Nintendo Switch sales have surpassed the Wii U

In the weeks following the Nintendo Switch’s launch, it became clear that the portable-handheld hybrid would do better than its ill-fated predecessor. What’s surprising, however, is just how quickly the system has surpassed the Wii U. Nintendo had a stellar holiday quarter, shifting 7.23 million Switch consoles and bringing lifetime sales to 14.86 million. The Wii U, for comparison, sold 13.56 million total — a paltry sum in comparison to the Wii’s 101.63 million units. The question is whether Nintendo can maintain the Switch’s hot streak; there isn’t much beyond Bayonetta, Kirby and the cardboard-folding Labo for 2018 at the moment.

Nintendo’s latest earnings, which cover the nine months leading up to December 31st, 2017, reveal some software triumphs too. The award-winning Super Mario Odyssey has reached 9.07 million sales, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — a re-release of the Wii U version with a reworked battle mode – has sold 7.33 million units to date. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sits at 6.7 million sales, while Splatoon 2, Nintendo’s colorful and competitive paint-based shooter, has shifted 4.91 million copies. According to Nintendo, that makes eight million-or-more selling Switch games.

The 3DS’ momentum, unsurprisingly, is starting to fade. Hardware sales grew in the US over the holiday season but it wasn’t enough to stop a global 9 percent year-over-year decline. Still, 5.86 million sales isn’t bad for a system that came out in 2011. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, unsurprisingly, were the software highlights with 7.17 million sales between them. They weren’t enough, however, to stop 3DS software falling to 31.25 million sales — a 33 percent decrease year-over-year. Nintendo is staying tight-lipped about the notoriously difficult to purchase Super NES Classic Edition, merely calling it “a hit” since its launch in September.

For the nine months ending on December 31st, Nintendo made 156.46 billion yen ($1.44 billion) in operating profit from 857 billion yen ($7.88 billion) in net sales. In light of these results, Nintendo has revised its forecast for the financial year ending on March 31st. The company now expects to make 160 billion yen ($1.47 billion) from 1.02 trillion yen in net sales. That’s a 33.3 percent increase from its previous prediction of 120 billion yen ($1.1 billion). In short, Nintendo is on a roll right now and the good times are set to continue provided it can keep its game pipeline moving.

Hobby History: Radio-Controlled Cars

You don’t have to be a car enthusiast to get into the hobby of radio-controlled (RC) cars. In fact, if you’re an avid do-it-yourselfer or electronics tinkerer, you’re probably one of the earliest owners of an RC car or two. That’s because in the early days of RC cars, you had to build the car from a kit as well as the radio controller.

Since then, a lot has changed about RC cars and RC toys in general. For one, electric models have emerged and become more popular over the years, especially since they are much more beginner-friendly. These are often powered by brushed DC motors and rechargeable batteries. However, more and more electric RC car models have begun using high-efficiency brushless motors, which have longer motor and battery life, as well as better heat dissipation.

On the other hand, modern nitro RC cars often use glow plug engines or small internal combustion engines; a blend of castor and synthetic oils usually serves as its own version of gasoline. There are also gasoline-powered RC cars, which are bigger and more powerful than electric or nitro cars but also much more expensive; however, these models also have a longer lifespan.

Here are a few more highlights in the evolution of this hobby.

The Early Years

The first commercially viable RC car, a 1:12 model of the Ferrari 250LM, was produced by the Italian company El-Gi (Elettronica Giocattoli). It first hit the market in December 1966 in the United Kingdom. It was swiftly followed by the 1:10 Ferrari P4 in 1968, which debuted at the Milan Toy Fair. Madrave, a British company based in Leicester, began mass-producing RC cars soon after, and their nitro- and gas-powered models were made available by the early 1970s.

In the United States, companies such as Heathkit and Team Associated (then-known as Associated) began offering RC car kits by 1971. Team Associated, in particular, released its first RC car, the RC1, during that same year. The RC1 was a 1:8 nitro-powered on-road pan car. They followed in up with another 1:8 model, the RC100, in 1975 and a 1:12 model, the RC12E, in 1978. The latter was their first electric RC car.

By December 1979, Tamiya, which began as a sawmill and lumber company, released the Sand Scorcher, one of the first electric off-road RC car kits and now one of the most sought after vintage models due to its high level of detail. The Sand Scorcher is generally considered as the car that kicked off the golden era of RC cars. It also made Tamiya one of the most popular producers of RC cars around the world.

RC car racing officially began in 1985, when the first International Federation of Model Auto Racing (IFMAR) launched the first 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championships in Pomona, California. The tournament is held biennially since 1987, and has two events (2WD and 4WD) and two categories for each (stock and modified).

The Modern RC Arena

Today, the hobby has become much more accessible, with the emergence of toy-grade RC cars. These are a perfect entry point for beginners and those who are not quite as handy in building full-fledged kits. Toy-grade models are rarely customizable or upgradeable, however, and has likely limited or no replacement parts available in the market.

Hobby-grade RC cars are much more expensive, usually in the price range of $100 to at least $2000, but are definitely built to perform better and last longer. These RC cars usually come in two types: kit models and RTRs or “ready to run.” The former are ideal for professionals and experienced hobbyists, who are more well-versed in assembling and customizing their own units. RTRs require little to no final assembly and usually come pre-painted and trimmed. They are ideal for those who are slowly easing into the “serious” side of RC. However, high-spec RC cars for racing are often still sold only as kits, as they are easily customizable.

Beyond cars, there are also a host of other RC vehicles, like helicopters and quadcopters, planes, ships and boats, and even mini tanks, all of which have their own communities all over the world. But just like any other industry rooted in electronics, the RC hobby continues to evolve. Who knows what kind of technological advancements we’ll be seeing in just a couple of years!

If Lightroom is still slow for you, Adobe promises help is on the way

If you’re still having issues with a slow Lightroom Classic, an update is coming in February that should address the problem.

Adobe launched the latest version of its popular photo editing and management software last fall, and for the first time split it between Lightroom Classic (essentially Lightroom 7 for desktops) and Lightroom CC, a lighter, mobile-oriented version of the software that has fewer features than Classic.

Having listened to complaints from photographers about the sometimes sluggish performance of Lightroom 6, Adobe had promised speed improvements with Lightroom Classic. But soon after its launch, it quickly became apparent that some users were still experiencing issues regarding the software’s ability to handle certain tasks in an efficient manner.

An update released in December 2017 addressed many of the bugs that troubled the launch version of Classic, but the speed of the software continued to bother a number of photographers.

The good news is that version 7.2 is imminent and looks set to properly enhance the operation of the Adobe-made software. The bad news? Your machine will need at least 12GB of RAM to benefit fully from the update. Adobe, however, says that “the majority” of Lightroom Classic users have machines with at least 12GB of RAM, “so this release will deliver a significant performance impact for most users.”

Adobe addresses key performance issues

“We were able to make significant strides with our partners at Intel on addressing key performance issues,” Adobe told DPreview this week, adding that it has “optimized CPU and memory usage so that performance will scale better across multiple cores on computers with at least 12GB of RAM.”

Specifically, Adobe claims the software tweaks will improve speed performance for:

• import and preview generation
• moving between images in Loupe View
• rendering of adjustments in Develop mode
• batch merge operations of HDR images and panoramas
• export

Adobe told PetaPixel that it’s “really pleased” with the latest performance improvements, but said it was “far from done” and has “more performance optimizations and improvements planned” for future releases. We’re certainly hoping version 7.2  finally puts the Classic issues to bed as for many photographers the software is impressive when it’s firing on all cylinders.

If you’re new to Lightroom but want to find out more about it, check out DT’s brief but informative guide for beginners, and then consider the free trial.

Adobe offers various pricing options depending on the package, though a popular deal for $10 a month gets you Lightroom CC, Lightroom Classic, Lightroom apps for mobile and web, Photoshop CC, Adobe Spark, and 20GB of cloud storage.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Adobe narrows the gap between Lightroom CC and Classic with new tools
• Adobe just made it easier to download Lightroom files from the cloud
• Loupedeck review
• From enhanced viewfinders to joysticks, this is the best camera tech of 2017
• Fujifilm X-E3 review

Samsung posts record profits in Q4 2017, foldable Galaxy X phone launching this year

Samsung is looking to differentiate its smartphones by launching a foldable phone this year.

Samsung may be facing a lot of internal crisis that led to the chaebol replacing all of its current CEOs last quarter, but it certainly isn’t affecting the company’s performance. The South Korean manufacturer posted its Q4 2017 results, and once again things are looking great.

Samsung recorded an overall revenue of $61.5 billion (65.98 trillion won) with an operating profit of a staggering $14.13 billion (15.15 trillion won). That’s a year-on-year increase of 64%, making last quarter Samsung’s most profitable Q4 to date.

In fact, Samsung has made of habit of breaking records all through 2017. The company recorded profits of $8.8 billion in Q1 2017, $12.5 billion in Q2, and $13.8 billion in Q3. Cumulatively, Samsung’s full-year revenues stand at $224 billion (239.58 trillion won) with overall operating profit at $50 billion (53.65 trillion won).

The mobile division saw a decline in overall shipments on account of “lineup optimization of low-end models,” but sales of the Galaxy Note 8 were up from the previous quarter. Samsung is projecting an increase in revenue going into Q1 2018 following the launch of the Galaxy S9.

In the first quarter, the company expects the mobile business to improve its earnings, led by an increase in sales of flagship products with the launch of Galaxy S9.

We’re heard a lot about the Galaxy X foldable phone in recent years, and with the display unit set to “reinforce its competencies” in new areas such as foldable, automotive, and IT displays, we may get to see such a device make its debut sometime this year:

The OLED panel business will strengthen its competitiveness in the premium segment with the release of foldable panels, and focus on expanding new applications in areas such as automotive electronics by capitalizing on its technology and cost competitiveness.

Samsung will continue its efforts to differentiate its smartphones by adopting cutting-edge technologies, such as foldable OLED displays.

The mobile division hasn’t been the growth driver for Samsung for a few quarters now, with a bulk of the revenues coming from the lucrative memory and display businesses. Samsung once again noted strong orders for high-performance DRAM and NAND modules for servers and mobile storage.

Similarly, the display unit saw increased demand for OLED panels for “premium smartphones” (Samsung makes the panels for the iPhone X), with the manufacturer projecting that OLED tech will be the “mainstream panel in the smartphone industry” in 2018.

Samsung also saw increased revenue in the TV business on the back of strong sales of “ultra large-size and QLED” models. Samsung’s System LSI and Foundry unit witnessed a growth decline, but the company is forecasting an uptick following increased demand of image sensors for flagship devices and application processors.

The foundry is also expected to kick off a “risk production” of a 7nm chipset later this year, and while it will be a few years before we see a consumer-ready chipset based on the 7nm node, Samsung is laying the groundwork for that eventuality.

In short, Samsung made a ton of money last year, and it doesn’t look like that’ll change this year.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

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• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

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Redmi Note 3 update brings MIUI 9, but there’s no Nougat in sight

At this point, it’s safe to assume that the Redmi Note 3 won’t be updated to Nougat.

When Xiaomi launched MIUI 9 late last year, it announced that the update would be available to over 40 devices in its portfolio, ranging all the way back to the 2012 Mi 2. The manufacturer is now working its way down the list, with the Redmi Note 3 becoming the latest device to receive the MIUI 9 stable ROM.

While it’s a commendable effort by Xiaomi to roll out the update to most phones released within the last four years, the company isn’t doing nearly enough to update the platform versions on these devices. Case in point: although the Redmi Note 3 is picking up the latest MIUI 9.2 build, the ROM is still based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and not Nougat. Considering the time it took for the phone to make the switch to MIUI 9, it’s unlikely we’ll see Nougat make its way onto the device.

MIUI 9 comes with a host of new features: the notification pane has been reworked, there’s a new video editor and an image editor that can remove background elements from photos, and split-screen multitasking is now built into the ROM. That said, it’s a shame that the phone will not be updated to Nougat.

Xiaomi is rolling out the MIUI 9.2.4.0.MHOMIEK build in phases, so it may take a few days to receive the update on your Redmi Note 3. Alongside MIUI 9.2, the update also includes the January 1, 2018 security patch.

India’s Reliance Jio is teaming up with MediaTek over an Android Go phone

India’s largest data carrier is set to launch an Android Go phone.

India’s feature phone market is still thriving, as evidenced by the launch of the $25 JioPhone late last year. The phone comes with 4G connectivity and access to Jio’s digital content library, and also has Google Assistant baked in, a first for a feature phone.

It now looks like Jio is once again targeting the entry-level segment, this time partnering with MediaTek over an Android Go phone under the company’s LYF series. Details are scarce, but what we do know is that the device will be powered by MediaTek’s MT6739 SoC.

Android Go is envisaged as the platform to reinvigorate the entry-level segment, with the lightweight operating system optimized to run on devices with 512MB to 1GB of RAM and under 8GB of internal memory. Android Go comes with its own set of lightweight apps, including Google Go, Assistant Go, Maps Go, Gmail Go, and the like, and the goal is to provide a decent user experience while using a fraction of the resources.

From TL Lee, head of MediaTek’s wireless communications products:

India is growth intensive, a market of immense opportunities with its own set of aspirations and needs. We continue to intensify our technology collaboration in India, even beyond smartphones, and recognise its importance in the global marketplace.

In an interview with ET Tech (via FoneArena), MediaTek India’s country head for corporate sales international Kuldeep Malik said:

Jio is bullish on Android Go smartphone, and is working with us and the ODM partners to bring the device to the market in coming months. They have really pushed us to deliver Android Go-based device as soon as possible.

With Android Go phones set to be positioned in the vicinity of ₹2,000 ($30), they’ll be directly competing with feature phones. According to Malik, we’ll see a lot of activity in this area over the coming months:

Android Go’s potential target is around 137 million feature phone users. We expect 4-5 vendors to come up with their offering by March.

Indian homegrown vendor Micromax is set to launch the Android Go-based Bharat Go phone shortly, and HMD is also said to be working on a device dubbed the Nokia 1 running Android Go.

Qualcomm has also announced that it will partner with brands over the Android Go initiative, and with the first wave of devices slated to launch very soon, we should have more details in the coming weeks.

Android Go: Everything you need to know

Fujifilm brings faster autofocus to its selfie-friendly X-A5

Fujifilm has improved its entry-level mirrorless camera lineup with the retro-styled X-A5, bringing faster autofocus, sort-of 4K video and a microphone input, of all things. The new model has a brand new 24.2-megapixel Bayer (not X-Trans) sensor with on-chip phase detection that makes autofocus up to twice as fast as its predecessor, the X-A3. Native ISO has also improved from 6,400 to 12,800, with a maximum range of 100-51,200 including expansion. The fully flippable display now allows touch focus, making selfies and video focus much easier.

On the video side, the X-A5 now offers 4K, but it’s hobbled to 15 fps, making it useful only for high-speed photo capture or Lytro-like variable focus shots. Fortunately, it does offer 1080p capture at up to 60 fps now, so with the addition of a 2.5mm microphone input and touch autofocus, has potential as a nice budget vlogging camera.

With a new sensor and processor, Fujifilm is promising not just faster AF, but also better skin tone reproduction and subject recognition. However, burst shooting speeds remain the same as the X-A3 at a respectable 6 fps. Recognizing the set-it-and-forget-it crowd the camera will appeal to, Fujifilm added two new advanced filter functions, “Fog Remove” and “HDR Art,” bringing the total to 17.

Along with the camera, Fujifilm introduced a new lightweight, motorized zoom, the $300 XC 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ. It’s optically stabillized, and goes slightly wider than Fujifilm’s XC 16-50 f/3.5-5.6 model, making it a bit more useful as a walkaround lens.

The X-A5 costs $600 with the XC 15-45 f/3.5-5.6 lens, so it’s going to be a mighty tempting option for buyers considering Canon’s M100 or the Sony A6000. For around the same price, Fujifilm offers an arguably nicer-looking retro body, a microphone input and a more versatile kit lens.

Source: Fujifilm

Microsoft adds support for iOS Files app, drag and drop to OneDrive

Apple’s latest operating system for its mobile devices, iOS 11, added a ton of productivity tweaks. One of the biggest is Files, a new, well, file system for iOS that lets users interact more directly with documents and images without having to go through an associate app. Now Microsoft has just added several new features for its Office and OneDrive iOS apps, including access to OneDrive through the Files app. Other additions feature drag and drop capabilities, co-authoring on iOS (and Mac), and a better list view in OneDrive to help find your files more easily. Microsoft has also added new features to its Slack competitor Teams, like the ability to add interactive cards from apps into chats.

Being able to drag and drop content from OneDrive, SharePoint or iMessage into documents, presentations or spreadsheets is enabled in iOS 11 for Office 365 subscribers is a pretty great feature, made possible by iOS’s Split View, which was first introduced in iOS 9. You can now also you save any file you create in Office directly to OneDrive via the Files app, too. On the visual side, OneDrive has support for more file types, with thumbnail icons for more than 130 file types, making it much easier to find what you need as you scroll through the list view. Outlook for iOS also gets an upgrade, with a way to search and surface info from across your organization’s databases for contacts, travel itineraries, package deliveries and more.

On the Mac side, Microsoft is adding a few new options to make your life easier, too. You can now co-author any Word, PowerPoint and Excel document on Mac or iOS, letting you work on stuff with co-creators. In addition, the company has made AutoSave available for 365 subscribers who use OneDrive or SharePoint to save their files. Learning tools like Immersive Reader and Read Aloud — already on PC and iPad — are also finally available on Mac.

Source: Microsoft

August’s smart lock links up with Protect America’s security systems

You’d think that smart door locks and home security systems would regularly work in harmony, but that’s not really the case. More likely than not, you’ll have to remember to check the lock after the fact. Not so if you have August’s Smart Lock Pro — the company has forged a partnership that integrates Protect America’s home security hardware. You can now use Protect America’s Alexa skill to automatically lock the door when you arm the security system, so you hopefully won’t have to test the resilience of your system by giving thieves an easy entrance.

You can also use Protect America’s app to toggle the lock instead of August’s, which could help if you’re winding things down from the night (or just don’t want two separate icons). The tie-ins won’t always be needed if you’re using proximity-based locking, but they could be very helpful if others in your household need to arm the system, or you’re already inside and want to lock things down for the night.

Source: August

EA delays ‘Anthem’ until 2019

During last year’s E3, BioWare unveiled its next colossal project: Anthem, a sci-fi shooter that looked to rival Activision’s Destiny 2. But a week ago, sources told Kotaku that the game, originally slated to arrive in 2018, would be pushed back a year due after its development fell behind schedule. Electronic Arts denied that reason but confirmed that, yes, Anthem won’t come out until early 2019.

‘It’s not a delay,’ EA CFO Blake Jorgensen told the Wall Street Journal. Instead, it’s a strategic move to launch the game in a quarter with less competition. Instead, EA will release a new Battlefield game in October 2018. Opening today’s earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson said (PDF) “Excitement for Anthem is building, and we’re deeply invested in delivering a great new experience with this game when it launches in Q4 FY19.”

As Polygon points out, Wilson didn’t offer any other information about the upcoming Battlefield, not even its title, though he did confirm that DICE will once again helm the next game in the franchise.

During the call, the company did make another admission: It made a loss of $186 million in Q3 compared to a $1 million loss in Q3 last year. The big release this time around was Star Wars: Battlefront II, which suffered intense fan backlash for its miserly loot box rewards and grinding progression; During the call, the only thing EA had to say about the game was that almost 70 percent of players tried the single-player campaign. Hmm.

The company stated that digital revenue now accounted for 67 percent of EA’s entire earnings. Also, the console FIFA community grew to 42 million players by the end of 2017, while its mobile F2P version added 23 million in Q3 alone. For the fiscal year ending on March 31st, EA’s projected earnings amount to $5.1 billion in revenue and $1 billion in net profit.

Lastly, during the call, EA did not comment on any of the acquisition rumors that were swirling around in the last few days that, despite being silly, bumped up the company’s stock.

Via: The Verge

Source: The Wall Street Journal (Twitter), EA Q3 2018 Prepared Remarks (PDF)