Razer claims its wireless mouse is good enough for eSports

For pro gamers, wired mice have always been the only option, but now it looks like Razer is trying to change that. Following in the footsteps of Roccat, the peripheral company is releasing Lancehead – a wireless mouse which it claims is the most reliable ever made. Powered by Razer’s new Adaptive Frequency Technology, the mouse automatically switches between the strongest frequencies available within its 2.4 Ghz band – resulting in lag-free mouse movement. As well as boasting a resolution accuracy of 99.4 percent, the Lancehead also allows users to save mouse settings directly to the device while simultaneously uploading them to the cloud.

With eSports players usually swearing by wired mice, the new tech means that Lancehead could be the first wireless mouse that’s widely adopted by pro gamers. The cloud features (going under the name of Razer Synapse Pro) make a lot of sense for eSports, giving players the ability to easily keep their exact mouse settings wherever they go. Yet while Lancehead owners will get exclusive access to the beta version of Synapse Pro, it’s unclear as to whether they’ll have to evntually shell out for the full service.

The Razer Lancehead launches next month in the US, costing $139.99. Those who’d prefer to stick with a trusty wired mouse, however, can pick up The Razer Lancehead Tournament Edition now for $79.99.

24 hours with Sony’s A9 full-frame mirrorless camera

Sony has one clear goal with its A9 full-frame flagship camera: to make professional photographers forget about their DSLRs. These are high expectations, sure, but the company’s new mirrorless shooter seems to tick all the right boxes in terms of specs. The A9 focuses on speed, not so much resolution, which makes sense, considering that Sony’s going after people who do sports photography in particular. You’ll find a 24.2-megapixel 35mm sensor, 20fps continuous shooting, 1/32,000 shutter speed and a ridiculous 693-point phase detection autofocus that covers 93 percent of your frame. None of this would work without the latest Bionz X processor, though, which Sony claims handles data 20 times faster than previous models.

Based on my first experience with it, at a track-and-field event Sony chose for the demo setting, the A9 is as fast as it sounds on paper. The camera’s autofocus had no trouble keeping up with dancers, runners and pole vaulters. Being able to shoot up to 241 full-frame RAW images is definitely a nice option to have, even if you don’t often need it. I had the A9 paired with Sony’s new $2,500 G Master 100-400mm telephoto lens for most of my shots, which, as you can imagine, adds quite a bit of weight to the camera. Without any glass attached, the A9 is designed to be as compact as Sony’s other full-frame mirrorless shooters, like the A7 II, A7S II and A7R II.

The A9 looks so similar to the Alpha cameras mentioned above, in fact, that people at the launch event kept grabbing my A7 II by mistake. Like its siblings, the A9 also shoots 4K video at 3,840 x 2,160, as well as 1080p at up to 120fps, for those of you looking to record slow-motion videos. The max ISO range of 204,800 also sounds promising, although I haven’t been able to put that feature to the test just yet. It’ll be interesting to see how the A9 performs in night shoots, especially compared with flagship DSLRs from Canon and Nikon. After all, Sony did say during its A9 presentation, “The age of the DSLR being the kingpin is over.” We’ll see about that.

It’s hard to judge the A9 completely after spending only a day with it, but you can get an idea of what to expect in the sample images below. While I’m not a sports photographer, the camera definitely made it easy for me to get some solid shots of fast-moving subjects. Personally, I’d much rather use it for portraits and street photography, but then again, that’s how I feel about every camera I play with. If you’re into it, the A9 will arrive in stores May 25th for $4,500 (body only).

To view our sample images in full resolution, click here.

Acer unveils a slew of new Switch laptops and detachables

At the IMAX theatre in New York’s Lincoln Center, Acer CEO Jason Chen showed off his company’s upcoming back-to-school lineup of products, including new Switch laptops and detachables, as well as a fanless all-in-one. The new Swift 1 and Swift 3 laptops expands the company’s existing lineup of superthin notebooks. They come in 13, 14 and 15-inch models with full HD displays and colorful aluminum bodies, and sport fingerprint readers for more-convenient Windows Hello logins.

Then there are the Switch detachables, which were previously known as Switch Alpha. Two new models are available — the 12-inch Switch 3 and the 15-inch Switch 5. While the former is a pretty regular detachable with an adjustable kickstand, full HD display and support for Acer’s Active Pen, the Switch 5 stands out for its auto-retractable kickstand that you can adjust with one hand. The 5 also has a fingerprint reader for convenient logins.

As for the all-in-one desktop, Acer only said that it’s the “world’s first” fanless AIO, and there are no details yet on how much it’ll cost or when it’ll be available. Stay tuned though, as we’ll be taking a closer look at these computers later today.

Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

Acer is making yet another fitness wearable

After a series of underwhelming attempts at making fitness wearables that track uncommon metrics, Acer is at it again with its new Leap Ware watch. Not many details have been shared yet, but one thing the company was happy to mention? The Ware will monitor your stamina, along with “more-effective fitness” metrics and a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass screen.

In the past, Acer touted its Liquid Leap wearables for their ability to track your stress level based on your galvanic skin response, as well as a constantly monitoring heart rate sensor for a low price. Stress-detection was a novelty at the time Acer announced it, and the technology didn’t seem to spread to other devices. This year’s stamina-monitoring seems equally gimmicky, and we don’t know the full details on the science behind it yet, so it’s too early to say if it will be effective.

We also don’t know what else the Ware can do, or how much it costs, but based on the pictures we saw, it looks more like a smartwatch than a Fitbit. The round display can show the time, at least, from the render the company showed. In addition to this wearable, Acer introduced Holo 360, a 360-degree camera that comes with built-in WiFi and LTE support. The company didn’t say much beyond that, other than it can make calls, but we should have more information as well as hands-on with both of these products shortly.

Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

Acer’s new Predator gaming laptop trades power for portability

What’s the point of getting a powerful laptop if you can’t drag it to a gaming party? Acer’s latest back-to-school update for its Predator series of laptops, the Triton 700, may actually be portable enough for those trips. It packs the latest NVIDIA graphics chips and an advanced dual-fan cooling system into a chassis that’s just 18.9mm (or 0.75 inches) tall. Acer hasn’t shared many other details about the notebook yet, except to say that it will be ready for the back-to-school season this summer. In addition to size, the overall weight impacts portability, so we’ll have to withhold any final assessment until we have that info.

Even with all that oomph, the latest Razer Blade is still a smidge thinner and more powerful that the Triton 700 Acer is showing off. A closer comparison spec-wise to the machine we’re seeing today is Origin’s EON15-S that runs NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti graphics and an Intel i7-7700HQ CPU, but there are a number of PC makers cramming capable components into slimmer form factors for gamers these days.

Gamers who don’t need all that power can consider the new Nitro 5 laptop, which offers NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti graphics and the company’s CoolBoost cooling system. Again, at its New York presentation, the company didn’t dwell very long on each product, so other details about the laptop are scant, and we’ll update this post as we get more later from our hands-on.

For those who prefer to invest in their at-home battle stations, Acer also unveiled a 27-inch 4K gaming monitor called the Predator X27. It boasts a 144Hz refresh rate, 4ms response time and uses Quantom Dot technology for better image quality while saving energy. The X27, like many of its rivals, supports NVIDIA’s G-Sync HDR technology for smoother streams with higher definition and contrast.

We’ll be taking a closer look at Acer’s gaming lineup for 2017 later, so check back here for more information.

Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

ICYMI: Boston’s book cleaning machine and Disney’s new SFX tricks

Today on In Case You Missed It: We take a look at the Boston Public Library’s novel method of keeping its archives clean. Hint: it involves pushing them through a portable vacuum cleaner. The Depulvera book cleaning machine, as it’s called, can scrub the dust and accumulated grime from up to 12 ancient tomes a minute without damaging the books themselves.

Disney is also making headlines with a pair of new special effects tricks. The first will enable Disney CG animators to motion capture real life hairstyles and port them directly into computer generated simulations. The second uses high speed cameras and infrared lasers to map and project digital images and animations onto actors’ faces. One will result in more lifelike and naturals doos in kids movies, the other will serve as a steady source of nightmare fuel for the parents. Good times.

As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @Terrortola.

LG’s smartphones are no longer hurting the company

It’s a testament to how topsy-turvy the mobile world is that a company can make its seventh successive quarterly loss and still feel good. That’s because LG’s mobile division, which managed to burn almost 500 billion Korean won in the last three months of 2016, has managed to stem the flow of blood from its neck. In fact, in the first quarter of 2017, the division managed to lose just 200 million Korean won, or $176,206.

The fact that LG’s smartphone division now almost breaks even is a huge deal, considering how much money it’s been losing of late. In the fourth quarter of 2016, mobile losses were so steep it actually wiped out all of the profit that the other parts of the business made. Thankfully, LG has bounced back, and is reporting overall revenues of 14.66 trillion KRW (around $12.7 billion) and net profits of just over $736 million.

LG handset sales vs. operating income

As for the rest of LG, the company is doing well in the home appliance, air conditioner and home entertainment markets. The nascent vehicle components arm still remains a loss maker, but executives believe that R&D spending now will be offset with profits later. Not to mention that the company still has a successful partnership with Chevy producing components for the Bolt.

LG believes that the cost cutting measures it took in its mobile division last year, and the recently-released G6, will help it avoid hefty losses in the future. That said, the company also concedes that devices from other players — hint: Samsung and China — will continue to be obstacles in its way to future profitability. We’ve often asked if LG needs to cut its losses and get out of the mobile business, although if losses remain this small, the answer is probably ‘no.’

Source: LG, (2 .PDF)

Apple Music redesign will put video in the spotlight

We know all about Apple’s plans for Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke, but it looks like the company has bigger things in mind for its music-focused series. Bloomberg reports an Apple Music redesign will accompany the next version of iOS we’re likely to hear about at WWDC in June. The new look is said to do a better job of showing off video, a format Apple has big plans for moving forward.

Bloomberg explains that Apple plans to debut up to 10 different music series on the streaming service before the end of 2017. Some of those we already know about: Planet of the Apps, Carpool Karaoke and documentaries about labels Bad Boy Records and Cash Money Records. We also got word this week that a Clive Davis documentary would be exclusive to Apple Music as well as details on the Up Next series that focuses on notable new artists. However, one new item Bloomberg notes is a possible R. Kelly series. And yes, it’s a sequel to the hilarious Trapped in a Closet videos from a few years back. Apparently the Dr. Dre biopic Vital Signs is still coming as well.

WWDC 2017 would be a year since Apple Music’s last big redesign. The current version focuses on discovery and helping you find the music you’re looking for much quicker. With Apple’s focus on streaming as a key element of iOS, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more changes this year as part of the larger overhaul of the mobile operating system. Of course, Carpool Karaoke is delayed until “later this year,” so perhaps the company wants to tweak the viewing experience before rolling out its jam-packed slate of original series.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Bloomberg

Apple Again in Talks for Peer-to-Peer Mobile Payments, May Launch Its Own Visa Debit Cards

Apple is once again rumored to launch its own Venmo-like service, allowing iPhone users to pay friends and family members also on Apple’s ecosystem. Sources speaking with Recode mentioned that Apple intends to announce the service — which could have a name like “Apple Cash” — later this year, potentially at its fall iPhone event.

Sources conflict on whether or not an announcement and release date have yet to be set, however, with another person familiar with Apple’s plans suggesting that the company’s Venmo-like service is still very early in development. Today’s news of a potential ramp up of an in-house, peer-to-peer payments service from Apple comes over a year after the company was first rumored to be discussing such a service with a collection of U.S. banks.

Apple’s on-again, off-again flirtation with building its own money-transfer service appears to be back on.

The company has recently held discussions with payments industry partners about introducing its own Venmo competitor, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks. The service would allow iPhone owners to send money digitally to other iPhone owners, these people said.

The unnamed Apple payments service would include a major partnership with Visa, according to the sources, allowing users to obtain digital pre-paid cards that would run on Visa’s debit network but be tied directly into Apple’s peer-to-peer service, and could also be added into Apple Pay. In this way, users could get paid through so-called “Apple Cash” from a friend, and use the Visa card and Apple Pay to spend the money at a retail location or online, “without having to wait for it to clear to their bank account.”

The peer-to-peer platform is being looked at as a way to boost Apple Pay adoption and usage, which Apple itself has admitted to be slow over its first two years, but which the company believes to be on the path to replace cash and cards. Apple is expected to not charge users of the new payments service, so the company’s only profits from the platform would come from those who opt-in to use the Apple/Visa debit card, which some banks are concerned about.

The potential of Apple getting its own debit card, however, is not sitting well with some bank executives, sources told Recode. Some plan to raise their concerns with Visa next week during an annual summit that the credit card company is hosting for its bank partners.

“Banks spent heavily in insuring their cards were top of wallet when they all built and rolled out Apple Pay,” said Cherian Abraham, a digital payments executive at Experian. “So it’s justifiable to be concerned that Apple will have its own card and could potentially be top of wallet. If you are top of wallet, you are top of mind.”

There remain many questions in regards to Apple and Visa’s potential partnership, including whether or not concerns from banks would scare Visa away, or if Apple would launch an enticing enough rewards program to convince people to ditch their current credit or debit card for the new one. To gain the most traction, sources believe that Apple could be targeting teens and young adults with the new service, because the pre-paid card would make it easy to spend the money sent to them from friends and parents through “Apple Cash.”

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: recode.net
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Huawei Continues to Catch Apple, But Still Fighting to Gain Popularity in United States

Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, continued to gain on Apple in the first three months of the year, with an impressive 21.7 percent growth, according to market research firm IDC.

Huawei shipped an estimated 34.2 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter, capturing 9.8 percent market share, based on data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. That’s up from an estimated 28.1 million smartphones it shipped in the year-ago quarter.

By comparison, Apple shipped an estimated 51.6 million iPhones in the quarter for 14.9 percent market share. Apple essentially saw no smartphone growth in the quarter as the market remains highly saturated, and due to seasonality factors as consumers anticipate a widely rumored trio of new iPhone models.

Huawei has previously outlined its ambitions to dethrone Samsung as the world’s largest smartphone maker within the next four years, a tall task that would require leapfrogging Apple in the process.

“We want to grow into top two market share, and, in the future, top one by 2021,” Huawei’s consumer head Richard Yu said in February.

Huawei’s biggest problem is that it still lacks considerable brand awareness in the western world. In the United States, it does not even crack the list of the top ten most popular smartphone brands, largely because it lacks agreements with the country’s biggest carriers Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint.

American customers have to resort to retailers such as Best Buy or Walmart, or Huawei’s direct sales website, to purchase one of their unlocked devices, reducing the brand’s visibility in the country.

Huawei has yet to reveal any larger plans for the United States, but in Canada, the company will begin selling its flagship P10 and P10 Plus smartphones through nationwide carriers Rogers and Bell starting in early June. Huawei has also been pushing its brand in Canada during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If Huawei can find success in Canada, then perhaps it will consider tackling the much larger U.S. market next.

Tags: IDC, Huawei
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