Sony to unveil new Xperia phones at MWC 2017?

Sony already has a great magnitude of smartphones in its repertoire but that seemingly hasn’t stopped the company from wanted to release even more. TechRadar has picked up evidence from the European Economics Commission of two new smartphones, with codenames G3112 and G3121. The codenames are for Xperia phones, but they don’t give away what series they’ll be when they’re launched.

• Sony Xperia XZ review: Falling short of flagship

It’s likely they’ll be Xperia X smartphones, but probably an X2 series, rather than add to the current X lineup. The current lineup comprises the Xperia X, Xperia XA, Xperia X Compact, Xperia XZ and Xperia XA Ultra. Adding two more to that would be a little too much.

The two new phones are expected to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next February, considering it would make the current lineup a year old and previous Xperia releases in 2015 and 2016 have had codenames beginning with E and F.

No other specs, details or features have been leaked or speculated so far, but now we know the phones exist, expect rumours to start popping up.

Battlezone review: Arcade fun for PlayStation VR

So PlayStation VR has arrived, offering a cheaper-than-PC means of experiencing the joys of virtual reality on PlayStation 4. But like every new item of gaming hardware, it’s in dire need of a so-called killer app: a game which is an abdolute must-play.

Battlezone doesn’t quite fit that bill, but it’s a cleverly designed effort which, crucially, feels fully realised – whereas many first-wave VR games resemble extended demos – and should definitely be on your shopping list if you do succumb to PlayStation VR’s charms.

Battlezone review: A classic reimagined

The nature of virtual reality demands slightly different reviewing criteria to non-VR games: for example, developers haven’t yet worked out how to add narrative to VR games in a satisfying manner (stories presented in conventional voiceover seem restrictive in an immersive world). So if you were to compare Battlezone to a normal game, you would say that its campaign is light on ebb and flow. But it easily makes up for that by taking advantage of many of VR’s unique possibilities.

On paper, you could also argue that it’s an odd candidate for what is being presented as the cutting edge of modern gaming, since it’s a labour of retro-love. That’s because it’s a reinvention of the 1980 Atari arcade tank-warfare classic – for which canny Oxford developer Rebellion obtained the intellectual property rights in 2013.

But with its (then-innovative) first-person viewpoint and vector graphics, along with the viewing goggles built into the earliest version of its arcade cabinet, in hindsight, the original Battlezone eerily prefigured virtual reality. And Rebellion’s 2016 reinvention more or less proves that point. When you first get it going, before jumping into any action, it instantly provides that sense of presence which is the raison d’etre of good VR. You find yourself in a voluminous and very convincing tank cockpit which is both high-tech and appropriately retro – virtual screens with green text, for example, reference the arcade original’s green-on-black colour-scheme.

Battlezone review: Battling basics

A brief tutorial introduces the basics – Battlezone uses a standard PS4 gamepad as its controller, and shows you a virtual version of that controller in-game if you look down, in order to avoid disorientating disconnections. The controls are pretty intuitive – switching between weapons proves to be a key mechanic, since the more powerful weapons take an age to reload, as they would in any tank.

The tutorial demonstrates that the tanks – actually hover-tanks, given the futuristic setting – are surprisingly fast and manoeuvrable. The landscape through which you battle will also induce waves of 1980s nostalgia, as they look like they could have been ripped straight out of Tron, with plasticky textures galore, copious neon and primary colours to the fore. This style keeps things looking smooth, avoiding any nausea.

When you jump into the game proper, there are a couple of decisions to make, since each session is procedurally generated. First, you must choose whether to play offline or online – the two games are structurally the same except online you can play co-operatively with up to three others, and difficulty levels are cranked up accordingly.

Next, you must choose your tank – light, medium and heavy ones have different weapon load-outs and trade armour off against manoeuvrability. Then you decide on the length of the campaign you want to play (to conform with good VR practice, each campaign is delivered in bite-sized chunks), and that campaign is generated.

The campaign is visually represented as if it were a board game, resembling an arena formed from hexagonal tiles, and the idea is to get from one side of it to the other. It’s a good idea to plot a course towards the control towers dotted around the board – taking control of those can swing the battle your way, as the enemy faction grows in strength with every battle, and sends Nemesis boss-tanks to seek you out.

Battlezone review: Arcade difficulty

In the spirit of the arcade original, Battlezone is pretty hard and unforgiving. You start with three lives and once your lives have been used up, that’s the end of the campaign.

You can buy lives using data, which enemy tanks, towers and bases drop when you destroy them, but they are pretty expensive, and the same currency is used to upgrade your tank, which can be performed to a fine degree (for example by reinforcing rear or front armour).

Before venturing onto a new hexagon, you can drop a probe to see what is in store, but it’s much more fun to approach a battle blind. Occasionally, you may encounter no resistance, and some hexagons merely bring supplies, allowing you to purchase new weapons or change your loadout. But usually, you are assigned a task, which might be protecting a convoy from enemy attack, taking down an enemy base (while making sure yours remains intact) or taking out an enemy convoy.

While the game’s AI isn’t enormously fierce – enemy tanks take a while to lock onto you, although you have to take care not to expose yourself to missile-firing towers – the difficulty derives from how plentiful the enemies are, and you have to pay attention to the amount of damage you’re taking. Battlezone is sufficiently hard that, for once in a game, it’s worth selecting Easy mode while you’re learning the ropes.

Picking the right tank is mostly a matter of deciding which of its weapons you prefer – Rebellion has put some thought into the standard loadouts. For example, a medium tank comes with a gun that can lock onto multiple targets, as long as you have them in line of sight, which is very handy, but locking on takes a while, as does reloading, so you will come across occasions in which it’s necessary to switch  to the tank’s conventional rocket, which must be aimed carefully. Thus, as you find yourself in different situations, you evolve weapons-based strategies.

Verdict

Battlezone is pretty simple – both in terms of structure and gameplay – but, just like the arcade original and its contemporary games, you soon discover that there is depth to its gameplay, and the element of procedural generation provides plenty of reasons for you to return to it.

By ordinary game standards, it would feel a bit one-paced, but judged by the criteria which must be put in place for VR games, it’s a winner – it’s great fun, and transports you most convincingly to a different, Tron-like world.

On its own, it might not persuade you to take the plunge and lash out on a PlayStation VR. But if you have bought a PS VR, make sure you grab a copy.

Apple Says Touchscreen Macs ‘Not a Particularly Useful or Appropriate Application of Multitouch’

CNET has published an extended interview with Jony Ive in which the Apple design chief discusses some of the design decisions that went into developing the Touch Bar in the company’s new MacBook Pro lineup.

The contextual OLED Touch Bar replacing the function keys on the new Macs was developed for at least two years, during which time Ive’s team explored the idea of larger, haptic-rich trackpads. According to Ive, “a number of designs” were explored that “conceptually make sense”, but were later rejected.

When we lived on them for a while, sort of pragmatically and day to day, [they] are sometimes less compelling. This is something [we] lived on for quite a while before we did any of the prototypes. You really notice or become aware [of] something’s value when you switch back to a more traditional keyboard.

Ive explained that his team’s point of departure was to see if there was a way of designing a new input that could be contextually specific and adaptable, yet also something that was mechanical and fixed. This required the development of a “difficult prototype” with a mature software environment, in order to work out if the idea had any real-world traction.

One of the things that remains quite a big challenge for us is that you have to prototype to a sufficiently sophisticated level to really figure out whether you’re considering the idea, or whether what you’re really doing is evaluating how effective a prototype is.

Ive said that after testing the designs, his team were unanimously “very compelled” by the Touch Bar as a viable input device, but that the real challenge was to integrate it into a specific product without compromising its existing design.

You sort of change your hat, because you have to figure out how do you then productize it, and develop the idea, and resolve and refine to make it applicable to a specific product. To do that in the context of the MacBook Pro — while at the same time you’re trying to make it thinner, lighter and more powerful — the last thing you want to do is burden it with an input direction that now has a whole bunch of challenges specific to something like touch.

Asked if the Mac community’s expectations and emotional ties to their devices affects his design considerations, Ive emphasized that his team “don’t limit ourselves in how we will push – if it’s to a better place”, although “what we won’t do is just do something different that’s no better”.

Apple has published detailed design guidelines on how developers should use the Touch Bar, steering them away from use cases that would suggest it functions as a second display. When pushed, Ive refused to elaborate on why Apple “doesn’t think a touchscreen is a particularly useful or appropriate application of multitouch”, because it would lead him to have to talk about things his team are currently working on.

However, reiterating comments made in an earlier interview with Apple executives Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi, Ive said that incorporating the Touch Bar “is the beginning of a very interesting direction” for the Mac. Rumors have circulated recently that Apple is considering introducing a customizable e-ink keyboard in future Macs, possibly next year, although the veracity of these claims remains unclear.

You can read CNET’s full interview with Jony Ive here.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tags: Jony Ive, Touch Bar
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Gator Watch review: Parental peace of mind

When do you buy your kids a mobile phone? Age 15, 12, eight? With such hectic lives, perhaps separate lives, being able to keep in touch with your kids on the way home, when at a friend’s house, or your ex-partners house, is becoming more the norm.

Buying a fully-fledged smartphone and the multitude of questions that brings can be a lot, especially for children under 12. The Gator Watch is an alternative idea: a smartwatch for kids and designed to let you phone the wearer or have them phone you without all the baggage that comes with a traditional mobile phone.

We’ve tested it on two of the Pocket-lint kids to find out whether it works, whether they are happy to wear it, or whether it’s a flash in the pan device.

Gator Watch review: Design

Coming in blue, black, or pink, the Gator Watch is a fairly chunky device that is simple in its design. The rubber strap and rubber body is easily cleanable. It’s surprisingly hefty and large for a kids watch though.

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The sides are adorned with a series of sealed buttons, but the main focus is on the basic colour LCD screen that delivers the time, plus other pertinent information. The watch face can display in either a digital or analogue style.

There is a small dedicated charger socket on the back of the watch that lets you charge from a USB socket. A magnet ensures it stays in place when connected.

Setup and management of the watch is achieved via the accompanying iPhone or Android app. Which is a good thing.

Gator Watch review: More than just telling the time

Where the Gator Watch becomes more than just a watch is the inclusion of a GPS tracker and mobile phone SIM card that roams between EE, O2, and Vodafone for the best signal.

The watch can be programmed, via the app, to be able to call up to 10 numbers and receive calls from 10 numbers. Only numbers on the safe “whitelist” are allowed – and in most cases you’ll probably only allow your kids to dial you or your partner.

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To make a call you just have to long press on the volume controls, rather than having to worry about typing in any numbers, and that’s incredibly handy given your child doesn’t have to remember any long string of numbers.

In the £9-a-month subscription you get 60 minutes of calls from the watch, and unlimited calls to it. There is no text/SMS support.

Receiving a call is easy: you press a button, and just like the Apple Watch are expected to talk to your wrist, Dick Tracey style.

The speaker and microphone are surprisingly good, and the kids will love it. Okay, so it’s unlikely to work in a busy bar, but your kids aren’t going to be in a busy bar are they? Well, hopefully not.

Gator Watch review: Tracking your kids

Aside from being able to make and receive calls, the Gator watch also features a GPS tracker. With the aid of the app, you are able to track your kids or be alerted when they walk a certain distance away from you.

The app captures the data live and then plots it on a map for you to look at either in real-time or historically. It’s fascinating to see where your kids have been, whether that’s at school, or a friend’s house, and as long as the device has battery and a signal it will continue to ping you updates of the watches whereabouts… whether on a wrist or not.

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In our tests we were able to see our kids had gone to school, where they went with a friend at a play date, even what route they took to get home.

Whether you tell your child is your decision, there is no way to tell from the watch that this information is being recorded and shared with the parent.

Gator Watch review: Battery and boredom

The battery will need recharging every four days, or sooner if you make lots of calls or travel a lot (the GPS sucks battery like nobody’s business).

At first that’s all your kids will want to do: call you. It’s new, it’s exciting, and initially quite fun.

“Dad, I’m upstairs,” “Mum, I’ve made it to the other side of the park,” “Dad I’m sneakily phoning you from the playground during first quarter,” will be the first barrage of calls you’ll receive.

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But once you’ve told them that it’s really only for emergencies or for when there is a problem, the novelty quickly wears off. Then they’ll forget to charge it one night, and then they’ll start forgetting to wear it, until it is getting dusty in their bedroom along with the remote control car and the solar powered robot you spent one Christmas building together.

That’s not to say that’s going to be the case for everyone, but this is a gadget that will soon lose its excitement once the initial play is over. Partly because there’s not exactly much play on offer: there are no games to be found here.

The Gator watch suffers the same fate of most smartwatches: when it’s not telling the time it doesn’t do anything to entertain the user. That’s fine when you aren’t having to remember to charge it twice a week, but for this watch to be the success it has the potential to be, you have to remember to charge it, and for your kids to actually wear it.

Verdict

From a parent’s perspective, the Gator Watch is great. It lets you keep in touch with your kids while they are wearing it, saves you having to invest in a mobile phone – a tricky situation for kids under 12 we feel – and then track them so you know they are safe.

For kids, however, the experience isn’t so exciting after the first couple of days. The seemingly constant need to charge it can be a drag, too, especially alongside all the other things they have to remember for school.

For the Gator Watch to work you need to build it into your routine, that’s for sure. But having used it with the kids we can certainly see its potential.