Best Cases for Samsung Galaxy S9+

Pump, pump, pump it up!

The Galaxy S9+ is a stunning slab of metal and glass. But that stunning slab quickly turns to a sorry slab the moment you drop it onto the ground. As hard as it may be to hide that nice design, a case is almost a requirement with these phones.

If you’re looking for a case for your Samsung Galaxy S9+, look no further! If you’re looking for a case for the smaller Galaxy S9, check out our list of those.

• Samsung Alcantara Cover
• HOVED Slim Fit
• Besiva Ultra Slim
• Maxboost Wallet Case
• Spigen Neo Hybrid Herringbone
• SUPCASE Full-Body Rugged Holster case
• Trianium Clarium Clear Hybrid

Samsung Alcantara Cover

If you want to stick to first-party options, Samsung has you — and your phone — covered. Samsung’s Alcantara cover is on the spendy side, but with good reason: it’s cut precisely for your phone, and the Alcantara will feel luxurious in your hands. You get easy ample cutouts for the cameras, flash, fingerprint sensor and other ports. There are also covers for the power, volume and Bixby buttons so you don’t have to dig your finger in to activate your favorite voice assistant.

At $50, Samsung’s Alcantara case is by far the most expensive choice on our list. Having said that, you’ll get a case that protects your phone and is super comfortable to hold. The Samsung Alcantara Cover is available in black, blue, and red.

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HOVED Slim Fit

Sometimes, you just need a bit of extra grip for your phone. One case that does just that is HOVED’s slim fit case. You get the bare minimum amount of protection, but it’ll still be better than leaving your phone naked. Also, the extra bit of grip may be the difference between having a firm hold on your phone and it slipping out of your hands. HOVED’s slim fit case still offers easy access to all the phone’s ports, as well as precise cutouts for the cameras, flash and fingerprint sensor. Again, the buttons are covered so you don’t need to dig your finger down into the case itself.

All in all, HOVED’s slim fit case is perfect for those that don’t want much bulk but still want a bit of protection. At $12, it’s a worthwhile investment for your phone. The HOVED Slim Fit case is only available in black at the time of writing.

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Besiva Ultra Slim Cover Case

I’m not sure this case actually qualifies as “ultra slim,” but it’s a solid choice nonetheless. You get a super rugged case that can handle plenty of drops and tumbles, but you also get an integrated Spigen-esque metal ring on the back. But wait, we’re not done yet! Inside that metal ring is a magnet, making this the perfect companion for a magnetic car mount. One downside is the lack of a front lip, meaning you’ll also want to invest in a screen protector. Also, it’s likely the metal ring will interfere with wireless charging.

The Besiva Ultra Slim Cover Case is available in black for $10.

See at Amazon

Maxboost Wallet Case

Wallet cases are a great way to consolidate all the things in your pockets, and Maxboost has a wallet case just for the S9+. You get three slots for cards and IDs — there’s no ID card window, unfortunately — and you can prop the case on itself to create a phone stand. There’s also a small pouch for paper currency, and a magnetic flap to keep it all together. Because the S9+ has its volume buttons on the left side, you’ll need to open the case to crank your music up. That’s unfortunate, but it’ll be true of any wallet case for the S9 series.

At $13, the Maxboost Wallet Case is a low-cost way to declutter your pockets and protect your phone. At the time of writing, it is only available in black leather.

See at Amazon

Spigen Neo Hybrid Herringbone

Spigen has been making phone cases since dinosaurs roamed the earth, and they have a good variety of styles to protect your phone. One of the more unique styles is their Neo Hybrid line with Herringone pattern. You can protect your phone, while also matching styles with your necktie. The case comes in two parts: a TPU layer that hugs your phone, and a hard plastic bumper frame for extra protection. Spigen highlights that the case still allows for Qi wireless charging, which is something thicker cases may interfere with.

The Spigen Neo Hybrid Herringbone case is available in a variety of colors for between $15 and $17. If the Herringbone style doesn’t strike your fancy, Spigen has plenty of other cases for the S9+.

See at Amazon

SUPCASE Full-Body Rugged Holster case

Another great option if you toss your phone around a lot is SUPCASE’s Rugged Holster case. You don’t have to use the included holster, but the option is there. There is a generous lip around the front of the phone, helping protect the screen from getting cracked. There are flaps over the charging and audio ports, helping protect your phone’s insides from dirt and dust. And while the case is thick, you’ll still be able to use wireless charging.

The SUPCASE Full-Body Rugged Holster case is available in black, blue, pink, and white for $23.

See at Amazon

Trianium Clarium Clear case

All of the other cases hide the design of the phone. If you bought one of the exotic colors the phone is available in, you’ll want to show off that design. A clear case is perfect to give you more grip on the phone, protect the phone when your grip fails, and still show off those crazy colors. Trianium makes an excellent clear case that does just that. There isn’t much front protection, but it is compatible with most screen protectors. You get easy access to the ports, fingerprint sensor, and buttons, and since it’s a thin case wireless charging will work without issue.

The Trianium Clarium Clear case is available for $9. There’s also a black tinted version available for $10.

See at Amazon

What say you?

Which case are you using on your Galaxy S9+? Let us know down below!

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

• Galaxy S9 review: A great phone for the masses
• Galaxy S9 and S9+: Everything you need to know!
• Complete Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
• Galaxy S9 vs. Google Pixel 2: Which should you buy?
• Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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Today’s best deals you won’t want to miss

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

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Is this Android P’s gesture-based navigation bar?

Home, Back, and Recents are replaced with a single pill.

Android P’s first developer preview has been out in the wild since early March, and it’s offered a nice glimpse into what the future of Google’s mobile OS has to offer. Thanks to a screenshot shared on the Android Developers Blog, we might now have our first look at Android P’s new navigation bar.

First spotted by 9to5Google, elements like the clock on the left and rounded corners for the pop-up box confirm that the screenshot was taken on a device running Android P. These are things we’ve seen before, but at the very bottom, we see an all-new navigation bar design.

Instead of the traditional Back, Home, and Recents buttons, there’s a pill-shaped icon where the circular Home button usually is and a Back button next to it with the old, un-filled Lollipop/Marshmallow design.

Although nothing’s been confirmed, the design of the nav bar suggests that Google may be trying to mimic Apple and introduce a gesture-based navigation system to Android. 9to5Google further reports that swiping up from the bottom brings up the multitasking page and the back button is only revealed when there’s something overlayed on the screen that can be dismissed.

Google quickly cropped the screenshot to hide the navigation bar, and to put even more fuel on this fire, the pill icon looks awfully similar to leaks of the Moto X5 and Moto Z3/Z3 Play from earlier this year.

Could this be our first look at Google’s new direction for Android’s navigation? Perhaps. But on that same note, this could also be nothing more than a mockup that someone added to the screenshot just for the heck of it. Google I/O will begin in just over two weeks, so I suppose we’ll learn more then if this turns out to be legit.

What are your thoughts on a gesture-based navigation system for Android?

Android P first impressions: Everything’s going to be okay

God of War for PlayStation 4: Everything you need to know!

Goodbye Blades of Chaos, hello whatever sharp thing is lying around.

In 2013, Sony Santa Monica decided to put Kratos, one of PlayStation’s most iconic characters, to bed so they could focus on crafting other games. With a trilogy and a handful of spin-offs starring the vengeful greek god completed and a shift in a focus on mature story driven games, Sony retired the God of War series for five years.

After assessing the series, Sony Santa Monica found a way to revive the series in a new and exciting way while sticking to Sony’s formula. Now, Kratos is set to return in a completely new way next month in a “reimagining” of the series which will be titled simply God of War.

Pre-order on Amazon

Reviews are in: One of the best games of this generation

God of War is being hailed by critics as an instant classic and one of the greatest games we’ve seen this generation. The PS4 exclusive has managed to bring in numerous perfect scores, plenty of 9/10s, and lots of very, very kind words regarding the game’s thoughtful plot, beautiful performances, and engaging gameplay. You can read some excerpts of reviews from key outlets below.

Polygon, 10/10

“God of War is, in a single word, holistic. Every aspect is excellent on its own, but more importantly, it all serves and accentuates the larger vision.

A decade ago, director Cory Barlog helped establish the God of War franchise as an iconic gory and debaucherous video game romp. While its antihero, Kratos, had pathos (he killed his wife and daughter in a fit of rage, his skin forever grayed by their ashes), it served little dramatic purpose, rather existing as a grimdark excuse for his god-slaying and orgy-having ways. Barlog — now older, a father — has returned to the series with a bundle of talented designers, many of whom served on the earlier games, to make good on that rich but neglected potential at its core. There’s still plenty of gore, but the now the guts have meatiness.

Some die-hard fans may fear this isn’t really God of War. I suppose they’re right. It’s even better.”

IGN, 10/10

“I expected great action from God of War, and it delivers that handily. But I didn’t expect it to be a thrilling journey in which every aspect of it complements the others to form what is nothing short of a masterpiece. It’s a game in which Kratos, a previously one-note character, becomes a complex father, warrior, and monster, embattled both on the field and within his own heart about how to treat his son; one in which the world opens up and shifts, offering rewards in both gameplay and knowledge of its lore that I treasured with each accomplishment. The obvious care that went into crafting its world, characters, and gameplay delivers by far the most stirring and memorable game in the series.”

Destructoid, 10/10

“God of War is a different game for a new era of the medium. While I’m a sucker for more frantic arcadey action there are plenty of studios left carrying on that legacy. Unless something catastrophic happens to Sony Santa Monica, there’s more story to tell, and I hope the exact same team is able to tell it.”

The Guardian, 5/5

“God of War is a story about what it means to be a god – traversing realms, killing mythical monsters, exerting power, exploring the boundaries of possibility – but also about what it means to be a man. Power and masculinity are intertwined, and Kratos’s desire to protect his son from the realities of both is unexpectedly touching. Atreus is far from the irritating sidekick he might have been, complementing Kratos’s gruff and humourless dialogue with quips and endearing observations, turning his father’s intense seriousness and inability to find humour in anything into a running joke. Their dynamic changes shape more than once over the course of the story, and their relationship involves a lot more demon blood and magical artifacts than the typical parent-child relationship, but Kratos is still a distant, emotionally remote father trying clumsily to reach out to a son who feels unwanted.

It is rare to play a game so accomplished in everything it sets out to do. God of War is a standard-setter both technologically and narratively. It is a game that, until recently, would have been impossible.”

USGamer, 5/5

“This is how you do a reboot. After Kratos lost his way, Sony Santa Monica has set the God of War on a new path. A more measured, nuanced character, a great supporting cast, an excellent combat system, and some of the best graphics in a PlayStation 4 game to-date, add up to a winner.”

GamesRadar, 5/5

“Realistically, however, I don’t think it’s possible to overstate just how good God of War is; how well realised its world, how nuanced and layered its characters and storytelling. The depth and craft of its combat, puzzles and almost every system it has sparkles and shines with an indulgence and luxury that regularly stopped me in my tracks to drink it all in. Whether breathless and bloody in the aftermath of an axe-hacked victory, or watching Kratos and his son Atreus share a genuinely human moment, this is a level of game making that doesn’t happen often. The final question really isn’t about where it sits in any game of the year discussions, but rather its place in eventual game of the generation talks”

Game Informer, 9.75/10

“Years ago, Kratos killed the deities of Mount Olympus in a gory rampage. Now, in the Norse realm, he has remade himself into a different kind of god. He is quieter and more deliberate, affected by his history but not constrained by it. Kratos’ reinvention serves as a narrative hook, but it also parallels the series’ evolution as a whole; where God of War once relied on bombast and bloodlust, now it leaves space for strategy and nuance. It still has superb action and plenty of jaw-dropping moments, but it supports them with a new level of depth and maturity. God of War learns from its past while clearing an exciting path for the future, and emerges as one of the best games of this generation.”

GameSpot, 9/10

“In many ways God of War is what the series has always been. It’s a spectacular action game with epic set pieces, big-budget production values, and hard-hitting combat that grows more feverish and impressive as you progress. What may surprise you is how mature its storytelling has become. Like Kratos, God of War recalls the past while acknowledging the need to improve. Everything new it does is for the better, and everything it holds onto benefits as a result. Kratos is no longer a predictable brute. God of War is no longer an old-fashioned action series. With this reboot, it confidently walks a new path that will hopefully lead to more exciting adventures to come.”

VentureBeat, 9/10

“This new God of War takes a lot of risks. It trades blind rage and revenge for a story about a troubled father/son relationship. It ditches fast, combo-based violence for something more methodical. It’s a departure from everything that once was God of War.

But almost all of these risks pay off. God of War is an exhilarating, beautiful action game that turns one of PlayStation’s biggest icons into a character you can care about.”

A man running from his past in new and unfamiliar territory

God of War’s story is mostly being kept a secret but what we do know so far sounds like a new, compelling take on Kratos’ life. Set an unknown amount of years after God of War 3, Kratos has fled Greece to Norway in a time before Vikings, a time where the gods that Vikings worship walk the Earth.

Players will control a more mature Kratos, one that has both changed physically and mentally. Kratos has remained in peak physical shape but has grown a bushy beard and the ashes of his fallen family that have been basically tattooed to him are starting to fade. While he is known for his almost uncontrollable rage, Kratos has chosen to settle down with a family and hide from his past.

Kratos will make a strong effort to contain his rage to help teach his son how to survive in the harsh world.

After his wife passes away, he and his son, Atreus, recognize her last wish of having her ashes spread across the land and they set out on a dangerous adventure where they grow closer as father and son. Over the course of the game, Kratos will make a strong effort to contain his rage to help teach his son how to survive in the harsh world that awaits them and Atreus will learn more about his father’s complicated past.

With the Norse mythology setting, Kratos and Atreus will encounter Norse gods who have taken precautions to protect themselves from Kratos as they’re aware of his involvement in the destruction of Olympus. Sony Santa Monica has stayed tight lipped on which specific Norse gods will make appearances but many have been speculating the likes of Loki and Thor. Other characters and elements of Norse mythology have been spotted in trailers and marketing material such as the beheaded Mímir.

Additionally, players will battle monsters like trolls, what appear to be ogres, and potentially even dragons which can be seen lurking in the background of the reveal trailer.

Slower but still brutal gameplay

God of War is well-known for its violent, fast-paced gameplay which sees Kratos thrashing around blades and chains to slice large groups of baddies to shreds. With the new God of War, players will notice a much more grounded approach to the combat in the game. Gone are the days of 100+ hit combos, Kratos’ attacks aren’t as fast anymore but he’s still as brutal and relentless as before. God of War director Cory Barlog noted that they wanted players to think about how they fight, almost like a Dark Souls approach to combat but in a way that is accessible to everyone. It’s a bit slower and more methodical when compared to the trilogy that came before.

While the game is completely single-player, you can issue commands to Atreus who will shoot arrows and act as a distraction for some enemies.

At the end of God of War 3, Kratos lost his iconic weapons and has now had to settle for a magical axe. Players can infuse the axe with different abilities to enhance the axe in a variety of different ways. The axe can also be thrown to pin enemies against surfaces, damage them normally, hit environmental objects like explosive containers, and even stun larger enemies by hitting key weak points on their body. Instead of having to pick up the axe by walking over to it, Kratos can call it back to him like Thor’s hammer.

Kratos also has a meter that builds over time that allows him to unleash all of his rage and become extra deadly with more powerful attacks. While the game is completely single-player and Kratos is the only playable character, you can issue commands to Atreus who will shoot arrows and act as a distraction for some enemies.

As with almost every other game today, God of War has adapted a crafting system for new armor, weapon upgrades, and more. Players will also be given XP to level themselves up for new skills, this also applies to Atreus who has his own unique abilities and upgrades.

A world filled with secrets and hidden dangers

With a new story, setting, and approach to gameplay, Sony Santa Monica decided to change up the level design this time around. While the series has been fairly linear in the past, God of War is opening up its new world. Sony Santa Monica has been clear that the game is NOT open world but you go off the beaten path to find secrets like chests and even optional boss encounters.

It’s not entirely clear how many optional bosses there are or how rewarding they are but if you’re one of those gamers who loves to peak around every corner and squeeze through every crevice, God of War is right up your alley.

All the ways to buy God of War

If all of this sounds great and you’re really excited to play God of War, you can snag a copy wherever games are sold for $59.99 on April 20th, 2018. Remember the game is exclusively available on PlayStation 4 so if you don’t have a PS4, you can get the limited edition God of War PS4 Pro which includes a custom console and controller, a 1TB hard drive, and of course, a physical copy of God of War with some extra digital content. You can pick this up from retailers like GameStop, Walmart, and Amazon for $399.99.

Pre-order on Amazon

If you’re looking to go the extra mile and drop a few extra bucks to have some additional goodies, there are plenty of options. Starting at the cheapest option (excluding the standard edition), those who like to get their games digitally can pick up the Digital Deluxe Edition which includes a handful of digital items including the following:
– God of War Digital Full Game
– God of War Digital Mini Artbook by Dark Horse Comics
– God of War PS4™ Dynamic Theme
– “Exile’s Guardian” Shield Skin
– God of War Digital Comic – Issue 0 by Dark Horse Comics
– “Death’s Vow” Armor for Kratos
– “Death’s Vow” Armor for Atreus

The Digital Deluxe edition will set you back $69.99 and is available directly from the PlayStation 4 Store. For those who like big statues and other physical items, you have two options: The Collector’s Edition and the Stone Mason;s Edition.

For $129.99, you can grab the Collector’s Edition which includes slightly less stuff than the Stone Mason’s Edition but if all you care about is the statue then this is the cheapest option. The Collector’s Edition includes the following:
– Full Game
– 9″ Kratos & Atreus Statue by Gentle Giant
– Limited Steelbook Case
– 2″ Huldra Brothers Carvings
– Exclusive Lithograph
– Cloth Map
– Digital Contents Include:
– Defender of the Chosen Shield
– Death’s Vow Armor Set
– Exile’s Guardian Shield
– God of War Digital Comic #0 by Dark Horse
– God of War Digital Mini Artbook by Dark Horse
– Dynamic Theme

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For $149.99, you can get the Stone Mason’s Edition which includes everything in the Collector’s Edition and the three physical items seen below:
– Stone Mason’s Ring
– Mimir’s Head Talking Keychain
– 2″ Horse and Troll Carvings

Pre-order at Amazon

God of War releases for PlayStation 4 on April 20th, 2018.

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Is Apple’s HomePod failing?

A report from Bloomberg earlier this week claimed that Apple’s HomePod isn’t doing so well, and that the company cut orders for new hardware from suppliers. This might not shock some of you: Apple missed the all-important holiday buying season and is competing with less expensive hardware from Google, Sonos and Amazon. But is the first smart speaker with Siri already a failure, or does the HomePod simply need time to find its place?

Daniel Cooper
Senior Editor

(Has a Google Home Mini, Sony HT-CT80 home theater system and a Soundfreaq Sound Platform 2 speaker.)

I’m not in any way surprised that the HomePod has fizzled, simply because it’s a weird product with a very weird proposition. I seriously considered buying it in the run-up to its launch, but ultimately couldn’t find a strong enough reason to plunk down $350.

Mat Smith
Bureau Chief, UK

(Has an Apple HomePod and Google Home; uses his TV’s built-in speakers.)

Apple’s sales pitch was pretty brief: This is a fantastic-sounding speaker and it works with your iPhone and with Siri, a little. That’s it. I have been using the HomePod since it launched — and have never extensively listened to a speaker that sounds this good. (I’m already looking forward to readers’ thoughts on this, but suffice to say I’m not alone in praising the HomePod in this regard.)

Dan: Yeah, but if I’m spending that much on a product, I don’t want to use it with one hand tied behind my back, so to speak. Especially in a world where Google and Amazon are regularly pushing the limits of what’s possible with smart speakers. Which is a shame, as you say, Mat, because many audiophiles say the HomePod outclasses hardware twice the price. But, unfortunately, quality alone doesn’t make something a must-purchase, no matter how much it’ll shame your friends with thousand-dollar Sonos setups.

Mat: I have a Google Home speaker, and it can do so much more, voice assistant-wise, than the HomePod. I’ve talked before about how much I prefer Google Assistant over Amazon’s Alexa, and while this hasn’t changed, both of these rivals are selling cheaper smart speakers that are more capable, even if they don’t sound nearly as good as Apple’s new speaker. All the problems Chris mentioned in his review are major ones that need addressing.

Engadget

Dan: For me, it’s Apple’s refusal to compromise on the practical things that kills any reason for me to buy the HomePod, despite being a fully paid-up Apple fanboy. I’d love, for instance, to use the HomePod with Spotify like I do with the Google Home Mini. Or, even better, use an optical-in connection to connect it to my TV and use it as my home’s primary speaker. The same product with one tiny concession to the real world would be a much more popular product, for sure. And don’t get me started on the lack of Bluetooth. You can argue that even with AptX it’s lower quality audio, but its omission is a raised middle finger to everyone.

Mat: Yeah, why no Bluetooth? I consider that the wireless version of dismissing the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone. It has Bluetooth 5.0 in there somewhere, and it’s not as if space is at a huge premium when it comes to a plug-speaker that sits on your shelf. (Don’t forget the coaster.) It’s makes other speaker systems and soundbars a smarter purchase, and if the HomePod worked with my TV, PS4 and PC, I would buy a second one for that long-promised stereo functionality. I’m optimistic that Apple will deliver enough in terms of software, both in regard to Siri and compatibility. It needs it soon, though.

Dan: Let’s talk about the fact that you’re now locked into that ecosystem, so if something happens to Apple’s music business in the future, you’re screwed. The trick to not getting burned is to never, ever, fully commit to anything if you don’t have an escape plan.

Mat: Who hurt you, Dan? Yes, I have to use Apple Music on the HomePod, but there’s always AirPlay. Worst case scenario: I can play Spotify on the HomePod — I just need to do it through an iPhone or MacBook. Apple loaned me a speaker at a time when I was weighing up Spotify and Apple Music. I was halfway through my free trial with the latter, and was already being charmed away from almost five years of Spotify use.

Dan: Hah, who hurt me? I mean, how many times has Taylor Swift pulled her catalog of music from a streaming service? (Okay, once, but the point still stands: If TayTay quit Apple Music tomorrow, you’d be left with a very expensive speaker that just lost half its utility for your favorite singer.) As someone who similarly dithered, I’m curious as to why you decided to go with Apple.

Mat: Broader music choice was the main decider. I have a Japanese music itch that needs scratching occasionally, and Apple Music does a better job than Spotify. Also, the recommendations and curation on Apple is superior, at least to me. Spotify is great when you know what you’re looking for — and it stocks it. Apple is introducing me to (gasp) new music. Or really old hits from 1952, and I have no complaints about that. Now we’re debating Apple Music, rather than the HomePod.

Dan: It’s natural, really, to talk about Apple Music as being hand-in-glove with HomePod because one doesn’t really work without the other. It relegates a $350 speaker into being little more than a gussied-up accessory for a music streaming service. I’ve got my own personal beef with Siri anyway, which is that she barely understands a word I say when I use it on the iPhone. And, I’m sure you will attest to this, I have a clear, fairly region-less British accent that should make me the ideal Siri user. But this constant failure is a key reason that I’d steer clear of the HomePod: There’s no point owning a Siri speaker if the voice assistant itself is crap. I do, however, remain hopeful that the recruitment of John Giannandrea from Google will fix this.

Mat: Like I’ve lauded Apple Music for, Siri is pretty on-point with playlists to match my vague requests of chill, or high energy playlists. Also worth noting, Dan, that due to the six embedded mics, the HomePod is much better at picking up your Siri demands than the iPhone, and works two walls away from my kitchen to my lounge. And yes, you do have a very clear accent.

(Dan: Thank you.)

Mat: Now, having relatively praised it, Siri needs much more work if Apple wants it compared with Google and Amazon’s voice assistants — especially when early adopters are heavily scrutinizing the smart speaker options out there. This lukewarm start shouldn’t be taken as a sign of utter failure, though. We saw similar reports in the nascent days of the Apple Watch: It wasn’t selling at the grand scale of iPhones, it was a flop, etc. But the Apple Watch is still here, shaping itself into something pretty different to what first appeared in late 2014.

Dan: I completely agree with you that nobody at Apple is going to be losing sleep over the HomePod’s current sales. Much like the Watch and, to a lesser extent, the TV, will tick along selling a million or so units a quarter until many own one, almost without realizing it. And as Apple Music grows its audience, so will the number of people who want the HomePod.

Mat: So it’s the long game. And that’s fine for people who will buy the HomePod in 2019, but I can see how the sluggishness will put off current owners and prospective buyers. The launch was delayed; Siri is still weak and I’m still waiting for (at least the temptation of) stereo HomePods. Having said that, my obscure Final Fantasy acoustic soundtracks and early-2000s pop have never sound better.

Dan: I’m not gonna comment on the Final Fantasy point, but it’s clear that the HomePod has crawled out of the gate rather than sprinted. If you’re spending $350 on a piece of home audio gear, you’re expecting a certain level of quality, especially from Apple. And yet in many respects it’s still a half-finished product that lacks the basic functionality found in rival devices. And that means that the sales pitch goes from “a fantastic sounding speaker that works with your iPhone” to “Well, it sounds great, but…”.

‘Floor Kids’ is Kid Koala’s video game tribute to breakdancing

Kid Koala is not a game developer. Born Eric San, the Canadian DJ and turntablist has been spinning records and making beats since he was 12. Over the past three decades, he’s DJ’d breakdancing battles and worked with legends of the electronic music scene like Amon Tobin. He’s also scored films, written graphic novels and even collaborated with Mike Patton of Faith No More and Dan the Automator on an album of “love” songs. But he is not a game developer. Like many, he grew up playing Super Mario Bros., and back then if you’d told him one day he’d work with Nintendo, he’d never have believed you.

His latest project is Floor Kids, a rhythm game that’s a celebration of breakdancing culture. It’s something he worked on, one way or another, for over ten years. The game was released last December for Nintendo Switch as part of the company’s “Nindies” program. When San and creative partner Jonathan “JonJon” Ng were first approached by Nintendo, neither had any idea what a Switch was, but agreed anyway. “Nintendo was like some company from outer space that created this awesome game,” he said. “It was a no-brainer for me.” Now, the game is coming to PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One very soon.

Floor Kids started life over a decade ago when San and Ng were working at Canada’s National Film Board. San had just released Your Mom’s Favourite DJ, and Ng was animating a short film about a kid with Asthma. Ng had been a breakdancer off and on for awhile, but it took until 2004 for him to form a regular crew and start practicing weekly. He’d spend his days animating, then go home and dance and to wind down from that; he’d sketch breakdance animations. He doesn’t consider himself a professional dancer, but said that he’ll “definitely get down and help get the party started.” During crunch, the stressful final stage of game development, Ng would breakdance in the studio to relieve muscle pains from drawing.

He was familiar with Kid Koala thanks to breakdancing, and one day showed up at San’s house with a stack of animation paper. On it were a couple of kids having a breakdancing battle, bouncing around from page to page. San recalled nodding his head to the silent beat the kids were dancing to as Ng flipped through the paper. Ng said that his drawing rhythm could’ve influenced what he’d shown San, or it could’ve been the way he was fluttering the pages.

As you can see in the short above, the characters’ moves have subtle differences and styles. Ng’s animations are driven by an acute knowledge of the physics of the dance moves and how they link from step to step. His understanding of the nuance and different styles enabled him to break each windmill or head-spin down into individual frames of animation. “He literally knows the rotations, the gravitational torque on all the spins just because he’s done the moves himself,” San said. “I realized I was dealing with a bit of a savant,” he added, laughing.

After that, the pair began collaborating, with San providing foley work and music for Ng’s short films, even taking the animations on tour to serve as visuals during his concerts. The pair knew that their project had potential, but weren’t sure what to do with it. Five years ago, San took to Twitter to in his words, “cold call” some local game developers and see if they’d want to talk.

Mike Wozniewski is the founder of Hololabs, a development studio in British Columbia, Canada. Ng and San met with him in 2013, and he was the first developer who didn’t mention changing Floor Kids’ expressive art style. “[Hololabs] stepped up to the plate and really wanted to do it exactly how it was in the old videos,” Ng said. Other programmers wanted a “super digital” aesthetic that’d be easier to code. That wasn’t something Ng wanted because it’d take away the spirit of how he works.

“In my animation career, a lot of times that roughness, that sketchiness, gets cut at a certain part of the process,” he said. He continued the clean versions don’t look as good as they did prior, “but this is what you’re told is going to sell the product better.”

Ng has set up shop at break competitions before, using a marker to draw the winner, Floor Kids style. Then he’d give it to them on the spot. “Because I understand the dance as a language, I know their best moves, and I’ll make sure it’s one of the most memorable moments from the battle.”

Floor Kids: The Video Game’s animation and art aren’t perfect because they were never supposed to be. Everything has a bit of a rough, penciled look like it was ripped out of a sketchbook — not a Disney animation cel. Even when you’re glancing at screenshots, everything feels like it’s in motion. Ng attributes that to his manner of pencil and brush strokes. He said that the speed with which you put a line on a page is the speed the eye traces the drawing. “If you’re really hesitant and feathery, and take a really long time, your eye might take a really long time,” he said. “If you do stuff really loose and fast and sketchy, your eyes tend to move that way too.”

You can’t talk about Floor Kids without mentioning the tunes. San wrote a double album’s worth of music for the game and handled all the sound production. The main menu music is what it is because Wozniewski and Hololabs told San they needed something that loaded quickly and looped well. By having the menu select sounds in the key of the backing track, simply bouncing from one option to the next sounds like you’re making music.

From there, you can swap over to the Break Deck to check out the available moves and combos. Each character has a set of cards, and each time you move between cards, a scratch sound is triggered, and the main menu music never stops playing. During the recording process, San would make a song and press it to vinyl on the record cutter in his studio. He did this with the menu beat too, and recorded a scratch session with the freshly pressed record and exported the scratches into Pro Tools. He split the solo into some 300 different pieces. “You can just go in there and pretend you’re Kid Koala,” Ng said.

The initial intent was to make sure sounds didn’t get stale as you moved through the different combo lists, but what happened was the team ended up creating a sort of virtual instrument. “When [Hololabs] showed me it in action, it was really funny because I said, ‘Wow, I could take my Switch and plug it into a PA system, throw a beat on and probably learn how to do a set.’” In my time with Floor Kids, I’ve probably spent as much time scratching around the Break Deck as I have actually playing the game.

As for the music itself, the soundtrack is an exploration of early B-boy anthems through the electro era and ’90s. The unifying aspect is that, like the visual style, the music is scratchy and imperfect. “It didn’t make sense for me to say, ‘OK, I’m gonna gridlock all the sequencing and everything’s gonna be perfectly quantized and this and that,’” San said.

He recently got the test pressings of the soundtrack’s vinyl edition and set them on his decks at home. “I was having a ball just live looping and stuff like you would if you were DJing a break battle,” he said. “I feel like, from that, it’s like, ‘OK, at least I got that part right.’”

He’s so proud of the music that he’s taking it on tour, treating it like a traditional record. Kid Koala’s Vinyl Vaudeville will hit 18 cities across Canada and the US and will feature demo kiosks for the game so attendees can battle each other. San has fans who’d never buy a game console, and they more or less demanded he put it on wax, so taking the music on the road was the logical conclusion point. To that extent, so is porting the game to every modern platform.

Floor Kids isn’t just a video game; it’s a platform for music, animation, books and who knows what else. San and Ng embrace that they aren’t game developers, and as such are comfortable letting Floor Kids go in whatever direction feels natural. The team already has ideas for add-ons for the game, though, and perhaps even a sequel. “We could keep going,” San said. “Who knows, maybe someday there will be a Floor Kids: The Diner.”

Images: Jonathan Ng (all illustrations)

Lawmakers want more tech companies to address privacy legislation

Though Facebook has been in a bright spotlight since the Cambridge Analytica fallout, it’s obviously not the only company that has to deal with issues surrounding how best to protect its users’ privacy. That responsibility falls on all tech companies with online platforms and Congress is now calling on them to step up and do their part. In interviews with CNET, two congressmen express the need for Silicon Valley cooperation and urge executives to accept that this is an issue that isn’t going away.

“I think that as with most industries, it’s far better to be proactive than to be hauled in front of Congress,” Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) told CNET. “And so I would encourage companies to reach out and establish a relationship and be proactive on the issues that they should be on notice now, or are coming up, likely to come up, or go away.” Schiff also noted that Congress had a lot of learning to do before it could adequately design appropriate legislation, a point that was very evident in the some of the uninformed questioning directed towards Mark Zuckerberg during his Senate and House hearings this week. Additionally, Schiff pointed out that privacy isn’t the only issue that needs to be worked out.

When asked if he believed tech companies could do more than they are, Schiff replied, “I think so, absolutely. I don’t want these issues, as important as they are, to obscure the degree to which social media has been an incredible force for good in the sense of connecting people around the world. So the tech companies have the opportunity and, I think, the responsibility to try to further human freedom around the world and make their technologies even more a force for good and less a force for malevolent actors.”

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) mirrors these concerns and he says Zuckerberg isn’t the only one he wants to hear from. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google co-founder Sergey Brin are also on his list. And it’s not just about chastising these companies for lax standards. Like Schiff, he acknowledges that Congress may not have a strong enough background on these sorts of companies in order to effectively legislate them. “I’ll be the first to acknowledge that if the tech companies leave it to policy makers in Washington alone to figure this out, we’ll probably screw it up,” he said. And about privacy, Warner added, “Obviously that is a huge issue and one that not only Facebook needs to address, but Twitter needs to address, in a sense Google and YouTube as a single entity need to address. All the other social media companies need to grapple with.”

Warner also noted that past efforts to appease lawmakers aren’t going to suffice this time around. “I think for a while the companies thought they could send their lawyers as they did last fall and do real quick hearings and sweep this under the rug and go on as if nothing had changed. That is not going to be the case,” he said to CNET.

A number of Congressional leaders brought up the topics of regulation and legislation throughout Zuckerberg’s 10 hours of hearings and the CEO did commit to working with Congress on developing regulatory proposals. But since this issue isn’t limited to Facebook, it would only make sense that other tech companies participate in these discussions as well. When it asked Zuckerberg to testify, the Senate Judiciary Committee reportedly also extended an invitation to Dorsey and Google’s Sundar Pichai to participate as well.

With multiple sets of legislation already in the works, it’s in everyone’s best interests for more tech companies to get involved sooner rather than later. Only time will tell if that will be the case.

Source: CNET (1), (2)

Mark Zuckerberg got grilled by Congress. Was it worth it?

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Zuckerberg gave testimony to Congress in response to his company’s role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Russian election interference and his website’s utter nightmare of data privacy. He impressed people by wearing his absolute nicest human suit.

Mr. Zuckerberg’s ten hours of dodging lawmakers’ questions in the proverbial hot seat evoked the internet’s best memes about aliens who fool humanity into becoming food. The Cirque du Dystopia atmosphere was enhanced by Zuckerberg’s actual seat, which was fitted with a booster cushion to make him appear taller. His wee seat certainly distracted press from the truly freaky attempts at misdirection flowing from his face hole.

Much virtual ink was spilled fussing over the 33-year-old boy billionaire wearing a suit like a grown-up man to talk to the adults. Wow! They grow up so fast on those diets of purloined data! But yes: he sat on a booster seat, which may have actually been a wireless charging station. And while Zuckerberg let slip little things like his belief that Facebook is basically above the law, far too many writeups goggled at his silly big-boy chair.

It’s a carefully cultivated image. An indulgence granted to a certain kind of white startup jock who gets endless chances to drunk-drive democracy and human rights, as if he’s a freshman intern just learning the ropes of ethics, trust, and professionalism. An image Zuckerberg himself perpetuated throughout the hearing by mentioning Facebook’s college dorm room creation myth on a loop. (See also: “Mark Zuckerberg Cited For Contempt Of Congress After Refusing To Shut The Fuck Up About How He Started Company In Dorm Room.”)

Getting a good, long look at him unsettled much of the general population. Much ado was made of his thousand-yard stare and robotic enjoyment of human water. Star Trek Next Generation fans were rankled by his uncanny resemblance to Data. But any real story lay in Zuckerberg’s responses, which infuriated the bipartisan assembly with clumsy, repetitive avoidance tactics and bizarre, often fact-challenged admissions.

When not clamming up like a busted murder suspect when lawmakers mentioned Palantir, that is.

Let’s just say that fact-checking in the aftermath is not looking good. Zuckerberg said he’d never heard of Facebook’s “shadow profiles,” causing The Guardian to get whiplash from their double-take. He claimed that everyone consents to giving Facebook their data, despite also saying that Facebook tracks non-users for reasons of “security” … and commercial purposes. That’s like consent, right?

Anyway. He practically did a “look, shiny!” when asked about Facebook’s tracking of logged-off users. His answer was politely described as “vague” in press — even though Facebook has been caught doing exactly this, and repeatedly, and their continual activity doing so was ruled illegal. Hey: keeping up with headlines about your own company, one that you lovingly started in your dorm room because you really care about human connection, is hard when you’re a genius. And when asked about collecting transaction data? Nah, he said he didn’t think they did that, nope. But maybe Mark should’ve checked out Facebook’s website before his big day. The Guardian did and Facebook says it does exactly that on its website.

He almost broke the brains of fact-checkers at the New York Times, too. Mr. Zuckerberg told lawmakers that his company first learned of Russia’s Facebook influence operations “Right around the time of the 2016 election itself.” Prior to this week, that answer used to be 2017. When he told lawmakers “We made changes in 2014 that would have prevented what happened with Cambridge Analytica from happening today,” NYT was like, yeah … not so much. The paper flat-out said Zuckerberg’s statement “Cambridge Analytica wasn’t using our services in 2015 as far as we can tell” is false.

And pretty much everyone on the planet laughed when he said “You’re not allowed to have a fake account on Facebook.”

There’s much more, but you get the (distorted) picture. Maybe Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook is a different Facebook than the one we’re all talking about. At this point, this is the only explanation that makes sense.

To put it lightly, like the suggestion of a gentle and invisible breeze, or the concept of consent to a Facebook employee, lawmakers were not pleased with Zuckerberg’s fact-challenged testimony. A few even called him on it. Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) skewered Zuck’s claim that Facebook notified the Trump and Clinton campaigns of Russian attempts to hack in to those campaigns. “But representatives of both campaigns, in the last 24 hours, have said that didn’t happen,” he said. “So we’re going to follow up on that and find out what the real story is.”

In the cut of it all, lawmakers drew out some crazy stuff. When asked to define hate speech, Zuck said it was a hard question (it’s not). He said he believes he’s more responsible with the personal data of millions of Americans than the Federal government — probably not a good look when you’re pretending to obey laws. He admitted there was a discussion in which the company decided not to inform users about Cambridge Analytica.

Generally, Mr. Zuckerberg did what he could to say “regulation is good” while wholly avoiding saying he would support legislation to get user consent for use of their information.

Perhaps the Zuckerbot was just malfunctioning.

When lawmakers asked why anyone should trust Facebook after enduring years of the company’s untrustworthy behavior, they were told (again) that Facebook was started in a dorm room and is about helping people connect.

When asked what happens with user data and third parties, they were told that Facebook doesn’t sell data.

(Lawmakers were consistently befuddled by this, Facebook’s life-preserver defense that they don’t sell data. None of the R-Grampas asked if maybe FB just sells unfettered access to it instead, or trades, or rents, or Airbnb’s our PII. Regardless, if we learned anything it’s that Facebook doesn’t know what happens with our data, and hasn’t cared for generations of users.)

And for at least twenty of this week’s questions (I stopped counting at twenty) Zuckerberg pinky swore his team would get back to them on it.

Unfortunately, his abysmal answers were on par with the overall quality of questions. Ted Cruz clearly relished the opportunity to have a little chat with Zuckerbeg. Cruz dutifully brought an accusation straight off Brietbart’s pre-hearing front page, advancing his party’s victimology myth: The conspiracy theory that Facebook discriminates against conservatives.

Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) followed Cruz’s lead, wasting everyone’s time alleging Facebook had discriminated against pro-Trump bloggers Diamond and Silk by censoring them. This accusation was also a FOX News lead and, to no one’s surprise, it was exposed as a complete hoax on Thursday. Fake news, indeed.

It’s not that these conservatives missed the memo on Zuckerberg’s own neocon views and belief that wealthy white neocon Peter Thiel represents diversity. It’s just that they want Facebook to be their safe space forever. That Facebook bent over backwards to coddle conservatives last time they complained only encouraged them.

Because really: If there’s any group Facebook doesn’t want to appear to discriminate against, it’s conservatives. And maybe only conservatives, for they are certainly better represented at the company than anyone else. I mean, FOSTA-SESTA passed, and Facebook didn’t even feel it because it was already censoring sexual speech and sex workers better than even Orwell could imagine.

Well, they can have it. Facebook has endangered the most vulnerable people in the world, repeatedly, and it will continue to do so. Its employees are so indoctrinated against the outside world, they quite literally don’t care, preferring to rage against threats to their bubble from within. Which is the worst possible quality in a company that pretends to be a steward of human connection.

Overall, American lawmakers expressed they do not trust Facebook to do the right thing. Repeatedly. And then, at the end of it all, no one was satisfied.

So that went well.

Images: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images (Mark Zuckerberg); Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Ted Cruz)

NASA’s TESS spacecraft may find 1,600 new planets in the next two years

On Monday evening, NASA plans to launch a brand new satellite into orbit, courtesy of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Called TESS (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), the spacecraft is designed to detect planets outside our solar system (called exoplanets) that are relatively close to our solar neighborhood.

We have a spacecraft that’s currently in orbit of the Sun that has a similar job. It’s called Kepler, and in the nine years it’s been in space, this little satellite has found 2,342 confirmed exoplanets, with 2,245 more candidates that still need to be studied. Thirty of these are confirmed to be within the “habitable zone” of their host star, which is close enough for liquid water to exist on the surface but not so close that the planet is scorched by the star’s heat. (It’s also called the “Goldilocks” zone, though presumably, there are no bears to be found on these distant worlds).

Kepler’s original mission, which was designed to last three and a half years, was to point itself at a single group of stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region. As a result, it constantly monitored the brightness of around 150,000 main-sequence stars using an onboard photometer. By looking at a tiny part of a very big sky, Kepler was able to monitor when the brightness of these stars dimmed even the slightest bit, which signaled that something (like a planet) might be moving in front of it. (This is called transiting). Scientists then analyzed the data that Kepler sent home and were able to confirm its exoplanet discoveries.

The night launch of Kepler.

Thanks to Kepler, we know that exoplanets are incredibly common in our galaxy — scientists have discovered that there are actually 1.6 planets for every star in the Milky Way. Before Kepler, we didn’t know much about these planets at all.

But, armed with the knowledge that Kepler has given us, it’s time for a new planet-hunting spacecraft that can apply what we’ve learned and expand it to new discoveries. And none too soon: Kepler is low on fuel and will become just another piece of space junk soon. It’s time for TESS to take on the fight. (And if the idea of a hard-working spacecraft slowly dying out in the cold vastness of space, struggling to reorient itself towards Earth one last time to send back word of its discoveries makes you weepy, know that you aren’t the only one.)

TESS will operate differently than Kepler did. We don’t need to know whether there are exoplanets out there anymore. Now, we want to know more about the distant worlds we do find. That’s hard with Kepler’s data because so many of its discoveries are far away — too far to really glean most details about these planets. That’s where TESS comes in.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry TESS into space, launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 40 in Florida. The brief launch window opens at 6:32 PM. Unlike Kepler, TESS will actually be in an elongated orbit of the Earth, with an orbital period of 13.7 days. After launch, the closest it will ever come to Earth is 67,000 miles, which will keep it outside the hazards of the Van Allen radiation belts. During its two-year mission (which will probably be extended if the spacecraft works properly), TESS will study over 200,000 stars.

The Falcon 9 payload fairing containing TESS.

As previously mentioned, Kepler worked by examining and measuring the brightness of the stars it was focused on. TESS will do the same, searching for dimming brightness when a planet transits its host star. But there’s a lot more than scientists can tell from a transit than just whether an exoplanet exists. They can tell the size of the planet; when planets orbit their host stars, their gravity actually acts on the star. When that happens, the star “wobbles,” and the bigger the planet, the larger the wobble. Gas giants will cause a much more significant wobble than a small, rocky planet like the Earth.

Rather than honing in on a small section of the sky, TESS’s field of view will be 400 times greater than what Kepler’s was. But even more crucially, TESS will focus on stars that are close to us. This matters for multiple reasons: It will allow for faster readings and confirmations, but more than that, it will let us glean much, much more data about the specifics of the planets we’ve detected.

This is where the stars’ distances become crucial. Many of Kepler’s discoveries were around faraway stars that are are relatively dim as viewed from Earth. As a result, there was limited data to work with. But because TESS is looking at closer, brighter stars, scientists will be able to follow up on the satellite’s discoveries with ground-based telescopes and learn more and more about these new worlds we’re discovering.

The hope for TESS is that it will help scientists discover relatively close rocky worlds within the “Goldilocks” zone, or habitable zone, of their host stars. While TESS itself can’t determine whether a planet has an atmosphere, or what it might be composed of, scientists can follow up on the planets the spacecraft will detect. But with the prediction that TESS will discover in the neighborhood of 1,600 exoplanets during its initial mission, the real challenge is how scientists will choose which planets to follow up on. It’s a daunting task, but you can be sure that the space and science community is eager to find out what TESS has to show us about our solar neighborhood

Images: NASA/KSC

Guinness strips Billy ‘King of Kong’ Mitchell’s world records

Well, that was fast. When Twin Galaxies announced it’d stripped Billy “King of Kong” Mitchell’s high scores from its forums yesterday, the gaming record-keeping outfit said it’d notified Guinness World Records of such. Today, Kotaku reports that Guinness will strip all of Mitchell’s forged video game high scores including entries for Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong Jr. from its ledger as well.

Guinness used Twin Galaxies as its source of verification, according to Kotaku. The outfit said it will begin looking for the deserving record-holder for the now-vacant Pac-Man high score and perfect score in the next few days, because like Twin Galaxies, Guinness no longer trusts anything that Mitchell has submitted in the past. Thankfully, it looks like we can finally put this whole mess behind us.

Source: Kotaku