Images Claim to Show Wireless Charging Components Destined for the ‘iPhone 8’

Images claiming to offer a glimpse of the wireless charging circuitry included in Apple’s upcoming “iPhone 8” have been shared on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo today by technology website ZEALER (via iClarified).

The two photos show several assembled inductive charging kits in a plastic tray and a black PCB board of bare circuitry modeled on the assembled kits. As with most alleged leaks that appear on Weibo, it’s extremely difficult to tell whether the images are authentic, but we’re covering them here for completion.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed the iPhone 8 and its companion devices, the “iPhone 7s” and the “iPhone 7s Plus” will all adopt glass bodies with metal frames to facilitate WPC-standard wireless charging functionality. The WPC-standard refers to the Wireless Power Consortium, which supports the Qi wireless charging functionality built into many Android devices.

According to Kuo, wireless charging will be enabled through an optional accessory sold alongside the new iPhones, rather than be included in the box. Separately, Apple blogger John Gruber has suggested that the accessory might not be available in September when the iPhones are expected to launch, but might ship later in the year instead alongside an iOS 11.1 software update.

I’ve heard that inductive charging will (a) be sold separately, and (b) might be late, waiting for iOS 11.1 (a la Portrait mode last year). https://t.co/N65dHMNQIJ

— John Gruber (@gruber) July 8, 2017

Fast Company also reported that software issues, not components, would be the reason behind a possible delay in enabling wireless charging in the phones. According to their sources, if the software isn’t ready, wireless charging could be unavailable when the phone first begins shipping.

Early rumors about the OLED “iPhone 8” and the iterative “S” cycle upgrades to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus suggested Apple was considering a long-range charging feature, but that technology is yet to mature and there are likely challenges to overcome before it’s ready for inclusion in a device like the iPhone. As such, Qi wireless charging is in line with rumors that have predicted the iPhone 8 will support inductive charging rather than a true wireless charging feature.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8
Tag: wireless charging
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Netflix to Spend $7 Billion on Original Programming Next Year

Hot on the heels of news that Apple has set aside $1 billion for original TV programming over the next year, Netflix revealed on Wednesday that it will spend seven times that amount in 2018.

In a new interview with Variety, Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos quoted the number of $7 billion, which is up from more than $6 billion in 2017 and $5 billion in 2016. The vast majority of Netflix’s budget is spent on licensed content, but the company is working towards balancing that out with more in-house content over the next couple of years, Sarandos said.

Some analysts and industry insiders are skeptical of the company’s spending habits, arguing its stock is overinflated (it’s soared to more than $170 a share, up from around $50 in early 2014, adjusted for a 2015 stock split). “We’re not spending money we don’t have,” Sarandos counters. “We’re spending revenue.” The company reports its debt load is $4.8 billion, with an additional $15.7 billion in long-term content commitments with studios. “We have one of the low debt levels in the industry,” insists Sarandos.

Using its budget, Netflix has produced some successful regional TV series such as the German show “Dark”. The company hopes to increase that number to up to 100 series in the next couple of years. Netflix is also continuing to push into reality TV programming, with 50 unscripted shows coming to the streaming service next year. Feature films are already on the company’s radar, with movies such as War Machine and Sandy Wexler having already debuted, and Bright starring Will Smith set for release in December.

For its part, Apple is said to be planning to procure and produce up to 10 original TV shows over the next year as it seeks to make up ground on services such as Netflix and Amazon. The $1 billion budget figure is about half of what Time Warner’s HBO spent on content last year and around the same amount as Amazon spent in 2013, after it announced its own move into original programming. Apple has already kicked off its original programming schedule with “Planet of the Apps” and “Carpool Karaoke”, although both shows have come in for criticism from reviewers.

Tag: Netflix
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Twitch starts its retro ‘Starcade’ marathon on August 28th

Twitch has nailed down the start of its Starcade marathon… and unlike many of its other marathons, it won’t just involve playing episodes back to back. It’ll stream the arcade-themed game show on Shout! Factory’s channel starting August 28th at 2PM ET. The focus is on playing all 123 episodes digitized from the source tapes, but there’s a modern twist: Geek & Sundry host and streaming veteran Erika Ishii will introduce games and provide context. You shouldn’t be lost if you’re too young to have played the games outside of an emulator.

The marathon is running in part to fuel demand for Shout! Factory’s upcoming Starcade reboot, but the original series stands on its own merits. The show earned its warm and fuzzy reputation because it treated video games with respect and kindness at a time when many thought they were strictly diversions for kids. That even extended to the second host, Geoff Edwards, who was almost as interested in the games as the contestants. Think of Starcade as one big celebration of early video gaming — it only makes sense to stream it on a service that’s (mostly) devoted to watching gameplay.

Source: Twitch Blog

ASUS unveils flagship ZenFone 4 series at global launch event

ZenFone 4 Pro leads the pack with dual cameras and Snapdragon 835.

ASUS has taken the wraps off its latest line of flagship smartphones in the ZenFone 4 line. And as in previous years, the Taiwanese company is fielding a wide range of handsets targeting different kinds of consumers.

The new range is based around the standard ZenFone 4, the mainstream flagship, which is equipped with dual cameras and a Snapdragon 660 processor — the latest efficient mid-tier chip from Qualcomm — with up to 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and an ample 3,300mAh battery. That’s all arranged inside a glass-bodied chassis bearing ASUS’s trademark reflective concentric circle pattern. There’s also a brushed aluminum frame, fingerprint security built into the capacitive home button, and a 5.5-inch 1080p LCD.

The main focus of the new ZenFone is the camera — the main shooter is a 12-megapixel Sony IMX362 sensor with 1.4-micron pixels, featuring OIS and a f/1.8 lens, which is close to the top of the range in terms of camera hardware. And that’s paired with a 120-degree wide-angle camera, similar to the LG G6, for when you need to fit more in frame.

Regular (i.e. non-Pro, non-Deluxe) ZenFones have been priced competitively thus far, and so seeing this level of camera hardware in a potentially affordable handset is significant.

More: ASUS ZenFone 4 series hands-on

Pick the regular ZenFone 4 for wide-angle shots, the 4 Pro for sharper zoomed pics.

Performance enthusiasts will be most excited about the ZenFone 4 Pro, however. ASUS’s premium model steps the specs up to a Snapdragon 835 processor, with a glossy finish around the metal frame, and a larger 3,600mAh battery. The Pro also features a dual camera setup around the back, though now with an f/1.7 lens for the main shooter, and 2X optical zoom capabilities in the regular sensor. So buyers will have to choose whether they want wide-angle photos or sharper zoomed photos — there’s no single model with both options.

For selfie enthusiasts, ASUS also unveiled a pair of new mid-rangers with promising front-facing photographic capabilities. The ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro can take 24-megapixel selfies using a 12-megapixel IMX362 sensor. The camera includes the same f/1.8 aperture as the rear shooter of the regular ZenFone 4, and a secondary front-facing camera also allows you to capture wide selfies (or “wefies,” if you insist), to fit more friends in the scene. Around the back, there’s a more run-of-the-mill 16-megapixel shooter. Meanwhile, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 under the hood too allows you to capture up to 4K selfie videos.

The ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro puts its best sensor and lens around the front, along with a front-facing flash.

The regular ZenFone 4 Selfie features dual 20-megapixel front camera, while stepping other specs down (including an unnamed quad-core Qualcomm chip) to keep things more affordable.

Also shown today, following a stealthy launch in Russia a couple of months back the ZenFone 4 Max boasts a whopping 5,000mAh battery. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 430 or 425 processor, 3GB of RAM, up to 32GB of internal storage plus microSD, and comes with dual SIM support. There’s also a ZenFone 4 Max Pro, which bumps the rear camera up to a sharper 16 megapixels.

All the new ZenFone models come with Android 7.1.1 atop ASUS’s ZenUI software, and in the case of the ZenFone 4, 4 Pro, 4 Selfie and 4 Selfie Pro (gasp), ASUS includes the new version 4 of its Android skin, featuring a cleaner de-bloated interface.

We’ll update this post with pricing information as it’s unveiled today — though it’s worth noting that today’s launch event will focus mainly on Asian markets.

ASUS ZenFone 4 series hands-on

Photography is front and center for the ZenFone 4 launch, as ASUS unveils four new dual-camera phones.

ASUS has just taken the wraps off its new flagship phones at a global launch event in Taipei, revealing a four completely new models with solid specs and some neat photographic tricks.

The ZenFone 4 line actually comes in six different flavors — there’s a ZenFone 4, 4 Pro, 4 Selfie, 4 Selfie Pro, 4 Max and 4 Max Pro — but we’re going to mostly focus on the ZenFone 4 and 4 Pro here, since they’re the main focus of the lineup.

Both of these phones feature attractive metal and glass designs — on the surface, a fairly standard look for mid-to-high-end phones in 2017, but ASUS spices things up a bit with its trademark concentric circle design around the back, which adds a bit of flair. 2.5D glass blends into the aluminum frame, and both phones feel solid and well-built.

The overall look and feel of both phones is very similar, though. The only differences are the ever-so-slight extra heft of the ZenFone 4 Pro, and the fact that that phone’s camera has very slight lens bump. The ZenFone 4 Pro also goes with a slightly glossy finish to its metal trim, for whatever that’s worth. Otherwise, the front face is near identical, with minimal fuss, bezels that are definitely present but not enormous, and an array of capacitive buttons down below. Biometric security, as always, is built into the home button.

Both phones feature good-looking 5.5-inch 1080p displays, but the 4 Pro switches up to an AMOLED panel for more vibrant colors. And while we weren’t able to test either ZenFone 4 model out in direct sunlight, we didn’t notice any telltale issues around viewing angles or screen reflectivity.

On the inside, the vanilla ZenFone 4 has a Snapdragon 660 chip from Qualcomm, the new 14nm mid-range champion, with between 4 and 6GB of RAM, and up to 64GB of storage, backed up by a 3300mAh battery. Based on the performance of previous 660-based phones we’ve used, battery performance here should be solid. On the ZenFone 4 Pro, you’ll step up to the top-tier Snapdragon 835 platform, with 6GB of RAM and with up to 128GB of storage, plus a substantial 3600mAh battery. Those are flagship specs by any standard, and the pairing of a 10nm chip with such a large battery is also promising.

Specs are all well and good, but the big deal about the ZenFone 4 range is its dual-camera array. You’ll get two different dual-lens configurations depending on which model you pick. The regular ZenFone 4 has Sony’s top-end IMX362 sensor, with 1.4-micron pixels and OIS, behind an f/1.8 lens. This sensor features PDAF and Galaxy S8-like Dual Pixel tech for more reliable autofocusing. All of the above suggests the ZenFone 4 should perform well in low-light photography. And while our time with the phone has been limited so far, early results are promising.

Meanwhile, the secondary camera lets you take 120-degree wide-angle shots, though with less impressive performance in the dark. If you’re familiar with the LG G6, you’ll mostly know what to expect here. You trade low-light clarity to capture a much wider field of view in one shot, without having to use panorama mode.

On the ZenFone 4 Pro, you get the same main camera behind a brighter f/1.7 lens, but this time the second camera does 2X optical zoom. Again, the secondary camera isn’t as good in low light — a common thing for dual-lens phones — with its f/2.6 lens. But you do at least get a hardware-enabled portrait mode in the ZenFone 4 Pro; the vanilla ZenFone 4’s portrait mode relies solely on software to create the illusion of depth behind your subject.

Whether you choose the wide-angle ZenFone 4 or the telephoto 4 Pro, you’re getting two great cameras.

In any case, while telephoto shots are fun, the bottom line here is that ASUS has a potentially great main camera in both ZenFone 4 variants. These are rear shooters that might well go toe-to-toe with the very best, thanks to great optics and post-processing tricks like multi-frame photography.

ASUS’s new phones run Android 7.1.1 — near-enough the latest version right this second, but remember Android 8.0 is just around the corner, and ASUS doesn’t have a great track record with timely platform updates. The company has gone a little over-the-top with software customizations in the past, but the new ZenUI 4 actually pares back the most egregious customizations, and while it’s still a far cry from stock Android, there’s really nothing wrong with the way it looks. An inoffensive blue and white color scheme is present throughout the software, and there are no over-the-top animations or visuals to contend with.

ASUS’s most egregious software customizations have been pared back in the new ZenUI 4.

As a result, ASUS’s latest software is fast and responsive — which you’d absolutely expect from phones running modern Qualcomm processors.

Part of ASUS’s new software experience is a suite of impressive camera tricks, including manual mode, that aforementioned a portrait mode, and a mess of beautification filters. ZenUI also adds new features in the Gallery app for tagging and grouping friends and family based on facial recognition.

So those are the two new flagships, but ASUS is also unveiling the ZenFone 4 Max, which wasn’t on show at the launch. This model, which actually broke cover in Russia a couple of months ago, is basically a run-of-the-mill mid-ranger with a whopping 5000mAh battery, and support for 1A reverse charging.

There’s also the ZenFone 4 Selfie series, which, as the name suggests, is all about taking the best selfies possible, and comes with hardware geared towards attaining that goal at an affordable price point.

The ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro pairs two front-facing cameras, both regular and wide-angle, with a front-facing flash.

The main model for selfie enthusiasts to get excited about is the ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro. On the outside, the Selfie Pro doesn’t bear much resemblance to its mainstream namesakes. The chassis is metal, looking like a cross between a OnePlus 3 and a OnePlus 5. The exciting stuff, as you may expect, is happening around the front. The ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro puts its best camera sensor — the IMX362, once again, with f/1.8 lens — on the front, along with LED flash and a secondary wide-angle camera for fitting in a more panoramic view of your scene or your friends.

Despite using a 12-megapixel sensor, Selfie Pro actually takes 24-megapixel shots, thanks to its use of two photodiodes per microlens on the sensor. In theory, this means low-light performance is reduced, but the presence of a front-facing flash should go some way towards compensating for this.

On the back of the ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro, there’s a fairly standard 16-megapixel camera. And powering the whole assembly is a Snapdragon 625 processor — a last-gen component, but still a solid chip — plus 4GB of RAM, providing dependable performance and enabling 4K selfie video. (You likely won’t be able to see much difference on the built-in display, though, which once again is a 5.5-inch 1080p panel.)

Meanwhile the regular ZenFone 4 Selfie pares back some of the specs, and the physical hardware also feels a bit less premium — though it’s still a metal unibody we’re dealing with here. You still get dual front-facing cameras, this time at 20 megapixels, but with a lesser processor and a lower-res display.

ASUS’s announcements today were mainly geared towards Asian markets, and so the ZenFone 4 models that eventually come to the West may look a little different to what we see here. Nevertheless, our first impressions are positive. ASUS’s latest range may not feature barnstorming new chassis designs or super-thin bezels, but they do match up to the competition in terms of performance and photography capabilities. Bringing a wide-angle camera to an affordable flagship is a big deal. Equally important is the inclusion of a telephoto lens in the high-end ZenFone 4 Pro, bringing new creative capabilities like portrait mode.

The question now is how they’ll match up in terms of pricing, and whether a quartet of fairly generic looking handsets will be able to stand out in a highly competitive market.

Roku clamps down on pirate channels

When Roku introduced private channels, it meant them as a way for developers to try their content before setting it loose in public. Well, that’s not quite how it panned out: pirates have been using the channels to stream bootleg material. And Roku isn’t putting up with that behavior any longer. TechCrunch, Cord Cutters News and TorrentFreak have learned that Roku now pops up a largely piracy-oriented warning whenever you create a private channel. It stresses that you should use a channel to stream “only legal content,” and warns that Roku can pull channels with illegal material “without prior notice.” It won’t actively scan for piracy, but don’t be shocked if your movie rip channel disappears in the blink of an eye.

The company has already removed some channels, and a few pirate outfits have preemptively announced plans to drop Roku support on the assumption that their channels will disappear.

The crackdown isn’t coming out of the blue. Roku wants to offer public stock in 2017, and that means cleaning house so investors don’t see its media players as piracy havens. Also, Mexico recently banned sales of Roku devices over pirate channels — Roku’s not going to get back into the country’s good graces unless it can show that content thieves aren’t welcome. Like it or not, the laissez faire culture of Roku boxes may have to go away for the company to grow its fledgling empire.

Source: TechCrunch

HBO hacking woes continue: this time on social media

HBO just can’t catch a break. The cable network got hacked again, though this time, the perpetrators targeted its social media accounts. A hacker group called OurMine took over the company’s Facebook and Twitter accounts not to ask for millions or to steal more GoT episodes, but to “test [their] security.” OurMine is known for targeting high-profile social accounts and even got Netflix’s and Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter accounts in the past.

BREAKING: Yet another hack problem for HBO tonight…this time to it’s social media accounts https://t.co/oCRuBsqx1e pic.twitter.com/AM1g7dHL0E

— Andrew Wallenstein (@awallenstein) August 17, 2017

[Screencap taken by BBC]

In OurMine’s posts, it asked the HBO team to contact them to “upgrade [their] security.” It’s unclear what happened behind the scenes — an HBO spokesperson declined to comment when Variety asked — but the posts have since been deleted.

HBO has been going through a tough time way before OurMine joined the fray. A group of hackers infiltrated its system in July and asked for a $6 million ransom for draft scripts of five Game of Thrones episodes, some exec emails and bunch of documents and passwords. A Star India subcontractor also leaked episode 4 of the show’s current season. More recently, HBO Nordic in Spain accidentally released episode 6 way before its August 20th broadcast date.

Source: Variety, BBC

Moto Z2 Play India review: A tough balancing act

Motorola improves on the first-generation Z Play in several key areas while sacrificing battery capacity.

While the budget segment in India is overflowing with excellent options, the same cannot be said of the mid-range segment. The ₹20,000 – ₹30,000 ($310 – $460) tier is underserved, and there is opportunity for brands to make a dent in this category. With the likes of the OnePlus 5 starting at ₹32,999 ($515), there are just a handful of devices that are worthy of consideration: Samsung’s Galaxy C7 Pro, the Honor 8 Pro, and the Moto Z2 Play.

The Moto Z Play was one of the best mid-range phones of 2016, offering outstanding battery life and support for the Moto Mods ecosystem. The Z2 Play builds on that foundation, and while it no longer can lay claim to the title of battery champion owing to a reduced battery size, it gets a lot of things right.

The phone is available in India for ₹27,999 ($435), or ₹3,000 ($45) more than the first-generation Z Play. The added cost gives you a metal unibody design, a much better camera, and a chipset that’s 10% faster. However, you lose out on the 3510mAh battery, with the Z2 Play featuring a more modest 3000mAh battery. Is the Z2 Play a worthy successor? Let’s find out.

Moto Z2 Play Hardware

With the Moto Z2 Play, the overarching design brief was to make the phone as thin as possible. That led to a reduction in the battery size — the feature that made its predecessor stand out in this segment — but if you prefer thin phones, there’s plenty to like on the Z2 Play.

Motorola switched out the glass back for a metal unibody construction, and the brushed metal design along with the antenna lines that run along the edges at the back is a considerable improvement over last year’s design.

The other key change when it comes to the design is the overall thickness. Coming in at just 5.9mm, the Z2 Play is over a millimeter thinner than its predecessor, and that’s immediately noticeable once you start using the device. Thankfully, the phone isn’t too light at 145g (the metal body takes care of that), and as such the Z2 Play has a reassuring heft.

Of course, adding a Moto Mod significantly improves the in-hand feel, but getting your hands on a mod is harder than it should be. Right now, the only mod you can actually buy is the JBL SoundBoost speaker add-on, which costs ₹6,999. If you’re looking for a battery mod to extend the battery life, the Hasselblad True Zoom camera add-on, or the Moto Insta-Share Projector, you’re out of luck.

Moto Mods are prominently advertised on the Moto Z series landing page on Amazon India, but there aren’t any accessories up for sale on the platform. Considering the design choices made to accommodate the Moto Mods, it’s puzzling to see Motorola not actively supporting the mod ecosystem in the country.

The Z2 Play is sleek if you disregard the large camera hump at the back.

Furthermore, Motorola’s decision to cut down on the thickness of the Z2 Play has a predictable side-effect: a sizeable camera hump. The camera juts out considerably from the back of the device.

The front of the device is largely unchanged from last year, with the notable difference being the rounded fingerprint sensor that we’ve first seen on the Moto G5 Plus earlier this year. The larger surface area makes it significantly easier to use the fingerprint sensor, and it doesn’t make the front of the device look ungainly.

Like the Moto G5, the Z2 Play features One Button Nav, Motorola’s gesture-based system that relies on the home button as an all-in-one navigation tool. Using One Button Nav, you can swipe left or right on the home button to go back in an app or access the multitasking pane. It’s designed to make it easier to use the phone one-handed, and is my preferred way to use the Z2 Play.

The power and volume buttons are located on the right, and the location of the volume buttons near the top of the device makes it difficult to access them. The power button is textured, which means you won’t accidentally hit the volume keys whenever you’re trying to unlock the phone.

The Z2 Play offers two SIM card slots along with a dedicated microSD slot, and although the device is thinner than the Z2 Force, you get a 3.5mm audio jack. Talking about audio, the phone doesn’t have a loudspeaker — it instead relies on the earpiece as the default speaker. as you can imagine, the audio it produces is tinny.

Like the Moto G5 Plus, the Z2 Play is available in two color options — Lunar Grey and Fine Gold. The grey option comes with a black front, whereas the gold variant has a white front plate.

Display and performance

The 5.5-inch Full HD display is unchanged from last year, which isn’t a bad thing. The Z2 Play continues to offer saturated colors and deep blacks, and you have the option to tweak the color temperature of the screen to either Standard or Vivid. The only issue when it comes to the display is the overall brightness — it just doesn’t get bright enough for usage under harsh sunlight. And in a country like India — where the heat is relentless — that’s a major issue.

The Z2 Play is powered by the Snapdragon 626, an iterative update over last year’s Snapdragon 625 that offers a 10% uptick in clock speeds. The uptick in speeds comes at no detriment to energy efficiency, and overall I didn’t notice any slowdowns or issues with the Z2 Play over the review period. Motorola is selling a single variant of the Z2 Play in India, which has 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage.

Battery life

One of the defining features of the Moto Z Play was outstanding battery life, and while the battery on the Z2 Play is 17% smaller, the phone manages to last all day without breaking a sweat. The battery situation isn’t so dire that you have to monitor usage throughout the day, but the phone no longer lasts two days like its predecessor.

Thankfully, you still get Motorola’s TurboPower fast charging, which charges up the phone in just over and a half.

Moto Z2 Play Software

An uncluttered software experience is what sets Motorola’s phones apart, and the Z2 play is no exception. The device picked up two updates following its release, and is currently running Android 7.1.1 Nougat with the July 01, 2017 security patch. With the Google Now Launcher being depreciated, Motorola has switched to an implementation that’s similar to the Pixel Launcher — you’ll have to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access the app drawer.

While the interface itself hasn’t been customized in any way, Motorola offers several useful features that differentiate its phones. In broad strokes, that includes Moto Display, Moto Voice, and Moto Actions. Moto Display lets you preview incoming notifications without waking the screen, and with the Z2 Play, you can use quick replies.

Clean software continues to be Motorola’s tenet.

Moto Actions offer a series of gestures, including a double twist gesture for launching the camera, double chop for toggling the flashlight, swiping across the nav keys to launch one-handed mode, and more. With Moto Voice, Motorola is introducing “Show Me” commands, a list of actions that can be triggered when the screen is off. For instance, you can say “Show me the weather” to see an overlay showing the weather forecast for your city, and so on.

Motorola has an excellent track record when it comes to delivering updates in India, and the Z2 Play will be one of the first phones outside of the Nexus and Pixel devices to pick up the update to Android O.

Moto Z2 Play Camera

The camera on the Z2 Play is a significant upgrade from last year’s model. The 12MP ƒ/1.7 shooter is similar to what we’ve seen in the Moto G5 Plus, which offers the best camera in the budget segment. Like the G5 Plus, the Z2 Play is great at taking images in bright conditions. The resulting shots are full of detail, and HDR makes a lot of difference.

And like the G5 Plus, the Z2 Play struggles when it comes to indoor shots — there’s either too much noise in the images or the exposure is inconsistent.

Moto Z2 Play Bottom line

The Z2 Play offers several upgrades from last year’s model — the camera is much better, the aluminum unibody design feels much more premium, and the user interface has also picked up a couple of useful additions.

However, with a Style Shell thrown in (if you can get your hands on one), the cost of the phone approaches the ₹30,000 figure, and that’s dangerously close to OnePlus 5 territory. The OnePlus 5 has vastly superior hardware, and offers a similar software experience.

In a market where value for money is the driving factor behind a majority of purchasing decisions, the Z2 Play doesn’t really make a compelling case for itself. Then there’s the Moto Mod situation in India, which doesn’t make it easy to recommend any device in the Moto Z series.

On its own, the Z2 Play is a decent phone — it certainly is one of the better options available in this segment. But when you compare it to the likes of the OnePlus 5, it’s easy to see that being good just isn’t good enough anymore.

Microsoft delays ‘Crackdown 3’ until 2018

Microsoft has delayed the much-anticipated heroic brawler Crackdown 3 until Spring 2018. The sandbox brawler was previously scheduled to come out this November alongside the launch of the Xbox One X, but the tech titan pushed back the game’s release date for both console and PC versions to give the three teams working on it time to refine.

To clarify: the entire game is moving to Spring 2018. It’s super ambitious, and we want to make sure the game delivers. https://t.co/cGdHTnuI2b

— Shannon Loftis (@shannonloftis) August 16, 2017

“Crackdown 3 is a hugely ambitious game and we want to ensure we deliver the right experiences all the way through every part of the game, whether that’s campaign, co-op multiplayer or our competitive multiplayer mode, Wrecking Zone. Getting the balance right between the three modes is important, and we are going to take the extra development time to ensure that,” Shannon Loftis, Microsoft Studios Publishing general manager, told Polygon.

The delay comes a day after the release of Agents of Mayhem, a similar third-person sandbox shooter that vied for attention alongside Crackdown 3 at this year’s E3. When Engadget previewed both games’ builds on the show floor’s display, we noted that the latter game felt less polished and needed work to resemble the signature weighty, tactile feel of its predecessors. The extra refinement time is surely good for the title, though it also puts more space between it and Agents of Mayhem. And then, we’ll finally get our sweet blowing-stuff-up-with-Terry Crews experience.

Source: Polygon

Google Maps Q&A section is going live around the globe

If you’re looking up a new place you’ve never been to before, look for Google’s new feature — it could give you a better idea of what it’s like. The big G has started rolling out a Q&A section for both Maps on Android and Search for mobile. It was first spotted back in July, but now Mountain View has confirmed that it’s going live for users all around the globe. You can find the feature in the local business listing’s search results card under its name, address, phone number and other details.

When you leave a question, Google will ping the business owners so they can answer it — you’ll also get notified when your Q gets a reply. Other people can answer your questions, too, though, and you can respond to other people’s queries. Since there are bound to be a few substandard responses, Google is implementing a voting system similar to YouTube’s, allowing you to “thumbs up” the most useful ones. The highest-rated responses will then be found on top of the pile, so you won’t have to wade through garbage to find what you’re looking for.

Source: Google