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The first 'Destiny 2' spring event begins April 16th
Bungie hinted at its first spring-themed Destiny 2 event in its year two roadmap, and now you'll know exactly what that entails. The Revelry kicks off April 16th with a slew of activities that not so subtly remind you that the weather is warming up. The extravaganza revives the Haunted Forest from the fall's Festival of the Lost, but this time with a decidedly more cheery landscape (it's called the Verdant Forest for a reason) and "new twists." And instead of masks or The Dawning's recipes, you'll get a Reveler's Tonic that provides buffs when you fill it with an "essence" earned by killing Verdant Forest bosses or completing other tasks.
Apple rolls out pastel Watch bands and iPhone cases for spring
Apple has revealed new Watch bands and iPhone cases for spring, and they sure look like an explosion of colorful pastel hues to fit the season. You can now get an iPhone XS or XS Max silicone case ($39) in Spearmint, Papaya and Delft Blue, and the XS Smart Battery Case ($129) in Pink Sand. Meanwhile, the iPhone XS Max Leather Folio ($129) and Case ($49), as well as the iPhone XS Leather Folio ($99) and Case ($49), are now available in Lilac, Sunset and Cornflower.
‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ brings dinosaurs to your phone this Spring
Open-world survival game ARK: Survival Evolved was one of the bigger early access games back in 2015, eventually launching a couple of years later on PS4, Xbox One and Steam and gathering 13 million players in the process. Now the title is coming to mobile devices as a free-to-play game. Publisher Studio Wildcard promises the same online experience as the PC and console versions, including a massive island to explore, more than 80 dinosaurs to tame, crafting and building features and multiplayer tribes to join. Developer War Drum Studios (Bully, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Max Payne Mobile) launched a closed beta for ARK today (iOS-only for now), with a full launch set for later this Spring on both iOS and Android.
ICYMI: A medical breakthrough inspired by a kids toy
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Stanford bioengineers created a centrifuge to separate blood and detect disease, all based on whirligigs from childhood. They estimate the blood cell device would cost only 20 cents a piece to make, and since it's human-powered, could be used all over off-the-grid locations to help diagnose diseases like tuberculosis. The National Science Foundation helped fund research into walking efficiency and the artist who imagined a sad robot dystopia is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Run, walk, and jog with the stars via Spring
The class I hated most in high school (well, besides math) was gym. I had zero hand-eye coordination, I never liked sports, and I got very out-of-breath every time we were tested on the mile run. Maybe it was the testing aspect, or maybe it was because I never fit in with the uber-athletic culture of my school. It just didn't fit me. When I went away to college, where there was more freedom, I couldn't get enough of the outdoors. Which is why I wish I had known about Spring then. This free app is available on iOS 7.0 or later and is universally available but optimized for iPhone 5. At its most basic, Spring accompanies you on your daily workout routine (it seems optimized for extremely mobile activities like power walking, running, rowing, and the like) with upbeat music and tracks your miles moved and calories burned. Depending on whether you are running, walking, or doing some other activity, it sets your ideal steps per minute (you can change this), and then you can set it depending on whether you are doing the activity indoors or out. If you are outside, Spring will track your movements on a map using your GPS coordinates, which will also tell you what songs you listened to when and how many calories you burned on the song. It even breaks down how much you burned per minute. While you are exercising, the screen is very streamlined and user-friendly, displaying only the song/album/artist combination, how many minutes have elapsed since you began, and the calories you have burned per minute along with how many miles you moved (walked, in my case). The app is free, but users may find purchasing one of the various packages might be better. I learned this when I kept running into songs I had no interest in listening to. This was primarily because I'd never heard of the artists, but there is a wide enough selection that nearly all users will be happy. After having to skip six, I got a little notification saying that on the free version only six skips per hour are permitted, but paying subscribers get unlimited ones. Additionally, the free version only allows five hours of play time before asking you to commit to one of the paid options. If this sounds like something you'd use all the time, then subscribing monthly may be best for you. In the "Upgrade" menu, you can subscribe for US$4.99/month. There are other options as well, depending on your needs. Users can also create a free Spring account so they can keep track of their athletic progress. A disappointment for me was the reliance of GPS tracking. I have had nothing but bad reception in my particular neighborhood, since it is a newer development surrounded by numerous trees. This meant my numbers ended up being very lopsided and in no way an accurate reflection of the activity I actually engaged in. Users who live in densely urban or very wooded areas might have the same issues as I did. In my case, being in and out of range for my WiFi also registered me as walking a shorter distance than I did. When using the app in indoor mode, GPS is turned off, but you can still manually log in your mileage after you are done. Two of the best features were both music-related. The first was the sheer number of artists to choose from. Literally everyone from Arianna Grande to Zedd could be chosen, and each time the app is opened there are new artists shown. Indeed, most of the artists I had never heard of, which (at least to me) demonstrated the wide diversity of possibilities. Pretty much anyone would be happy with the combinations to be had. Additionally, parents can rest comfortably knowing there is an option to exclude explicit songs from the lineup, though this can be changed very easily. The other nice music feature was that users can actually determine how often the particular artists appear. Since I am only evaluating the free version I am not sure if the level of control changes with a subscription, but while users cannot pick specific songs or organize a set playlist, they can determine how often particular artists appear. After choosing their workout style and their location, a menu is shown with the different musical choices. Users can pick between "Don't Play", "Play a Little", and "Play a Lot". While some people might prefer a more user-controlled option, I liked the variety, as it exposed me to artists I might not have otherwise heard or even enjoyed. There are a lot of good things I could say about this app, but I think I'll close with this one. The importance of good health and especially frequent exercise is at the forefront of the national discussion. From Michelle Obama's fitness initiative to TV programs like The Biggest Loser, everyone is thinking about how to lose weight, get stronger, and have more fruitful lives. Spring reminded me that doing this is not merely important enough to have yet another app devoted to it, but that with the right music and feel, doing what is necessary to lengthen your life can make it just a little more fun as well.
LotRO's Spring Festival returns with mushy romance and smooshy shrews
Were you wondering if Lord of the Rings Online forgot about its Spring Festival? Well, it didn't; the festivities have begun anew today and will continue through June 3rd. LotRO's Spring Festival includes the notorious hedge maze, the manic shrew-stomping event, horse races, romance-themed quests, and the continuing rivalry between the Ale Association and the Inn League. It's a good time of the year to stock up on cosmetic items, reputation points, and general tomfoolery, so get to it!
NTT DoCoMo announces 12 new mobile devices for the spring, launches Smart Home initiative
Change of season? You can bet NTT DoCoMo has an armload of new devices to announce -- it's almost a tradition. This time around, the Japanese carrier has revealed 10 new smartphones, two tablets and a mobile WiFi hotspot. Large, 4.5 to 5-inch displays and quad-core processors pepper the entire spring smartphone line, but there are a few notable standouts, including the previously leaked LG Optimus G Pro, Huawei's Ascend D2 and the NEC Medias W -- a curious dual-screen smartphone we first saw at MWC 2012. DoCoMo fills its tablet quota with the Sony Xperia Tablet Z and a carrier branded device called the dtab, a 10.1-inch WiFi slab apparently built for DoCoMo's Smart Home initiative. Don't let the name run away with your imagination -- the Japanese carrier is focusing on sharing music, video and digital content between smartphones and other home electronics, not automating your apartment. The dtab is compatible with a handful of carrier exclusive services, such as the dmarket and DoCoMo cloud. It's not technically part of the carrier's mobile line, but DoCoMo had one more announcement for spring: an HDMI dongle. The SmartTV dstick gives HDTVs access to the carrier's dvideo, danime store and dhits services, and can be controlled with via smartphone or a similarly named tablet. Spring hardware will start hitting Japan on January 25th with the Aquos Phone EX, and continue to roll out through March. Read on for the official press release. Update: Apparently, we're looking at a different Ascend D2 than the one we saw at CES, one with a smaller screen (4.7-inch 720p vs. 5-inch 1080p) and battery (2150mAh vs. 3000mAh).
No, Virginia, you can't have a universal LTE iPhone 5
There might be a Santa Claus, but regarding the mythical animal known as the universal iPhone: there is none. As noted on Apple's spec page for the iPhone 5, the company will be shipping independent GSM and CDMA models of the new phone to match the LTE frequency bands of carriers worldwide. The iPhone 4S, in contrast, supported all its compatible wireless standards in one device. There's likely to be some confusion around the iPhone 5 model numbering, since there are three actual hardware configurations but only two model numbers: A1428 and A1429. The singular A1428 model is the AT&T and Canadian GSM phone, with support for UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) and LTE on bands 4 and 17. Since this phone lacks any CDMA support, it cannot be used with Verizon or Sprint networks in the USA; it could theoretically be unlocked for 3G service via T-Mobile's seven-year roaming agreement with AT&T. The A1429 phone has a split personality, with both CDMA and GSM units carrying the same designation; the GSM model, however, does not appear to be intended for sale in the US. It supports LTE in the Far East (Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan), Germany, Australia and the UK on bands 1, 3, and 5. The CDMA version of the A1429 works with LTE on Verizon and Sprint's networks, plus the KDDI network in Japan -- LTE bands 1, 3, 5, 13, and 25. The CDMA phone also supports the GSM bands, so it should work as a "worldphone" for international travel even if it doesn't include LTE data support outside the US and Canada. The upshot of all this model madness: You will not be able to interoperate different iPhone 5 models on different networks in the US. Switching carriers (assuming you managed to get an unlocked device) would be limited to intra-standard swaps, and an AT&T iPhone 5 will never work on Verizon / Sprint, end of story. [hat tip The Verge]
Garmin does new in-dash navigation tricks, steers 2013 Dodge and Chrysler models
You won't be able to leap tall structures in one of Chrysler's new cars with Garmin in-dash GPS hardware, but at least you'll be able to see them. 3D buildings and terrain are among the fresh features in the navigators, along with a new UI, trip planner, improved junction view (by a factor of 25), and enhanced routing. The nav company is one of the cogs in Chrysler's Uconnect service, which will roll out in four models next year: the Dodge Journey, Charger and Dart along with Chrysler's 300. Other players in the service are SiriusXM, which provides weather info and entertainment; and Sprint, which shoulders the in-car data workload through its cellular service. Lest you think that all this infotainment will distract you right into the ditch, worry not -- most of the controls are voice activated. If you want a beaming dealer to getcha into one of the new models, the PR is after the break.
Strategy Analytics: iPad keeps riding high in Q2 tablet market share, Android doesn't budge
The Apple iPad may as well be called the Teflon Tablet for now, since challengers can't quite stick. Thanks to those 17 million iPads shipped in the second quarter, Strategy Analytics estimates that Apple held on to the 68 percent of tablet market share that IDC credited to the company in the previous season. That may not sound like a change in the status quo, but it's a significant jump from the 62 percent Apple had a year ago -- and not very good news for anyone else. Android is still holding on at 29.3 percent, although that's slightly underwhelming given the surge of extra devices in that time frame. The real hurt was dished out to Windows 7 tablets and "others" like RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, both of whom were cut down to just 1.2 points of share each in the spring. We'll see if the newer crowd moves the needle for Android in the summer, although the well-received Nexus 7's current scarcity won't help its chances -- and both Microsoft as well as RIM are in holding patterns for the next several months.
Nielsen has Android near 52 percent of US smartphone share in Q2, iPhone ekes out gains
If there was doubt as to whether or not Android would soon become the majority smartphone platform in the US, that's just been erased by Nielsen. Google crossed the tipping point in the second quarter after getting close in the winter, with 51.8 percent of current smartphone users running some variant on the green robot's OS. As we've seen in the past, though, the increase is coming mostly at the expenses of platforms already being squeezed to within an inch of their lives, such as the BlackBerry (8.1 percent) and Windows (4.3 percent combined). Apple still isn't in a position to fret: it kept climbing to 34.3 percent and swung the attention of recent buyers just slightly back in its direction. The real question for many of us might center on what happens in a summer where Samsung has thrown a Galaxy S III-sized curveball at Americans and any new iPhone is likely still a few months away.
Lord of the Rings Online's Spring Festival rescheduled
Spring is beginning to... well, spring, and for denizens of Middle-earth, that generally means the Spring Festival is just around the corner. This year, however, there's been a small adjustment to the schedule. Since Lord of the Rings Online's fifth anniversary is coming up in April, the Spring Festival is being pushed back until after the anniversary celebrations have concluded. While we don't have an official start date for the festival, Casual Stroll to Mordor points out that the game's anniversary is April 24th; those celebrations will likely take place the week of said anniversary. Therefore, we should probably expect the Spring Festival to kick off sometime in May. As CSTM also notes, this may help bridge the rather sizeable gap between the Spring, Summer, and Fall Festivals as well, so maybe a little schedule-shifting isn't so bad.
Microsoft's free-to-play Flight lands this spring
Flight simulator enthusiasts are a very specific, complex subsect of the gaming world. Their passion for checklists and indecipherable user interfaces places them at an almost MMO-level of dedication and persistence, and -- like the popular multiplayer RPGs -- flight sims are starting to make the leap to free-to-play. Microsoft Flight will bring affordable ailerons and aerofoils to PC pilots this spring, according to an update on Major Nelson's blog. Everyone will have access to free crashes aircraft, though those who sign in with a Games for Windows Live account will receive additional free planes, missions and access to those sweet 'chievos. The sim will also include the ICON A5, an amphibious, lightweight vehicle which doesn't enter real-world commercial production until the end of this year. Microsoft's PR describes the A5 as "the jet ski for the skies," which sounds like the most terrifying, fantastic way to die. Prospective pilots can still sign up for that closed beta we mentioned by clicking here, presumably after strapping on goggles and a dashing scarf.
Tiny 'jumping robots' have more in common with firecrackers than Johnny 5
Perhaps calling an immobile plastic bug with explosives strapped to its underside a "jumping robot" is a bit of a stretch, but who are we to argue with the Army Research Laboratory and the University of Maryland. The two groups have collaborated to create a pair of "robots" that measure just a few millimeters in size but can jump several centimeters in the air. One uses a spring like mechanism (which an operator must press down with a pair of tweezers) to propel it, while the other uses a small rocket, which can be triggered either by current applied over wires or a phototransistor (for untethered flight). It all makes for a pretty neat video, which you can find after the break - even if your sister's Furby was more robot than these tiny things.
Galaxy S II for Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile hands-on (video)
If you've been wondering just when you'll be able to get Europe's hottest smartphone from last year, wonder no more: tonight the Samsung Galaxy S II was formally (and finally) announced for US release. Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T all will be receiving variants, with the first two getting a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, the AT&T unit being stuck with the same 4.3-inch display as the earlier GS II. In fact, the AT&T model looks indistinguishable from the European version that we compared it against, while the other two look a bit different. Sprint's model, aka the Epic 4G Touch, has that larger 4.5-inch screen, plus a slightly more rounded profile than the AT&T model. The T-Mobile version, meanwhile, is the most rounded of the three, but otherwise we were hard-pressed to find any differences between 'em, as you can see in the video below. All are powered by 1.2GHz dual-core processors, 16GB of storage, eight megapixel webcams on the back, batteries that are said to be at least 10 percent larger than the previous version, and "4G" wireless -- either in the form of HSPA+ or WiMAX. Only Sprint has announced formal pricing and availability, September 16th for $199, while the others will be available in the always ambiguous "soon." Update: We got curious about those battery sizes and popped the backs off the two phones that we could get our hands on. The AT&T model has the exact same battery size as the European Galaxy S II (6.11Wh), while the Sprint version is indeed about 10 percent larger (6.66Wh). We presume the T-Mob one is bigger too, but that's locked up. In a box. %Gallery-132078% %Gallery-132076% %Gallery-132075%
Samsung Galaxy S II for Sprint spotted in the wild, mildly tweaked design in tow
We saw signs that Samsung's superphone, the Galaxy S II, would be coming to the Now Network, but we hadn't seen such a device sporting a Sprint logo... until now. The folks at This is my next got a blurry picture of a new handset that may be the Within, Sprint's variant of Sammy's flagship device. The shot shows a phone with more rounded corners than the GS II, and a vertical camera / flash alignment instead of the side-by-side configuration found on the original. We can't say for sure if this is Sprint's next star in the Android universe, but here's hoping it means that the finest Galaxy S phone is landing stateside soon.
Utechzone Spring eye-tracking system hands-on (video)
In the midst of fiddling with tablets and laptops at Computex, we haven't been thinking much of eye-tracking technologies until we saw Utechzone's booth. What we have here is the Spring, a TW$240,000 (US$8,380) eye-tracking rig that was launched in March 2010 and is aimed at users with limited mobility. The package consists of an LCD monitor, a computer, and an external sensor that utilizes infrared to track our pupils. Also included is an eye-friendly software suite that lets users play games, browse the web and media files, send emails, communicate with caretakers, and read PDF or TXT files. We had a go on the Spring and quickly learned how to control it with our eyes: much like the Xbox Kinect, in order to make a click we had to hover the cursor over (or fix our eyes on) a desired button until the former completes a spin. The tracking was surprisingly accurate, except we had to take off our glasses for it to work; that said, the other glasses didn't exhibit the same issue, so the culprit could be just some coating on our lenses. Another problem we found was that it only took a quick jiggle with our eyes to cancel the spinning countdown, so full concentration is required to use the Spring. This shouldn't be a problem outside a noisy event like Computex, anyway, and if you need more convincing, we were told that a disabled Taiwanese professor managed to hit 100,000 Chinese characters within three months using phonetic input on the the same rig -- he's planning on releasing a new book soon. Have a look at our eyes-on video after the break for a better idea on how the Spring works. %Gallery-125350%
'Spring Offers' discount dozens of European PS3 and PSN titles
If you live in Europe and have access to a PS3 or PSP, then it's time for you to do a little bit of spring cleaning. Of ... um, your wallet. Your wallet is just filthy with money -- why not clean it up by dropping some notes on the dozens of games discounted for the PSN's Spring Offers sale?
Samsung Galaxy Player 4 and 5 to arrive in the US this spring
Remember the Galaxy Player (or Galaxy S WiFi) we saw back at MWC? Sure you do, it basically strips out the 3G and calling functionality of a Galaxy S phone and leaves you with a Android 2.2 media player or shrunken tablet. Well, it looks like both the 4-inch Galaxy Player 4 and the 5-inch Galaxy Player 5 will be headed to the US this spring. Samsung's demoing the players here at its NYC Spring Product Showcase today, although it isn't talking exact timing or pricing. Either way, it looks like this Android 2.2 player (it's upgradable to 2.3, by the way) with full Market access will be headed stateside sometime soon. We've got the full specs after the break and we'll be trying to dig up more details here -- stay tuned.
Apple's Phil Schiller confirms: white iPhone to be available 'this spring'
Whoa, Nelly. Ready for another round? The elusive white iPhone -- spotted only in the hands of Woz and occasionally in those of our own Richard Lai -- may ship after all. After hearing from Apple that it was being delayed twice in 2010, we've heard an extended radio silence ever since. Sure, we've seen hints here and there from third parties that this here unicorn was still making its way through the production line, but there's nothing quite like a direct tweet from Cupertino's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing to really rekindle some interest. In response to a question on how to obtain a white iPhone, Philip Schiller fired back: "The white iPhone will be available this spring (and it is a beauty!)." That's about as clear-cut as it gets for now, but we've still got a few inquiries we'd love answered. Is he talking about the iPhone 4, or the next one in the pipeline? And does he have any intention of building us up, only to let us down (let us down) once more? We shall see, won't we? [Thanks, Stefan]
