Xiaomi sells out of the Mi Note 2 in just 50 seconds in China

Xiaomi’s highly anticipated Mi Note 2 went on sale in China for the first time, and as expected, the flash sale lasted just 50 seconds. Xiaomi initially makes smaller batches of units available to customers, ramping up production later on in the product’s lifecycle. Xiaomi didn’t mention how many units of the Mi Note 2 were made available, but customers are now eligible to register for the second flash sale, which is slated for November 8.

Xiaomi will also kick off the first flash sale of the bezel-less Mi Mix on November 4. Either product is unlikely to make its way outside of China, but third-party sellers like GearBest are already starting to take pre-orders for the global version of the Mi Note 2 and the Mi Mix.

The variant of the Mi Note 2 with 6GB of RAM, Snapdragon 821, 128GB storage, and global LTE bands is slated to go on sale for ¥3,499 ($515) in China, and the same commands a premium on GearBest, where it is available for $629. Same goes for the Mi Mix, with the retail $590 version with 6GB of RAM and 256GB storage listed for $750. The retailer will start deliveries after December 15.

The Pixel XL is a near-perfect travel companion

I took Google’s new phone away for a couple of weeks. Here’s what I found out.

Using a new gadget while going about your everyday life will give you a pretty good idea of how well it works. That’s how we review phones most of the time. But nothing tests a device like travel — when you really want to push a smartphone to its limits, take it on the road. (Or more accurately, to the skies.)

I’ve recent wrapped up two weeks in Asia using a 32GB Google Pixel XL, and in the process I’ve become well acquainted with the new best Android phone.

Here’s what I learned.

1. I can get by on 32 gigabytes — but only just

It’s a tough call: Do you persevere with a 32GB Pixel, or stump up the $100 premium for a 128GB model? My Pixel XL review unit is a 32GB device, so I was curious to see to what extent storage anxiety would creep in over the course of a two-week trip. The answer: Saving that hundred bucks upfront will cost you some micro-management further down the line.

The 32GB Pixel obviously isn’t meant for the sort of person who likes to keep tens of gigabytes of music on their phone. I’m not that kind of user — instead I’ll load up few albums or playlists for a flight, and stream music the rest of the time. The 32GB Pixel manages this sort of use pretty well, but again, some micromanagement is required — especially if you’re used to dumping your entire music cache onto an SD card and forgetting about it.

Storage micromanagement is the trade-off for saving $100 on your Pixel purchase.

The same applies to photos. With pics from the Pixel weighing in at between 3 and 7 megabytes, you’ll need to do some pruning eventually. For me, this came a week in, with hundreds of photos quickly pushing my 32GB Pixel well past the 50 percent mark. Fortunately Google Photos makes it easy to offload your photos to the cloud — at full resolution and quality for Pixel owners.

More: How to free up extra storage on the Google Pixel

But it’s worth remembering that most of the time you’ll only want to back up over Wi-Fi. And when you’re traveling, that’s not always simple, especially if you’ve got several gigabytes of photos and videos to shift. Once your stuff’s in the cloud, though, reclaiming space is as simple as hitting a menu item and waiting a few minutes.

You’ll need to do this dance once every few weeks, or months, depending on how quickly you burn through photo storage space. This upkeep is the main trade-off of living with a 32GB Pixel. I’m probably fine with that for now; we’ll see how things pan out in 2017, when 64GB Android phones should become the norm.

2. Google’s camera is always good, often spectacular

We’ve already been over the Pixel camera in our full review, and — spoiler alert — all of the AC editors have been seriously impressed with Google’s new camera setup. Two weeks of travel with the Pixel has only reinforced that impression.

So I’m not going to retread that ground, but it is worth highlighting a few extra things I’ve noticed after a couple of weeks of Pixel photography.

In the next year perhaps it’ll be software, not hardware, that makes the difference between a good phone camera and a really great one.

The first is how my perception of the Pixel camera has changed since our review. It’s easy to point out the Pixel’s stellar low-light performance, but the same was more or less true of the Nexus 6P. (Only that phone took way, way longer to get comparable pics.) Over the past couple of weeks I’ve managed to pull off some really impressive low-light pics that retain way more color detail than the Galaxy S7, or even the iPhone 7. (Check out the photos of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour for a great example of this.)

With enough encouragement, the 6P can do the same. But the real difference between the Pixel and the Huawei-built Nexus is how it handles daylight scenes, and dynamic range in general. The sensor’s onboard HDR capabilities (new to the Pixel’s sensor, but lacking in the 6P) combined with Google’s post-processing magic, allows it to nail just about every outdoor shot in a way the Nexus 6P could never manage.

It’s also clear Google is leaps and bounds ahead of most of its competitors when it comes to post-processing which lets it produce clean, noise-free low-light pics even at relatively high ISO levels. (Examining EXIF data from some of my night shots shows ISOs approaching 2000.) Maybe this is a sign of things to come — in the next year perhaps it’ll be software, not hardware, which makes the difference between a good phone camera and a really great one.

3. Any Pixel can pick up LTE just about anywhere

Unlike a lot of Nexus phones, both the U.S. and rest-of-world spec Pixels support just about every LTE band you could want, meaning you get support for more carriers when you travel. In the U.S., your Pixel supports 17 different LTE bands; for the global model, it’s a whopping 21; both models overlap on the main bands you need for the major U.S., European and Asian operators. (By contrast, the 5X and 6P’s international coverage was decent, but not anywhere near as complete.)

Aside from CDMA (Verizon) support in the U.S. model, the biggest difference in connectivity between the two models is carrier aggregation — the American Pixels are configured to use different bands together for faster LTE coverage, while the combination of supported bands is slightly different for the RoW models. But that’s gravy — the vast majority of LTE networks will work just fine on either model, even without CA.

Such a huge list of supported bands allows you to throw a local SIM in your Pixel when you land, and not have to worry about roaming charges. That’s a big deal in places like Hong Kong and Taiwan, where roaming rates for UK operators tend to be astronomically high.

At the same time, using a rest-of-world Pixel comes with the added bonus of TDD-LTE support, allowing me to hook up to all the local 4G networks in China.

4. Battery life might surprise you

It’s clear these phones have undergone some serious battery optimization.

Travel — particularly air travel — is a great way to kill the battery of any smartphone. You’re killing time at the airport. Then you’re listening to music, or trying to browse over a crappy in-flight Wi-Fi connection. Throw in a bunch of photography, tweeting and Instagramming when you land, and most handsets are easily looking at a mid-day top-up.

But through a combination of a relatively large battery (3,450mAh) and software optimizations, the Pixel weathers heavy use better than most — including, in my anecdotal experience, Samsung’s Galaxy S7 edge, which uses an even larger cell. Even with lots of photography using Google’s HDR+ post-processing going on, the larger Pixel depleted at a slower rate than I’d come to expect from the GS7 edge.

We’re still looking at a single-day phone here, at least based on the way I use a phone in travel mode. But it’s a welcome improvement, and a testament to just how optimized the Pixel is.

Meanwhile, support both 5V/3A and 9V/2A quick charging meant it was much easier to translate a quick hotel or Airbnb stop-off into a meaningful bump in battery levels, compared to last year’s 6P and 5X. Quick charging is nothing new, but it’s nice to see Google being mostly in step with Qualcomm in terms of charging speed, if not the technical standards themselves.

5. Live wallpapers are awesome again

Google pretty much gave up on live wallpapers after Android 4.0, but they’re back with a vengeance on the Pixel. The new phones are loaded with an impressive array of 3D landscapes, and geometric patterns showing the time of day. The most impressive backdrops of all are the ones that change based on where you are and what’s going on there.

When you’re making your way to a new country, the preloaded Live Earth wallpaper lets you see your new surroundings in real time, with an animated 3D globe with live day/night cycles and dynamic clouds.

Live wallpapers are best when they’re truly live, reflecting the world around you.

But I eventually settled on “Aurora,” a backdrop that might seem little more than a colored gradient at first, but actually reflects the current time of day, temperature and other weather conditions. A sunset on a warm, humid day is reflected by bright pink and purple hues. Bright sunny skies create a pattern of deep blues. And a muggy, cloudy end to the day might make your home screen orange and earthy. Subtle animations as you unlock scroll through pages keep things feeling “live.”

It’s this kind of stuff that makes a live wallpaper more meaningful than just another set of animations, and as you’re experiencing new surroundings (and new climates), it’s nice to see this reflected on your phone.

Other odds and ends:

• The inability of “stock” Android to show both a roaming icon and a connection type icon continues to be a pet hate of mine. It’s a minor UI issue, but it should be possible to show that you’re roaming while also knowing whether you’re on HSPA, LTE or whatever else. Basically everyone else in the Android world does this.
• Wi-Fi Assistant, the feature which lets you automatically connect to “quality” open Wi-Fi hotspots, works pretty well, but it’d be so much more useful if you could secure your connections to other public hotspots using the Google VPN, and not just those pre-approved by the software. Hotel Wi-Fi behind a captive portal is a great example.
• The back glass of my Pixel XL continues to get more and more scratched up. That’s what happens when you put glass on the back without a camera bump. And that’s despite the fact that…
• I have yet to drop my Pixel XL. If you do, all bets are off.

Pixel and Pixel XL owners, how have you been getting on with the phone? Anyone traveling with one in the past couple of weeks? Share your thoughts down in the comments!

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

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Cabbage Patch Kids now have LCD eyes and an app, of course they do

US manufacturer Wicked Cool Toys has reinvented the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls for a new generation. The originals were always creepy looking, but now they can also stare at you with moving LCD eyes.

In addition, they can now be interacted with through an iOS or Android app.

The Cabbage Patch Kids Baby So Real dolls are bound to be a big hit this Christmas although it seems they will only be available in the States initially.

Each doll features sensors for “peek-a-boo” and “tickle” play. It can also feed from a special bottle, burps and can have its nappy (diaper) changed. The app changes a phone or tablet into a baby monitor, with an online virtual nursery offering games and video clips. You can also earn “baby points” to buy virtual items for the in-app version of your toy.

The app is free although a Cabbage Patch Kids Baby So Real doll costs $99. It’s available from Toys R’ Us, Amazon and several other US stores.

The same company also manufactures an updated version of Teddy Ruxpin, another 80s toy to make a high-tech comeback in the near future.

• 80s kids, rejoice! Teddy Ruxpin is back with LCD eyes and more

At internetmatters.org parents can find all the advice they will need to keep their children safe online. Designed specifically for parents, the site offers a wealth of up-to-date, unbiased information and advice about how to deal with online safety. Parents can learn about the latest issues and technologies, get great tips on how to talk about online safety with their children and get the best advice on dealing with issues and taking action. Created with experts, Internet Matters provides detailed information, but also signposts to best-in-class resources from individual expert organisations. Our goal is to ensure parents can always access the information that they need, in a format that is clear and concise.

Nissan’s new e-Power drivetrain lets you drive further on electric power without stopping to charge

Nissan has unveiled details of its new e-Power drivetrain which will be fitted to the Nissan Note. The e-Power drivetrain combines a high-output battery to power the wheels, with a small gasoline engine that recharges it when necessary.

The system helps to eliminate the need to recharge and plug in when you get home or are out on the road as instead you’ll be able to fill up at a fuel station to power the regular engine.

It differs from other hybrid cars in that others have an electric motor and an engine, but the engine is used to power the wheels at high speeds or when the battery level is low.

Nissan has also been able to produce a battery with more power than the one in the Leaf, but smaller in size, something it says the automotive industry as a whole has been trying to figure out for some time.

• Nissan Leaf 2016 first drive: Increased range, but not a huge change

Because it’s just the electric motor that drives the wheels, power is delivered instantly and it gives out zero emissions. And as the engine is only occasionally used to recharge the battery, it can match conventional hybrid cars when it comes to fuel efficiency.

Nissan has said the new e-Power drivetrain system will be used in the upcoming Note car, which will make it the “first mass-produced compact segment car ever to be equipped with a series hybrid system”.

Honda HR-V review: An unusual acquaintance

Honda is one of Britain’s great car makers. Yes, you did read that correctly. Despite being a Japanese firm, the company’s vast operation in Swindon – where it builds the Civic, Jazz and CR-V – makes it one of the UK’s biggest car producers.

Which makes it all the more strange that the company only has just over two per cent share of the UK’s new car market. One of the reasons for this is Honda’s range is a little unusual: there are distinct gaps in its line-up of the types of cars we like to buy today, including, until recently, a small B-sector crossover.

But now we have one: the Honda HR-V. It’s car to tcompete with a Renault Captur, Mazda CX-3 and Vauxhall Mokka. Honda describes it as having the lines of a coupe with the robustness of an SUV.

However, at 4.2-metres long, it’s big for this market – beginning to step into the next segment up, which is dominated by the Nissan Qashqai. So does the HR-V successfully split the difference? We’ve tried it out in top-of-the-line EX trim to see why you don’t see more of them on the road…

Honda HR-V review: A difficult first meeting

You can tell a lot about a car from your first acquaintance with it – or so they say. And while most of us are initially drawn to a particular car because of the way it looks, it’s when we first sit inside that we begin asking the car to tick boxes that might allow us to progress towards considering it as a purchase.

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Does it look inviting? Is there enough space? Do the materials feel and look high quality? Is it comfortable? What all these factors add up to is what engineers in the car business define as “perceived quality” – we are perceiving a car’s real quality through the things we can see and touch. Audi has mastered this art and it’s a large contributing factor in why its last couple of generations of car have done so well.

While some cars – such as the Toyota Prius – can flummox the uninitiated with a confusing interface or gear selector, in the case of the HR-V when you first jump in there’s little to stop you simply getting in and being able to drive it straight away. But when you first stop to drink in the atmosphere, you can’t help but be a little disappointed.

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The HR-V’s interior is an unremittingly black space, with the quality of the plastics and materials feeling low grade. The touchscreen sat nav unit is very obviously a supplier bought-in one that looks like no real attempt has been made to integrate it into the dash design. And the first thing we did was reach for the seat adjustor, as the squab of the seat felt ridiculously flat – like we were being tipped out of the front of it. Oh and it incessantly beeps at you.

Honda HR-V review: The second read

So it’s only when you spend longer with the HR-V that you come to appreciate what it is, what it does, and how cleverly it has been thought out in many regards.

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It starts the minute you turn the key (well, hitting the Start/Stop button in our test car). We’ve remarked on this 1.6 i-DTEC diesel engine in both the Civic and CR-V before, but it’s worth repeating here that it is good. It is well damped and largely free of clatter both at start up and on the move. It doesn’t send weird shudders through the cabin when it starts up and stops (unlike some of the German competition).

It also returned nearly 60mpg in our hands, even when driven vigorously. Be saintly, and you might manage closer to the 70mpg that official figures suggest is possible. A CO2 figure of 108g/km will make the diesel more appealing to company car buyers than the 1.5 petrol (134g/km) but still means that company car buyers will be paying more tax than in many of the hybrid and lower power diesel competition models.

As you start the HR-V the gauges glow to life. These sharp-looking monitors pull off that neat trick of being easy to read while also looking high-tech and modern. At night, there is a theatrical blue-white halo glow around the central speedo ring which we spent half our week trying to work out how Honda had made work. We didn’t work it out, but it looks great.

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Turn the HR-V’s wheel and you’ll be impressed not only with the high quality of the leather it’s wrapped in, but the nicely weighted, precise steering. And because Honda is an utter master at engineering and packaging a car, you realise your sight lines out of the car are far better than anything else in the class.

That extends to interior space too – where in the back you’ve got more legroom than an average C-sector hatchback and a huge boot of 470 litres (as much as a BMW 3-Series touring), and better than a Nissan Qashqai. All of which makes this 4.2-metre long car easily capable of coping with family life.

And that’s before we mention the huge, reconfigurable central storage bin, or the “Magic seat” function which allows you to flip up the rear seat squab, creating a great space behind the front seats – a boon for sliding a bike in, or carrying things like plants home from the garden centre. We thought it was Skoda that owned the tag line “Simply Clever”. It should be Honda.

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Honda HR-V review: A mixed bag

Drive the car more, however, and the Honda is a bit of a mixed bag. The steering is, as we’ve mentioned, well judged. The gearshift has the kind of precision that you’d expect from a Honda – it feels light years ahead of the Peugeot 208 we jumped out of before this.

The ride has been set up to be relatively soft, so if you push on the HR-V you’ll be throwing your passengers around as body control and roll isn’t that well contained. Though this is probably the right setup for a family-orientated crossover, it’s a shame the ride remains pretty jiggly on most surfaces. A Nissan Qashqai is better to drive and more suited to the UK, a Mazda CX-3 feels sharper and more fun.

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The HR-V’s diesel engine feels reasonably swift. It produces 120bhp, and at times feels faster than a 0-62mph figure of 10.5-seconds suggests. It overtakes well. It’s a pity there’s no option of four-wheel drive in the UK though.

In our top-spec EX model the tech suite is extensive. You get a full raft of safety kit (airbags all round, hill start and city brake assist, front collision warning, speed limiter, lane departure warning) as well as some bigger-car features such as traffic sign/speed limit recognition and automatic high-beam support for the LED headlights.

You also get a rear view camera capable of different lens angles, heated seats, keyless entry and locking, plus Bluetooth connectivity complemented by two USB ports and two HDMI jacks.That aforementioned 7-inch touchscreen, while looking like it’s a stowaway from a 90s electrical shop, features massive, easy-to-hit icons. There’s a Garmin sat nav complete with that company’s cartoonish but easy-to-understand graphics.

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What we don’t like is Honda’s slightly bizarre trip computer logic and steering wheel buttons which can (confusingly) directly control the centre touchscreen and take some serious learning. We were still inadvertently activating the wrong thing towards the end of our week with the HR-V.

Verdict

Following our initially tricky first acquaintance, and after a week and a few hundred miles in the Honda HR-V, we’ve come to see it as a very formidable companion and a very likeable vehicle to live with. It’s better to drive than most of the competition, it’s economical yet quick enough, and it’s clever with usable space and a massive dose of versatility which makes it good for family transport.

So why, you wonder, don’t you see more Hondas – and specifically HR-Vs on the road? The answer is lurking in a slightly surprising price and spec figure. As tested, our EX spec HR-V is £26,630 – and it had only £575 of options selected.

Despite the high spec of our EX car (you get a panoramic roof and leather interior as standard, too) that price looks lofty when you consider you can get a top spec Nissan Qashqai for just £26,115. Looking down the market, a slightly smaller Renault Captur in top spec Signature Nav spec is £21,385. Those two cars are the respective best sellers in their classes. And the combination of these factors and prices – we suspect, to many customers – leaves the HR-V ignored, stuck in no-man’s land.

Which is a shame, because it’s easier to park and more cleverly designed than a Qashqai and just as well equipped. It’s more spacious and much better to drive than a Captur. It’s also a Honda, which data suggests means it’s likely to last better and be more reliable than either other car.

Our advice would be that if you’re in the market for a car like this, to stick it on your shortlist, go for a long test drive and give the SE Navi model a try instead of this EX – you get most of the kit you could ever want and in diesel form it runs to more reasonable £23,050.

Samsung Family Hub connected fridge now available in UK

It is customary for televisions or home entertainment tech to come out tops during the CES trade show in Las Vegas at the start of each year, but in January 2016, Samsung was talk of the town for its latest fridge freezer rather than its TVs.

The company created quite a buzz with its Family Hub Refrigerator and rightly so; it’s a real innovation for a category that has remained static for many years now.

It is quite an extraordinary product both in concept and in the flesh and now it is available in the UK from stockists such as Currys, AO.com and John Lewis.

Why the Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator is so smart

The Family Hub has a trio of cameras inside the door of the upper unit that takes a photo of your food every time you shut the fridge, sending the end result to your smartphone. It also has a 21.5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED touchscreen display on the front that can be used in many life-enhancing ways.

For a start, you can interact with it using your mobile device and send pictures to the screen to display – in a similar way to pinning a photo to an older refrigerator using a magnet. And you can house an interactive calendar to keep track of family members.

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Indeed, the family hub naming convention is well deserved it seems.

The screen can also be used to control audio playback, with stereo speakers also built into the fridge. And recipes can be pulled up as it connects to the internet. The web connectivity could eventually be used for grocery ordering too.

Allied with Mastercard in the US, users in the States can internet shop straight from the fridge, seeing what food or milk is required through the interior snapshot, and the items will be delivered to their door. There’s no word yet on a UK partnership, but maybe one could be in the pipeline for future use?

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Another great feature is that of screen mirroring. The fridge can pair with a Samsung Smart TV and a program being watched in the living room, say, can be transferred and picked up on the fridge instead.

All this and the appliance looks sexy on the exterior too, with a stainless steel build and plenty of storage inside.

First Impressions

We have to admit that, like many of the other attendees at CES in January, the Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator wowed us. In fact, it was one of the products we saw that we’d genuinely love to own ourselves.

The only sticking point is the price.

The full American refrigerator-sized version will set you back a whopping £4,499.99 – more than £2,500 more than an equivalent Samsung model without the screen. You can opt for a single-door fridge freezer version instead, but even that is expensive, costing a penny shy of £3,000.

Still, this sort of technology tends to bleed down the chain over time, so we hope it’s not just a passing fad and all fridges in the future might be connected.

Mobile World Congress 2017: Smartphones, smartphones, smartphones to expect

With 2016 drawing to a close, the next big smartphone launch platform is Mobile World Congress 2017.

One of the biggest fixtures in the mobile launch calendar, here’s everything you need to know about MWC 2017 and what smartphones and devices we can expect to see. 

What is Mobile World Congress?

Mobile World Congress is an annual trade show run by the GSMA. The location moves around Europe, but in recent years it has been held in Barcelona. 

Mobile World Congress is the launch platform for many of the year’s big smartphones, but it has also given us a range of tablets, smartwatches and other connected devices in recent years. 

Outside of the consumer sphere, it also draws in many of the industry heavyweights to talk about the future of mobile, like 5G, chipsets and other technologies. 

When is Mobile World Congress 2017? 

Mobile World Congress 2017 will be held on 27 February to 3 March. These are the days that the show itself is open, the press days – where the big announcements are made – usually fall before this. 

Sunday 26 February will be the big launch day, the day before the show opens to visitors. 

Huawei at MWC 2017

Huawei has generally been having a good time of things, growing brand recognition and releasing some accomplished devices, like the Huawei P9. Huawei has a mixed history with MWC, often using the conference to launch new devices, but not always the new flagship, which often gets its own, large, launch event a month later. 

With the Mate 9 stealing most of the recent headlines, there’s been little chatter about Huawei’s future plans, but with some companies stumbling in 2016, we’d expect Huawei to have a vigorous 2017, so expect some action at MWC.

HTC at MWC 2017

With HTC enjoying something of a return to form with the HTC 10, and coming off the back of working on great devices in the Google Pixel and Pixel XL expectations are high for HTC in 2017.

HTC’s rumoured flagship device is going under the name of HTC Ocean, and the suggestion is that it will offer a very different method of interaction, with no buttons on the device at all. Rumours are swirling as a picture of this future handset slowly builds.

• HTC Ocean: What’s the story on HTC’s next flagship?

LG at MWC 2017

LG used MWC 2016 to launch the G5, with its wide variety of accessories, or Friends, as LG calls them. LG hasn’t always used the mobile conference as a launch pad, but we’re expecting to see the LG G6 appearing at MWC 2017. 

Rumours suggest that LG will be dropping the modular approach for its new flagship, which hasn’t really garnered the support that some rival flagships have. Early rumours are suggesting it will carry an iris scanner, and we’d expect LG to keep the dual camera approach. 

Nokia at MWC 2017

Nokia previously confirmed that it was getting back into smartphones, and that Android was the platform that it would be using moving forward. 

Having endured some time in the wilderness following the marriage and then divorce from Microsoft, MWC is an obvious destination for Nokia to put itself back on the global stage. So far there’s rumour of two devices in the works, at 5.2 and 5.5-inches, but information is thin on the ground.

• Nokia Android phones: What can we expect to see?

Samsung at MWC 2017

Samsung is expected to announce the Samsung Galaxy S8 at Mobile World Congress 2017. The company typically dominates the Sunday, in this case 26 February, with a large launch.

With the Note 7 burning out, we don’t think Samsung will falter, we expect it to double-up and go even bigger. We’re expecting to see the Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 edge launched, with current rumours unclear on whether to expect one model of flagship or two. 

Samsung is already talking about its future handset, offering assurances to disgruntled Note 7 customers, as leaks and rumours start to swirl.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 edge: What’s the story so far?

Sony at MWC 2017

Sony likes to launch devices, often using IFA and MWC as the chance to do so. Having moved on from the Xperia Z family into the Xperia X, there’s already rumours that Sony will be using MWC 2017 to update the Xperia X.

With Sony’s smartphones being a bit of a mixture in 2016, it’s difficult to see exactly where it will will be updating, but we suspect there will be multiple devices on the horizon.

The Arrow Smart-Kart is a joy rider that parents can control

If you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, you might have been lucky enough to own a Power Wheels car. Even if you didn’t, anyone who watched TV knew the jingle. (You’re probably humming it right now.) But Power Wheels are slow and not very intelligent. The Arrow Smart-Kart from Actev Motors, available today, tackles some of those shortcomings. It’s faster, WiFi-connected and has the expertise of Nest co-founder Tony Fadell behind it. But, even though Fadell has been talking about building a car for a while now, the Arrow is aimed squarely at kids and their parents. Kids will appreciate the thrill of driving their own mini electric car, while adults will relish the control the Arrow app gives them. Parents can set limits on the kart at the tap of a screen, making desperate screams at their offspring to “slow down!” no longer necessary.

At first glance, the Arrow looks like a standard go-kart, with four wheels, a low profile and controls that include a steering column and gas/brake pedals. It’s pretty close to a real driving experience, and it’s all powered by a Lithium-Ion battery that can be recharged from a wall outlet. This makes it a lot safer than standard gas-powered go-karts, and easier than even Power Wheels. As a child I remember seeing plenty of dead vehicles sitting in my neighbors’ backyards, gathering leaves from disuse.

Of course, part of the fun of having a go-kart is tailoring it to your own sense of style, which is why Actev sells body kits. You can trick out the vehicle to look like a Formula racer, with other vehicle styles planned down the line (but none announced at this time). The wheels and steering are designed to be customizable too. Right now the one accoutrement you can add is a pair of drift rings over the rear tires, which will reduce friction and allow children to imitate drifting techniques from movies like The Fast and the Furious.

I didn’t get to see any drifting in action, but I did get to watch one of the Arrow karts zip around an indoor studio. The young driver at the demo took a few laps around a large room and down an empty hall under the watchful eye of Actev Motors co-founder Dave Bell, who was able to control the vehicle’s speed and gear from his phone.

Power Wheels tops out at five miles per hour — just slow enough for an adult to keep pace as they supervise a little kid. But it’s frustrating for older children, which is why the Arrow Smart-Kart can do up to 12 miles per hour. However, that makes it pretty easy to outpace a parent walking or jogging. With the Arrow app, however, a parent doesn’t have to leave the porch to make sure their kid doesn’t take it too far. The app connects to the kart via WiFi and allows an adult to limit the speed, gear and even distance.

If a driver takes the Arrow out of range, it starts to slow down, forcing the child to turn the car around and bring it back within the virtual fence if they want to get back up to full speed. And, if the kid starts to get a little rough with the Arrow and steers it toward a fence or mailbox, the kart is equipped with collision avoidance tech. It’s not perfect — the kart I saw was a bit dinged up from a mishap involving a pillar — but it’s lot more protection than, say, a bike would offer. However, the company still recommends kids wear a helmet while operating the kart.

Though the Arrow Smart-Kart is best suited for kids ages five through eight, that doesn’t mean older children or even adults can’t cram into the seat. Which I did, though not easily. It required a bit of contortion to get my legs under the steering wheel, but once seated I was mostly fine. Mostly.

A top speed of 12 miles per hour doesn’t sound like a lot, but it feels swift when you’re actually riding the thing, because it accelerates quickly. As I’ve previously admitted, I don’t actually know how to drive, so I was a bit cautious at first, hitting the gas for short bursts. The steering wheel requires some effort to turn, which is good because it means your kid can’t accidentally go off-course; they have to make a very deliberate decision to go left or right. In my case, I found I didn’t turn quickly enough inside the studio, which left me having to back up to course correct often. While gear changes can be made through the app, reverse can also be enabled by double tapping the brake while fully stopped.

It was fun to ride around in the Arrow, although my adult-length legs were less thrilled. (I later had a hard time getting out of the vehicle as well.) It’s probably best to leave this to the kids. But, with a single kart costing $1,000 on Actev Motors’ website, you’re still going to need adult funds to handle the payment. That’s way more than Power Wheels or even the mini Tesla S will run you, but neither of those choices is as speedy or smart. The only thing the Arrow Smart-Kart needs now is a catchy jingle.