Jeep launches Renegade Desert Hawk SUV, limited to 100 models in the UK

Jeep has taken the wraps off a desert-inspired, limited edition version of its popular Renegade crossover SUV. Called the Renegade Desert Hawk, the new model, limited to just 100 in the UK, is based on the top-of-the-range Trailhawk edition, but comes with its own bespoke Mojave Sand colour finish.

• Jeep Renegade 2015 first drive: Compact SUV with big potential

The exclusive paintjob is available alongside returning finishes of Alpine White, Anvil and Black. Other features exclusive to the Desert Hawk include 17in black alloy wheels and various decals on the bonnet and around the vehicle.

Underneath the bonnet is a 2.0-litre MultiJet diesel engine that kicks out 170hp and this is paired to a nine-speed automatic gearbox as standard. The Desert Hawk also comes with Jeep’s Active Drive Low off-road system with 20:1 crawl ratio, Selec-Terrain system, which lets you choose from different terrain types including sand and rock and 8.7-inch ground clearance.

Inside not much has changed from previous Renegade models; you’re given a 6.5in TFT colour display with Uconnect software installed – no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto here – in the centre console and rear reversing/parking camera, GPS navigation and Bluetooth as standard.

We had some brief hands-on time with the Desert Hawk at Braunton Burrows in North Devon, where were able to test its off-road capabilities by driving it over sand dunes. When in sand mode on the Selec-Terrain system, the Desert Hawk maximises traction above all else.

We put our foot to the floor to maintain momentum and the Desert Hawk was able to carry us over the dunes without a worry. Considering the sand was incredibly soft as well, it was impressive stuff.

If you fancy getting your hands behind the wheel of a small SUV that’s as comfortable on-rad as it is off it, then the Desert Hawk is available to buy now for £28,995.

This is what the Nintendo Switch is like out of the box

With just over a week to go before the Nintendo Switch hits stores, Pocket-lint has had the chance to check out the console in our testing labs.

We’ll need more time with it for our full, in-depth review but we decided to film a few initial thoughts which you can watch below.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have a game to play on the system at the time, but got to feel how it works when docking and undocking, and how the Joy-Cons clip on and off. Neither of these options were available to us when we first went hands-on with the Switch at Nintendo’s London preview event.

We’ll be playing games on the Switch over the next few days, so make sure you come back often. We’ll be posting reviews and thoughts on the entire shebang next week.

The Nintendo Switch will be available globally from Friday 3 March. It costs £280 in the UK, $300 in the States. Games range from £40 to £60 and we have a full list of all the confirmed titles here.

You can also check out our additional coverage by using the links below:

• Nintendo Switch: Release date, price, specs and everything you need to know
• 5 Nintendo Switch games to pre-order first, and one well worth the wait
• Nintendo Switch vs PS4 vs Xbox One: Which should you choose?

FCC filings reveal Google is working on a wireless 4K set-top box

Google has applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop and launch a ‘4K wireless TV box’, which will likely be a successor to the company’s Nexus Player.

A search for the official filing reveals that Google’s 4K box will support both 5GHz and 2.5GHz bands and will support 4×4 5GHz 802.11a/n/ac Wi-Fi, along with Bluetooth 4.1. Google’s box will also, as the name suggests, be able to transmit 4K content to a compatible 4K TV wirelessly, without the need for an HDMI cable.

There’s no mention of price or release date, but Google already has some images of the new device, as well as a user manual, but these are to be kept confidential until at least 180 days after the FCC filing was granted, which takes us to August. It means there’s a good chance the box will show face at the company’s annual I/O conference, which takes place from 17-19 May 2017.

Google’s box will undoubtedly run on the Android operating system and we expect it will have full integration with Google Home and Google Assistant. It’s not clear what services the box would offer, but considering only a few can deliver 4K content in the UK, such as Netflix and Amazon, we expect them to be onboard at least.

The implementation of Google Assistant will help set the box apart from its main competition, such as boxes from Roku, but the Nvidia Shield already offers Google Assistant support built in.

• Nvidia Sheild TV (2017): The daddy of 4K HDR media streaming

Regardless, the filing confirms Google is working on something at least, hopefully we’ll get some updates soon.

Chrome Canary adds support for MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar

Chrome could soon follow in the footsteps of other apps (like the Microsoft Office) that recently introduced support for the Macbook Pro’s LCD strip. Google has just released version 58 of the experimental Chrome Canary build, and it now works with the laptop’s Touch Bar. Its implementation seems to be simpler than Safari’s — according to 9to5Mac, it has escape, forward and backward, new tab, bookmark and refresh buttons. It also has a search and a URL text box that activates your browser’s URL field when you tap it. However, the search bar doesn’t have word prediction, and you won’t find any playback controls when you play video or audio files

[Image credit: 9to5mac]

Canary is the first stop for experimental features like this — it can be a bit buggy, but you can run it alongside the usual Chrome. Since Touch Bar support came out as part of Canary 58, it’ll likely roll out with version 58 of Chrome’s stable browser, as well. It could look a bit different when it does become more widely available, though, depending on testers’ and developers’ feedback.

Source: 9to5Mac

British scientists film massive rift in Antarctic ice shelf

The 1,500-foot-wide crack across Antarctic’s Larsen C ice shelf has grown by roughly 20 more miles since December. It’s now around 110 miles long, and based on satellite observations this month, an ice berg as big as Rhode Island could break away from Larsen C within weeks or months. A team of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey who’ve been monitoring ice shelves have captured the growing chasm on film to show us what it actually looks, as you can see in the video after the break.

It’s still unclear why the rift grew so quickly in recent months. There’s a lot of evidence that climate change contributed to Larsen C’s thinning, but ice shelves normally produce icebergs every few decades anyway. Whatever the reason is, the calving could accelerate the flow of glaciers stoppered by Larsen C into the ocean. It’ll be like popping out a wine bottle’s cork and letting the contents pour out. That’s what happened when icebergs broke away from the Larsen A and Larsen B ice shelves in the past.

The glaciers flowing into Larsen C are enough to raise global sea levels by a centimeter — much, much more than the usual three millimeters they rise every year. Scientists can’t say how quickly the glaciers will flow into the ocean after the calving, but they’re keeping a close eye on the expanding rift for now.

Via: USA Today, Nature

Source: British Antarctic Survey

48 hours with the Nintendo Switch

Is the Switch more like the Wii, Nintendo’s ambitious and wildly successful console which unearthed a whole new audience of casual gamers, or the Wii U, the half-baked followup that even the company’s hardcore fans never truly adopted? That was the main question I had in mind as I started testing the new console this week.

After spending a few days with the Switch, it seems to fall somewhere between those systems. It doubles-down on the best aspect of the Wii U — the ability to game away from your TV screen — and its intriguing hardware has plenty of potential for developers. But Nintendo undoubtedly still has much to prove before the system’s launch on March 3rd.

Even though I’d already had a chance to play the Switch at preview events, I was still excited to get it up and running at home. Nintendo holds a particular place in my geek heart; the NES was my first true technology obsession, and most of my childhood was spent plopped down in front of the TV playing games with my brother and friends. So, in many ways, opening up the Switch reminded me of getting my hands on the NES and SNES for the first time. It wasn’t just nostalgia; it was the feeling of expecting something completely fresh from Nintendo.

The Switch makes an odd first impression. It looks more like a lopsided tablet than a game console because, well, that’s what it is. At its core, it’s simply a very powerful slate with a customized version of NVIDIA’s Tegra X1 mobile processor inside. Most of the time, you’ll be holding it with the two Joy-Con controllers attached to its sides, which makes it a bit awkward to wield with one hand. That’s not much of a problem, though, since it balances nicely when you’re gripping it with two hands like a game controller.

The tablet portion of the Switch looks like a nondescript Android device from the front, but once you get it in your hands you’ll notice it’s pretty thick (15.2 millimeters) compared to today’s mobile devices. At the top there are volume and power buttons, a headphone jack, and a Game Card slot. Nintendo gave up on optical discs for this console — they really have no place in a semi-portable device — and is instead relying on tiny cartridges that look a lot like 3DS and DS cards. There’s also a small vent for the system’s heatsink at the top, which emits a bit of warm air when things get busy (you can hear the low hum of a fan if you put your ear up to it).

At the bottom of the Switch is a USB-C port for charging and a pop-out kickstand. The console comes with 32GB of storage, but you can also expand it to your heart’s content with microSD cards, which plug into the slot hidden underneath the kickstand.

Nintendo is no stranger to unusual controllers, and the Switch’s Joy-Cons certainly continues that trend. On their own, they look like two miniaturized gamepads with analog sticks, four face buttons, two buttons along the sides and two hidden buttons along their flat edges (which are only visible when they’re disconnected from the Switch or a Joy-Con Grip). The Joy-Cons also differ slightly depend on their orientation: the left one has a minus button next to the analog stick and a tiny flat button for taking screenshots quickly. The right controller, meanwhile, has a plus and a button for getting you back to the home screen.

While odd, the Joy-Cons are clearly part of the Switch’s magic. They’re Nintendo’s most versatile gamepads yet: When connected to the console they serve as solid portable controllers. But when they’re attached to the Joy-Con Grip, they mimic a more traditional game controller. You can also use them separately in each hand, which could be useful when you don’t have much space to work with. And finally, you can hand one off to a friend to go head-to-head in a multiplayer game. The latter mode will undoubtedly take a bit of getting used to, but a tiny and uncomfortable gamepad is better than none, right?

It doesn’t take much to get the Switch up and running. Soon after you turn it on, you just have to log into a WiFi network and setup a user account. You can choose from a handful of images for your account, or if you’re not tired of Nintendo’s tiny avatars yet, you can create a Mii from scratch, pick a pre-made Mii or transfer one from an Amiibo. If you’re setting it up in handheld mode, the console eventually prompts you to continue the process on a TV, but I chose to do that later.

You’re also instructed to remove the Joy-Con controllers from the side of the slate, which involves hitting their release buttons (located below the triggers) and pulling up. That’ll likely be the trippiest aspect of the setup process for new users, since you can still control the console when the Joy-Cons are held separately in your hands. Anyone who’s used to the Wii’s controller and nunchuck combo should get used to it quickly, though.

The Switch’s most unique feature is its ability to instantly switch between portable and TV gaming modes. To connect it to your TV and charge the console, you just need to drop it into the Switch dock. That device, which comes in the box, houses connections for power and HDMI, as well as a USB 3.0 port. The dock doesn’t look like much — it’s basically just a hollow plastic tray — but it serves its purpose. Connecting and disconnecting the Switch is painless, since the tablet just slides right in. Nintendo also built in a small tray that routes the cables through the back of the dock, which is a nice touch for neat freaks.

The Switch’s home screen is fairly simplistic at this point. There’s a marquee for the games you have installed, and on the bottom of the screen there are icons for news, the Nintendo eShop, a photo album, controller configuration and settings. The news sections seems like it’ll be a useful tool for keeping gamers informed, but unfortunately the eShop and the Switch’s online features aren’t available for testing yet. Nintendo says we’ll have access to them closer to the console’s launch, but that’s not exactly heartening news when March 3rd is only a week away.

The only game I was able to test was a physical version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It felt a bit odd plugging a cartridge into a flagship Nintendo console once again — I thought I was done with that in the ’90s. I got over that initial weirdness when I remembered why solid-state media can be so great. Zelda launched in around five seconds, and there wasn’t any lengthy install process to sit through. Yes, that’s technically the same experience we had decades ago, but it seems almost utopian after the long installations and loading screens I’m used to from the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

I can’t say much about Breath of the Wild yet, but I can confirm that it is very much a Zelda game, albeit one that doesn’t look like anything you’ve seen before. Notably, it also performed a lot better than it did at preview events, where I noticed stuttering and occasional slowdown while it was connected to the dock. I wasn’t expecting much from the Switch’s graphical capabilities, but there are plenty of moments where Breath of the Wild is just strikingly beautiful.

The game worked equally well in TV and portable modes, and I never had any issues switching between them. And if you were wondering how much portable Zelda you’ll be able to play at once, I’ve got a disappointing answer: 2.5 hours. That’s not a huge deal if you’re gaming around the house, but if you’re going on a long trip you’ll want to consider some backup power options (luckily the Switch can charge over any USB-C cable).

I typically relied on the Joy-Con Grip, which comes with the Switch, while gaming on my TV. It’s basically a plastic shell that the Joy-Con controllers slide into, and it transforms them into a something resembling a normal gamepad. I had my reservations about how well it would work, but the Joy-Con Grip ended up being a solid way to enjoy Zelda. The analog sticks were smooth and responsive, and even though the face buttons are a bit small, they feel good when you actually press them down. The only downside is that you don’t get a true directional pad when using the Joy-Con Grip.

Nintendo also has a Joy-Con Charging Grip available separately for $30, but I think most people will have no problem manually charging the controllers by plugging them into the slate while its docked. For hardcore gamers, there’s also the Switch Pro controller. It’s a lot more like a traditional gamepad, and it’s certainly better than Nintendo’s Wii and Wii U iterations, but at $70 it’s probably too pricey for most.

When it comes to the display, the Switch is a huge improvement over the Wii U’s dim and grainy gamepad. At 6.2 inches, it’s the same size as the Wii U display, but it sports a much sharper 720p resolution. While the display was bright and bold indoors, it didn’t fare well outdoors. It was no match for sunlight of any kind, and the screen’s high reflectivity was an issue even when it was cloudy. I had a hard time making out anything during dark portions of Zelda, and I couldn’t see myself actually enjoying the game even when I could see what was happening. This is one issue that could really hurt the Switch: Nintendo is selling it as a console that you can take outside to play with your friends. But what good is it if nobody can see anything?

The best thing I can say about the Switch at this point? It let me live my dream of seamlessly moving from gaming in my living room, to gaming in bed. Sure, it’s a different experience playing Zelda on my 55-inch OLED TV with surround sound than it is playing on a tablet. But sometimes, you just want to be lazy. And I can imagine it being very useful for people who want to play games, but don’t always have time to sit on their couch. Now you can enjoy console-quality games practically anywhere — as long as you avoid the sun.

Check back for our full review of the Switch and Breath of the Wild next week.

Razer’s Power Bank keeps your laptop running

External battery packs are a dime a dozen, but you might want to pay attention to this one. Razer has unveiled the Power Bank, a 12,800mAh external battery designed primarily for laptops. It’s clearly intended as a companion for Razer’s own portables, and can extend the life of a Blade Stealth to as long as 15 hours. That’s more than a little helpful if you’re stuck traveling all day. However, its reliance on USB-C makes it compatible with any laptop that can charge using the newer connector. Yes, you could keep a MacBook running on this brick if you don’t mind the style mismatch.

Like some of these batteries, the Power Bank doubles as a phone charger thanks to two USB-A ports. It even supports Quick Charge 3.0 for those phones that can handle it. This definitely won’t be an inexpensive peripheral when it ships in March, at $150 (£170) — we’ve seen higher-capacity batteries that sell for less, like Mophie’s Powerstation XXL. Not all of those are designed to charge your phone and laptop at the same time, though, and the logo-emblazoned aluminum body might be worth it if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Razer fan determined to coordinate the look of your gear.

Source: Razer

UK government finally draws up laws for autonomous cars

Ever since the idea of autonomous of vehicles began appearing on the roadmaps of major car makers, the UK government has made it clear that Britain can provide a strong platform for them to develop and test what they’ve built. Some projects, like the Lutz Pathfinder pod, are already underway, but questions have remained over who will be liable when autonomous modes are engaged on public roads.

The 2016 Queen’s Speech included a “Modern Transport Bill” that set out what needed to be done to support the introduction of driverless cars in the coming years. The document, which called for new and updated legislation, has now been worked on and finalised as the Vehicle Technology and Aviation Bill. In it, the government lists a number of proposals regarding how self-driving cars should be insured and suggests new rules requiring petrol stations (like Shell) and businesses to install more charging points for electric and hydrogen-powered cars.

Most importantly, the government says insurance for autonomous vehicles in the UK will need to cover when the driver is in manual control and when the car is driving itself. It has been suggested that insurers will act as a middleman for manufacturers so that anyone injured by an autonomous car can claim against the owner’s insurance and not have to file a private liability claim against the car maker. “This will mean innocent victims involved in a collision with an automated vehicle will have quick and easy access to compensation,” the government said in a statement.

The Bill also lays out instances where the owner will be at fault, even after engaging autonomous mode. If the owner has decided to modify the software on their vehicle or has failed to install important updates when their policy instructs them to, they will be made liable for any damages. It’ll be down to the Secretary of State, by way of the Department for Transport, to decide which cars are covered by the new laws.

“Automated vehicles have the potential to transform our roads in the future and make them even safer and easier to use, as well as promising new mobility for those who cannot drive,” said Transport Secretary Chris Grayling. “We must ensure the public is protected in the event of an incident and today we are introducing the framework to allow insurance for these new technologies.”

To better assist the rising numbers of electric cars, the Vehicle Technology and Aviation Bill includes measures to increase the number of charging stations, but also force businesses to provide easy access to information regarding their location, hours of operation, fuelling options, cost (and methods of payment), charging methods (Tesla uses a different connector to Nissan, for example) and whether they are in use. Petrol stations and large businesses like supermarkets would be urged to provide points under the new proposals.

Although true driverless cars are perhaps a few years away, the government believes that by acting quickly, car makers and developers of driverless technology will position the UK a leader in autonomous transportation. The Bill will now pass through Parliament, where ministers and third parties like insurers and vehicle makers can share their thoughts on how the UK’s autonomous infrastructure should be built and maintained.

Via: Ars Technica UK

Source: Gov.uk

Google preps a 4K set-top box for Fiber homes

Google Fiber looks ready to release a new 4K set-top box with WiFi support, despite scaling back its operations and not having very many video subscribers at all. An FCC listing has revealed a “4K wireless TV box” from Google with Bluetooth 4.1 and WiFi bands operating in the 5GHz and 2.4GHz spectrum. If accurate, it would be the Google’s first TV streaming box equipped with WiFi and 4K for the latest generation of TVs.

According to an October 9 to 5 Google report, the new TV Box can connect with the Network Box over WiFi. Before, it had to be hooked up either by coax or ethernet, and Google has killed the coax connection on the back. The box reportedly supports 4K, HDR streaming from Netflix, YouTube and other companies.

Despite scads of press, Google Fiber has failed to take off. According to some estimates, the service has under a million users (Google hasn’t released figures) and as of last year, video subscribers numbers were shockingly small. The reason, according to the company’s comments at a telecom trade conference held last week, is that competitors aren’t anxious to help them, and it’s just expensive to build broadband infrastructure.

In Nashville, for instance, Google Fiber had only set up 33 poles compared to 88,000 needed after 11 months. It requires approval from every other company with equipment on a pole and “no one does it in less than 60 days,” according to Fiber policy head John Burchett. When Nashville passed a “one touch” rule allowing a single contractor to do all the work, both AT&T and Comcast sued.

Because of all that, it reportedly costs Google $1 billion to bring Fiber to a new market, making it too expensive to be profitable. It has halted current plans for new cities and is instead considering a wireless system that can relay high speed data between antennas.

There’s no word on when the set top box is coming, but the FCC is keeping detailed files including photos and the user manual under wraps until August 8th, 2017, as Business Insider notes. As Google wouldn’t want its launch to be blown, the box will likely arrive before then.

Via: Business Insider UK

Source: FCC

Feed your appetite for gossip with new storytelling app Tap

Why it matters to you

We’re all a little bit nosy, and now, we can feed that desire to snoop without feeling guilty – with Tap.

Admit it — you love snooping. It’s OK, we all do. And social publishing platform Wattpad knows it. Tapping into our nosiest of desires is a new app from the company named Tap — it’s a new storytelling format that presents content in the form of text message-esque chat bubbles, so you always feel like you’re peeking in on someone’s conversation. And it’s surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) engaging.

The name “Tap” is a product of how you actually interact with the platform. In order to get to the next juicy bit, you tap your phone screen, revealing the next “page.” The app looks to engage readers with its novel format and diverse content. Already at launch, Tap boasts hundreds of stories across a number of different categories, including horror, romance, drama, and more.

More: How to clear your browsing history on your iPhone or Android device

And if you want to be an even more integral part of the action, you can contribute stories to Tap yourself. While initially, Wattpad is only allowing a subset of writers on its platform to contribute, the company promises that the publishing component of the Tap app will become more widely available in the coming weeks.

And if you’re particularly fond of what you’re reading, you can of course share these stories (or rather, text conversations), via social media.

Sure, Tap is far from the only bite-sized content provider, with apps like Snapchat and Instagram in the social media space, and plenty of other reading apps available as well. But Tap is certainly unique in its layout, which somehow creates intrigue by making its stories seem a bit … secretive, and perhaps thereby more exciting.

The app itself is free, though you do have the option to upgrade to a premium service which will grant you unlimited access to stories. You can choose from a number of payment options — $3 a week, $8 a month, or $40 a year.