Pebble 2 review: An affordable smartwatch with a fitness bent
Pebble is in a tough spot. Once a pioneer in smartwatches, it now has to fight off competition from brands like Apple and Samsung, as well as more affordable devices, even ones that feel more like fitness trackers. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a pair of new smartwatches designed to occupy that middle ground. They are the Pebble 2 and the Pebble Time 2, both of which retain much of the same functionality as previous-gen Pebbles, but with one key difference: They now have built-in heart rate monitors. Combined with a revamped Health app, the Pebble line is much more fitness-focused than before.
At $129, the Pebble 2 is the more affordable of the two, and it’s aimed at those who want a no-frills smartwatch with some workout features. Think of it as a fitness tracker with basic smartwatch functionality thrown in — and priced for people who don’t want to spend “smartwatch money.”
Hardware
If you liked the design of the original Pebble, then the Pebble 2 should strike your fancy as well. Its black and white e-paper display, plastic housing and silicone straps are reminiscent of the company’s first-ever wearable, which debuted in 2012. Some might appreciate the retro design, but I have to say I’ve outgrown it. The original Pebble probably looked sleek four years ago, but in 2016 the monochrome screen feels dated, with the complete package giving off a Fisher-Price vibe.
That said, there are a few differences that set the Pebble 2 apart from the original. While the screen still measures 1.26 inches across, the surrounding bezel is much thinner than before. The result is a slimmer, more streamlined look, with a chassis that measures 39.5 x 30.2 x 9.8mm. The strap itself also feels softer and more pliable than the original. It’s comfortable enough to wear for a full workday and even to bed. Also, instead of a plastic coating on top of the display, the Pebble 2’s screen is now covered in a more durable Corning Gorilla glass.
And, of course, when you flip the watch around you’ll see the built-in heart rate sensor. By default, it tracks your resting heart rate every 10 minutes. It can also monitor your beats per minute consistently throughout a workout, which is useful if you have a target heart rate in mind for your cardio sessions. Also on the rear are the magnetic charging pins that doubles as a smart accessory port for a variety of third-party “smart straps,” which add more functionality like wireless charging and NFC payments. Speaking of straps, there are two quick-release triggers allowing you to easily swap out the default silicone ones with any other 22mm band.
The Pebble 2 has the same button layout as its predecessors; there’s a back button on the left and a trio of keys on the right (more on that later). As far as internals go, the Pebble 2 is pretty similar to the original Time, which came out last year. It has a built-in microphone for voice replies and notes; an accelerometer; and a backlight, which you can enable by just moving the watch around. It’s also water resistant up to 30 meters, so you can take it for a swim.
Software
As with all of Pebble’s previous watches, setup is easy. Download the companion Pebble app, pair it with your phone just like you would any other Bluetooth device, and away you go. From there, you’ll use the app to do pretty much everything, like adding watchfaces and configuring notifications. Seeing as how the Pebble 2 is one of the first to support heart rate activity, I recommend trying a watchface that’s able to display that information.
When Pebble introduced the Time last year, it also unveiled a new interface, dubbed the Timeline. The idea was that you would navigate through the watch in chronological order; the top button would lead to past events while the bottom one would give you a heads-up on upcoming stuff. Going in the past, for example, would bring up the score for last night’s baseball game, while going into the future would tell you what the weather forecast was going to be like the next day.
With the latest Pebble software update and the company’s recent emphasis on health and fitness, that interface once again feels different. From the watchface, the top button leads to a quick view of your health stats (step count, hours slept and current heart rate). The center button launches the app menu, while the bottom key shows current and upcoming events. Each button can also be mapped as a quick launch key to any application you like. Simply press and hold on them to trigger the appropriate shortcuts.
Another addition to the Pebble interface are “Quick View” notifications that offer pop-up peeks at upcoming events. By default, these reminders appear 15 minutes prior to the event, but you can adjust that in the settings.
In addition, as you’d expect, the Pebble 2 comes with a few pre-installed apps. They include a Workout app that tracks your heart rate when you’re on a run, walk or any other kind of workout. Other stock programs display the local weather, music controls, an alarm clock, stopwatch and a timer. You can also choose from over 15,000 different third-party watchfaces and apps in the Pebble app store. Additionally, if you don’t want to be bothered with notifications for a while, you can enable a do-not-disturb feature called Quiet Time.
By default, your Pebble will receive every single notification that your phone gets. If that sounds like too much, you can always disable notifications from the Pebble app. Also by default, text and email replies aren’t enabled. So if you want the ability to respond to messages from the watch, you’ll have to switch that on in settings. Speaking of the sort, you can either send a canned response or you can hit the voice button to dictate a speech-to-text reply — features you’ll find on other watch platforms too.
The biggest change to the Pebble app since we last tested it is the addition of that aforementioned Health tab. There you’ll find an overview of your steps, heart rate and sleep habits. The activity module displays your steps taken, calories burned, distance traveled and active time over a day, week or month. The heart rate module includes a graph of your heart rate throughout the day, while the sleep section shows how many hours you’ve slept in a given day, week or month. It’ll also tell you how many of those hours counted as “deep” sleep.
I’ve used the Pebble 2 for five days so far, and during this period I’ve found that the watch does a good job keeping track of the number of steps I take in a given day, as well as the quality of my sleep. I have a fairly erratic sleep schedule — I might sleep four hours, wake up, stay up for a couple hours, and then sleep for another four hours — and the watch was able to track that odd behavior pretty accurately. I also really liked that it was able to automatically detect when I was working out without me having to launch an app or hit a start button.
The Pebble 2 has a rated battery life of up to seven days, which seems about right. I last charged it five days ago, and despite a slew of app, Slack and email notifications, it’s still holding strong at 30 percent. Not too shabby.
The competition
With its plastic exterior and simple features, the Pebble 2 doesn’t measure up to high-end smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 2, Series 1 or the Moto 360 Sport. But that’s OK, because it’s nowhere near as expensive either. It’s priced at $129, while the other two start at $369, $269 and $200, respectively.
Compared to fitness trackers too, the Pebble 2 is fairly priced. The Fitbit Charge 2 offers many of the same features, but costs $150. The Fitbit Blaze is priced at $200, though it has GPS, which the Pebble 2 doesn’t. The discontinued Basis Peak was also priced at $200, and probably came the closest to the 2 in terms of features. If you want a more serious fitness tracker, you’d do well to look at the $200 Garmin Vivosmart HR+, which includes a heart rate monitor and GPS, support for basic notifications, and various other workout-related features that Garmin is already known for. But the Pebble 2 trumps all of these trackers as a standard smartwatch in that it offers a much wider selection of third-party apps.
To address the lack of GPS, Pebble will be offering a separate device called the Core early next year. The Core is essentially a runner’s companion for your Pebble smartwatch. It packs GPS and a 3G modem, so you can stream Spotify on it while you’re running, no phone required. The Core will cost $99, so a Pebble 2 and Core combination would ring in at $228. But since it adds those extra features, it could be worth it for some.
Yet, perhaps the Pebble 2’s biggest competition is Pebble’s other upcoming wearable, the Time 2. That offers the same features as the Pebble 2, except it adds a color screen, stainless steel body and a generally more stylish design. It’s worth noting that at $199 the Time 2 costs $70 more, but to my mind that’s worth it for a watch that’s infinitely better-looking.
Wrap-up
Even though Pebble already offered support for several popular health apps, the Pebble 2 is the company’s first genuine attempt to make a more fitness-friendly device. The ability to track your heart rate, plus the addition of Pebble’s new Health app, makes it so much easier to not only track your daily step count but also your passive heart rate and sleeping patterns. As long as you can put up with its unsophisticated design, the Pebble 2 combines the benefits of a fitness tracker with the core functions of a basic smartwatch at a reasonable price.
Lensbaby Trio 28 review – CNET
The Good The Trio 28 is an efficient way to carry three Lensbaby lenses, and they’re fun to use.
The Bad The exposure changes from lens to lens, which can get annoying.
The Bottom Line For the price of a single Lensbaby, the Trio 28 is a nice, compact solution for adding three lenses to a mirrorless camera.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Lensbaby expands its arsenal of special-effects lenses with one that’s almost as odd as the effects it produces. The Trio 28 consists of a single mount with three 28mm lenses that you rotate into place: a Sweet, a Velvet and a Twist.
Like their full-size counterparts, the Trio 28’s Twist lens surrounds the central area with swirly bokeh; the Velvet looks soft and glowy; and Sweet renders increasing blur from the center out. On Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Trio 28 lenses have about the equivalent angle of view of a 56mm lens, while APS-C Sony E mount and Fujifilm X mount versions deliver 42mm.
Like all Lensbabys, they’re manual-focus only, and in this case they also have a fixed f3.5 aperture. It only adds about 4.1 ounces/116 g to the weight of the camera, so it won’t weigh you down at all. There’s a 46mm thread across the front for filters, and you might want to spring for a neutral density filter for shooting in bright light.
Lensbaby Trio 28 photo samples
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The lens is slated to ship in the US on October 26 for $280, essentially three lenses for the price of one. I don’t have other pricing or availability yet, but that directly converts to about £216 and AU$365.
Wacom MobileStudio Pro Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Darren Higgins/Wacom
I never reviewed the Wacom Cintiq Companion, the company’s pressure-sensitive Windows tablet that doubles as a second computer display, because it seemed too clunky and underpowered for the price when it launched three years ago. Now, thanks to the popularity of more pen-friendly operating systems and applications plus vastly improved tablet hardware, it seems like a much better time for a product like the Cintiq Companion. Wacom has really upped its game for the rebranding and expansion of its line of tablets for creatives, the Wacom MobileStudio Pro — also a much better name — though they’re still pretty expensive.
Expected to ship by the end of November, the MobileStudio will have six configurations, four 13.3-inch and two 15.6-inch models. All run Windows 10 and use a new stylus, the Pro Pen 2, which has improved precision, less lag and 8,192 levels of sensitivity. (I think– the company says “4x” the previous model. Even 4,096 would be great, though.) Wacom’s MobileStudio Pro tablets look more like their desktop Intuos equivalents than competitors like the Microsoft Surface Pro 4, with the same controls.
The MobileStudio 13 models have IPS (in-plane switching), 2.5K displays with gamuts rated at 96 percent of Adobe RGB. Prices vary with storage capacity: $1,500 for a 64GB SSD, $1,800 for 128GB, $2,000 for 256GB and $2,500 for 512GB. (I don’t have any UK or AU pricing, but directly converted those are about £1,180, £1,415, £1,570, £1,965 and AU$1,970, AU$2,360, AU$2,625, AU$3,280.)
The MobileStudio 16 models use a 4K (UHD resolution) display rated at 94 percent Adobe RGB. The cheaper $2,400 model incorporates an Nvidia Quadro M600M processor with 2GB of video RAM and a 256GB SSD, while the $3,000 model has an Nvidia Quadro M1000M with 4GB of video RAM and a 512GB SSD. (Directly converted, £1,885, £2,360 and AU$3,150, AU$3,935. ) The MobileStudio 16 and the most expensive MobileStudio 13 models include an Intel RealSense 3D camera.
Obviously, there are still ton of details and specifications we need to know before really understanding what Wacom’s got here — I mean, how much does that 15.6-inch model weigh? I do know that you’ll still be able to use the old $50 (£45 and AU$50) Bluetooth-connecting Cintiq Companion keyboard, so you’ll be able to get your non-artsy work done, too.
Sony PlayStation VR review – CNET
The Good The PlayStation VR is the most accessible, affordable and user-friendly full VR option on the market. Sony has promised support from a long list of developers down the track but the immediate launch games are pretty solid as well.
The Bad Its single-camera tracking system occasionally feels lacking and you may have trouble when you turn around. The PSVR’s graphical fidelity is occasionally noticeably lower than what’s possible with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
The Bottom Line While the motion tracking trails its PC VR counterparts, Sony’s PlayStation VR otherwise crams a solid and satisfying virtual reality experience into an existing PS4 game console.
2016 has lived up to its billing as the “year of virtual reality,” with products at the high end (HTC Vive and Oculus Rift) and in the mobile arena (Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard, Google Daydream) offering VR options across the spectrum.
Now a new contender appears, with an established brand and a gigantic install base. The PlayStation VR, available October 13, represents the most accessible path to VR if only because every one of the roughly 45 million PlayStation 4 owners already has half the required hardware.
It’s also the only “full” VR system — that is, one with spatial and motion tracking — that’ll get you up and running from scratch for under $700, £630 or AU$1,050. By itself, if you already have a PS4, it’s $399, £349 or AU$550. The combined cost (PC plus headset) for Oculus and Vive currently sits north of $1,200.
To be sure, this is an expensive toy and certainly not for everyone. In fact, Sony says it’s not designed for kids 12 years and under. But considering its price and the fact that you may already have half the hardware sitting in your living room, the PSVR presents a very compelling proposition.
Combine that with PlayStation’s well-established distribution platform, close relationship to the developers crafting these VR experiences and quality control, and the PSVR is a more worry-free answer to the potentially confusing world of PC-based VR.
View full gallery The first time setting up PSVR took 10 minutes. Sarah Tew/CNET
Setup
Setting up either of the two existing PC-connected VR rigs isn’t pretty. The same goes with the PSVR. It’s not an overly complicated process, but the interconnected wired web that results isn’t necessarily something you can tuck away out of sight.
You’ll need an extra outlet to power the PSVR’s processor unit and you’ll also need to devote one of the PS4’s two USB slots so that it can talk to the console. The unit is about the size of three CD jewel cases stacked on top of each other — this of course needs a place to live as well.
The whole thing took me about 10 minutes to connect my first time. When it’s all done and dusted, what you’re left with feels inelegant and messy, but part of VR is being tethered to a long wire. That’s just where the tech is right now. Compared to the Rift and Vive, the PSVR is no better or worse in that department.
Buying the standard $399 PSVR kit assumes you already own a PlayStation Camera and two Move controllers. You absolutely need the camera to use the PSVR and two Move controllers are all but required. If you don’t possess these items you’ll need to purchase them separately. But don’t do that. For $499, Sony sells a bundle that includes everything you need — save for a PS4 — and packs-in the mini-game collection VR Worlds as a bonus. It’s a good deal if you’re missing some of the prerequisites.
With everything connected and the headset on, I was surprised that booting up the PS4 didn’t force me to start any kind of in-depth setup. A few quick adjustments and I was mostly ready to go. When you press the headset’s inline power button, the console switches into VR mode which shifts the menu screen to the headset and mirrors a lower res version of what you’re seeing onto the TV.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
Intuitive icons explain that you can recenter the home screen if you need to at any time (which is probably something I do at least twice a session). Instead of a general initial setup, most software will activate a number of calibration check marks so that you get the best optimal performance for that specific experience. Long story short, at the very least you’ll probably be doing some kind of minimal adjustment to your VR play area each time you play. The more I played, the more I learned which games needed more finessing than others.
In the manual, Sony says you need approximately a 10 by 6 foot area (about 3 by 2 meters) needed for play, but I was able to get it working fine in a space only about 7 by 4 foot (about 2 by 1.5 meters). The PSVR seems relaxed about how much space you need, and even a few square feet of floor space could end up working for a handful of games.
Included with our review kit was a PowerA $50 stand — think mannequin head — to hold and organize all of the PSVR accessories. It’s actually something worth checking out because there’s not a really good place to store all of these items when you’re not using them. The stand also charges two Move controllers and a DualShock4 PlayStation controller simultaneously. It has a spot to hang the headset too, but it tends to droop down too much.
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The PowerA charging stand ($50).
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Lastly, if you’re at all concerned about HDR compatibility, the PSVR’s processing unit will not pass an HDR signal through. You’ll need to use a direct HDMI connection for HDR to work whether you’re using a PS4 or PS4 Pro.
What is experiencing PSVR really like?
The question I get asked most about PSVR is, “Does it work?” Make no mistake: I let out an audible gasp the first time I tried Batman Arkham VR. It felt similar to the first time I demoed the HTC Vive Portal: Aperture Robot Repair demo. That feeling of shocking immersion is certainly ever-present. The PSVR lets you escape the world you currently occupy and warp into a fully 3D artificial existence. It works.
But, it can also make you dizzy. If the camera isn’t tracking you well, the artificial floor can start to drift while playing. That’s a weird feeling! It feels like you’re drunk and can’t hold yourself up.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
Judging from my limited time with Oculus Rift but hours with the HTC Vive, I found the overall experience to be in the same ballpark as the other “full VR” hardware out there. I say this as it relates to the VR immersion — not necessarily the visual fidelity. The Rift and Vive offer slightly higher screen resolutions and variable performance depending on PC specs. The PSVR, on the other hand, is locked into the same performance across the board because it’s powered by a PS4.
Solid headset, controllers are just OK
The best part of the PSVR is its headset. Out of all the VR headsets I’ve worn I think this is the most comfortable, but certainly not the lightest. The headset has a slightly plasticky feel to it, but I wouldn’t call it cheap. It seems to be able to adjust to most head sizes (note: I have what some call an enormous head and it fits fine) and I like its retractable band adjuster and sliding viewfinder. That said, I can’t wear it — or any other VR headset — for more than 30 to 45 minutes tops, without getting the overwhelming sense that I need to take a break.
It’s easy to muck up the lenses in the headset. Whether it was my eyelashes or just accidental smudges from adjusting it for comfort, I found myself cleaning the two lenses a lot. There’s an included shammy for doing just that.
And then there’s the sweating. Am I a person who sweats a lot normally? Yes. But everyone I’ve let try this thing ends up with a nice moist patch above their eyebrows. That’s just the way it is. Is it a deal breaker? Not at all. Just don’t spend an hour with the PSVR immediately before you need to look somewhat presentable.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
I do like that the headset has inline buttons to control volume. This is also where you plug in the included earbuds (you can also bring your own, but you won’t get the PSVR’s 3D audio). It’s easy to tangle yourself up in the wires from the buds too, which can be frustrating if you accidentally rip them out.
The controllers and room tracking, as they’re currently set up, leave a little to be desired. More often than not, something needs adjusting. The camera seems to have a difficult time tracking movement of the Move wands when you’ve turned around 180 degrees because the lenses physically can’t see them. It feels like the system tries to guestimate where they might be located when out of sight, but we’re not entirely sure what’s going on in these situations.
PlayStation VR review: Great games outweigh limited specs
The PlayStation VR is just what the fledgling virtual reality industry needs today. While the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive made headlines for being the first truly high-end VR headsets on the market, they’re held back by their cost, complexity and lack of killer games and experiences. Sony’s solution, on the other hand, starts at $400 (assuming you already own the PlayStation Camera and Motion Controllers) and works with the $300 PS4 console that’s currently in tens of millions of homes. It’s also launching with a slew of titles from major developers, with even more on the way. While the PlayStation VR isn’t as technically capable as its competition, it’s a much more sensible option. But it’s still not quite a must-buy product just yet.
Hardware
The PlayStation VR screams “consumer friendly.” Its plastic headset has the same basic shape as its competitors, but it sports a rounder, more toy-like aesthetic. Bright lights on the PS VR make you look like a character in Tron whenever you’re wearing it. And instead of relying on ugly and crude straps, it has a sturdy headband with ample cushioning. There’s also just one wire coming out of the headset — an improvement over the HTC Vive’s bundle of cables.
While the Rift and the Vive both feel like advanced prototypes, the PS VR shows attention to detail — exactly what you’d expect from a company that’s been making consumer gadgets for more than 30 years.
Moving inside the headset, there’s a thin rubbery material around the lenses that rests against your face and nose. That might seem like a precarious method for keeping the headset in place, but the rubbery bits actually feel soft and smooth on your skin. And best of all, it doesn’t make you sweat like the foam liners around the Vive and the Rift. Sony’s design is far more suited to sharing the headset as well; you just need to wipe down the rubber portions and the head cushion. It’s much harder to successfully clean foam liners, and eventually they start to fall apart if you sanitize them well.
The PS VR’s two lenses sit atop a 5.7-inch, 1080p display. That might sound like a lot of pixels, but it’s a bit less than the 2,160 x 1,200 resolution offered on the Oculus and HTC headsets. And when you have your face shoved right up against a screen, every single pixel matters. It also provides a smaller field of view compared with the competition: 100 degrees, instead of 110, which has an impact on the overall sense of immersion. The PS VR also includes the same Sixaxis gyroscope found in Sony’s game controllers, as well as a built-in microphone.
Those lights I mentioned before also help the PlayStation Camera track your head movements, just like how it follows your hand movements with the glowing bulbs on top of the Move controllers. Speaking of those devices, it’s important to know that they’re required for using the PS VR. You might have assumed they were optional, since they’re not included in the $400 Core bundle, but that’s really meant for people who already own two Move controllers and a PS Camera. The $500 PS VR bundle includes both (and it’s actually a decent deal compared with buying all of the gear separately).
I’m not sure if Sony had any idea it would be getting into the VR business back when it debuted the Move controllers in 2009, or even the Camera in 2013, so it’s practically a stroke of luck that it already had the hardware available. Those devices were seen as responses to the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft’s Kinect camera, and while a few games took advantage of them, developers never really jumped aboard. The PS VR could finally be a way for Sony to sell off its old inventory — if it succeeds, of course.
As for other hardware, the PS VR also comes with a Processor Unit (it honestly looks like an adorable baby PS4) that powers the “Social Screen.” That’s Sony’s fancy name for mirroring whatever you’re seeing in your headset to your TV. Some games will also use the TV for multiplayer features, allowing your friends to either join in or play against you on the same console.
Setup
Once you open the box, the first thing you’ll have to do is connect the Processor Unit to your PlayStation 4. That involves swapping the HDMI cable in your console, adding another passthrough HDMI cable (included in the package) and connecting the Processor Unit to a USB connection on the front of the PS4. (I bet Sony regrets not including rear USB ports now.)
There’s a lengthy dongle with an HDMI port and proprietary power/data connection that plugs into the front of the Processor Unit, which is where you actually plug in the VR headset. A slim controller box in the headset’s cable also lets you turn on the power, mute the microphone, plug in headphones and adjust the volume. If that sounds like a mess of wires, well, you’re not wrong. If you want to live with the PS VR, you’ll have to learn to deal with plenty of cables.
When I’m not using the headset, I disconnect it from the dongle and hide all of the wires. But when you’re using it, you’ve got no choice but to have cables running all around your living room. It’s not nearly as cumbersome as the HTC Vive’s Alien-like cable bundle, but it’s still a potential hazard for tripping or knocking things over on your coffee table.
If you’re among the many PlayStation owners (myself included) who don’t have the Camera or Move controllers, you’ll need to allot some setup time for those as well. They’re fairly easy to connect, though the Camera’s precarious stand always needs some fiddling. The Move Controllers also need to be plugged into your console over USB to get set up, a process that took several tries for me.
In use
With everything connected, you just need to hit the power button on the headset’s inline remote to turn on the Processor Unit (it comes alive with a satisfying “beep”). Slipping on the headset — which involves lengthening the front telescopic portion of the lens, pulling back on the rear of the headband and tightening everything with the adjustment dial — brings you to the familiar PlayStation 4 interface.
Sony didn’t make any changes to its PlayStation dashboard for VR, but then again, it didn’t really have to. The interface translates well to VR, especially since you’re still navigating it with your existing DualShock 4 controller. Eventually it’d be nice to see some virtual reality flourishes while browsing your PS4 library. At this point, you’re basically just staring at a 2D screen inside of the headset.
From afar, the PS VR’s headset looks pretty bulky. And at 1.3 pounds, it’s also significantly heavier than the one-pound Oculus Rift and slightly beefier than the 1.2-pound HTC Vive. But here’s the thing: Sony’s headset doesn’t feel heavier when you’re wearing it, thanks to the smart ergonomics of the headband.
The front of the band rests on your forehead — it’s almost like you’re wearing half of a helmet — while the rear portion sits against the back of your head. Both sides are cushioned well, and the back of the band also has weights to help balance everything. The result: I can wear the PS VR for hours on end with glasses without feeling fatigued, whereas discomfort is a big problem for me with the HTC Vive. It also doesn’t make me feel like I’m strapped into some sort of Clockwork Orange eye torture device, a sensation I inevitably feel when using the Rift or Vive for too long.
This is something worth stressing: Comfort matters if we want regular consumers to see VR as more than just a fad. Geeks and early adopters are often willing to suffer through wonky designs to experience bleeding-edge tech. But for everyone else, headsets need to be something that’s easy to wear. Mobile solutions like Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s upcoming Daydream headset emphasize comfort, and since they’re not encumbered by wires, they’re also much lighter and easier to wear than high-end VR headsets.
So how does the PS VR handle virtual reality? Surprisingly well, it turns out. The OLED screens spit out bright, vibrant images, and the combination of the PlayStation Camera and Move controllers allow for some solid motion tracking. (It also puts the PS VR a step above the Rift, which still hasn’t launched its motion controllers yet.) There’s also some decent 3D positioning audio, even with the bundled Sony headphones.
And while most VR experiences don’t have the same graphics fidelity as you’d get from a PC — there are more jaggy edges and fewer details — they’re good enough to make for convincing virtual experiences.
I was especially surprised at how well the Move controllers adapted to VR. They’re just as comfortable as the Vive’s controllers but far less bulky, and they’re precise enough to let you maneuver small puzzle pieces or flip a virtual object around to view it from every angle. Not bad for seven-year-old technology.
The one big complaint I have is with the PS VR’s limited 100-degree field of view. It makes virtual environments feel a bit less immersive and more like you’re peering through a pair of binoculars. Most people probably won’t notice the issue, but it feels like a distinct step back if you’re used to more powerful VR platforms. Sony also purposefully designed the headset so that there’s a small gap at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to catch glimpses of the real world. I get the safety reasons for doing that, but it’s something that could have been addressed with a built-in camera, as on the Vive.
Games
So. Many. Games. That’s the PlayStation VR’s big draw over the competition. While the Rift and the Vive offered a handful of titles at launch, they didn’t have much support from major publishers, and there’s still a disappointing lack of quality titles on their platforms. The PS VR, on the other hand, is launching with more than 30 titles, with another 20 or so to come by the end of the year, according to Sony. And they’re not all just small titles from indie devs either.
Every PS VR unit also comes with a demo disc that lets you test out 17 games, including EVE: Valkyrie, Job Simulator and Resident Evil 7. Most of the experiences last just 10 to 15 minutes, but they’re enough to help you decide which games you’d actually want to buy. It also gives me flashbacks to the demo disc in the original PlayStation, which I remember playing endlessly, since I didn’t actually own many games. Every PS VR owner will also be able to download The Playroom VR for free, which is basically a collection mini-games. And Sony has compiled five of its own experiences into the $40 PlayStation VR Worlds, which will let you do things like take on the role of British gangster or dive into the ocean’s depths.
Batman: Arkham VR is probably the biggest launch game, because who hasn’t secretly wanted to be the Caped Crusader? It comes from Rocksteady Studios, the folks behind the recent trilogy of well-regarded Batman games. With an iconic character and trusted developers, it was the experience I was most looking forward to trying out. And for the most part, it didn’t disappoint.
We’ve already covered the early part of Arkham VR in depth, but without revealing spoilers, I can say that it’s one of the more unique VR experiences on the market. The game leans heavily on the detective side of Batman, as you’re trying to solve a murder mystery. It takes full advantage of the character’s gadgets: If you look down, you’ll see your utility belt with an environmental scanner on the left, batarangs in the middle and a grappling gun on the right. When you’re playing the game, you just need to reach down in the general area to select those gadgets. It wasn’t long before I was flinging batarangs on command (and, yes, you’re helped out by some heavy aim assistance).
You’ll come across some familiar faces from the comics, and I was glad to see that Rocksteady brought in its usual voice actors (including Mark Hamill as the Joker) to lend some gravitas to the experience. Arkham VR doesn’t have much in the way of combat, though, which will disappoint fans of the developer’s previous games. Personally, I too wanted to bust some heads in VR. The game is also only a few hours long (hence the $20 price), so it’s more an appetizer than a truly satisfying entree.
I was also wowed by Rez Infinite, which brings the on-rails shooter mechanics from the classic Dreamcast game into a fully immersive environment. It relies on a Move controller for targeting enemies, but the real beauty of it is simply looking around and feeling enveloped by the stylized graphics and 3D audio. The magic of Rez was always about finding the flow of shooting, which directly affects the rhythm of the score. Infinite evolves that experience in just the right ways.
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is another on-rails experience, except you’re literally on rails. The game places you inside a train cart and moves you through a variety of creepy areas, from a haunted mansion to a slaughterhouse with screaming pigs. Naturally, you’ll have to shoot some baddies, but it also uses head tracking to force you to duck or lean from deadly obstacles. It’s more of a carnival ride than the engrossing narrative experience of the original game, but boy, is it a fun way to show what VR can do.
I didn’t suffer any of the motion sickness issues that some of Engadget’s staff experienced at E3, which were at times so dispiriting that they made us fear for the future of VR. That could be due to developers having had more time to polish their experiences (especially with Resident Evil 7) as well as further refinements with the PS VR software. Either way, I’m glad to see that the PS VR isn’t a vomit machine.
There weren’t any major technical issues either. On some occasions, the PS Camera had trouble accurately positioning the Move controllers, but a reset would usually fix it. That’s the sort of bug that Sony can solve with a software update, at least.
The competition
No surprises here: The PS VR is going head to head with the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. But there really isn’t much of a contest, if you really think about it. If you value higher-fidelity graphics and are already a PC gamer, it makes more sense to invest in the more powerful hardware. But if you’re a console gamer who already owns a PS4, the PS VR makes more sense.
When it comes to overall cost and accessibility, the PS VR is a far more compelling option. For now, it’s the only way to get into immersive motion-tracking VR for less than $1,000 ($400 for the PS VR core bundle or $500 for the Camera and Move Controller PS VR bundle, plus $300 for the console). The more powerful $400 PlayStation 4 Pro could also solve some of the graphical issues I had with the PS VR when it debuts next month. Even with that machine, you’ll still be shelling out less than you would with a powerful gaming PC and the $600 Rift or $800 Vive.
What’s next?
Looking ahead, though, I have a feeling the PS VR won’t age very gracefully. We’ll likely see some more technically impressive PC VR titles next year, and it’ll be left in the dust whenever we see follow-up headsets from Oculus and HTC. Microsoft is also opening up its Windows Holographic platform to VR headsets soon, so who knows what that will bring.
But here’s the thing: Even though the PS VR is a good value for this nascent industry, that’s still a lot of money. At this point, most consumers would be better off just waiting for prices to come down across the board in the high-end VR arena. And as great as some of the games are, none of them are true must-play experiences. I had fun with plenty of them, but nothing has pulled me back to play repeatedly as much as recent non-VR titles like Overwatch or Forza Horizon 3.
It’s also unclear how much Sony will continue to support PS VR moving forward. For now, it’s getting buzz for being a low-cost solution. But if Sony doesn’t sell enough units, or if developers start to cool on the platform, you’ll be left with an unsupported and expensive experiment. In many ways, the PS VR reminds me of the Sega CD, an expensive peripheral that gave us a glimpse at the future but was too expensive and technically limited to truly succeed.
The best thing about the PS VR: Even if it’s not for you, it could help grow the overall VR market. Since it’s not just limited to the Rift and the Vive now, more developers might actually consider making VR games.
Wrap-up
Good on Sony for actually delivering a decent VR headset that comes in much cheaper than the competition. It’s even more impressive that it managed to get a fair number of developers on board for the initial push. Nonetheless, the PS VR is hard to recommend for most people. Even if you’re intrigued by virtual reality, it’s worth waiting for prices to go down and for the overall market to settle.
Bowers & Wilkins P9 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature is available now.
Bowers and Wilkins
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Bowers & Wilkins has a gift for its fans: a new flagship headphone, the P9 Signature ($900, £700, AU$1,400).
I haven’t played around with it yet, but it does look swanky, and Bowers & Wilkins is calling it its best-sounding and most luxurious headphone to date. It’s also the company’s largest over-ear headphone and weighs a hefty 415 grams.
Completely custom made, Bowers & Wilkins says the headphone is engineered by the team responsible for the class-leading 800 D3 loudspeaker and features “bespoke” technology and a “crystal-clear listening experience that’s created through the innovative placement of the transducer, which is positioned to provide a more natural listening experience.”
The P9 Signature in its case.
Bowers and Wilkins
Needless to say, with that kind of build-up, I look forward to testing out a pair and getting CNET contributor Steve Guttenberg’s thoughts on the sound along with editor Ty Pendelbury’s.
While we wait for a review sample, here’s a look at the headphones’ highlights, according to Bowers & Wilkins.
- Crafted from Italian Saffiano leather, using a ‘stamping’ technique that gives the material a distinctive cross-hatch finish.
- Memory foam cushions in the earpads help isolate noise from the outside world and mold to the shape of the user’s head over time, providing both an acoustic seal and an incredibly comfortable listening experience.
- Aluminum arms make them ideal for music on the move thanks to their innovative foldable design and material choice, which adds greater durability.
- 415 grams
- 40mm drivers
- The luxurious case is crafted from Alcantara (suede-like feel) and Saffiano leather detail.
- Come with three high-performance cables suitable for use at home and on the go (one cable has an inline remote with microphone).
- An additional Lightning cable is in development and will be out from early 2017 free to those who have registered their P9 on http://www.bowers-wilkins.com.
Google Pixel XL Phone Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
James Martin/CNET
At an event this morning, Google announced a slew of new products, including the debut of the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. The phones have the same design, same processor, same storage and same camera. So with all this sameness, what are the differences?
Well, there are not many. And that’s good, because even if you get the smaller one, you’re not missing out on any cool features. The real differences are in battery and screen size, as well as the resolution and price.
- Screen size: Despite the Pixel XL having a larger screen with more resolution, the smaller Pixel still sports a very respectable 1,920×1,080-pixel display.
- Battery: The Pixel has a 2,770mAh battery and the Pixel XL a 3,450mAh battery. Until we test the phones, we can’t be certain how much more battery life, if any, the Pixel XL will get.
- Price: For a 32 GB model, the Pixel starts at $649 and the Pixel XL at $769. Both are available for preorder today — except the blue version, which is sold out.
The Pixel and Pixel XL come built-in with Google Assistant and support for Google’s Daydream VR platform. Google touts that the camera on the Pixel series is better than on any other smartphone. DxOMark, a camera-testing website, gives the Pixel’s camera a score of 89 — the highest for any smartphone.
Hands-on with Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL phones
Lexy Savvides checks out Google’s new Pixel and Pixel XL, both of which boast the Snapdragon 821 processor and sport a 12-megapixel camera.
by Lexy Savvides
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Check out the full specs for both phones below, and take a look at our hands-on video of the Pixel and Pixel XL.
Google Pixel and Pixel XL specs
| 5-inch; 1,920×1,080 pixels | 5.5-inch; 2,560×1,440 pixels |
| 441 ppi | 534 ppi |
| 5.66×2.74×0.34 (at its thickest) | 6.09×2.98×0.34 (at its thickest) |
| 143.84×69.54×8.58 (at its thickest) | 154.72×75.74×8.58 (at its thickest) |
| 5.04 oz; 143 g | 5.92 oz; 168g |
| Android 7.1 Nougat | Android 7.1 Nougat |
| 12.3-megapixel | 12.3-megapixel |
| 8-megapixel | 8-megapixel |
| 4K | 4K |
| 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 |
| 32GB, 128GB | 32GB, 128GB |
| 4GB | 4GB |
| None | None |
| 2,770mAh | 3,450mAh |
| Back cover | Back cover |
| USB-C | USB-C |
| Google Assistant built-in; unlimited cloud storage; Daydream VR ready | Google Assistant built-in; unlimited cloud storage; Daydream VR ready |
| $649 (32GB); $749 (128GB) | $769 (32GB); $869 (128GB) |
| £599 (32GB); £699 (128GB) | £719 (32GB); £819 (128GB) |
| TBD | TBD |
More from Google’s event
- Google Pixel phones, Daydream View and Chromecast Ultra: Everything Google just announced
- Google’s Pixel, Pixel XL are superphones set to take on iPhone 7
- See all of our Google coverage
Jenn-Air JJW380DP review – CNET
The Good The $5,300 Jenn-Air JJW380DP double wall oven works with the Nest Learning Thermostat to cool off your home automatically when the oven starts cooking. The Culinary Center helps you bake some delicious food by picking the right cook settings for you.
The Bad This is an expensive oven, and it doesn’t bake as evenly as you would expect at that price. The app can be slow in talking to the oven.
The Bottom Line This double oven’s smarts make it an appliance worth pining after.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Until now, ovens haven’t played nice with other smart-home products. Manufacturers have added Bluetooth, NFC (near-field communication), Wi-Fi and even tablets to their stoves. They’ve created apps that have ranged from somewhat useful to headache-inducing. And for the most part, these ovens aren’t talking to any other gadgets.
More smart ovens
- GE Profile Built-In Double Convection Wall Oven PT9550SFSS
- Dacor DYRP36D
- LG LDG4315ST
The $5,300 Jenn-Air JJW380DP electric double wall oven is the first oven we’ve tested that talks to other smart home products outside the kitchen (GE Appliances recently announced that its Wi-Fi large appliances will work with Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant; we’ll review one of these stoves soon). The Wi-Fi-connected double oven works with only one other device, but it’s an important one: the Nest Learning Thermostat, the popular, smart heating and cooling control system. This connection means that you can set a rule for your Nest to adjust the temperature of your home when one of the Jenn-Air ovens reaches a certain temperature.
The Jenn-Air double oven has a few more worthwhile tricks when it comes to cooking your food well. The unit has a built-in Culinary Center that sets cooking temperatures and makes suggestions for certain dishes based variables such as the cut of meat you are cooking and the type of pan you’re using. And the oven turned out delicious food when I cooked with our usual test recipes and when I used the Culinary Center.
This Jenn-Air double oven does have a few drawbacks. Plenty of households won’t be able to put down $5,300 for an appliance, and there were some inconsistencies in the way the top oven and bottom oven bake. And I admit that Jenn-Air’s partnership with Nest is a one-trick pony. But the usefulness of that trick, the double oven’s pronounced cooking skills and Jenn-Air’s ambitious jump to connect the kitchen to the rest of the smart home make it worthwhile to add the Jenn-Air JJW380DP to the top of your wish list.
This double wall oven works with the Nest…
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Turn up the oven, and it turns down the thermostat
The Jenn-Air brand is owned by Whirlpool, a manufacturer that has made big moves in advancing its products’ presence in the smart home. The company’s smart Whirlpool brand products include app-connected washers and dryers, a dishwasher that will connect with Amazon Dash replenishments and a range that, like the Jenn-Air JJW380DP, will connect to Nest. Whirlpool also announced that it would partner with a Silicon Valley startup for the software in its Jenn-Air smart ovens.
Chris Monroe/CNET
The Jenn-Air double wall oven establishes just how seriously its parent company takes its smart large appliances and how they work with other smart products. The oven’s Nest capabilities are impressive and easy to set up within Jenn-Air’s iOS- and Android-friendly app. After you set up a user account and connect the oven to the app, you select “Works with Nest” from the settings menu. You can opt for the app to notify you if the oven is on when the Nest is set to away, the setting you use when you’ve left your home. This provides a virtual answer to the question, “Did I leave my oven on?”
You can select the temperature you want your Jenn-Air to reach before it changes the temperature of your Nest. You can also select by how many degrees you want the Nest to adjust.
Screenshot by Ashlee Clark Thompson/CNET
The highlight of the Nest connection is that you can enable a rule to change your Nest’s temperature setting based on the temperature of the oven. For example, you could have the Nest lower its setting by 2 degrees Fahrenheit every time the Jenn-Air oven reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit. During testing, the Nest quickly adjusted its settings as soon as either of the double oven’s cavities hit the temperature at which I wanted it to adjust. And the Nest automatically returned to its original temperature settings once I turned the oven off.
On the surface, this doesn’t sound like a very fancy feature. But if you’ve ever been busy in the kitchen, you know that it can get hot. The Nest’s automatic adjustment of your house’s temperature would make cooking a little more pleasant without having to leave the room to adjust the thermostat. Now, you can only set one rule at a time between the Nest and the Jenn-Air, which is limiting if you want different adjustments for higher temperatures. But this compatibility is effective, and I look forward to seeing it expand.
Google Home Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
OK, Google, game on.
At today’s event in San Francisco, Google showed off the retail ready version of the company’s smart speaker — Google Home. With a conversational voice assistant built-in, Google Home acts as a secretary, a music hub, and a smart home controller. Once you plug it in, it’s always listening, so you simply have to be within shouting distance and say, “OK, Google,” and your wish becomes its command.
You’ll be able to buy Google Home for $130 starting November 4. The purchase will include six free months of YouTube Red, the site’s ad-free service, which costs $10 per month normally. Home’s price converts to around £100 and AU$170, but no word on if it’ll be available yet beyond the US.
Google’s Pixel hardware event
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If the Home’s many features sound familiar, it’s because Google Home is functionally quite similar to a popular product we already know and love — the Amazon Echo. Launched as “a Star Trek computer for your home” the Echo surprised us with just how useful it was. Say the word and the Echo could call a cab, tell a joke, or turn on the lights in the kitchen.
Given the Echo’s success, Google’s launch of a device designed to compete with the Echo is less surprising. Apple’s supposedly doing the same in the near future. But after the impressive demo today, Google Home looks primed to stand toe to toe with Amazon’s awesome assistant. Here’s everything it can do and why, as an Android owner and smart home advocate, I’m eagerly awaiting entrance into Google’s Home.
Holding a conversation
When it was first demoed at Google’s annual I/O developer conference in May, Google Home showed the promise of conversational capabilities. The family in the video talked to the speaker, and Home used context from previous questions to inform subsequent answers. It was awesome, but it was just a demo.
Today, we saw it in more detail, and it certainly looks like Google Home can respond to you in a much more active way than Alexa. Using the new Google Assistant, the Home can manage your shopping list and send it to your Pixel phone. It can use Google’s search to tell you Adele’s real name. Then, if you ask, “How many Grammys has she won?” It’ll know who “she” is and respond accordingly.
Google Home also lets you customize the color of the base.
James Martin/CNET
The Home even uses Google Maps to give you traffic info about your route to work. And with a command, Google Home will give you a tailored morning briefing with your schedule, the traffic, and whatever news is important to you. With the full power of Google’s search engine behind it, today’s demo showed in detail how flexible Google Home could be.
Playing music
Adding to that flexibility, once you get over having a conversation with the cylinder on your counter, you’ll be able to control the Home with a capacitive touch panel. You can ask Home to play music for you, and it’ll stream songs from Google Play, obviously, as well as popular third-party apps like Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn and others. Google’s promised awesome sound quality from the Home itself. And you can turn the volume up using a voice command, or with the touch panel on top.
It sounded great playing Shakira’s “Try Anything” during the demo. Once we get our hands on it, we’ll put it side by side with the Echo to see which sounds better in a real-world environment.
The Home has a robust speaker, and can command your TV or your own sound system.
James Martin/CNET
Impressively, you don’t even have to know the exact name of the song you want to play with Google Home. Saying, “Play the song from ‘Zootopia’ by Shakira” is enough, and Google will search to help you out and play what you want.
Plus, the Home itself might not need to sound better than the Echo to be a better music hub. You can use it to command the Chromecast Audio streamer you have plugged into your speaker, the Chromecast video streamer plugged into your TV or any Google Cast-enabled speaker. You can send YouTube videos or your pictures to your TV. You’ll soon be able to launch Netflix and control it with Home. Or say the word, and your favorite song will pour out of your own audio setup, and even better, you can sync the Home and any of those Chromecast devices for whole home audio.
Only the Home that hears you best will respond.
James Martin/CNET
If you have multiple Google Homes, only the one that hears you best will respond to your voice commands to prevent overlap. That’s another advantage Home has over the Amazon Echo, but that advantage might not last long, as Amazon’s working on a similar upgrade.
You can use Amazon’s platform to plug into your favorite speakers with the Dot, but Amazon doesn’t have any way to sync multiple devices. Multidevice audio could be a big win for the Google Home, then, if it works as promised. And that’s a pretty safe bet, since Chromecast audio can already stream to multiple speakers at once.
Connecting your home
Most exciting for me, though, is Google Home’s potential as a smart-home control point. At launch, the Home will work with Nest, SmartThings, Philips Hue and IFTTT. You’ll be able to set the thermostat, turn on the lights and control your SmartThings switches. Hopefully, you’ll be able to create customized commands through IFTTT, as that’ll open up all sorts of possibilities. When Alexa first launched an IFTTT channel, it only had prepackaged options, but custom commands are available now.
More from Google’s event
- Google Pixel phones, Daydream View and Chromecast Ultra: Everything Google just announced
- Google’s Pixel, Pixel XL are superphones set to take on iPhone 7
- Pixel hardware event is really about software
- See all of our Google coverage
A single point of control that anyone in the family can command makes whole home smarts much more feasible than traditional smartphone controls. With a smartphone, you often have to wrangle multiple apps to control multiple devices, and giving access to your family is a whole other headache. When you have to jump through a bunch of hoops just so your significant other can turn off a light, the smart home doesn’t feel so smart.
Google Home, then, might help usher this field of technology ripe with potential into the mainstream. The Echo laid out a handy road map for mastering this function. Amazon sought out a few big name integrations such as Philips, Lifx, IFTTT, Belkin, Ecobee — even SmartThings and Nest. Then, the company opened up the API and invited developers to craft skills for the Echo on their own.
Everything that will work with Google Home
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As a result, Alexa’s smart-home capabilities are robust. The Echo makes it easy for anyone in the family to control whatever device they’d like. Alexa’s smart-home prowess is a big part of the reason we’ve liked the Echo and the Dot so much and why we’ve made them an integral part of the CNET Smart Home.
Google Home will have some catching up to do on this front, and that’ll be a tall task, since Amazon adds more and more capabilities to the Echo seemingly every day. The Home will get one advantage right away from Philips Hue — you’ll be able to change the colors of Philips bulbs with a voice command. You can’t do that with Alexa right now — you can only turn bulbs on or off or dim them up or down.
No doubt Google can use the reputation of its brand to entice developers to expand its smart home capabilities further. And for those of us waiting for the smart home to come closer to fruition, a heated competition between Google and Amazon can only be a good thing.
Outlook
The Home’s $130 price significantly undercuts the $180 Echo, but Amazon just released a $50 version of its trimmed-down smart speaker — the Amazon Echo Dot. The Dot has all the smarts of the Echo, and plugs into your own sound system. The Home itself won’t be able to do that. You’ll have to buy a separate $30 Chromecast Audio streamer, bringing the $160 total to over three times the price of the Echo Dot.
The Home, then, has its work cut out for it to oust Alexa from her place as the best smart-home assistant, especially given Alexa’s robust catalog of capabilities. With the Home’s ability to hold a conversation, sync to multiple devices, and leverage Google’s brand and Works with Nest to build a smart-home platform, we could be in for a spectacular battle for smart speaker supremacy.
Check out all of today’s Google news.
Update, 11:52 a.m. PT: Added hands-on video from CNET’s Sean Hollister.
Google Daydream View Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Google’s aiming to take the next step forward in virtual reality, but it’s happening on a phone…via an affordable accessory.
Yes, there’s a new Google Pixel phone. But that phone is the first Daydream VR-ready phone, too. And together with Daydream, it will try to challenge what Samsung and Oculus have done with VR over the last couple of years.
Here’s what you need to know:
It doesn’t work with all phones. The first Google Cardboard fold-together headset showed that VR, or something like it, can happen on nearly any phone if you’re patient with limitations. Daydream is different. It’s a step-up type of technology. It’s smoother, better-looking, and supports its own motion-controlled remote. Google plans for Daydream to run on a certain set of phones with certain specs and displays. But Pixel is the first compatible phone out of the gate. More Daydream-ready phones are coming, though.
Google
It doesn’t track you walking around, but it has a motion-tracking controller. Like Samsung Gear VR, it’s something you’re meant to sit down in a comfy swivel chair and use, or stand and turn with. It doesn’t track the space around you, so you can’t go for a VR walkabout like you can with the higher-end Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. You can’t even lean closer to objects (we tried).
But Daydream has its own little controller with motion controls — and when we tried it out, we were super impressed with how fast and precise it was. Google says it used nine-axis inertial sensors, a Bluetooth Low Energy connection and a lot of fine tuning to get the remote to work this well. It felt good enough to write with, and swinging around a magic wand or mouse pointer was no problem.
The controller nestles right into the inside of the headset, held in with an elastic band, so you don’t need to worry about where it goes when it’s not in use.
Street View in VR with Daydream.
CNET
It has a comfy design. Google says it’s worked with clothing manufacturers to develop breathable microfiber materials for a cozier fit. The fabric-covered headset is sleek and small, more like the PC-connected Oculus Rift (also famed for comfy fabrics) than Samsung’s phone-connected Gear VR. According to Google’s Clay Bavor, it’s lightweight (30 percent lighter than similar devices) and comfy. It’s designed to fit over eyeglasses, too.
Strangely, it doesn’t have a top strap, so you have to cinch up the rear elastic, ski-goggle like band fairly tight to keep it pressed against your face. But once it’s there, it feels more like a pillow against your face than an tough electronic contraption. Google says the inner fabric is made of seven different layers of different density foams, laminated together, to be both soft and rigid.
It autoconnects with phones. A top latch opens up, and the phone drops in. The phone auto-aligns and pairs, without plugging into anything. It uses little pressure sensors to tell where the phone is in relation to the headset, so it can line up the picture for each lens without much fiddling.
It comes in several colors. Slate gray will be available first, with Snow and Crimson colors coming soon. This is the first time I remember being offered a color choice in VR headsets.
The controller: two buttons, and motion controls. Comes included.
CNET
Google promises 50 apps by end of year, with hundreds to come. Apps like Hulu, Eve: Gunjack 2 and Google’s own suite of Photos, Street View, YouTube and other software will make Daydream apps a mix of games, entertainment and other things. Google also teased a “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” app based on the upcoming movie. But don’t expect all Google Cardboard apps to run in Daydream VR; these are a different class of apps.
It costs $79 or £69 and will be available in November. That’s lower-priced than Samsung’s Gear VR, and it also comes with its own motion controller. Google’s gone aggressive on pricing, which could make a difference in getting a holiday foothold. But having enough phones that work with it will also matter: not everyone is going to want to buy a Pixel phone.
CNET
Stay tuned for more impressions.
Update, 11:31 a.m. PT: Added hands-on video from CNET’s Sean Hollister and Lexy Savvides.
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