The Morning After: There's a new $500 'flagship killer' smartphone
And the first two 'Tony Hawk' games are making a comeback.
Looking for the ideal midrange smartphone? Xiaomi spin-off Poco might have the answer with its new F2 Pro. This $500 handset has a 6.67-inch screen with no notches, holes or other distractions, a pop-up front-facing camera, powerful Snapdragon 865 CPU and all the other bits you’d expect from a modern device with no filler.
The only problem, of course, is finding someone who will sell it in the US. There’s always something, isn’t there?
-- Richard
YouTube Music will transfer your Google Play songs with one click
Google Play Music will shut down later this year.
It’s been about two years since YouTube Music launched, and it’s finally ready to copy over every bit of music and data you may have collected in Google Play Music over the years. Once the transfer tool is ready for your account, a prompt will pop up in the GPM / YouTube Music app on your iOS or Android device. Once triggered, it will port over music you’ve uploaded, as well as playlists and “many” of the curated stations in Play Music.
Google said that Play Music is going away for good at some point later this year, but the good news for holdouts is that, according to Nathan Ingraham, “basically all the deal-breaking problems I originally encountered have been fixed.”
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Remastered 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2' game lands in September
Summer Game Fest
Decades after they debuted, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games are coming back on modern consoles. Vicarious Visions is developing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2, a single title that contains remastered versions of the classic games. It’s due out on September 4th, 2020, for PlayStation 4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, Xbox One X and PC via the Epic Games Store.
The new title has modernized Create-A-Skater and Create-A-Park modes, HD graphics and all of the levels, moves and pro skaters from the original games. The level editor has been modernized, and Vicarious Visions COO Simon Ebejer told Engadget “The animation system, the sound effects, it's all brand new.”
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PlayStation 4 sales pass 110 million
And the PS5 launch is still on schedule.
Sony’s PlayStation 4 has reached lifetime sales of 110.4 million. It’s impressive but makes it increasingly unlikely that the PS4 will take the ‘all-time best-selling console’ crown from the PlayStation 2, the pesky DVD-playing trojan horse. The PlayStation 4’s momentum has slowed, though -- Sony is selling fewer consoles than this time last year.
Never mind: The company is scheduled to release the PS5 this year, which will undoubtedly boost hardware sales when it makes its appearance along with some games from the assorted PlayStation Studios.
Yesterday, an online job posting suggested that the console would come out in October. Sony later clarified to Japanese gaming publication Famitsu that the date was an “error” introduced by the recruiting site.
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How to use your high-end camera as a webcam
If you’re lucky, you might not need to buy anything extra.
Some (most?) webcams suck. The video quality is mediocre and camera placement is often not flattering -- especially on some laptops. Why not use that fancy DSLR camera you have? Depending on the make and model, it might be as easy as downloading an app. You may require some new hardware and cables, but regardless, we’ve laid out all the options for wowing colleagues and/or family on your next video call.
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Huawei skirts US trade bans with a 'new' P30 Pro
It’s not a P40 Pro, but it does have the apps you want.
In Europe, at least, Huawei is giving its last-year flagship another roll of the dice. It’s launched a new P30 Pro that comes with the latest version of Android, and well, pretty much the same hardware you saw last year.
The US-imposed trade restrictions meant Huawei can’t use American-made components or software (the latter part there is crucial). But since the P30 Pro was released before Huawei was put on the “Entity List,” the company is able to re-release the phone with Android 10 pre-loaded. The P30 Pro New Edition will be out on June 1st -- at least in Germany -- and will cost €749 (about $815).
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But wait, there’s more...
Moog Subharmonicon review: An experimental synth with an iconic sound
Disney's 'Hamilton' film is coming out a year early and directly to Disney+
Slack went down for a couple of hours on Tuesday night
Specialized's latest e-bike is a super-light all-rounder that starts at $3,350
Twitter for iOS added a shortcut to let you see a tweet’s quote RTs
Google's whole-home Nest Aware subscription is available now
Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Dutch' is coming to 'Predator: Hunting Grounds’ on May 26th
Motorola backtracks, promises at least two Android updates for its $1,000 Edge+
