Category: Technology

With pre-orders for the Apple Vision Pro headset opening this week, the company is getting ready to launch one of its most significant products ever. It announced this morning an “entertainment format pioneered by Apple” called Apple Immersive Video, as well as new viewing environments in the Disney+ app featuring scenes from the studio’s beloved franchises like the Avengers and Star Wars.

We already got hands-on once back at WWDC when the headset was first announced, but two of our editors, Dana Wollman and Cherlynn Low, had a chance to go back and revisit the device (and Dana’s case, experience it anew). Since we’ve already walked you through some of the basic UI elements in our earlier piece, we decided to focus on some of the more recently added features, including Apple Immersive Video, the new Disney+ environments, a built-in “Encounter Dinosaurs” experience, as well as the floating keyboard, which didn’t work for us when we first tried the device in June of last year. Here, too, we wanted to really get at what it actually feels like to use the device, from the frustrating to the joyful to the unintentionally eerie. (Yes, there was a tear, and also some screaming.)

Fit, comfort and strap options

Cherlynn: The best heads-up display in the world will be useless if it can’t be worn for a long time, so comfort is a crucial factor in the Apple Vision Pro’s appeal. This is also a very personal factor with a lot of variability between individual users. I have what has been described as a larger-than-usual head, and a generous amount of hair that is usually flat-ironed. This means that any headgear I put on tends to slip, especially if the band is elastic.

Unlike the version that our colleague Devindra Hardawar saw at WWDC last year, the Vision Pro unit I tried on today came with a strap that you stretch and ends up at the back of your head. It was wide, ridged and soft, and I at first thought it would be very comfortable. But 15 minutes into my experience, I started to feel weighed down by the device, and five more minutes later, I was in pain. To be fair, I should have flagged my discomfort to Apple earlier, and alternative straps were available for me to swap out. But I wanted to avoid wasting time. When I finally told the company’s staff about my issues, they changed the strap to one that had two loops, with one that went over the top of my head.

Dana: The fitting took just long enough — required just enough tweaking — that I worried for a minute that I was doing it wrong, or that I somehow had the world’s one unfittable head. First, I struggled to get the lettering to look sharp. It was like sitting at an optometrist’s office, trying out a lens that was just slightly too blurry for me. Tightening the straps helped me get the text as crisp as it needed to be, but that left my nose feeling pinched. The solution was swapping out the seal cushion for the lighter of the two options. (There are two straps included in the box, as well as two cushions.) With those two tweaks — the Dual Loop Band and the light seal cushion — I finally felt at ease.

Cherlynn: Yep, that Dual Loop band felt much better for weight distribution, and it didn’t keep slipping down my hair. It’s worth pointing out that Apple did first perform a scan to determine my strap size, and they chose the Medium for me. I also had to keep turning a dial on the back right to make everything feel more snug, so I had some control over how tightly the device sat. Basically, you’ll have quite a lot of options to adapt the Vision Pro to your head.

Immersive Video

Dana: Sitting up close in the center of spatial videos reminded me of Jimmy Stewart’s character in It’s A Wonderful Life: I was both an insider and outsider at the same time. In one demo, we saw Alicia Keys performing the most special of performances: just for us, in a living room. In a different series of videos, we saw the same family at mealtime, and a mother and daughter outside, playing with bubbles.

As I watched these clips, particularly the family home videos that reminded me of my own toddler, I felt immersed, yes, but also excluded; no one in the videos sees you or interacts with you, obviously. You are a ghost. I imagined myself years from now, peering in from the future on bygone videos of my daughter, and felt verklempt. I did not expect to get teary-eyed during a routine Apple briefing.

Cherlynn: The Immersive Video part of my demo was near the end, by which point I had already been overwhelmed by the entire experience and did not quite know what more to expect. The trailer kicked off with Alicia Keys singing in my face, which I enjoyed. But I was more surprised by the kids playing soccer with some rhinos on the field, and when the animals charged towards me, I physically recoiled. I loved seeing the texture of their skin and the dirt on the surface, and was also impressed when I saw the reflection of an Apple logo on the surface of a lake at the end. I didn’t have the same emotional experience that Dana did, but I can see how it would evoke some strong feelings.

Disney+ app

Dana: Apple was very careful to note that the version of the Disney+ app we were using was in beta; a work in progress. But what we saw was still impressive. Think of it like playing a video game: Before you select your race course, say, you get to choose your player. In this case, your “player” is your background. Do you want to sit on a rooftop from a Marvel movie? The desert of Tatooine? Make yourself comfortable in whatever setting tickles your fancy, and then you can decide if actually you want to be watching Ted Lasso in your Star Wars wasteland. It’s not enough to call it immersive. In some of these “outdoor” environments in particular, it’s like attending a Disney-themed drive-in. Credit to Disney: They both understand – and respect – their obsessive fans. They know their audience.

Cherlynn: As a big Marvel fangirl, I really geeked out when the Avengers Tower environment came on. I looked around and saw all kinds of easter eggs, including a takeout container from Shawarma Grill on the table next to me. It feels a little silly to gush about the realism of the images, but I saw no pixels. Instead, I looked at a little handwritten note that Tony Stark had clearly left behind and felt like I was almost able to pick it up. When we switched over to the Tattooine environment, I was placed in the cockpit of Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder, and when I reached out to grab the steering controls, I was able to see my own hands in front of me. I felt slightly disappointed to not actually be able to interact with those elements, but it was definitely a satisfying experience for a fan.

Typing experience

Cherlynn: Devindra mentioned that the floating keyboard wasn’t available at his demo last year, and was curious to hear what that was like. I was actually surprised that it worked, and fairly well in my experience. When I selected the URL bar by looking at it and tapping my thumb and forefinger, the virtual keyboard appeared. I could either use my eyes to look at the keys I wanted, then tap my fingers together to push them. Or, and this is where I was most impressed, I could lean forward and press the buttons with my hands.

It’s not as easy as typing on an actual keyboard would be, but I was quite tickled by the fact that it worked. Kudos to Apple’s eye- and hand-tracking systems, because they were able to detect what I was looking at or aiming for most of the time. My main issue with the keyboard was that it felt a little too far away and I needed to stretch if I wanted to press the buttons myself. But using my eye gaze and tapping wasn’t too difficult for a short phrase, and if I wanted to input something longer I could use voice typing (or pair a Bluetooth keyboard if necessary).

Dana: This was one of the more frustrating aspects of the demo for me. Although there were several typing options – hunting and pecking with your fingers, using eye control to select keys, or just using Siri – none of them felt adequate for anything resembling extended use. It took several tries for me to even spell Engadget correctly in the Safari demo. This was surprising to me, as so many other aspects of the broader Apple experience – the pinch gesture, the original touch keyboard on the original iPhone – that “just work,” as Apple loves to say about itself. The floating keyboard here clearly needs improvement. In the meantime, it’s harder to imagine using the Vision Pro for actual work. The Vision Pro feels much further along as a personal home theater.

Meditation

Cherlynn: As someone who’s covered the meditation offerings by companies like Apple and Fitbit a fair amount, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the Vision Pro. Luckily, this experience took place in the earlier part of the demo, so I wasn’t feeling any head strain yet and was able to relax. I leaned back on the couch and watched as a cloud, similar to the Meditation icon in the Apple Watch, burst into dozens of little “leaves” and floated around me in darkness. As the 1-minute session started, soft, comforting music played in the background as a voice guided me through what to do. The leaves pulsed and I felt enveloped by relaxing visuals and calming sounds and altogether it felt quite soothing. It’s funny how oddly appropriate a headset is for something like meditating, where you can literally block out distractions in the world and simply focus on your breathing. This was a fitting use of the Vision Pro that I certainly did not anticipate.

Dana: I wanted more of this. A dark environment, with floating 3D objects and a prompt to think about what I am grateful for today. The demo only lasted one minute, but I could have gone longer.

Encounter Dinosaurs

Cherlynn: Fun fact about me: Dinosaurs don’t scare me, but butterflies do. Yep. Once you’ve stopped laughing, you can imagine the trauma I had to undergo at this demo. I’d heard from my industry friends and Devindra all about how they watched a butterfly land on their fingers in their demos at WWDC, before dinosaurs came bursting out of a screen to roar at them. Everyone described this as a realistic and impressive technological demo, since the Vision Pro was able to accurately pinpoint for everyone where their fingers were and have the butterflies land exactly on their fingertips.

I did not think I’d have to watch a butterfly land on my body today, and just generally do not want that in life. But for this demo, I kept my eyes open to see just how well Apple would do, and, because I had a minor calibration issue at the start of this demo, I had to do this twice. The first time this happened, I… screamed a bit. I could see the butterfly’s wings and legs. That’s really what creeped me out the most — seeing the insect’s legs make “contact” with my finger. There was no tactile feedback, but I could almost feel the whispery sensation of the butterfly’s hairy ass legs on my finger. Ugh.

Then the awful butterfly flew away and a cute baby dinosaur came out, followed by two ferocious dinosaurs that I then stood up to “pet”. It was much more fun after, and actually quite an impressive showcase of the Vision Pro’s ability to blend the real world with immersive experiences, as I was able to easily see and walk around a table in front of me to approach the dinosaur.

Dana: Unlike Cher, I did not scream, though I did make a fool of myself. I held out my hand, to beckon one of the dinosaurs, and it did in fact walk right up to me and make a loud sound in my face. I “pet” it before it retreated. Another dinosaur appeared. I once again held out my hand, but that second dino ignored me. As the demo ended, I waved and heard myself say “bye bye.” (Did I mention I live with a toddler?) I then remembered there were other adults in the room, observing me use the headset, and felt sheepish. Which describes much of the Vision Pro experience, to be honest. You could maybe even say the same of any virtual reality headset worth their salt. It is immersive to the point that you will probably, at some point, throw decorum to the wind.

Final (ish) thoughts

Cherlynn: I had been looking forward to trying on the Vision Pro for myself and was mostly not disappointed. The eye- and hand-tracking systems are impressively accurate, and I quickly learned how to navigate the interface, so much so that I was speeding ahead of the instructions given to me. I’m not convinced that I’ll want to spend hours upon hours wearing a headset, even if the experience was mind-blowing. The device’s $3,500 price is also way out of my budget.

But of all the VR, AR and MR headsets I’ve tried on in my career, the Apple Vision Pro is far and away the best, and easily the most thought-out. Apple also took the time to show us what you would look like to other people when using the device, with a feature called EyeSight that would put a visual feed of your eyes on the outside of the visor. Depending on what you’re doing in visionOS, the display would show some animations indicating whether you’re fully immersed in an environment or if you can see the people around you.

Dana: The Vision Pro was mostly easier to use than I expected, and while it has potential as an all-purpose device that you could use for web browsing, email, even some industrial apps, its killer application, for now, is clearly watching movies (home videos or otherwise). I can’t pretend that Apple is the first to create a headset offering an immersive experience; that would be an insult to every virtual reality headset we’ve tested previously (sorry, Apple, I’m going to use the term VR). But if you ask me what it felt like to use the headset, particularly photo and video apps, my answer is that I felt joy. It is fun to use. And it is up to you if this much fun should cost $3,500.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-vision-pro-hands-on-redux-immersive-video-disney-app-floating-keyboard-and-a-little-screaming-180006222.html?src=rss 

Take-Two Interactive has filed an opposition to Remedy Entertainment’s newest logo, claiming the symbol infringes on Rockstar Games’ logo despite the two having little in common besides the letter “R” representing a video game publisher. First reported by RemedyFirst, the trademark dispute was filed against two versions of the Remedy logo (one with the company’s name, one without) in September with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.

The UK’s IP rules mean Take-Two’s objection to the logo suggests Rockstar’s parent company sees “a likelihood of confusion by the public.” Engadget reached out to Take-Two and Remedy for comment, and we’ll update this article if we hear back.

Remedy revealed its new logo last spring, describing it as a “refreshed visual identity” that moves its image away from a 23-year-old game, better reflecting its current stable of Control and Alan Wake. “The bullet in the letter R in the old logo represented the era of Max Payne, but the Remedy of now is much bigger than a single game; we have a whole portfolio of games, new and old,” the publisher explained in an April blog post.

“It was time to update and redefine our visual identity to bring more consistency, showcase our evolution over the years, and better express our vision of today’s Remedy,” the post continued.

The icon was well received. Design blog Creative Bloq wrote, “Gamers can’t get enough” of the new logo. “The new Remedy logo is made from three letter ‘R’s chopped and stitched together as if the letter itself is moving; the curved right side of the R is shaped into an arrow and the points of the character form further arrows, pointing in new directions,” editor Ian Dean wrote. Social media reactions also appeared positive.

Ironically, the two studios are currently working together on a revamp of the game Remedy’s new logo is diverting away from. In April 2022, Remedy said it would collaborate with Rockstar on fully remastered versions of the first two Max Payne games, bringing the oughts-era franchise to a new generation.

RespawnFirst noted Take-Two’s legal team has a precedent of being trigger-happy on attacking IP in a way that stretches the definition of “infringement.” The publisher filed a trademark claim in 2021 against Hazelight Studios for its game It Takes Two. IGN highlighted incidents of Take-Two going after a clothing brand called Max Fayne, an axe-throwing company in Florida called Rockstar Axe Throwing and a music book called Think Like a Rockstar. The company has also sued GTA modders and the creators of reversed-engineered Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City fan projects.

Take-Two briefly got a taste of its own medicine in 2014 when actor Lindsay Lohan sued the publisher for using what she claimed was her likeness in GTA V and its marketing materials. That case was dismissed the following year on the grounds that video game parodies are fair game.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/take-twos-lawyers-think-remedys-new-r-logo-is-too-similar-to-rockstars-r-logo-181534083.html?src=rss 

Sony and developer Naughty Dog got an earful back in 2022 when they announced The Last of Us Part I, a ground-up PS5 remake of the 2013 title that was originally released on the PS3 (and then remastered a year later for the just-launched PS4). Most of that came down to the $70 price tag. Yes, the game looked incredible, there were some new modes added for super-fans and enemy AI had been upgraded, but the level design and gameplay were identical to the original. Plenty of people fairly called it a money grab.

The good news that The Last of Us Part II Remastered, announced back in November, escapes that tag for two important reasons. One, it’s a $10 upgrade for people who bought the PS4 versions (or $50 outright). Two, there’s a new roguelike game mode called No Return which is easily worth that upgrade price on its own.

Before diving into No Return, though, here’s a high-level overview of what we’re dealing with. The Last of Us Part II Remastered is, as the title suggests, an upgraded version of the 2020 PS4 release. I reviewed that game when it first launched — and nearly everything I said in 2020 still applies here, because the story and gameplay are unchanged.

But, as with any good remaster, the new version looks better than the already-impressive PS4 version. Part II Remastered can run in fidelity or performance modes. The former outputs at 4K and targets 30 fps, while the latter targets 60 fps and renders at 1440p (with output at upscaled 4K or 1440p, depending on your console settings). There’s also an “unlocked framerate” feature for TVs that support variable refresh rates.

I typically opt for performance mode. The difference resolution makes is usually minimal to my eyes, and that’s the case here as well. I’d much rather have the fluidity and precision that comes with a higher frame rate. But fidelity settings with an unlocked frame rate definitely hits above 30 and is a pretty great balance for those with VRR TVs — though if you’re on the ultra-difficult Grounded mode or attempting a permadeath runthrough, you’ll probably want to go straight to the performance setting.

Either way, the game looks stunning, but not wildly different from how the original Part II looked on the PS5. Things are sharper and more vivid across the board, as you’d expect. And the high frame rates in performance mode are great, though it’s worth noting that the original version of Part II can also hit 60 fps when played on a PS5.

Other niceties beyond the visuals include full support for the DualSense controller, including excellent use of haptics throughout. The game’s very first cut scene shows Part I protagonist Joel cleaning the frets on a guitar, and you can feel slight vibrations from left to right as his hand moves across the guitar neck.

There’s also full support for the DualSense adaptive triggers, so you feel different resistance and feedback depending on which weapon you’re using. As in most games, DualSense features aren’t the kind of thing that’ll be in the forefront of your mind as you play, but there’s no question they add a nice level of extra immersion to the experience.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered isn’t just a visual upgrade, though — there’s a bunch of new content. Most significant is No Return, an addictive combat experience which I have poured a ridiculous amount of time into already. The high-level overview for No Return is that it’s a series of randomized encounters with the four main enemy factions in the game: the WLF, Seraphites, Rattlers and, of course, the Infected.

In some encounters, you need to clear three waves of enemies; in others you’re hunted by unending hordes until the timer runs out. There’s also one where you’re challenged to capture a safe from a wave of enemies in limited time, and another where you have to defend an ally against a large swarm of Infected that keep coming. After five levels, you’ll hit a “boss.” There are six total boss levels that you progressively unlock by finishing a run without dying. But if you die at any stage of the run, you’re sent back to the beginning.

In between each encounter, you can craft upgrades for your weapons and buy new gear from the trading post to help you survive the progressively more difficult stages. And there are a ton of different modifications that affect how each level plays out. For example, you might randomly get a mod that gives you health when you land a melee attack, or you might end up with one where Infected enemies are invisible, just shadows in your flashlight. Sometimes, the level might be reversed, crafting an item will give you parts to upgrade a weapon or a dark noir filter will be applied. These mods aren’t on every level, and only two will show up at a time, so it doesn’t feel like there’s too much madness across a run. But, they can definitely shake up what might otherwise be a familiar stage.

I’m just scratching the surface on how much you can customize this experience. There are a total of 10 unlockable characters you can play as from both the Jackson crew (Ellie, Dina, Jesse, Tommy and Joel) and those you meet in Seattle (Abby, Lev, Yara, Manny and Mel). Each has different traits (Ellie gets more supplements, Joel can’t dodge but is more resistant to melee attacks, Lev is focused on stealth, etc.). Between different characters, the different signature weapons they have and all the different weapons and player upgrades you can get through the run, every No Return experience will be wildly different.

There are a ton of details to talk about in No Return, but suffice it to say it’s extremely addictive and easily worth the $10 upgrade. If they just added this mode to the PS4 version of The Last of Us Part II, I would still have no qualms about recommending fans buy it. I’ve seen hosts of extremely impressive combat videos from Part II since the game was released, and I’m sure we’re about to get another wave as people show off their narrow escapes and dominant destruction of hordes of Infect in No Return. It’s a ton of fun — though I will admit that the extremely violent tone requires extended breaks from time to time to get out of the murderous mindset it requires.

No Return is the biggest addition to the game by far, but there is more new content for the hardcore fans. All of the main game’s main cinematics now have optional audio commentary from director Neil Druckmann, writer Hailey Gross and actors Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson and Laura Bailey. The Last of Us Part II has a sprawling, complicated and sometimes controversial storyline, and hearing behind-the-scenes chatter about how it all came together is a great way to dig further into the game’s creation.

Similarly, Naughty Dog included three “lost levels” that are quite rough but show off some ideas that flesh out the world and Ellie’s character a bit, complete with audio commentary from developers on what they were shooting for and why they were ultimately abandoned. My favorite is one that takes place in Jackson before a pivotal scene between Ellie and Dina. In this, Ellie wanders around a festival, having a few drinks, talking with other characters, playing around with kids in the town and trying out some carnival games. The setting repurposes the game’s mechanics, which are usually used for enacting violence, and instead puts them in a totally different light.

These levels are far from finished — the aforementioned Jackson scene doesn’t have any dialog at all, only subtitles. And the textures, facial expressions and mechanics all definitely feel rough. They’re also pretty quick experiences, probably lasting between five and 10 minutes. A treat only for hardcore fans, but still a treat.

Rounding out the package are a bunch of new unlockable character skins, including an adorable one of Ellie in an astronaut suit, complete with a helmet. The already-extensive Photo Mode has gotten a few upgrades, like lights you can place around a scene to enhance the drama. And there’s a goofy but fun “guitar free play” mode, where you can experiment with an enhanced version of the interludes in the game where you strum a guitar to kick off key story beats. Plenty of enterprising players have already made some pretty wild creations using the in-game guitar, and now you can switch between multiple guitar types (acoustic, nylon-string, banjo) and add effects that really open up the creative possibilities.

If you’re someone interested in The Last of Us and haven’t played Part II yet, this is the obvious best way to do so. I still highly recommend the game — it’s an intense, exhausting journey that puts some characters I love through the wringer, but it’s an undeniably epic adventure. It’s not “fun” in the traditional sense, but it is compelling. As I wrote in 2020, so much stands out: moments of extreme tension, moments that made me yell in shock or surprise, thought-provoking drama and even unexpected joy amidst the bleak reality of Ellie and Abby’s dual journeys.

But if you’ve played the original, is this remaster worth picking up? If you’re a fan of the series, the $10 upgrade is unquestionably worth it. No Return is worth the price of admission on its own, and all the graphical upgrades, controller improvements and bonus content are things you’ll appreciate. Like I said when I reviewed The Last of Us Part I — if you’re the kind of person who will pick up this game and play it to experience the story every year or two, like I do, this is the best way to do it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-last-of-us-part-2-remastered-review-the-roguelike-no-return-mode-steals-the-show-150006382.html?src=rss 

Yamaha is a pillar of the electronic music making world, but it’s perhaps best known for its stage synthesizers and studio monitors. Today, that might change as the company unveils the SEQTRAK (“seek-track”) groovebox. Let’s address the obvious first, yes, this looks very much like Yamaha had a meeting and decided to take Teenage Engineering head-on. The SEQTRAK (R.I.P. my shift key) takes more than a little inspiration from the Swedish firm’s OP-Z portable studio and it even borrows the firm’s favored gray and orange aesthetic (though the SEQTRAK also comes in dark gray/black).

The SEQTRAK includes a drum machine, sampler, FM and sample-based synthesis and that semi-eponymous sequencer along with a built-in battery (3-4 hours expected play time) plus a built-in speaker making this a portable, standalone device. It also comes with a multi-platform (Windows, Mac, iOS and Android) companion app that allows more visual control, deeper settings, additional sounds and even a video visualizer. Wireless and physical MIDI plus USB connectivity with a built-in interface promise to make this something of an all purpose on-the-go idea machine that could also just live on your desk.

The drum section offers seven tracks, each capable of holding up to six sounds. There’s a wide range of percussive samples pre-installed that can be tweaked and altered to your taste and then fed into the sequencer section below. Patterns can be up to 128 steps/8 bars in length while a substep feature lets you trigger a sound multiple times on the same step, to create flourishes and fills to your beat.

Given the company’s heritage in the synth space, no surprise that there’s a strong influence from the DX series here. The SEQTRAK’s FM synth has four operators and eight-note polyphony. Meanwhile the company’s long-standing “AWM2” sample-based synth engine has been shrunk down for the SEQTRAK and goes all out with a max polyphony of 128. If straight samples are more your thing then you can grab 16-bit/44.1kHz sounds using either the built-in mic, USB, aux-in or even resample what you’re playing.

The footprint of the SEQTRAK is a little taller than the svelt OP-Z, or even the bigger OP-1 Field, but it still cuts a sharp silhouette. The step-sequencer/keyboard section benefits from the extra space though it’ll be interesting to see how apt those keys are for performance. The lack of display isn’t uncommon in this form-factor and of course the app is there if needed (again, much like the OP-Z). Many might remember the QY series of portable workstations, and their spirit lives on here but with an interesting new design direction. No doubt there will be a great many number of comparison videos made with its Teenage Engineering rivals once it launches (currently no info on when that is).

One key difference with the OP-Z is the price. While you can pick one of those up for $499, it cost $599 at launch. The SEQTRAK, however, is listed at for pre-order at retailers for $399, that’s a pretty solid deal. There are, of course, many differences between them, too. For one, the slightly larger footprint will appeal or detract according to your needs and play style. The OP-Z sure is portable but it’s very “hunt and peck” for settings and performance. The sampler credentials on the SEQTRAK also feel more robust than its Swedish rivals with 500MB of space rather than the OP-Z’s skimpy 24MB (or the dedicated K.O. II sampler’s 64MB for that matter).

Will that be enough to win over the same number and level of fans? Only time will tell. For now, you can register your interest in the SEQTRAK now and expect more information to surface during the NAMM show next week (we’ll be there!).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/yamaha-seqtrak-groovebox-134545480.html?src=rss 

Motorola has unveiled the 2024 Moto G Play, and its $150 price is still its killer feature. Although you can accuse Motorola of churning out too many nearly identical cheap phones, at least this year’s model adds several new perks. These include a fast-focusing 50-megapixel rear camera, a 6nm Snapdragon 680 processor and double the storage of its predecessor.

The 2024 Moto G Play still has a 6.5-inch LCD with a middling 720p (1600 x 720) resolution. (However, its variable 90Hz refresh rate, impressive for this price point, also returns from last year’s model.) The handset runs Android 13 out of the box, has 64GB of built-in storage and supports microSDs up to 1TB.

The phone’s rear camera has a 50-megapixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture, quad-pixel tech, HDR and phase detection autofocus. It shoots video at 1080p (or 720p) at 30fps. On the front is an 8MP sensor.

The new Moto G Play has a 5,000mAh battery (estimated for “up to 46 hours”) and supports 15W rapid charging. This year’s model adds Dolby Atmos support for its speakers, and it’s certified for hi-res audio when used with compatible wired headphones. The phone is rated IP52 for dust and water protection.

The Moto G Play launches in the US on February 8 for $150. Motorola says it will be available unlocked from its website, Amazon and Best Buy. (A locked version will be sold at various wireless carriers.) Meanwhile, Canadian users can buy it a bit earlier, starting on January 26 from “select carriers and national retailers.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-2024-moto-g-play-gives-you-a-50-megapixel-camera-for-150-140031208.html?src=rss 

Google has finally copied the homework of its other GPS app Waze, adding support for Bluetooth beacons so you can navigate in tunnels or other satellite dead zones, 9to5Google has reported. The feature has rolled out widely on Google Maps for Android, though is still missing in the iOS version. 

As a reminder, Bluetooth beacons are designed to give you navigation and traffic info underground where GPS signals can’t get through. Also known as Waze Beacons, they’re “battery-operated, low-energy micro-controller hardware that sends a one-way signal to a user’s phone or tablet” without capturing any data from the user, according to Google. They’re installed underground in a number of cities include New York City, Paris, Sydney, Rio and elsewhere. Waze first launched the feature in 2016. 

The function isn’t enabled by default, so here’s how to turn it on. In Maps, go to Settings > Navigation Settings and then find the “Driving Options” near the bottom of the list. Under those, you’ll see Bluetooth tunnel beacons (provided you have the latest version), and you can toggle that on. 

The feature first started showing up for some beta and other users in October 2023, but is now in the primary release. It should smooth navigation considerably, particularly in tricky tunnels with multiple lanes and exits. It’s the latest in a flurry of new features that include EV charging information, AI capabilities, Immersive View and more. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-maps-finally-adds-wazes-in-tunnel-navigation-feature-130051819.html?src=rss