Nikon D3400 review – CNET

The D3400’s body looks almost unchanged since the D3100, which was three generations ago.

Nikon

The Nikon D3300 has long been my go-to recommendation for a cheap dSLR, but after 2 years it’s usually time to slap a new coat of paint on consumer products. Nikon’s 2016 update to that camera, the D3400, has some small enhancements to bring it up to date, but nothing vital.

Along with the camera, Nikon has announced new kit lenses to accompany it. The 18-55mm versions of its new AF-P lenses — they incorporate stepper motors like Canon’s STM lenses for smoother and quieter focus in LCD-based Live View — were announced in January and have been available in Europe and Australia, but they’re finally making their US debut. Additionally, the company revealed another pair of 70-300mm AF-P lenses.

There are two versions of each of the two zooms, one with optical image stabilization (Nikon’s Vibration Reduction, or VR) and one without; the names differ solely by the “VR” designation and $50 (a more significant £60 in the UK and as-yet unknown price in Australia). This is going to get really confusing for shoppers, who will, I bet, inadvertently end up buying the wrong kit.

The AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G VR is $250 (£230, AU$200) while the non-VR version is $200 (£170; I don’t see this version of the lens in Australia), and the AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5- 6.3G ED VR costs $400 (directly converted £307, AU$520), $350 (approximately £270, AU$455) for the nonstabilized one.

Nikon’s initially offering two kits of the D3400, one with the 18-55mm VR lens for $650. The other option is a dual-lens kit with the VR version of the 18-55mm lens but the non-VR version of the 70-300mm. While that’s a silly configuration — stabilization on the lens where you don’t need it and no stabilization on the one where you do — it allows Nikon to hit its just-under-$1,000 price of…$999.95. I don’t have overseas information yet, but those convert to approximately £500, AU$845 for the first kit and £770, AU$1,300 for the dual-lens kit.

What’s new

• Sensor update. Though it’s the same resolution as the D3300, the new sensor follows Nikon’s trend of removing the low-pass filter (also known as the antialiasing filter) to deliver sharper photos. In fact, along with the update to the company’s Expeed 4 imaging engine, it looks an awful lot like the imaging system that’s in the D5300. It gives the camera a better noise profile, extended into what were the expanded regions on the D3300.
• Wireless support. No Wi-Fi here; Nikon’s betting on Bluetooth to maintain a persistent low-power connection between the camera and your mobile device. That’s fine given how lame the company’s SnapBridge app is. Hopefully there’ll be an iPhone/iPad
  -compatible app by the time the camera ships, because there still isn’t at the moment.
• Improved battery life. The D3400’s extends to 1,200 shots from 700, despite using the same battery.

My take

Like Canon, Nikon is now in a position where its older, better cameras (in Nikon’s case the D5300 from 2013) are cheaper than their cheap dSLRs — which, by the way, also have old technology, but a 2016 date on them. The D5300 has better autofocus and metering systems, an articulated LCD and Wi-Fi. The Canon EOS Rebel T6/EOS 1300D is cheaper, but the D3400 has better hardware, so its real Canon competition is the old EOS Rebel T5i/700D, which, like the D5300, has better specs for the same price. Still, unless Nikon broke something, it should carry on the D3300’s torch as a solid first dSLR.

Comparative specifications

Mafia III review – CNET

The Good Mafia III is incredibly stylish, with great acting, soundtrack and setting. Its brand of action and gun play is as entertaining as it is brutal. The first 90 minutes of the game are great.

The Bad It suffers from a serious lack of diversity in mission types. It’s occasionally glitchy and it becomes tired and repetitive.

The Bottom Line The action and chaos of New Bordeaux kicks off with a bang, but in the end Mafia III reverts back to a very familiar open-world game that never picks up enough momentum.

It’s been six years since we last saw a Mafia game. Mafia III, pitched as a gritty revenge tale by California-based developer Hangar 13, follows the story of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam veteran who returns from the war to find his hometown of New Bordeaux being run by mobsters.

In what’s truly a powerful opening 90 minutes, Mafia III sets the stage for a terrific story filled with violence and vindication, but what plays out is far more pedestrian, a real anticlimax. The game absolutely nails it in the soundtrack and atmosphere — New Bordeaux is a solid doppleganger of New Orleans — but it fails to explore much beyond the traditional trappings of tired open-world action and driving games like Grand Theft Auto.

Hangar 13

Mafia III’s brand of action includes brutal gun play, stealth and of course, city driving. But just four hours into it, I knew exactly what I was getting. The game’s biggest problem is that things just aren’t as varied as other open-world crime games out there. Very quickly, it turns into a snake eating its own tail, failing to provide enough variety to build significant momentum.

It’s easy to draw comparisons to Grand Theft Auto V — and I’d even argue the shooting action is better in Mafia III — but GTA’s wealth of diverse missions is sadly missing here.

Anki Cozmo Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

It wakes up and blinks its eyes. It crawls over on its cute caterpillar-tread wheels. The blue LED display looks like it’s looking at me. The head lifts, and it pauses, blinks and then seems excited.

“Scott,” it says. It knows me. Sort of.

The Anki Cozmo doesn’t say anything else, just musical beeps and blips. It’s a robot toy available for the holidays, and also a project of sorts. According to Anki, the company making the Cozmo, it’s an animated character brought to life in a robot. I’d describe it best as a semi-aware robot with a budding personality. And what’s most fascinating to me is I’m falling for its cuteness…and so are my kids.

Unlike some other STEM-friendly robot kits, the Cozmo isn’t a thing you build or program (yet). It’s more of an AI work in progress and a demonstration of personality. And it’s definitely a toy you can play games with. I tried one out for a week. I don’t know if I’d run out and buy one, but it has serious charm.

The Cozmo’s face is an expressive little LED screen, like a computer monitor.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Phone-connected robot

The Cozmo has some surprising tricks that seem impossible for a thing its size, and that’s because it’s using a Wi-Fi connection to a phone to aid its computer vision (object-recognizing camera) and behavior. The phone acts as a processor for the robot, but no internet connection is needed. The Cozmo won’t work, however, unless it’s paired to a phone. It’s a definite phone “app-cessory” toy, more than a true stand-alone robot. Once it’s paired, the Cozmo runs for about an hour before needing to recharge and snooze on its cradle.

Three cubes that come included are connected to the Cozmo and covered in readable codes. They blink in multiple colors, too. The Cozmo can find, stack, topple and play with the cubes, and a few games use them. One, a pattern-matching reflex contest, pits people against the Cozmo to tap a block if the colored lights match. At first, I beat it easily. Later on, I realized it was toying with me.

Unlocking some skills in the Cozmo app while it sleeps in its charging dock.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Another game involves bringing a block up to the Cozmo, teasing it and waiting for it to pounce, then trying to pull the block away before it can tap it.

The Cozmo mainly drives around, avoids objects, looks for its cubes (or, people it recognizes via its camera), and sometimes pings people via the app that it wants to play a game. Every day the Cozmo app has challenges to accomplish, earning points that unlock other tricks and future features.

It likes lifting its little blocks.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Independently minded for the moment

The Cozmo feels like Pixar’s Wall-E, or any of the robot creatures Wall-E encountered. It’s like a speedy mini-forklift, with BB-8’s quirky mood shifts. And the version I tried, with a prerelease build of its app software, had plenty of quirks. Sometimes it disconnected from my phone; other times, it didn’t do the block-lifting or toppling tricks I asked it to do.

The future could lie in programming. Anki is opening up the Cozmo to Python programmers via an SDK later this year, and from there the company has plans to offer child-friendly block-based programming, much like Sphero and other robot kits offer. You can’t program the Cozmo to do things right now, which sometimes feels frustrating. But you can unlock a remote-control mode, where the phone can drive the Cozmo around and see out of its camera-eyes. In fact, when I tilted the Cozmo’s head up at me, I saw it draw a square around my face…and above it, it said “SCOTT.”

It has some tricks that make it feel like a perky cat: it can follow motion and pounce on my fingers with its lifter arms, gently. Anki decided on a smaller size for the Cozmo because it can move faster, and also be less dangerous when it makes sudden moves.

The Cozmo recognizes me, thanks to facial recognition in its built-in camera.

Sarah Tew/CNET

A future of robots?

How far can the Cozmo go towards being a true AI companion? Could I have a conversation with it someday? Right now it’s an expensive toy ($180, which is about £150 or AU$235) with aspirations of more. I need to see more features and skills before I’d buy one. But it’s the most expressive little robot critter I’ve ever played with, and that alone could be the accomplishment.

Larger robots, like Softbank’s Pepper, are working on similar challenges: how to be friendly versus creepy, “alive” versus mechanical, giving a sensation of personality via animation tricks and tools. The Cozmo feels like another step towards trying to decipher what it means to be a “social” robot.

Would I get my kid a Cozmo? I don’t think so, not yet. The Anki Overdrive, last year’s successful AI-powered car-racing kit, was a little easier to digest as a toy. The Cozmo is more complicated. I thought it would do more than it currently can. But on the other hand, it’s already pretty impressive for the few things it does.

2016 Ferrari 488 GTB review – Roadshow

Oct 2016

The Good Basically everything.

The Bad Certain driver niceties like adaptive cruise and Android Auto would round out the offerings.

The Bottom Line One of the best driving experiences on the planet.

When you have a car that’s as good as the Ferrari 458 was, it’s easy to imagine all the things that could go wrong in developing its successor. Just heaping on more power would be the natural inclination, but blindly adding more oomph is a great way to ruin an equation.

Forced induction also seems like an inevitable next step, but slapping a couple of turbos onto one of the sweetest V8s ever produced could just as likely end in disaster.

Ferrari’s 488 GTB has the looks to match…
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In other words, you’d be forgiven for expecting the 488 GTB, Ferrari’s 458 follow-up, to be something less than stellar. But, I’m very glad to report that is not the case. The 488 is everything you could want, nothing more, nothing less.

The formula

661 horses at your command.

Brandon Cheely

By and large, the 488 fits right in Ferrari’s middleweight supercar design template, with a mid-mounted V8 driving the rear wheels plus seating for two in a package wrapped in low-slung and aggressively styled bodywork. It’s a formula that’s worked for 40 years now, and the new GTB doesn’t break it.

But that’s not to say the 488 doesn’t change the variables. This time that V8 gets some help inhaling thanks to a pair of turbochargers, enabling the 3.9-liter engine to deliver 661 horsepower. That’s very nearly 100 more than the 458, a car that nobody in their right mind said was slow.

That bodywork has been significantly refined as well. Though the cars look very similar, the 488 has 50 percent more downforce than the old 458, despite having less aerodynamic drag. Ferrari’s designers used a series of tricks to pull that off, including ducting air from the massive fender vents through the rear of the car out between the rear tail-lights. An active rear diffuser that lowers at speed also helps keep things flowing.

And then there are the driving dynamics, all tied together by the most advanced electronics package this side of LaFerrari. That includes the latest Side Slip Control system, SSC2, tuned to more subtly intervene and keep you feeling like a professional while also keeping you out of the ditch. With this new version, SSC2 extends its reach into other systems in the car, able to tweak the electronic differential and the active dampers, meaning the GTB responds and adapts as a cohesive unit, helping you go faster.

Most importantly, you almost never feel it.

iFrogz Summit Wireless review – CNET

The Good The iFrogz Summit Wireless is lightweight, comfortable in-ear Bluetooth sports headphone that’s sweat resistant and delivers decent sound for its modest price point. It has a nifty magnetic clip system on the inline remote and has 10 hours of battery at moderate volumes. Included wings help create a secure fit.

The Bad Looks a little cheap up close; unclear how well the headphones will hold up over time.

The Bottom Line The iFrogz Summit Wireless may not be a steal at its modest price point, but it’s still a good value in wireless sports headphones.

Available at iFrogz

iFrogz (a division of accessory maker Zagg) has a new line of inexpensive Bluetooth headphones out for 2016 holiday season, and the Summit Wireless, a sports model that retails for $35 or £30, is probably my favorite of the bunch. (It doesn’t appear to be available in Australia, but the US price translates to about AU$47).

I can’t tell you that it sounds great, but it does sound pretty good for the money, and — just as importantly — fits comfortably and securely and comes with a few different silicon tips and wings that help lock the buds in place while you’re doing some sort of athletic activity or just walking around. (This is a noise-isolating in-ear headphone, so it will muffle ambient noise if you get a tight seal, and may present a safety problem if you’re a runner and want to hear oncoming traffic).

What you get in the box (the headphone comes in black or red at launch).

Sarah Tew/CNET

I also like the headphone’s signature design feature. On the inline remote — iFrogz calls it a “wireless hub” — there’s a magnetic clasp that allows you to clip the headphone to your shirt. You can also wrap the cord around the remote, which houses the battery, microphone, and all the electronics, and keep everything in place with the clasp.

Battery life is rated at 10 hours at moderate volume levels and the headphone is sweat resistant, though it’s far from waterproof, with only IPX2 certification (iPX5 would be preferable).

On Amazon, you’ll find plenty of low-cost generic wireless sports headphones available from brands like Mpow and TaoTronics. They cost anywhere from $20-$45. Some aren’t bad but they usually leave something to be desired in the design department.

Linksys WRT3200ACM MU-MIMO Gigabit Wi-Fi Router Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Linksys WRT3200ACM MU-MIMO Gigabit Wi-Fi Router is the latest router in Belkin’s WRT series, and not surprisingly, it looks exactly like the previous models. On the inside, however, it’s an entirely different beast. The new router now has a powerful 1.8Ghz dual-core processor, 256MB of Flash and 512MB of system memory — that’s compared to the 1.6Ghz, 128MB Flash and 512MB RAM of its predecessor.

It also supports the latest Tri-band 160 technology, which means that on paper, it’s twice as fast (up t0 2,600Mbps) as normal routers at close range. Here’s the problem though: you will not see this level of performance in real life. This is because there are no Tri-band 160 clients (laptops, phones, etc.) currently on the market — and there won’t likely be any anytime soon.

The truth is, there aren’t currently any laptops or phones that support Wi-Fi speeds faster than 877Mbs, because that’s already really fast. And like all powerful routers, the WRT3200ACM is only as fast as the clients connected to it. That means, when working as intended, the WRT3200ACM will not improve your network speed over previous WRT models, or even most AC1900 routers, for that matter.

And speaking of intent, I’m sure Linksys didn’t plan for the WRT3200ACM to be as buggy as it was in my testing, but here we are. To be sure, most routers are pretty buggy when first released (especially Linksys WRT ones) and only smooth out once the firmware is updated weeks or months after launch.

In terms of raw speed, I was unimpressed. When connected to dual-band 80Mhz clients (again, there are no Tri-band 160 clients on the market) the router delivered a sustained speed topping out at around 550Mbps, about average compared with other high-end routers. Range was also about average, maxing out at about 150 feet after going through a few walls. Wi-Fi range depends heavily on the environment, the more walls, for example, the shorter the range gets, so your mileage may vary.

All things considered, like most high-end routers, the WRT3200ACM solves Wi-Fi problems that most users don’t have. Namely, the ever-increasing boosting of speed and power on the router side. On the other hand, it doesn’t really provide anything that would clearly improve your life in the real world like, say, exceptional range for a large home.

Obviously, it doesn’t hurt to have a powerful router, but with the WRT3200ACM, you definitely should wait until after one or two rounds of firmware updates before getting it. At $280, it’s a bit too expensive for a buggy router. You can also opt for the previous models, the WRT1900AC or WRT1900ACS. These ave been out for a while now, and have stable firmware and lower costs. And if you’re looking for the best routers to date, check out this list.

Ricoh Theta SC Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Ricoh’s Theta SC is a 360-degree camera for everyone.

Ricoh

Ricoh, despite already making one of the easiest to use 360-degree cameras, the $350 Theta S, has decided to simplify it more with the new Ricoh Theta SC.

The SC has much in common with the top-of-the-line Theta S. So much so, it’s easier for me to tell you what’s missing and then you can go check out CNET’s full review of the Theta S. According to a company representative I spoke with, Ricoh basically dropped two features for the SC, based on consumer research. First, the SC has a continuous recording time of 5 minutes, compared to 25 minutes with the Theta S.

Second, Ricoh removed the Micro-HDMI port for the SC, and with it the camera’s ability to live stream. Frankly, though nice to have, using the Theta S for live streaming is sort of a pain. It’s understandable that feature got the ax in exchange for a lower price.

One more minor difference: Instead of the soft-touch exterior of the Theta S, the SC is resin. It still comes in multiple colors, though: white, beige, blue and pink.

Ricoh updated its Theta S iOS and Android apps for controlling the camera, too, mainly making the interface more intuitive for less tech-savvy users. (I mean, look how happy those people in the picture are to be using it!)

The Ricoh Theta SC is available in the US now for $300. UK and Australian details weren’t available, but that’s approximately AU$400 or £250.

Oculus Rift Earphones Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

What you hear is almost as important as what you see. Without audio, the illusion can’t hold.

That’s why every Oculus Rift virtual reality headset comes with a pair of cushy, built-in headphones that you can adjust to fit practically every skull. They’re good but not great, which is why Facebook’s new Oculus Rift Earphones, shipping this December, might get you excited.

When the company introduced the $49 (£49 or roughly AU$80 in Australia) buds last week at the Oculus Connect developer conference, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe claimed they sound as good or better than $900 earphones. “These sound as good as some of the highest-end earphones in the world,” he said.

Unfortunately, that just isn’t true. I’ve spent a few hours in VR with the Oculus Rift Earphones, and I honestly like my Oculus much better without them.

The Oculus Rift Earphones, attached to an Oculus Rift headset.

Sean Hollister/CNET

Clear but shrill

The first time you try a great pair of earbuds (here are some of our favorites) the clarity can blow you away. You hear things in your favorite songs you’ve never heard before — the edge of a whisper, individual background instruments, quiet notes you’ve always missed — because the extra isolation means they don’t need to compete (as much) with the sounds of the world around you.

That’s the main reason the Oculus Rift Earphones might feel like a step up from the ones that came with the headset. Even compared to my typical go-to headphones, the beloved Bose QC25 noise-canceling on-ear cans, the earbuds sounded clearer. They definitely kept me better insulated from the world than the stock earcups.

Installation is easy; just twist (with a coin, thumbnail, or the included tool) to remove the old earpieces and attach the new ones.

Sean Hollister/CNET

The Earphones have a decent amount of bass, too, enough for me to feel the sheer sound pressure in Dido’s “Here With Me,” as just one example. (Don’t judge.)

(Plus, they’re easy to install. Just a few twists with the included tool to remove each earpiece — you can also use a coin, or even a thumbnail — and a few more twists to put the new ones in place.)

But none of that mattered to me when it came to the highs, which were so shrill. I could barely stand electronic-heavy music, like Chvrches, when the edge of every note is like a little knife, one that got sharper the higher I raised the volume. I found a selection of pop that worked just fine, but even singer-songwriter fare like Vienna Teng was tough to listen to.

Playing Damaged Core, a game filled with screeching laser fire and robotic dialogue, I wanted to rip out the earbuds and play something else.

And the next time I picked up the headset, I noticed one of the freely dangling earbuds had decided to stick to the eyepieces of my Oculus Rift. (Apparently, the cables are just long enough.) Yuck.

That was it — I removed the earbuds for good. It was just as easy as putting them on.

Hopefully, the next time Facebook decides to create a new set of earpieces, they’ll be better in every way than the ones that come free in the box.

Full disclosure: My wife works for Facebook, owner of Oculus, as a business-to-business video coordinator.

ZTE ZMax Pro review – CNET

What if I told you there was a smartphone you could buy for under $100? You may be a little skeptical. Surely such a low cost device would come with some sacrifices, right? Wrong.

The ZTE ZMax Pro is a midrange Android smartphone with an impressive feature set. The $99 smartphone may come with a small price tag, but there’s nothing small about it. The phone features a 6-inch display with a pixel resolution of 1,920×1,080. It’s a massive device that can be quite difficult to operate with one hand.

ZTE’s big, blue and budget ZMax Pro
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The phone is equipped by an octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor, which felt speedy during my brief hands on, and is paired with 2GB of RAM. On the back you will find a 13-megapixel camera, while a 5-megapixel shooter sits on the front. The phone comes with 32GB of internal storage, but there’s also a microSD slot to add even more. To power this behemoth there’s a 3,400mAh nonremoveable battery to keep you going all day long.

The ZMax Pro has a 13-megapixel camera and a fingerprint reader on the back (but no NFC, sorry).

Sarah Tew/CNET

Aside from the price, what shocked me the most was the USB-C port for charging and a fingerprint scanner on the back, two features that are more commonly found on devices triple the price. ZTE had to make some sacrifices, though. The phone doesn’t include NFC and can’t be used with Android Pay.

The ZMax Pro will be available exclusively from MetroPCS for $99 on August 1. Preorders begin today.

Specs

• 6-inch display with a 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution
• Octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor
• 13-megapixel rear camera
• 5-megapixel front camera
• 2GB of RAM
• 32GB of storage
• MicroSD card slot
• 3,400 mAh battery
• Rear fingerprint sensor
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software
• USB Type-C