Should you buy Fortnite for PS4, or is the free version good enough?

Fortnite is the newest Battle Royale game, but it comes with more features that you have to pay for. Is the game worth the money?

Fortnite: Battle Royale has become a big hit this year on PlayStation 4, and most of the hype comes from it being free. However, Fortnite does have a paid version that is similar to the Battle Royale, but with entirely different gameplay.

Is the full version of Fortnite worth buying, or could it just be a waste of your money? Take a look!

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Battle Royale vs. Save the World

Battle Royale is a fun PvP game you get for free when you download Fortnite, and it’s become a big hit across many platforms. Whether you play by yourself, with another player, or with three other people, you have to go against 100 people to become the Victory Royale. It’s very similar to PUBG with its own little twist: building forts to protect yourself from other players.

If you’re looking for another online game where you can just run around and take people down, then you’ll love the Battle Royale version of this game. However, if you’re just looking for a fun PvE game, then Save the World is definitely for you.

Save the World, the paid version of Fortnite, puts you on a team with other players as you go through and kill the zombies that are terrorizing the survivors. You have to build forts to protect certain objects and people throughout the game, as well as craft your own guns and ammo. I also like that it gives you a back story to the Battle Royale version of the game, explaining the Storm and why it is there.

Basically, the paid version of the game gives you objectives and a story that can be fairly rewarding as you sink time into it. You’re also supporting the people who actually made the game by buying Save the World, but let’s be honest — the additional gameplay is the real hook here.

Is Fortnite: Save the World worth it?

Save the World is $40 so it’s a bit of a pricey game, and it’s still early access. There is room for improvement, but I believe the game is wonderful, especially taking into consideration that it’s not complete. If you’re looking for something that will be better than the Battle Royale mode, you won’t find it in this game, but it is just as good in my opinion.

The only downside I found to the Save the World mode is the fact that the controls are different than in Battle Royale. It’s strange to me that the controls are not universal, as they changed the way you can select materials or different guns. I find myself accidentally throwing a grenade when I just want to build a floor instead of a wall. It took some getting used to, and I hope it’s something they’ll fix when the game is fully released.

I’m glad I purchased it, because it is certainly a lot of fun, and it’s helped my performance in the Battle Royale mode quite a bit. It has a tutorial you can go through which can help when you’re building structures and trying to survive against other players. This game is definitely worth spending forty bucks on, and it can be just as fun to play alongside players as opposed to against them.

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It might be worth waiting

While Fortnite’s Save the World mode is great fun and would ordinarily be worth $40, the fact that Epic is planning to make that mode free upon the game’s full, official launch means it may be worth waiting. If you’re just curious about the mode in between rounds of Fortnite Battle Royale, we’d suggest waiting until the game goes free-to-play at some point later this year. If your interest goes a bit beyond curiosity, then, by all means, pay your ticket for a fresh take on the zombie defense genre.

Will you be purchasing Fortnite?

Let us know in the comments below if you will be getting your hands on Fortnite: Save the World!

Upated July 2018: We’ve clarified that Save the World will be free-to-play at some point down the line.

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How to use Samsung DeX from a regular USB-C hub

Don’t spend money you don’t have to.

While it may not be the main attraction of the Galaxy series, Samsung’s DeX is a great way to expand your phone onto a full desktop interface. These are still the same mobile apps you know and (hopefully) love, but on a bigger screen. That sounds awful on paper, but each app gets its own window, there’s a Windows-like desktop launcher you can fill with icons, and there’s a taskbar at the bottom just like full desktop operating systems.

But Dex comes with a price. You need to have a Galaxy flagship after the Galaxy S8, but the main barrier to entry is that you need one of Samsung’s DeX docks. That’s another $100 on top of the cost of the phone, so it’s something most users won’t bother with. Even I — a tryer of all things — didn’t feel like it was worth the money to try DeX.

Then one night, I plugged my Galaxy S8 into the same USB-C hub that I use with my Chromebook. I was too lazy to remove the USB-C power supply from the hub and plug the phone in that way, and my other USB-C power cords were in the other room — so they basically didn’t exist. I plugged the phone in, started making dinner, and lo and behold, DeX starting appearing on my monitor.

Which hubs can you use with DeX?

Thing is, I’m not sure why it worked on this hub and not others I’ve used in the past. I’m using ARKTEK’s USB-C hub that features two USB-A ports, but ARKTEK’s other hub with one USB-A port didn’t work. Nor did AUKEY’s USB-C hub.

One theory I had was that this hub passes more power to the phone than others. So, I plugged in a Satechi USB-C power meter to find out just how much juice was flowing. After a few minutes to let the phone and hub negotiate the charge, the charging rate setting around 4.8 volts at 1 amp. Or simply, 4.8 watts. That’s a tiny amount of power, and any USB-C hub should be able to pass that much since the hub will likely be used with laptops that draw more power.

The other theory is just how each dock handles HDMI video. There’s no way to measure this, it’s just something you have to try. Nothing bad will happen to your phone if you plug it into your USB-C hub, and even if it doesn’t work you’re only out a couple minutes of your time.

What’s next?

Samsung isn’t going to advertise which USB-C hubs will trigger DeX, since it still wants you to spend money for its dock. At least… for now. XDA states that Samsung may be looking to officially let DeX work with USB-C hubs with the Galaxy Note 9 release. If you don’t already have a USB-C hub — or your current hub doesn’t work with DeX — it’s not a bad idea to wait until the Note 9 announcement for Samsung to say something official. If DeX does work with your USB-C hub right now, no need to worry.

What are your thoughts?

Do you use DeX often? Let us know down below!

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Moto Z3 hands-on preview: A Verizon exclusive that adds a 5G flourish

It may look familiar, but this phone goes to 5G.

Motorola’s newest phone looks a lot like its other newest phone — and that’s no accident.

The Moto Z3 (no Force) is a Verizon-exclusive version of the Moto Z3 Play, and while it shares much the same spec sheet, there are a couple of upgrades — and one particular exclusive feature — that will keep it differentiated. Of course, it supports Moto Mods (more on that in a bit), but at its core, it’s a 2017-era smartphone from a specs perspective in a 2018 body.

That means a Snapdragon 835 instead of an 845, and 4GB of RAM instead of the increasingly common 6GB or 8GB. The 6-inch screen is the same AMOLED panel as on the Play, too, for better or worse, with a 2160×1080 pixel resolution, as is the 3,000mAh battery.

On the camera side, there’s a dual 12MP camera setup, with 4K video support. Both sensors are upgrades over the Play — the secondary sensor, in particular, is black and white, promising better low-light photos. Up front, there’s an 8MP selfie camera.

The phone’s design is a known quantity: covered with Gorilla Glass 3 on both sides, there’s a right-side fingerprint sensor, a left-side power button, and very fast face unlock support. Moto Mods support is particularly important here, too, because this is the only phone in the Moto Z lineup to support 5G.

As part of the launch, Motorola and Verizon are co-launching a 5G-compatible Moto Mod that will launch in early 2019, allowing the carrier’s four supported cities (Houston, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and another unannounced one) to connect where the gigabit-plus speeds are available.

It uses the previously-announced Snapdragon X50 platform, which includes four millimeter-wave antennas operating at 28GHz, with support up to 5Gbps in ideal conditions.

So how does the 5G Moto Mod work? It’s actually pretty interesting. When attached to the back of the phone using the magnetic pogo pins, the X50 modem kicks in and, if there’s sufficient signal, takes over the download and upload responsibilities from the X16 modem in the phone’s Snapdragon 835. When there’s a phone call, based on the current 5G spec, it falls back to the phone’s modem.

But there’s a separate, much-faster X24 LTE modem in the 5G Mod, too, offering LTE speeds of up to 2Gbps over existing LTE networks. If you’ll recall, the X24 was announced alongside the X50 in February, and it’s the world’s first product built on a 7nm process. It only achieves those vaunted 2Gbps speeds using 20 spatial streams and 5x carrier aggregation, or up to 7x carrier aggregation with fewer individual streams.

The Moto Z3 will be available at Verizon on August 16 for $480 outright, or $20 per month for 24 months. The 5G Moto Mod doesn’t have pricing or specific availability just yet, but Motorola says it will release it in “early 2019” when Verizon’s 5G network is a bit more mature and ready for mobile connections.

See at Motorola

The Moto Z3 is official and coming to Verizon on August 16

There’s also a new 5G Moto Mod!

At a press event at its HQ in Chicago, Motorola officially announced the Moto Z3 on Thursday, August 2. This is a more powerful version of the Z3 Play that was unveiled earlier this year, and similar to past Z flagships, the Z3 will be sold exclusively on Verizon in the United States.

The Z3 looks a lot like the Z3 Play with its 6-inch bezel-lite Super AMOLED display and dual 12MP rear cameras, but under the hood, you’ll find more powerful internals like the Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage.

Like we were expecting, Motorola stuck with a similar design once again as to accommodate all of the Moto Mods that have been released up until this point. Speaking of Mods, the Z3 is launching alongside Motorola’s latest snap-on accessory that brings 5G speeds to the phone.

The 5G Moto Mod won’t be available until 2019.

There’s no word quite yet as to how much the 5G Moto Mod will cost, but once it’s available, you’ll be able to place it on the back of the Z3 and access Verizon’s 5G network (assuming you live in a market that’s covered by it). So far, Verizon’s confirmed that it’ll bring residential 5G access to Houston, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and one other unnamed city by the second half of this year. In 2019, a “mobile 5G solution” will be released so more people can access the upgraded network.

The Moto Z3 is launching on August 16 and will be available for $20/month for 24 months — working out to a final retail price of just $480. To sweeten the deal, Verizon’s offering up to $300 off when you switch and trade in your current phone.

As for the 5G Moto Mod, Motorola says it’ll be available early next year.

Moto Z3 hands-on preview: A Verizon exclusive that adds a 5G flourish

Moto Z3 specs: A mixed bag of old and new

The Moto Z3 is a 2018 smartphone with 2017 DNA.

The Moto Z3 is officially official, and as expected, is a more powerful version of the Moto Z3 Play that was released earlier in the year.

However, some of the key specs aren’t exactly what we were expecting.

While the Moto Z3 is a more than capable piece of tech, its spec sheet is an interesting mix of tech that’s both old and new. Have a look for yourself below.

Moto Z3 hands-on preview: A Verizon exclusive that adds a 5G flourish

Aukey’s 4-port wall charger has dropped to $16 today

Plug it in, plug it in.

The Aukey 4-port USB wall charger is down to $15.99 with code AUKEY048 on Amazon. This wall charger usually sells for around $20, and the code brings it down to one of the best prices we’ve seen for this model.

If your device can be powered by a USB cable, it can use this charger. It has a total output of 8A so every device can get a max charge even when you have four items plugged in. It uses a travel-friendly design with a foldable plug so you can take it when you’re traveling. All Aukey devices are backed up with a two-year warranty.

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Sonos speakers may finally get Google Assistant this holiday season

There’s still no specific date, but this is better than nothing — right?

As much as we love Sonos speakers, there’s one big feature that’s been noticeably absent for quite some time — the Google Assistant. The company’s first Alexa-powered speaker (the Sonos One) has proven to be a truly excellent gadget, and while Alexa works great, Assistant users have been left out in the cold for nearly a year.

Sonos has continued to promise that it’s working on bringing the Google Assistant over to the One and its other speakers, and thanks to an interview The Verge recently had with CEO Patrick Spence, we finally have a rough timeline to look forward to.

Per The Verge —

When pressed on the December 31st deadline he had just set forth for Sonos, Spence says the feature was important to have ready for the holiday sales period. “We’re working as hard as we can and so is Google to get it ready for that time,” he says.

There’s still no word on a specific day, week, or even month, but that “holiday sales period” will likely see the Google Assistant drop at some point in November or December.

This news comes on the same day of Sonos’ IPO with Nasdaq. The company started off at $16/share, reached a high of $21, and finally closed at $19.91. With that closing number, Sonos now has an estimated value of $1.95 billion.

Sonos Beam review: Raising the sound bar

Turn your phone into a desktop PC with the $52 Samsung DeX Station

Try a new experience.

The Samsung DeX Station Desktop Experience is down to $51.99 on Amazon, which is the lowest price we’ve ever seen. It has been selling between $80 and $86 for the last few months and hasn’t dropped below $70 until now.

This device converts your smartphone into a desktop. It works with plenty of models including the Galaxy Note8, S8 and S9, and the Plus versions. It has a built-in fan to cool your phone while it’s docked. It adds two USB-A 2.0 ports, a USB-C charging port, LAN Ethernet, and more. This lets you add a mouse and keyboard to use with your phone. The device closes to a flat disk so it’s easy to carry around and comes with a travel adapter and USB-C cable. Users give it 3.8 stars based on 366 reviews.

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More Evidence Emerges to Suggest 2018 iPhones Won’t Be Bundled With Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter

It has been nearly two years since Apple released the iPhone 7 without a headphone jack, forcing users who still use wired headphones to plug them into the Lightning connector using an adapter included in the box.

Apple also includes the adapter in the box with the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, but more evidence has emerged today that suggests that trend will soon end.

Cirrus Logic, a supplier for the adapter, has apparently “confirmed” that the dongle won’t be bundled with Apple’s widely rumored trio of new iPhones expected next month, according to a Barclays research note.

Barclays already anticipated this would be the case earlier this year.

“Reported a beat but gave mixed guidance with revenue below but earnings ahead. Cirrus didn’t update its FY19 guide… but they did finally confirm the dongle loss, adding more support for our below estimates,” the research note reads.

Apple routinely says it is pushing towards a “truly wireless future,” and the headphone jack adapter has always been a stopgap amid that transition, so if Apple chooses not to include it in the box, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise. Rumors suggest new iPads will also lose the headphone jack and adapter.

Not everyone prefers wireless headphones, like AirPods, however, so if true, the removal of the adapter will almost certainly generate some controversy.

Apple will likely continue to sell the adapter as a standalone accessory for $9, which is cheap by its standards, so customers at least won’t be forced to pay too much extra for the adapter if it is indeed removed from the box this year.

The adapter is also available at resellers such as Best Buy, where nearly two years later, it is the retailer’s second-best selling Apple product in terms of units, so an argument could be made that Apple is removing the adapter too soon.

In a little over a month, we should find out for sure.

Tags: Barclays, headphone jack
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Review: LaCie’s 4TB Rugged RAID Pro With SD Card Slot is Perfect for Photographers and Videographers

Seagate’s LaCie brand is well-known for its line of rugged, durable hard drives that are protected by an iconic orange bumper, and this spring, LaCie unveiled its latest accessory in the rugged lineup, the 4TB USB-C LaCie Rugged RAID Pro.

Design

If you’ve seen a hard drive in LaCie’s rugged collection before, the Rugged RAID Pro will look immediately familiar. It features an aluminum-encased hard drive wrapped in durable, shockproof orange rubber.

Compared to the former Rugged RAID hard drive LaCie offered, this new model is thinner and lighter. Size wise, the dimensions aren’t hugely different, but it’s noticeable. This new model measures in at 1.18 x 3.6 x 5.5 inches, compared to the Rugged RAID’s 1.3 x 3.6 x 5.8 inch dimensions, and it weighs just about a pound.

LaCie’s previous Rugged hard drives have included built-in cables, but the Rugged RAID Pro uses a separate cable, which is one of the biggest design changes LaCie has introduced here. The other major change is the addition of an SD card slot, which is a fantastic addition for photographers, drone operators, and other people who often need to pull data from an SD card.

I often use an SD card reader to pull photos from my cameras, so I appreciated the addition of the SD card slot. I also prefer the removable cable to the built-in cable of the former LaCie Rugged RAID option because it offers more versatility. It’s a bit messier with nowhere to wind the cord, but it overall isn’t much more inconvenient.

At the bottom of the Rugged RAID Pro, there’s the aforementioned SD card slot and a USB-C port. LaCie has included a USB-C to USB-C cable for use with USB-C devices such as Apple’s latest MacBook Pro and iMac models, and a USB-C to USB-A cable for use with older devices.

A rubber cover made out of the same material as the bumper protects these ports while in travel, and because it’s a standalone piece that can be lost, LaCie includes an extra in the package. The Rugged RAID Pro hasn’t left my office but I’ve still misplaced that port cover, so it’s nice to have a backup.

The hard drive also ships with a power supply and a range of different plug heads for use when traveling. When used with a Thunderbolt device such as Apple’s 2016 and later MacBook Pros, the Rugged RAID Pro is bus-powered and does not require the included power supply, but with other devices, such as the 12-inch MacBook, the power supply is necessary.

On devices where the USB ports are not providing enough power to the LaCie Rugged RAID Pro, a light on the front will flash letting you know that it needs to be plugged in to the power supply.

LaCie’s Rugged RAID Pro, like all of the rugged hard drives, is designed to be resistant to dust and water, and it is designed to hold up to drops and damage. LaCie’s documentation says it has drop resistance up to four feet (one foot less than the prior Rugged RAID), along with IP54 resistance to water and dust.

IP54 translates to protection from water spray from any direction, so it should hold up well in the rain, but you won’t want to submerge it. It also means limited ingress protection from dust. According to LaCie, it can also withstand crushing from a 1-ton car.

I did test its drop resistance with about 10 drops from four feet with no damage inflicted (with the drive powered off, of course), but I didn’t double check LaCie’s crush rating.

Inside of the Rugged RAID Pro, there are two 2TB hard drives for up to 4TB of storage space depending on RAID configuration.

Software

Setting up the Rugged RAID Pro is as simple as plugging it in and opening it up. There’s a “Start Here Mac” and a “Start Here Windows” file, and you just need to click the appropriate file.

The Mac version of the software installs the LaCie Toolkit software. The Toolkit software lets you see how much storage you have available at a glance, and there’s a Mirror feature that lets you set up a Mirror folder where files will sync to the Rugged RAID Pro automatically.

You just need to go through the menus and set up a source folder to enable this feature. Mirror is similar to something like Dropbox and can be handy if you have files that you want to keep safe on a secondary drive without having to worry about it.

If you click on the drive in the Toolkit app, there is an option to “optimize” it by reformatting it from exFAT to HFS+.

In the settings section of the app, you can also use the Toolkit to toggle on an option to import data from SD cards that are added to the drive automatically, and there’s a feature to turn off the app’s ability to launch when you start your Mac up.

I preferred to manually import data from my SD cards rather than having it done automatically, but it’s a useful option if that’s what you plan to primarily use the drive for.

The LaCie Rugged RAID Pro comes configured as RAID 0 for maximum storage space and faster file transfers. If you want to reconfigure it to RAID 1 for data redundancy, you can download the LaCie RAID Manager.

RAID 0 is a setup that’s going to give you the fastest file transfer speeds while also taking advantage of the full 4TB of storage space from the two included 2TB drives. RAID 1 is a setup that mirrors the two drives so that you always have a second copy of your data for extra protection.

LaCie includes a 3-year Seagate data rescue program with the Rugged RAID Pro, along with a free month of access to Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps. With the rescue program, if the hard drive fails, files are accidentally deleted, or the drive is otherwise damaged, Seagate will provide data recovery services at no additional cost.

Performance

LaCie promises transfer speeds of 240MB/s over USB-C, and that is close to what I saw in my testing of the drive with a 2016 MacBook Pro. Transferring several hundred photos from an SD card in the SD card slot took just a few minutes, and file transfers from my MacBook Pro to the Rugged RAID Pro and vice versa were just as speedy.

In my experience, the Rugged RAID Pro got very hot after about a half hour of usage, so this is something to be aware of.

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for more storage space for a modern USB-C Mac or PC and want a RAID configuration for redundancy, the LaCie Rugged RAID Pro is an affordable option from a trusted brand that offers a solid compromise between price point and speed.

The addition of an SD card slot makes it more convenient than ever for photographers, videographers, and others who need backup and file transfers on the go, and with its rugged enclosure, it’s ideal for taking along when traveling. Seagate’s data rescue program, which is included, offers additional peace of mind.

I wouldn’t buy this particular hard drive for a configuration where the external power source will be required, but it’s nice that the option is included along with the relevant cables if you need to transfer files to an older machine.

How to Buy

The LaCie Rugged RAID Pro retails for $350, but it can be purchased from B&H Photo for $291 or from Amazon for $330.

Note: LaCie provided MacRumors with a Rugged RAID Pro for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and B&H Photo When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

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