PlayStation VR: The Ultimate Guide!

Let this be your extended user manual to all things PlayStation VR!

It wasn’t all that long ago VR was considered either something simple you added to a phone for a quick distraction or something amazingly complex for those who could afford the lengthy requirements of ownership. Sony created a compelling middle ground by doing what they do best — making something you actually want to have in your living room. PlayStation VR is a companion for your PlayStaion 4 that elevates your current games and helps you explore and entirely new way to feel like you are the character you’re playing.

Being able to fully enjoy this experience requires more than just taking one out of the box. Here’s our complete user manual for all things PSVR!

Read more at VR Heads!

Win a Samsung Galaxy S8 from Android Central Digital Offers

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is the best phone of 2017. With its stunning infinity display and gorgeous all-glass design, it’s a marvel to behold — and it can be yours thanks to Android Central Digital Offers!

Enter to win a Samsung Galaxy S8! Learn more

Right now we’re giving a way a Samsung Galaxy S8 to a lucky reader — and it could be you! It’s free to enter, so don’t delay! Valued at $724, this is quite the giveaway.

This contest is open to all legal residents of the United States who are eighteen (18) years of age or older as of the date of entry. There can only be one winner… will it be you?

Enter to win a Samsung Galaxy S8! Learn more

Nougat share rises to double digits but so many Android devices still run KitKat and below

More Android devices are being upgraded to Nougat, but the going is slow.

I love KitKats but I’m getting older now so I try not to eat them so often. I also used to love the software equivalent of the crunchy chocolate wafer treat, released in 2013, which further refined the Holo aesthetic unveiled with Ice Cream Sandwich two years earlier while paving the way for the complete visual overhaul that came with Lollipop a year later.

Now, in mid-2017, we’re approaching the release of a new Android version, 8.0 Ontbijtkoek, but the current standard, Nougat, has just reached a new milestone: a tenth of all Google Play-supported Android phones.

Android 7.x Nougat is now on 11.5% of Android devices, up 2% from the previous month. The only other version to rise in July was Marshmallow, version 6.0, which gained 0.6% to 31.8%.

Back to KitKat, though: it still runs on 17.1% of Android devices, down a percent from June but still commanding a significant portion of the world’s usage, especially when you consider Nougat slow ascent to double digits. Everything below KitKat — Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and the Jelly Bean Trio — comprise 9.5% of Android devices combined, so it’s really KitKat we’re looking to see drop significantly over the next year.

Of course, the stats to this site skew slightly newer, since many people enthusiastically replace their phones every year, or eagerly anticipate updates and go out of their way to buy devices, like Nexuses and Pixels, that receive them first. One day we’ll do a nice chart of what the AC traffic looks like.

Until then, you can check out Google’s Android version history dashboard and mourn or cheer the state of the platform’s fragmentation, depending on your perspective.

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Google Assistant could learn a thing or two from Bixby Voice

Bixby’s conversational, apologetic nature helps make it one of the more humanized digital assistants out there.

Bixby Voice still isn’t live yet, even as Samsung as made plans to launch more products with it in the future. The service has officially missed its originally projected launch window, and it looks like it won’t be ready until after the Galaxy Note 8. At present, all we have to pull from is a limited preview, which I’ve been using for the past few weeks in an attempt to experience what it is Samsung’s endeavoring to do here.

The good news is that there is something to look forward to. There is relative ease in using Bixby, and once you get into the habit, the button on the side of the Galaxy S8/S8+ also starts to make sense. It’s clear what Samsung’s gunning for here is a more personalized experience to Google Assistant. It’s not as predictive or as useful in its current implementation, but the sheer fact that it’s easier to talk to may be what gives it a prominent place on the shelf of Android’s available digital assistants.

It’s as complicated as talking to a person

Interacting with Bixby is effectively like talking to a human. Whereas Google Assistant can sometimes feel robotic and overly programmed, Bixby seems like an entity with the sole purpose of learning what its user likes. In fact, every time you bark a command, it asks for feedback to ensure it’s doing precisely what you asked for.

Bixby asks for feedback to ensure it’s doing precisely what you asked for

Granted, no human is that obsessed with pleasing another, but with Bixby having trouble understanding U.S. English (hence its delay) it’s nice to be able to provide that instant feedback rather than grunting, pressing the button, and trying again. That’s how you’d solve a problem with a friend, after all; you’d forego the attitude and attempt to make amends. That’s what Bixby’s trying here, too.

With Google’s offerings, I have to think of the one command that encompasses every action I want to happen. For instance, if I wanted to play a podcast, I’d ask for it by title, and then remember to include the podcast moniker. Otherwise, the assistant won’t know which app to find to pull that media.

In theory, Bixby is supposed to be easier to control because you can talk to it in regular human syntax, without having to remember a particular order of commands. It works like this in some instances — cropping a photo, for example, or turning off the always-on display from the settings — but in some cases, it has no idea where to even begin. With Google Play Music, for example, Bixby had difficult understanding I wanted it to play a podcast. I typically use Pocket Casts for this routine, but seeing as how it’s not yet compatible with the Bixby Voice preview, I had to choose the road less traveled. That route got me nowhere, though, and I ended up tapping around to start playback myself.

The Bixby button

The Galaxy S8/S8+’s new Bixby button has been a hot topic lately, partially because there are many people out there who’d rather re-map it to do something else. I can understand why Samsung would want to discourage that, however, because that button is a significant part of the Bixby experience.

I can’t tell you how many times Google Assistant has failed to launch when I’ve uttered the command, even as I was holding it a mere few inches from my face. Because of this, I deactivated the ability to call up Assistant from either my smartphones and left that bidding to the two Google Home units in my house. At present, I only use Assistant to control my home, not to interact with my devices.

Even in its beta state, Bixby is easier to use to call on than Google Assistant.

In its beta state, Bixby is easier to use to call on than Google Assistant, even when I’m muttering. As I’m whispering to myself as I’m typing this up, it’s hearing its name and asking what it can do to help. Google would do the same, sure, but when it doesn’t hear you, there’s no alternative besides unlocking the phone and tapping around. That’s exactly where the Bixby button comes in handy.

Remember the Nextel days of yore, when you could push to talk to a friend on the same cellular network? The side button on the Galaxy S8 is effectively Bixby’s push-to-talk. You can use it with the screen off, or press it while you’re inside a compatible app to control it with just your voice. You don’t have to say “Hey, Bixby!” every time you use the phone, and you don’t have to specify the app for your command.

There’s something weirdly organic about pressing a button to talk to your phone, too — like sitting in Knight Rider’s seat, maybe? Honestly, I was too young to watch the series, but I’d imagine that feeling of being physically connected to an electronic device does something to our brains. Whatever it is, it’s what makes pressing the button second nature. Samsung should probably allow remapping until it’s officially launched, though, because without the aid of Bixby Voice it’s just a useless button.

There’s plenty of work left to do

The fact that Bixby Voice has been significantly delayed has already done plenty to sour its arrival to the world, and that’s a major shame. I see what Samsung is attempting to do here, beyond what it described in its original press release; it’s hoping to market its personable, contextual digital assistant as a compliment to Google Assistant’s robust search capabilities, rather than a replacement. Ironically, it doesn’t yet do that because it’s struggling with syntax — how can something understand the context if it can’t even verify the order of words?

Bixby Voice is not at its best in its beta state, but I still enjoyed interacting with it more than I typically do with Google Assistant precisely because it’s conversational. Hopefully, this preview period will help it get its grip on the English language. Bixby Voice is the sort of digital assistant that Android needs, and if it doesn’t take off, it can at least set an example. I imagine the pressure is on to get this product out before Google figures it all out.

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Google testing a new touch-oriented design on Chrome OS

Chrome OS is getting closer to being tablet-friendly!

Once upon a time, Chrome OS wasn’t the most touch-friendly system. There weren’t many touchscreen models of Chromebooks, and there was no real rush to fix how a system designed for a mouse and keyboard wasn’t really designed for touchscreen input.

Well, Chrome OS has come a long way since then, and now that touchscreen Chromebooks are becoming more and more popular, thanks in no small part to Android apps jumping to Chromebooks, and Google has been slowly making the system more and more touch-friendly. That change has now spread to a new Chrome desktop, as evidenced in a YouTube video from Chromium evangelist François Beaufort.

The video below shows a new Chrome desktop that’s now available in the Chrome OS Canary channel. The new version seems to smoosh the app launcher window onto the bottom of the screen when you tap the Apps button rather than popping it up in a new window. It displays the search bar, complete with an easy-to-tap voice search button, and a small smattering of suggested apps. You drag up on this bar to bring up the full app drawer, which looks very Android-like. The Chrome OS desktop has needed an overhaul for a bit, and while it’s still early days, if the app launcher is going to act this much like Android, maybe we’ll get another Android feature in icon packs… or maybe that’s just the themer in me begging for a bigger canvas.

At any rate, this is a Canary channel feature, so you may not want to try it on a Chromebook you depend on, but if your Chromebook is more of a supplemental device, this might just be for you.

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What other things do I need to use Google Home?

You probably have everything you need to use Google Home.

Google Home aims to make your life easier, but you will need a few things in order to use it. Don’t worry though, chances are you already have access to the three integral parts of using Google Home. We’ve got the details for you here.

Internet, account, and apps

There are three prerequisites you need to possess before using Google Home:

• Internet service and an in-home Wi-Fi connection
• A Google account
• Apps to connect the service to

The odds are that you already have Wi-Fi where you plan to use Google Home, a Google account, and apps that are compatible with Google Home installed on your phone. If this is the case, then you’ve already done the hard work of making sure that you have everything necessary to use Google Home.

You’ll use your Google Account as authentication of who you are when linking apps, making purchases, or accessing your Google Play library. Once you plug Google Home in and set it up, it’ll use the internet in order to access goods and services, as well as answer any questions you have. No Wi-Fi means no Google Home services.

Last but certainly not least are the apps you’ll want to link with Google Home. These apps include Spotify or Pandora for music, as well as apps for your connected home (like Nest or Hue). By connecting to your existing account, you’re able to connect to everything from a single hub. Probably the most important app to use with Google Home, though, is IFTTT which can let you use Google Home and your connected accessories to personalize your experience.

How to connect Google home and IFTTT

Questions?

Do you have questions about what is needed in order to use Google Home? Are you having issues getting set up? Let us know in the comments below!

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Play ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ all over again with New Game+

The team behind the popular open world game Horizon Zero Dawn announced an expansion pack called The Frozen Wilds last month, but that’s not all they have up their sleeve. Today, they released patch 1.30 for the game, which introduces some exciting new features.

The most eagerly anticipated addition is a New Game+ option. Now, players can start a new game without losing their character skills or their inventory. It’s worth noting, though, that while you can continue to collect XP beyond the level of 50, characters’ progressions are capped at that level. New Game+ also introduces additional unlockable content, including new trophies, face paint and the ability to change Aloy’s focus.

Additionally, Horizon Zero Dawn is introducing an Ultra Hard difficulty level. While players will normally be able to choose a lower difficulty level when embarking on New Game+, those who select Ultra Hard will be locked into it for their New Game+.

Of course, the patch also includes bug fixes and other small enhancements. The addition of New Game+ will likely excite the game’s many fans; hopefully it’s enough to keep players hooked until The Frozen Wilds releases later this fall.

Source: PlayStation Blog