Technology - Google News

Huge leak shows Samsung's Galaxy S10+ in action in a hands-on video - BGR
Metro: Exodus Review (PS4) - Push Square
Apple in talks to create “Netflix for news” subscription service - Ars Technica

Huge leak shows Samsung's Galaxy S10+ in action in a hands-on video - BGR

Posted: 13 Feb 2019 05:17 AM PST

Samsung’s big Galaxy S10 event is scheduled to take place exactly one week from today in San Francisco, California. But by the time the company’s February 20th Unpacked press conference finally arrives, we’re fairly confident that there will be absolutely no surprises in store. The Galaxy S10 series of flagship phones have been featured in countless leaks over the past few months, and we already know practically everything there is to know about the devices. Three new flagship phones will be included in Samsung’s first wave of launches: the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and an entry-level model called the Galaxy S10e that will go head to head with Apple’s iPhone XR.

After a year when Samsung released three of the most boring flagship phones we’ve ever seen — the Galaxy S9, S9+, and Note 9 — the Galaxy S10 series will help Samsung start off 2019 with a bang. How do we know? Because all of the phones’ designs and features have already leaked, and they look fantastic. In fact, just yesterday a massive leak outed every last spec for all three new Galaxy S10 models. They’re going to be sleek, they’re going to be powerful, and they’re going to be a complete reimagining of flagship Samsung phones. Now, a new leak gives us what might be our best look yet at the most exciting new Galaxy S10 phone set to be unveiled next week.

We’ve seen it in renders, we’ve seen it in photos, and now we’re getting our best look yet at king of Samsung’s upcoming 2019 flagship lineup: the Galaxy S10+. This beast of a smartphone will feature five different cameras including a triple-lens array on the back and dual selfie cameras on the front, a large 6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED HDR+ Infinity O display with a pixel density of 522 ppi, a new all-screen design with tiny bezels and an oblong hole cut out of the screen for the selfie cams, powerful next-generation 8nm processors, up to 12GB of RAM, an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor embedded beneath the screen, a large 4,100 mAh battery, Android 9.0 with Samsung’s new One UI interface, and so much more.

There’s precious little question that the Galaxy S10+ will be the most desirable new model in Samsung’s 2019 Galaxy S lineup, at least until the even bigger 5G model debuts later this year. And now, a new hands-on video was just posted on YouTube showing the Galaxy S10+ in action.

This new video, which was shared by a smartphone accessory retailer called MobileFun, isn’t an in-depth look at the phone. Even still, we can get a very good idea of how big the new Galaxy S10+ is in one’s hand. We can also see a screen protector on the phone that includes two cutouts, one for the oblong hole in the top-right corner where the selfie cameras are located, and a second hole where we expect the in-display fingerprint scanner to be located. It’s an awful design that would make using the phone a nightmare, so we’re guessing it’s just a layer of protection that comes on the phone out of the box. We can’t imagine any third-party accessory maker being stupid enough to design a screen protector like that.

You’ll find the leaked Galaxy S10+ hands-on video embedded below, and it will hopefully tide you over for a week until Samsung unveils all three new Galaxy S10 models on February 20th. Pre-orders are then expected to open later that week, and the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ all should be released in early March. A fourth new model with an even bigger display and 5G compatibility should debut a few months later, perhaps around the same time as Samsung’s first foldable Galaxy phone, which we’re also expecting to see previewed at next week’s event.

[embedded content]

Image Source: Samsung

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Metro: Exodus Review (PS4) - Push Square

Posted: 13 Feb 2019 07:00 AM PST

Metro: Exodus feels like it should be the series’ coming-out party. After two fairly niche releases on the previous generation of consoles, the third instalment is quite clearly positioning itself as the best post-apocalyptic experience from developer 4A Games yet. It’s a grand promise, but the finished product doesn’t manage to live up to those expectations. All things considered, Metro: Exodus has many of the ingredients to be the best entry in the franchise so far, but far too many caveats hold it back from hitting the stratosphere.

The most interesting thing about Metro: Exodus, and also the most frustrating, is the questions it never gets round to answering. Following on from the events of Metro: Last Light, series protagonist Artyom returns in search of life outside of Moscow’s underground metro. Conditioned to believe he is part of the only living society on the planet for the past 25 years, that theory is tested when a speeding train careers by one of his lookout posts. Upon further investigation of the convoy further down the tracks, it appears that what Artyom has been told for the past two decades may not be so true after all.

It’s an intriguing setup indeed, one that carries the experience all the way to its conclusion in fact, but you won’t receive many concrete answers once you actually get there. At about the midway point, the plot quickly becomes more of a personal tale rather than an explanation of what has been happening outside of the confines of the Russian capital. That’s fine in its own right – the narrative is always focused on finding a new home for Artyom and his friends – but when these are questions that the game itself raises, it’s hard not to feel at least a little bit mugged off. What’s there is most certainly good, we just can’t help but wonder what could have been had the title capitalised on what its own characters were thinking.

One of the ways in which Metro: Exodus differentiates itself from its predecessors can be found in its structure, opting for a number of vast open world hub areas similar to what you would see in the recent Tomb Raider titles, rather than linear progression through levels. You’ll receive numerous objectives from Colonel Miller as you explore the stretches of wasteland which delve into learning more about the local enemy factions or scouting out routes for the train to take in order to progress, but the problem is that there’s not a lot to do besides that. The map will occasionally circle locations of interest, but you’re most likely going to visit them as part of the main story or pass right by them anyway. There is some very interesting environmental storytelling to be found if you dig deep enough, but the experience is completely devoid of side quests apart from two very basic fetch quests in the first open area.

It feels like an expansion borne out of necessity rather than giving the player a compelling reason to uncover the finer details of Russia. Making it to the next objective is going to feel like busywork a lot of the time, to the point where the more linear missions that break up the hub areas actually provide you with many of the game’s best moments.

Thankfully, Metro: Exodus makes up for a lot of this with its deep and varied combat mechanics that allow you to approach any engagement with the enemy in a whole host of different ways. Stock up on guns and ammunition and assault an enemy stronghold all guns blazing, or wait until night falls and take a stealthy approach with your crossbow and silenced pistol once the guards have fallen asleep. The experience wholeheartedly supports both styles of play, along with every degree in-between. Break line of sight if the situation is getting too hot and hostiles will begin searching for Artyom, allowing you to create traps and kill zones that whittle away their numbers. What the open-ended nature doesn’t do for activities to engage with, it most certainly makes up for it with a welcome amount of combat variety.

Once you have disposed of every combatant in the vicinity, you’re going to want to loot their bodies for every scrap and bullet they have left on them. This feeds into the crafting mechanics that’ll keep you alive in the midst of battle. Accessed via the backpack you carry, you can craft, among others, ammunition, medkits, grenades, Molotov cocktails, and throwing knives. The resources needed to make them are finite, though, so every choice you make within its menus are important ones. Do you sacrifice one extra medkit in order to give yourself another magazine of bullets? They’re important questions you need to be asking yourself on even the default difficulty, so those looking for a tough test are sure to find it when scavenging for one more bullet on Ranger Hardcore.

Alongside the art of crafting, Artyom can permanently upgrade his gear back at the train. The carriages act as a base of operations, and here you’ll be able to rest to restore your health, interact with other squad mates and people you’ve picked up along the way, and of course implement the aforementioned enhancements. Apply a silencer to your pistol for the nightly skirmishes, a scope and grip to better your chances of survival in the midst of a firefight, or an extended barrel to your shotgun so that more shots can be fired in close quarters. It’s a deep and intricate system that complements the variety found in combat, but Artyom himself isn’t left out in the cold when it comes to improvements. Scattered throughout the post-apocalyptic wasteland are upgrades that better the Spartan armour he wears, and these are well worth picking up thanks to ammunition cache increases, improvements to your gas mask, and stronger protection in general.

Metro: Exodus looks utterly phenomenal. Incredible vistas paint a contrasting picture of Russia, as the train whisks you through frozen cities and thawing streets to the desert where sandstorms are a threat to both people and buildings. Take a trip after dark and stargaze as the clouds make way for some truly beautiful spectacles, as well as an enemy or two floating in the air. Indeed, while the title may boast of some outstanding visuals, the same can’t be said for its technical performance.

We did indeed encounter enemies suspended in mid-air, alongside glitches that caused us to fall through the world, a framerate that frequently takes a nose dive during heavy combat sequences, and a complete system crash that took us back to the PS4 home screen. It's possible these issues could eventually be fixed via patches, but we can’t ignore the impact they had on our 15 hour playthrough.

What is going to need some serious attention post-launch though are the load times, which put bluntly, are utterly atrocious on the PS4 Pro. While no loading is done once you’re out in the open, the initial load screen for each area can last up to four minutes. It takes you out of the experience completely and becomes a bit of a joke when you’re met with further load times upon death. While these aren’t quite as long, there’s definitely a good minute between you putting down the controller and picking it back up once the game has loaded. It’s a major technical issue that has a disastrous effect on any immersion you may have built up from the previous scene.

Conclusion

While Metro: Exodus delivers on its promise of deep and meaningful combat situations that let you approach encounters from any angle you can think of, its technical shortcomings are simply unforgivable. Combine that with a plot that doesn’t answer its most intriguing questions and you’ve got an experience that will please at times, but will also disappoint those looking for something meaningful outside of the distribution of bullets.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Apple in talks to create “Netflix for news” subscription service - Ars Technica

Posted: 13 Feb 2019 06:32 AM PST

Apple CEO Tim Cook alluded to more services coming this year, and this week we're learning more about what the company has in store for news. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Apple has been in talks with publishers about a subscription news service that would be a new paid tier of its existing Apple News app. However, the company has been butting heads with publishers over monetary details—Apple reportedly wants to keep 50 percent of subscription revenue from the service.

This so-called "Netflix for news" service would allow customers to access an unlimited amount of content from included publishers for a monthly fee. The service could be around $10 per month, similar to Apple Music, but the cost hasn't been finalized yet.

Apple has talked with publishers including The New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, but they (and others) have concerns about Apple's terms. The company wants 50 percent of revenue for itself, and the remaining 50 percent would be divided among participating publishers "according to the amount of time users spend engaged with their articles."

In addition, Apple wouldn't share customer data with publishers. Information including credit card numbers and email addresses would not be provided to publishers if they agreed to Apple's terms as they currently stand. That information can be crucial for publishers to grow their subscriber base, market new products to readers, and more.

This isn't the first time Apple has proposed steep demands to potential and existing partners. The iPhone maker has reportedly had creative differences with some film and TV show creators that the company is working with to produce original content for Apple's upcoming TV streaming service. Apple has replaced showrunners and even axed projects entirely to avoid featuring content that has "gratuitous sex, profanity, or violence."

The company reportedly wants to fill its TV subscription service, which is also slated to debut this year, with family-friendly content. The subscription news service in addition to the TV streaming service are key to Apple's growth in the years to come as the company focuses more on its services business rather than device sales. While iPhone sales continue to trend downward, Apple's services business reached $10.9 billion in revenue last quarter—and Apple will not slow down its efforts on that front.

But Apple may have to bend a bit to snag content licenses from the necessary number of publishers to create a paid news subscription service. Having sought-after publications that cover a variety of topics will be key to the service's success.

The paid Apple News service could debut next month. A report from BuzzFeed News suggests that Apple is planning a "subscription-services focused" event for March 25. In the past, the company has debuted new iPads at March events, so it would be surprising if this event didn't include at least one hardware announcement. We're currently waiting for Apple to debut new AirPods and a new version of the iPad Mini.

Let's block ads! (Why?)