Playing ‘Rez’ on PlayStation VR made me fall in love again
I haven’t been able to find someone at Engadget who doesn’t enjoy Rez. (Although now that I’ve written that I’m sure I will.) And if anyone does dislike it, they should play it in VR, because they’re wrong and they need to be corrected. Yes, Rez Infinite, in high resolution, 60 frames-per-second loveliness, comes to the PS4 with PSVR compatibility and it cranks the already addictively immersive experience up a notch. I played it yesterday, and this is definitely what I’ll be playing on my PlayStation VR come October.
The game is a well-established critical hit, originally released on the Dreamcast a whole 15 years ago, that’s been retooled and tailored to VR. But the interesting part is that it already feels made for VR: Anachronistic “hacking the mainframe” concept, “immersive experience” back-of-the-game-box sales pitch. The music! The addiction! Oh no, not again!
Your targeting reticule (gameplay summary: you shoot down pretty much anything that moves) is in the center of your vision, so you can look at what you want to shoot, tap or hold the ‘X’ button, and it (usually) goes down. This, coupled with the simple game mechanics (like the lack of movement controls), make it the most accessible launch game I’ve played on PSVR. No motion sickness, no confusing controls. You sit down, strap in and play Rez. And chill.
I bopped my head as I (effortlessly!) cleared the demo level. Some people stared, while others recorded awkward gifs — but I didn’t care. I can’t wait to play the whole game all over again. And if you’ve never played it, well there is (probably) no better way to play it.
Jon Snow is evil and angry in ‘Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare brings the war (and the fare) to space, and it’s taking Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington and UFC fighter Conor McGregor along for the ride. Unfortunately, Activision and Infinity Ward didn’t take this opportunity to make the world’s best buddy-cop action-comedy game. Instead, Harington plays the evil Admiral Salen Kotch of the Settlement Defense Front and McGregor is his muscle, Captain Bradley Fillion. They’re a pair of bad dudes in space suits and in the story campaign, it’s your job to take them down.
The Infinite Warfare story trailer shows some of the space fights and moon missions that are new to this installment, though the game doesn’t seem to stray far from Earth’s side.
Infinite Warfare hits PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on November 4th, and it’s the only way to get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. Special editions of the game, ranging from $80 to $120, come with Modern Warfare Remastered and it isn’t being sold separately at this time.
Hopefully the new ‘Resident Evil 7’ demo won’t make you queasy
If the first demo for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard didn’t leave you with a headache or worse (yeah, even in 2D), it might’ve left you scratching your noggin. Well, the “Beginning Hour” demo is getting an update, according to a post on the PlayStation Blog. The Twilight update “expands on what you can do and explore” in the run-down shack. Over on Capcom Unity the publisher-developer teases that even if you’ve explored every corner of the house that “we’ve got something special in store for you.” So maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a use for that severed finger. Hopefully the update means the flashlight’s incessant bobbing and swaying been fixed, too.
The patch is scheduled for arrival today, so chances are it’ll be waiting when you turn your PlayStation 4 on next. More than that, this new demo isn’t locked behind a PlayStation Plus subscription like it was previously. In other revisions, the digital deluxe version is getting a price bump, but with it comes the promise of an additional add-on episode. If you previously purchased for $80, no worries as you’ll still get the extra episode. Everyone who’s tempted by the new demo will have to cough up $90 though.
Oh and there’s a new trailer embedded below, too, if you needed further convincing to make a return trip. Here’s to hoping Twilight is more along the lines of the “Lantern” demo from Gamescom last month.
Source: PlayStation Blog, Capcom Unity
Apple’s iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case Offers 26% More Charge Than iPhone 6s Version
As customers around the world begin receiving Apple’s iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case, it has now been confirmed that the charging case is rated for 2,365 mAh, a 26% increase over the iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case’s 1,877 mAh rating.
Chinese technical certifications revealed that the iPhone 7 likely has a larger 1,960 mAh battery, as previously rumored, meaning Apple’s Smart Battery Case can charge the smartphone fully with roughly 17% capacity remaining.
iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case is 2365 mAh, up from 1877 for iPhone 6. pic.twitter.com/cQ7LMR0KDk
— Nick Guy (@thenickguy) September 14, 2016
Apple officially says a fully charged iPhone 7 with a fully charged Smart Battery Case can provide combined talk time up to 26 hours, internet use up to 22 hours on LTE, and video playback up to 24 hours.
When the Smart Battery Case is turned on, a battery status is displayed on the Lock screen and in Notification Center to keep track of its charge level. The case has a silicone exterior in white or black, while the inside has a soft microfiber lining.
The iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case is available now for $99 on Apple’s website.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
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How to Use Apple Music Lyrics in iOS 10
One of the newest features in iOS 10’s redesigned Apple Music app is the ability to view lyrics for your favorite songs. While the ability to quickly access song lyrics to learn the lines is helpful, the new feature may get lost in the midst of Apple Music’s new look. We’ve put together a how-to guide to show you how to view lyrics for your songs.
First, you’ll need to start playing a song. Once a song is playing, click on the song’s banner, just above the Apple Music menu bar at the bottom, to open the song’s individual card. From here, there are two methods to view lyrics.
Method One:
Tap the “three dots” button in the bottom right corner. This brings up a menu overlay displaying options for the song, like adding it to a playlist or creating a station.
Tap the “Lyrics” button below the “Share Song” option. Songs with available lyrics will have this option displayed, while songs without lyrics available will not.
The lyrics will pop up in a separate translucent window that slides over the song window.
Method Two:
Scroll down while in the song card.
The lyrics toggle will be displayed directly beneath the song, right above the “Up Next” feature.
Tap on “Show” to reveal the lyrics to your song.
Currently, lyrics are not available on all songs and albums, but Apple has been rapidly expanding the number of tracks with lyrics support throughout the beta testing period and coverage has become fairly broad in time for the public release.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
Tag: Apple Music
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Apple’s First Mexican Store and Sixth Hong Kong Store Open Next Week
Apple has announced that its first retail store in Mexico, located at the Centro Santa Fe shopping mall in Mexico City, will open on Saturday, September 24 at 11:00 a.m. local time. Apple’s sixth retail store in Hong Kong, located at the apm shopping mall, also opens on Thursday, September 22 at 11:00 a.m. local time.
Reforma Gadgets via Twitter
Apple is celebrating the opening of its first Mexican store with a colorful Hola México banner and a matching construction barrier at Via Santa Fe, the upscale wing of Centro Santa Fe, the largest shopping mall in Latin America. The store, first rumored in January, will be located on the upper level of the shopping mall.
Apple’s sixth retail store in Hong Kong will be located at 418 Kwun Tong Road in the Kwun Tong district. The store will be open seven days a week between 11 a.m. local time and 11:00 p.m. local time. Apple’s other five stores in Hong Kong are located at Canton Road, Causeway Bay, Festival Walk, IFC Mall, and New Town Plaza.
September is shaping up to be a busy month for Apple retail, starting with two U.S. stores that reopened on September 2, another four locations reopening on September 10, and three more to follow on September 16.
Related Roundup: Apple Stores
Tags: Mexico, Hong Kong
Discuss this article in our forums
5 ways you’re using your stand mixer wrong – CNET
No appliance in the kitchen can make a home cook feel more like a professional chef than a stand mixer. While its controls may seem simple enough, you might be making some common mistakes.
Your attachment is too low
The adjustment screw is located near the head hinge.
Alina Bradford/CNET
Chances are, you’ve probably never changed the attachment height on your mixer. That’s okay, as long as the attachment doesn’t touch the bottom of your mixing bowl. Manufacturers set it to the perfect height, but over time it can jiggle and reposition.
You never want the attachment to touch the bottom of the bowl because the friction can damage your bowl and put extra strain on the mixer’s motor.
If your attachments are rubbing against the bowl you may see some wear on the bottom of the attachment or you may see small circular scratches on the bottom of your bowl.
To change the height of your attachment:
Unlock the mixer head and raise it up.
Unplug the mixer and remove the attachment.
Find the adjustment screw. There should be one screw located right behind the mixing bowl on the neck of the mixer that connects the head to the base. Depending on the type of mixer, the screw will be in the hinge or by the hinge that allows the head to raise and lower.
Turn the screw counter-clockwise a half-turn to raise the attachment height.
Put the attachment back on and test if it is still touching your bowl. If so, turn the screw another half-turn.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell if the head is at the right height. Kitchen Aid suggests putting a dime in the bowl and turning the mixer on low. If the beater attachment pushes the dime around the bowl, the attachment is too low. If dime doesn’t move, the attachment height is too high. When the attachment height is just right, the dime will only move a little.
Your attachment is too high
If you have the opposite problem and the attachment doesn’t seem to reach the ingredients on the bottom of the bowl, you’ll need to lower your attachment height. Follow the directions above, but instead of turning the screw counter-clockwise, turn it clockwise for a half-turn. Just be sure the attachments don’t touch the bottom of the bowl.
You’re starting too fast
If your kitchen gets splattered with batter every time you use your mixer, the problem is probably your speed. Always start off on the lowest speed and gradually move up to the speed suggested in your recipe.
If you still find that your mixer splashes, cover it with a dishtowel to reduce mess.
You’re not using the right beater
The metal or coated beater that comes with your mixer is just fine, but for the best results, upgrade to a silicone scraper blade. This is a beater that scrapes the edges of the bowl so you don’t need to stop the mixer and do it yourself.
You don’t clean your mixer properly
Batter, flour and other cooking goo can get lodged in the working parts of your mixer. A buildup can make your mixer work harder or can gum up some of the mechanisms. Here is a guide on cleaning your stand mixer from top to bottom.
Sleep Number it Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
A good mattress can work wonders on the quality of your sleep. But can it change the way you live once you wake up?
Sleep Number’s latest mattress, called it (their lowercase, not mine), is loaded with sensors that track your heart rate, breathing patterns and nocturnal movement to gather information and use an accompanying app to suggest changes for better sleep. The it mattress was on display in January 2016 at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, and it finally goes onsale beginning September 19 at http://www.itbed.com.
More sleep technology
- Samsung wants to track your sleep and smartly wash your clothes
- Beddit Sleep Monitor Classic review
- Sleep Number x12 bed with sleep monitor, snore-stopper
The it, which will cost $1,099 for a queen (AU$1,390 or £680, converted), is similar to the last Sleep Number mattress we saw at CES 2015, the Sleep Number x12. Both versions incorporate the company’s adjustable system that lets you control your mattress’s firmness. Each mattress also uses the company’s SleepIQ technology to learn more about your sleep patterns.
The big draw of this mattress, though, is its API, which can connect with and gather information from other apps to learn what parts of your daily life are impacting the quality of your sleep. The it’s current partners include Apple Health, Fitbit, MapMyRun, Microsoft Health, Withings Health Mate and Nest.
The goal is to use the information from other apps to gain a more holistic view of your life and all the things that affect how well you sleep, said Pete Bils, the vice president of sleep science and research at Sleep Number. For example, if you let the mattress access your calendar app and it sees that you have an early appointment, the it app could send you a notification that you should go to bed earlier the day before. Or the app might suggest that you change the firmness of your mattress if you had a particularly grueling workout.
At Unveiled, we got early access to CES….
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“All of those things come into play and impact your sleep,” Bils said.
Fortunately, users will be able to choose which apps they want to connect with the it, a comforting thought considering that your mattress already knows a lot about you.
Features
- Available in six standard sizes
- The SleepIQ API and predictive modeling will be available anyone who already uses the SleepIQ sleepers as a software update in 2016
- Made of dual, foam-filled air chambers that can gather sleep information for both you and your partner
Motorola Moto G4 Play review – CNET
The Good Motorola’s Moto G4 Play is the most affordable phone in the G4 line. It’s splash-resistant, comes loaded with a near stock version of Android 6.0, has great battery life and takes good outdoor photos.
The Bad The G4 Play lags when playing games and taking panoramic photos. The display can be hard to read in direct sunlight and you won’t be able to customize the phone using Motorola’s Moto Maker website.
The Bottom Line If you’re on the hunt for an affordable phone with pretty long battery life, the Motorola Moto G4 Play deserves your attention. But the regular Moto G4 gives you even better features for just a little more cash.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
If the Moto G4 didn’t exist, the stepped-down (and even cheaper) Motorola Moto G4 Play would be the deal of the century. For just $150 (or $100 for Amazon Prime members who submit to Amazon Prime ads, like this), £130 and AU$279, you get a budget phone that’s surprisingly pleasant to use, for a rock-bottom price.
But there is a Moto G4, and it comes with a larger screen, a better camera and a much faster processor. Best yet, it only costs a little more — $50 or £39 — than the G4 Play (it doesn’t sell in Australia, but the G4 Plus does). So for my money, I’d invest a little more and get the G4 over the G4 Play.
That said, the G4 Play is actually a great budget find on its own merit. I never encountered a moment where I thought, “I can’t use this.” The G4 Play is the Toyota Corolla of phones; it has that wonderful balance of price and value to do real-world things like text and email, upload photos and snap pictures of cute little Fifi.
Motorola’s Moto G4 Play in the wild
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The Moto G4 Play is pretty much identical to the Moto G4, just a tad smaller (see how specs compare over the page). Despite having a relatively low 1,280×720-pixel resolution for its 5-inch screen, images and websites looked fairly crisp and sharp. But even with adaptive brightness enabled, you might have trouble reading in the noontime sun.
‘Safe’ Galaxy Note 7s may use a different battery icon
New Galaxy Note 7s will reportedly use a green battery icon, not white — but will it make any real difference?
As Samsung prepares to replace potentially explosive Galaxy Note 7 phones with new versions, it seems the company is considering new ways help Note owners know whether their device is safe or not. Now it appears a visual change to the phone’s software may reassure Note 7 owners (and possibly airlines, aviation authorities and others) that their phones are safe.
New, safe Galaxy Note 7 handsets will use green battery icons, as opposed to the standard white, ZDNet’s Cho Mu-Hyun reports from Seoul. It’s unclear whether the green hue will apply at all times, or just when the phone is charging. It’s also not known whether the change will apply to all “safe” Note 7s globally, or just in Korea; we’ve reached out to Samsung for further info. AC’s Russell Holly, who exchanged his Note 7 as part of the U.S. replacement program, sees the standard white battery icon on his phone, even when charging.
Earlier this week it emerged that Samsung will limit unsafe Korean Galaxy Note 7s to 60 percent battery charge though a software update. Samsung has yet to clarify whether this OTA will apply to Notes outside of Korea.
No bureaucrat is going to deal with ‘Note 7 Exploding Version’ vs ‘Note 7 Non Exploding Version.’
The new battery icon, if it becomes widespread, highlights the problem Samsung (and its customers) will face in proving that their phones are the “safe” versions. In the past week, most of the world’s major aviation authorities have told passengers not to use or charge their Galaxy Note 7s onboard planes, while also excluding the phone from being carried in the hold of aircraft. Yesterday New York’s MTA and New Jersey Transit told rail and bus travelers not to use the phone in transit, citing battery explosion fears.
The nightmare scenario for Samsung — and Note 7 owners who frequently travel — is that the phone will be permanently tarred as “unsafe,” even after the recall process has been completed. PCMag’s Sascha Segan summed up the predicament in recent tweet: “No bureaucrat is going to deal with ‘Note 7 Exploding Version’ vs ‘Note 7 Non Exploding Version.’ Easier to just ban them all,” after suggesting it might be easier for Samsung to just rename the “safe” version of the phone as “Note 7S.”
However things pan out, it’s clear Samsung’s Note 7 woes are far from over. The company will begin swapping out potentially unsafe Korean handsets with replacement units from September 19.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Galaxy Note 7 recall: Everything you need to know
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
- The latest Galaxy Note 7 news!
- Here are all four Note 7 colors
- Complete Galaxy Note 7 specs
- Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!
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