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I survived the new Escape mode in 'Gears 5'
I haven't played a Gears of War game since the original came out in 2006. It's no surprise, then, that I would be hesitant to grab an Xbox One controller and play the latest instalment of Microsoft's legendary franchise, Gears 5. But I did it, particularly because I wanted to check out Escape, a new co-op mode that you can play with three friends online or locally. Look, I'm a simple man: You tell me I can kill some aliens and I'm in.
Samsung will unveil its next Gear S smartwatch on Aug. 30th
The Galaxy Note 8 isn't going to be Samsung's only big mobile offering this fall. Mobile chief DJ Koh tells CNBC that the next Gear S smartwatch will make its debut at the IFA trade show, where Samsung will have an event on Aug. 30th. The executive isn't saying much about what this wristwear will entail, of course, but he might have dropped some clues when opining about the struggling wearables market. He believes that smartwatches could become more valuable if they monitor more aspects of your health: Don't be surprised if the Gear S4 (or whatever it's called) tracks more of your vital stats.
Samsung's Gear S2 is a classy Tizen watch with a rotating bezel
Remember that time Samsung teased a new smartwatch after unveiling some phones we knew were coming? You should! This was seriously only two weeks ago, guys. Anyway, Samsung is finally talking specifics about the watch -- known as the Gear S2 -- ahead of the murky mobile maelstrom brewing in Berlin right now. First off, it's actually even smaller than we thought it would be. Earlier leaks pointed to a round smartwatch with a 1.65-inch screen running at 360 x 360 -- turns out the resolution was right, but the Gear S2's screen is only 1.2 inches across.
Engadget Daily: Gear S review, the White House offers funding for body cams and more!
If you thought Samsung's Gear S smartwatch could rid you of the need for your phone, think again. We reviewed the wearable, and as it turns out, you'll need a handset just to get the thing up and runnin'. That's not all we have today, though -- read on for all our news highlights from the past 24 hours.
Samsung Gear S review: an ambitious and painfully flawed smartwatch
Samsung's wearables strategy seems to be: "Throw everything at a wall and see what sticks." In a little over 12 months, the electronics giant has launched six -- yes, six -- different smartwatches, each with its own unique personality. The latest is the Samsung Gear S, and its particular claim to fame might be the most ambitious yet: It's the first Gear watch that lets you make and receive calls from your wrist, no phone required. Yep, the Gear S actually has a 3G modem inside it, along with WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS radios. It's basically a watch that's also a phone. You can even respond to emails using a tiny onscreen keyboard. But, at $350 a pop, can it replace your phone? And more importantly, would you want it to?
Samsung's 3G-ready Gear S watch reaches the US November 7th
Itching to strap Samsung's 3G-equipped Gear S smartwatch on your wrist? If you're in the US, you'll only have to wait one more week. The cellular-capable timepiece is now officially slated to reach American stores on November 7th, including Best Buy, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. Just how much you'll pay depends on your choice of network. Verizon hasn't mentioned pricing just yet, but AT&T will sell the Gear S for $200 on a two-year contract; Sprint and T-Mobile will offer the wristwear on monthly installment plans that have you shelling out respective totals of $384 and $350. That's a lot to pay in the current smartwatch market, but this is also one of the few wearables that lets you leave your phone at home.
Data-saving Opera Mini browser to land on Samsung Gear S watch
While Tizen's smartphone future remains foggy, it's slowly gaining street cred in the wearable space courtesy of Samsung's smartwatches and their handful of apps. The latest brand to help push this young ecosystem is none other than Opera, who is bringing its Mini browser to the Gear S due later this year. Of course, it'd be impractical to squint at a two-inch touchscreen all day long, but Opera Mini does offer a major advantage: its renowned data compression technology that can shrink web pages to as little as one-tenth of their size, thus making more efficient use of the Gear S' integrated 3G connectivity. As an icing on the cake, this app also offers private browsing mode and a "Smart Page" that aggregates social updates plus the latest news. Opera Mini will already be available for download by the time the Gear S hits the stores.
Samsung's no-phone-necessary Gear S watch is coming to the US this fall
Samsung gave us a glimpse at its next smartwatch (there have been a few) during IFA, and tonight there's news that, surprise, you'll be able to buy and use the Gear S in the US this fall. This one is special because unlike most other watches, it can connect to 3G data by itself when the wearer's phone isn't around. There's little in the way of details, but it's coming on all four major carriers -- AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile -- and the company promises more information "soon." You can check out our experiences at typing out emails on its two-inch AMOLED screen right here, and decide if it's worth picking up this Tizen OS device instead of the Apple Watch (or any of the other wearables either coming soon or already here).
Samsung's Gear S hits the runway with Diesel Black Gold for New York Fashion Week
When we saw Samsung's Gear S curved smartwatch last week, we said its design, "feels functional, but also like an afterthought." The 2-inch behemoth certainly doesn't blend into outfits as much as it becomes the centerpiece, for better or worse. Diesel Black Gold -- the even more expensive, "premium" line of the Diesel clothing brand -- is apparently down with that, and is working with Samsung on a variety of "unique" bands (seen above). That's pretty much all the news there is about these so far -- no pricing or release dates were given -- but check out this amazing sentence from the announcement, describing the bands: "Elements of the SS 15 collection, inspired by highly stylized New Wave rock stars and tough rockabilly heroines, have been used to give a sharp attitude to the device, characterized by signature leather and metal details."
Engadget Daily: Galaxy Note Edge, hands-on with the Xperia Z3 and more!
Today, we take a look at the Galaxy Note Edge's bent display, test drive Samsung's Gear VR headset, go hands-on with the Xperia Z3 and more from IFA 2014! Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Samsung Gear S preview: What's it like to type emails on a 2-inch screen?
Six. That's how many smartwatches Samsung has unveiled in the past 12 months. If these devices were Friends episodes, there'd be the original Galaxy Gear ("The one announced last year at this time"), the Gear 2 ("The one with fewer bugs"), the Gear Fit ("The one designed for fitness tracking"), the Gear 2 Neo ("The one that didn't cost as much") and the Gear Live ("The one that ran Android apps"). If nothing else, it shows that Samsung is willing to experiment -- and maybe even listen to feedback from users, and reviewers like us. Now, as the original Gear turns one, Samsung is showing off its sixth watch, the Gear S: the one that can run without a smartphone. Thanks to its very own nano-SIM card, the Gear S can make calls, as well as show you emails in full, with the option to reply directly from the device using a tiny on-screen keyboard. To Samsung's credit, it's unlike any other device it's made before. But the age-old question still remains: Was anybody asking for this?
Engadget Daily: The deal with Twitch.tv, iCloud celebrity photo leak and more!
Today, we dive into the world of Twitch.tv, learn why many new apps are rejected from the App Store, check out a bling-tastic Galaxy Gear S, investigate the iCloud celebrity photo leak and more! Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Samsung's Gear S smartwatch doesn't need a phone to get online or make calls
Samsung is taking the wraps off of yet another new smartwatch, but the Gear S (not Solo) has a twist: there's a 3G modem inside. While it may not be especially fast, that means that even when outside the range of a Bluetooth-connected phone or WiFi, it can still send and receive messages or make calls. It has a 2-inch AMOLED screen plus a dual-core 1GHz CPU inside along with GPS, heart rate and motion sensors, all powered by a 300mAh battery Samsung says can last up to two days. It runs Tizen instead of Android Wear, with pedestrian navigation available from from Nokia's HERE and support for Facebook. In the run up to IFA next week Samsung is also bringing the Gear Circle headset (yes, we also figured they'd save that name for a round watch) that pairs with a phone over Bluetooth, letting users hear notifications, use voice commands or listen to music through the earbuds.
Epic shares Gears of War insight and trivia at Comic-Con panel
Cliff Bleszinski, Design Director at Epic Games, along with Production Director Rod Fergusson, voice actor Fred Tatasciore (the voice of Baird as well as "most of the Locusts") and writers Rob Auten and Tom Bissell all took the stage at Comic-Con 2012 for a panel about Gears of War: Judgment. The biggest piece of news out of the panel was that Judgment has a release date: We'll be killing grubs as Baird in the prequel on March 19.The rest of the panel, however, contained a few juicy bits of Gears trivia, just for fans of the series. If you've lived and died with the COGs for three games now, read on.
Another one bites the dust as Google closes Picnik
Given the spate of closures, abandonments and wound-up projects, we can't help but suspect Google's mantra switching from "don't be evil" to "sic transit gloria mundi." Mountain View's winding up online-image editing site Picnik in preparation for integration with Google+, joining Wave, Knol, Friend Connect, Gears, Health, Powermeter and at least ten other services that have been shuttered as part of Larry Page's "spring clean." In a statement on the site, the guys are moving over to the Google+ team to "focus on even awesomer things," so expect to see live-editing of your photos appear there before the end of summer. In the meantime, you can enjoy Picnik's premium service until the doors close on April 19th and those who previously stumped up (with, you know, cash) for the added features will receive a full refund.[Thanks, Henry]
Gears of War 3 getting Title Update 2 tonight with spectator mode, easier medals and mutators
Epic's Rod Fergusson says on Twitter that Gears of War 3 is getting its Title Update 2 this evening at 2am PDT. Here's the list of what's changing; the biggest update is that the game is getting a spectator mode for gaming leagues to use which will turn the normally 5v5 matches into 4v4, with each team getting an optional spectator spot. Players grinding for rewards will appreciate the update as well, as the Leader and Vengeful medals are easier to earn, as are the Roadie Comet and Regen Enemies mutators. The update also tweaks some UI functionality, including adding an indicator during King of the Hill matches, and adding the option to remove the UI for machinima and video producers. And there are a few bugfixes as well -- host migration in Horde will now stick to the same wave as when it happened, and there are fixes for the lost progress and profile freezing issues that players have experienced. Fergusson says the update will bring down the game's dedicated servers temporarily, and players will need to restart their games to load it up. But follow those instructions, and you can be back to scratching all of the grubs you want.
Shimano showcases the Ultegra Di2 electronic bike gears, we go for a ride
How much would you spend for an upgrade to smooth shifting on your next road bike? If $4,000 to $8,000 is in the ballpark, then a Shimano-powered electronic bike may be in your future. We took the cycling giant's latest gear for a spin in Central Park, drawing envious glances from various spandex-clad bikers during the ride. Outfitted with the company's newest Ultegra 6770 Di2 series of gears, the shifters gave us a taste of technology normally reserved for Tour de Francers -- at new, more affordable pricing. So what was it like to be the envy of cyclists everywhere? Jump past the break to find out. %Gallery-139351%
Casual Mode returns in Gears of War 3, brings Casual Multiplayer along for the ride
The deluge of news from Comic-Con continues to, uhm, luge, even as the convention's end draws closer and closer. Game Informer reports that Epic's forthcoming Gears of War 3 will continue the series' tradition of offering an aim-assisted Casual Mode for players who aren't well versed in the delicate art of chainsaw sculpting. This time around, new players will also be able to sharpen their skills in their own dedicated multiplayer channels. According to USA Today, players who have played Gears online previously, or participated in the Gears 3 beta will be unable to join Casual multi. That seems like overkill -- the honor system would be enough, in our opinions. After all, the Internet has a long and storied history of shepherding and tenderly caring for its newcomers.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Gears
Crescent Moon Games is the developer behind popular iOS titles like Aralon and Ravensword, and it's returned to the platform recently with a new game called Gears. This is a sphere rolling game in the vein of the old Marble Madness, though as you can see from the screenshot above, we've come a long way since that first isometric title. In Gears, you use a finger (or the tilt controls, though those don't work quite as precisely) to roll a ball around on your iPhone or iPad, guiding it through a series of obstacles of different types. As you might expect, gameplay's simple to pick up, but complexity gets added in later on with more mechanics and tougher levels. There are 27 different levels to play through, with undoubtedly more to come. While the app is a universal build, there are actually a few different graphical settings so that you can run it faster on an older device or make it look really great on a newer one. Game Center leaderboard integration is included, so Gears turns out to be a quality title wrapped in a very feature-rich package. Gears is at an introductory price of just US$0.99 as of this writing, and at that price, it's highly recommended. Crescent Moon has already shown that it can create really in-depth RPG titles, but with Gears, the company proves it can bring that polish to smaller titles, too.
US Navy explains basic mechanical principles of a fire control computer -- in 1953 (video)
Bits, bytes and silicon transistors? Boy, you have it good -- back in 1953, state-of-the-art computers were made of gears, sprockets, chains and cams, and we trusted them to accurately wreck lives with ginormous naval guns. If you're wondering how that could possibly work, you don't have to go far -- a series of seven videos after the break show you how it was done, and which might even ingratiate you with the grizzled old neighbor who desperately wants you off his lawn.
