The $40 ‘Watch Dogs 2’ Season Pass includes new stories, clothes
Watch Dogs 2 is scheduled to hit PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15th, followed by PC on November 29th, but Ubisoft already has its eyes on your post-game experience. The Watch Dogs 2 Season Pass costs $40 and includes five add-on packs: the T-Bone Content Bundle, Human Conditions, No Compromise, Root Access Bundle and Psychedelic Pack. The first three bundles land on PS4 30 days before hitting other platforms, and the final two are day-one additions for anyone who picks up the complete Season Pass.
Now for the DLC details. The T-Bone Bundle lands on PS4 on December 13th and includes a new co-op difficulty setting, Mayhem, plus the clothes and truck of the original Watch Dogs’ Raymond “T-Bone” Kenney. Next up, Human Conditions lands in spring 2017 and features three new stories set in San Francisco’s scandalous science and medicine industries. Plus, playing through this bundle unlocks co-op missions starring the Jammer, a technologically savvy enemy capable of hunting players down. Also out in spring, No Compromise includes a new story featuring the Russian Mob and an unlockable co-op mode called Showdown.
The Root Access Bundle and Psychedelic Pack offer up a Zodiac Killer mission, and new outfits, cars, skins and weapons. If you’re 100 percent convinced that Watch Dogs 2 is going to be both enjoyable and not long enough for your liking, the Season Pass is available in the game’s $100 Gold Edition or as a standalone $40 purchase.
Source: Ubisoft
Daily Briefing: Facebook and Uber are eating the world
Android news, fresh out of the oven. It is Wednesday, November 2.
Facebook is everywhere. The company that everyone loves to hate is now used by more than a billion people per day on mobile devices alone, and nearly two billion overall. And after being accused of not understanding mobile, opting for a time to use HTML5 apps instead of native code, Facebook is almost entirely reliant on mobile for its advertising revenue.
That’s an incredible transition in just four years, and it rests on the shoulders of the growth of Android and iOS — especially Android, since it is the dominant platform in markets like India and Africa where Facebook is growing fast. And even if you don’t use Facebook proper, there’s still Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and any number of other places the company gets you.
Tell me, is it still uncool to like Facebook?
OnePlus wants to sell you a bag and a t-shirt on Nov 3
After having a surprisingly robust business selling “lifestyle” products in China, OnePlus is starting to sell its self-designed bags and t-shirts in North America and Europe. You can choose between one of four different bag designs and two t-shirts, and they’re expected to have reasonable prices as well. More
Adobe’s latest apps bring near-parity to iOS app suite
Adobe has released two more Android apps for its Creative Cloud customers, Sketch and Comp CC, aimed at helping its customers improve their mobile workflows. The former, Sketch, is a straight-up drawing app, with support for passive styluses as well as the Note’s S Pen, and exports layered images that can later be edited and improved upon in Adobe’s desktop suite of apps. Comp CC is a wireframing app with the same goals in mind.
Slowly but surely Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps for Android are reaching parity, both in numbers and quality, with their iOS counterparts, which will be encouraging to Android users who spend a lot of money every year on Adobe’s most profitable subscription.
LastPass now allows unlimited cross-device syncing for free
LastPass has announced that its free tier now allows unlimited cross-device synchronization of passwords and other secure notes, putting it in a better position to compete with the best password manager out there, 1Password.
LastPass Premium still offers additional value — it’s $12 per year, per account — with family sharing and additional hardware-based two-factor authentication methods.
Uber’s new app is now a transit OS
Uber has redesigned its app with a focus on more predictive use cases, such using a rider’s calendar information to predict where he is going, or the ability to tap into a friend’s GPS coordinates to locate a perfect pickup or drop-off point. The app will also soon work with Yelp to find the best places to eat, and now more tightly integrates with Pandora and Spotify for controlling on-board music.
IFTTT replaces recipes for applets
IFTTT, the connective tissue of the IoT, unveiled a new app today, and alongside it a new replacement for its “recipes” called Applets. The idea takes recipes — if you do this, then do this other thing — to the next logical step, stacking actions together to form macros.
Facebook is now used by over half the people with internet access
Facebook announced its third-quarter earnings today and unveiled enviable numbers of daily users and advertising revenue. The former now exceeds 1.18 billion, almost all of which — 1.09 billion — are mobile. Mobile advertising now comprises 84% of Facebook’s overall ad revenue, while overall revenues exceeded $7 billion for the first time ever.
Pokémon Go is trying to keep people addicted with daily bonuses
Yep, we’re still talking about Pokémon Go. That’s because despite a drop-off in players it is still the biggest mobile game out there, and Niantic is trying to keep people addicted with new daily bonuses. Starting with the next update, Trainers will be able to capture extra XP and Stardust by catching a Pokémon or visiting a PokeStop every day. Those who play for streaks of seven days at a time will capture extra bonuses. Good stuff! More:
That’s it from us today, see you tomorrow!
Pokémon Go to bring daily and weekly bonuses for active users
Niantic has posted news about an upcoming update for the Pokémon Go app, and a big feature of it will be daily bonuses for catching the lil’ buggers. The bonuses will get better each consecutive day, and look to be an easy way to score experience points, Stardust and additional items from Pokéstop visits.
We want to provide you a detailed look at a new feature coming soon to Pokémon GO – Daily bonuses! Trainers will soon be able to receive a bonus for certain daily activities, including catching a Pokémon or visiting a PokéStop once a day. You’ll earn a larger bonus if you do this seven days in a row!
Catching a Pokémon every day will earn the following bonus:
- 500 XP
- 600 Stardust
Catching a Pokémon every day for 7 days straight will earn the following larger bonus:
- 2,000 XP
- 2,400 Stardust
Visiting a PokéStop and spinning the Photo Disc every day will earn the following bonus:
- 500 XP
- A number of additional items
Visiting a PokéStop every day for 7 days straight will earn the following larger bonus:
- 2,000 XP
- A greater number of additional items
If you catch a Pokémon at any time on Tuesday local time, you’ll be eligible for the next daily bonus on Wednesday at 12 AM local time.
While the huge numbers of new daily players of Pokémon Go don’t match the initial release numbers, the game is still extremely popular and making money for Niantic. Frequent updates and additional features and rewards are part of the reason. Love Pokémon or hate Pokémon, there’s no denying that Niantic knows how to make a great app that plenty of people love. Updates like this show they also have a plan to keep them interested.
No word from Niantic about when we’ll see the update other than coming soon. We’ll take a look when it gets here.
Pokémon Go
- Join our Pokémon Go forums!
- How to deal with GPS errors in-game
- Which team should you choose?
- How to play without killing your battery
- The Ultimate Pokémon Go Game Guide!
- Listen to the Pokémon Go podcast!
Microsoft Teams is here: A Slack-like app that’s part of Office 365
Microsoft is the latest company to go after Slack.
A couple weeks after Facebook unveiled its Slack-like messenger service, called Workplace, which allows teams to easily communicate, video call, share files, and stay up to date in one place, Microsoft has unveiled a similar product called Microsoft Teams. Here’s what you need to know.
What is Microsoft Teams?
At an event in New York City, Microsoft demoed Microsoft Teams, which it described as a new chat-based workspace in Office 365. It’s integrated with Office applications, including Skype, and it uses the Office 365 cloud. Microsoft Teams is also built on Office 365 Group, making it easy for people to move naturally from one collaboration tool to another, Microsoft said.
- What is Slack and how does it work?
How does Microsoft Teams work?
The digital workplace offers threaded chats. Although team conversations are, by default, visible to the entire team, there is the ability to have private discussions. It also works with Skype to offer voice and video conferences. It even supports fun elements like emojis, stickers, GIFs, and custom memes. These features are a big part of why Slack has become the go-to service for teams and workplaces.
But what makes Microsoft Teams different is that Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneNote, Planner, Power BI, and Delve are all built in, and it’s backed by Microsoft Graph, which enables intelligent services. From what we could see in Microsoft’s demo, the app has a menu bar on the right that provides access to activity alerts, your chats, teams, meetings, files, and settings.
From these options, you can engage with team members and access used documents and cloud services.
Is Microsoft Teams safe?
Microsoft said all data in Microsoft Teams is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Which platforms does Microsoft Teams support?
Microsoft Teams is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and web platforms – just like other Office 365 apps.
When will Microsoft Teams be available?
Starting 2 November, Microsoft Teams is available in preview in 181 countries and in 18 languages to commercial customers with Office 365 Enterprise or Business plans. General availability for all customers is expected to roll out in the first quarter of 2017.
How much does Microsoft Teams cost?
Microsoft Teams is currently included the following Office 365 plans: Business Essentials, Business Premium, and Enterprise E1, E3, and E5.
- Go here to see the different pricing for each plan.
Want to know more?
Check out the Microsoft Teams website for more details.
Best US Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2016 deals
Ah, ’tis the season again. The season of Christmas sales!
This year’s sale season begins on Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving in the US) and extends to Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving in the US), and it’s when companies and retailers offer deep discounts to encourage copious amounts of holiday shopping.
- What is Black Friday and when is it?
So, check your bank accounts and figure out how many pay cheques you have left before Christmas, because we’ve rounded up a selection of the best tech-related deals that are worth your hard-earned cash. Some are week-long store sales, while others are early online previews, etc.
You’ll therefore have to be a savvy shopper, of course, and figure out for yourself which ones you can manage. Check back too – because we plan to update this guide (it’s in alphabetical order) over the course of the month.
Good luck out there. And try not to get trampled.
Amazon
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Amazon has kicked off its sales season with a “Countdown to Black Friday” event. These are just early Black Friday sales. It’s hard to tell the difference between the sales page and Amazon’s usual Lightning Deals, so be sure to read carefully. Here are some of the highlights, but it looks like Amazon plans to switch up the deals and availability daily. You’ll probably need to regularly check.
- Kindle Paperwhite (2016) for $99.99 (normally $119.99)
- Kindle (2016) for $59.99 (normally $79.99)
- Kindle Voyage for $179.99 (normally $199.99)
- Anker 60W/12A 6-Port USB PowerPort 6 for $25.49 (normally $79.99)
- Anker PowerLine Micro USB (5-pack) for $12.99 (normally $49.99)
- Roku Streaming Stick for $39.99 (normally $49.99)
Best Buy
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Best Buy hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet. You can go here to see all the Black Friday deals when they become available, or you can go here to see the early ones when they become available.
Last year, Best Buy kicked off deals a day early, on Thanksgiving Day, by opening its doors at 5 pm and offering “doorbuster” deals. You had to line up for tickets a couple hours ahead of time. Best Buy also offered Friday “doorbuster” deals, already cutting prices on a number of products, and it announced deals Black Friday deals that were only available at your local store.
Costco
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Costco hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet.
Dell.com
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Early deals will be available 1 November at 8 am EST. This sale lasts 48 hours only. Then, Dell Advantage Loyalty Rewards members can shop early doorbusters from 16 November to 18 November and 21 November to 23 November starting at 11 am EST each day. Rolling Black Friday doorbusters will be available 24 November to 25 November, while rolling Cyber Monday doorbusters will be available 28 November.
See the scanned advert here.
Here’s some of the Black Friday highlights:
- Inspiron 11 3000 for $99.99 (save $100)
- Inspiron 15 3000 for $199.99 (save $100)
- Inspiron 15 5000 for $379.99 (save $320)
- Inspiron 20 3000 all-in-one for $249.99 (save $130)
- Inspiron Micro desktop for $99.99 (save $100)
- Inspiron desktop for $279.99 (save $220)
- Alienware Alpha for $299.99 (save $250)
- Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1 for $299.99 (save $150)
- Dell 24 gaming monitor for $99.99 (save $110)
- Dell 27 curved monitor for 199.99 (save $200)
- 500GB Xbox One bundle with Battlefield 1 and Gears of War 4 with extra controller for $249 (save $170)
Here’s some of the Cyber Monday highlights:
- Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 for $699.99 (save $150)
- XPS 13 for $949.99 (save $150)
- Alienware 17 for $1999.99 (save $500)
- Inspiron 24 5000 All-in-One for $399.99 (save $250)
- Inspiron desktop for $299.99 (save $200)
- Dell UltraSharp 24 monitor for $179 (Save $190.99)
- PlayStation 4 Slim 500 GB Uncharted 4 bundle + NBA 2K17 + $25 Dell promo eGift card for $279.99 (save $80)
- IZIO 50-inch 4K Smart Ultra HDTV + Free Logitech Harmony 650 V Universal Remote for $399.99 (save $279.99)
Ebay
Black Friday and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Costco hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet, though a leaked advert suggested the online site will offer the PS4 Slim Bundle with Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End for $249.99. Last year, Ebay offered hourly deals on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. You had to keep checking this dedicated hub on the hour every hour to ensure you caught all the sales each of those days.
Gamestop
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
GameStop hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet. Last year, GameStop kicked off the fun on early with a pre-Black Friday event, offering sales on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 accessories, Beats headphones, and more.
Google Store
Black Friday and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Google hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet.
HP
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
HP hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet.
HTC
Black Friday hub (click here)
HTC hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet. However, HTC is allowing those who join “Team HTC” to have access to its seasonal deals before the rest of the public does. Early access to HTC’s Black Friday deals start on 8 November and end 14 November. All you need to do is sign up for Team HTC by clicking on this link and filling out a form. The process takes a few minutes.
Huawei
Black Friday and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Huawei hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet.
Microsoft Store
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Microsoft hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet. Last year, it offered 12 bundles for the Xbox One, with each one being reduced by $50.
Newegg
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Newegg has deemed this month “Black November”, and it lined up several deals that run for several day. It will run a gaming sale from 8 November to 14 November, as well as extra special deals on Black Friday itself.
See the scanned advert here.
Here’s some of the highlights:
- Lenovo 12.5-inch ThinkPad Yoga 12 2-in-1 touchscreen ultrabook for $500 (save $100)
- CyberpowerPC Desktop PC with a 1TB hard drive for $750 (save $100)
- HTC One A9 32GB 5-inch Topaz Gold unlocked phone for $330 (save $170)
Office Depot
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Office Depot hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet. Last year, doors opened at 6pm on Thanksgiving and lasted all day on Thanksgiving.
Sam’s Club
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Sam’s Club hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet, but a leaked advert has already landed online.
See the scanned advert here.
Here’s some of the highlights:
- Vizio 50-inch 4K SmartCast TV for $348 (normally $498)
- Vizio 60-inch 4K SmartCast TV for $548 (normally $698)
- Vizio 70-inch 4K SmartCast TV for $928 (normally $1,198)
- Samsung 75-inch 4K smart TV for $1,998 (normally $2,599)
- Samsung 78-inch curved 4K smart TV for $3,498 – online only (normally $4,997.99)
- Nest Cam for $149 (normally $198)
- GoPro Hero4 Silver bundle for $199 (normally $249)
- Nikon D3400 two-lens bundle for $499 (normally $649)
- PlayStation 4 with Uncharted 4 for $249 (normally $299)
- Xbox One S with Battlefield 1 or Minecraft and extra controller for $249 (normally $353)
Samsung.com
Black Friday hub (click here)
Samsung hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet.
Staples
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Staples hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet. Last year, sales started on Black Friday at 6 am. It was not open on Thanksgiving.
Target
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Target hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet, but a leaked advert has already landed online. Last year, the Black Friday deals started on Thanksgiving at 6 pm. More deals kicked in in at 7 am on Black Friday. Then, on Friday, even more deals became available starting at 7 am EST. Target also also offered some Black Friday “preview” deals only on 9 November and 15 per cent off most everything on Cyber Monday.
See the scanned advert here.
Toys R Us
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Toys R Us hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet. Last year, its Black Friday sales kick offed at 5 pm EST on Thursday.
Walmart
Black Friday hub (click here) and Cyber Monday hub (click here)
Walmart hasn’t announced holiday deals for 2016 yet. While its sale hasn’t officially begun, the retailer is already promoting some early discounts.
Want to know more?
Several sites, such as SlickDeals, post scanned versions of all the retailers’ adverts and holiday catalogues, so go there to discover more sales.
Fitbit sales are slowing despite new products
A sign that the market for fitness trackers might be reaching its saturation point, or at least losing a little bit of its steam: Fitbit’s stock price fell hard, dropping by 30 percent today after the company announced it was about $3 million short of its third quarter revenue goals. While Fitbit did experience some revenue growth over the quarter, its net income was around $26 million, compared to $46 million for the same period last year.
Fitbit debuted two new devices — the Charge 2 and the Flex 2 — during the third quarter and launched a new partnership with Kohl’s and Vera Wang. But even counting new corporate customers, Fitbit only saw an 11 percent growth in unit sales numbers and the product refresh didn’t move as many units the company would have liked.
“I am pleased to see positive reception for our new products launched in the third quarter,” CEO James Park said in a statement. “We continue to grow and are profitable, however not at the pace previously expected.”
While the development of those new products and a legal battle with Jawbone could also be driving up operating costs, looking forward into the holiday season, Park says the company will re-focus on “improving the utility of our products and integrating more deeply into the healthcare ecosystem” while leveraging the brand for some new areas of growth.
Via: Forbes
Source: FitBit Investor Relations
Voice actors will picket WB Games on November 3rd
Striking video game voice actors are determined to keep up the pressure on developers. In the wake of a picketing campaign against Electronic Arts last week, the SAG-AFTRA union is calling on actors and supporters to picket WB Games on November 3rd. This action by itself probably won’t get WB and other targeted studios to change their ways, but it stresses that actors aren’t backing down on calls for better pay, particularly for strenuous voice recordings or popular titles.
The game studios themselves aren’t shying away from their own publicity tactics. They recently launched a website insisting that SAG-AFTRA didn’t tell actors about the negotiating terms before it broke off talks and called for a strike. The page also contends that its terms are “so close” to what actors want that actors likely wouldn’t have wanted to strike themselves. We suspect the union would beg to differ, though — it even says the studios’ website is using the SAG-AFTRA name without permission. The odds are that this war of words won’t end until one side or the other is willing to make concessions and break the deadlock.
Via: Polygon
Source: SAG-AFTRA
NASA celebrates 16 years of space living with ISS GIFs
On November 2, 2011, Expedition 1 commander William Shepherd and cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko appeared on camera to celebrate the first long-duration stay on the International Space Station (ISS). 16 years later, NASA is commemorating that event with the best way to celebrate anything on the internet: With GIFs. Here are some of those images.
The building of the space station took place between 1998 to 2011 and involved the contributions of space agencies from 15 different countries.
Before it was even completed the station was hosting the Exhibition 1 astronauts and cosmonauts. Here is their first on-camera appearance complete with odd triple handshake at the beginning of that mission.
The ISS had a unique view of the terrorist attacks on New York City in 2001. This image was captured by Expedition 3 commander Frank Culbertson.
On May 29, 2009, the first six person crew consisting of astronauts from NASA, CSA, ESA, JAXA, and Russia held a press conference. NASA says this is the only time all the ISS partners were represented at the same time on the station.
Ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics the torch made an appearance during a space walk.
On July 18, 2014, astronaut Reid Weisman filmed an experiment NASA hopes will lead to better engines. The circle of fire floating in space is something you don’t see everyday and is incredibly mesmerizing.
Watching the sun rise over the Earth.
For more images, check out NASA’s complete list.
Source: NASA
The Leeron Sport Bluetooth Speaker is a cheap, waterproof, shockproof option
If you’re looking for a brand new Bluetooth speaker, you may have missed the newest offering from Leeron, but you may want to look again. Leeron isn’t the biggest name in electronics here in the States and that hurts them in search results, but when you compare the quality of its build, they stand up to anyone else on the market.
Build and function
The Leeron Bluetooth Speaker is cylindrical in shape, but also sports some very modern and stylish straight lights. The front grill is tapered near the center and remains wide on the ends, almost appearing like a cynical grin. The soft plastic and TPU adorn the outside and give the speaker a tough exterior that won’t get beat up, but also adds some grip. I really enjoy holding the speaker in my hands due to the texture and feel comfortable knowing that when I put it down, it won’t slide off a slightly inclined surface.
On top of the speaker sits four buttons, M, Play, Minus, and Plus. The M (which stands for “mode” is not only the power button but also switches it between Bluetooth and Aux mode. The plus and minus buttons, as you might expect, raise and lower the volume with a short press and skip tracks with a long press. The play button pauses and resumes music as well as answers calls.
Around back is a flap that covers the power port, aux bus, and a micro SD card slot. The slot MUST stay closed to keep your speaker waterproof (IPX7) so make sure that you’ve taken a look at it whenever you’re around water. The inclusion of the micro SD card slot is a nice one that you don’t normally find on speakers.
The internal battery is rated at 1800mAh and Leeron claims that gives you about 16 hours of battery life. The company must have tested this at very low volumes because I only got about eight hours of battery life out of mine. I do leave room for error here, though. I believe that the battery was completely charged, but since it charges so slow there is a possibility that even after hours on the charger it wasn’t completely full. Still, eight hours is a pretty decent battery life for a Bluetooth speaker and should definitely get you through whatever party you’re hosting.
Sound
So, what does a $30 waterproof Bluetooth speaker get you in terms of audio quality? Well, as long as you aren’t expecting top tier performance, you won’t be disappointed. After roughly 20 hours of listening to Leeron Sport speaker, I can honestly say I enjoy the sound signature.
First, let’s start off with the negatives. The Bass isn’t the greatest in the world. This will, by no means, start rattling around or vibrate itself off a table due to an abundance of bass. You will get some of those sharp kicks you get in the lows, but that deep rattling bass is absent. Listening to electronic and rap can still be enjoyable experiences, but you will make a sacrifice in the lows.
The highs can feel a bit muddy, too. It’s not horrible and certainly not enough to take me out of the experience, but I have heard other (much more expensive) Bluetooth speakers that offer better highs.
Where the Leeron Sport Bluetooth Speaker really shines is first and foremost in overall loudness. When I pair my phone to the speaker and leave the volume on my phone at 100%, I have to turn the speaker all the way down to get it at a sane volume. If you’re looking to bring a speaker to an outdoor party where there are no walls for the music to bounce off of, this is a really good option due to how loud it can get.
I’d rate the audio quality about average speakers in this price range. You’re not going to be blown away by the audio quality, but you certainly will be by how loud this thing can get.
Summary
So, what sets the Leeron Sport Bluetooth Speaker out from its competitors? I think the fact that it’s the complete package really makes it stand out from other speakers. Sure, the audio quality isn’t the best, but I don’t think it holds the speaker back in any way. When you’re tubing down a river, you don’t care about hearing each individual instrument or how much the bass kicks.
Leeron added some nice features like the ability to use the speaker as a speaker for calls, which is great for conference call situations. I love the included carabiner for hooking onto a backpack too. Due to the construction of the speaker, I would have no qualms about carrying it around in this manner. You certainly don’t need to baby it.
And, you can’t say enough about the waterproofing. That opens up such a huge world of opportunity to use this speaker. I found the speaker clipped to our shower caddy one morning because my wife took a bath the night before and wanted to listen to some music.
If you’re interested in picking up the Leeron Sport Bluetooth Speaker, head over to Amazon where it can be had for $29.99 with free Prime shipping.
2016 Mustang Shelby GT350R review – Roadshow
The Good Performance and sound unlike any Mustang that has come before.
The Bad The look won’t be for everybody, and this is not exactly an affordable machine.
The Bottom Line The most purposeful road-going Mustang yet, and a truly great car to drive.
Ford’s Shelby GT350R isn’t your average Mustang, and it only takes a glance to figure that out. Whether it’s the huge splitter up front, the giant scoop of a wing hanging off the rear bumper or the imposing black wheels that do little to hide the massive Brembo brakes beneath, you can immediately tell this is something special.
Fire it up and any lingering doubts about normalcy are immediately shattered. The 5.2-liter V8 here sounds like no Mustang you’ve heard before. And it truly isn’t like those before. In fact, it’s more than twice as expensive as a base model. This is the $62,000 Shelby GT350R, current king of the modern pony cars. And, unlike many Shelbys that have come before, this one can dominate the track in every form.
Mustang Shelby GT350R lounging on the…
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That motor
The base Mustang is a very solid car. Redesigned for the 2015 model year to make it lighter, lower, meaner and quicker around the track, today’s pony car is a quantum leap forward over the old. For less than $25,000, you can get a 300 horsepower model. $26,000 gets you the the 310-horsepower EcoBoost model and $opens the door to the 5.0-liter GT model, with a 435-horespower V8 and a series of other upgrades that make it an overall more serious contender.
But none of the above really compare to this, the GT350R. Under the hood here is a 5.2-liter V8, barely bigger than the GT yet a much more exotic bird. It’s been built with a flat-plane-crank configuration, meaning it not only delivers a whopping 526-horsepower and 429 pound-feet but it revs up to a remarkable 8,250 RPM. This changes up the firing order of the engine, giving it characteristics much more like a proper race motor than anything you’d typically find idling in the next lane over at a stoplight.
Meaty strut-tower bar? Very necessary.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
And when I say “race” I don’t mean dragstrip. This is a motor designed for the track, and it delivers its power appropriately. While most Mustangs are all about the launch, oodles of torque delivered down low to swat you off the line and kick you in the rear with every power-shift, the GT350R wants you to rev it, coming alive toward the termination of its big, analog tachometer and screaming encouragement as you flirt with the redline.
This is the kind of lump that shines on a racetrack, and I’m very glad to report that the rest of the car was designed with a similar goal in mind.
The rest of the package
You won’t have to worry about anyone catching you on the track, because you won’t be able to see them through that wing.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
Mustangs have had plenty of successes on the racetrack in the past, but it’s safe to say that wasn’t exactly their native environment. The GT350R, however, feels completely at home pushing at (or beyond) the limit through apexes early and late and anywhere in between.
Helping that is a full set of MagneRide adaptive dampers, which adjust and adapt dynamically not just based on where you set the suspension knob in the cockpit, but also based on driving mode and conditions. The delta here between comfort and track isn’t as broad as many other modern cars I’ve been lucky enough to drive, but then this is a rather focused beast.
The brakes are seriously up-rated over the base car’s, squeezing massive, floating, cross-drilled rotors. Wrapped around those are 19-inch wheels wearing Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, carbon fiber wheels that weigh a whopping 13 pounds lighter each than those fond on the “base” Shelby 350.
All this, plus over 100 pounds worth of weight savings, puts the GT350R on another plane of existence when it’s time to hit the track.
All this, plus over 100 pounds’ worth of weight savings compared with the base Mustang, puts the GT350R on another plane of existence when it’s time to hit the track. The car will understeer or oversteer appropriately depending on how you get the corner wrong, but is so responsive to corrections that you’re never left wallowing for long in either state.
If there’s one disappointment on the track, it’s the steering. It’s quick and light, which I actually like, but there’s a distinct lack of feel here, muted feedback that can make it a bit difficult to know what’s going on up front. The lack of feel is curious given the 350R’s front suspension setup, which relies on ball joints rather than bushings to provide a more direct connection. Sadly, that hasn’t resulted in a more direct feel.
AIVAnet 