Daily Roundup: Galaxy Gear and Note 10.1 (2014) reviews, CEATEC 2013, GTA 5 multiplayer and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Samsung Galaxy Gear review
Just two years ago smartwatches were scarce, and the wearable devices market was only beginning to bloom. Today, that same market is packed with watches ranging in price, size, and features. From the e-paper Pebble watch, to Sony's "second screen" device, all of the major innovators are scrambling to get their share. Samsung is the latest company to throw its hat in the wearables arena with the recently announced Galaxy Gear. While the device is a fine smartwatch, messy notifications, limited compatibility, and the exclusion of touchless controls make it little more than a good concept, for now. Read on for more.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 review (2014 edition)
2013? Psssh, Samsung's already moved on to the next year with its new Note 10.1. The 2014 edition of the device does away with the company's previously trademark plastic shell and replaced it with a premium feeling faux leather back. The 10.1 sports a beautiful WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600) TFT LCD panel, TouchWiz'd Android 4.3, and an octa-core Exynos 5420 chipset for the WiFi-only version. Specs aside, though, our testing found the Note to be unusually sluggish and slow. The 2014 Note 10.1 looks fantastic and has the best specs of any Android tablet out there, but we grew frustrated by its choppy performance and mediocre battery life. Click the link above for our full review.
Grand Theft Auto Online update arrives, brings multiplayer to Los Santos
Are you one of the more than 16.5 million people who bought a copy of Grand Theft Auto 5? If the answer is yes, then check your Xbox or PlayStation for an update that will take you online, and bring multiplayer gaming to Los Santos. With the massive number of users that started hitting Rockstar's servers today, many gamers were afraid of another Sim City debacle -- and it looks like they were right. We're hearing reports of connection issues and Rockstar cloud servers being down on both PSN and Xbox Live. Rockstar, for its part, has responded saying that it's aware the of day one connection issues and it's "trying to stabilize ASAP." For more details click the link above.
We're live from CEATEC 2013!
Just one week after the Tokyo Game Show, we're back to roam the halls of the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan for CEATEC 2013. This time, though, we're here to take a broader look at tech coming from Japan, from the Sonys and the Panasonics down to the Companies You've Never Of. Already today we've heard about NTT DoCoMo's "5g" wireless network, Nissan's autonomous Leaf and Rohm's colorful solid hydrogen-source fuel cell chargers. Head up to the link above for all of the stories, straight from the show floor.
