How the studio behind ‘Prey’ reimagined space history

Talos I is a beautiful nightmare. The privately-owned research facility, suspended in space above the Earth, offers a captivating blend of science and art-deco design. Its offices are filled with tall, geometric art prints, red leather sofas and mahogany desks laced with gold. The station’s lobby, large and extravagant, features two winged-lion statues carved from bronze and a huge set of windows overlooking the Moon. It’s gorgeous, but there’s a problem — the vessel is overrun with black, wispy aliens that can hide in everyday objects and kill you in a couple of seconds.

Welcome to Prey, the latest video game from Arkane Studios.

While many developers have tried to tackle the “extraterrestrial discovery gone wrong” concept, few have done it with an alternate history running underneath. Talos I presents an intriguing future that is unlikely to materialize by 2035 — one where commercial companies, rather than government-funded organizations, run expensive science experiments in space. In the world of Prey, it’s all possible because of a timeline that diverges from our own in the late 1950s. Piecing together this past is one of the most satisfying parts of the game. You’re fighting not only to survive but to understand the people and political forces behind your situation.

(Note: This piece contains some mild story spoilers.)

Breaking the norm

Arkane’s alternate history grew from a desire to break away from space-disaster norms. “We didn’t want to do any kind of installation that was military or government,” Ricard Bare, Prey’s lead designer said. “I feel like we’ve seen that a lot, and we just weren’t as interested in that.” Between Halo, Doom and even the most recent Call of Duty, the video-game industry is rife with uber-buff galactic soldiers. The focus on warfare leads to dropships and planet-side bases that are chock full of dark, oppressive metal. Experimentation and artistic flourishes are usually saved for the game’s alien species.

Looking for a new direction, the team researched the original space race that kicked off between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1955. The first man-made satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched in 1957, followed by Sputnik 2, with the Soviet space dog Laika on board, a little more than a month later. A mad dash for space dominance followed, the two nations desperate to make history and outdo one another. Arkane wondered: What it would be like if cosmonauts discovered an alien race at this time? How would the two nations react?

Ricardo Bare is a writer and game designer living in Austin, Texas. He’s currently lead designer at Arkane Studios.

“Now, secretly behind the scenes, the US and Soviet Union are collaborating rather than competing,” Bare explains. “And the early kernel of the [Talos I] space station, called the Kletka, is actually a collaboration between the US and the Soviets to contain this alien organism.”

During development, Sébastien Mitton, art director for Dishonored and Dishonored 2, visited the team in Texas to give some feedback and direction. He suggested that, in the game’s universe, John F. Kennedy should survive his assassination in 1963. “I was like, ‘Man, that fits with what we’re doing really well. Let’s go with that,’” Bare recalls. The idea became another crucial turning point in Prey’s alternate history. If Kennedy survived, he might have had a greater influence on the space industry. Extra funding and government support would have fueled innovation, accelerating humanity’s early efforts into the cosmos.

In Prey’s timeline, the US and Soviet Union build Kletka to trap and observe the vicious “Typhon” alien threat. A company called Transtar eventually takes control of the project, expanding and transforming the ship for its own needs. The Kletka name vanishes, replaced by Talos I.

The privatization is a reflection of our current space industry. While NASA struggles to retain its funding, companies like SpaceX are stepping in with new ideas. Elon Musk’s fearless startup is now delivering payloads to the International Space Station and learning how to land rockets so they can be cleaned up and used once more. “What happens to Elon Musk’s company? What if he, or Google, or someone like that … what would happen if they … what would they look like in 100 years if they decided to build a space station? It certainly would not look like the ISS,” Bare muses.

Keeping up appearances

The parts of Talos I built by Transtar have a distinctive, retro-futuristic look. They represent the company’s wealth and lofty ideals, but also the impact of Kennedy, and how his extended reign as president affected architecture, fashion and interior design. Art-deco typography lifted from the 1920s and 30s stand out on station maps and laboratory signs. Wooden floorboards and overused ash trays permeate every office. It’s a dark, decadent place, the kind The Great Gatsby might build if he woke up one day and suddenly decided to live in outer space.

Like everything in game development, it took time for Arkane to finesse this look. The team looked everywhere for “signature visual motifs” that embodied Kennedy and the early 1960s. A big source of inspiration was the Viceroy hotel in New York, near Central Park. While less than a decade old, the luxury tower borrows heavily from art deco culture, with guest rooms that resemble a tailored ship’s cabin. “If you imagine the station was built by a company informed by that sort of aesthetic, but then also had some futuristic layerings on top of it — that’s where we ended up,” Bare explains.

Talos I is split into different sections, complete with science fiction names like Hardware Labs, Psychotronics and Deep Storage. Some, such as Crew Quarters, are designed for leisure, with a huge swimming pool and cafeteria close by. Others, like the Neuromod Division, are meant for scientific research, or day-today repairs on the ship. Wandering through the hallways and nosing around people’s offices, it’s easy to believe that this was, indeed, a working station where brilliant minds collaborated and lived together. There’s a commitment to detail — everything, from bedside books to cluttered workstations, feels consistent and considered.

“Our approach is simple,” Bare says, “everything in the world should have a reason for why it’s there and why it looks the way that it looks.” Take the gorgeous, geometric-art prints dotted around the station. A book later in the game reveals they’re part of a series designed exclusively for Transtar by former street artist Patryk O. They all convey a space-centric theme, such as orbit and eclipse, through a mixture of circles and simple, deliberate line work. The posters symbolize the importance Transtar and its staff place in art, philosophy and risk-taking.

As you move deeper into the station, this elegance fades away. Talos I is like an onion with “layers” that span several decades. The core is the original Kletka station from the 1950s, all sparse and metal. The first laboratories were built by the US and the Soviet Union, and often feel like an old Russian submarine. The corridors are tighter, with exposed piping and hatches that lead to cramped ventilation shafts. Huge computers line the walls, crammed with physical buttons and switches. A needle dances from left to right on one of the readouts, while various red lights flicker on and off.

These older machines also feature in the modern facilities built by Transtar. Staff have modern, touchscreen monitors on their desks that you can use to peek at emails, transfer important files and, sometimes, find important employees on the ship. Beside them, however, you’ll often find a dusty tape deck or a console that feels woefully archaic by comparison. That juxtaposition is intentional and, in some ways, historically accurate. Space travel is expensive and infrequent, which makes swapping out equipment difficult. If there’s a use for something, it’s better to keep it on board than waste precious cargo space shipping it back to Earth.

There’s also the old phrase: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. NASA hardware can often look a bit chunky because, over several missions, it’s proved to be reliable. It’s why the International Space Station isn’t filled with touchscreens or the latest Apple MacBooks.

A space to play

Talos I is more than an architectural marvel, however. The station has to serve the gameplay too, which falls into an awkwardly-named genre called “immersive sim.” That means you can tackle foes and explore the spaceship in a variety of different ways. If a monster is blocking your path, you can shoot it in the face with a shotgun, hack a nearby turret, or avoid it completely by sneaking inside a ventilation shaft. All three strategies are equally viable, and experimentation is encouraged.

The open nature of Prey is augmented by Neuromods. These upgrades, which you adopt by shoving a needle in your eye, are at the center of Transtar’s research. They grant incredible powers, such as superhuman strength and lightning-quick hacking, by quickly rewriting the brain. Partway through the game, you also gain access to Typhon-based Neuromods that let you shapeshift, control minds and launch devastating kinetic blasts. The Neuromods you enable, and how you use them to traverse Talos I is entirely your choice. A pacifist may focus on morphing to sneak their way past the enemy; a merciless hunter might invest in the “Electrostatic Burst” instead.

Talos I, then, needed to be a playground. The lobby, for example, with its high ceiling and central elevator, is a versatile battlefield at multiple points in the game. You can hide behind a sofa and set up some turrets, or run along the chain of marble glass panels that hang overhead, getting the drop on some unsuspecting Typhon. The space, then, serves two purposes — to be visually interesting, and facilitate dynamic combat encounters.

“We didn’t want the player to feel claustrophobic or think the environments were repetitive,” Bare says. “We still wanted big, open-feeling spaces. So that was a game-design constraint. Sometimes you have a fictional idea, and it informs how you want to build something, but sometimes you want to build something a certain way and then you look for a way to justify that fictionally. So that worked out the other way in this case.”

Delivering the story

Arkane’s alternate history is presented in a few different ways. The environments themselves tell a story — just walking through the garden-like Arboretum, for instance, will help you understand the breadth of research that was occurring onboard Talos I. Then there are the books, notes and “transcribe” audio memos dotted throughout every room. Some of them are personal, revealing heated arguments and bitter rivalries between employees. Others are insightful, explaining Transtar’s influence and the public perception back on Earth. Reading and listening to them all will help you slowly piece together what’s happened.

“It’s sort of like … I have this huge photograph, and every new thing I encounter and pick up increases the resolution of the photograph in my mind,” Bare says. “That is, the picture in my mind of what this place is.” Such a concept will be familiar to immersive sim fans. System Shock, BioShock and Deus Ex all feature rooms packed with written messages and note-to-self recordings. The more you read, look and listen, the more each game and its world come into focus.

Prey’s use of environmental storytelling helps to counterbalance its game structure, which is neither linear nor nonlinear. Some missions are critical in order to complete the game, while others are optional and occasionally inaccessible depending on your actions. You can go (almost) wherever, whenever you like on Talos I, meaning how you uncover the central mystery and Arkane’s alternate history is up to you. Some players, for instance, will find the museum early on and quickly piece together the Kennedy-era space program. Others will miss it completely, or only discover it 10, 20 or 30 hours later.

Every person’s playthrough is different, which is both a blessing and a curse for Arkane. The freedom to explore makes your discoveries feel more personal, but on the flipside, they can be confusing or meaningless until you’ve found other, related pieces of correspondence on the ship. “My mental map of the story and the world might be totally different than yours because I didn’t find that one character you found and rescued,” Bare says. “Or I didn’t read that one book. Or I didn’t see that one poster. A lot of it is in the hands of the player versus me, as a level designer, trying to be an author and make sure that every single person experiences this one beat at this one time, and feels a certain way about it.”

“We’re totally OK with the player not seeing every beautiful, meticulous thing that we created.”

There’s a book, for example, written by an author called Lance B. Jenkins on the ship. An excerpt from the back cover praises the “alternate history novel” for its depiction of a Vietnam war: “But what if America had stood up for its allies in Vietnam? Would Communism still reign in the East? Would the Iron Curtain have fallen?” The insinuation, of course, is that the conflict never happened in Prey’s timeline. Bare suspects that only 10 percent of players will find and read this blurb in the game.

Prey gambles on the player adopting the role of detective. You’ll get the general gist if you blast through the mandatory story missions, but the subtleties of the ship and Arkane’s alternate space race will probably wash over you. Bare doesn’t mind, however. He says the freedom to examine or ignore people’s possessions is what makes Talos I feel so real. “That’s what I love about these kinds of games,” he says, “and what makes them feel like worlds that are alive, versus worlds that are static. We’re totally OK with the player not seeing every beautiful, meticulous thing that we created.”

The game’s alternate space race is easy to ignore. With a dozen deadly Typhon on your tail, it’s understandable — sensible, even — to prioritize your health bar over haphazard exploration. To bury that curiosity, however, would be a disservice to the world that Arkane has created. Among its emails and art-deco furniture is a reality that feels both reflective and strangely prophetic about the future. What our space industry was, and could have grown into; what it’s like now, and could be if privatization outstrips government interest. Let’s just hope a race of conscious-sapping aliens isn’t lurking amongst the stars.

Instagram CEO downplays criticism that it copied Snapchat

If you’ve gotten Instagram and Snapchat confused recently, you’d be forgiven: Even Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom acknowledges that there are similarities between the two services. Instagram might have taken inspiration from Snapchat, but Systrom claims that there was no copying involved.

“It would be crazy if we saw something that worked with consumers that was in our domain and we didn’t decide to compete on it,” Systrom told Recode. But the competition goes both ways, as he points out: Snapchat didn’t originally have filters. “They adopted filters because Instagram had filters and a lot of others were trying to adopt filters as well. And you could have said the same thing at the time, ‘We’re copying each other,’ but I don’t know, that’s just the way Silicon Valley works.”

However, Systrom insists that the emphasis shouldn’t be on the company that implements a feature first. The company that wins will be the one that executes it the best. But, he allows, there’s also room for more than one service. “Facebook’s not the only social network in the world, but I think that’s okay,” Systrom says. “I think that’s what makes Silicon Valley work, that competition, looking around and adopting best-in-breed things to make your service better.”

Instagram’s improvements have certainly been producing results: It recently hit 700 million users, gaining 100 million users within four months. What’s more, Instagram attributes at least a part of that gain to its Snapchat-like Stories feature. In fact, more people use Instagram Stories than the entire Snapchat service, a clear sign that Instagram’s tactics are working.

Source: Recode

Apple might give iOS 11 a real file system

Those wanting more control over file storage on their iPhones may be in for some good news later today. A placeholder for a new “Files” app showed up in the App Store.

When it comes to storing files, iOS hasn’t been terribly useful. Current options include iCloud Drive and popular outside systems like Dropbox, but as for a native iOS storage option, Apple hasn’t really provided. For Apple users looking for more file-management control and particularly those wanting to use its iPad Pro model as a laptop stand-in, “Files” is welcome news.

The placeholder for the app, which appears to have been taken down sometime after Steve Stroughton Smith tweeted about it, is said to require iOS 11.0 or later, meaning it’s likely the new app will come along with the iOS 11 software update whenever it’s released.

Ahead of iOS 11, a ‘Files’ app placeholder entry from Apple appears on the App Store. Requires iOS 11.0 or later 😘 pic.twitter.com/8HAQflHBuI

— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) June 5, 2017

Details about the “Files” app are scarce at the moment, but more information could be announced today during the WWDC keynote. You can follow Engadget’s coverage of the event, which kicks off at 10AM Pacific / 1PM Eastern, here.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Steve Stroughton Smith

Apple and Amazon want a stake in Toshiba’s memory business

Apple and Amazon are joining a Foxconn bid to purchase Japanese chip giant Toshiba’s NAND manufacturing division, according to Nikkei. The deal could make it easier for the companies, particularly Apple, to access all-important flash memory more cheaply for iPhones and Kindles. Foxconn has at least five other bidding rivals, including two backed by the Japanese government, which is reportedly loathe to let Toshiba’s chips fall into foreign hands.

Foxconn is Apple’s primary contract iPhone builder, but also makes a vast range of other products, including Sony’s PS4, the Amazon Kindle and, yes, Toshiba TVs and PCs (in Japan). It reportedly asked for Apple’s help (and vast money stocks) to back the bid, which is reportedly as high as $28 billion, versus a valuation of around $18 billion.

That kind of cash for a NAND company is not over-the-top. Western Digital paid $19 billion to buy SanDisk, known for building SSD, USB and flash memory for cameras. NAND is one of the chip industry’s fastest evolving categories, with new improvements coming along seemingly every month. Western Digital, for instance, recently unveiled the first 64-layer 3D NAND tech that can squeeze more and faster storage into even smaller chips.

Toshiba currently trails leaders Samsung and Western Digital in NAND tech. That’s why Foxconn CEO Terry Gou says his company’s technical chops, backed by the deep pockets of Amazon and Apple, makes it the best suitor. for He adds that Foxconn will not interfere with Toshiba’s business and is not looking to turn a quick buck — a possible reference to another bidder, equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. “We really hope to help Toshiba design better products in the future,” he told Nikkei.

Terry Gou (center) finalizes merger with Sharp President Kozo Takahashi (right) (Bloomberg/Getty Images)

The company recently purchased Japan’s Sharp Electronics for $3.5 billion, and helped it turn a 59 billion yen profit ($534 million) after losing 24.8 billion yen ($224 million) the year before. “We let Japanese [managers] run Sharp … we are also hoping that Toshiba’s memory unit will survive into the next 50 to 100 years at least, like Sharp,” he said.

Nevertheless, Foxconn faces stiff resistance from the Japanese public and government. Toshiba is one of the last major chip makers in the nation, which dominated the industry for decades. Unfortunately, Toshiba dug itself a deep hole after losing over $6 billion in the nuclear industry, and needs to take the best possible bid to maximize its survival odds. Perhaps fearing perhaps that public opposition could tilt the playing field against him, Gou urged all parties to abide by the bidding rules.

Via: Reuters

Source: Nikkei

Watch Apple’s WWDC keynote live at 1PM ET

The day has come. It’s time for Apple’s annual developer conference to kick off and you can watch it live from wherever you’ll be at 1PM ET/10AM PT. The company is keeping with its tradition of broadcasting the WWDC opening keynote for all the world to watch via the internet and Apple TV. When the time comes, tune in here (or on your set-top box) to catch all of the news as it’s announced from San Jose. Yes, if you’re watching on the web, you’ll have to do so with either Safari or Microsoft’s Edge browser.

You’ll also want to keep our liveblog open in a separate window to catch commentary from the crew on the ground. And while you wait for the festivities to begin, check out what we expect to be announced later today with our WWDC 2017 preview.

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!

Source: Apple

Apple’s Online Store Goes Down Ahead of WWDC Keynote Later Today

Apple’s online store has temporarily closed its virtual doors ahead of today’s WWDC opening keynote at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

When clicking on the “Buy” button for any product on Apple’s website, be it a MacBook or accessories, the online store currently says “we’re busy updating the Apple Store for you” and advises customers to “please check back soon.”

During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce updated 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro models, alongside major new versions of its iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS software platforms.

Apple is also rumored to possibly debut a 10.5-inch iPad Pro and smart speaker with Siri, positioned as an Amazon Echo and Google Home competitor, but those announcements could be delayed until later this year.

Apple routinely closes its online store in the hours leading up to its special events, but that’s not typically the case ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference, since the keynote is usually focused on software only.

For that reason, the store’s downtime today is a good sign that new products of some kind will be announced imminently.

WWDC has been absent of major hardware announcements since 2013, when Apple unveiled redesigned models of the Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and its AirPort Time Capsule and Extreme wireless routers.

MacRumors.com will be providing news coverage and a live transcript of the WWDC opening keynote on Monday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Twitter users can follow @MacRumorsLive for live updates.

Update: Apple’s online store became functional again at approximately 5:10 a.m. Pacific Time, but only briefly as Apple fixed an earlier message that incorrectly said to check back starting at 8:01 a.m. Pacific Time.

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Tag: Apple retail
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WWDC 2017 Conference Swag Includes Custom Levi’s Jacket and Apple-Themed Pins

As we get closer to Apple’s WWDC 2017 keynote, which is set to kick off today at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, several developers have taken to Twitter to share the swag they’ve received at the conference this year. The items include a Levi’s denim jacket with a custom WWDC17 logo and a collection of Apple-themed enamel pins.

The Levi’s trucker jacket comes in black, includes fits and sizes for both men and women, and has two interior pockets large enough to fit an iPhone 7 Plus.

Enamel pins, custom Levi’s trucker jackets (in women’s sizes!!). Baller moves, Apple. #WWDC17 pic.twitter.com/aMbDyoNSus

— Jessie Char (@jessiechar) June 4, 2017

The pins handed out to WWDC attendees this year include a collection of six Apple designs, including the old rainbow-themed Apple logo, the “hello” Mac greeting, the Swift logo, an emoji with sunglasses, the original Macintosh, and the Metal logo.

And, to add to the WWDC swag, some sweet pins! pic.twitter.com/JbvnFcmGJY

— David Skuza (@_dskuza) June 4, 2017

A few developers have noted that the pin packs include different designs, with separate collections including an iMessage heart bubble, thumbs up emoji, Activity rings, and more. In addition, each developer has received personalized pins that represent their home country.

WWDC scholarship attendees at the conference are also taking away an Apple TV dev kit, as one 9to5Mac reader pointed out. Students and STEM organization members who won a scholarship got free tickets to WWDC, normally priced at $1,599, and received free lodging as well this year at the San Jose State University dorms, located approximately 15 minutes away from the venue when walking.

MacRumors will be providing live coverage of the WWDC keynote in a live blog on the MacRumors.com front page, as well as via the MacRumors Live Twitter account. Any reader interested in avoiding spoilers for this year’s keynote can check out our spoiler-free video stream, which will be updated with a direct link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple.

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Foxconn Partnering With Apple and Amazon In Renewed Attempt to Win Toshiba’s Memory Chip Unit

Apple and Amazon will join Foxconn in a bid to win Toshiba’s NAND memory chip unit, which has been on sale since March and was previously said to finally conclude bidding sometime in June. Nikkei quoted Foxconn chairman Terry Gou as saying that Apple and Amazon will “chip in funds” to help Foxconn win the final bid (via Reuters).

Gou left out the exact amount of the funding that Apple and Amazon would provide, and it was also mentioned that Japanese manufacturer Sharp, which Foxconn acquired last year, will also take place in the bidding. In an official statement, Foxconn referenced Apple and Amazon by calling the U.S. companies “strategic partners” in the bid for Toshiba’s memory chip unit, while mentioning that more details would come “at the appropriate time.”

Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc will join Foxconn’s bid for Toshiba Corp’s semiconductor business, the Nikkei business daily quoted Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou as saying on Monday. The two U.S. technology giants plan to “chip in funds”, Gou said in an interview, according to the newspaper.

“Of course Apple and Amazon are offering money together, but I cannot comment on how much funds each company is putting on the table,” Gou said at a hotel in Osaka.

The sale of Toshiba’s chip unit has been riddled by a legal battle with Western Digital over the past few weeks, making it uncertain who — if anyone — would end up winning the bid for the unit. Following the announcement of the initial sale, Apple was reportedly looking into spending several billion dollars for a “substantial stake” in the Toshiba memory chip unit, as well as potentially partnering up with Foxconn in the bidding war.

Foxconn has already been suggested as an unlikely winner of the unit due to its deep ties with China, with the Japanese government likely to oppose any winning bid that would take key Toshiba chip technology out of the country. Foxconn’s previous bid of $27 billion was reportedly rejected by Toshiba, so now it appears that the manufacturer will beef up its offering for Toshiba’s unit with the help of Apple, Amazon, and Sharp, although it’s unclear if more money will be enough for the China-based company to win.

According to Gou, if Foxconn would win Toshiba’s chip unit it plans to keep the Japanese leadership in place, which it hopes is a way to appease the Japanese government ahead of the end of bidding.

“We will definitely not undermine nor interfere with [Toshiba’s existing management]. We will treat them like the way we have been treating Sharp,” Gou said, adding that he was confident that Foxconn stood a good chance of winning the bid.

“We let Japanese [managers] run Sharp … we are also hoping that Toshiba’s memory unit will survive into the next 50 to 100 years at least, like Sharp.”

Other bidders include Broadcom and South Korea’s SK Hynix, and the winner is expected to be announced sometime this month, ahead of Toshiba’s next shareholder meeting.

Tags: Foxconn, Toshiba
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These robotic shorts will improve your running performance

Why it matters to you

The design could lead to improved methods for treating people with leg injuries and help to speed up recovery.

If you’ve tried everything to improve your running time but just can’t seem to beat your personal best no matter how much you try, then slipping into a pair of these robotic shorts might be the answer.

OK, it may seem a little underhanded to use an exosuit system to score a better time, but it would still be pretty cool to try it out to see to what extent high-tech apparel can improve athletic performance.

Developed by a team of engineers at the Wyss Institute and Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the shorts can apparently cut an average marathon time from 9:14 minutes-per-mile to 8:49. For sure, that’s an impressive reduction.

So how do they work? Well, according to its creators, the soft exosuit applies forces to the hip joint via thin, flexible wires, assisting the muscles during each stride. Those wires connect to the exosuit at the back of the thighs and waist belt, and can reduce the metabolic cost of running by as much as 5.4 percent.

“As subjects ran on a treadmill wearing the exosuit, the actuation unit pulled on the wires, which acted as a second pair of hip extensor muscles applying force to the legs with each stride,” the team explains on its website.

The team arrived at the most effective wire-pulling system after testing two options: one that applied force starting at the point of maximum hip extension as seen in a regular running motion, and one that applied force a little later in the running stride. The latter clearly proved the most effective.

While further work is required to hone the design, the team said it hopes that one day its technology can be used “to augment the performance of recreational athletes and/or help with recovery after injury.”

But if you’re a marathon runner thinking the gear could come in handy for knocking a few seconds off your next run, the downside is that in real-life conditions you’ll have to have some kind of vehicle trundling along behind you to carry the contraption that makes the whole system work. Until the researchers develop a portable version, you’ll have to time your running sessions indoors on a treadmill.

Well, no one ever said improving your running performance was going to be easy.

Moto Z2 Play is going up for pre-order in India on June 8

Motorola is rolling out attractive financing schemes to incentivize the Moto Z2 Play in India.

Motorola unveiled the Moto Z2 Play earlier this month, and the phone is all set to make its way to India later this week. The company confirmed in a tweet that the Z2 Play will be going up for pre-order in the country on June 8, with several offers available for customers looking to pick up the mid-range handset.

We see today’s smartphones & raise you a #smarterphone.#MotoZ2Play #ComingSoonKnow more about pre-booking offers: https://t.co/Jzch7gqsKv pic.twitter.com/RRXd6EBKmZ

— Moto India (@Moto_IND) June 3, 2017

First up is a financing options that lets you pick up a Z2 Play by paying just ₹2,000 upfront. The rest of the money can be paid via 10 monthly instalments with 0% interest from Bajaj Finance or Homecredit. Alternatively, you’ll be able to purchase the phone through interest-free EMIs on your credit card at “select stores.”

Customers pre-ordering the phone will be eligible for a Moto Armor Pack, which offers “protective accessories” that ensure “utmost protection” for your Moto Z2 Play. Motorola has also mentioned that it has “great pre-booking offers” for those looking to pick up Moto Mods, and we should know more once the phone goes up for pre-order on June 8.

As for the phone itself, the major change from its predecessor is the smaller battery and the rounded fingerprint sensor at the front. The Moto Z2 Play comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD display, is powered by a Snapdragon 626 SoC, 12MP camera with an f/1.7 lens, 5MP front shooter, and a 3000mAh battery.

The phone comes in at $499 in the U.S., which translates to ₹32,000. Motorola is likely targeting the ₹35,000 price point, putting the phone in direct competition with OnePlus’ upcoming flagship, which is estimated to be priced at ₹34,999.