the conference actually had to move certain VR-related panels to bigger rooms due to the increased demand. That sentiment was certainly shared at the Oculus Game Day event where we mingled with developers, designers and executives and talked to them about the future of the medium. Check out our video above to find out what they had to say.

iOS malware uses copy protection to infect ‘pure’ devices

Ne’er-do-wells have so far exploited holes in Apple’s FairPlay copy protection primarily to distribute pirated iOS apps, but it now looks like they’re turning their energy toward hurting users. Palo Alto Networks says it has discovered AceDeceiver, the first malware that uses FairPlay to infect its targets. Install a bogus iOS management utility for Windows (Aisi Helper) and the software will launch a man-in-the middle attack that grabs app authorization codes and uses those to install infected apps on any iOS device you connect to the system. Unlike many iOS attacks, this doesn’t require that the target use a jailbroken device — the apps are allowed to run as if they were completely legitimate.

It’s particularly sneaky, too. While Apple has already pulled relevant apps from the App Store, it doesn’t need them to stick around to work. Also, it’s not so easy for Apple to catch offenders in the approval process. The example apps purposefully limited their hostile behavior to users located in China, so App Store screeners in California weren’t likely to spot any malicious activity.

Palo Alto reported the issue to Apple in late February, but it’s not clear whether there’s a permanent solution in the works. We’ve reached out to Apple for details, and we’ll let you know if it has something to share. Either way, the practical risk is low in the short term — don’t install Aisi Helper or similar apps. The concern is that intruders will take advantage of inexperienced users, or that a more sophisticated future attack won’t require that you install a program first.

Source: Palo Alto Networks

How a startup is making it easy to build virtual reality worlds

My most recent virtual reality experience was created by a 9-year-old. That’s according to Martin Repetto, CEO of Voxelus, a platform that lets you build, share and play your own VR games. As I roam through this Minecraft-like world, steered by a Gear VR headset, Repetto tells me that a kid is the one who designed what I’m seeing. But for Voxelus, which launched last year at the Oculus Connect 2 conference, there’s a clear goal: to let anyone, young or old, make VR games without a single line of code.

At GDC 2016, Voxelus is expanding on that idea by offering a marketplace, something that Repetto refers to as the missing piece in his company’s ecosystem. As it stands, Voxelus’ free software is available for Mac and PC, giving people an open canvas to design games for virtual reality. These are compatible with both Gear VR and the Oculus Rift, meaning you don’t have to worry about making different versions for each system.

You can also keep polishing your games even after you’ve made them available on either platform, and creating a world is easy as dragging and dropping items into a sandbox. Naturally, given the aesthetics of the platform, I asked Repetto if Voxelus was inspired by Minecraft, to which he replied with a strong “no.” That said, Repetto notes there’s a lot to learn from Microsoft’s open-world title, adding that his team’s intentions are to “have a sandbox with a meaning.” He says, “Minecraft controls the aesthetics, [with] Voxelus you can go above and beyond.”

According to Repetto, 400 worlds have been created to date using Voxelus, featuring multiplayer elements and 3D worlds like the few pictured above. Given that its software is free, Voxelus had to find a way to bring in revenue, and that’s where the newly announced marketplace comes in. To simplify this process, the startup also created its own cryptocurrency, which developers are able to use to purchase any of the 7,000 VR assets available so far, including bridges, castles, houses, trees, spaceships, teleporters and more.

Repetto describes Voxelus as Clash of Clans for VR, but he says the platform, and the games born out of it, aren’t meant to compete with the AAAs of the industry. “[We] just want to make something for people to play and have fun,” he says.

Microsoft makes a big bet on esports with Xbox Live tournaments

On top of offering networking compatibility with other gaming platforms, Microsoft had another treat for developers at GDC this week: An easy way to create their own game tournaments with Xbox Live. Think of it as an evolution of Xbox Live’s multiplayer matchmaking. The aptly titled Xbox Live Tournament Platform, which will support both Xbox One and Windows 10, is clearly meant to make Microsoft an even bigger player in the burgeoning esports market. To that end, it’s also teaming up with esports companies FaceIT and ESL, who will use the platform for upcoming tournaments. The first titles to support the tournament platform should arrive by the end of the year.

Chad Gibson, a group program manager at Xbox Live, tells Polygon that the platform could be used by gamers to create a small-scale Rocket League tournament with friends. It could also lead to new methods of cooperative play. For example, there could be some sort of team-based tournament with a game like The Division.

Overall, the news makes complete sense for Microsoft in many ways. Xbox Live transformed the way console gamers play online, so why not aim for the next level and bring in tournament play? Microsoft also created an esports league for Halo, so it’s wise to build a solid networking layer for that sort of competition. And just like with its support for cross-platform multiplayer, it shows what’s really important for Microsoft today: Creating platforms that make it indispensable to developers and gamers alike (and hopefully erase the impact of the PS4 trouncing the Xbox One this generation).

Via: Polygon