Naim’s redesigned Uniti range is sophisticated and sexy

Naim is an audio brand that’s targeted at the high-end audiophiles out there. The products are expensive, but they reward customers with incredible build quality and sound. Naim has just announced its redesigned the Uniti all-in-one systems range, and boy do they look good.

The new range comprises four models, the Uniti Core, Uniti Atom, Uniti Star and Uniti Nova and the eagle-eyed among you will notice certain design similarities with the Mu-so wireless speaker.

• Naim Mu-so review: A sonic sensation
• Naim UnitiQute2 review

The Uniti Core is, as the name suggests, the core of the system and is used to rip and store your CD collection. You can switch out the hard drive for a solid state one if you want with maximum storage set at 8TB, enough for 16,000 albums. The Uniti Core will launch in December for £1650.

The Uniti Atom, Star and Nova are all network streaming players and come with varying levels of Class A/B amplification. The Atom has 40 watts per channel, Uniti Star 70 watts per channel and Uniti Nova 80 watts per channel. Naim has fitted all three players with Burr Brown DACs and digital filter technology taken from its ultra high-end £125,000 Statement amplifier.

You can play music from the players from almost every conceivable way, including streaming from a PC, Mac or NAS drive, Spotify Connect, built-in support for Tidal, Apple AirPlay and Google Cast. The Uniti Nova and Star have optional DAB modules for digital radio but all players have Internet radio built-in. If that wasn’t enough, all players have aptX Bluetooth as well and can playback music from USB devices.

You can send music to up to five different rooms with different songs being played on different Uniti players or the Mu-so and Mu-so Qb.

• Naim Mu-so Qb: An all-round success
• Hands-on: Naim Statement, at £125,000 this is the ‘Bentley of amplifiers’

The Uniti Atom will be the first component to launch in November for £1600, the Uniti Star will be available from February 2017 for £3000 or £3150 with the DAB module and the Uniti Nova will also be launched in February for £3800 or £3995 with the DAB module.

Google Pixel exclusive features laid bare: What your regular Android phone won’t get

Google announced its new devices this week, ditching the Nexus branding and taking things in-house with new the Pixel and Pixel XL. 

Unlike previous Nexus device launches, however, the Pixels aren’t presented as a shining showcase of Android, they’re presented very much as Google’s phones. That means they come with a number of exclusive features, something that didn’t really happen with Nexus devices previously.

The Pixel phones launch on Android 7.1 and that version of Android will be coming to other Nexus devices (and other Android devices sometime in the future), but we now have a list of what you will get and what you won’t get.

These are the Pixel-exclusive software features:

• Pixel Launcher, including wallpaper picker, and home button shortcut
• Google Assistant
• 24/7 customer support
• Pixel Camera, including Smartburst, HDR+
• Smart storage
• Unlimited Google Photos backup
• Dynamic calendar icon
• New setup design 

There are some hardware elements that are only on the Pixel right now, for example supporting that iPhone quick switch adapter cable, and something that’s referred to as a Sensor Hub processor. 

The big exclusive here is Google Assistant. This is Google’s new smart AI service that’s an evolution of Ok Google. It’s in the Allo app in beta, it’s in Google Home and on the Pixel devices.

• What is Google Assistant, how does it work, and when can you use it?

The other stuff we’ll happily leave to the Pixel, but we can’t believe that Google Assistant will be a Pixel exclusive for any length of time: if Google wants it to be adopted, it needs to get people using it. If it’s not appearing on new Android devices in 2017, like the Samsung Galaxy S8, then it’s Google that loses out.

There are some features announced for the Pixel that are coming to all phones getting Android 7.1 however:

• Night light
• Fingerprint scanner swipe function
• Background updates
• Daydream VR mode

The big one in this list is Daydream VR support. If Google didn’t offer that, then no one would be able to take advantage of the new Daydream View hardware. As that launches in November, we’d expect to be seeing software updates for Nexus devices in the not too distant future too.

The big question remains: are those exclusive features enough to convince you to buy a Pixel, or are you tempted to hold fire and see what 2017 brings?

• Best smartphones to look forward to in 2017
• Google Pixel preview: Arise my Pixel apprentice
• Google Pixel XL preview: A new, costly, Google overlord

Polar M200 is an affordable GPS running watch with heart rate tracking

Polar has just announced the M200, the latest in its lineup of smartwatches designed for fitness fanatics. The M200 borrows much of the same technology that can be found in the M400 and M600, but comes in at a more affordable price.

It doesn’t run on Android Wear like the M600, but it still has built-in GPS to accurately track your runs, so you don’t need to take your phone with you. It also comes with Polar’s own heart rate tracking technology, which has been taken from the company’s chest-based trackers and put into a watch to monitor the pulse from your wrist.

• Polar M600 could get Android Wear back on track

A full charge will rewards you with six hours of training time, which not only tracks distance and heart rate, but also steps taken and calories burned. You can wear it at night as well where the M200 will monitor your sleep time and sleep quality.

All the data the M200 collects can be viewed in Polar’s Flow application for iOS and Android and as an online service. The mobile app will offer suggestions to help improve your training while on the web app, you can join events and groups and look at others’ training sessions.

You can also access Polar’s Running Program through the mobile app, which offers personalised and adaptive training plans for free. You can choose from 5K, 10K, half-marathon or marathon distances and the app will give you a customised plan based on your fitness level.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a smartwatch if it didn’t notify you of incoming calls, messages, calendar alerts and social media notifications.

The Polar M200 offers some customisation in the form of changeable straps, with small/medium and medium/large being supplied in Bright Red and Charcoal Black. Mellow Yellow, White, and Fresh Blue are available as optional extras.

• Best sports watches 2016: The best GPS watches to buy today

The Polar M200 is available now in Bright Red and Charcoal Black for $149 or €149, White, Fresh Blue and Mellow Yellow straps will be available for $19.90.

Google Pixel vs Apple iPhone 7: What’s the difference?

Google announced the Pixel and Pixel XL at its October event, replacing the Nexus line-up with a couple of premium and desirable devices running pure Android.

The Pixel is the smaller of the two smartphones and its price tag puts it in iPhone territory. The question is, how does it compare to Apple’s latest model?

Read on for the differences and similarities between the Google Pixel and Apple’s iPhone 7.

Google Pixel vs Apple iPhone 7: Design

• Both premium designs with fingerprint sensors
• iPhone 7 smaller, slimmer, lighter and waterproof 
• Pixel has headphone jack and USB Type-C

The Google Pixel and Apple iPhone 7 look different as you would expect, but both offer solid, premium, well-built designs. The Pixel opts for a combination of aluminium and glass, with a fingerprint sensor on the rear, while the iPhone 7 is all about aluminium and places its fingerprint sensor within the Home button on the front. The iPhone 7 is water and dust resistant to IP67, while the Pixel is only IP53, meaning it cannot be submerged.

• Water and dust IP ratings: What do they actually mean?

The headphone jack is removed on the iPhone 7 in favour of stereo speakers positioned either side of the Lightning port, while the Pixel has down-firing speakers either side of the USB Type-C port, but it keeps the headphone jack intact at the top. There are no physical buttons on the front of Pixel.

The Pixel measures 143.8 x 69.5 x 8.6mm and weighs 143g, while the iPhone 7 is smaller, lighter and slimmer, measuring 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1mm and weighing 138g.

Google’s phone comes in Very Silver, Quite Black and Really Blue, though the latter is not coming to the UK. Apple’s phone comes in Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, Black and Jet Black.

Google Pixel vs Apple iPhone 7: Display

• Pixel has larger, crisper display
• iPhone 7 has 3D Touch for more functionality
• Pixel uses AMOLED, iPhone 7 uses LCD

The Google Pixel has a 5-inch display with a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution for a pixel density of 441ppi. It is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and it uses AMOLED technology, which should mean rich and vibrant colours. 

The Apple iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch LCD display with a 1334 x 750 resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 326ppi. Based on the numbers, that would mean the Pixel will offer sharper and crisper images, but the iPhone 7’s display is very good, even if the resolution is slightly lower than its competition.

The iPhone 7 also has 3D Touch, which is Apple’s version of a pressure sensitive display. Users will get access to different features and functions based on the force with which they press.  

Google Pixel vs Apple iPhone 7: Camera

• Both have 12MP rear sensors, but iPhone has wider aperture
• Pixel has higher resolution front camera, but iPhone again has wider aperture
• iPhone 7 has optical image stabilisation

The Google Pixel has a 12.3-megapixel rear camera offering an aperture of f/2.0 and 1.55µm pixels. There is video stabilisation, phase detection autofocus and laser detection autofocus all on board, along with a dual-LED flash.

The Apple iPhone 7 also has a 12-megapixel rear camera with a slightly wider aperture of f/1.8. It has optical image stabilisation and phase detection autofocus, as well as a quad-LED flash.

In terms of the front-facing snappers, the Pixel has an 8-megapixel f/2.4 sensor with 1.4µm pixels, while the iPhone 7 has a 7-megapixel f/2.2 sensor with a Retina Flash.

Google Pixel vs Apple iPhone 7: Hardware

• Both quad-core processors, but Pixel has more RAM support
• Both available in 32GB and 128GB models, but iPhone also comes in 256GB
• Pixel has bigger battery capacity

The Google Pixel and the Apple iPhone 7 both feature a quad-core processor under their hoods. The Pixel opts for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 with 4GB of RAM support, while the iPhone 7 features Apple’s A10 Fusion chip and embedded M10 motion coprocessor and there is 3GB of RAM support.

The Pixel is available in 32GB and 128GB storage options and the iPhone 7 is available in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB options. Neither device offers microSD storage expansion.

In terms of battery, the Pixel has a 2770mAh capacity, while the iPhone 7 is thought to be quite a bit smaller at 1960mAh. 

Google Pixel vs Apple iPhone 7: Software

• Pixel runs vanilla Android
• iPhone 7 runs iOS
• Both have personal assistants

The Google Pixel runs on Android 7.1 Nougat and it features Google Assistant built-in, accessed via a long press of the home button in the new launcher. It’s a pure Android experience so it doesn’t feature software bloatware like a Samsung or Sony for example.

It brings with it all the latest features Google has to offer through Android and for those of you who are Google users and have Google accounts, you should get a seamless experience.

The Apple iPhone 7 runs on iOS 10, which brings with it all the latest features Apple has to offer. In terms of personal assistant, you get Siri, who is accessed via a long press of the physical Home button on the front of the device.

For those of you who have Macs or use other Apple devices, the iPhone 7 will deliver a seamless experience across all your devices.

Google Pixel vs Apple iPhone 7: Price

• Both start at £599

Both the Google Pixel and Apple iPhone 7 start at £599 for the 32GB model. Add another £100 and you’ll be able to get your hands on a 128GB model of either. 

The iPhone 7 is also then offered in a 256GB model, as we mentioned, which costs a further £100 for a price of £799.

Google Pixel vs Apple iPhone 7: Conclusion

The Google Pixel and Apple iPhone 7 are very closely matched in terms of specs and price.

The Pixel trumps the iPhone in terms of display size and resolution, RAM, battery capacity and front-facing camera resolution. The iPhone trumps the Pixel in terms of physical size, waterproofing, display functionality, storage options, and we know it has a fantastic camera, while the Pixel still needs to prove itself.

Ultimately, the decision between these two devices will come down to which design you prefer and which platform you prefer. Both are solid in their builds and likely to be solid in their performance too. We will update this feature when we have reviewed the Pixel in full.

• Apple iPhone 7 review: Refining the design rather than ripping it up and starting again
• Google Pixel preview: Arise my Pixel apprentice
• Google Pixel XL vs Apple iPhone 7 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy Note 7: What’s the difference?
• Google Pixel XL vs Google Pixel: What’s the difference?

Gears of War 4 review: Stepping up a gear

Gears of War, the genre-defining third-person cover-shooter, has had a slightly chequered recent history – Cliff Bleszinski, the driving force behind the series, moved on to pastures new after 2011’s Gears of War 3, implying he felt the franchise was stagnating, and 2013’s Gears of War: Judgment wasn’t great.

But GoW remains one of Microsoft’s flagship exclusive franchises, and the decision to entrust it to a new developer called The Coalition proves to have been spot-on. For Gears of War 4 is every bit as epic as a Gears game should be. This is an Xbox exclusive done right.

Gears of War 4 review: What’s the story?

Right from the start, you feel the benefit of a fresh perspective on the Gears of War universe. The single-player storyline finally manages to sidestep the series’ gung-ho Americanism which grated with many. More importantly, the campaign never descends into monotony thanks to a series of clever change-ups and judicious new gameplay mechanics.

Online, where, Gears of War has always reigned supreme, it somehow manages to find an even higher, ahem, gear, with new gameplay modes and a comprehensive overhaul of the much-copied Horde mode, which The Coalition has seen fit to dub Horde 3.0.

After a flashback prologue designed to reacquaint you with that familiar control system, Gears of War 4’s action begins 25 years after the Locust were finally defeated in Gears of War 3, and the planet Sera has become a very different place.

You find yourself playing as James “JD” Fenix, son of Marcus, who is living as an “Outsider” in a country village. You learn that the COG, led by the sinister First Minister Jinn, now exert near-fascist control over the cities. JD and a small band of villagers including Kait, a long-overdue major female character, embark on a raid of a COG establishment, aiming to steal a Fabricator – essentially a 3D printer that can create weapons and fortifications. To do so, they must take on waves of COG robots, so the first twist sees the goodies recast as baddies.

The Coalition / Microsoft Xbox

When the group gets back to their village, after a showdown with COG forces (which cleverly trails the revamped Horde mode), a new enemy arrives which they call the Swarm. Although JD, his sidekick Del and Kait survive, Kait’s mother, village headwoman Reyna, is abducted. So the trio head off to enlist the help of JD’s father, Marcus, now living a bucolic life in something of a country pile, in a quest to rescue Reyna. Back in tandem with Marcus, and kitted out in classic COG armour, the foursome embark on a suicidal quest to once again save the world.

Gears of War 4 review: Know your enemy

Although it isn’t the longest – you’re looking at eight to ten hours – Gears of War 4’s single-player storyline (which can be played co-operatively) is superb, right up there with that of the Doom remake.

It ebbs and flows magnificently, with some top-notch boss-battles and some interesting sequences in which the planet’s innate hostility intervenes: periodically, “windflares” hit, consisting of hurricane-force winds and deadly lightning discharges. Usually, you encounter those when taking on enemies, but you can use the conditions to your advantage, and sometimes you must use them to solve environmental puzzles.

The Coalition / Microsoft Xbox

There are a few on-rails sequences which are a bit weak, though, but at last Gears of War 4 uses a colour palette that extends beyond black and brown, and the new Swarm enemies are superb. The way in which JD and his gang work out what the Swarm are and how they came to exist is much more imaginative than anything we’ve seen in past games.

They are pretty varied in terms of size, shape and capabilities, so require a more tactical approach than in previous Gears of War games – although you still have to fill them full of vast amounts of lead. The so-called Juvies, which are fast and unarmed, will force you out from cover; while getting caught in the belly of a Snatcher, while hoping that your team will shoot you out of it, is a truly hair-raising experience.

Gears of War 4 review: Weapons revisit

Weaponry-wise, The Coalition has wisely opted not to mess around with a proven formula too much. There are some new Swarm ones, which cause major damage but quickly run out of ammo and, of those, the Buzzkill, which basically fires circular-saw discs, is the most fun – especially when you fire it into the maelstrom of a windflare.

The Coalition / Microsoft Xbox

But really it’s all about the familiar Lancer assault rifle and Gnasher shotgun; the weapons that you pick up from COG robots are uniformly awful – both unwieldy and lacking in power – and you get the feeling that was intentional.

In terms of replay value, the single-player game has a varied array of collectables and many will surely opt to enlist co-operative help and crank up the difficulty levels.

Gears of War 4 review: Multiplayer is marvellous

But who needs single-player replayability when you have a multiplayer game which is so extensive and beautifully honed? Gears of War 4 even has a new mode, the objective-based Escalation, which has an eye firmly on the world of e-sports, and there are so many different games you can play in Versus Multiplayer that everyone will find something. The best initial way in is via a Social playlist, which mixes and matches modes and maps, allowing its participants to vote on what the next match should be.

Old favourites Warzone (in which you get one life per round), Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill and Guardian are present and correct. Dodgeball puts the emphasis on respawning: every time you kill an enemy, you respawn a team-mate, with dead team-mates relegated to a queue. Arms Race forces you to get to know all the weapons, as every time your team achieves three kills, everybody’s weapon swaps to another one. It’s very much a Marmite mode, as it forces you to use the inferior COG robot weaponry.

The Coalition / Microsoft Xbox

It’s always impossible to make any certain predictions about multiplayer stability before a game comes out, but we spent many hours pre-launch playing the Versus Multiplayer, and only experienced one catastrophic crash (mercifully right at the end of a round). The matching seems pretty spot-on, although that is an aspect which is impossible to judge until servers are fully populated. But there were no visible problems with lag or falling frame-rates, which bodes well, and Gears of War 4 is very good at stripping in bots where needed.

A Gears Pack card system, which gives you some great characters, skins and bounties – multiplayer challenges – should prove popular, since you can craft your own cards. And it provides some really useful buffs and perks for devotees of Horde mode (in the interest of balance, they don’t apply to the multiplayer). There’s an in-game Credit system which extends across both Versus Multiplayer and Horde 3.0, so anything you do in those modes allows you to stock up on Gear Packs. And you can, of course, spend real money on them.

Horde 3.0 feels at the same time familiar and fresh. Its key new mechanic is the Fabricator: a crate which allows you to build defences, turrets and objects like decoys which attract enemies. Every enemy you kill drops power, which you can then take back to the Fabricator and which essentially acts as the currency with which to build new objects.

The Coalition / Microsoft Xbox

One new aspect of Horde mode requires a bit of attention, though: it has introduced the concept of classes, but your weapon load-out is hard-wired to your class. You can, of course, pick up weapons on the battlefield dropped by enemies, but you should pick your class carefully in order to avoid having to use one or more of the naff robot COG weapons. Gears of War 4 could do a lot more to explain that, and the Horde class system may prove to be controversial as a result.

So there are a couple of tiny niggles, but you really have to scrabble around to find them.

Verdict

Gears of War 4 is a tour de force – so good that it’s worth buying an Xbox One just to play it.

Online, in both Horde and Versus Multiplayer modes, Gears 4 is insanely addictive, with plenty on offer for the hardcore and the markedly less so, and its single-player game is the best any Gears of War game has ever boasted.

If you’re a big fan of third-person shooters then Gears 4 is, quite simply, the new standard-setter.

Rimac’s electric bike can go 150 miles on a single charge

Rimac has revealed a new electric bicycle that is just as impressive as its LaFerrari-killing, million-dollar Concept One supercar, in its own way. With a massive 3kWh battery, the Greyp G12H can go up to 240 km (150 miles) on a single charge, making it the longest-range e-bicycle out there. If you have a 10 mile round trip to work, each would cost 2.3 cents, making it one of the cheapest powered transportation options, too.

“Cheap” is strictly related to energy consumption, however. The Greyp G12S, the company’s current model that has a shorter 75 mile range but is faster at 70 km/h (44 mph) costs €8,380, or around $9,400. That’s Lionel Messi money (he bought a custom version), and the new model isn’t likely to be cheaper, as the battery is double the size. That said, other long-endurance models like those from Optibike are in that ballpark too.

The G12H and faster G12S both look more like motocross bikes than electric bicycles, and Greyp markets the latter as such (see the video, above). Given the 107 pound weight of the G12S model, in fact, the pedals are mostly for show, and the G12H should weigh at least that much. Other features include “Supernova” lights, a custom rack, and biometric sensor to activate the e-bike. There’s no word yet on availability or cost, but Greyp says the price tag and range will depend on the battery option you choose.

Rome: Total War Coming to iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad Pro This Fall for $9.99

Feral Interactive has announced that the “full experience” of hugely popular war strategy game Rome: Total War will be coming to iPad this fall for the price of $9.99.

The third title in the Total War series, Rome has been hailed as “not only one of the best strategy games ever, but one of the best PC games, period”, according to MacRumors sister site TouchArcade, and Feral is promising a port of the game to iPad “without compromise”.

In what’s considered the highlight of the series, players get to take control of one of three Roman houses vying for control of the Republic/Empire. The turn-based strategy gameplay is punctuated by real-time battles in 3D, where players command and control huge swathes of units in the field.

ROME: Total War is a strategy game of epic scale, offering players a seamless integration of strategy and tactics to fight spectacular battles, while using diplomacy, subterfuge and assassination to pave the road to ultimate victory.

The game will require a first-generation iPad Air or newer, an iPad mini 2 or newer, or any iPad Pro. It also needs just under 4GB of free space to install.

An exact release date has yet to be confirmed, but you can learn more at Feral’s mini-site for the game here.

Tag: Feral
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Ads Now Appearing in App Store Search Results for U.S. Users

As expected, Apple has begun showing developer ads in the iOS App Store today for U.S. users, reports The Verge. Now, searching for popular terms like “taxi”, “calendar”, or “to do list” returns a banner ad for promoted apps above the search results.

Apple announced plans for the ads back in June and developers have participated in a beta testing program since that time. The App Store Search Ads system finally went live on September 28, inviting developers to purchase ad spots through the program. Those ads are now viewable by the public as of this morning.

With Search Ads, developers are able to bid to have their app listed as the top result when certain keywords are used, in order to improve app discoverability. Ads are available through an auction system, with one ad displayed to customers per search result page.

Ads are clearly marked as such and the content they show is the same as that on the App Store app description pages, since they use App Store metadata and imagery.

According to Apple’s Phil Schiller, Apple “thought about how to carefully” do search ads in a way that “customers will be happy with.” Apple also believes the ad auction system is fair to developers, including indie developers.

As of last week, developers who signed up to offer Search Ads have been given a free $100 credit to get started with the program.

Tag: Ads
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