Every 500 Million Limited Edition PlayStation Pro 4 will be unique

One of a kind.

Today, Sony said it has officially sold more than 525 million PlayStation systems including everything from PlayStation VR to the PlayStation Vita. To celebrate that accomplishment, Sony is releasing a limited edition 500 Million PlayStation 4 Pro gaming console. When it says limited, it means it. Only 50,000 will be made, and each one will come with a commemorative copper plate on the front with that console’s serial number etched into it.

The case will feature a transluscent dark blue shell and come with a DualShock 4 wireless controller with a matching scheme. The console will also come with a PlayStation camera, vertical stand, and mono headset. The internal hard drive is 2TB, which is the largest of any PlayStation 4 Pro so far. A few of the copper plates mentioned above will also include unique historical numbers related to PlayStation’s history. You’ll get all of that for $500, and pre-orders begin on August 24.

You will also be able to get the DualShock 4 controller by itself for $64.99. A 500 Million limited edition Gold headset featuring that same dark blue translucent color will also be around for $99,99, but both of these devices will only be available in limited quantities. Those will start selling sometime in September.

Check out the PlayStation Blog Flickr account, which includes a lot of detailed photos of this one-of-a-kind console.

The Kindle Fire HD 8 is almost 50% off for only a few more hours

Odds are this deal won’t last!

Update: This offer is only around for a few more hours, so be sure to grab one before the sale ends.

Amazon is running a limited time promotion that drops that price of the Fire HD 8 tablet down to $59.99, a savings of $50 from its regular price. Over the past few months, we’ve seen this tablet sell for as much as $110 but never lower than $80, and in fact, it’s never dropped this low before. It has an 8-inch display and comes equipped with 32GB of storage inside. Per charge, the tablet offers around 12 hours of usage time and it even has Alexa built right in to get your questions answered with ease.

Amazon is selling the 7-inch Fire Tablet with 8GB of storage for $49.99 right now, which means for only $10 more you get an extra inch of screen real estate and quadruple the internal storage. Odds are, at this price, this will begin selling out quickly. Be sure to grab one in black, red, blue, or yellow right now, before they are gone, and also pick up a microSD card so you can store more music, movies, and apps on it.

See at Amazon

Here’s how to download the Fortnite Beta on your Galaxy device

The wait is over: Fortnite is finally available on Android.

Hopefully you’ve been smart enough to ignore all the spam and clickbait out there for supposed Fortnite Beta APKs that have been floating out there, because the real Fortnite Beta is finally here.

Samsung has partnered with Epic Games to make the Fortnite Beta exclusive to Samsung Galaxy devices until August 12. Since Epic Games decided not to launch the game through the Google Play Store, Samsung users can find and download the game right now from the Galaxy App Store.

How to download from the Galaxy App Store

The Fortnite Beta is currently exclusively available on Samsung Galaxy, from the S7 on up, and can be downloaded from the Galaxy App Store.

It’s easy to forget that Samsung has its own dedicated app store that you may have never used before, so we’ll walk through the steps of downloading the Fortnite Installer.

Swipe up to open the app drawer
Tap on the Samsung Apps folder.

Tap to launch the Galaxy App Store.

You should see the big Fortnite banner ad at the top, or you can search for Fortnite.
Download the Fortnite Installer.

Once you’ve downloaded the installer, the app will install the game itself. If you’ve previously played Fortnite on another platform you’ll be able to log in to your existing account and access any in-app purchases and continue your progress on your Battle Pass.

How to get the game on other Android phones

Anyone who doesn’t own a Samsung Galaxy device will have to wait until August 12 to download the game, but you can head over to the Fortnite Android portal to register for the beta with your device. Epic Games will then email you the link to the Fortnite installer once the beta is opened up to non-Samsung devices.

After the Samsung exclusivity concludes, the Android beta will initially be made available on the following devices:

• Samsung Galaxy S7
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
• Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+
• Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8
• Samsung Galaxy Note 9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S3
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S4
• Google Pixel and Pixel XL
• Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL
• ASUS ROG Phone
• ASUS Zenfone 4 Pro
• ASUS Zenfone5Z
• ASUS Zenfone V
• Essential PH-1
• Huawei Honor 10
• Huawei Honor Play
• Huawei Mate 10 and Mate Pro
• Huawei Mate RS
• Huawei Nova 3
• Huawei P20 and P20 Pro
• Huawei Honor V10
• LG G5
• LG G6
• LG G7
• LG ThinQ
• LG V20
• LG V30 and V30+
• Nokia 8
• OnePlus 5 and 5T
• OnePlus 6
• Razer Phone
• Xiaomi Blackshark
• Xiaomi Mi 5, 5S and 5S Plus
• Xiaomi Mi 6 and 6 Plus
• Xiaomi Mi 8, 8 Explorer, and 8SE
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
• ZTE Axon 7 and 7 S
• ZTE Axon M
• ZTE Nubia Z17
• ZTE Numia Z11

More devices should be added to the list, and we’ll provide step-by-step instructions for installing the game on non-Samsung devices the game has been opened up to all other compatible Android devices.

Are you a Fortnite fanatic?

Fortnite has taken the world by storm! Are you excited to play it on your phone? Let us know in the comments below!

Android Gaming

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• Best games with no in-app purchases
• Best action games for Android
• Best RPGs for Android
• All the Android gaming news!

Logitech speakers, VivoBooks, and more are discounted today

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

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts on the Logitech Z623 speaker system, the Asus VivoBook Flip 14, Seagate’s newest SSD, and more! Most of these prices will be gone when the day ends, so don’t miss your chance to save big!

View the rest of the deals

If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you’ll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!

How to send links from your phone to Chrome for Daydream

You don’t have mess with the virtual keyboard to get to your favorite sites.

While Google Daydream has plenty of great games and other apps available for your virtual media consumption, browsing the web has been… trickier. If you wanted to browse Google Chrome on your Daydream headset, you’d have to open the web page on your phone, place your phone in the VR headset, and get the headset closed without accidentally hitting a navigation button. With a standalone headset, you either had to use an experimental version of Chrome or do without.

But no more! Now, the standard version of Chrome can be downloaded on any Daydream headset, so you can browse the web without jumping through hoops. You **do* have to use the Daydream Keyboard, so it may be faster to find a web page on your phone, then send that to your Daydream headset.

Here’s how to send links from your phone to Chrome for Daydream!

• Double checking your sync settings
• Save the link as a bookmark
• Use Recent Pages

Double checking your sync settings

Synchronizing data across your Google account is how most of the magic works with its services. To make sure these methods work, let’s double check your Chrome sync settings:

Open Google Chrome on your smartphone.

Tap the three dot icon in the top-right corner.

Tap Settings.
Tap on your picture near the top of the screen.

If you have multiple Google accounts on your phone — like I do — select the Gmail address for the account you use on your Daydream headset.

Tap Sync.
Tap Sync everything, or at least make sure the check box next to History and Bookmarks is checked.

Save the link as a bookmark

If this is a web page you’ll be visiting often, the easiest thing to do is to save it as a bookmark. That way, it’ll always be available on any device that you’ve signed into your Google account.

On your phone, open Google Chrome.
Find the website you want to save.
Tap the three dot icon in the top-right corner.

Tap the star at the top of the screen.

While wearing your Daydream headset, open Google Chrome.
Use the touchpad on your controller to scroll down on the homescreen.
You’ll see a list of your recent bookmarks. Click the link you want to open.

That’s it! Now you can browse your favorite site in virtual reality!

Use Recent Pages

You won’t want to clutter up your bookmarks with websites that you only intend to visit once. Fortunately, Chrome synchronizes your recently viewed pages across all of your devices.

On your phone, open the website you’d like to browse on your headset.
While wearing the Daydream headset, open Google Chrome.
You should see the website listed as one of your recent pages. Use the touchpad on your controller to click the link you want to open.

That’s it! Now you can browse that website in virtual reality!

What say you?

What are your favorite websites to browse in VR? Let us know down below!

Google Daydream

• Daydream View review
• The ultimate guide to Daydream
• These phones support Daydream VR
• Every Daydream app you can download
• Catch up with Daydream in the forums!

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Google Assistant can now pull up specific news topics

There’s a lot going on with the Google Assistant — let’s break down the important stuff.

In May 2016, we got our very first taste of the Google Assistant with the debut of Allo. The Assistant was a big draw to Allo at the time, with Google marketing it as a helpful bot that could make restaurant reservations, search the web, and more within your conversations.

Since then, the Assistant has gained heaps of new features and expanded to smartphones, tablets, speakers, and more. Google’s shown no interest in slowing down development for the Assistant, meaning that it’s likely here for the long-haul.

Whether this is your first encounter with it or you just need a quick refresher, here’s everything you need to know about the Google Assistant.

The latest Google Assistant news

August 9, 2018 — Deeper, more specific news coverage is now rolling out

Pretty much since the Assistant’s inception, you’ve been able to asy “Hey, Google, what’s the news?” to get a quick overview of all the big headlines for any given day.

Starting today and rolling out to users across the U.S., you can now ask the Assistant about news for specific topics, such as “What’s the latest on NASA?” or “What’s the news on the women’s national soccer team?”. Asking these questions on a Smart Display will pull up related YouTube videos while audio-only speakers such as Google Home will read out exceprts from news articles.

Additionally, this command is also be available for Android Auto, Android phones, and Asssitant-powered headphones like the Bose QC35 II.

August 3, 2018 — Google Home can now understand what room it’s in for contextual light controls

That title might make this not sound all that exciting, but this is actually pretty cool.

Up until now, asking your Google Home to “turn on the lights” or “tune off the lights” without specifying a certain room would result in every single connected light being turned on/off. However, a new update now allows the Google Home to only control the lights in the same room as it when this command is issued.

For example, if you have a Google Home assigned to the same room as the smart lights in your living room, asking that Google Home to turn on the lights will only activate the bulbs in the living room. You can still specify rooms with your voice, but this update should make these interactions a lot more natural.

Following numerous Redditors discovering this feature, Google confirmed to Android Police that this is indeed rolling out to users and will be making its way to everyone over the coming days.

All the important details

Google Now paved the way for Google Assistant

The Google Now page compared to the new Google Feed.

Before there was the Google Assistant, we had Google Now. Google Now was introduced to the world all the way back in 2012, offering contextual info through the Google Now page and helpful answers to random questions with an “OK Google” voice command.

A lot of what made Google Now so great can still be found in the Google Assistant today, with the exception of the Google Now page. The Google Now page used to be home to cards showcasing the weather, information on packages that had shipped from online orders, boarding passes, and more. It’s since been replaced by the Google Feed – a collection of news stories Google thinks you’ll be interested in – and it’s definitely the biggest departure between the two services.

The Google Assistant as a whole is still more powerful than Google Now ever was, but long-time Android users like myself are still mourning the loss of that Now page. RIP, old friend.

Read more: Google Now is being left to wither and die as Google Assistant takes the focus

It’s available on just about everything

In just a few short years, the Google Assistant’s gone from being exclusive to a now-failed chat app to being integrated into just about anything you can think of.

You’ll find Google Assistant built right into most Android phones, it’s the star of the show for the Google Home lineup, and it’s even making its way into sound bars.

Here’s the full list of devices with Google Assistant

Setting up the Google Assistant is as easy or complex as you want

When you set up a device for the first time that has the Assistant, getting started is pretty simple. Accessing it is just a voice command or tap away depending on what gadget you’re using, but if you want to really fine-tune your experience, Google’s got you covered.

Take a quick dive into your Assistant settings and you’ll find options for just about everything – including your weather preferences, changing the Assistant’s voice, retraining your voice model, picking out preferred news sources, and much more.

How to set up and customize Google Assistant

Google Assistant is available in multiple regions and languages

Of course, a smart voice assistant isn’t any good if you can’t actually use it. Fortunately, Google Assistant will be available in 52 countries —adding 38 countries this year — and 17 languages by the end of 2018.

More: Google Assistant will expand to 38 countries and 17 languages in 2018

Google Home’s the premier way to get the Assistant in your house (at least for now)

It’s great to have the Google Assistant on your phone, but if you want to truly experience just how helpful it can be, you’ll want to consider picking up a Google Home.

Google Home is Google’s line of smart speakers that put the Assistant on full-display, allowing you to control smart devices, ask random questions, set timers, play music, and more by just using your voice.

You can spend as little as $49 for the Google Home Mini, $129 for the original Google Home, or a whopping $399 for the Google Home Max.

However, as great as the Home series is, don’t forget that Smart Displays are just on the horizon.

Announced at CES 2018, Smart Displays are essentially smart speakers with the Google Assistant and a touch screen display that can show you helpful visuals when talking to them. It’s basically Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo Show and Echo Spot, and we can’t wait to see more from them.

Everything you need to know about Google’s Home speakers

Then again, is an always-listening speaker the right fit for your home?

However, the convenience of a Google Home (or any smart speaker for that matter) does come at the cost of privacy. Speakers like the Google Home are “always listening”, meaning they’re constantly on the lookout for a hot word to know when you’re talking to it (such as “Ok, Google” and “Hey, Google”).

This means the microphone on a Google Home is always active, but it’s not necessarily storing all the audio it hears when it doesn’t detect its hot word.

Most all speakers allow you to restore some privacy by being able to mute the microphone, but if you want to start asking the Assistant questions, you’ll need to unmute it first.

To learn more about these “always listening” speakers, I’ll pass the mic over to Jerry

Big upgrades are coming to the Assistant on Wear OS

Switching gears for a second, the Google Assistant on Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) is about to get a big upgrade.

In the near future, the Assistant on Wear OS will support Assistant Actions (basically apps for the Assistant) and give you the option to hear its responses through your watch’s speaker or a pair of connected Bluetooth headphones.

Along with this, Google will be adding something called “smart suggestions.” After asking the Assistant for the weather, for example, you’ll see little bubbles for “weather tonight”, “use celsius”, and more so you can continue the conversation with just the tap of your finger. Google Assistant on Android offers something similar, and it’s a great tool to have.

IFTTT supercharges the Assistant’s usefulness

IFTTT (If This Then That) is a powerful online tool that allows you trigger something (that) if a certain event (this) happens. You can connect IFTTT to the Google Assistant to create your own recipes using this formula, and it can allow for some incredibly helpful combinations.

Some of our favorite uses for IFTTT and the Assistant include adding contacts to your Google account, setting your Google Calendar status to Busy for a certain period of time, and much, much more.

Getting started with IFTTT can take some time and patience if you’re new to it, but once you’re all set up and ready to go, it can prove to be a lifesaver.

How to connect Google Home and IFTTT to do amazing things with your connected tech

You’ll get the same experience no matter what devices you use

With so many devices capable of running the Assistant, it’d be easy to think that the experience you get on one gadget would be different from another. This is something that Google struggled with for a while at first, but we’re finally in a position where the Assistant experience you get on a smart speaker, for example, is the same you’ll get on your phone.

There are a handful of features here and there that still create for some discrepency, but for the most part, the Assistant you use on your Pixel 2 is the same one found on Google Home.

Google Home and Google Assistant finally offer the same experience

Google Duplex is actually going to be a thing

Google showed off Duplex — Google Assistant making natural-sounding phone calls on your behalf — at I/O 2018, but quickly noted that it was just an experiment. Flash forward a couple months, and Google announced that certain users have started testing Duplex, and a public release will be here in the next few months. Before you know it, Google Assistant will be able to book hotels, dinner reservations, hair appointments and more without you lifting a finger.

More: What is Google Duplex?

Updated July 2018: Added the Google Duplex and language support sections, as well as links to recent Assistant news.

New gameplay footage for Red Dead Redemption 2 gives our deepest look yet

The wild west has never looked this good.

Yes, it’s finally happening my fellow outlaws. Red Dead Redemption II is real and it’s coming to PlayStation 4 this year. After Rockstar Games’ massively successful open-world cowboy game set during the death of the Wild West, fans began clamoring for a follow-up that continued the story of the Marston family or embraced a new gunslinger.

After years of rumors and silence on Rockstar’s end, they finally surprised the world on one random morning in 2016 by announcing a sequel to their critically acclaimed western. It took over a year to get any actual concrete details regarding the game and frankly, it’s still a bit of a mystery but it sounds like it could be a mix of a story of a new outlaw and also fill in a massive gap in John Marston’s story.

See at Amazon

What’s new with Red Dead Redemption 2?

Rockstar Games has been quiet lately regarding the highly-anticipated sequel, but with Red Dead Redemption 2’s imminent launch approaching in just a few short months, the studio is starting to discuss the game some more. We’ll keep you up to date with everything you need to know as it’s released.

August 10, 2018 — New Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay has arrived!

Rockstar today released new gameplay footage for Red Dead Redemption 2, giving us our deepest look at the wild west open world game yet. The 6-minute trailer showed us a great deal of the gameplay mechanics, a bit of the world, and more.

For starters, we got to see the sheer scope of the open world. Red Dead Redemption 2 will be massive in size, and there will be a variety of environments to explore both on foot and on horseback. From mountainous terrain and forested countrysides to those growing towns chock full of saloon-goers and merchants, it appears players will be able to take in the full breadth of the cowboy experience.

Rockstar says it was important for the game to be massive not just in size, but also in depth. That means the player — taking the reigns as Van Der Linde gang member Arthur Morgan — will have a living, breathing society around him to interact with.

Red Dead 2 may set a new standard for open-world gameplay.

You can go into shops and sell the pelts you’ve skinned off the back of your latest game hunting prey. And if you get caught trying to steal or shortchange the shop vendor, well, don’t be surprised if you have to knock him out in the street. That the townspeople gathered around to watch the confrontation as it went down is a testament to the emphasis Rockstar is placing on immersion.

That sort of interaction can be coerced out of the game by your own will, too. You can interact with almost everyone and everything. Meet some passersby on the road with a quick greeting and be on your way, or question someone you think might be doing dirt in the city. These interactions seemingly have the potential to escalate into something more, whether that be a new opportunity for Arthur Morgan and Co. or more fisticuffs to keep people in their place. And yes, that also means you can defuse certain situations.

Should the fighting become so fierce that you resort to weapons, you’ll find a new combat system that makes the deed more fluid and fun. Hand-to-hand combat, especially, seems far more involved than the original game. As far as shooting is concerned, Dead Eye is back, and it’ll be cooler than ever to put bullets into the heads of six of your enemies simultaneously.

At the end of your daily musings, you’ll head back to camp to meet up with your gang. This is likely where you’ll be getting the bulk of your missions, but it’s also a chance for the player to get to know the other characters in the group. They’ll share stories and sing and dance with you as you eat, and you can also play various games to keep morale high. There’s a gameplay benefit to all this, as Rockstar says spending time with these people could unlock new secrets.

As a pillar of the gang, you’ll be tasked with helping keep them afloat by regularly replenishing food, water, and other supplies. We’re not sure what would happen should their morale get too low, but apparently that will play a part in how others in the gang approach you.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is slated for an October 26th release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Head to Amazon and pre-order yours today.

See at Amazon

August 8, 2018

Rockstar has announced that we will see new gameplay for Red Dead Redemption 2 on August 9. This should be our first significant look at gameplay since the game’s announcement. The trailer will air 11AM Eastern, and can be viewed on Rockstar’s website or YouTube channel. We’ll be updating this post with details about the gameplay announcement once it arrives.

August 6, 2018

The big question on everyone’s mind: When are we finally getting gameplay? All signs point to soon. Rockstar has recently sent out Red Dead 2 care packages to members of the press, and with Gamescom taking place in just a few weeks, the developer could be gearing up for a big reveal. Red Dead II was notably absent at E3 2018, so the next biggest gaming convention seems like a good bet for it to make an appearance.

During a recent financial call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick took the chance to hype up Red Dead 2 even more, saying, “My belief is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will shatter expectations and that the online experience also will be extraordinary, but unexpected.”

Its online aspect was a bit contentious when rumors of its existence began floating around since Red Dead’s identity was tied to its single-player, but it looks like Rockstar may have something special they’ve got cooking up if they’re hyping it up so much.

He continued by saying that Red Dead II will “redefine the industry” and “captivate audiences around the world.”

PC release?

Though Rockstar only announced PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game, there’s still hope it could come to PC. It appears that a programmer at Rockstar, who previously worked on GTA V and L.A. Noire, listed Red Dead II on his LinkedIn profile with its platforms being labelled as “PS4/Xbox1/PC.” This was eventually amended once word got out, but it’s unknown if this was a simple mistake or a PC version is indeed in the works.

The story so far…

Rockstar Games appears to be returning to the traditional one playable character route after successfully experimenting with three playable protagonists in Grand Theft Auto V but he’s not John or Jack Marston. Players will travel back to 1899 (12 years before the first game) to fill the boots and don the hat of a much less noble man that goes by the name of Arthur Morgan, a brute that’s running with Dutch van der Linde’s gang during their prime. While little is known about Arthur, we know he’s a much more sinister cowboy who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. In the second trailer, we see him interrogating and roughing up several people who appear to owe money to Dutch’s Gang, perhaps for protection. He’s a brutal force that is loyal to Dutch and likely only Dutch.

It’s likely we’re going to see the rise and fall of the gang, with Arthur Morgan playing a pivotal role.

The story will see Morgan and Van der Linde’s gang stealing, running, and fighting to survive the rugged and cruel world that is the Wild West. Order has not yet been established, technology is slowly beginning to evolve into something far more advanced, and people like Dutch believe it’s important that things stay the way they are. The Van der Linde gang was always viewed as a Robin Hood-type of bandits, stealing from the rich to give to the poor and resisting the government in favor of a structure where it was an “every man for himself” situation.

The gang eventually evolved into something far more dangerous and unhinged according to an anecdote provided by John Marston, leading him to realize their Robin Hood act was all a front for their evil actions and crimes. The event that likely leads to the start of the downfall of the gang seems to be a heist in Blackwater which later became known as the Blackwater Massacre. In the plot synopsis for the game provided by Rockstar, it’s revealed that the gang is being hunted after they botch a robbery in the wealthy town that is seen toward the end of the first RDR.

Within the lore of the series, the Blackwater Massacre was a massive shootout that took the lives of over 30 people. Civilians, cops, and criminals were among the casualties of the bloody shootout, actual details of why the battle took place remain a mystery to the residents of Blackwater because the officials went to great lengths to cover it up. Why? Well, we’ll likely find out in Red Dead II.

Most people involved died or were criminals who escaped but one of the few survivors was the legendary lawman, Landon Ricketts. Ricketts is in the first game and Marston teams up with him in Mexico, Marston knows him for his status but the two don’t seem to know each other. It’s entirely possible that Marston was uninvolved in the heist or was playing coy and using him to further his quest for redemption.

How does it connect to the original Red Dead Redemption?

So, what’s the connection to the first Red Dead Redemption? Well, Rockstar is being very, very careful not to say much about this game and how it connects to the first game but it will shed light on the stories John told in the first game as well as provide more depth to the men we hunt down in that same game.

John Marston is indeed in the game but Rockstar has noted that this is Arthur Morgan’s story, not John’s.

Given this game takes place long before the events of the original game and has a direct link to it via Dutch van der Linde and his gang, it’s hard to imagine Rockstar isn’t trying to expand John Marston’s story in some way. With games like Grand Theft Auto, there have been very subtle connections tying the games together but none of them are direct sequels or relate to each other in any way. With Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar had the chance to name the game something like Red Dead Revolution, Red Dead Retribution, or something along those lines given that the series so far has gone Red Dead Revolver and then Red Dead Redemption. They purposely named it in a way that links the two games.

Marston was also a substantial part of Dutch’s Gang, he was taken in by Dutch when he ran away from the orphanage he lived in. He was raised by this gang and lived with them for a large majority of his life and in the fallout of him abandoning the gang, it all went to hell and it was more or less disbanded. John Marston is indeed the game, he’s heavily featured in new screenshots and is seen in the newest trailer once or twice but Rockstar says this is Arthur’s story, not John’s. That doesn’t mean that we can’t expand on the character, it just means he will not be the focal point of the narrative.

Major gameplay innovations are coming in the western sequel

Since Rockstar has been pretty prude about Red Dead Redemption II, we only have the word of the press who have seen the game in action to understand how the game plays. There will be more details in the future regarding what the gameplay will look like but for right now we’ll just give you the basic rundown of what we know. For starters, Rockstar seems to be creating their most realisitic world yet and abandoning some of the most video game-y aspects in their formula for something with more depth.

According to Rockstar, they’ve been developing Red Dead Redemption II for eight years, starting as they were wrapping up the first game. In that time, they’ve been handcrafting a world with lots of detail and creating systems that may be fairly unexpected from them. A large portion of the game is centered around managing the gang, Arthur is Dutch’s right-hand man and he helps keep everything running smoothly. This means you’ll help perform odd jobs for gang members, go hunting to get food for the camp or get money to line their pockets with, and so on.

Rockstar has been very clear that you don’t have to do this and you won’t be severely punished if you don’t but the gang will make comments if you leave them hanging for days on end. If you do choose to take care of your gang, you’ll be rewarded in ways that have not yet been revealed and your gang will grow stronger.

Also on tap is a new dialog system that allows you to approach situations with more options than just shoot and kill. Each NPC has their own set of branching dialog, with the player able to talk niceties or show a degree of impatience in any given encounter. And this isn’t just a black and white morality system either. Some choices will be gray areas, some will be lore-advancing, some will lead to friendships, and others will most certainly erupt into bloodbaths. It’s unclear if there will be any more to this system – such as a relationship mechanic that gauges each NPC’s level of warmth toward you – but it’s something.

If you do choose to go off and do things like hunting, you’ll be able to see the amount of depth that Rockstar has added to its hunting system since the original game and Grand Theft Auto V. You’ll find yourself stalking animals, choosing your weapon carefully so you don’t damage pelts/meat, and tracking an animal by following blood trails after you’ve hit it. Once you’ve tracked the animal down, you may find it still alive, bleeding out and yelping. Arthur will then take out his knife and stab the animal in the heart to end its suffering and take what you want from it.

You can then string up your kill on the back of your horse and take it back to camp to feed your people or sell it in town and take the money for yourself. Regardless of what you choose, your hunt will rot and decay over time so the longer you have it on the back of your horse (yes, it’s literally on your horse, not in an invisible pouch), the less valuable it’ll be. If you were to kill an animal (or even a person) behind and let it sit in the wild, vultures, coyotes, and other creatures would come and munch on the remains.

It looks as if Rockstar will be carrying over the heists from GTA V as we see Arthur Morgan robbing a bank and holding up a train in the second trailer. It’s unclear how much of a focal point these will be in the game since it was the core of GTA V’s campaign but one has to imagine it plays a similar role given you’re a gang of notorious western criminals.

We do know there will be some depth to those heists, though. Players can go loud or quiet, create distractions, choose who you bring with you (some can be done solo but isn’t recommended), and use a bunch of other different variables to create different outcomes throughout the heists. All of this will result on if and when law enforcement shows up amongst other things. It’s unclear if you can have gang members die or get critically wounded in these heists like in Grand Theft Auto V or just how dynamic these systems are. Grand Theft Auto V’s heists were heavily scripted, if you chose a certain crew member to come with, they’d always die on the same mission in the same spot because it was coordinated by Rockstar’s writing. It was more of the illusion of choices having consequences rather than them actually having any meaning at all.

Some major changes are also coming in combat with the ability to dual wield weapons like Max Payne, bows and arrows used for hunting and maybe even some stealth combat as we see Arthur Morgan taking a knife to someone’s back in the dead of night. We also see Arthur brutally beating people up in the third trailer, suggesting Rockstar has refined their melee combat to create more intense and fun brawls.

A cowboy’s best friend

A cowboy’s best friend isn’t his fellow outlaws/lawmen, it’s his horse. In the original Red Dead Redemption, your horse was almost supernatural in the sense it teleported to you and was basically immortal. You didn’t have much of a connection to it because outside of its speed and stamina, there was nothing too special about the horses. In Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar plans on changing that.

Your horse in the sequel will be very special. Perhaps the most significant change from the first game or any Rockstar game for that matter is that you won’t be able to carry every single weapon with you. The joke of pulling an RPG out of your rear end in GTA wouldn’t apply in this game as you’ll only be carrying small weapons such as handguns on your person, rifles and other gear will travel via your horse. We’re not sure if you can sling at least one rifle over your shoulder while walking around but you can expect most of your guns to be unavailable if your horse isn’t nearby.

Your horse won’t be disposable in this game, it’ll mean a lot more to you because it has lots of value. You’ll grow a bond that effects how scared it gets when put in danger, how far it gets from you, and more. Rockstar hopes that this bond won’t just serve a gameplay effect but a personal and emotional one to. If your horse gets critically wounded, you can attempt to heal it with medical supplies, if you don’t have any you can try and run into town quickly and gather some and run back. You may come back to your horse dead, making you realize that you left that poor animal that loved you to die thinking you abandoned it in its final moments. Brutal stuff, I know. Should it die, you’ll have to start that bond all over with a new horse and presumably any gear you can’t carry off of that horse’s corpse is lost.

It adds a whole new layer to an aspect that’s iconic to westerns but doesn’t have a lot of attention paid to it.

When you can play it and when we’ll know more

The only questions remaining are when we can play the game and when we can expect more firm details from Rockstar. The game is currently scheduled to release on October 26th, 2018 for PlayStation 4 as well as Xbox One, and we can likely expect some news regarding the game in June or July via a Game Informer cover story or a new breakdown directly from Rockstar. As of right now, we’ll just have to hold our breaths and keep waiting to saddle up again.

Where to buy Red Dead Redemption 2

You can now pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 ahead of its October 27th release date. You’re in for some nice goodies if you decide to give Rockstar your cash early. All pre-orders for Red Dead Redemption 2 come with the War Horse mount and the Outlaw Survival Kit. The former is a grey-colored steed that has better courage and stamina than others, while the Outlaw Survival Kit gives you extra health kits, Dead Eye replenishment, and more.

If you pre-order the digital copy on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, you’ll also get some extra in-game cash to start your game, as well as a treasure map, though you’ll need to pre-order the game by July 31st to get those.

There’s also a special edition of the game available. It comes with 2 extra side missions, a black thoroughbred horse, gameplay bonuses through medllian and talisman charms, in-game cash bonuses, gameplay boosts, and discounts, a gunslinger outfit, and three additional weapons. You’ll also get a real map of the game world.

If that’s not enough, the Ultimate Edition comes with everything that the Deluxe Edition does, but you can add two more in-game outfits, another black thoroughbred with an exclusive saddle, a Survivor camp theme for the game’s online mode, three additional free weapons, and XP bonuses for online play up to rank 25.

As an added bonus for Grand Theft Auto 5 players, all digital pre-orders also come with in-game currency for GTA Online. Standard Edition gets $500,000, Special Edition gets $1,000,000, and Ultimate Edition gets $2,000,000.

Then there’s the big kahuna reserved for the most die-hard Red Dead fans. It’s a full-blown Collector’s Box, a red-tinted metal tithing box with a lock and key that comes with an assortment of real world goodies. There’s a collectible coin, a double-sized puzzle, a red bandana, a treasure map, a pin set, commemorative playing cards, a real 150-page Wheeler, Rawson and Co. catalogue, and 12 collectible cigarette cards.

You can pre-order your preferred digital edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 at the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, or direct from the Rockstar Warehouse. Those opting for the Collector’s Box, however, can only get it through the Rockstar Warehouse.

Wanting to catch up and play through the original Red Dead Redemption before the sequel drops? You can find the Game of the Year Edition for $20 at Amazon

See at Amazon

Updated August 2018: New gameplay footage is out! We’ve added the trailer, as well as detailed it for those who can’t watch.

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

This could be Palm’s first-ever Android phone

The Palm Pepito will be sold exclusively on Verizon in the U.S. for an unknown price.

After bringing back the BlackBerry brand to much success, TCL confirmed earlier this year that it also has plans to release a Palm-branded Android phone at some point in 2018. Now, thanks to a new report from Android Police, we have our very first glimpse as to what that device will look like.

Currently codenamed as the Palm Pepito, the phone is reported to have a minuscule 3.3-inch display with a resolution of just 720p on an LCD panel. The battery is also rather petite at just 800 mAh.

Other rumored specs include a Snapdragon 435 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and Android 8.1 Oreo.

Like we previously heard, the Palm Pepito is expected to launch on Verizon when it comes to the U.S., and at this time, there’s still no word if it’ll be available on other carriers or unlocked in any form.

All those specifics aside, though, can we just take a minute to agree that the Pepito is adorable? Small phones are a rarity in 2018, and as such, the Pepito looks like nothing else that’s currently on the market. Die-hard Palm fans might think otherwise as this is a completely different form factor compared to handsets like the Palm Pre and Pixie, but as a Pre owner myself, I’m still excited to see what TCL has to offer.

What’s your take on Pepito?

BlackBerry KEY2 review: Just my type

Spotify CEO explains what the company’s new Samsung partnership means

Deeper Bixby integration, ease of use across multiple devices, and more are on the way.

After its announcements for the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Watch, and Galaxy Home during its Unpacked event in NYC, Samsung brought Spotify CEO Daniel Ek on-stage to talk about a new partnership between the two companies. Samsung says that Spotify is now its go-to music streaming partner and is working with the company to bring a more seamless listening experience to its customers, but what does that actually mean?

Shortly after the event, Ek highlighted some of the user-facing changes that are on their way as part of the new deal via a blog post.

When asked “What can users look forward to right away?”, Ek said:

Users can get excited about Spotify becoming part of the set-up experience on a Samsung device from the very beginning. For example, when someone buys a phone, the user can easily discover the Spotify app on Samsung Smart Switch. And soon, Samsung Smart TV users will be able to play Spotify through the SmartThings app.

Galaxy smartphone owners that still use Bixby will also get deeper Spotify integration, and soon, Spotify will be the “only music service to be fully integrated with Samsung Music.” Even if you’ve never listened to Spotify before, Bixby will still pull songs from it if you ask the assistant to play some music.

As for making the Spotify listening experience more seamless across multiple Samsung devices, Ek said:

When you buy a new Samsung phone and use the SmartThings app to set up your Samsung Smart TV or Galaxy Home, you will be prompted to link your Spotify account. So right from the beginning, you’ll have that collaboration. It only takes a few simple steps.

Furthermore, “when a user enters Wi-Fi while listening to music on mobile with the Spotify app, they’ll be able to move playback from the lock screen, instead of having to go back in the Spotify app.”

Daniel Ek also notes that this is “just the start of things to come”, suggesting that we’ll see even more Spotify integrations with future Samsung products down the road.

Samsung’s first Bixby smart speaker is the Galaxy Home

Samsung Galaxy Watch hands-on preview: Another Gear in all but name

The ‘Gear’ may be gone, but these are very much the same watches we know.

Samsung’s wearable strategy has settled into a groove the past few generations, with each smartwatch offering the same basic story: a circular display with a rotating bezel that runs Samsung’s own operating system and has tons of features for health and fitness tracking. The new Galaxy Watch may have a different name, dropping “Gear” altogether, but it’s primarily more of the same.

The last Samsung smartwatch, the Gear Sport, came out just 10 months ago — and as such, the new Galaxy Watch doesn’t have many differentiating features or specs. The main differentiation with this release is the “same” watch is available in two sizes, unifying the lineup a bit whereas the Gear S3 Frontier and Gear Sport were staggered releases with only a single size each.

The Galaxy Watch’s larger version is a 46 mm case, sporting a 1.3-inch display like the Gear S3 line. The smaller version is 42 mm, with a 1.2-inch display, like the Gear Sport. Both displays are 360×360 resolution, just like the last few generations of Samsung smartwatches — that means they’ll look good, and in my time they reminded me exactly of the experience I had using the Gear Sport and Gear S3.

This is effectively a Gear S3 and Gear Sport refreshed for 2018 under a new name.

The larger model has a really large battery at 470mAh, a big upgrade from the Gear S3’s 380mAh. The smaller model is just 270mAh, though, smaller than the Gear Sport’s 300mAh. With that 470mAh it’s not surprising Samsung can claim “several days” of use, as the Gear S3 was already a 2-4 day watch depending on how you used it. I assume the 42 mm Galaxy Watch will be more like the current lineup’s battery life, but Samsung’s talking a big game about longevity with a new processor that’s focused on efficiency.

The new Galaxy Watches look and feel very similar to the Gear S3 Frontier and Gear Sport, and the dimensions bare that out. My first take when picking up the new models was that they felt lighter, but they actually aren’t — this very well could’ve been the simple thin bands the demo units had on them. And to that point, you can still replace these bands with any standard watch band, which gives you customizability and upgrade options in the future.

Just like the current Samsung smartwatch crop, the new Galaxy Watch has a nice-looking shiny metal exterior that catches your eye with a contrasting texture or color (depending on the version) for its rotating bezel. The back still throws me off a little bit because it’s very cheap-feeling plastic, but that’s what’s required to be able to let the radios get out of this thing.

Samsung’s software and rotating bezel are still great for a smartwatch.

Samsung’s choice to stick with the rotating bezel interface is extremely smart, because it just feels so intuitive to grab that gnurled edge and turn it to move through the interface. The best part about it, just like using a rotating side button on Wear OS, is that you can navigate without obscuring the interface with your big finger — which is extremely important on a watch with just a 1.2-inch display. The two side buts are useful escape hatches for getting back a level or moving directly home to the watch face, and it doesn’t take much time to figure them out.

Unlike the rumors pointed to, the Galaxy Watch has Samsung’s custom-built Tizen Wearable Platform still, now updated to version 4.0. In my time scrolling through the interface Samsung doesn’t seem to have made any changes to the core design paradigm, but has simply refreshed the iconography and colors a bit. This is still a primarily black-and-white base with icons taking over the bulk of the colors and brightness. The default set of watch faces look great, so much so that I doubt most people will bother going into the Galaxy Apps store to download something new.

Samsung didn’t make any huge changes to the experience here because it really didn’t have to. Outside of offering two different sizes, changing the battery life story and unifying under a new brand name, the new Galaxy Watch doesn’t really do anything that the combination of the “old” Gear S3 and Gear Sport did. But Samsung wasn’t going to just keep selling devices as they get to be a year, and two years, old — they needed a refresh.

Right now, people will probably prefer to save $50-75 and get a Gear Sport or Gear S3.

If the history of Samsung’s smartwatches continues to play out and you can get a Gear S3 and Gear Sport for months after these new Galaxy Watches come out, there’s a good chance people will keep picking up those old models at steep discounts. The new Galaxy Watch comes in at $329 and $349 for the two sizes, which is quite expensive when the Gear Sport is under $250 and the Gear S3 Frontier is under $300 now with effectively the same specs, features and experience.

The U.S. carriers are likely to make a push with these watches when the LTE versions launch, offering them up at steep discounts when you sign up for a data plan or monthly financing. But for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-only models, these aren’t likely to flip the script from the slow-and-steady sales from the last generations they so faithfully follow.