The Nintendo Switch accessory we’ve all been waiting for is coming in June

When we reviewed the Nintendo Switch in March we called for a second Switch dock to be sold separately. Nintendo has now responded, saying that you will be able to buy a second dock from 23 June.

The Nintendo Switch is a portable games console, so it’s always been possible to continue playing games in another room in the house whenever you wanted. However, we found playing motion games, such as 1-2 Switch, in a bedroom, spare room and living room meant moving the dock around with us.

Yes, we could play them on the 6.2-inch screen, but while it’s a good compromise for when out and about, it seemed silly having to play games on that format when we had a 55-inch flatscreen waiting there for us.

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

Being able to add another dock, situated in the living room, was always something we wanted and now we shall get our wish.

An accessory set that includes a #NintendoSwitch dock, an AC adapter and an HDMI cable will be available from 23/06. pic.twitter.com/42C2838gTd

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) May 10, 2017

Unfortunately, it does mean shelling out a further wedge, anywhere up to around £80, but we think it’s worth it.

There’s no UK price for the spare Nintendo Switch Dock Set yet, but it is $99 in the US – around £70 at current exchange rates. It also includes an AC adapter and second HDMI cable.

Blue Satellite wireless headphones combine built-in amp and ANC in a $400 package

Blue Microphones, the Californian audio production best known for its…er, microphones, has announced its latest pair of headphones. The Satellite are the company’s first pair of wireless headphones, and employ some clever, patent pending technology and design to ensure you get the best sound delivered to your ears.

• Blue Microphones announces the Raspberry, the funkiest mic to use on the move
• Blue Microphones enters headphones market with Mo-Fi, something a bit different

The Satellite have a built-in audiophile-grade amplifier connected to the 44mm drivers, to not only boost the volume of your tunes, but to ensure every nuance of detail is unearthed. To further ensure you get the best possible sound, the Satellite also have built-in active noise cancellation.

It’s with this tech that the clever design comes into play. With most pairs of active noise cancellation headphones, the drivers that take care of sound also have to deal with blocking out external noise. Blue says this has a detrimental effect on the sound quality.

Blue

With the Satellite, Blue has fitted a second set of 30mm drivers to handle all the ANC duties, leaving your music untouched. The Satellite headphones are so far the only pair available to use this design.

You can connect your smartphone, tablet or PC to the Satellite via aptX Bluetooth for the best possible quality, and you can walk around the house with them on without being interuppted thanks to a 10-metre Bluetooth range.

The built-in 1100mAh battery promises up to 24 hours of battery life if connected solely via Bluetooth, but this reduced to 8 hours if you use the audiophile amp and active noise cancellation too. If you do run out of power but don’t want to stop listening, you can connect the Satellite headphones to your device using the included cable, but you won’t be able to use the amp or ANC features.

The Blue Satellite over-ear headphones are available now in black and white finishes for $399.99. UK pricing and availability has yet to be announced.

The Morning After: Wednesday, May 10th 2017

Welcome to your midweek. How’s it gone so far? Microsoft’s big annual conference kicks off today, and we’ve sniffed out what you can expect. We also get the full reveal of Amazon’s Echo-with-a-screen. It’s not pretty, but it does sound pretty smart.

Windows 10 updates, more Cortana and new hardware?
What to expect at Microsoft’s Build 2017 conference

While it’s a mobile computing world, Microsoft has no shortage of projects we need to be updated on. Alongside the very latest iteration of Windows 10 (a new design interface? Family sharing hubs?), we expect more on Microsoft’s voice assistant Cortana, which has popped in all kinds of hardware. Windows 10 S has also only just arrived, so more on that, and, if we’re lucky some Hololens and VR updates would be just lovely.

Yes, it looks a bit like a melted tube television.
Amazon’s $230 Echo Show is Alexa with a touchscreen

The leaks were correct, and now Amazon’s touchscreen Echo is available for pre-orders. Besides the 7-inch display, it has a front camera to support video calls with a new Alexa Calling feature, and they’re even available in pairs for a $100 discount. The screen also enables you to “Drop In” instantly on family and friends, check shopping lists or watch YouTube videos. The Echo Show starts shipping June 28th.

About those emails…
President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey

The reason cited? Comey’s handling of last year’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server, and the way he announced he would not bring charges against her. Things not listed as factors in his firing were Comey’s decision to refute Trump’s claim of wiretapping by former President Barack Obama, or that he was heading an investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia. Reportedly, Comey learned of his firing while giving a speech to FBI employees as TV screens in the background started flashing the information.

The Zune UI is backReview: Hulu Live TV

Hulu’s cable TV-alike offering enters a crowded marketplace of internet video services, facing off against Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, DirecTV Now and YouTube TV. As Devindra Hardawar found, in its current beta state, it’s at its best while watching live TV. As-is, the UI requires a bit too much swiping for his taste, and a lack of AMC means that even with a $40 per month price, it doesn’t include access to The Walking Dead, which could be a deal-breaker. It does have Hulu’s streaming service built-in, but it will be up to viewers to decide if The Handmaid’s Tale and other exclusives are a worthy tradeoff.

Cheaper, higher-quality CGI animation.This motion capture jumpsuit records Hollywood-quality animation at indie film prices

Conventional motion capture rigs — the ones that use visual markers and arrays of infrared cameras — cost tens of thousands of dollars, making them prohibitively expensive for everyone but major studios. But a new, cameraless system from Danish startup Rokoko, called the Smartsuit Pro, aims to make Hollywood-quality motion capture affordable for everybody. Andrew Tarantola zipped himself into one of those suits, and became a dancing mannequin. All for your entertainment.

One tweet for a year of nugs.
A hunger for chicken nuggets broke Twitter’s retweet record

One man asked how many retweets it would take to earn himself a year of free Wendy’s chicken nuggets. The company said 18 million, but once he broke the retweet record, he got his nugs anyway. I hope this makes it into history lessons one day.

One runner has managed to rush through the game in under 20 minutesIn under a week, speedrunners have already torn ‘Prey’ apart

Bethesda’s Prey reboot has been out for less than a week, and already players are posting some truly insane speedruns. DraQu’s sub twenty-minute run-through seen on YouTube uses the GLOO Cannon — an early weapon that can slow down enemies and create small platforming blocks — to access areas that would normally take hours to unlock. While he isn’t cheating, more subverting the rules of the game, the effect is pretty incredible.

No carrier, please.
You can pre-order an unlocked Galaxy S8 now

Both iterations of Samsung’s beautiful new Galaxy S8 are coming to the US, unlocked. Price-wise, they’ll set you back $724.99 and $824.99 for the 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch models, respectively. Pre-order from Best Buy or directly through Samsung today and you’ll get your device unshackled from the carrier gods when it becomes available this May 31st.

But wait, there’s more…

• Snapchat’s latest tricks include ‘infinite’ snaps and AR emoji
• Leak shows Microsoft’s vision for Echo-like Windows PCs
• The US military might let its IT warriors skip boot camp
• Airports may use face recognition to screen US citizens

CBS deal makes it easier to get local TV via streaming

The rapid decline in cable subscribers is killing local TV stations that provide regional news and other programming to viewers in small markets. Now, CBS has struck a deal with its affiliate board that will get live streams from stations like WCBS-TV in New York on digital platforms like Hulu, YouTube TV and CBS All Access. That’ll allow subscribers who want to do “skinny bundles” of select channels to see local programming on top of CBS shows like NCIS and 60 Minutes.

Rivals NBC and ABC have already struck similar deals, so most viewers can now get regional programming like local news and sports included in streaming bundles. Prior to that, content from the big four stations was often not available at all in many markets. CBS says the deal will yield “additional revenue possibilities for all,” presumably via advertising or distribution deals.

CBS has an arrangement with Sony’s PlayStation Vue, but it only applied to several affiliates that had signed on. The new deal applies to all affiliates, which can now stream programming on newish live TV platforms YouTube TV and Hulu. The deal also makes it possible for affiliates to stream on “future new entrant over-the-top platforms,” though it didn’t name any specifically.

Expanding distribution on these new platforms together with our affiliates has been a part of CBS’ long-term digital strategy.

Digital platforms aren’t a panacea for broadcasters like CBS, but things would be even worse without them. A recent analysis from Moffet-Nathanson revealed that pay TV subscriber growth declined by 2.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017 with 762,000 fewer subscribers, but the drop was almost half (1.3 percent) if you include new Sling TV and DirecTV Now users.

CBS is the only major broadcaster with its own streaming platform, All Access, a $6 service with limited commercials or $10 ad-free. Affiliates will now get access to that platform, with CBS presumably sharing some of the user fees and ad revenue.

The new Nokia 3310 launches in the UK on May 24th

The reborn Nokia 3310 is almost upon us. The pint-sized handset, developed by Finnish startup HMD Global, will be available in the UK from May 24th for £49.99 unlocked. For many, that’s impulse purchase territory — which is fitting, given it’s always been pitched as a cheap, ‘ready for the beach or a rowdy music festival’ backup phone. If you need a reminder, the device runs on the Nokia Series 30+ operating system, putting it somewhere between a feature phone and a smartphone. It runs Snake (of course) and a few other basic apps, but otherwise functionality is intentionally limited. Really, you’re buying it for the nostalgia.

If you owned the original, there’s a lot to like here. The plastic shell and bright colours are a welcome throwback to Nokia’s heyday. It might be smaller and thinner than its predecessor, but the numbered keys and greyish-white accent remain. There is, however, a 2.4-inch colour screen now (gosh!) and even a camera, though at 2 megapixels we doubt it’ll be much use. Still, with a standby time of 31 days, who cares? It’s supposed to be different from the usual Android fare. Of course, the phone is a marketing stunt designed to raise awareness of HMD’s other devices. Even with this knowledge, however, I can’t help but admire its retro looks.

New ‘iPhone 8’ Renders Shared Online Based on Alleged Leaked CAD Images

Mobile phone leaker @OnLeaks and tech blog @GearIndia posted a series of high-quality renders on Tuesday that claim to be based on leaked factory CAD images of Apple’s upcoming OLED iPhone.

The images offer perhaps the clearest idea yet of how Apple’s redesigned “iPhone 8” with edge-to-edge display may look with the screen powered off, if the company does indeed choose to sign off on a stainless steel-edged, all-glass design. The renders are based on the expectation that the iPhone 8 will be 144mm tall, 71mm wide, and 7.7mm thick, making it slightly larger than an iPhone 7 but smaller than an iPhone 7 Plus, and slightly thicker than both.

The pictures show the smooth front glass of the edge-to-edge OLED display, which is expected to lack any sort of button indentation in favor of an entirely virtual home button. The only visible features appear in a bezeled run-off area housing the microphone hole and a dual-lens front-facing camera, which is rumored to include 3D sensing capabilities, potentially for use in facial/iris recognition or future augmented reality functionality.

On the back we can see the widely-rumored vertical orientation of a slightly protruding dual-lens camera, a change from the horizontal arrangement used on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

The placement of the Touch ID sensor isn’t made explicit on these CAD-based renders and remains the biggest question mark concerning Apple’s plans. Sources suggest the company has struggled to embed the Touch ID technology in the OLED display because of production challenges, which may force it to re-locate the fingerprint sensor to the rear of the device, possibly just below the Apple logo.

Apple is thought to be testing several prototypes for its redesigned “tenth anniversary” iPhone and rumors have toed and froed over whether production is behind schedule or on course for a September launch, when it is expected to be announced alongside the so-called iPhone 7S and 7S Plus. The last word on the subject comes from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who implied that this year’s shortage could be more “severe” than in previous years, suggesting the phone could be hard to come by for several months after launch.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tag: Onleaks
Discuss this article in our forums

Open World Action-Adventure ‘Mafia 3’ Coming to Mac on May 11

Aspyr is set to release action-adventure game Mafia III for Mac on Thursday with support for Apple’s Metal API, according to MacGamerHQ.

The open-world game developed by Hangar 3 is the third installment in the Mafia series to offer both third-person perspective gaming and a cover system, featuring melee combat, character interrogation, and more.

The game is set in 1968 New Bordeaux – a re-imagined version of New Orleans – which is ten districts big and larger than both Mafia and Mafia II maps combined. Players take control of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam War veteran on a quest to seek revenge for his adopted family, murdered at the hands of local mobs.

The game will be available on Steam and the Mac App Store for $39.99, but interested gamers should take a good look at the minimum system requirements below before ordering, as the graphically intense Mafia III looks set to be a demanding game.

• Operating System: macOS 10.12.4 (Sierra)
• Processor: Intel Core i5 (4 cores)
• Processor Speed: 3.2 GHz
• Memory: 8 GB
• Hard Drive Space: 50 GB
• Video Card (AMD): Radeon R9 M290X
• VRAM: 2 GB

Note that Mafia III requires an AMD video card with at least 2GB of VRAM to run – Intel and Nvidia graphics cards are not supported. Qualified Mac models include: AMD Radeon Pro 450, 455, or 460 (late 2016 MBP); AMD Radeon R9 M370X (mid 2015 and 2016 MBP); AMD Radeon R9 M380, M390, M395, or M395X (late 2015 iMac); AMD Radeon R9 M290X or Radeon R9 M295X (late 2014 iMac); and AMD FirePro D300, dual AMD FirePro D500, or dual AMD FirePro D700 (late 2013 MacPro).

Aspyr warns that without meeting these requirements, users can expect sub-par frame rates or severe game instability.

Discuss this article in our forums

Watch: Quadcopter crash causes nasty bicycle race tumble

Why it matters to you

It’s a powerful reminder of how drones, if flown without proper care, can cause serious havoc.

Last year we watched slack-jawed as a large, remotely-controlled hexacopter operated by a TV broadcast crew came crashing down just meters from a professional skier during an event in Italy.

This week, a pro cyclist was less fortunate when a drone crashed just in front of him during a race. The main body of the machine jammed his front wheel, which consequently sent him flying over the handlebars.

The terrifying accident took place during this month’s Golden State Race series in Sacramento, California, and was caught on camera by another rider’s helmet cam.

The unlucky competitor, who’s yet to be identified by name, “suffered no broken bones, only ending up with a broken wheel, helmet and some road rash,” according to Cycling Weekly.

Look at the video closely and you’ll see the quadcopter — likely a consumer drone such as a DJI Phantom machine rather than something like the heavier hexacopter that crashed at the ski event — collide with a tree before hitting the ground and smashing into pieces.

With the machine shattering across the road, it seems like most of it is behind the rider when suddenly his front wheel locks, sending him tumbling over the top. At any speed, a fall like that can produce serious injuries, but this racer, although slowing, was still moving at a steady clip and therefore extremely lucky to escape with what must have been a seriously bruised body. Thankfully, it didn’t produce a massive pile-up involving the other riders, either.

It’s not clear at this stage if the cyclist or authorities intend to take any action against the drone operator, but the nasty accident is a powerful reminder of the need to take proper care when flying a drone. The owner may simply have been hoping to get some cool aerial shots of the cycling race, but a single clumsy maneuver and one large tree put paid to that, and while the consequences were pretty darn bad for the rider, they could’ve been a whole lot worse.

Microsoft HomeHub for Windows 10 wants to be your smart home control centre

Microsoft appears to be planning its own rival to the likes of Amazon Echo and Apple HomeKit, in the form of HomeHub. The smart home control feature, or at least the first stages of it, will become part of Windows 10, possibly in the next update due in September.

• Microsoft will show the world “what’s next” on 23 May, but what is next?

HomeHub is being designed and developed to become the central control hub for families, and will give shared access to apps, calendars and will provide a new welcome screen. HomeHub will also support third-party smart home products such as Philips Hue lights, which will be controllable directly from a Windows 10 PC.

The Verge has obtained concept images showing how HomeHub will work, and there appears to be a new welcome screen that has an “always on” digital corkboard that displays all the day’s tasks, meetings and events in a calendar for the whole family.

The Verge

Of course, being a Microsoft system, you will be able to control everything with your voice via Cortana. You will be able to make and receive calls, control smart home products, and carry out internet searches, all by using your voice through a Windows 10 PC.

The new welcome screen, shared desktops and calling features are said to be included with the September update, but smart home control may not be available immediately. Along with Philips Hue, Microsoft plans to support Nest, Insteon, Wink and SmartThings.

• Microsoft unveils the Surface Laptop, a Windows 10 S device looking to take down the MacBook
• Microsoft will now release major Windows 10 updates twice a year
• Windows 10 S is a streamlined version of Windows for education

Microsoft’s PC partners HP and Lenovo are said to be working on new PCs to take advantage of the new features, although currents ones can be refreshed. It’s possible that these features, along with new PCs, will be officially announced at Microsoft’s 23 May event in Shanghai.

HTC One X10 gets wider rollout, 5.5-inch octa-core handset with 16MP camera

HTC has introduced a mid-range handset for around £300 that features a decent spec list for the money.

The HTC One X10 has a 5.5-inch Full HD display, 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor and 3GB of RAM. There’s also a 16-megapixel camera on the rear and an 8-megapixel selfie snapper on the front.

Unfortunately, it’s currently only available in Russia and, from 17 May, Australia. But as the manufacturer did eventually bring its predecessor, the HTC One X9, to Europe we could see this new device on these shores in the nearish future.

The phone costs A$549 down under, making it around £311 or US$404 at current exchange rates – not likely to break the bank.

• HTC U 11 ‘Ocean’: Release date, specs and rumours

It comes in white or black and other features include HTC BoomSound, Bluetooth 4.2 and a hearty 4,000mAh battery capable of lasting up to a claimed 25.5 hours for talk time. It also has fast charging capabilities.

We’re not sure what flavour of Android or Sense it ships with, only that it carries both.

There is 32GB of storage space and a microSD card slot is capable of expanding that by up to 2TB. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the rear for security.

We’ll let you know if we spy the phone in the UK or US.