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iFixit tears down Samsung's 'improved' Galaxy Fold
iFixit pulled its first Galaxy Fold teardown after Samsung scrapped the phone's April launch to improve its durability. Now that the foldable has finally reached stores, though, it's ready for take two. The DIY repair site has posted a teardown for the revised Galaxy Fold that reveals both the known innards and, crucially, the additional protections for that folding screen.
Save $120 on a 32-inch Dell QHD monitor
If you're looking for a new desktop screen, Amazon has a compelling offer on a Dell monitor. The company's S3219D is currently $179.99, down from $299.99. It features a 32-inch VA panel with QHD 2560 x 1440 resolution. Additionally, it comes with 5W speakers and a variety of HDMI, DisplayPort and USB ports for a good spread of connectivity options. It also features 99 percent sRGB color gamut coverage, making it a good fit for photo editing work. With FreeSync support, it can also double as a decent gaming monitor if you have an AMD graphics card. Just note that the monitor's refresh rate is limited to 60Hz, so you won't get as smooth of an experience as you would with a 144Hz monitor. It's also not on NVIDIA's list of G-Sync compatible monitors, so your mileage will vary if you own one of the company's GPUs. All that said, for $180 you'll be hard-pressed to find a better monitor for the price, especially one with a QHD panel.
The best way to play ‘Untitled Goose Game’ is to dress like a goose
For Twitch streamer Dylan "Rudeism" Beck simply playing a menacing goose in Untitled Goose Game wasn't enough. He wanted to become the goose. In a livestream yesterday, Rudeism put on a homemade goose suit and played the game in a whole new way.
Build an Alexa Skill that controls Lego sets and win a prize
What if Lego sets could respond to voice commands? That's the premise of a new contest Amazon and Lego launched on Tuesday that asks enthusiasts and developers to use the Alexa Gadgets Toolkit to add voice commands to Lego's Mindstorms sets. All you have to do is create an Alexa skill that takes advantage of the sensors and motors that come with each set.
Tilta mods Blackmagic's Pocket Cinema Camera with a tilt screen and SSD
With their sharp picture, super efficient and flexible RAW format and SSD compatibility, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras are fantastic choices for videographers on a budget or anyone in need of a solid B-camera that doesn't break the bank. But one nagging problem is the camera's fixed 5-inch LCD, which can make it difficult to keep an eye on the action when positioning the camera at certain angles. Accessory maker Tilta is correcting that with an aftermarket modification kit that adds the ability to pull and tilt the screen to suit your viewing angle.
The PIS2 is a portable PS2 years in the making
The PlayStation 2 has been in the grave for over a decade, but that hasn't kept gamers from tinkering with Sony's iconic console. Reddit user darkwingmod has been working on and off for several years to perfect his vision of a portable PS2, the PIS2. The build features genuine PS2 hardware augmented with a Raspberry Pi 2, which loads game files over an ethernet-connected SMB server; no emulation is involved. Darkwingmod says that the games run close to full speed and FMVs play smoothly.
Korg launches a line of DIY music gear with a $100 synth
Korg may have showed off a prototype back at Super Booth in May, but now the NTS-1 synth is official. The $100 DIY instrument is part of the company's Nu:Tekt line, a series that will "focus on DIY instruments, effects and utilities." The company already has some gear that bears that name, but it seems like this new product is a relaunch of sorts.
Arcade Coder teaches kids to build games for the whole family
Tech Will Save Us (TWSU), the company behind cool kids' STEM kits, has launched a new flagship product designed to get kids into game design. The Arcade Coder is a 12-inch by 12-inch board with 144 fully programmable and controllable multi-colored LED buttons, that teaches children aged six and over easy-to-learn block coding and how to design their own games.
Confronting existential dread through DIY musical instruments
A Day That Will Never Happen Again. Here You Are, You Are Here. Everything You Love Will One Day Be Taken From You. Believe it or not, these are not the names of Cure songs, but of electronic musical instruments -- though obviously not particularly traditional ones. They're collectively known as The Book of Knowledge of Impractical Musical Devices and they were created by Yann Seznec, a sound artist based in Scotland. (Though he is in the process of moving back to the US.) It's a project that pulls inspiration from a number of places. But there are three big ones that unify the series. As the name suggests, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by Al-Jazari is a major reference point. But Seznec's project also explores our relationship with sound and media, as well as the fleetingness of... well, everything. As he says in describing the third volume in the series Everything You Love Will One Day Be Taken From You: "Every time I play that sound I'm destroying it. And it's slowly slipping away from me. Just like everything is." Yikes.
Android is (unofficially) available for the Nintendo Switch
You no longer have to wonder when you can throw caution to the wind and install Android on your Switch. Homebrew developers at XDA have released the first publicly available Android firmware for Nintendo's system, a take on the Android 8.1-based LineageOS 15.1 for compatible models. It's still buggy, including issues with battery life, auto-rotation and sensitive touchscreen input, but the core functionality is there. Effectively, it's a small Android tablet with a pair of controllers attached -- you can browse the web, play 3D games and otherwise use it like you would other mobile devices.
The new Raspberry Pi 4 is ready for 4K video
Like the Raspberry Pi but wish it had a little more oomph for your homebrew projects? The Pi Foundation might have what you need. The newly released Raspberry Pi 4 Model B mates the familiar tiny computer-on-a-board design with purportedly "ground-breaking" boosts to performance, particularly for media. Thanks to both a newer 1.5GHz quad-core Broadcom processor with H.265 decoding, two micro-HDMI ports and up to 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM (more on that in a bit), the Pi 4 can output 4K video at 60 frames per second. This could theoretically serve as a modern DIY media hub, and the Raspberry Pi Foundation even claims that it's fast enough to compete with "entry-level" x86 PCs.
YouTube uses AR to let you try on makeup during tutorials
There's no question YouTube's beauty bloggers have some of the largest followings, and the platform has become an important place for even the biggest makeup brands to debut their products. Now, Google's AR Beauty Try-On feature will let YouTube users virtually try on makeup while watching tutorials and reviews.
IK Multimedia’s $250 drum machine is available now
IK Multimedia's $250 drum machine, Uno Drum, is available starting today. The company announced the portable, battery-powered device last month, but we weren't sure when it would be available.
Kickstarter warns creators against calling projects 'the world's best'
Kickstarter is asking its users to tone down the hyperbolic language and to layoff the misleading imagery. In an attempt to promote transparency, the now 10-year-old platform issued new rules and guidelines aimed at "honest and clear presentation."
Google's Area 120 made a free, drag-and-drop 3D game builder
Google's in-house incubator, Area 120, has produced things like an app that teaches coding and tools to boost literacy. Now it wants to help gamers create their own 3D games, no experience necessary. Today, it launched Game Builder, a free platform that aims to "make building a game feel like playing a game."
The Morning After: Keanu Reeves surprised us at E3 2019
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. The E3 2019 show floor doesn't open until Tuesday, but things are already in full swing with presentations from Microsoft, EA and Bethesda. We've seen everything in gaming that was announced so far, from high-profile (Project Scarlett, Star Wars, George R.R. Martin) to offbeat (Battletoads) to truly unexpected (Keanu Reeves!). Stay tuned for more news today from the likes of Ubisoft and Square-Enix.
Maker Faire ceases operations amid financial trouble
It's a grim time for fans of homebrew gadget creation. Maker Media, the company responsible for Maker Faires and Make:, has stopped operations and laid off all its staff. CEO Dale Dougherty explained it to TechCrunch as a matter of financial trouble. It "wasn't that interesting to its investors," and sponsors were backing out. Autodesk and Microsoft didn't fund the flagship Bay Area Faire in 2019, for example. This came despite healthy demand. The recent Bay event met ticket expectations, for example.
Ask Engadget: What are the best language learning apps?
The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. We truly value the time and detail you all spend in responding to questions from your fellow tech-obsessed commenters, which is why we've decided to bring back our "Ask Engadget" column. This week's question concerns using apps to learn a new language. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! What are the best language-learning apps?
Teardown shows Apple's latest effort to fix MacBook Pro keyboard
What did Apple mean when it said it changed materials to improve the keyboard on 2019 MacBook Pros? You should now have a better idea. iFixit has torn down the laptop to reveal at least a pair of changes to the butterfly mechanism that might affect reliability. To start, the switch cover now appears to be made from polyamide (aka nylon) instead of polyacetylene -- it's not certain just how this improves the situation, but it's a conspicuous change. There also seem to be changes to the metal dome switch, possibly involving either a new alloy or heat treatment. The added resilience could prevent the switches from breaking or deforming due to wear and tear, heat or other common culprits.
PicoBrew's new kits let you homebrew beer with your ingredients
PicoBrew's all-in-one homebrew appliances put a brewery on your countertop. They're relatively easy to use, and give novice beer makers detailed steps to make their own suds -- no previous experience required. There was one huge hindrance for the Pico C, Pico Pro and Pico S though: you couldn't buy ingredients from your local homebrew shop and pop them into these small appliances. You could do that with the $2,500 modular Pico Z, but it simply wasn't an option on the more affordable models. Well, that changes today with the so-called UnPak'd Kit.
