Nintendo: Netflix coming to Switch “in time”

It’s early days but the Nintendo Switch has already proven to be successful. In its first two days of release, the company sold more Switch devices globally than any other console in its history.

However, there’s one irksome fact that we and others highlighted in Nintendo Switch reviews, it doesn’t come with any media streaming service. No Netflix, no Amazon Video, no BBC iPlayer.

Both the Wii and Wii U had support for at least a couple of those, so why not Switch? If anything, there’s a better reason to put streaming services on the Nintendo Switch than the others as it is a portable device.

• Nintendo Switch: Price, specs and everything you need to know
• All the Nintendo Switch games: Launch titles and every game for 2017 revealed
• Nintendo Switch vs Wii U: What’s the difference?

Nintendo’s US boss Reggie Fils-Aime does agree, but has reiterated that gaming is the priority for the launch window: “We built the Nintendo Switch to be a world-class gaming device, meaning we want you first and foremost to play games on the system and have an incredibly fun experience,” he told the Washington Post.

However, he admitted that getting streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Video, are important going forward: “We’re talking to a range of companies about other services, companies like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon – things that will come in time,” he added.

There are some that won’t care about streaming video support, after all they have Zelda, and most TVs and mobile devices can access Netflix, Amazon and the like. But do you really want to have to take two different devices on a plane or train when one could do? We don’t, that’s for sure.

Thankfully, we won’t have to… “in time” anyway.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus get official FCC certification

We have just a few weeks until they are officially unveiled but that won’t stop the rumour mills from continuing to reveal everything there is to know about the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus (or S8+) smartphones.

The latest comes from an official appearance on the FCC website.

The US Federal Communications Commission has certified the wireless connectivity tech of the phones, and the American carrier variants, for use in the country.

The SM-G950U is thought to be the model number of the Samsung Galaxy S8, while SM-G955U is thought to be the SGS8 Plus.

• Samsung Galaxy S8: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
• Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S7: What’s the rumoured difference?
• New Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus leak shows two phones side by side

There are few surprises in the actual wireless technology they sport. They have 802.11ac Wi-Fi, on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and, of course, LTE (4G) and NFC connectivity.

The FCC doesn’t list other specifications as it is only concerned with the wireless talents of devices and whether they meet US standards.

Both phones will be revealed during a special Unpacked event in New York on Wednesday 29 March. Pocket-lint will be posting live as the event occurs and you can also watch it yourself by checking out our guide here: Samsung Galaxy S8 launch: When is Galaxy Unpacked 2017 and can you watch it online?

Fossil Q Marshal review: Gorgeous looks lack technical hook

Smartwatches are no longer just the products of tech giants, fashion brands have been getting in on the act too. We’ve already seen wrist-based gadgets from the likes of Tag Heuer and Nixon, but it’s the Fossil group that’s that’s jumped in deepest with 100 wearables having launched across its eight fashion brands last year alone. The latest of this wave of smart tech, however, is the Fossil Q Marshal.

Stepping firmly into the realms of dedicated smartwatch, this touchscreen-packing, phone-syncing, fitness-tracking wearable pairs futuristic smarts with classic watch styling to create a device that’s the best of both worlds. Well, at least on paper.

With a £229 asking price, it’s not ridiculously expensive either. Sure, it’ll make fitness-tracking wearables like the Fitbit Charge 2 and Withings Steel HR (which is now Nokia) appear cheap, but it feels positively affordable when sat alongside the likes of the Samsung Gear S3 and Polar M600.

Facing off against the likes of the Apple Watch Series 2, new LG Watch Sport and Huawei Watch 2, however, has it really done enough to advance where the original Fossil Q sat and, therefore stand-out in an increasingly crowded market?

Fossil Q Marshal review: Design

• Stunning, classic watch styling
• 45mm body size only (no smaller option)
• Multiple rubber, leather and metal strap options (22mm standard)

Arguably the Fossil’s best feature, the Q Marshal is a good looking bit of kit. Like, really good looking.

Pocket-lint

Styled like a traditional timepiece, Fossil has put its years of watch-making skills to good use, carving the device’s body out of a single piece of metal. Instead of simply feeling like a basic lump, this gives the watch a solid, high-end look and feel.

One that’s available to suit your style too. Whether you want a silver, grey, blue or black watch, the Q Marshal has you covered. The watch is available in a selection of finishes, with your colour scheme dictating what strap option you get. A blue body will get you an easy-on-the-eyes brown leather strap while the silver and grey models have colour-matched stainless steel link bands.

Opt for the black body with a rubber wrist strap, however, and this quickly becomes a smartwatch for all occasions. As well as giving an air of smart sophistication, perfect for days in the office or nights on the town, the watch is also comfortable enough – and, importantly, safe for a sweat-removing wipe downs – to be worn during exercise. Yes, on long runs in can feel a little on the bulky side, but for the most part, it’s a watch that’s easy to forget you’re wearing.

Sadly, though, there’s no smaller option available. The standard 45mm design might hold its size well, with its 14mm thick form never feeling overly bulky, but for those who are particularly slight of wrist, it could still feel overpowering. A problem a second, smaller design could have solved.

Pocket-lint

This isn’t the Q Marshal’s only design-based shortcoming either. It’s a design that, despite being easy on the eye, deceives and frustrates. Despite its indented bezel, the watch’s circular surround doesn’t turn to let you navigate the menus like on the Gear S3. Similarly, that oversized crown doesn’t twist like the ones found on the Apple Watch or LG Watch Style.

The Q Marshal has a physical, depressible button on the end of the protrusion, but that’s it in terms of physical controls. This isn’t a performance killer, the device’s circular touchscreen works as a great input option, but this innovative control methods work so well elsewhere that it would have been nice to see them make an appearance here.

Furthermore, the innards are clearly direct from the Lenovo camp – as you’ll see by the “black bar / flat tyre” to the base of the screen. That’s a downside in today’s market, with increasing numbers of perfect-circle competitors.

What the Fossil Q Marshal does have going for it is solid water- and dust-resistance. Its metal body is IP67 rated, meaning you’ll be able to submerge it in up to 1.5 metres of water for 30 minutes at a time without it dying a watery death. In practical terms, you’ll be able to keep it on while having a shower or washing the dishes.

Pocket-lint

What’s more, upping the device’s customisation credibility, it’s not just Fossil’s silicone, leather, and stainless steel strap options that you’ve got to stick with. The Q Marshal sports interchangeable 22mm straps, meaning the device can be paired with plenty of third party accessory options. All without breaking the bank.

Fossil Q Marshal review: Screen

• 340 x 290 pixel resolution
• Dated “black bar / flat tyre” base
• Responsive touch elements

Having impressed with its design, it’s disappointing that the Q Marshal’s visual delights don’t extend as far as the screen. Welcome back then to smartwatch shortcomings, lesson one.

Fossil has tried to impress by fitting this device with a coveted circular screen. Great, right? Well, not necessarily. Like the Moto 360 of old, the Q Marshal has bodged things a little, with a sizeable section cut out of the base in order to fit the ambient light sensor. The result is a distracting black bar that gives the watch the look of a car’s flat tyre.

As well as pulling the eye’s focus and detracting from what’s being displayed on the screen’s main panel, it cheapens the Marshal’s overall look and gives it a dated, basic look. Pair the watch with a black watch face and you can mask this image-marring shortcoming to some degree, but you shouldn’t be forced into making such compromises.

Pocket-lint

If it was first generation then, ok, we’d get it. But this is old tech running in the face of newer – and fully circular – screens, such as the Samsung Gear S3 and Nixon Mission. Therefore, it doesn’t quite cut it in the here and now.

The 340 x 290 pixel resolution is fine by smartwatch standards – you don’t need a battery-sapping HD display on such a small device – but it lacks any sort of pop. Graphics are notably grainy and colours feel weak and washed out. And that’s indoors – take the watch out into the world and bright, direct sunlight further compounds these problems.

If you’re after a better visual experience, the likes of the Apple Watch 2 and Samsung Gear S3 leave the Q Marshal in their wake.

Fossil Q Marshal review: Features & performance

• Standard call handling abilities
• Fitness tracker but no heart-rate sensor or GPS
• Wrist-based music control

The Fossil Q Marshal might look like a high-end smartwatch, but scratch beneath the surface (not literally, mind), and it quickly becomes apparent that this is still wanting in a number of areas. It’s got many of the smartwatch skills you’d expect, but none of the ones you’ll really want.

Pocket-lint

First, the shortcomings, of which there are a fair few. While many top-line smartwatches now pack their own GPS skills – meaning you can leave your smartphone at home the next time you go out on a run – sadly there are no such abilities here. It’s a disappointing omission, yes, but given the watch’s price tag, one that can’t be too unexpected.

It’s not just such high-end features that are missing though. Despite sub-£100 fitness trackers now coming with an integrated heart-rate sensor – something that’s been a smartwatch staple since day one – the Q Marshal lacks this too.

This is a bigger deal as it heavily restricts the device’s standing as an accurate activity tracker. With the watch’s fitness tracking abilities limited to a gyroscope and accelerometer, it’s good for little more than counting steps and taking a stab at your daily calorie burn. Which might be fine if that’s all you want, but without that fully rounded screen there are better options such as the Activite Steel.

What the Q Marshal lacks – despite decent step-tracking accuracy – is an inability to convert effort into tangible data. Wearing the watch during a high intensity metafit class (meaning extreme exertion, given the range of exercises we performed) and the watch added just a couple of hundred steps to our daily fitness efforts. It’s a flawed set-up for anyone even remotely active.

Pocket-lint

It’s not just about what’s missing though. Like any smartwatch worth its weight, the Q Marshal has solid smartphone-syncing skills. Letting you check your emails, messages, WhatsApp and call alerts directly from your wrist, it can even handle your calls and control your music without having to remove your phone from your pocket. This all works effortlessly, but none of this is enough to set the device apart from a dozen other smartwatches out there.

Fossil Q Marshal review: Software & app

• Android Wear (2.0 update in the works)

Like all current smartwatches from within the Fossil umbrella, the Q Marshal runs Android Wear. While this ensures a familiar, app-supported experience, it also means no matter which device you plump for you’re getting a nearly identical set up.

This is just original Android Wear though, at least for now. Despite having confirmed the watch is on its list of devices heading for an upgrade, the Fossil Q Marshal has yet to be handed an Android Wear 2.0 patch.

Pocket-lint

That means that there’s currently no phone-shunning apps or ability to swipe out text replies using your finger. What there is, however, is a solid user experience, that once you’ve mastered the slightly clunky swipe-to-navigate interface will quickly feel like an intuitive extension of your tech collection.

With basic iOS support and compatibility with most Android handsets, it also means the watch can be bolstered by a mass of compatible apps. Want to enhance the device’s limited fitness tracking skills? Fine, the likes of Runtastic and Strava have you covered. Need football scores or an ability to control your Nest from your wrist? Not a problem.

Heck, you can even add some basic games to your wrist, although that won’t help out the device’s (already limited) battery life…

Fossil Q Marshal review: Battery life

• 360mAh battery
• Nightly recharges a must
• Sluggish recharge times

Despite having a design that’s more classic than futuristic, the Q Marshal is still in traditional smartwatch territory when it comes to battery life. Instead of being able to eke out a week on a single charge, you’ll be lucky to get through a full day without needing to power up. Seriously, this thing’s battery life is dire.

Pocket-lint

Making the Apple Watch seem like it’s got solid staying power, the Fossil Q Marshal makes nightly charges seem like a lofty goal, regularly entering the red on our evening commute, even with moderate usage throughout the day. Given the lack of GPS and heart-rate sensor to eat up the power, this really isn’t good enough.

Disappointingly, the Q Marshal’s sub-standard battery life is further compounded by the watch’s sluggish recharge times. There’s no quick charge skills here to get you through a full day in a rush. Instead, after an hour and 15 minutes connected to the mains, just 37 per cent of the device’s battery life had been returned. Woof.

Verdict

The Fossil Q Marshal is a great looking smartwatch, but one that fails to match its exterior style with substance. Its metal body and decent strap options mean it’s a device that will look good strapped to your wrist (save for the “black bar / flat tyre”), but if you’re after more than basic wrist-based call and message alerts, you’ll be left wanting.

It’s not just a few luxury add-ons such as an integrated heart-rate sensor or inbuilt GPS skills that are missing, either. Some of the basics have gone walkabout too, namely battery life. The Q Marshal’s life per charge is pretty woeful, its screen lacks pop, its software is dated and various competition is stronger right across the board.

With a £229 asking price, the Q Marshal is more affordable than some, but for just £50 more you could buy a Samsung Gear S3. Sure, the Fossil brand has bags of appeal – but in this guise it’s behind the current curve. So unless you’re hooked on its looks with “fashion first” thoughts, then we wouldn’t suggest buying one.

The alternatives to consider…

Pocket-lint

Apple Watch 2

It’s notably more expensive, but you get what you pay for, and that’s a full features list that doesn’t disappoint.

Read the full review: Apple Watch Series 2 review: Fitness first

Pocket-lint

Samsung Gear S3

An alternative to Android Wear that impresses from the off, the Gear S3 is an intuitive device to use thanks to its rotating bezel and offers a full roster of high-end abilities.

Read the full review: Samsung Gear S3 Classic / Frontier review: Android Wear beware, this is the smartwatch to beat

Best of the Geneva Motor Show 2017: Concept cars, supercars and everything in-between

The Geneva Motor Show is the most important in the European calendar. The industry crossroads, the point where everyone (and their entourage) rock up and where we’re usually guaranteed the biggest single number of car launches.

And 2017 was a bumper show, with everything from a new Ford Fiesta to a new McLaren (and everything in-between) launched here.

Our round-up wraps together all the important cars from the show floor, some insider gossip and everything you need to know about the car industry right now, plus what you should be looking at if you’re after a new car in the next 18 months…

Pocket-lint

McLaren 720S

The replacement for the 650S – nee MP4-12C, or McLaren’s older car. The new Super Series vehicle sees McLaren going for a more complex, emotional set of forms with aero-details a go-go. It’s got 710bhp, and runs to 212mph.

It’s a busy design that’s full of drama: centrally hinged doors are spectacular, the C-pillar’s see-through, the front lamp is wild and the interior feels like sitting in a space ship – complete with fold-away, two mode gauge cluster.

McLaren just made Ferrari’s life a lot harder.

Pocket-lint

Ferrari 812 Superfast

Ferrari seems to be playing a silly name game. After LaFerrari (“The Ferrari”) we now have the “Superfast”. Mind you, with 789bhp from its V12, it will be exactly what its name says.

Ferrari’s front engined super-GT has lost some of clarity of the F12 it replaces. It’s a very complex design with aero playing a massive role, like the McLaren (above).

Word on the ground is that Ferrari is missing the Pininfarina influence. Oh, and it doesn’t get the new 10-inch touchscreen of the GTC4 Lusso. There is a passenger side dedicated display though.

Pocket-lint

Range Rover Velar

We covered the Velar at its Design Museum launch in London, but Geneva was the first chance to see it surrounded by other cars and in different trim specs.

It continues to impress, creating a new niche in the SUV space, brining some exciting new colour and material design to the party and debuting an attention-grabbing double touchscreen interface.

Pocket-lint

Mercedes AMG GT Concept

This exterior-only concept is a complex beast, showing an intention for Merc to extend the AMG-GT line into a four-door coupe, but also mate the AMG sub-brand with its new “EQ” electric operation.

It’s also ushering in a new, crease-free design language. Painting it red and giving it flush door handles has helped create just one impression though: Merc’s been studying Tesla. Hard.

Pocket-lint

Audi RS5

Audi’s A5 coupe has already had the convertible and Sportback treatment. Now the hot “S” (Turbo V6) and “RS” (Turbo V8) models arrive. Piling on the facial aggression in a way only Audi knows how, the interiors continue to be peerless, Quattro remains a staple and M3-boasting performance should be a given. Lovely stuff.

Pocket-lint

Aston Martin Valkyrie

Looking distinctly unfinished in Geneva, the Valkyrie nonetheless made a splash. It signals Aston’s plan to create a race-car-for-the-road by 2021, and it’s being designed in conjunction with Red Bull Racing and race engine Adrian Newey. It’ll be very limited edition, making it perhaps the most exclusive of the new breed of hyper cars.

Pocket-lint

Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

Need space for the family but don’t want a Porsche SUV? Well you can basically now – for the first time ever – have a Porsche estate.

Except it’s not called an estate – c’mon, that’s far too common-or-garden for Stuttgart – the angle of roof and rear screen mean it reads more like a long hatch.

Engines are the same as the regular Panamera, which means hybrids and V8-turbo petrols plus a diesel, and you get the same impressive but massively complex in-car tech screen setup too.

Pocket-lint

Volvo XC60

If the Range Rover Velar is a car you want, the Volvo is probably the car you’ll buy.

Feeling significantly more premium than its Audi Q5 or BMW X3 competitors, the new XC60 utilises the SPA platform (as under the XC90) and keeps the Swedish-strong design themes going in a smaller SUV segment.

Pocket-lint

Alpine A110

Not heard of Alpine before? That’d be no surprise because the Renault-owned sports car brand effectively died in the 1990s. Renault is resurrecting it here in the hope of competing with Porsche.

Rear engined, rear drive and with a new, 4-cylinder turbo engine said to be making close to 300bhp and not related to anything in a Clio, it’s quite a retro car – referencing Alpine’s greatest model of the same name from back in the 70s.

Pocket-lint

Honda Civic Type R (2017)

Shown as a concept at the Paris Auto Show, the new Type R arrives hot on the heels of the boggo Civic.

It still looks wild (like, driven through Halfords wild) but with independent rear suspension, and 316bhp it should drive better than before.

Sales start in the summer. We expect it to cost £32k.

Pocket-lint

Ford Fiesta ST (2017)

Britain’s favourite car got a refresh back before the turn of the year, but this is it’s public showing.

Unusually for the Fiesta, it retains a similar design theme to the old car, and unlike others in its segment you will still be able to buy 3- or 5-door versions.

The premium sporty-ness is delivered with new Vignale, Active, and ST-line trims, while the ST (pictured) arrives from the get-go, with a new 3-cylinder turbo engine. Interior is the area which gets the greatest modernisation of all, though.

Pocket-lint

Vauxhall/Opel Insignia

Overshadowed by the news of Opel/Vauxhall’s sale to PSA (Peugeot Citroen) the new Insignia is Vauxhall’s new Mendel competitor.

It’s handsome, in a generic kind of way, majors on space and is said to be massively refined.

It’s loaded with tech too: including the touchscreen from the Astra, but features like a full projector HUD, plus driver-assistance systems feature heavily. Three body styles will be available: saloon, hatch and wagon.

Pocket-lint

Seat Ibiza (2017)

The first car from the VW’s group’s “B” segment platform (VW Polo, Audi A1 and Skoda Fabia will all use it in coming years), the new Ibiza isn’t exactly radical. It adopts a Leon-lite design theme, while packing in more space and new touchscreen tech.

Pocket-lint

Ruf CTR ‘Yellowbird’

Porsche tuner Ruf’s legendary “yellow bird” was a breathed-on 911 whose formidable reputation was made in the 80s.

In a quiet way, Ruf stole the show here by recreating the 964-era 911, in “yellow bird” format. While that design actually dates from the 80s, this is a brand new car, built from the ground up, out of carbon.

A clear attempt to one-up newcomer Singer, which currently owns the market for special, modified, historic 911s.

Pocket-lint

Bentley EXP12 Speed 6E

A sister car to the EXP10 coupe (the green one) shown previously, this open-top, EV-powertrain concept seems to suggest Bentley is going to produce a car that sits below the Continental GT.

We love the interior with its cut-glass screens, OLED panels, aluminium with wood and oxblood red leather. Piece de resistance? The “Rocket” buttons on the top of the steering wheel.

Pocket-lint

DS 7 Crossback

This is Citroen’s upmarket DS brand’s first SUV.

It’s a join-the-dots exterior design, lifted by utterly bonkers details that have escaped from a concept car (headlamps that swivel through 180 degrees).

The money’s gone on a plug-in hybrid power train, and an interior that’s like walking into a Parisian Boudoir (which is available in five different, opulent “worlds”).

Pocket-lint

Volkswagen Arteon

Passat not fancy enough for you? Audi A5 Sportback a step too far? Then you’ll be needing an Arteon – effectively VW’s replacement for the Passat CC; and a busier, more emotional piece of design than we’re used to from the German brand.

Why London is a self-driving nightmare for the Nissan Leaf

For the people sitting in the lobby of the Aloft ExCel, a premium hotel in the heart of London’s Docklands district, it was a typical day. Some were there on business, others to see the city. A handful of parents were patiently waiting to be ushered in for their weekly mother and baby swimming classes. However, in one corner, just out of view, were some of the top executives from Japanese car maker Nissan. They were busy making last-minute preparations for a self-driving vehicle that has been quietly traversing London’s streets as part of the first ever European tests. These secret experiments — the first Nissan has conducted in Europe — could shape how Brits travel in the coming years.

Over the past seven days, Nissan has welcomed media from all over Europe to sit inside its prototype Leaf and see for themselves how it fares on a pre-set route around east London. I was there to ride shotgun with Tetsuya Iijima, General Manager of Autonomous Drive Development at Nissan, through the streets of Beckton, onto the A13 dual carriageway and back to the ExCel, a short distance from London City Airport and across the river from The O2.

Why?

It’s not the first time the company has conducted a trial with the car — they’ve tested it in Japan and Silicon Valley before — but European roads pose a unique challenge thanks to an abundance of pedestrian (zebra) crossings, roundabouts and the unpredictable nature of London’s drivers. Before fully autonomous Leafs can be sold in glitzy showrooms, Nissan needs to prove it can master each of these obstacles without error.

From a distance, the autonomous Leaf looks like any other Leaf you’d see on London’s roads. Up close, however, it’s a different matter. Dotted around the car are four lasers, five radars and 12 cameras, most of which have been seamlessly integrated into the bodywork, that provide the car with 20 centimetre accuracy. The two enclosures located on top of the car, which almost look like ears, are obvious but it took me almost an hour to recognise the sensor built into the Nissan badge just underneath the bonnet.

In the boot — the entire boot — lies the processing power. Stacks of computers connected with numerous cables collect and analyse the data generated by the car’s sensors. It shows that while much of the technology is available to car makers now, minimising its footprint and integrating it into a production vehicle will take some work.

In the front are three displays. One offers a typical satellite navigation interface and another feeds back footage from the front camera. The final screen shows where the car is in comparison to the environment around it, highlighting pedestrians, vehicles and obstacles as it encounters them. Before we set off, Iijima-san explained that the displays are meant to help passengers; they’re not necessary for the Leaf to perform its duties.

On the road

Although the UK is moving swiftly to introduce new laws governing the use of self-driving cars, Nissan’s tests must adhere to broader legislation. It means that while Iijima-san doesn’t need to touch the steering wheel or the pedals during our 25-minute journey, he must sit in the driver seat and be ready to take back control should the car fail to operate as it should. Nissan notified Transport for London (TfL) and the Metropolitan Police of its plans before the tests and fitted independent front- and rear-facing cameras to capture footage (to present alongside its own data) in the unlikely event of an accident.

“The technology is separate in two parts: common and regional. For the UK, zig-zag lines and lighted crossings need to be understood before we can bring a car to the market,” said Iijima-san as we first entered the car. “We need to expand the area of the testing before we meet the regulations and rules of the area. That’s why we’re here today.”

When the time came to depart the hotel car park, the Leaf’s autonomous mode was enabled and Iijima-san removed his hands and feet from the controls in an eccentric manner, perhaps playing up to the fact we were paying little attention to the road. Then, to underline the UK’s love affair with roundabouts, Nissan decided that the first part of my journey must incorporate no fewer than six of them.

Tetsuya Iijima, General Manager of Autonomous Drive Development at Nissan, demonstrates the Leaf’s autonomous mode.

Nissan

The humble circular intersection was first introduced in America in 1907, England and France followed a couple of years later and made them important parts of their current travel infrastructure. They now host over 10,000 and 30,000 roundabouts respectively, while the US has around 3,000. Roundabouts pose a particular challenge to self-driving cars as no two are the same; some have more than one lane and cover large areas, others are simply a tiny white circle in the middle of a country road. It’s Nissan’s job to detect their various forms and treat them all in the same manner.

When we approached the first roundabouts, the Leaf was cautious but navigated them with ease. In fact, the first third of the journey was largely uneventful, mainly owing to the fact that the ExCel and the surrounding area aren’t especially busy at 2:30pm on a Wednesday afternoon.

That calm, however, was soon punctuated by an accident. Not one involving us, but a collision between a car and an Ocado delivery van on a slip road joining the A13. It gave me the perfect opportunity to see exactly how a machine deals with an unexpected event between vehicles of differing sizes on a fast-moving filter road.

Approaching the incident, the Leaf recognised that the van and the car were stationary on the right side of the two-lane slip road and kept left in order to pass the obstruction. The radar soon picked up other cars attempting to merge in front of us and the software intelligently gave way. It didn’t take very long to clear the accident, but it was clear that Nissan’s current programming is designed to be overly cautious. A human driver might not have been so accommodating.

There were no causes for concern on the 50mph A13. The car piloted itself without incident and then exited the carriageway to tackle the final residential stretch of Prince Regent Lane. Here, the street’s varying road markings, parked cars and an abundance of pedestrians provide a different challenge.

Bus stops, traffic bollards and zebra crossings weren’t enough to phase the Leaf, but two young men crossing the road were enough to make it pause for thought. The duo were a couple of metres ahead of the Leaf and were heading towards the convenience store on the other side of the road. They had barely stepped off the pavement, on the side that was opposite our lane. The Leaf was moving at such a lick that they posed no threat — by the time they reached our side of the road, we would have been long gone.

It immediately made me ponder what a human would do in that situation. In my experience, a human driver would have acknowledged their presence and identified that they didn’t pose a safety issue because there was a significant distance between them and the car. Also, the chevrons in the middle of the road would have provided a natural place for them to pause during their crossing. I posed this question to Iijima-san and he simply said: “This is one of the reasons we are testing in Britain.”

Questions that need answers

We returned to base without incident, allowing me to reflect on what I had learned from my brief trip in the Leaf. In April 2016, I tested Tesla’s semi-autonomous Autopilot feature in the Tesla Model S and it’s impressive to see just how far these technologies have developed in under a year. Nissan’s Leaf is already demonstrating a basic mastery of English roads, but its executives admit that its system is prone to mistakes, as a reporter from The Guardian found out. It is a prototype after all.

By 2020, Nissan wants its cars to have mastered single and multi-lane carriageways and intersections before it can deploy its fully autonomous platform ready for the Tokyo Olympics. The company will start by integrating single-lane autonomy into the Leaf and the Qashqai, its two most popular vehicles, later this year. It will then expand the full autonomous ProPilot system to eight more models over the next three years.

To get to this stage, Nissan will need outside help. First, governments around the world need to specify new rules of the road for self-driving car makers. Then, it’ll need to direct insurance companies so they are able to cover drivers and the autonomous systems inside their vehicles. The hardest task it faces, however, is convincing the public that their systems are safe and necessary additions to the future cars they will buy.

The Morning After: Thursday, March 9th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

After a week, the Nintendo Switch has made an impression on our editors, but is it a good one? It’s also time for a big PS4 update, and there’s a concept flying car that’s so ridiculous it might just work.

It’s a group thingThe Nintendo Switch: One week in

You’ve heard our impressions of the Switch after 48 hours, with time for a full review, and now Engadget editors sound off on their first week experiences. Mat Smith is happy with one good game as long as that game is Zelda, Kris Naudus has more questions than answers and Tim Seppala is enjoying its social aspects.

Sasuke’s comingThe PS4 update with Boost Mode and external storage support arrives today

PlayStation 4 owners are getting several long-awaited features in the new 4.50 update that launched earlier today. Dubbed “Sasuke,” its biggest feature is support for external hard drives, making PS4 the only current gen console where you can easily choose between swapping out the internal unit or plugging an extra drive via USB. It also adds 3D Blu-ray support in the PS VR headset, and for PS4 Pro owners, Boost Mode brings framerate and load time enhancements for otherwise unoptimized games.

It can’t get smaller than thisIBM built an atomic storage device

You’re probably impressed by your 32GB USB stick, but IBM’s latest storage advancement blows that away. Researchers have managed to store a bit of information on a single holmium atom. Traditional hard drive tech needs 100,000 atoms to store a single bit of information.

But you can’t get a text backTinder Select caters to the beautiful and/or wealthy elite

You might have a Tinder account, but are you on Tinder Select? TechCrunch cited an anonymous source revealing this invite-only upper room of the dating app for “celebrities and people who do really well on Tinder.”

Why not both?Airbus’ ‘Pop.Up’ concept turns a car into a quadcopter

The problem with any “flying car” is that usually you only need one part or the other. This Airbus concept vehicle solves that problem with a modular design that can swap its passenger capsule to match with four wheels or four rotors. It’s also fully autonomous, so just tell the Pop.Up where you’re going, and it will select the appropriate accessory.

SPACE TRUCKING‘No Man’s Sky’ update adds a lot more than just ground vehicles

After a disappointing launch, Hello Games has produced a big feature update for No Man’s Sky. The Pathfinder Update brings sweet planet-exploring buggies, new ships, a Permadeath mode and the ability to share your custom-created bases online. If you have a PS4 Pro, it’s even ready for 4K and HDR — if you’ll give the game another chance.

But wait, there’s more…

• ‘Middle-earth: Shadow of War’ pushes at the limited boundaries laid out by ‘Shadow of Mordor’
• Tesla’s new solar energy station will power Hawaii at night
• The Big Picture: The world’s largest solar farm, from space
• Snapchat screws up its ‘tribute’ filters again
• Computer Love: Hands-on with Trak’s at-home sperm analysis kit

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t subscribe.

Interactive movie ‘Late Shift’ comes to consoles this April

Is it a movie, a video game, or a choose your own adventure book? I’m tempted to say it’s a mixture of all three. Late Shift emerged last year as an interactive film where you, the viewer, can make choices in specific scenes. It was released as an iOS app (compatible with Apple TV) and shown in select theaters, allowing audiences to collectively vote on each decision. Now, it’s coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, giving you another way to watch it at home and craft your own storylines with family and friends.

You “play” as Matt, a student in London who, through a crazy sequence of events, is forced to participate in a lucrative auction house robbery. The choices start simple (help a tourist with directions, and risk being late for work? Or just ignore them and board the train?) but quickly escalate into tough, nail-biting problems. There are 180 decisions in total and seven possible endings, spanning four hours of footage shot in London. There’s pedigree behind the production too; Michael R. Johnson, the film’s writer, worked on the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film starring Robert Downey Jr.

Full motion video (FMV) has enjoyed a mini-revival recently thanks to the success of Her Story, an indie title that revolves around fictional police interview clips. Late Shift feels more like a movie, however, with clear-cut decisions similar to Until Dawn, a PS4-exclusive horror fest, and the slew of adventure games by Telltale. The experience also shares some DNA with Quantum Break, a TV show and video game hybrid for the Xbox One and PC that adapts to your choices. If, like me, you’re a sucker for narrative driven games, you’ll want to check this out when it hits consoles this April.

Google Home works with eBay’s ShopBot to price your stuff

RJ Pittman, eBay’s chief product officer, has demoed an interesting Google Home feature at the tech titan’s Cloud Next conference. He asked the speaker if he could speak to eBay, which activated the e-commerce company’s shopping bot that’s aptly named ShopBot. “Hi, I’m eBay,” the speaker replied, “I’m the world’s price guide. You can ask me what something is worth.” eBay originally launched ShopBot for Facebook Messenger last year. But unlike the Messenger version, Home’s seems to focus on helping you price goods you might want to sell instead of finding more stuff to buy.

During the demo, Pittman asked the bot to help him price a Canon camera. After asking him about its condition and model, the bot gave him an estimate. The exec says it could bring more sellers to eBay, since people can easily find out if some of the junk they have lying around are valuable enough to be sold. “When technology can start doing the heavy lifting and providing you with a concierge-like personalized service,” he added, “then that’s when we’ve really made great strides.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t say when the feature will roll out to users, though Google revealed that eBay has migrated to its cloud platform from Microsoft Azure. We’ll just have to keep an eye out for its official launch.

Source: CNET, GeekWire

Siri’s Multiple Language Support Still Its Biggest Strength Over Other Virtual Assistants

Reuters published an article on Thursday that reveals some of the painstaking work that goes into making Siri capable of speaking additional languages, which remains one of its biggest strengths over rival virtual assistants.

The behind-the-scenes look appears amid claims that Apple has squandered its lead in the voice-assistant space, with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all advancing the features of their respective assistants recently.

But for a smartphone market in which most sales are outside the U.S., Siri’s big advantage over the other assistants is underlined in the number of languages it can speak. Microsoft is said to have an editorial team of 29 people who work to customize Cortana for local markets, while Google and Amazon say they plan to add more languages soon. But it’s a game of catch-up: Apple already has 21 languages, localized for 36 countries. That compares favorably to Microsoft’s Cortana (eight), Google Assistant (four), and Amazon’s Alexa (two).

At Apple, the company starts working on a new language by bringing in humans to read passages in a range of accents and dialects, which are then transcribed by hand so the computer has an exact representation of the spoken text to learn from, said Alex Acero, head of the speech team at Apple. Apple also captures a range of sounds in a variety of voices. From there, a language model is built that tries to predict words sequences.

Then Apple deploys “dictation mode,” its text-to-speech translator, in the new language, Acero said. When customers use dictation mode, Apple captures a small percentage of the audio recordings and makes them anonymous. The recordings, complete with background noise and mumbled words, are transcribed by humans, a process that helps cut the speech recognition error rate in half.

Once the required amount of data has been gathered and a voice actor has recorded the Siri responses in a new language, Siri is released with answers to what Apple believes will be the most common questions. Siri then learns more about what users ask, with additional tweaks made via updates every two weeks.

The drawback to Apple’s script-writing approach is that it does not scale, according to Charles Jolley, creator of an intelligent assistant named Oslo. “You can’t hire enough writers to come up with the system you’d need in every language. You have to synthesize the answers,” he told Reuters. “That’s years off.”

But it’s something the founders of Viv – Siri’s original creators – are actively working on. “Viv was built to specifically address the scaling issue for intelligent assistants,” said Dag Kittlaus, the CEO and co-founder of Viv, which was acquired by Samsung last year. “The only way to leapfrog today’s limited functionality versions is to open the system up and let the world teach them.”

Consumers should soon get a taste of how far they’ve come. Viv technology will power Bixby, Samsung’s new virtual assistant, set to feature in the Galaxy S8, which launches at the end of this month.

Tag: Siri
Discuss this article in our forums

Twitter for iPhone now lets you easily grab back some storage space

Why it matters to you

If you’re an avid Twitter user whose iPhone storage is fast disappearing, the app now lets you quickly clear cached data.

If you’re an iPhone user who’s always on Twitter then all that data you download may be taking up more space than you realize.

With the social media site encouraging users to post more images and video, a growing chunk of your handset’s storage space will be eaten up by cached data. This isn’t particularly helpful if you’re using a 16GB iPhone, or if you simply don’t have much space left whatever iPhone you’re using.

Thankfully, help is at hand via the latest Twitter update, which lets you easily clear the app’s cached data and reclaim some possibly precious storage space. Once you’ve nabbed the update, all you need to do is:

1 – Head to your profile page via the Me button at the bottom right of the display

2 – Tap on the gear icon just to the right of your profile pic.

3 – Tap Settings.

4 – Tap Data usage under General.

5 – Tap Media storage.

6 – At the top of the display you’ll see how much storage Twitter is currently using on your device for content such as photos, GIFs, and Vines. Tap Clear media storage to do exactly that.

7 – Tap the back arrow and then tap Web storage.

8 – Click on the two red buttons to reclaim more space.

As a side note, version 6.7.31, which brought the new space-saving feature to iPhone owners, reportedly crashed the Twitter app for some users. Fortunately, the company was onto it in a flash and quickly rolled out 6.7.32 to fix the glitch.

More: 10 free online storage services to claim your space in the cloud

Want even more space back? Then how about deleting a few of those storage-hungry apps you never use. To uncover the worst offenders, dive into your iPhone’s Settings, tap General, then Storage & iCloud Usage, and Manage Storage. If you have a lot of apps on your device, wait for about 15 seconds for the list to fully populate. The apps show in order of how much storage they use, with the biggest at the top. If you see any you don’t use, then go ahead and uninstall them.

DT’s Simon Hill offers a bunch of handy tips — including the one above — to maximize the space on your iPhone. You can check them out here.