Leica’s chic new product can’t take pictures, but you’ll still want it

Leica makes cameras, right? For the most part, this is correct. Apart from a range of binoculars and other similar products, — plus some tasty collaborations with companies including Huawei and Master & Dynamic — you’ll find the Leica name on a camera. Its latest product, however, is a wristwatch, and it really is designed by Leica.

There are two models, the Leica L1 and Leica L2, with the difference between them being a GMT movement on the L2. This, through a complicated second dial system, shows a second time zone. The stainless case is the same size on each — a modest 41mm — while sapphire crystal glass covers the face and the back, exposing the manual movement.

Leica L2 watch

It’s the movement that’s really interesting, because it has been developed entirely for Leica by Lehmann Präzision, a German manufacturing firm that already produces its own watches. The movement is built at Lehmann’s factory, and it’s finished at Leica’s workshops in Wetzlar, Germany. For the overall design, Leica turned to Achim Heine, who worked with on the company’s 1999 design identity overall, before moving on to concentrate on watches. The face says Leica Wetzlar, and for good reason. These are true Leica watches.

Red dot

Many will argue it can’t be a Leica product without a red dot, and despite claims they didn’t want to make such a feature a big deal, there are two red dots on the L1 and L2 watches. The first is the most obvious — a ruby on the crown — while the second only appears on the face to indicate when you push the crown to change states, almost like pushing a camera shutter release. This motion sets the watch apart from others, as it stops messing around with pulling the crown and finding different positions to alter times. Another Leica design nod is the power reserve indicator, which resembles an aperture readout.

Leica L1 Watch

The L1 and L2 haven’t been cooked up in an instant. Leica has apparently been considering a watch for decades, and included one in a technology licensing agreement signed in 1996. It began talks with partners on the project in 2012. There’s the same level of passion, appreciation for mechanics, and strong German design in the L1 and L2 as you’d expect to find in a Leica camera.

As with owning a Leica camera, you’re going to need a healthy bank balance to wear a Leica watch. It only intends to build up to 400 watches over the next year, and the cheaper L1 will cost up to 10,000 euros, or about $11,550, according to watch expert Hodinkee. The watches will be sold through the 10 Leica boutiques around the world later this year.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Start saving, because Leica cameras are about to get even more expensive
• How to get the most out of the Huawei P20 Pro’s fantastic camera
• Here’s everything you need to know about the Huawei P20
• The ‘fastest lens in the world’ is bringing an f/0.95 aperture to more mounts
• Olloclip’s new iPhone X system makes it painless to swap out lenses

The best comic book readers

theartofphoto / 123RF Stock Photo

Every comic book collector knows that it’s a hobby that requires a lot of space. You may start by grabbing a couple issues from your local comic book store, but a few months or years go by and suddenly you’ve got boxes full of comics slowly piling up, until your attic looks like the warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the age of computers, however, you can avoid the mess, as long as you don’t mind forsaking physical copies of your comics. There are plenty of comic book readers that will enable you to read digital comics on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Here are some of the best.

Astonishing Comic Reader (Android)

Astonishing Comic Reader doesn’t just have a great name; it’s also an excellent comic book reader, one that makes navigating your collection simple. The app has a clean interface that makes flipping through pages easy, with no clutter. You can enable night mode if you want to read with the lights out, and there is a manga mode for reading right to left. Best of all, the app will automatically scan your phone for comics (such as CBZ files) so you don’t need to search through your storage.

Download now for:

Android

Comics by comiXology (Android/iOS)

ComiXology, which is nowadays a subsidiary of Amazon, is one of the largest platforms for digital comics, and its Comics app is suitably excellent. Once you create an account — the app and signup process are free — you will have access to a vast marketplace of comics, with offerings from DC, Marvel, and more (there is an assortment of free comics, too). The app’s user interface is slick and clean, and you can read through pages as normal or glide from panel to panel in the guided view mode.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Chunky Comic Reader (iOS)

If you’re a comic book fan and have an iPad, consider yourself blessed, as Chunky Comic Reader is one of the most attractive apps for reading comics. Chunky uses techniques like upscaling and auto-tint to make sure the images look crisp and vibrant, even if the scans are of weathered pages. The app also makes importing and managing your collection effortless, syncing up with storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive. Chunky even lets you share particular panels you find amusing on social media.

Download now for:

iOS

Comic Screen (Android)

If you need a no-frills comic reader, Comic Screen might be the one. The app supports a number of popular formats (CBZ, CBR, JPEG, PNG, and more), and once you select a comic, it will load quickly. You can read in single or dual page formats, depending on what you like. Comic Screen allows you to rotate or crop images, if you choose, although those buttons mean the interface isn’t quite as nice as other comic readers. The app also includes ads, although they are small and largely unobtrusive.

Download now for:

Android

Perfect Viewer (Android)

Does Perfect Viewer live up to its name? Maybe not, but it is a nice app, supporting a variety of file formats (including the usual suspects, as well as EPUB), and offering a simple interface. Once you import your comic files, the comics will appear in a “bookshelf” that some may find kitschy or cute. Flipping through comics is easy and fairly quick.

Download now for:

Android

Challenger Viewer (Android)

Challenger viewer may not have the prettiest menu, but it’s a solid comics reader that loads comics quickly. Once you’ve opened a comic, you’ll find it quick and easy to flip through, and Challenger offers three different viewing options: Single page, double page, or “split” double page. The app also has a variety of other options for you to tailor your experience.

Download now for:

Android

YACReader (Windows/MacOS/iOS/Linux)

YACReader is short for Yet Another Comic Reader, an acknowledgment that the field is crowded. Thankfully, YAC has more going for it than a cute name; it’s also a comprehensive comic book reader for desktops, offering all the features one might need: It supports numerous file types, offers a variety of view options, and even gives users tools to touch up images, giving scans of old comics a fresh coat of paint. If you’re a Mac user with an iPhone or iPad, you can also share your library between your desktop and mobile devices.

Download now for:

Windows MacOS iOS Linux

Editors’ Recommendations

• The 100 best Android apps of 2018 (May)
• The best moneymaking apps
• Six of the best Festival-approved movies and TV shows to stream this year
• The best guitar tuner apps
• The best Wear OS apps

The best comic book readers

theartofphoto / 123RF Stock Photo

Every comic book collector knows that it’s a hobby that requires a lot of space. You may start by grabbing a couple issues from your local comic book store, but a few months or years go by and suddenly you’ve got boxes full of comics slowly piling up, until your attic looks like the warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the age of computers, however, you can avoid the mess, as long as you don’t mind forsaking physical copies of your comics. There are plenty of comic book readers that will enable you to read digital comics on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Here are some of the best.

Astonishing Comic Reader (Android)

Astonishing Comic Reader doesn’t just have a great name; it’s also an excellent comic book reader, one that makes navigating your collection simple. The app has a clean interface that makes flipping through pages easy, with no clutter. You can enable night mode if you want to read with the lights out, and there is a manga mode for reading right to left. Best of all, the app will automatically scan your phone for comics (such as CBZ files) so you don’t need to search through your storage.

Download now for:

Android

Comics by comiXology (Android/iOS)

ComiXology, which is nowadays a subsidiary of Amazon, is one of the largest platforms for digital comics, and its Comics app is suitably excellent. Once you create an account — the app and signup process are free — you will have access to a vast marketplace of comics, with offerings from DC, Marvel, and more (there is an assortment of free comics, too). The app’s user interface is slick and clean, and you can read through pages as normal or glide from panel to panel in the guided view mode.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Chunky Comic Reader (iOS)

If you’re a comic book fan and have an iPad, consider yourself blessed, as Chunky Comic Reader is one of the most attractive apps for reading comics. Chunky uses techniques like upscaling and auto-tint to make sure the images look crisp and vibrant, even if the scans are of weathered pages. The app also makes importing and managing your collection effortless, syncing up with storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive. Chunky even lets you share particular panels you find amusing on social media.

Download now for:

iOS

Comic Screen (Android)

If you need a no-frills comic reader, Comic Screen might be the one. The app supports a number of popular formats (CBZ, CBR, JPEG, PNG, and more), and once you select a comic, it will load quickly. You can read in single or dual page formats, depending on what you like. Comic Screen allows you to rotate or crop images, if you choose, although those buttons mean the interface isn’t quite as nice as other comic readers. The app also includes ads, although they are small and largely unobtrusive.

Download now for:

Android

Perfect Viewer (Android)

Does Perfect Viewer live up to its name? Maybe not, but it is a nice app, supporting a variety of file formats (including the usual suspects, as well as EPUB), and offering a simple interface. Once you import your comic files, the comics will appear in a “bookshelf” that some may find kitschy or cute. Flipping through comics is easy and fairly quick.

Download now for:

Android

Challenger Viewer (Android)

Challenger viewer may not have the prettiest menu, but it’s a solid comics reader that loads comics quickly. Once you’ve opened a comic, you’ll find it quick and easy to flip through, and Challenger offers three different viewing options: Single page, double page, or “split” double page. The app also has a variety of other options for you to tailor your experience.

Download now for:

Android

YACReader (Windows/MacOS/iOS/Linux)

YACReader is short for Yet Another Comic Reader, an acknowledgment that the field is crowded. Thankfully, YAC has more going for it than a cute name; it’s also a comprehensive comic book reader for desktops, offering all the features one might need: It supports numerous file types, offers a variety of view options, and even gives users tools to touch up images, giving scans of old comics a fresh coat of paint. If you’re a Mac user with an iPhone or iPad, you can also share your library between your desktop and mobile devices.

Download now for:

Windows MacOS iOS Linux

Editors’ Recommendations

• The 100 best Android apps of 2018 (May)
• The best moneymaking apps
• Six of the best Festival-approved movies and TV shows to stream this year
• The best guitar tuner apps
• The best Wear OS apps

Leap Motion’s AR table tennis is a long way from your parents’ Pong

Leap Motion has a brand-new game for early testers of its Project Northstar augmented reality headset to play around with: Table tennis. The game leverages not only the headset itself but a new paddle controller as well, and comes with its own A.I. opponent so all you really need is a table. In the demonstration we see the headset wearer bouncing a virtual ball between paddles and having a full game with a floating digital paddle on the opposite end of the table. Better yet, they never have to go and pick up the ball when it falls off the table.

Augmented reality might not have received quite the same push as virtual reality just yet — some think we’re still a few years away from its mainstream adoption — but there are plenty of companies working away at it. Microsoft’s HoloLens is one prominent example, but Leap Motion’s Project Northstar turned heads earlier this year for its expansive headset design and development still continues apace.

As much as the table tennis demonstration looks like a fun way to spend some time in augmented reality, Leap Motion software engineer Johnathon Selstad said that he sees this as more of an example of mixed reality skills training. He sees augmented reality’s greatest potential in helping people to learn things in a partly digital space. Skills they can then apply to the real world. In the case of table tennis, simply practicing a game with real-world motions with an A.I. opponent could help to improve your game without needing to play with people in the real world.

“In VR, we can shape the experience to optimize learning a task or behavior,” Selstad explained. “AR elevates this potential with familiar real-world environments, allowing us to contextualize learned skills. By overlaying virtual indicators and heuristics onto the user’s view, we can even help them develop a deeper intuition of the system.”

In the context of a table tennis game, physics projections of where the ball will go can be shown to the player to help them learn to intuitively understand how it will behave. While such a lesson may not translate 100 percent to the real world, it’s certainly more useful than playing a similar game with a controller or with no real-world environment around you.

That’s especially true when it comes to A.I. opponents. As we saw with humans vs. A.I. matchups in games like Go, when near-perfect A.I. play against top-tier human players, the humans typically lose but improve themselves by learning from their artificial opponents. AR has the potential to make such gameplay more applicable to the real world.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Magic Leap finally unveils ‘goggles’ with wireless processing, tracking
• Apple’s wireless, mixed-reality glasses could launch in 2020
• Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon chip will take VR, AR to the next level
• Awesome Tech You Can’t Buy Yet: Smart Rubik’s Cubes, diving drones, robot artists
• IBM’s new supercomputer doesn’t just take orders — it can argue back

When it rains, it pours inside Snap Maps with new World Effects

Snap Maps put you — or at least your Bitmoji — on the map. But Snapchat just launched an update that gives some flair to that world your avatar lives in. On Wednesday, June 20, Snap Inc. launched Weather and World Effects inside Snap Maps. The update brings animated weather corresponding with the actual forecast along with holiday-themed map looks and even a confetti cannon on your birthday.

The features help add more details to Snapchat’s location sharing feature — so don’t be fooled by that Snap that looks like your friend is having a great time when he’s actually caught in a downpour. The tools use the user’s location data to add animated details from the forecast to the map.

The new Weather effects bring a digitized version of the forecast in the area and animate that weather pattern over your Bitmoji’s head. The animations come when zoomed in on a specific Bitmoji on the map and include rain, sun, and snow.

The World Effects bring similar animations to the world your Bitmoji lives in, but may be less expected than the weather, Snap suggests. The feature changes the usual look of the Snap Map not for accuracy like that weather effect, but to recognize significant events or seasons. For example, Valentine’s Day may turn the usual map into a pink world that looks more like Candy Land than an actual map.

Both features are rolling out soon as the Snap Maps feature itself marks one year. The geotagged avatars and photos already have a mix of highs and lows in that short history, including users original reaction to privacy concerns over sharing a physical location inside an app most popular among younger generations. On the opposite side, placing photos on a map has offered a different perspective on current events that even some news stations have picked up on.

Snapchat isn’t celebrating a year of Snap Maps with any actual numbers on how many people use the feature, but according to Mashable, half of Snap Map users choose to share a location with friends. The update follows Snap Map’s move to the web using an embed tool, while the holiday-themed World Effects follow the platform’s geocaching Easter egg hunt earlier this year.

Editors’ Recommendations

• iOS 12 adds a Snapchat-like camera for iMessages, with AR-powered Memojis
• The best drone apps
• ‘Sea of Thieves’ review
• 7 hidden Snapchat features for chatting with friends
• Google News receives a major overhaul, replaces Google Play Newsstand

Samsung Galaxy S9 review, 3 months later: Holding the high standard

It’s the same great phone now as it was on Day 1.

Amazingly, our original Galaxy S9 review was published over three months ago. There was a good amount of hype ahead of this launch, despite all the leaks, and the phone lived up to an overwhelming majority of it. Now, three months later, I want to go back to the phone with fresh eyes and months of experience to see how it’s held up after that initial review period.

Certain parts of the phone experience just don’t lend themselves well to a two-week review period, but in an effort to provide buying advice to as many people as possible in a timely fashion with our review. But that’s also why we come back and revisit these phones on a regular basis. To show you what’s held up over time, what flaws have been uncovered, and how the phone stands in the market with a little age behind it. This is how the Galaxy S9+ has managed its first quarter in the wild.

Same as it ever was

Galaxy S9+ What’s held up

Aside from a few brief breaks, I’ve been using this U.S. unlocked Galaxy S9+ since it was announced. I’ve carried it in my pocket nearly every day, and traveled to a half-dozen countries with it. And thankfully, as I’ve relied on it, it’s been a rock-solid phone the entire time.

The GS9+ has been a rock-solid phone I can rely on.

You know what you’re getting with a Samsung phone. It’s beautiful, albeit a little slippery and potentially fragile. Mine has spent probably half of its time in a case, so I haven’t faced many scratches, nor any scuffs or cracks in three months. I suspect most people will do the same, but if you decide to go naked you’re going to feel some anxiety around how slippery the Galaxy S9+ is in particular. And in return you’ll get to use this finely sculpted object every day. Yes the design is a bit stale at this point, as it’s effectively a derivative of the Galaxy S6, but you can’t argue that Samsung’s execution isn’t perfect.

And yes, the fingerprint sensor is totally usable now and hasn’t given me any of the same troubles the Galaxy S8 did.

Further on the hardware, I just can’t emphasize enough how awesome it is to have such a great display in your hand. Unlike every other phone, I never pull down the notification shade on my GS9+ to adjust the brightness. The automatic brightness tuning is good, and the range of screen brightness when paired with the high contrast makes it visible in any lighting condition. And other hardware features that I normally feel I can live without, the headphone jack and wireless charging, are just added bonuses I love having around. I use Bluetooth headphones every day, but now and then I need that headphone jack and it’s there. Likewise for wireless charging — it’s simple to charge with a cable, but it’s even easier to just drop the phone on a pad.

Nearly four months in, I haven’t had a single performance hiccup or slowdown.

I’ve regularly complained about how Samsung’s phones, even the latest models, tend to deteriorate and slow down over time. At least right now, nearly four months into using this Galaxy S9+, I haven’t experienced that this time around. Performance has been absolutely fantastic in everything I’ve done with the GS9+, and I can’t recall a single instance of reboots or software crashes. Apps of all kinds have been quick and smooth — and while I’m not a big time Android gamer, everything I’ve thrown at the phone has been handled without a second thought.

Now what about the cameras? For some, the hype around the Galaxy S9+’s photographic improvements settled down quickly after launch. I’m not in this camp — I think it’s still a fantastic camera. I haven’t found a situation or scene type in which I can’t reliably expect a high-end photo, and this comes without meddling around in the Pro mode to tweak settings. Samsung has this camera dialed in, and I love the results.

Hyped or not, this is a great camera capable of awesome shots in any situation.

Colors are punchy, and HDR processing does a great job — the only intermittent issue is the GS9+’s tendency to slightly overexpose some shots. Really, that’s a small nit to pick, considering the rest of the camera’s prowess. The low light performance, in particular, has just been fantastic. We’ve argued back and forth a bit here at Android Central over whether it’s better than the Pixel 2 considering how it is extra-sharp and therefore sometimes unnatural looking, but I actually prefer the GS9+’s sharp look.

The only part of the camera experience that ended up being a bit of a bust is the variable aperture. Though about half of the photos in the above gallery were at f/2.4, in my testing and experience over the last few months there doesn’t seem to be any appreciable difference in quality in daylight over just shooting at f/1.5 instead. Having f/1.5 in low light has been a fantastic addition, but f/2.4 doesn’t really seem to add anything when the lighting is good.

Software, software, software

Galaxy S9+ What hasn’t aged well

I took short breaks from using the Galaxy S9+ to spend a few weeks with the Moto G6, OnePlus 6 and Google Pixel 2 XL (with Android P) — the biggest thing that strikes me about coming back to the GS9+ is the software. I don’t like to be the one who keeps harping on this, considering the market has clearly chosen to accept Samsung’s software, but it just isn’t as good as the competition right now.

I still use the GS9+ despite its software, not because of it.

Once leading the way, Samsung’s always-on display isn’t useful enough anymore. Its lock screen doesn’t feel as connected to the rest of the system as on other phones. The notification shade makes zero attempt to integrate custom-colored media notifications. Samsung’s duplicate apps and services are burdensome. I’ve lost count of the number of annoying settings and notifications I’ve had to turn off just to make using the phone a simple and pleasant experience. Samsung’s launcher has the least-efficiently designed folders ever, and can’t even manage to evenly space out apps and widgets? Some of it is preference, but other parts just don’t make sense at all. “Samsung Experience” feels like it’s in dire need of a product manager that’s willing to hack and slash at this overgrown beast until it’s tamed back down to the basics.

And don’t get me started on Bixby. We’ll just let that one go for now.

You shouldn’t have to choose a specific GS9 model to expect security patches.

As I write this and look through the settings on my U.S. unlocked Galaxy S9+, I see that I’m still on the February 1 security patch — the same patch the phone launched on. That means this phone is four patches behind at this point, and just over a week away from being five behind. That’s still ridiculous to me. Yes I know some other GS9 models are ahead of the unlocked one, but that just exemplifies the point — you shouldn’t have to choose a specific model to expect security patches. C’mon, Samsung.

I struggled around whether to talk about battery life in the first section or down here, because the Galaxy S9+ has never left me stranded without a charge. And well, I’m talking about it here. Though I’m never stranded, the GS9+’s battery scares me on a regular basis, hitting power saving mode well before I expect it to on heavy use days. Like every Samsung phone, the GS9+ tends to just eat up battery at a consistent rate no matter what you’re doing, and just seems incapable of idling and sipping power when it’s not in use. Based on what I read of the smaller Galaxy S9 with its proportionately smaller battery, things aren’t particularly great there either. So battery life is just “okay” here, which isn’t okay for a big-money flagship.

Holding the standard

Galaxy S9+ Three months on

Three months after I first reviewed it, the Galaxy S9+ feels now exactly as it did back then. Its strengths remain, and its initial shortcomings still have the propensity to annoy.

Three months after I first reviewed it, the Galaxy S9+ feels now exactly as it did back then.

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are beautiful, efficiently designed and well-made. The hardware may be a bit boring at this point, but it’s fantastic to look at and hold every day — even if you just end up putting a case on it. The nice-to-have hardware features don’t grab headlines but are useful, and the top-end specs provide performance befitting an expensive phone. And Samsung still offers the best displays anywhere in the Android world. The cameras are truly great no matter the shooting conditions, making sure novices and pros alike are happy with the results.

The only issues, as ever, are within the software. Some interface elements are still baffling and unintuitive even with months of use, and Samsung’s duplicate apps and services just never go away. The lack of security updates for some models is particularly bothersome for a phone that retails for over $800. But I’ll admit that some people actually prefer Samsung’s software, and with that being the case there’s hardly a problem to point to in the Galaxy S9+.

Even a full quarter after its release, I have no hesitation in recommending the larger Galaxy S9+ in particular, even at its high price. There’s a reason why it’s currently atop our list of the best Android phones. Not only is it a remarkable top-end smartphone with tons of features, but it’s also available just about everywhere in the world — high quality and wide availability are a great combination.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

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

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AT&T’s new ‘WatchTV’ skinny bundle is available — here’s what you need to know

Welcome to the post-merger world.

AT&T — the newly minted owner of Time Warner — today unveiled new wireless plans that include its new “WatchTV” skinny bundle. Customers who choose two new unlimited plans, called “AT&T Unlimited & More” and “AT&T Unlimited & More Premium” will be available next week and come with access to the WatchTV app, which includes 31 live channels.

Unlimited & More is $70 per line. (Or $160 for a four-line bundle.) Premium runs $80 a line (or $190 for four lines) and also includes the option to add either HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Start, VRV or Pandora Premium or Amazon Music Unlimited to the mix. A standalone version of WatchTV will be available at some point for $15 a month.

The Premium plan also include 15GB of tethering from your phone, and a $15 monthly credit that can be applied to a subscription to DirecTV, DirecTV Now or U-Verse (all of which, of course, are owned by AT&T). The regular “Unlimited & More” plan offers a $15 credit for DirecTV Now only.

The channels included in the new WatchTV skinny bundle are:

• A&E
• AMC
• Animal Planet
• Audience
• BBC America
• BBC World News
• Boomerang
• Cartoon Network
• CNN
• Discovery
• Food Network
• FYI
• Hallmark Channel
• Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
• HGTV
• History
• HLN
• IFC
• Investigation Discovery
• Lifetime
• Lifetime Movies
• OWN
• Sundance TV
• TBS
• TCM
• TLC
• TNT
• Tru TV
• Velocity
• Viceland
• WE

And coming “soon” after launch, AT&T says, will be BET, Comedy Central, MTV2, Nicktoons, Teen Nick and VH1.

Best AT&T Phones in 2018

You’re not the only one who doesn’t have Android Messages’ web client yet

Waiting, and waiting, and waiting…

This past Monday, Google announced one of Android Messages’ most long-awaited features — an official web client that allows you to send and receive texts right from your computer.

The interface Google showed off looks incredibly sleek, but unfortunately for a lot of users, they’ve been left waiting for the update to drop without any clear indication as to when that’ll happen. Google’s rolling this out as a server-side update, meaning that it’s being expanded to more and more handsets over this week.

Taking a quick look through the AC forums, we can see that some folks have already been graced with Google’s goodwill —

Martin Holl
06-19-2018 10:04 PM

“

Got it. Looks alright, a bit delay in updating, but otherwise fine. If it works as I hope, it might replace Pulse on my phone.

Reply

Scott337
06-20-2018 06:19 PM

“

The app update with Web Messages support is rolling out slowly. My wife’s Z2 Play just received the app update. But nothing for my Z Force yet. It takes time to hit all phones, I guess.

Reply

Then again, there are plenty of users that are still waiting.

Nauga
06-20-2018 08:39 PM

“

I feel like Charlie Brown collecting rocks at Halloween. My Messages app got updated to 3.3.044, but I still don’t have a “Messages for web” option.

Reply

TraderGary
06-19-2018 11:16 PM

“

You must be on a beta. I’ve got 3.3.043 but I don’t see that 3 dot menu.

Reply

What about you? Do you have access to Android Messages’ web client yet?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Ghost of Tsushima: Everything you need to know

Samurai sword-fighting has never been prettier.

What is Ghost of Tsushima?

We didn’t know much about Ghost of Tsushima when Sucker Punch (makers of Infamous) originally announced it at 2017’s Paris Games Week. That changed as of E3 2018, with the company giving us more details and even a first look at gameplay for the upcoming game.

What we can say for certain is that it’s an open world samurai game. As you’d expect from that description, you’ll be spending a lot of time with a katana, but there are also elements of stealth involved. This makes it feel like a nice swirl of Way of the Samurai mixed with a little bit of Tenchu.

Experience Feudal Japan

Details on the game are still scarce, but the picture is starting to come into focus. You play as Jin Sakai, one of the last true remaining samurais back in the year 1274. This puts the game squarely in the middle of Feudal Japan, one of gaming’s most interesting settings.

Unfortunately, a rising force threatens the state of things. The Mongols are riding all over the island of Tsushima, raiding towns for the purposes of killing, pillaging, and raping.

As the last of his kind, Jin Sakai is one of the only ones equipped to deal with the invasion, though he can’t do it alone. That is, he can’t do it with his more traditional Way of the Samurai. He has to adopt a new way: Way of the Ghost.

It’s not yet apparent what this new way of fighting will mean for Jin and how it might compare to the ways of old. We do know that he might not be going it alone, though. He’ll eventually meet an archer ally named Masako, though the two will find themselves butting heads in the future over questions of morality and revenge.

As seen in the trailer above, Masako’s issue with Jin erupts when she finds out he wants to enlist the help of a monk who somehow betrayed her family. Thus, there may be tough choices to make in the game that the character will have to make. Whether the player will get to influence those choices is up in the air. In any case, the action was enough to incite a fight between the two, one which Jin wins before gracefully sparing her life and reminding her who the true enemy is.

Jin’s legend will grow bigger as the game goes on. Characters in the world will begin to murmur and whisper about the Ghost of Tsushima and the immense power he has. It almost sounds as if he’ll be regarded as an urban legend, if not an outright god amongst men. And you had better believe his enemies are starting to hear about him, too.

To get an idea of the game’s scope, Sucker Punch says Ghost of Tsushima completely trounces Infamous Second Son. They’re referring not only to the game world, but also the story, side missions, characters, and everything in between. Mind you, Infamous Second Son was a pretty big game all on its own.

And we can already see evidence of those expectations in the gameplay reveal when Jin comes up on a horizon to see several fires raging in distant areas. Presumably, he could go right to those fires if he wanted. The developers really want you to be able to “lose yourself” on the island of Tsushima, so we’re hopeful that there will be lots of little things like collectibles, lore, and more to sink our teeth into.

Authentic to the core

For Sucker Punch, getting Feudal Japan “right” was very important for them. Their developers did a lot of research into the country and the era, their beliefs, their customs, and all the relevant tales of old.

They went as far as working with cultural guides and Kendo experts. They even sent an audio scout to Japan to record sounds, such as native birdsong and other things you may only hear when visiting Japan.

The end result should be a degree of authenticity that will make you feel as if you’re in the middle of something very real. Adding to that authenticity is the inclusion of a Japanese audio track for every region the game is launching in.

This should also translate to the game world at large. There will be many towns and places in the game based on real places in Japan, and the people in them will hopefully represent the culture as closely as possible.

Satsifying swordplay

In the E3 gameplay video, we saw a few different gameplay systems at play, though nothing that was so intensely new that it took us by surprise. It began with a multi-man battle, with Jin having to go up against a group of Mongolian raiders caught in the act of murdering innocents.

The sequence began with Jin opting to forego aggression to instead play the counter game. As the first enemy lunged toward him, he unsheathed his sword and cut his throat in one smooth, swift motion. He then dispatched of the other enemies with more traditional swipes of his sword. There appears to be some sort of counter mechanic not unlike those featured in Assassin’s Creed or Batman Arkham games.

Another option for fighting multiple foes was revealed later in the trailer. Some sort of slow down mechanic was engaged which allowed jin to quickly switch between and kill 4 different targets with ease. This may be an element of his Way of the Ghost fighting style we’ve been hearing about.

Beyond that, stealth kills look to be an important part of survival. There’s the typical approach of sneaking behind your target and quickly cutting his throat, but there was also a stalkerish mechanic that lets you wait from an elevated position and jump down for an air attack. Again, not all that dissimilar to Batman and Assassin’s Creed.

Even early on, the animations and overall gameplay seem to have a great level of polish. Combat flows fluidly, and the world around you reacts to your movement. We can’t help but think about the tall grass swaying side to side as your horse trots through the planes, or how the autumn leaves are swept away as you slash and dodge during fights.

The gameplay didn’t seem overly involved, however, we do know there will be varying levels of difficulty. Sucker Punch says the “tourist” types of players can get just as much out of Ghost of Tsushima as the “hardcore” types. The game will still provide a challenge no matter your level of skill, but it just won’t be unforgivingly hard if you don’t want it to be.

When can you play it?

Sony still has no solid release date to offer for Ghost of Tsushima. We didn’t even get a conservative “2019” window, so there’s no telling when this game will be ready (especially considering how long we’ve waited between announcement and launch for other Sony exclusives in the past).

We promise to keep you updated when new information is available, though, so be sure to check back often for the latest!

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

Amazon

The Best USB-C Headphones in 2018

The best headphones for your new phone and its new connector.

The slow death of the headphone jack means that USB-C audio is now a thing. It’s not necessarily a bad thing or a good thing, but it is a (mostly) new thing. If you would rather not try and keep a set of wireless headphones charged, it’s also a thing that means you’ll need to buy new headphones. And that’s a little tough right now.

We’ve looked at what’s out there and picked the ones we like the best so you have somewhere to start. If you don’t see your favorite brand on this list, it’s probably because pickings are still a little slim.

More: USB-C audio: Everything you need to know

• Libratone Q Adapt
• Essential Earphones HD
• Razer Hammerhead
• Xiaomi Mi ANC Earphones

Libratone Q Adapt

Libratone’s Q Adapt USB-C headphones are part of the “Made for Google” program announced with the release of the Pixel 2, and that means the inline remote is going to work with your Android phone — always a plus.

You’ll also enjoy Libratone’s “CityMix” noise cancelation and the unique “Hush” mode that stops the Active Noise Cancelation, then mutes any music when you receive a phone call. The Libratone Q Adapt headphones come with various tips to ensure a good fit and are available in black or white for $149.

See at Google

Essential Earphones HD

Essential’s Earphones HD are a great basic pair of headphones for any USB-C device. They sound great, they come in an unassuming dark gray, and have a silicone coated cable to keep them from getting all fouled up should you forget to put them back in the case.

There are no inline controls, which is kind of a bummer, but the important thing is there — these headphones sound as good or better than any other pair in the same price range and will work with the USB-C port on your phone — they aren’t just made for Essential phones. You can pick up a pair for $99.

See at Essential

Razer Hammerhead

Want something a little more bold? Razer’s Hammerhead USB-C earbuds use 10mm drivers, have a 20Hx to 20kHz frequency response, and a 32ohm impedance to give you a little more kick. And they come in bright neon green.

These really do bring a little more volume to the very high and very low ends of your music, and they come with several tips for the right fit and inline music controls. They’re also surprisingly cheap at $75!

See at Amazon

Xiaomi Mi ANC Earphones

Xiaomi isn’t well-known in the west, but their phones all have one thing in common — they all support Hi-Res audio through a great set of onboard components. Of course, the company also needs to make a great set of headphones!!

The Mi Noise Canceling USB Type-C Earphones are a great set. They’re certified for Hi-Res audio with 50 – 2000Hz active noise cancelation set to kill all ambient noise above 25dB. Xiaomi uses micro-electromechanical microphones (MEMS) in each earpiece to make sure all sounds are cut.

With titanium earpieces and a Kevlar cable, these should last a good while, too. They’re a steal at $70!

See at Amazon