ZTE crowns its crowd-sourced Project CSX winner
Since the start of September, phone manufacturer ZTE has been running a crowd-sourced contest slash internet brainstorming session to figure out what features its customers want most in their next phone. Well, the results are in and ZTE has announced the grand prize project of that contest: it’s an “eye-tracking, self-adhesive phone”. Sure, why the heck not.
The eye-tracking system would utilize a pair of front-facing cameras capable of following the user’s eye-movement. This will allow the phone to, say, automatically scroll through webpages when you read to the bottom of the screen. Since these cameras work far more efficiently when the phone is stable, rather than in your hand, this device will incorporate self-adhesive polymers into the back of the case so that you can stick it against walls, railings or any other stable surface. What’s more, the screen itself will use a split screen design that will only display information to the person sitting directly in front of it. If you’re trying to shoulder surf someone or look at their screen from an oblique angle, all you’ll see is a static background image.
This idea garnered 36 percent of the vote against four other finalist ideas. Intelligent Smartphone Covers earned 21 percent of the vote, Stock Android Flagship Phone got 19 percent, VR-Interactive Diving Mask got 16, and Powerglove got just 8 percent. ZTE reports that “thousands of consumers from 176 countries” participated in the voting process. The company has committed to follow through and actually produce the phone. It plans to bring the phone to market in 2017 after crowdsourcing a name it.
Google’s Daydream View VR headset is available for pre-order
Google announced via Twitter on Thursday that its forthcoming VR rig, the Pixel-powered Daydream View is now available for pre-order. The offer currently only extends to customers in the US, the United Kingdom and Germany. The Daydream will retail for $80 and can be ordered from either Verizon or Google itself. The headset relies on the new Google Pixel phone to generate VR images so you’re going to want to make sure you have one of those before plunking down your cash for this gadget. The headset is slated to ship in November.
The company also announced that its Chromecast Ultra is available for preorder. This 4K-capable streaming dongle retails for $70 at the Google Store. You can also pick one up from Best Buy, Wallmart, Target and Staples. It too is set to begin shipping next month.
Source: Google (twitter)
The Wirecutter’s best deals: Save $50 on an iPad Air 2
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals atTheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends atThe Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot—some of these sales could expire mighty soon.
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi 128GB
Street price: $475; MSRP: $500; Deal price: $425
September’s Apple event brought with it news of lowered iPad pricing, at $425, this Best Buy deal is the lowest price we’ve found for the 128gb iPad Air 2, our pick for the best tablet. It’s available in Silver, Gold, and Space Gray colors with free shipping.
Dan Frakes writes, “Though it hasn’t seen a significant update since late 2014, the iPad Air 2 (with 128 GB of storage, though 32 GB will be enough for some people) is still the best overall tablet for most people. Despite the recent release of two iPad Pro models and a big update to the iPad mini in late 2015, the Air 2 continues to provide the best combination of speed, features, screen size, ecosystem, and price.”
Samsung SmartThings Hub
Street price: $100; MSRP: $100; Deal price: $75
A new low on a great smart hub. It’s only $4 less than our previous deals, but since this sale also includes discounts on a variety of other Samsung SmartThings devices, you can build up your smart home at a nicely discounted price.
The Samsung SmartThings Hub is our pick for the best smart hub. Jon Chase wrote, “The Samsung SmartThings Hub is a polished, powerful option for tech-savvy DIYers who have a desire for an integrated smart home but lack the budget for or interest in a professionally installed system. It’s easy to set up on your home network, and pairing it with other smart devices is largely seamless.”
He went on to say, “We did extensive research on hubs in general and the SmartThings hub in particular, and believe our experience is consistent with the reviews and findings of most other outlets: Namely, of all the hubs on the market, the Samsung SmartThings Hub is the most powerful and promising, but is best suited to devout tinkerers and those willing to spend a fair amount of time tweaking and refining their smart-home system.”
Refurbished Nikon D7200 DX DSLR w/ Lens Bundle
Street price: $1,250 (new); MSRP: $1,450 (new); Deal price: $850
We’ve featured this deal at this price before, and it’s still a great purchase. While we’ve seen the camera body alone for $80 less, this deal comes with 2 lenses (18-55mm and 55-200mm) that are good practice lenses, or at very least lenses that you can sell to recoup part of the cost of the bundle. Beach Camera is an authorized Nikon retailer, and Nikon is offering a 90 day warranty on the camera.
The Nikon D7200 is our pick for the best midrange DSLR. Amadou Diallo wrote, “The D7200 is considerably more expensive than a beginner DSLR—but the extra expense will buy you a 24-megapixel APS-C camera that takes clean, detailed photos at high ISOs, as well as a professional-grade autofocus system that works in near darkness. You also get dual SD card slots, so you’ll never have to worry about running out of storage space. After dozens of research hours poring over reviews and test results for 12 different cameras, and real-world shooting with the top contenders, we’ve determined that the Nikon D7200 is the one we would buy.”
Refurbished Apple Airport Extreme Wireless Base Station
Street price: $180 (new); MSRP: $200 (new); Deal price: $100
At $100 refurbished, this is the lowest price we’ve seen on the Apple Airport Extreme Wireless Base Station, which runs $200 new. This router is GeekSquad refurbished and includes a 90 day warranty. It includes free shipping.
The Apple Airport Extreme was highlighted as our also great pick for best wifi router (for most people), with the caveat that it was recommended only for all-Apple households. David Murphy writes, “The Apple AirPort Extreme is the easiest router to set up in an all-Apple household, but its performance at longer ranges doesn’t match that of our top pick, and it lacks features found in other, cheaper routers….Whether you’re using iOS or macOS, you can easily get started with Apple’s router and use it as your primary router or as a new access point in your Apple network. Basic features such as Time Machine backups and remote connections to USB storage (using Apple’s “Back to My Mac” feature) work great with Apple devices…”
Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.
Engadget’s first thoughts on the Nintendo Switch
We now know that Nintendo’s next-generation game console will be the Switch, a hybrid device offering portable and home gaming in one. But there’s a lot we don’t know. What games will it launch with? How much it will cost? What’s that screen like? Will it play games on a TV at 1080p? How long will the battery last? We’ll find out more about the Switch before its March 2017 release, and the answers to those questions, and more, will likely dictate our overall judgement.
Nonetheless, we’re nothing if not opinionated, and seeing Nintendo launch a new console has got us talking. So without further ado, here are eight Engadget editors with their first take* on the Switch.
*Other opinions are also valid.
Nick Summers
Associate Editor
The Nintendo Switch is both a portable and home console, and that’s brilliant news. In a year or two — once the Wii U and 3DS are inevitably retired — that means every Nintendo studio will be making games for the same system. Brilliant. If you’re a Switch owner, you should (emphasis on “should”) get a steady stream of titles every year, regardless of the support from third parties. Pikmin, Metroid, Fire Emblem. All of these franchises will soon be focused on the same console and player base, building out a library that’s attractive to more and more people.
The 3DS has a wonderful back catalog: I want that quality and diversity replicated on a big-screen TV. If Nintendo can deliver on that, I’ll be in, regardless of whether it has Mass Effect: Andromeda or not. As for the hardware itself? It looks a little finicky to me, with lots of intricate parts for children to break or lose. I’m worried about the ergonomics too — some of the different controller modes look a tad cumbersome. Sure, there’s an (optional) stand-alone controller, but that should be for home use only. When I’m out and about, I’ll be using the “Joy-Con” attachments — I just hope they’re comfortable over extended play sessions.
Devindra Hardawar
Senior Editor
Even though we’ve been hearing rumors of a hybrid console from Nintendo for a while, the Switch’s debut still floored me. Once again, Nintendo is going in a completely different direction than Microsoft and Sony. Based on the little we’ve seen of the Switch so far, it seems like a far more intriguing attempt than the Wii U. In many ways it reminds me of the original Wii; it introduces entirely new ways of playing games — local multiplayer anywhere FTW! — though it might seem like a gimmick to some.
If anything, the Switch shows how far we’ve come in mobile hardware. NVIDIA claims it’s powered by a custom Tegra processor that has the same technology as its current desktop GPUs (we’re still waiting for more specifics). The demo video shows off complex titles like Skyrim and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At the least, the Switch seems more powerful than the Wii U, which was Nintendo’s first foray into HD gaming. Instead of pursuing 4K like everyone else, it looks like Nintendo is trying to redefine what’s possible on mobile.
In the end, Nintendo is going after the gamers who will prioritize the flexibility of gaming anywhere over bringing the most pixels possible into their living room. And after seeing both Sony and Microsoft work themselves into a tizzy to support 4K, and in the process confusing the heck out of consumers, I can’t blame Nintendo for trying something different once again.
Kris Naudus
Senior Editor, Database
I’m a sassy young woman living in the big city and working hard for my money. I got no time for games. Well, not like I used to, anyway. I love the console experience for how big and immersive it can be. However, as I’ve gotten older it’s been increasingly hard to find the time and energy to sit down and focus on an expansive world that requires dozens of hours to explore. I’ve gravitated more toward my Nintendo 3DS, but it’s not on the same grand scale, by design.
Thus it’s no coincidence that the Switch reveal video was very much a lifestyle showcase, featuring people in my general “young adult” age group and how they would use the Switch. No more scheduling time every night for Zelda, no more declarations to “treat yo self” by playing Mario for a few hours. The Switch is a home console that works around your schedule. I might actually be able to get back into JRPGs. Though I probably wouldn’t bring it to fancy balcony parties.
James Trew
Deputy Managing Editor
There’s going to be lots of talk today about what the Switch means for Nintendo, what it means for consoles and what it means for the future of gaming. Or something. All I know is what it means for me: It’ll be the first home console I’ll buy in nearly 20 years. I mean it: I’ve not had a gaming console under my TV since the Super Nintendo. OK, I briefly owned a Wii (for a review) and lived in shared houses with Xbox/PlayStations, but nothing’s convinced me to part with my cash for a long while. Switch, on the other hand, pushes all of my buttons — in a good way.
I’ve not been abstaining from games since the SNES, obviously. I mostly play retro or handheld consoles (and retro handhelds, especially). So the idea that I could return to modern home gaming and get a new handheld makes Switch a no-brainer for me. The fact that it’s Nintendo just sweetens the deal. There’s something else I like about Switch, too. The Wii and Wii U weren’t … terrible, but the smurfy design and the cutesy Mii characters, etc. didn’t resonate with me. Switch seems to shed some of that overt softness for a slightly more grown-up feel while still looking, somehow, “Nintendo.”
Sean Buckley
Associate Editor
Last year, I predicted that Nintendo’s next console wouldn’t just be a Mario-powered Xbox — launching a standard-issue game console would have stripped the company of everything makes it fun, unique and worthwhile. I’m so glad I was right: The Switch is exactly what Nintendo needs to compete with Microsoft and Sony.
The Nintendo Switch has the potential to become the console Nintendo’s been trying to build for generations — the console gamer’s /essential/ second device. Think about it: Nintendo hasn’t tried to compete on raw power in over a decade, instead trying to woo in gamers with some sort of hook that sets its hardware apart from Sony and Microsoft. It hasn’t always worked (sorry, Wii U) but this time, it just might.
The Switch isn’t the console with the goofy motion controllers. It’s not the underpowered machine with the weird tablet, either. It’s the modular home game console you can take with you and play on an airplane. It’s not trying to replace the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 in your entertainment center, but it can live alongside it. And when you have to leave the house, and can’t take those high-powered boxes with you? Well, you’ll have the Nintendo Switch.
This bridges a gap Nintendo’s been trying to close for awhile. Remember when the company launched Smash Bros. on both the 3DS and the Wii U? When it brought Hyrule Warriors to its portable device? How it recently announced that Super Mario Maker would be shrunk down to fit on its stereoscopic foldable? That’s what the Nintendo Switch is. It’s the company giving its portable gamers what they really want: home console games. Better still, it doesn’t split its own market — Microsoft and Sony die-hards who only buy Nintendo consoles for exclusives no longer need to buy two devices to play all their favorite franchises. Just one. And they can take it to the airport, on the bus, to a friends house or can simply just play it in bed. That’s a much better pitch for being the console gamer’s essential second device than the Wii U or 3DS ever had. And that’s exactly what the Switch needs to be.
Jessica Condit
Senior Reporter
Jess was too busy writing about other new consoles to contribute her unabridged thoughts. That’s a shame, but nonetheless, we’re reliably informed that this GIF accurately represents her feelings on the Switch:
Introducing Nintendo’s next game console, Switch https://t.co/nZEPC0HWuw First impression: pic.twitter.com/dGsUyx510Z
— Jessica 👻 Conditt (@JessConditt) October 20, 2016
Aaron Souppouris
Senior Editor
I have a fairly large, open-plan living area. If I take my Wii U GamePad to the kitchen (about 15 feet from my TV) it loses signal. As a huge Nintendo fan, all I really needed was a better Wii U. That means more portability, a better screen, and better battery life. The Switch is definitely more portable — I could take it to someone else’s kitchen. Given the lack of a stylus, it’s almost certainly going to have a nicer screen, without the horrible resistive touchscreen overlay. The one thing I don’t know about is endurance, but I’m pretty sure it’ll last the time it takes me to cook a meal.
I might sound unenthused about the Switch, but I’m really not. It’s just that I was absolutely going to buy one anyway. I’m happy for Nintendo that (for now at least) third parties are on board, but in reality I’m likely to be playing those cross-platform games on my existing systems. I buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games, and this will definitely have lots of those.
Timothy J. Seppala
Associate Editor
It looks like Nintendo has finally started paying attention to the competition, but not in the way I expected. Rather than aping Microsoft’s and Sony’s designs of oblong boxes (or sandwiches like the PlayStation 4 Pro) the console looks like a piece of lifestyle gadgetry that’d unobtrusively hang out on an end table or bookshelf — not dominate a chunk of your A/V rack. And it maintains the “friendly” look Nintendo has been hawking for decades. I’m a fan.
What concerns me though isn’t its software lineup (a new 3D Mario game! More Splatoon!), graphics prowess or even the tablet-centric nature of the system. No, it’s the iPod Shuffle-like controllers and my gigantic hands. My hand spans the width of a full-size keyboard, and my mitts cramping up is a major reason why I don’t play games on my phone or my 3DS. For the same reason, I doubt I’ll be breaking out Mario Kart on any road trips. The Wii U GamePad’s ergonomics and I don’t get along either, but at least it’s too big to lose in a couch cushion
For me, “portable gaming” means a console I can easily carry in my messenger bag or backpack and hook up at a friend’s house. And for that, the Switch looks perfect.
The Switch shows desperate Nintendo is the best Nintendo
Nintendo has something to prove. After the Wii U flamed out spectacularly, the company needed to do something truly different to stay afloat in the console world. Its answer is the Switch, a new hybrid portable/home gaming system that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before. While Microsoft and Sony are simply trying to shove in faster hardware to support 4K and HDR, Nintendo is going back to its roots with a device that evokes memories of spending carefree afternoons with your Gameboy, or going head-to-head with your friends in Mario Kart on the SNES. The Switch is a reminder that Nintendo innovates best after it fails; when its back is against the wall and it’s not just reacting to pressure from the competition.
We last saw that desperate, innovative Nintendo with the launch of the Wii. When it was first announced, we all made fun of its name, underpowered hardware and gimmicky motion controls. We worried about Nintendo’s focus on “casual” players and move away from “real” gamers. But after 100 million units sold, the critics were proven wrong. Nintendo ended up outselling the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and both Microsoft and Sony rushed to develop motion controls of their own of their own.
The Wii came after the failure of the Gamecube, a purple lunchbox of a console (who puts a handle on a gaming system?!) that sold a mere 21 million units. Its skew towards kids pushed third-parties away, which ultimately made it hard for Nintendo to go against the Xbox and PlayStation 2. Aside from its funky controller (and the promise of first-party Nintendo titles), there was simply nothing to really differentiate the Gamecube from the competition. The Gamecube also followed the so-so response to the Nintendo 64, which was stuck with cartridges while Sony and Sega were wowing us with the possibilities of games on CDs.
It’s tough to say much about the Switch at this point, since all we have to go on is a three-minute trailer and some press material from Nintendo. But at first glance, it appears to be everything I wanted with the Wii U. Most importantly though, it does something unique and useful. The Wii U felt like a response to tablet gaming, but its big-screened GamePad was clunky and developers never quite took to it. Super Mario Maker is the best example of what’s possible with the Wii U’s controller, but it came long after most gamers wrote off the system.
One of the Wii U’s few useful features — playing games right on the GamePad, instead of your TV screen — was limited by an incredibly short range. That makes sense, since it’s piping lots of data to the controller wirelessly, but it was annoying nonetheless. A big reason games have taken off on slates is because they let you play games on large screens from anywhere.
Rather than trying to improve that remote play feature on the Wii U, though, it looks like Nintendo built the Switch entirely around that concept. Dock it to your television, and you can play games on the big screen. Attach the “Joy-Con” gamepads to the side of the display, and you can take the Switch anywhere. Simple. You don’t have to worry about reception issues. But Nintendo also doubled-down on portable gaming by giving the Switch a kickstand. You can snap off the controllers, holding one in each hand, to game as you would on your couch from any location.
Most intriguingly, you can just hand one controller over to a friend for a Mario Kart match. I honestly can’t remember the last time I actually sat on a couch and played someone in a local multiplayer session. With the rush towards online gaming, local multiplayer has felt like a dying trend over the last decade. That was never lost on Nintendo, though — and the Switch seems like it’ll revive the magic of gaming with nearby friends.
Developers will likely appreciate the Switch’s straightforward design, as well. Instead of worrying about creating a second-screen experience for games, they can just focus on making games as usual for a single screen. It’s important to note that the Switch is docked when it’s connected to your TV — you’re not actually holding the screen, as you would with the Wii U. Instead, you’re holding the Joy-Con or classic controllers to play games on your television, as you would with any other console.
Even at this early stage, it seems like Nintendo has managed to intrigue developers more than it ever did with the Wii U. Its initial lineup of third-parties include Capcom, EA, Activision, Bethesda, Epic Games, Konami, Ubisoft and Square Enix. We’ve seen games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and NBA 2K running on it, along with first-party titles like Splatoon, Mario Kart, and of course, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. All of those publishers are a good sign, since a console is only as strong as the games and developers supporting it.
Sure, there are valid concerns around the Switch. We don’t know anything about its battery life, actual graphical quality or cost. And while my Twitter feed has been freaking out over it, there’s still a chance the Switch might not take off with consumers. For now, though, I’m excited. Instead of repeating its mistakes, Nintendo seems to be learning from them. And that’s a good thing for gamers everywhere.
Welcome to Google’s NYC home
Google has made minimal forays into real-world retail shops thus far. There’s a good reason for that: the company has long been more focused on software than hardware. That’s slowly changing over time, but Google went all-in on its own hardware brand when it announced the new Pixel smartphones, Google Home, Daydream VR headset and Google WiFi router earlier this month.
For most consumers, buying hardware sight-unseen is still a tough proposition, so Google is finally making it easier for consumers to check out all its new gadgets — in New York City, at least. The company’s pop-up retail location opened its doors this morning, and while it wasn’t exactly an iPhone-level stampede, there were a couple dozen people waiting to get in when it opened. A steady stream of passers-by came through in the hour I spent at the store.
It’s worth noting that Google’s space isn’t actually a store: you can’t buy any products here. Not even the Pixel phones which just went on sale this morning. Google will help you buy one online or direct you to the nearby Best Buy to pick one up, but no one will be walking out of the Google pop-up with a new Pixel phone, Daydream headset or even a Chromecast.
Instead, it’s all about the experience, and the Google pop-up certainly features a bunch of weird but intriguing ways to show off its new products. It’s as much visual spectacle as it is a space for product demos — just take the “Pixel wall” that greets you when you walk in. It’s a giant mechanical wall with dozens of rotating colored blocks (or pixels) that can display various images. A Google spokesperson said it was meant to be a physical representation of the screens we look at constantly, and it definitely sets the quirky tone that you’ll find throughout Google’s space.
There were two product display areas that clearly stood out: Google Home and Daydream. Despite the fact that trying Daydream involves covering up your eyes, Google didn’t skimp on the Daydream area’s design: a whimsical 180-degree forest scene set the stage for what you’d see when you slip the headset on. It was designed to match the Daydream “home screen.” Something simpler would have worked — but Google’s shop is all about every step of the experience, so it needed to put effort into these design flourishes, even if they don’t directly impact the product demo.
The Google Home demo areas were just as elaborate. The pop-up shop featured both a living room and kitchen, closed off from the rest of the store, both tricked out with Google Home and WiFi devices. The living room also had a 4K TV hooked up to the new Chromecast Ultra. Visitors can enter the rooms and ask Google Home a bunch of questions — each room has prompts around to give you an idea of the types of things you can ask it. In the living room, you can ask it to start playing video on the TV or adjust the lights, while the kitchen had prompts to play a “making dinner” playlist, among others.
For the Pixel phones, Google chose to focus primarily on photos. It’s not the easiest thing to show off in a store, but Google’s giant photo sphere proved to be a good demonstration of the Google Photos backup app. Three Pixel phones spread around the sphere let users change what pictures were on display, and the phones themselves did that by cycling through various searches in the app (bridges, graffiti, selfies, and so forth). In that way, Google employees working the store can talk to the intelligence of the Google Photos app that lets you search for images without tagging them. Plus, it looks very, very cool.
There’s also a special area to show off the Pixel’s low-light photography bonafides — a small, curtained room off to the side of the photo sphere is filled with LED light strings coming down from the ceiling that create some pretty dazzling visual patterns. Naturally, there’s a Google employee in the room with a Pixel, ready to snap your picture standing amongst the lights so you can see just how well the camera works in dark conditions.
Aside from those displays, there wasn’t a lot else to show off with the Pixel — Google has the obligatory large demo table, with devices playing a loop of various features. But the Google Assistant isn’t easy to show off on a phone in a loud store. But at least you can get your hands on the devices, see how they feel, snap some shots on the camera and play around with the slightly tweaked version of Android on display here.
Beyond just seeing what Google was showing off, I wanted to see how the public was reacting to the pop-up shop. Most of the people I talked with knew the shop was coming, though a few said they just saw it while walking by and wanted to see what was going on. Simon, visiting from Switzerland, told me that “I knew about the shop ahead of time, but just because I walked by two days earlier and saw it being set up.” He said he came to see the Pixel phone mostly and wants to buy one, but also wanted to check out other stuff like Home that he wasn’t necessarily going to buy.
Ash, a New York City resident, said that he knew about the shop ahead of time and came because he “wanted to see what the Home could do, it’s fun to see it in action.” And Patrick from Brooklyn said he was “impressed with Google’s setup, especially that huge photo globe.” But he also said his Nexus 6P was good enough still that he wasn’t itching to upgrade. Surprisingly, I didn’t see a lot of other Nexus devices in the crowd, but there were plenty of iPhone-toting visitors checking out Google’s latest.
If you’re in New York City between now and the end of the year, a quick stop at Google’s shop (at 96 Spring Street) should be a priority for anyone who is a fan of what the company is doing. Right now, there’s no good way to get a sense of how Google Home works unless you stop in here. And while you can check out the Pixel at Verizon and Best Buy stores, you’ll definitely get a more immersive and fun experience here. It’s just too bad you can’t walk out with a shiny new phone.
Samsung’s vision of the mobile future is 4K-and-VR ready RAM
While Samsung’s customers (and stock price) are still reeling from the Galaxy Note 7 immolation debacle, the tech giant is focusing on the future. As such, the company has introduced a new type of memory that should “greatly improve mobile user experiences, especially for those using Ultra HD, large-screen devices,” according to a statement. Specifically, it’s 8GB LPDDR4 (low power, double data rate 4) that takes advantage of 16Gb LPDDR4 chips working in concert with 10-nanometer class process technology. Now, note that’s not 10nm proper, but somewhere between 10-and-20 nanometers. It seems 1-nm is too far in the future for now.
The announcement goes on to expound the silicon’s ability to handle dual cameras, namedrops 4K UHD twice, and VR. More than that, Samsung claims that the chips are more power efficient and will enable even thinner devices than we have now. Long story short, this is where the company sees the future of mobile devices going: More VR, more 4K and, hopefully, batteries that last longer and don’t catch fire between charges.
Source: Samsung
‘Switch’ is Nintendo’s next game console
It’s been almost a year and a half since Nintendo announced the NX, and now the gaming giant has finally dropped the codename and secrecy in favor of something more official: Switch. Like the countless rumors previously asserted, it’s indeed a hybrid mobile and home console with a tablet element and detachable controllers.
The tablet itself (which Nintendo calls “the Switch Console” is thin and pretty attractive. It looks to have a screen measuring around 7 inches, of unspecified resolution. At home, it’ll plug into the “Switch Dock,” which in turn plugs into your TV, while out and about you can either hold it or use the built-in kickstand to prop it up. In the trailer, a gamer plugs in what looks to be an SD Card-style cartridge, meaning games are likely to distributed both digitally and physically.
It’s powered by an unspecified custom Nvidia Tegra processor, which is “based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards.” Whether that means Pascal — the architecture underpinning the 1000 series of GeForce cards and the yet-to-be-announced Tegra X2 — or just that Tegra chips in general are based on the GeForce architecture, is not clear. But the question of which SoC is powering the Switch — and whether it’s based on newer or older architecture — is important to answer if we’re to work out what exactly it’s capable of.
The controllers are just as we expected. Nintendo is calling them “Joy-Con.” They can be attached to a central unit called the “Joy-Con Grip” to behave like a single game controller, but also slide onto the side of the tablet for a more Wii U-like experience. Oh and, as rumored, they can also be used independently like two miniature gamepads.
If none of this sounds like your thing, Nintendo will once again offer a “Pro Controller” option laid out more traditionally. The trailer shows off lots of multiplayer gaming, either with multiple controllers connected to one system, or many Switch consoles connecting together wirelessly. We assume it’ll have online play as well.
So what will you be able to play on it? As well as the usual first-party suspects, Nintendo says it has the support of many developers and publishers, including Activision, Atlus, Bethesda, Capcom, EA, Epic Games, Konami, PlatinumGames, Square Enix, Take-Two and Ubisoft. In the trailer you can see third-party games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and NBA 2K alongside what look to be a new Mario and Mario Kart games and Splatoon. In Nintendo’s bold future, Splatoon will be an e-sport watched live by tens of thousands of people.
“Nintendo Switch allows gamers the freedom to play however they like,” Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said, “it gives game developers new abilities to bring their creative visions to life by opening up the concept of gaming without boundaries.”
The Switch will be released worldwide in March 2017.
Timothy J. Seppala contributed to this report.
Sky Mobile will open signups on October 31st
It’s taken more than two years, but Sky is finally ready to launch its own mobile service. At its annual Investor Day, the company confirmed it will open registrations for Sky Mobile, its O2-powered network, from October 31st. The move will ultimately allow Sky to sit alongside BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk as a true “quad-play” provider.
Sky has yet to confirm pricing or an official launch date for Sky Mobile but did say that existing customers will be invited to sign up first ahead of a wider expansion in 2017. According to the Belfast Telegraph, Stephen van Rooyen, Sky’s UK and Ireland CEO, told investors that the company had “long had its eyes on the prize” when it came to entering the mobile phone market.
“There are literally millions of customers for us to go after,” he added. “We know that our customers are not only interested in Sky Mobile, but once they have been shown the proposition, they would consider switching to Sky.”
Like its rivals, Sky is expected to offer sweeter deals to customers who choose to go all in with the company’s TV, phone, broadband and mobile services. With 22 million customers across Europe, over half of which are in the UK, it surprised many that Sky would come so late in the game.
While it’s spent the past two years finalising its plans, broadband providers have begun adding their own TV services, ensuring that Sky now has increased competition on all four quad-play fronts.
#SkyInvestorDay: No details on #SkyMobile pricing but pre registration from 31 October pic.twitter.com/uDJy8S1Qus
— Paolo Pescatore (@paolopescatore) October 20, 2016
Android Nougat 7.1 beta is now out for select devices
Google has delivered on its promise and released the developer preview of Android Nougat 7.1 for beta testers before October ended. You can only access it if you have a Nexus 5X, a Nexus 6P or a Pixel C, though — Google won’t be releasing it for other devices until November, and its final public release won’t be available until December. If you do have any of the three devices, you can expect to get an OTA update if you’re enrolled to Android’s beta program.
While you can download the preview even if you don’t actually make apps, its features definitely benefit developers the most. Besides Daydream VR support, it comes with the capability to make app shortcuts and circular launcher icons to match the look of Google’s new Pixel phones. That said, it does have something for ordinary users: a restart button in the power menu. It also supports image keyboards, which allow you to insert stickers and GIFs in apps. If you’d like to test 7.1 out without enrolling to Google’s beta program, you can also do a manual update by flashing a system image.
Source: Android Developers blog
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