Samsung has started sending out invitations to the Galaxy A Event, where it will unveil its latest mid-range smartphones under the product line. The tech giant introduced the Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 on the same day last year and then launched the A52s, an upgraded version of the A52 with a newer processor, in select regions a few months later. You'll be able to watch the event on Samsung's website or the company's YouTube channel on March 17th, starting at 10AM Eastern time.
The event comes just over a month after Samsung launched its flagship Galaxy S22 series in the first Unpacked event of the year. Along with the S22 and the S22+, the company also unveiled the Galaxy S22 Ultra that represents the consolidation of the Galaxy S and the Note lines. The S22 Ultra has the Note's rectangular silhouette and onboard slot for its accompanying S Pen, whereas the other models have the traditional look of the previous S line devices.
Samsung also recently released the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition with a 6.4-inch screen and a slightly more affordable price than its standard counterparts. If we're talking about phones in the same price range as the Galaxy A line, though, there's the new iPhone SE that Apple unveiled on March 8th. The new budget-friendly SE model supports 5G connectivity and has an updated chip, but it looks almost identical to its predecessor. It will be available starting on March 18th for $429.
With no end in sight to the global semiconductor shortage, Ford will temporarily offer some Explorer SUVs without the electronics necessary to access the car’s heating and air conditioning controls from the rear passenger seats. Following a report from Automotive News, a Ford spokesperson shared confirmation of the plan with The Verge on Sunday, telling the outlet the move is an effort on the automaker’s part to get those cars to customers faster.
They added Ford would offer those SUVs at a discount and noted they will still come with functioning front-seat climate controls. The automaker reportedly plans to ship the missing chips to dealers within a year, at which point owners of those models will need to bring their cars in for installation.
Ford won’t be the first automaker to ship a car without parts in response to the chip shortage. Last year, some Tesla Model 3 and Model Y buyers got cars with missing USB-C ports. BMW, meanwhile, removed touchscreen controls on some of its vehicles, including X5 and Z4 models, to cope with the shortages.
Virtual reality is coming to Audi vehicles. On Saturday, the automaker announced it would support Holoride’s in-car VR technology starting this summer. In June, select Audi models with the company’s MIB 3 infotainment system, including the A4, A6, A8, Q5 and e-tron GT, will ship with the necessary software to sync with Holoride-compatible headsets, with the company planning to support the feature first in Germany, the UK and US before making it available in other markets.
At the center of the experience is something Holoride calls “Elastic Content.” When passengers play an interactive video or game, the experience adapts to the car's movements. So say you’re playing something involving a spacecraft. When the vehicle accelerates, so will the spaceship. In that way, not only is the experience more immersive, but it’s also less likely to lead to motion sickness, according to Holoride.
Holoride spun out of Audi, but the startup’s system is brand-agostic, which means other automakers have the option to support the tech in their vehicle. The software for making Holoride content is open-source as well.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened the door for self-driving vehicles to operate without manual controls under updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. While fully autonomous vehicles are likely several years away from going on sale, the new rule paves the way for automakers to remove the steering wheel and pedals.
“Through the 2020s, an important part of [the Department of Transportation's] safety mission will be to ensure safety standards keep pace with the development of automated driving and driver assistance systems,” transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “This new rule is an important step, establishing robust safety standards for [Automated Driving Systems]-equipped vehicles.”
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards regulate all elements of production cars, as Roadshow notes. The latest rule stipulates that whether or not they have a steering wheel and pedals, vehicles with automated driving systems need to offer the same level of protection to drivers and passengers as other cars.
Fully autonomous (Level 5) cars aren't on the market yet. Teslas are at Level 2 (they have some autonomy, but a human driver needs to be ready to take control). Volkswagen is making a Level 4 version of its ID.Buzz EV, while pilot projects for robotaxis and self-driving shuttles are underway. At CES 2022, Cadillac showed off a luxury concept EV without a steering wheel or pedals.
NHTSA acknowledged uncertainty about the development and deployment of vehicles equipped with ADS. "Nevertheless, NHTSA believes it is appropriate to finalize this action at this time in anticipation of emerging ADS vehicle designs that NHTSA has seen in prototype form," the agency said.
Now's a good moment to get a cellular Galaxy Watch 4. Woot is offering the 44m LTE version in green at an all-time low price of $225. That's better than we saw in February, and a whopping $105 below the official sticker. It's substantially less expensive than its non-cellular counterpart, in fact. Just remember that Woot's return policy isn't the same as its parent Amazon, and that inventory might run out.
The Galaxy Watch 4 rejuvenated Samsung's smartwatch lineup. The switch from Tizen to Wear OS gave it a more robust app ecosystem, and the improved health tracking (including continuous blood oxygen detection) will help with your fitness regimen. Add the attractive display, a newer processor and a touch-based rotating bezel and you'll have a watch that should be appealing all day round, whether you're working out or streaming from Spotify.
There are some limits. We found the battery life to be short, and the body mass scans weren't consistent at review time. And unlike some Wear OS watches, it's a no-go if you're an iPhone user. Provided those aren't obstacles, though, the Galaxy Watch 4 remains one of the best values in Android-friendly smartwatches — especially at this price.
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The Nintendo theme park experience is headed to the US. Universal Studios Hollywood announced Super Nintendo World — a ride and interactive area in the style of the Super Mario game series — will debut at the California theme park in 2023.
Nintendo’s debut park in Osaka was delayed by nearly a year due to the pandemic, opening to limited numbers in March 2021.
For the US spin, fans can expect an interactive area, a special themed ride and themed shopping and dining — because the park has to make money, right? Like the Osaka iteration, Super Nintendo World will be an expansion of the current Universal Studios Hollywood, marking the first major expansion of the Hollywood park since the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was added in 2016. If your heart is still set on seeing the Japanese original, it will be getting a Donkey Kong expansion in 2024.
Activision is currently hiring for new roles to build the game.
Call of Duty: Warzone, the free-to-play battle royale, will soon have a mobile version. In a tweet, the game’s publisher, Activision, announced it was hiring for a slate of new mobile roles. It’s not the first CoDtitle adapted for mobile — Activision released the kinda-OK Call of Duty: Mobile in 2019.
The only problem is that EVs are pricey. So why not embrace a hybrid that also happens to be a small truck with a very impressive starting price? The 2022 Ford Maverick starts at $20,000 and ships with a hybrid powertrain that delivers up to 42 MPG. In addition to being a truck, it has a bed built for customization. Plus, thanks to makers like Robert Trapp, the FITS (Ford Integrated Tether System) already has 3D designs for printing or manipulation. It’s relatively cheap, customizable and a hybrid. Roberto Baldwin gives it a test drive.
There's finally a month-to-month payment option for GeForce Now RTX 3080. Before, NVIDIA only offered six months of access for $100. Now, it costs $20 per month to try that tier. That lowers the barrier to entry, though you'll save more in the long run with the six-month plan. Expect 1440p resolution gaming with ray-tracing at up to 120 fps on Mac and PC and 4K HDR resolution at 60 fps on NVIDIA Shield.
Activists and artists pressured Denver Arts and Venues to stop using the system.
Red Rocks Amphitheater, one of the most recognizable concert venues in the US, no longer plans to use Amazon’s palm scanning technology for ticketless entry. Activists and artists including Fight for the Future, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) and Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) pressured Denver Arts and Venues to refrain from using Amazon One at the venues it manages.
Those who signed an open letter cited concerns about Amazon sharing palmprint data with government agencies that seek to track marginalized people and activists.
Users on Samsung's Korean community forums are receiving an update for the Galaxy S22 series that adds a "Game Performance Management Mode" to Game Booster. The release should let users override the throttling feature and wring more speed out of the flagship phones, at least so long as they're willing to accept reduced battery life.
The founder said he is “sickened” by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The search engine DuckDuckGo will down-rank sites that spread Russian propaganda and disinformation. Founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg tweeted that the privacy-focused search engine would be releasing updates to ensure Russian disinformation sites rank further down in search results. Earlier this month, DuckDuckGo announced it would pause its relationship with Russian-state-owned search engine Yandex.
Razer’s Seiren Bluetooth lapel microphone packs an omnidirectional mic and AI-based noise suppression. The lapel mic includes a 3.5mm jack for monitoring through headphones, and you can customize it through the Razer Streaming App to tweak the noise suppression level, making for a pretty compelling mobile mic experience, at least on paper.
The Seiren Bluetooth is available for $100 and should work with "all" phones as well as common streaming apps like Streamlabs, Twitch and YouTube.
You don't have to lean on a special tool to know whether or not a Microsoft game will play properly on your Steam Deck. The Vergenotes Microsoft has published a list of the Xbox Game Studios titles you can play on Valve's handheld, and it's mostly good news. Recent releases like Deathloop and Psychonauts 2 are listed as "Verified" (that is, known to play well), and you can expect 2017's Prey to thrive.
Forza Horizon 5 (and 4), Sea of Thieves, Fallout 4 and Quantum Break are some of the games labeled as "Playable." They should work, but you may need to spend extra time setting them up or dealing with quirks (such as using the on-screen keyboard).
You're out of luck if you want to play a few of Microsoft's best-known games, however. Gears 5, Halo: Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite and Flight Simulator X are all deemed "unsupported" due to their anti-cheat tools.
This list only includes the games Microsoft offers on Steam. You'll have to install Windows (and lose official support from Valve) if you insist on playing the company's wider catalog. Microsoft said Steam Deck compatibility is up to individual studios, however, so don't be surprised if a previously unviable game becomes playable in the future.
Samsung doesn't seem to have wasted any time delivering its promised performance throttling update. XDAreports users on Samsung's Korean community forums are receiving an update for the Galaxy S22 series that adds a "Game Performance Management Mode" to Game Booster. The release should let users override throttling and wring more speed out of the flagship phones, at least so long as they're willing to accept reduced battery life and more heat.
We've asked Samsung for more details, including timing for the update in the US and other countries. It's also unclear if or when older Galaxy models will see updates. Releases like this won't necessarily take long, but they may be staggered by region and device.
Whether or not this fully addresses concerns is another matter. Users have accused Samsung of throttling non-game apps like Netflix and TikTok. Samsung has denied slowing those titles and pins any limitations on its Game Optimizing Service, but Galaxy phone owners might still be frustrated if they feel some of their apps are being held back.
As it stands, the update might be necessary for Samsung to regain some trust. Those same users criticized Samsung for throttling games while letting benchmarks run at full speed. That led Geekbench to delist four years of high-end Galaxy phones from its benchmark list over concerns the tests didn't represent real-world capabilities. The new software could help Samsung reclaim its place on that list and improve its standing among enthusiasts.
It’s easy to point to EVs and declare them the official vehicles of nerds. The only problem is that EVs are pricey. We’ve been waiting for pricing parity between EVs and gas vehicles for years and it’s likely going to take longer to come to pass thanks to ongoing supply issues. So why not embrace a hybrid that also happens to be a small truck with a very impressive starting price?
The 2022 Ford Maverick starts at $20,000 and ships with a hybrid powertrain that delivers up to 42 MPG. In addition to being a truck, it has a bed that’s built for customization. Plus, thanks to makers like Robert Trapp, the FITS ((Ford Integrated Tether System) already has 3D designs ready for printing or manipulation. It’s inexpensive, customizable, and a hybrid. Now, all we need is a cheap EV version in five years.Watch the video above for the full story.
Sony's State of Play livestream today was short on major news, but there was one surprising nugget: Returnal is getting a beefy update on March 22nd. Returnal: Ascension adds co-op capabilities and a new survival mode to the game, and it'll be completely free.
Returnal is a PlayStation 5 exclusive developed by Housemarque. It's a roguelike shooter where players are trapped in a time loop on a hostile alien planet, and it gets a lot of things right, including massive enemies and a punishing reward system. As a PS5 exclusive, Returnal makes good use of the DualSense controller's haptics and Sony's 3D audio tech.
Ascension will be Returnal's 3.0 update. The game's 2.0 update in October 2021 added photo mode and a suspension option that allowed players to save their progress mid-run, but only under certain conditions. It is a roguelike, after all.
